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Title: Greasy luck
A whaling sketch book
Author: Gordon Grant
Release date: December 14, 2024 [eBook #74903]
Language: English
Original publication: Jamaica, NY: Caravan Maritime Books
Credits: Steve Mattern and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREASY LUCK ***
[Illustration]
[Illustration: _UNDER SAIL_
A Yankee whaling barque of the fifties]
GREASY
LUCK
[Illustration: Sailor holding harpoon]
A WHALING SKETCH BOOK
by
GORDON GRANT
WILLIAM FARQUHAR PAYSON
NEW YORK
CARAVAN MARITIME BOOKS
JAMAICA, NEW YORK
_1970_
COPYRIGHT, 1932
WILLIAM FARQUHAR PAYSON
NEW YORK
CARAVAN MARITIME BOOKS
JAMAICA, NEW YORK
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
_by_ SENTRY PRESS, NEW YORK, N. Y. 10019
[Illustration: Sea gull]
TO
MY WIFE
_a lover of ships_
[Illustration: Whale]
The author gratefully acknowledges his debt to
FRANK WOOD and WILLIAM H. TRIPP of the
Whaling Museum of New Bedford, for their
splendid cooperation--and to CLIFFORD
W. ASHLEY and his most admirable
book “_The Yankee Whaler_”
_FOREWORD_
Turning the pages of Gordon Grant’s pictured story of whaling, it
suddenly struck me that the task of writing an introduction had certain
unusual features. Acting as a liaison officer between Captain Ahab of
the whaling ship _Pequod_ and the sheltered generation of 1932,
it is necessary to bear in mind that most members of this generation
are unaware that whaling is still an industry. They imagine it as
part of the closed book of New England maritime history. They regard
it romantically, and the ancient masthead shout, “Thar she blows!” is
familiar to the ladies and gentlemen who patronize the fast Atlantic
ferries. Whaling, in short, has become an antique interest, and
visitors to New Bedford may study the whole business in the collection
of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society.
The difference between this adventurous and romantic calling and the
modern whaleship is precisely the difference between pig-sticking as
practised by army officers in India and the stock-yards of Chicago
and Argentina. Making all allowance for the New Englander’s passion
for gain, there had to be some sporting instinct to send men out on
“lays” instead of wages, and to make them follow, year after year,
so dangerous a trade. It was only when another sporting chance came
along, the chance of the golden west, of striking further and further
beyond the ranges, that the New Englanders abandoned the whaling to
foreigners. The interest our antiquarians have in whaling is therefore
a sound one. It was a manifestation of the pioneer mentality; and when
that mentality was directed into other channels, whaling lost prestige
and became as prosaic as cod-fishing in modern times.
It might be mentioned here that the two instincts of civilized man--to
make a sport of his necessities, and then by quantity production
in factories to divorce all sport from his necessities--have been
spectacularly illustrated in the evolution of whaling from a sport
for heroes into a humdrum manifestation of big business. Efficiency
has never been so swiftly or so deplorably justified. At one end of
the scale we have Captain Ahab devoting all his life to the pursuit
of a mythological cetacean, the White Whale. At the other, in 1932,
we have British and Scandinavian whaling factories, twin screw,
oil-burning vessels of 14,000 tons, capable of pursuing whales of all
species in high speed motor whaleboats fitted with guns and bombs, with
air pumps which inflate the dead whale so that it will float until
needed. These ships have a specially designed stern slipway, up which
the entire carcase of a 100 ton whale can be hauled from the water to
the blubber deck. When the blubber has been removed the carcase is
sawn by machinery into sections and lowered to the meat deck. Nothing
of the animal is wasted. A packing factory on board cans and packs
the products ready for discharging at a convenient port into freight
steamers. Fuel-oil and water, which is distilled on board, supplies a
whole fleet of auxiliary whaling vessels.
Here we behold the modern commercial and mechanical genius at its peak.
It is so efficient that unless some legislative action is taken, whales
will become extinct. In two years these vessels have obtained more oil
and have killed more whales than the old American whalers took from the
sea in half a century.
It is true, as a recent author contends, that whaling is not properly
described as fishing. The whale is an animal, and his pursuit is a
form of hunting. In Gordon Grant’s drawings the whole art and craft
of catching whales is most lucidly and dramatically set forth. It is
sport because the hunters risked their lives when the harpoon left the
boatsteerer’s hands to plunge into the whale’s carcase. They were in
the most dire peril of a “stove” or a “chawed” boat until the animal’s
terrific struggles were ended by the thrust of a lance through his
vitals. In modern whaling the operatives are in no more danger than
the person who slits the jugular veins of the hogs suspended by their
hind legs on a moving chain in a Chicago abattoir. I doubt exceedingly
whether these modern whalers will ever have any songs or traditions.
All too soon they will, as I understand it, have no more whales. They
will have become history themselves without ever having become known
to the public. If by chance the captain of the _Vikingen_, of the
Viking Whaling Company, Limited, of London, ever meets Moby Dick, he
will order full speed ahead on his 4300 horsepower and overhaul the
White Whale in a few hours. A few days later he will be in sealed cans.
