t ■ ]
C H A P. IX.
M-Defcfipfivft èfL M fi S.t ’®&hoe>.d’s G U N - HA^R P O O N.
' F I 0 . i.
A, A W ROUGHl^'iro fi Swivel-gun, with a lock fixed to it: its
t \ ihpre.an ii^bgihd:a.JialfLdiahietet. i:
n , ,B,: noiThe .Harpoon : its extreme! 1 qpgth<■ is ;thjee feet; j . its back end two feet
4,©ngp anddope [inch-land; fijjec’fcw^ftffsj'diametéry having a> hollow aperture one
foot eleven incites and a ‘half i<|n3gpTanfU half an inch broad, in which the.
ring Aides Trom ,end to endr: atst-fp^e end is. ^n inches and feven twelfths long,
fi'flfiWKTOfth roüiihs]8f ah'^i®'!^p etet^f^|sd a barb fix inches long,
and‘five inches and a half‘bïöad, '$ith cutting ctifvéd edges.
fp C , .. The Wire Ring, Xo whipfi thé-Whale-line is. fpliced :' this Ring, is three
inches and a half diameter! rconfiff ing of feven, revolutions of neilded ifon Wire,
forming: in the whole[ halfan. inch diameter, bound'about one third of its revolu-
||pa waxedj cor d.
Ö', ' A coil ofWhale-nne^ laid oh the Traverfe Kod É, to. "prevent its tang-
fling when the Harpoon is fired off. -
yffL . The Traverfe Rod: this Roff is one foot* three ‘inches long,,,and
^iÉfëe rourms of an inch diameter, made very fmooth,andis welded tp a flat iron
brace fcrewed to the underiffnsfacefff the gun.
; . The Committee b# [Mechanics made repeated trial of the Gun-harpoons
at Mr. Barnard‘s Yard, and alfo .on the River in boats,, off the Orchard-houfe
near Blackwall, in prefence (of Captain Brinkley, of the Leviathan Greenland-fhip,
and Captain Thew^ of the Rifing Sun Greenland-fhip,,-Who were of. opinion, .that
by this method one fifh in five would not.efcape being fattened at a difiance of
fifteen fathoms; whereas hy the-common method of 'harpooning there is hot on
an average, more, than one-ffirowdn twenty, that fecures the fifh at the difiance
of fathoms.
.. .The Committee therefore- recommended to the Safety, to provide, fix fwivel-
guns, with Iocjks, and-j24 harpoons Captain
Brinttey and Captain 7^m, who have engaged to make full trial .of them the
next feafon of the Greenland fiQiery, and give a circumftintial account of the
'trials and fuccefsfto the*Society. :
Refolvtjd to recommend -toj the Society to give,Mr.TStagholdi^ iéi Inventor, the.,
fum of Twenty Guineas, for the fatisfai&pry trials „already made, the Society re-
ferving ta itfelf a farther reward' when the utility of thé invention by adtual expe-
^rimenis* the, WhaFe-fifhcry fhall. have been proved.
. Thefe Refolutions of the Committee were agreed to by the Society, March
4> M l f ’ -
Notfej They alfo gaveff Mr, Stag hold a further bounty of Thirty Guineas,
December 9, .177 2V
V01. II, R C HA P .