Thus Prepared They Row In
Profound Silence, Leaving The Whole Conduct Of The Enterprise To The
Harpooner And To The Steersman, Attentively Following Their
Directions.
When the former judges himself to be near enough to the
whale, that is, at the distance of about
Fifteen feet, he bids them
stop; perhaps she has a calf, whose safety attracts all the
attention of the dam, which is a favourable circumstance; perhaps
she is of a dangerous species, and it is safest to retire, though
their ardour will seldom permit them; perhaps she is asleep, in that
case he balances high the harpoon, trying in this important moment
to collect all the energy of which he is capable. He launches it
forth - she is struck: from her first movements they judge of her
temper, as well as of their future success. Sometimes in the
immediate impulse of rage, she will attack the boat and demolish it
with one stroke of her tail; in an instant the frail vehicle
disappears and the assailants are immersed in the dreadful element.
Were the whale armed with the jaws of a shark, and as voracious,
they never would return home to amuse their listening wives with the
interesting tale of the adventure. At other times she will dive and
disappear from human sight; and everything must give way to her
velocity, or else all is lost. Sometimes she will swim away as if
untouched, and draw the cord with such swiftness that it will set
the edge of the boat on fire by the friction.
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