imply a flat bit of steel,
like a piece of clock spring, which was held down by the hooked end of a
steel rod long enough to stick out beyond the muzzle of the gun three or
four inches, and held in position by two flanges at the butt and muzzle
of the barrel. On the opposite side of the tube were two more flanges,
close together, into the holes of which was inserted the end of a
specially made harpoon, having an eye twisted in its shank through which
the whale line was spliced. The whole machine was fitted to a neat pole,
and strongly secured to it by means of a "gun warp," or short piece of
thin line, by which it could be hauled back into the boat after being
darted at a whale. To prepare this weapon for use, the barrel was
loaded with a charge of powder and a bomb similar to those used in the
shoulder-guns, the point of which just protruded from the muzzle. An
ordinary percussion cap was placed upon the nipple, and the trigger
cocked by placing the trigger-rod in position. The harpoon, with the
line attached, was firmly set into the socketed flanges prepared for it,
and the whole arrangement was then ready to be darted at the whale in
the usual way.

Supposing the aim to be good and the force sufficient, the harpoon
would penetrate the blubber until the end of the trigger-rod was driven
backwards by striking the blubber, releasing the trigger and firing the
gun. Thus the whale would be harpooned and bomb-lanced at the same time,
and, supposing everything to work satisfactorily, very little more could
be needed to finish him. But the weapon was so cumbersome and awkward,
and the harpooners stood in such awe of it, that in the majority of
cases the whale was either missed altogether or the harpoon got such
slight hold that the gun did not go off, the result being generally
disastrous.

In the present case, however, the "Pierce" gun was in the hands of a man
by no means nervous, and above criticism or blame in case of failure. So
when he sailed in to the attack, and delivered his "swashing blow," the
report of the gun was immediately heard, proving conclusively that a
successful stroke had been made.

It had an instantaneous and astonishing effect. The sorely wounded
monster, with one tremendous expiration, rolled over and over swift as
thought towards his aggressor, literally burying the boat beneath his
vast bulk. Now, one would have thought surely, upon seeing this, that
none of that boat's crew would ever have bee