The Sun.
London, England, 1821-10-06 00:00:00

THE CONGREVE ROCKET.

APPLICATION OF THE CONGREVE ROCKET IN
THE FISHERIES.

The ship Fame has retutned to Hull, and Capt. Scoresby has
confirmed all that was stated in his letter of the Nth of June,,
inserted in some of the Public Papers in July last, respecting
the important advantages to be derived from the use of the
rocket in the Whale fishery.
The Fame has brought home nine fish, in the capture of the
whole of which ':ie rockets were successfully employed. After
being struck by the rocket, the largest whale became an
easy prey to its pursuers. In one case, instant death was pro-
duced by a single rocket, and in all cases the speed of the fish
was much diminished, and its power of sinking limited to three
or four fathoms.

One of the largest finners, of 100 feet in length, a species of
fish seldom attacked by the ordinary means, and of the capture
of which there is scarcely an instance on record, in the northern
seas, was immediately tamed by a discharge of rockets, so that
the boats overtook and surrounded it with ease.
Six out of the nine fish died in less than 15 minutes ; and five
out of the number took no line at all. One only survived
nearly two hours, and one only took out more than a single
line, by getting into a pack of ice, where the boats could not
follow.
The peculiar value and importance of the rocket in the fish-
eries, is, that by means of it, all the destructive effects of a
six or even a twelve-pounder piece of artillery, both as to pene-
tration, explosive force, and internal fire, calculated to accel-
e ate the death of the animal, may be given with an apparatus
not heavier than a musket, and without any shock or reaction
on the boat; whereas, it is obvious that no boat applicable to
the fishery of the whale can ever be made capable of sustaining
the shock necessary to produce the same, as affects the six or
twelve-pound shell, by the ordinary means of artillery, or any
thing in any degree approaching them.
In fact, nothing. larger than the harpoon-gun could be ap-
plied ; and the missile which could be discharged from such an
implement, could neither have penetration, nor explosive force,
sufficient to do any serious injury to the fish.
With respect to the rocket, however, it is a fact, that some
of the smallest, fired in the late experiment in the Fame, pe-
netrated completely through the body of the fish, so that the
effect of the explosion was visible on the opposite side—the
fierce fire of the rocket fixed in the animal's inside, rapidly de-
stroying life ; and the effects and report of the explosion, being
distinctly perceivable within him, in one instance, as above
stated, producing immediate death. Indeed, it is certain, that
this might, in almost every case, be insured by increasing the
power of the rocket, without increasing the inconvenience or in-
cumbrance of the apparatus required to discharge it, and with
as little reaction on the boat as when the smallest rockets are
used. In addition to this it may be stated, that there is no
doubt of the rocket ultimately dispensing with the operation of
the hand harpoon, by conveying the line, and destroying the
animal at the same time, and that, without requiring the ap-
proach of the boat to the fish, within the limits of perfect s xu-
rity. It is also equally certain, that the large finners, never
or rarely attacked in the North, will be rendered an easy prey
by the judicious application of the rocket.