Ships, and especially sailing craft, are the unhappy victims of artists
who know more about pretty pictures than ships. They take quite
felonious liberties with the craft and the men they depict. In “Greasy
Luck” however, you will find the most austere fidelity to the truth
combined with what to me is a most satisfying vivacity of presentation.
I commend to your notice the lowered whaleboat on page 59 as an example
of what I mean. Such a boat was an instrument to which men entrusted
their lives and fortunes. It was the product of deep thought and
shrewd designing for a century. It was, as one writer says, “sharp and
clean-cut as a dolphin” with “a duck-like capacity to top the oncoming
waves, so that it will dryly ride where ordinary boats would fill....
Here we have a boat that two men may lift, and which will make ten
miles an hour in dead chase by the oars alone.” Such a craft has a
beauty of its own, not to be found in pleasure craft. The same boat is
shown at a dramatic moment of “A Nantucket Sleigh Ride” on page 75.
It appears to me that Mr. Grant has made a definitive and conclusive
contribution to Whaliana. If the whales go the way of the buffalo of
North America, we shall depend on this book for a lively conception of
the ancient sport. Ships and wild animals, it has been remarked, have
a hard and tragic ending. This book will preserve for posterity the
spiritual as well as the material glories of the whaler’s life.
[Illustration: William McFee’s signature]
_LIST OF PLATES_
Under Sail _Frontispiece_
Fitting Out _Facing Page_ 2
Hoisting Topsails 4
Choosing Boats’ Crews 6
A Harangue from the Captain 8
Getting in the Mainsail 10
Stowing the Outer Jib 12
A Typical Bow 14
A Typical Stern 16
The Deck 18
The Whaleboat 20
A Boat on the Cranes 22
Spare Boats 24
Harpoons 26
The Wheel 28
The Foc’s’le 30
The Windlass 32
The Galley 34
Types 36
The Blacksmith 38
The Cooper 40
Grinding Spades 42
Coiling Line Tubs 44
Ten Dollars Reward 46
Grub 48
Fresh Fish for the Cook to Spoil 50
Whales 52
Whales 54
The Masthead 56
Lowering 58
A Race Under Sail 60
Waifing 62
“Going On” 64
“Give it to him!” 66
Sounding 68
A Breach 70
A “Chawed” Boat 72
“A Nantucket Sleigh Ride” 74
Lancing 76
Towing to the Ship 78
Cutting-in Diagram 80
Removing the Lower Jaw 82
The Junk 84
Cutting In 86
The Blanket Piece Coming Aboard 88
Lowering into the Hold 90
Mincing 92
Trying Out 94
Bailing the Case 96
Cleaning Ship 98
Main Hatch Surgery 100
Boat Surgery 102
Ashore for Water 104
Having it Out 106
Recruiting on the Beach 108
A “Gam” 110
Song and Dance 112
Bumboats 114
Arctic Whaling 116
Whalebone 118
Cleaning Whalebone 120
Dead Man’s Chest 122
Homeward Bound 124
“Scrimshaw” 126
_SKETCHES_
_FITTING OUT_
The last few days prior to a ship’s departure on a whaling voyage
witnessed great activity along the wharves of all whaling ports: New
Bedford, Fairhaven, Nantucket, Sag Harbor, Salem, and New London, to
note but a few in New England; in Dundee, Scotland, and Bergen in
Norway.
With the prospect of a voyage lasting perhaps three years, no item of
gear for the ship or provision for the crew was overlooked.
On sailing day, with everything checked off and stowed below, the crew
came aboard, the owners, their wives, and the townspeople crowded the
wharf to cheer them on their way and wish them “Greasy Luck.”
[Illustration]
_HOISTING TOPSAILS_
The work of the merchant ship sailor had but one object; to take the
ship by the shortest route from port to port. The whaleman, on the
other hand, in addition to his seamanship, was expert in the highly
technical work of killing whales.
While the whaling skippers lacked the smartness of the clipper captains
they were able, keen, and resourceful in emergencies that the merchant
ship masters seldom, if ever, were called upon to face.
[Illustration]
_CHOOSING BOATS’ CREWS_
Soon after the ship was on her course the crew was mustered and divided
into two watches--starboard and larboard--(the word “port” was not used
in whaleships). This done, the boats’ crews were chosen, consisting
of an officer, harpooneer, and four men. The mates in turn took their
pick of the men for their respective boats, subjected their choice to
questions regarding former ships and experience, and an inspection of
hands, feet, and muscular development--much like farmers at a cattle
show.
The harpooneers were called “boatsteerers,” which, to the landsman, is
somewhat misleading.
The mate steered the boat until the harpooneer struck the whale. They
thereupon changed places and the latter became “boatsteerer.”
The boatsteerers ranked next to the officers,--were quartered aft, and
had a separate mess.
[Illustration]
_A HARANGUE FROM THE CAPTAIN_
The watches and boats’ crews chosen, the captain called for attention
and delivered himself of a speech. The gist of his message did not vary
much from that of all other whaling skippers and his delivery was more
or less colourful according to his ability as an orator.
