It Is Also Necessary That There
Should Be Two Of These Boats, That If One Should Be Destroyed In
Attacking The Whale, The Other, Which Is Never Engaged At The Same
Time, May Be Ready To Save The Hands.
Five of the thirteen are
always Indians; the last of the complement remains on board to steer
the vessel during the action.
They have no wages; each draws a
certain established share in partnership with the proprietor of the
vessel; by which economy they are all proportionately concerned in
the success of the enterprise, and all equally alert and vigilant.
None of these whalemen ever exceed the age of forty: they look on
those who are past that period not to be possessed of all that
vigour and agility which so adventurous a business requires. Indeed
if you attentively consider the immense disproportion between the
object assailed and the assailants; if you think on the diminutive
size, and weakness of their frail vehicle; if you recollect the
treachery of the element on which this scene is transacted; the
sudden and unforeseen accidents of winds, etc., you will readily
acknowledge that it must require the most consummate exertion of all
the strength, agility, and judgment, of which the bodies and minds
of men are capable, to undertake these adventurous encounters.
As soon as they arrive in those latitudes where they expect to meet
with whales, a man is sent up to the mast head; if he sees one, he
immediately cries out AWAITE PAWANA, here is a whale:
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