The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-12-16
WHALE HUNTING.
IT'S Prosecution on the New En-
gland Coast.
The Pursuit of the Finbaek-Use Of the
Bomb-Lance-A Successful Hunt or
the Coast of Maine.

1t may be unknown to most readers
that whale fishery has been for
eight or ten years carried on in the
waters of the New England coast.
Several fishing villages along the
Maine coast and Grand Manan are
local centers of this whale hunting.
The pursuit of the finback whale was
formerly held in contempt by the
whalemen of Nantucket and New Bed
ford, who preferred to voyage to the
Pacific and the Arctic for the sperm
whale. The speed and activity of the
fnback had no attraction for these old
time Nimrods of the ocean. Indeed,
but for the bomb-lance and other mod
ern appliances, the business would
hardly be profitable to-day. for the fin
back is a very gamey whale, and to the
rapidity of his movements adds great
tenacity of life, He is long, clean,
finely nodded creature, sometimes at
tanning length of seventy or eighty
feet. but commonly measuring from
forty to sixty.
In the finback, nature seems to have
designed whale especially for speed
in swimming, and for easy movements
in the water. Its tail is tremendous
engine of propulsion. No screw-pro-
peller yet invented by man can equal
it. A railroad express train would find
the swiftness of this great mammal
something of a test of its speed.
The finback generally appears in our
New England waters early in the
spring, in pursuit of the schools of
mackerel and herring which, together
with saltwater eels and other small
fish, make the bulk ofits food. Closing
in upon such school, the finback pre-.
pares for dinner by simply opening his
big mouth at widest stretch. and then
driving ahead at full speed through the
crowded mass of frightened fishes.
When goodly mouthful is corralled,
snap comes the wide jaws together,
and then, without any attempt at mas
tication-for the finback is not favored
with teeth, the entire squirming, flop
ping mass, several barrels it may be,
is transferred at a single gulp to It's
enormous stomach. This maneuyer
having been repeated till its appetite is
appeased, the gorged leviathan takes a
siesta, floating lazily on the surface,
rising and falling with the surge, as
inert as derclct hulk.
Then after digestion has done its
work, the monster wakes up, becomes
playful and kittenish, and proceeds to
give gymnastic exhibition, either
alone or in company with number of
Its fellows. A lamb in its pasture in
May, or young puppy in a backyard,
never cuts queerer antics orplays more
exnberant pranks. First, perhaps, it
Will flourish about twenty feet of long
black tail in the air. the enormous
creature apparently standing on his
head. Next, he will stand on his tail,
throwing his big head out of the water,
to an equal height, with low, deep
whish. and smack of his jaws audible
long distance away. Then he takes
a header straight down into the
depths, coming up half mile away to
Dlow again. Races of two and two
and all sorts of watery waltzes are now
IN order, and this wild play may con-
unue till it is time to recommence the
principal business of its life, namely,
fishing.
The present outfit for hunting the fin
back and its more rarely seen con-
gener, the humpback. consists usually
oi schooner of from twenty-five to a
hundred and fifty tons burden, carrying
awhale-boat of the old approved model,
with men enough to man it we'll six
OF elght-and two or three spare hands
70 manage the schooner when the boat
Is after its prey. The skipper is COM
monty owner. or part owner, and gen.
orally handles the bomb-gun, or har-
poon, and pulls spare oar in the boat
Us we'll. The bomb-lance is now the
weapon most relied on to kill the fin
PACK. The gun from which the lance
y nred is short, very thick and clumsy,
WITH a barrel about seventeen inches
.ong, and the breech made very heavy
Win lead, to break the force Of the
severe reeoil. The projectile, or bomb
.ance itself. is pointed cylinder, about
loot long. The point is made triang-
ular, and the base hollow to contain a
saalge OF powder. Around the base
.ne cylinder are fitted India rubber
s,ngs. which fold up when the lance
: .nrust down the barrel of the gun,
dau ACT as awad. But when discharged,
Mese wings unfold and serve as the
no;s sa.ner OF an arrow, to steady the
ss rn.s OF the lance 30 that it moves
stralght in the air
ehaue a .use. cut to explode the bursting
sfsals fase n the projectile within a asecond
tha III. n!lng. projects from the base of
'si'nder. The discharge Of the gun