Running his eye from man to man, so that none escaped the implied
meaning behind the glance, he would voice his thoughts substantially as
follows:--“This ship is a whaler and we’re out to kill whales. I tell
you that now in case you might think you’re aboard a yacht and came
along for a picnic. I’m captain and these are my officers, and when an
order is given I want to see some jumping. I don’t want any loafers or
grumblers. Loafers and grumblers only make trouble for themselves, and
if any of you want trouble I’ll see that you damned well get it. You’ll
get good food and all you need--so I don’t want to hear any growling
about that. I won’t have any fighting or swearing. The sooner you fill
the ship the sooner you’ll get home:--and remember; there’s only one
captain aboard here and that’s me. If anyone wants to dispute that I’ll
damned soon show him. That’ll do----”
[Illustration]
_GETTING IN THE MAINSAIL_
To the watch, bending over the yard with nought between them and
oblivion but a slender foot rope, this was no easy task even in a
moderate wind. In a gale, with wet or frozen sails, the stowing of this
huge expanse of thrashing canvas can be better imagined than described.
[Illustration]
_STOWING THE OUTER JIB_
[Illustration]
_A TYPICAL BOW_
Here we have the bows of the barque “California” of New Bedford, built
in the early eighteen forties.
Square-rigged whaling craft varied in size from two hundred and fifty
to four hundred tons, seldom exceeding the latter figure.
Many were painted “frigate fashion” with black ports along the side--a
relic of the days when merchant ships used this device to deceive
pirates into the belief that they were heavily armed.
The whaler had a beauty peculiarly her own. She was rather a tubby
little thing, but with much grace notwithstanding. She was held in
supreme contempt by the officers and crews of her contemporaneous
big sisters the flash clippers, who referred to her as “spouter” and
“butcher shop.”
[Illustration]
_A TYPICAL STERN_
Unlike merchant ships, whalers had to keep their forward deck clear so
that all space could be devoted to the “cutting in” and “trying out” of
blubber.
The forward deck-house, characteristic of cargo carriers, which
contained the gallery and crew’s quarters, was moved far aft--half
to starboard--half to larboard--with a deck overhead from which the
quarter-boats were lowered.
The stern shown is that of “Lagoda,” a half size model of which has
been installed in the Whaling Museum in New Bedford.
[Illustration]
_THE DECK_
This diagram shows the deck arrangement of “Lagoda” of New Bedford and
was characteristic of all square-rigged whalers.
A--B--C--D--E--Boats hanging on the davits. Many ships did not swing a
boat in the position of “B.”
In their order the boats were named as follows:--“Bow”--“Starboard
Bow”--“Waist”--“Larboard”--“Starboard.” The latter was known as the
captain’s boat, though in later years the captain did not leave the
ship.
The first mate had the larboard boat--second mate the waist--third mate
the bow.
The senior boatsteerer took the starboard bow boat unless the ship
carried a fourth mate.
F--Spare boats on the skids--or boat bridge.
G--The main hatch.
H--The try works.
J--The steering wheel.--To left of the wheel, the companion stairs to
captain’s quarters.
K--The galley.
L--The “cutting-in” stage. At this point a section of the bulwarks was
removed during cutting in.
M--The foc’s’le hatch leading to crew’s quarters below.
N--The windlass.
[Illustration]
_The Whaleboat_
Boats varied from 28 to 30 feet in length, with a beam of 5-1/2 to 6
feet.
A--Bow showing the “chocks,” a channel in the stem through which the
whale line ran. This was fitted with a bronze roller--or lined with
sheet lead.
Through a hole across the chocks a slender spindle of wood was
inserted--to be easily broken should necessity arise.
This “chock pin” kept the line from jumping out of its groove,--and
was, moreover, when worn in the buttonhole ashore, the badge of the
whaleman who had killed his whale.
B--Main line tub--containing 225 fathoms of whale line.
C--Reserve tub--holding from 75 to 125 fathoms.
D--Loggerhead--a heavy snubbing post around which the whale line ran
from the tub and thence forward to the bow.
E--Mast step.
F--Padded notch in the edge of the forward box into which the
harpooneer braced his thigh when darting his irons.
L--Centreboard.
Except when under sail the boat was propelled by five oars, and
in order to balance the power from this unequal number, oars of
different lengths were used.
G--Harpoon oar 16 feet long
H--Bow oar 17 “ “
I--Midship oar 18 “ “
J--Tub oar 17 “ “
K--After or stroke oar 16 “ “
Except when under sail the boat was steered by means of an oar over
twenty feet long.
The complete equipment of a boat included paddles, harpoons, lances,
spades, mast and sail, water and bread kegs, lantern, flares and
waifs, and other small gear.
[Illustration]
_A BOAT ON THE CRANES_
The whaleboat was so lightly constructed that had it been allowed
to hang by the hoisting tackle or “falls,” there was danger of it
“hogging” or breaking its back.
To obviate this “supporters” were provided to sustain part of the
weight. These “cranes” were hinged and were swung in when the boats
were lowered.
After a boat was hoisted, the tubs were removed in order to further
lighten her.
The tubs were kept on a rack abreast of the boat, inboard, and the
preparatory order before lowering was “Get your tubs aboard.”
[Illustration]
_SPARE BOATS_
Two spare boats were carried thus on the skids, and were brought into
use when one or more of the others were “stove” or destroyed.
Under these spares were racks on which cutting spades and such gear
were stowed.
This view is looking forward from the deck over the wheel.
