第29章 ABNER'S WHALE(6)

One unfortunate beggar was perched aloft on the above-mentioned spar, where his position, like the main-yard of Marryatt's verbose carpenter was "precarious and not at all permanent." He was provided with a pole, with which he pushed the bucket down through a hole cut in the upper end of the "case," whence it was drawn out by the chaps on deck full of spermaceti.It was a weary, unsatisfactory process, wasting a great deal of the substance being baled out; but no other way was apparently possible.The grease blew about, drenching most of us engaged in an altogether unpleasant fashion, while, to mend matters, the old barky began to roll and tumble about in an aimless, drunken sort of way, the result of a new cross swell rolling up from the south-westward.As the stuff was gained, it was poured into large tanks in the blubber-room, the quantity being too great to be held by the try-pots at once.Twenty-five barrels of this clear, wax-like substance were baled from that case; and when at last it was lowered a little, and cut away from its supports, it was impossible to help thinking that much was still remaining within which we, with such rude means, were unable to save.Then came the task of cutting up the junk.Layer after layer, eight to ten inches thick, was sliced off, cut into suitable pieces, and passed into the tanks.So full was the matter of spermaceti that one could take a piece as large as one's head in the hands, and squeeze it like a sponge, expressing the spermaceti in showers, until nothing remained But a tiny ball of fibre.All this soft, pulpy mass was held together by walls of exceedingly tough, gristly integrument ("white horse"), which was as difficult to cut as gutta-percha, and, but for the peculiar texture, not at all unlike it.

When we had finished separating the junk, there was nearly a foot of oil on deck in the waist, and uproarious was the laughter when some hapless individual, losing his balance, slid across the deck and sat down with a loud splash in the deepest part of the accumulation.

The lower jaw of this whale measured exactly nineteen feet in length from the opening of the mouth, or, say the last of the teeth, to the point, and carried twenty-eight teeth on each side.

For the time, it was hauled aft out of the way, and secured to the lash-rail.The subsequent proceedings were just the same as before described, only more so.For a whole week our labours continued, and when they were over we had stowed below a hundred and forty-six barrels of mingled oil and spermaceti, or fourteen and a half tuns.

It was really a pleasant sight to see Abner receiving as if being invested with an order of merit, the twenty pounds of tobacco to which he was entitled.Poor fellow! he felt as if at last he were going to be thought a little of, and treated a little better.He brought his bounty forrard, and shared it out as far as it would go with the greatest delight and good nature possible.Whatever he might have been thought of aft, certainly, for the time, he was a very important personage forrard; even the Portuguese, who were inclined to be jealous of what they considered an infringement of their rights, were mollified by the generosity shown.

After every sign of the operations had been cleared away, the jaw was brought out, and the teeth extracted with a small tackle.

They were set solidly into a hard white gum, which had to be cut away all around them before they would come out.When cleaned of the gum, they were headed up in a small barrel of brine.The great jaw-pans were sawn off, and placed at the disposal of anybody who wanted pieces of bone for "scrimshaw," or carved work.This is a very favourite pastime on board whalers, though, in ships such as ours, the crew have little opportunity for doing anything, hardly any leisure during daylight being allowed.But our carpenter was a famous workman at "scrimshaw," and he started half a dozen walking-sticks forthwith.A favourite design is to carve the bone into the similitude of a rope, with "worming" of smaller line along its lays.A handle is carved out of a whale's tooth, and insets of baleen, silver, cocoa-tree, or ebony, give variety and finish.The tools used are of the roughest.Some old files, softened in the fire, and filed into grooves something like saw-teeth, are most used; but old knives, sail-needles, and chisels are pressed into service.The work turned out would, in many cases, take a very high place in an exhibition of turnery, though never a lathe was near it.Of course, a long time is taken over it, especially the polishing, which is done with oil and whiting, if it can be got--powdered pumice if it cannot.Ionce had an elaborate pastry-cutter carved out of six whale's teeth, which I purchased for a pound of tobacco from a seaman of the CORAL whaler, and afterwards sold in Dunedin, New Zealand, for L2 10s., the purchaser being decidedly of opinion that he had a bargain.