But It Is Vain To Hope, Their
Lives Must Be Saved, The Cord Is Cut, The Boat Rises Again.
If after
thus getting loose, she re-appears, they will attack and wound her a
second time.
She soon dies, and when dead she is towed alongside of
their vessel, where she is fastened.
The next operation is to cut with axes and spades, every part of her
body which yields oil; the kettles are set a boiling, they fill
their barrels as fast as it is made; but as this operation is much
slower than that of cutting up, they fill the hold of their ship
with those fragments, lest a storm should arise and oblige them to
abandon their prize. It is astonishing what a quantity of oil some
of these fish will yield, and what profit it affords to those who
are fortunate enough to overtake them.
The river St. Lawrence whale, which is the only one I am well
acquainted with, is seventy-five feet long, sixteen deep, twelve in
the length of its bone, which commonly weighs 3000 lbs., twenty in
the breadth of their tails and produces 180 barrels of oil: I once
saw 16 boiled out of the tongue only. After having once vanquished
this leviathan, there are two enemies to be dreaded beside the wind;
the first of which is the shark: that fierce voracious fish, to
which nature has given such dreadful offensive weapons, often comes
alongside, and in spite of the people's endeavours, will share with
them their prey; at night particularly.
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