[Illustration]
_HARPOONS_
The purpose of the harpoon was not to kill the whale but to be a means
of “getting fast” with the whale line.
The killing was done with the lance--a long shanked instrument with a
small razor-sharp tip.
From earliest times the whaleman had endeavoured to fashion a harpoon
that would not “draw” or pull out. Many variations had been tried
of the solid head type of “iron,” but they all gave way before the
“toggle” iron, invented by a Negro named Lewis Temple in 1848.
The sketch shows only the principal types--and the large variety of
bombs and bomb guns has been omitted; they savour too much of modern
methods and wholesale slaughter.
A--Two flued iron.
B--Single flued iron.
C--Temple’s toggle iron.
D--Modern toggle iron.
In the toggles a wooden match-like pin was inserted through the head of
the harpoon to hold it straight. This broke as soon as pull was exerted
on the line and the head turned as shown in fig. E.
F--An effective darting gun used against Right and Bowhead whales. A
short gun barrel was mounted on the end of the pole. On one side of
this was inserted a harpoon attached to the line. Reaching half way
to the point was a rod, which on coming in contact with the skin of
the whale, exploded the charge in the chamber and discharged a bomb.
The whole instrument was thrown in the same manner as a harpoon, the
gun-pole being retrieved by a line attached to the boat, the iron
remaining in the whale.
Except in the case of lone bulls, guns were of no use among sperm
whales; the discharge scared the herd--or as the whaleman said,
“gallied the pod.”
G--An English double flued iron with “stop withers.”
H--The Greener gun--used by Dundee whalers in the Arctic.
J--The harpoon--with slot and travelling ring--fired from the Greener
gun.
[Illustration]
_THE WHEEL_
This type of steering wheel known as “shin cracker” was peculiar to the
Yankee whaleships. The wheel was mounted on the tiller and the helm was
moved by means of tackle which ran around the drum, through sheaves and
blocks to the bulwarks. Consequently, when the steersman turned the
wheel he walked back and forward with it across the deck.
In the deck over him there was a small hatch through which he could
watch the sails.
[Illustration]
_THE FOC’S’LE_
The foc’s’le was reached by a hatch, forward of the mainmast, which
also served as the only inlet for daylight and fresh air.
In some cases the ceiling was so low that any man above average height
could not stand upright. In heavy weather the deck was never dry, due
to leaky hawse pipes and dripping oilskins, and in the tropics it was a
furnace. Altogether, the combined odours of unwashed bodies, unwashed
clothes, bilge water, tobacco and oil lanterns, made it a noisome
habitation.
The men’s bunks were ranged in a double tier along the sides and their
sea chests, lashed to the deck, served as benches.
[Illustration]
_THE WINDLASS_
This ancient contrivance known as a log windlass was only a slight
improvement over its predecessor in which the barrel was laboriously
turned by wooden bars or “handspikes” inserted in holes.
In the one shown a ratchet mechanism was added, and when weighing
anchor or cutting in a whale, four or five men on each side pumped the
brake handles up and down.
One has but to compare this heartbreaking relic to the modern steam or
electric winch to appreciate the truth of the captain’s allusion to a
yachting cruise.
[Illustration]
_THE GALLEY_
Here the cook, or “doctor” as he was called, prepared the food for
officers and crew. The galley was located aft on the starboard side,
abreast of the wheel, where the steersman might get an occasional cup
of coffee from the cook to ease his trick at the wheel.
How different to the case of the man at the wheel in merchant ships,
stamping his feet and blowing on his fingers in the roaring forties,
and looking with wistful eyes towards the galley at the far end of the
deck.
[Illustration]
_TYPES_
The crews of Yankee whalers up to, and including, the fifties were made
up mostly of Americans drawn from the neighbourhood of the ships’ home
port.
As the great West opened up, the movement overland diverted the native
American from the sea, and in the declining years of the industry crews
were composed mainly of Portuguese, Negroes, and Bravas from the Cape
Verde Islands.
Whaling crews were not paid wages but were given a “lay,” or share in
the profits at the end of the voyage.
The lay scale was graded down from 1/16th for the captain to 1/200th
for a green hand--and even less to the cabin boy.
At the end of a long voyage, when the ship was credited with oil valued
at $250,000, or more, the sailors’ share was quite worth while.
[Illustration]
_THE BLACKSMITH_
The blacksmith’s duties lay in the care of all the harpoons, spades,
lances, boarding and mincing knives, and kindred gear.
When whales were being killed and brought alongside he was a busy man,
straightening and repairing irons, and keeping the cutting-in stage
supplied with keen-edged spades.
[Illustration]
_THE COOPER_
When a whaleship set out on a voyage she was loaded from keel to deck
with casks of various sizes, from the largest, of fourteen barrel
capacity, to long, narrow ones, known as “ryers,” used to fill empty
spaces and odd corners. Many of them were filled with fresh water to
serve as ballast, and all the spare sails, food, clothing (slops) and
other reserve articles were headed up in casks.
In due course they were emptied and filled with oil, and the cooper’s
task was to keep them in good condition, and, if need arose, to
construct new ones from the staves, heads and hoops which he had in
reserve.
The term “barrel” was only used as a unit of measure:--a cask was
spoken of as an eight barrel cask or a whale’s size was reckoned in so
many barrels.
An average whaler carried in the neighbourhood of five hundred casks of
all sizes, and the keeping of them in serviceable condition involved
constant watchfulness and work on the cooper’s part.
[Illustration]
_GRINDING SPADES_
No one was busier than the ship’s boy. Helping the steward in the
pantry, turning the grindstone, peeling potatoes for the cook, or
running aloft to tie stops in the buntlines, he was kept hopping from
one job to another.
He doubtless found ere long that whaling was not as romantic a pursuit
as he had dreamed it to be, and cried himself to sleep in homesickness
many times before the end of the voyage.
[Illustration]
_COILING LINE TUBS_
The coiling of the whale line in the boats’ tubs was a matter demanding
extreme care, as not only did the catching of whales depend on the
line, but improper coiling might produce sudden kinks and fouling, to
result in the maiming or killing of one or more of the crew, or even
the loss of the boat itself.
Whale line was made of “long manila fibre” and was three quarters of an
inch in diameter. Even when new it was as pliable as an old shoe lace
and capable of sustaining a weight of three tons.
In coiling, the line was laid out on deck, the end passed through a
snatch block on the mainstay over head, and thence down to the tub. The
end, with its eye splice, was left hanging over the edge of the tub
where it could be bent onto the second tub should necessity arise.
The line was coiled clockwise to the centre, thence to the side, and
the process repeated until the tub was full.
This was known as a “flake” or “Flemish coil.”
Each boatsteerer attended to the coiling of his own tubs, a helper
meanwhile twisted the line to the left as he pulled it down through the
block.
[Illustration]
_TEN DOLLARS REWARD_
In some ships, when whales were scarce, and weeks--even months--elapsed
without a kill it was the custom for the captain to have a five or ten
dollar gold piece nailed to the mainmast to be claimed by the first man
who sighted a “blow.”
[Illustration]
_GRUB_
“What’s this--the cook’s pocketbook?”
Jack always ate his meals on deck except in inclement weather. Salt
beef or pork, cooked in a sadly unvarying fashion, was served in small
wooden tubs called “kids,” and the sailor’s treasured privilege,
no matter what the quality of the fare might be, was to make
uncomplimentary remarks about the cook and all his ancestors.
[Illustration]
“_FRESH FISH FOR THE COOK TO SPOIL_”
In the warmer latitudes there were always fish playing about the ship’s
bows: bonita, barracouta, dolphins and porpoises----
To vary the weary round of salt “horse” it was no trick at all for one
of the boatsteerers to take himself into the martingale stays and bring
up a fish that would arouse the envy of any landlubber angler.
[Illustration]
_WHALES_
1--SPERM WHALE. This whale was long avoided by the early whalemen
before means were perfected to meet his wary and pugnacious
character.
A large sperm whale would measure sixty-five feet and give eighty
barrels of oil. Many larger ones have been taken but the average
gave forty-five barrels.
Its natural food is the giant squid, which it finds at profound
depths--a half mile or more.
Sperm whales are usually found in herds or “pods,” except in the
case of occasional “lone bulls.”
2--RIGHT WHALE. This is the whale of the early history of the
industry--docile and easy to take--whose only means of defence lay
in its great tail or “flukes.” This and the Bowhead were known as
“Baleen” or whalebone whales.
They feed on the surface--their food being small crustacea or
“brit,” which they scoop up with open mouth and strain through
the rows of baleen which hang from the upper jaw.
3--BOWHEAD WHALE. The Arctic or Greenland whale. Living in the cold
waters of the high latitudes the blubber of this species is much
thicker than that of Sperm or Right, one Bowhead rendering as much
as three hundred barrels.
The quality of its oil, however, is much inferior to sperm oil, and
for years it was hunted for its whalebone alone.
[Illustration]
_WHALES_
4--FINBACK WHALE. This and the Sulphurbottom are much longer than the
Sperm, Right, and Bowhead--but were ignored because of the fact that
they sank when killed, and because of their rapidity of movement,
claimed by some to be as much as fifty miles an hour.
Modern whalers have met these difficulties by employing fast motor
boats and by inflating the dead whale with compressed air.
5--SULPHURBOTTOM--or BLUE WHALE. The longest of the whale family. Some
specimens have been taken exceeding one hundred feet in length.
6--HUMPBACK WHALE. This whale is one of the “bone” species, but its
baleen was too short to be of commercial value.
It sank when killed, but as it was almost always found in shoal
water gases due to decomposition brought it to the surface in a
short time.
[Illustration]
_THE MASTHEAD_
From the day of sailing until the home port was reached at the end of a
long voyage, lookouts were always kept at the fore and mainmastheads.
Even with his ship “full to the eyebrows” the whaling skipper could not
resist the taking of one more whale, until every possible container,
large and small, was full to running over.
The call of the lookout was a sort of wail, running through a scale of
five or six notes, each man putting in his own curlicues according to
the quality of his voice.
He would sustain the call as long as the blow lasted:
“A blow!--A blo-o-o-o-ow! A blow. A blow!!”
“Where away?” from the skipper.
“Two miles--weather beam--Blo-o-o-ow! Blo-o-o-o-! There she breaches--A
blo-o-o-ow! A blow!--A blow!”
