The Common Rorqual 2 7 3
even forty-pound salmon in heavy water on the Tay— the supreme moments in
an angler’s life—but that was mere child’s play to the intense excitement which
we experienced during the next three hours. To be in tow of a wild Whale is
something to remember to one’s dying day. You feel that you are alive and
that you are there with the sport of kings. No wonder the Norwegians are full
of life ; the men, from the captain to the cook, run to their several tasks with
eyes and hearts aflame. This is a calling which will stir the blood of the dullest
clod, and to men who are one and all the finest seamen in the world is the very
life and essence of the Viking nature.
‘ Three hours of this fierce race went on, and the Whale seemed as if it would
take us to Iceland. The gallant Finback was as fresh as ever when the captain
gave the order, “ Quarter speed astern.” With a tremendous strain on the rope
and the churning of the backward-driving screw, our speed was at once reduced
to ten knots. It was marvellous, the strength of the animal. The minutes and
even the hours fled by, still the great Cetacean held on its northward course
without a check. Three hours passed; then came the order “ Half-speed astern,”
and we were down to six knots, the vessel and the Whale still fighting the battle
for the mastery. In another hour the Whale showed visible signs of weakening,
when 1 Full speed astern ” brought matters to a standstill. The machinery of man
and the natural strength of the beast still worried on for another hour, and then
we saw the steamer moving backwards ; the Whale was done, and could pull
no more.
* The rope was then slackened, hoisted on to a “ giving ” pulley, and then
wound on to the powerful steam winch, which, acting like the fisherman’s reel,
at once began to “ take in.” Nothing was heard for another hour but the monotonous
throb of the engine, until at last on the crest of a wave, about
three hundred yards to windward, was seen the great Finback, rolling over
and over, spouting continuously, but so tired that it was unable to drag or dive.
* The captain now gave the order “ Lower away to lance.” There was a fairly
heavy sea running, as there always is off Shetland, and yet I never saw anything
more smartly done than the way in which those Norwegians flung their light
“ pram” into the water and jumped in from the bulwarks. Other men were ready
with the oars, which they handed to the two rowers, while the mate seized the
long fifteen-foot “ killing lance,” and the small party rowed rapidly away towards
the Whale. This is the dangerous part of whaling; the killing of the Finback,
and more especially the Humpback, is neither a safe nor an easy matter. I f the
VOL. III. N N