n to breathe,"
said Tom.

He was right. The whale rose at no great distance from where it had
gone down, and somewhat nearer the ship. The boats were quickly up to
it, and before it had done spouting, two harpoons, with a deadly force,
were shot into its side. The boats backed off speedily to return to
strike into it a number of lances. The whale, feeling a sudden pain,
lifted up its flukes and disappeared. The line was quickly run out, and
before long the creature again came to the surface and attempted to swim
away from its foes; but it had not gone far, before it began furiously
to lash the water with its flukes, beating it into a mass of foam and
blood. The boats kept clear, their crews well knowing that one blow of
that mighty tail would dash their boats to splinters. It was the last
effort of the monster, which soon rolled over on its side perfectly
dead. A cheer from the boats' crews, which was heard over the water,
announced their success, when, securing tow-ropes to the whale, they
dragged it alongside without loss of time, and the operation of cutting
out was commenced.

Two of the crew descended with sharp spades, when they cut off the head
of the whale, which was at once secured under the counter. A large hook
being then fastened in a hole cut in the blubber at the head end of the
animal, the operator commenced cutting off a strip about three feet
broad, in a spiral direction, and a tackle having been fixed to the
hook, this was drawn up on board, the body of the whale turning round
and round. As the blubber was thus hoisted up, it was cut into pieces,
known, as blanket pieces, and thrown into huge cauldrons arranged along
the deck. As soon as the carcase was stripped of this, its outer
coating, it was allowed to float away, and the spermaceti oil in the
head astern was dipped out with small buckets at the end of poles, until
the whole was extracted. This oil, the most valuable part of the whale,
was then boiled separately, and stowed in casks. Now commenced the
operation of trying out. Fires were lighted under the huge try-pots,
the crisp membranous parts of the blanket, after the oil had been
extracted, serving as fuel. The blubber was boiled until the oil rose
to the surface, when it was skimmed off and placed in casks. In
daylight the men thus employed looked grim enough, but at night, as they
worked away, stripped to their waists, the fire casting a glare over
their smoke-begrimed figu