[Illustration]
_LOWERING_
The boats were kept ready for instant lowering. The tubs were first
put aboard and a man took his station at each of the “falls” or davit
tackles, one man remaining in the boat to fend her off the side of the
ship.
“Lower away!”
Down went the boats, the crew following the best way they could,
sliding down the falls or scrambling down the side. The hooks were cast
off, mast stepped, sail hoisted, and the race for the whale began.
[Illustration]
_A RACE UNDER SAIL_
When the wind was favourable the approach was made under sail.
Various rigs were used: lug, spritsail, and sometimes a jib was set,
all designed, however, for quick manipulation.
When sailing, the boat was steered by a rudder; at all other times by
the long steering oar.
Meantime the harpooneer was busy with the whale line, running it from
the tub, round the loggerhead and forward to the chocks, coiling the
“box warp” and attaching his two irons.
[Illustration]
_WAIFING_
When a heavy swell was running it was often impossible for the men in
the boats to see the whale, so the lookout at the masthead signalled
the direction by means of a flag or “waif.”
[Illustration]
“_GOING ON_”
The angle of vision of the whale was very limited, so the approach was
made, if possible, from the right rear, except in the case of a left
handed boatsteerer.
On nearing the quarry oars were sometimes replaced by paddles. At the
right moment the officer made a sign to the boatsteerer to stand by.
The latter unshipped his oar and looked to his harpoons to see that all
was clear.
A second iron was attached by a “short warp” on a running bowline to
the whale line, and lay handy, alongside number one.
The boatsteerer did not lift his harpoon and stand poised in readiness.
In the excitement attending the crucial moment, he might succumb to
buck-fever and be unable to let go.
Instead--he flexed his fingers or rubbed his hands up and down his
legs, his eye on the whale, waiting for the command.
[Illustration]
“_GIVE IT TO HIM!_”
Like a flash he grasped his iron, and with every ounce of his strength
darted it “up to the hitches.”
Then the second iron if possible.
If the second could not be used, it was at once thrown overboard, out
of the way, to be retrieved later.
[Illustration]
_SOUNDING_
The instant command was “Stern all!!”--and the boat was backed out of
range of the great flaying tail.
Many things might happen in the next few moments.
The whale might “run”--he might turn and attack the boat with open
jaws, or “sound.”
The boatsteerer and the officer exchanged places.
The line ran out at such speed that water had to be thrown into the tub
to prevent the line setting fire to the loggerhead.
[Illustration]
_A BREACH_
Should the whale sound, he would stay down an hour or longer, taking
out at times all the line of one or more boats.
If he took all from one and no neighbouring boat was handy to supply
more, a wooden contrivance for retarding his speed called a “drug” was
made fast to the end of the line and cast loose.
The men peaked their oars, waiting for the whale to reappear.
His reappearance was not a modest drifting to the surface. He was
thoroughly enraged, and he came up in a manner dramatic and picturesque.
Suddenly, with the speed of an express train, he rose from the bottom,
often making a clean leap out of the water and coming down with a
mighty splash.
Lucky the boat’s crew that was not caught underneath.
[Illustration]
_A “CHAWED” BOAT_
A fighting bull sperm would often turn and attack the boat, and only
the skill of the boatsteerer kept it out of range of the snapping jaws
and thrashing flukes.
Boats have been destroyed at one mouthful, and those of the crew as
were unable to leap clear. Such was the rage of some whales that they
returned again and again to the broken fragments until they were
reduced to matchwood.
[Illustration]
“_A NANTUCKET SLEIGH RIDE_”
Should the whale run the crew unshipped their oars and faced forward, a
turn of the line was made round the loggerhead, and “playing the fish”
began. The boat’s tub and loggerhead were the equivalent of the reel
on the trout fisherman’s rod, and the same tactics were employed as in
trout fishing, except that the boat followed the whale at a speed of
fifteen or more knots an hour.
The boatsteerer snubbed the line by the loggerhead and the crew at each
indication of slackening of speed hauled in. Shorter and shorter the
line grew as the whale tired, and closer to his flank drew the boat’s
bow, where the mate stood ready to exercise his time honoured privilege
of delivering the final thrust.
A Nantucket sleigh ride, as it was called, often took the boat miles
beyond the horizon, and the crew were often obliged to wait many hours,
even days, to be picked up by the ship,--indeed in cases of storm or
fog there are tragic instances of boats never having been found.
[Illustration]
_LANCING_
To kill the whale at a single thrust required the greatest skill, and
the boat to be laid on at the right spot.
The mate, awaiting the moment when he could reach the “life,” made
repeated thrusts with his lance in order to weaken the victim.
The success of the final stroke was proclaimed by “spouting red”--and
the dying whale went into a “flurry,” which consisted of swimming round
in a gradually diminishing circle until with a final thrashing of his
giant flukes he rolled over on his side “fin out.”
[Illustration]
_TOWING TO THE SHIP_
If more whales were in the vicinity, the dead one was “waifed” with a
small red flag and the pursuit resumed.
A whale usually ran to windward--leaving the ship far to leeward,
shorthanded, and faced with a long beat to pick up her boats.
A line was made fast by a hole cut in the flukes, the boats were
connected, and all hands put their backs into the arduous task of
towing back to the ship.
[Illustration]
_CUTTING-IN DIAGRAM_
A--Jaw of the Sperm whale
B--Case
C--Junk
D--White Horse
E--Blanket or blubber, which was stripped from the carcass in a spiral
fashion. The blubber hook was inserted in a hole, _f_, for the
first cut.
G--H--Head and lips of the Bowhead. The latter were very rich in oil.
The same method of stripping was employed in all species of whales.
[Illustration]
_REMOVING THE LOWER JAW OF A SPERM WHALE_
Cutting in was always done on the starboard side of the ship, and if
possible, to windward, so that wind pressure on the sails tended to
lift the side of the vessel and sustain the great weight of blubber
coming aboard.
The sketch shows the cutting stage rigged out, the huge tackle made
fast to the jaw, and the mates on the stage disjointing it with their
spades.
The jaw had no commercial value whatever. When a particularly large one
was taken, stripped, and dried, it made a picturesque gateway for the
captain’s garden at home, and the great teeth were used by the crew for
their “scrimshaw” work.
[Illustration]
_THE JUNK_
The jaw having been removed, the junk was then taken off and brought on
deck to be cut up and tried out.
The junk was very rich in spermaceti--used by the manufacturers of
cosmetics and spermaceti candles.
While the whale lay alongside, the neighbouring waters were infested
with a multitude of voracious sharks, which, if the cutting in were not
done without delay tore the blubber to shreds.
During cutting in the men on the stage made periodical onslaughts on
these robbers with their spades, taking a characteristically seamanlike
satisfaction in seeing the wounded sharks instantly set upon and
devoured by their fellows.
[Illustration]
_CUTTING IN_
The captain with the first and second mate, usually was on the stage,
taking an active part in cutting in.
The windlass crew were forward, heaving on the tackle which was
suspended from the cap of the lower mainmast.
As they hove the blanket rose higher and higher, the cutters plied
their spades, and the whale rolled over and over.
[Illustration]
_THE BLANKET PIECE COMING ABOARD_
When the tackle was “block and block,” the third mate or one of the
boatsteerers, with his “boarding knife,” made a hole for the second
tackle.
A heavy blubber hook, or the eye in the long strop of the block in the
foreground was pushed through and secured on the outside by a heavy
wooden pin or toggle.
The second tackle was hove taut to take up the weight and the upper
piece sliced off.
[Illustration]
_LOWERING INTO THE HOLD_
As each piece was cut off, it was lowered down the main hatch into the
blubber room and there cut into “horse pieces,” three or four feet long
and six or eight inches wide.
[Illustration]
_MINCING_
The horse pieces were tossed back on deck, where they were placed on a
long plank set on tubs and “minced” into “books” or “bible pieces” with
large two-handled knives.
The term “books” arose from the fact that the blubber was not cut quite
through, and a minced piece bore a rough resemblance to the leaves of a
book.
[Illustration]
_TRYING OUT_
Day and night the try works were kept going, until all the blubber had
been rendered.
Dense black smoke by day, and illuminated sails and rigging at night
disclosed to passing ships the proximity of a whaler. Merchant sailors
claimed they could smell a “spouter” over the horizon.
The furnace contained two large iron kettles similar to that in the
foreground of the sketch. Beneath each of these was a separate fire
grate, and under all--a shallow pan of water as safeguard.
The minced blubber was tried out in these kettles, and when the book
pieces had given up their oil they were used as fuel. Enough of this
“crackling” was kept to start the fires for the next whale.
As the oil filled the kettles, it was bailed off into a copper cooling
tank--then to casks on deck where it cooled thoroughly for a day or two
before being stowed away in the hold.
[Illustration]
_BAILING THE CASE_
If the whale was small, the case was hoisted on deck where it was laid
open and the liquid spermaceti saved with scoops and dippers,--but if
it was too heavy for this it was secured to the side of the ship, nose
end down. A hole was cut into the reservoir and a “case bucket” rigged
from the mainyard and manipulated by four men,--one to handle the
bucket, two on the guy lines to force it down by means of the pole, and
the fourth to hoist and lower.
This oil often amounted to as much as thirty barrels of liquid
spermaceti, which had only to be headed up without further treatment.
To this day there has been found no equal to this oil for the
lubricating of watches and fine machinery.
[Illustration]
_CLEANING SHIP_
By the time the oil was tried out and the stripped carcass cast adrift
to make a royal feast for sharks and seabirds, the ship was a slithery
mass of oil, gurry, and blood,--to which was added the effects of
clouds of smut and black smoke from the try works.
All hands turned to clean ship. Ashes from the fires were sprinkled on
the deck and bulwarks, and brooms and scrubbers were plied until she
gleamed again,--except aloft, where the sails hung black and an affront
to the eyes of clippermen. When the kettles had been scrubbed inside
until they shone like silver punchbowls, the men turned their attention
to themselves and their clothes.
To be clean again! How good it felt:--ship, gear, and man.
But how often was it no sooner achieved than a yell from the masthead
announced
“She blows! She blows!”
and all the weary business had to be gone through with again.
[Illustration]
_MAIN HATCH SURGERY_
Some English and Scottish whalers carried surgeons, but it was not the
custom in Yankee ships. Whatever casualties befell his men, the captain
attended to as best he could.
