THE WORLD OF ICE. 47

“There she goes!” cried Fred in a tone of intense
excitement, as he caught sight of the whale not more
than fifty yards ahead of the boat.

“ Now, boys,” cried the captain, in a hoarse whisper,
“spring hard—lay back hard, I say—stund wp 1”

At the last word Amos Parr sprang to his feet and
seized the harpoon, the boat ran right on to the
whale’s back, and in an instant Parr sent two irons to
the hitches into the fish.

“Stern all!” The men backed their oars with all
their might, in order to avoid the flukes of the wounded
monster of the deep, as it plunged down headlong into
the sea, taking the line out perpendicularly like light-
ning. This was a moment of great danger. The
friction of the line as it passed the loggerhead was so
great that Parr had to keep constantly pouring water
on it to prevent its catching fire. A hitch in the line
at that time, as it flew out of the tub, or any accidental
entanglement, would have dragged the boat and crew
right down: many such fatal accidents occur to whalers,
and inany a poor fellow has had a foot ov an arm torn
off, or been dragged overboard and drowned, in conse-
quence of getting entangled. One of the men stood
ready with a small hatchet to cut the line in a monient,
if necessary ; for whales sometimes run out all that is
in a boat at the first plunge, and should none of the
other boats be at hand to lend a sccond line to attach
to the one nearly expended, there is nothing for it
but to eut. On the present occasion, however, none of
these accidents befell the men of the captain’s boat.