The most remarkable and protracted hunt on record after a Whale was experienced by the steamer _Puma_ in 1903. The most exaggerated accounts of this appeared in the American and English papers, where the journalists went so far as to say that the Whale had towed the ship from Newfoundland to Labrador, and other wild statements. The following particulars were given by Hans Johanessen, mate of the _Puma_, so they are, at any rate, first hand. The _Puma_ spied and “struck” a large Blue Whale six miles from Placentia at nine o’clock in the morning. The animal immediately became “wild,” and it was found impossible to get near enough to fire another harpoon into it. For the entire day it towed the steamer, with engines at half speed astern, at a rate of six knots. Toward evening a second rope was made fast to the stern of the vessel and attached to the first line, now “out” about one mile. The steamer then put on full speed ahead. This seemed to incense the Whale, which put forth all its strength and dragged the whole of the after part of the vessel under water, flooding the after cabin and part of the engine room. The stern rope was immediately cut with an ax and the danger averted. [Illustration: The upper jaw of a blue whale, showing the mat of hairlike bristles on the inner edges of the baleen plates. ] All through the night the gallant Whale dragged the steamer, with the dead weight of two miles of rope and the engines going half speed astern, and at 9 A. M. the following morning the monster seemed to be as lively and powerful as ever. At 10 A. M., however, its strength seemed to decrease, and at 11 it was wallowing on the surface, where at 12:30 it was finally lanced by the captain. This great fight occupied twenty-eight hours, the Whale having dragged the steamer a distance of thirty miles to Cape St. Mary. One of the troubles of this form of whaling is the difficulty of avoiding fishing craft when the Whale is struck. In Shetland and Newfoundland captains are not allowed to fire at a Whale within one mile of boats or two miles of the coast, but these precautions are generally ignored. Captain Nilsen, when hunting in the _Cabot_ in Hermitage Bay in 1903, struck a large bull which lay as if dead alongside the steamer. The crew were about to attach the tail to the bow-chains when the Whale suddenly recovered and started full speed for the coast, towing the steamer at ten knots. After an hour it stopped and lay on the surface of the sea, when Captain Nilsen fired a second harpoon, which only had the effect of waking up the monster. It then went full speed for the fishing fleet, which was close at hand, dived under their nets, and did damage to the extent of a hundred dollars. After a further rush of five miles a third harpoon was fired, which killed the Whale right opposite the factory.[5] Footnote 5: