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Then came the dull explosion of the bomb-lance somewhere in the vitals of the whale. "Stern all! stern all!" shouted Mr. Gibson, this time finding his voice. The wounded whale flung itself completely out of the water.
I seized our second mate by his shirt collar. In a moment I had lifted him into the boat. At the same moment Tom Anderly got forward, seized the gun which poor Gibson had dropped, and sent a bomb-lance into the whale at so short a distance that it seemed as though we might have touched him by putting out a hand. But that fighting whale died hard.
Gibson had risen and aimed the gun and was about to fire when the cow-whale seemed to suddenly understand her loss and her own danger. Her head went down and her great tail flirted in the air. Mr. Gibson went over backward, exploding the gun and sending the bomb-lance into the air.
In each boat belonging to the Scarboro there was stowed a lance-gun in place of the lances. The bomb-lance is surer than the old-time lance, and keeps the boat and crew farther from the seat of peril. I rose up as soon as we drove in near the big bull that we had been approaching. And it was a big fellow! I think it was as large a sperm as we had seen.
The bomb-lance and gun are all very well; but the harpoon is the real weapon on which the whaleman must depend. This iron must be right and the line attached to it must be right, or the best of harpooners will make a poor tally. The whale line is a fine manila rope 1-1/2 inches thick.
Not that there was much occasion or opportunity to exhibit any prowess. The record of the day's proceedings would be as tame as to read of a day's work in a slaughter-house. Suffice it to say, that we actually killed six whales, none of whom were less than fifty barrels, no boat ran out more than one hundred fathoms of line, neither was a bomb-lance used.
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