Heroic tales are related of bone settings and amputations without
anesthetics aboard whaleships that pay high tribute to the fortitude of
that vanished race of hardy seamen.
[Illustration]
_BOAT SURGERY_
While the captain repaired his men--“Chips” repaired his boats.
Ships’ carpenters received their training as boat builders, and were
prepared, not only to mend them, but had “knocked down” parts stowed
below for the construction of new ones.
Whaleboats were very lightly built and subjected to extremely rough
handling. Seldom did a whaleship start a voyage with anything but new
craft on her davits.
[Illustration]
_ASHORE FOR WATER_
As the casks were filled with oil, the fresh water supply diminished,
so shore parties were sent off with empty casks to be filled and towed
back to the ship.
[Illustration]
_HAVING IT OUT_
Fighting aboard ship was not tolerated by the captain, and grudges were
carefully nursed until some shore duty afforded the belligerents an
opportunity to settle their affair on the beach.
[Illustration]
_RECRUITING ON THE BEACH_
Disillusioned by hard work, indifferent food, and miserable conditions
of living in general, men were constantly deserting the whaleships,
especially in the South Seas--where the islands presented a seemingly
idyllic existence to the hard driven sailor man.
Whaling captains did their best to repair these losses by recruiting
among the beachcombers and deserters from other ships, but the
inducements held out were no different to those with which they were
only too well acquainted, and met with little success, except in cases
where idleness and monotony gave way to a desire to get home again.
Many of these runaways, however, were so steeped in the soft living in
the islands that they deserted again at the first opportunity.
[Illustration]
_A “GAM”_
The tedium of a protracted whale hunt and association with the same
companions for months on end was relieved when two ships met at sea. If
they hailed from the same port so much the better.
The sails were laid aback, and the captains, mates, and crews exchanged
visits. Old friends met, and letters passed--along with newspapers and
home gossip. Work ceased--the cook threw a few more raisins in the plum
duff--and a general holiday was declared.
A gam might last a day or a week, and if whales appeared there was
friendly competition between the boats of one ship and the other, the
oil taken during this period of “mating” being shared equally.
[Illustration]
_SONG AND DANCE_
With a Negro or two in the crew, the foc’s’le could always be assured
of entertainment in the dog watches or during a gam.
[Illustration]
_BUMBOATS_
When ships touched at ports in the Cape Verde Islands, the Azores, or
other such rendezvous they were surrounded by peddlers of fresh fruit
and vegetables, a very welcome variant after months of salt junk and
hardtack.
[Illustration]
_ARCTIC WHALING_
Compared to the dramatic action of Sperm whaling, the taking of Right
whales was a tame business, but the chase of Bowhead or Arctic whales
took men among icebergs and floes where their work was complicated by
discomfort and the danger of ships being crushed or wrecked.
Many individual whalers have been thus lost, and in 1871 a fleet of
thirty-four was crushed and abandoned in the Arctic ice.
[Illustration]
_WHALEBONE_
Whalebone, which once brought a higher price than the oil of the bone
whales, has little or no commercial value now.
The sketch shows the upper part of the head of a Bowhead whale, with
the whalebone attached.
In larger specimens the slabs of “bone” reached twelve feet or more in
length.
[Illustration]
_CLEANING WHALEBONE_
The “slabs” were cut from the jaw, and after being scraped and washed
were tied in bundles.
[Illustration]
_DEAD MAN’S CHEST_
When a man died or deserted, unless the captain chose to take his
effects back to his family, they were auctioned off to the highest
bidder.
As often as not the chest was worth more than the contents.
[Illustration]
_HOMEWARD BOUND_
Instead of sailing for home when the ship was full, many whalers
discharged their oil at the Hawaiian Islands or San Francisco and set
out for more.
This oil was put aboard large cargo ships capable of carrying the catch
of several whalers, and taken round the Horn to New York, Boston, or
the whaleships’ home port.
But at last the “spouter” was filled up and ready for the long passage
home, the captain served grog, and all hands were hailed aft to “splice
the main brace.”
[Illustration]
“_SCRIMSHAW_”
With a four or five months’ passage home before him, the whaleman
occupied himself by carving and fashioning all manner of articles
out of bone and whales’ teeth;--scrimshaw work. He had usually some
particular person in mind as he scraped and sawed, filed and drilled,
often with tools made from nails or odd bits of metal.--Model ships
or boats, knives, forks, combs, ladles, yarn winders, bodkins, and a
thousand other nick-nacks were turned out.
The favourite article however was the “jagging wheel,”--a contrivance
for decorating pie crust and pastry, and many were the variations on
the handles of these jaggers.
The visitor inspecting the fine collection of these what Herman
Melville calls “Skrimshandered” articles, in the Nantucket and New
Bedford Whaling Museums, cannot help being struck with the exquisite
workmanship of most of the specimens and the high degree of artistry
attained in the decoration of them.
* * * * *
The whaleman and his trim little ships have gone on the long passage,
but if in nothing else, he has left in this a delightful and worthy
record behind him.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: End paper depicting whaling]
Transcriber’s Notes
Perceived typographical errors have been silently corrected.
Archaic and unusual spelling has been retained as in the original.
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