y religious man. I may say, without more than justice, that
he was the father of his crew. His father had been in the same service
before him for many years; and he had the advantage of his experience,
to which he added the knowledge he himself had gained. I do not give
him as a specimen of the masters of all whalers, for I fear there are
few like him, though they must of necessity be intelligent and superior
men. There were three mates. The chief mate, Mr Todd, was also chief
harpooner or specksioneer. Then there were the other harpooners,
boat-steerers, line-managers, and coopers, beside foremast-men,
landsmen, and apprentices.

It is not the custom to pay simply monthly wages; but, as an inducement
to all hands to exert themselves in their several capacities in
capturing fish, they receive a gratuity for every size fish caught
during the voyage, or a certain sum for every tun of oil which the cargo
produces. The master gets scarcely any pay if he has no success in his
voyage; but for every whale killed he gets three guineas, from ten to
twenty shillings for each tun of oil, and a thirtieth to a twentieth on
the value of the cargo; so that he may make as much as five hundred
pounds by a single voyage. The chief mate may get nearly a hundred, and
the seamen twenty-five pounds each. Many of the ships belong to Hull
and other northern ports of England and Scotland; but it is usual to
touch at the Orkneys or Shetland, to complete the complement of the crew
with the hardy islanders who inhabit them.

A whaler, in order to withstand the shock of the ice, is strengthened
inside, both at the stem and stern, by stout timbers placed in various
directions, and fastened securely together; while on the outside she is
in parts covered with a double, and even a treble planking, besides
other thick pieces, which serve to ward off the blows from the parts
most likely to receive them. How little all the strengthening which the
art and ingenuity of man can devise is of avail against the mighty power
of the ice, I shall have hereafter to describe. The masts of a whaler
are lower than in a common merchantman, and her sails are smaller, and
cut in a different shape, the courses or lower sails decreasing towards
the foot, so as to be worked with slight strength. Sometimes this is of
importance, as, when all the boats are away together in chase of whales,
three or four men alone remain on board to take care of the ship.

A whal