trength of the porpoise must be very great, for I have seen him
twist a whale harpoon several times round, and eventually tear himself
off by main force. On this account, it is of consequence to get the
floundering gentleman on board with the least possible delay after the
fish is struck. Accordingly, the harpooner, the instant he has made a
good hit, bawls out, "Haul away! haul away!" upon which the men
stationed at the line run away with it, and the struggling wretch is
raised high into the air. Two or three of the smartest hands have in
the mean time prepared what is called a running bowline knot, or
noose, the nature of which may be readily described by saying that
although it slips up, or renders, very easily, it is perfectly secure,
without being subject to jamming. This running bowline, of which
several are always previously made ready, is placed by hand round the
body of the porpoise, or it may be cast, like the lasso, over its
tail, and then, but not till then, can the capture be considered quite
secure. I have seen many a gallant prize of this kind fairly
transfixed with the harpoon, and rattled like a shot up to the block,
where it was hailed by the shouts of the victors as the source of a
certain feast, and yet lost after all, either by the line breaking, or
the dart coming out during the vehement struggles of the fish.

I remember once seeing a porpoise accidentally struck by a minor
description of fish-spear called a grains, a weapon quite inadequate
for such a service. The cord by which it was held, being much too
weak, soon broke, and off dashed the wounded fish, right in the wind's
eye, at a prodigious rate, with the staff erect on its back, like a
signal-post. The poor wretch was instantly accompanied, or pursued, by
myriads of his own species, whose instinct, it is said, teaches them
to follow any track of blood, and even to devour their unfortunate
fellow-fish. I rather doubt the fact of their cannibalism, but am
certain that, whenever a porpoise is struck and escapes, he is
followed by all the others, and the ship is deserted by the shoal in a
few seconds. In the instance just mentioned, the grains with which the
porpoise was struck had been got ready for spearing a dolphin; but the
man in whose hands it happened to be, not being an experienced
harpooneer, could not resist the opportunity of darting his weapon
into the first fish that offered a fair mark.

The dolphin, the bonito, and the albacore,