Hence, the operation of lancing was yet to be effected, before there could be any chance of subduing the still existing dangerous vigour. My Father, as was his wont, proceeded next to this venturous undertaking. Again he plants his boat in parallelism of position with that of his gigantic game. Full of ardour and confidence in their leader, his boat’s crew are ready for any effort or adventure which the daring or activity of man may accomplish. The proper moment for the attack is waited for, and, when seen, instantly improved. The boat, as a thing of life, springs, at his signal, towards the side of the whale. The Commander’s long lance—six feet in the iron, and four feet in the handle—is darted, at arm’s length, into the writhing carcass, up to the very socket; and, before the fling of fins or tail can reach, he has recovered a safe distance. The effect of the wound in the vitals is speedily seen. The previous white steamy vapour ejected from the lungs has become tinged with red; and nature’s powers, as experience indicates, must soon decay. Convulsive action in the monster, as stimulated by this inward stab, being at length suspended, the favourable moment is again improved. Another lance,—darted in as quickly as the stroke of the tiger’s paw,—penetrates, for the second time, the vast viscera of the whale; whilst the active agents of the attack escape, as before, unscathed. The deadly thrust is quickly repeated; and, as the capability of exerting instant violence is diminished, the deeply stricken lance is worked actively up and down whilst still within, so that every movement effects an additional wound, and the work of death is the more speedily and mercifully promoted. Thick jets of blood now issue from the blow-holes, and the sea, through the wide space of disturbed waters, is tinged by the overflowing streams; whilst boats, oars, and men, are thickly sprinkled with the sanguinous dye. Lanced, now, on both sides at once, with these formidable instruments of destruction, the dangerous energies of this vast animal become soon overpowered, and it now yields itself passively to its inevitable fate. One effort alone remains. The instinctive impulse or spasm of expiring vitality,—like the brilliant gleam or coruscation of the expiring taper, is expended in a series of tremendous death-throes. The writhing body of the giant captive is now thrown into strangely powerful action; fins and tail play with terrific violence, tossing up huge waves, and dashing the sea, for a considerable circle round, into foam. The prudent fishermen push off to a safe distance, and, looking on with the solemnised impression of a spectacle at once wonderful and sublime, leave the convulsions of expiring nature to expend themselves. The vital energies are exhausted; the huge carcass, so recently perilous in the energies of life, rolls, by the gravitating tendency of its formation, on one side, and slowly the helpless fin rises to the surface of the water,