t
invariably killed it at once. This harpoon-gun is now used all over the
world, and has made whaling a wonderfully profitable business.

[Illustration: THE MODERN HARPOON AND WHALE BOAT]

The gun is placed in the bows of small steamers built especially for the
purpose, and is aimed and fired much as any other gun. When a whale is
sighted the craft is steered in its direction, and moves silently up
behind the big monster as he lies on the water taking long breaths or
resting. When the bow is within about twenty or thirty yards of the
whale the gunner takes careful aim at his most vital parts, and fires
the harpoon and shell combination, which is, of course, attached to the
vessel by a long line, just as in the case of the old harpoon. The spear
goes deep into the whale, but the moment he rushes forward or turns
flukes he tightens the line, and the end of the spear is therefore
pulled out behind. This acts on the flukes of the harpoon in such a way
that they are pulled out and catch in the flesh of the whale, as shown
in the accompanying illustration, and he cannot therefore get away.

But besides this, the flukes, in thrusting themselves out, break a
little glass tube inside a shell, which can be seen in the illustration
just ahead of the flukes. In this tube there is an acid, and outside the
tube but still inside the shell is another acid. When the glass is
broken and the acid inside mingles with the other, they chemically form
a third substance, which is a remarkably explosive gas that expands so
very quickly and to such enormous proportions that the shell bursts and
explodes inside the whale. If the poor beast is not killed at once, he
is so severely wounded that he is soon captured and hauled alongside the
steamer.

Sometimes, however, the harpoon does not penetrate far enough or fails
to hit a vital part, and then the explosion only wounds the whale
slightly and angers him. At such times there is a long and a hard chase
in which the steamer is hauled through the water at thirty miles an hour
for different lengths of time. Svend tells a story of being so towed by
an enormous whale for ten hours at more than twenty-eight miles an hour
up against a hard gale of wind. At the end of that time, as the whale
did not seem to get tired, and as the steamer still held together, the
cable attached to the harpoon broke, and the whale disappeared.

There is a good deal of danger connected with this modern harpooning
other t