lder.)

"Banging swiftly alongside of him, from his great head down to the
'small' of his back, the fierce killers seize his body in their savage
jaws and tear great strips of blubber from off his writhing sides in
huge mouthfuls, and then jerking the masses aside, take another and
another bite. In vain he sweeps his flukes with fearful strokes from
side to side--the bull-dogs of the sea come not within their range; in
vain he tries to 'sound'--there is a devil on each side of his jaws,
their cruel teeth fixed firmly into his huge lips; perhaps two or three
are underneath him tearing and riving at the great rough corrugations of
his grey-white belly; whilst others, with a few swift, vertical strokes
of their flukes, draw back for fifty feet or so, charge him amidships,
and strike him fearful blows on the ribs with their bony heads. Round
and round, in ever-narrowing circles as his strength fails, the tortured
humpback swims, sometimes turning on his back or side, but failing,
failing fast.

"'He's done for, lads. Pull up; stand up, Jim.'

"The boat dashes up, and Jim, the man who is pulling bow oar, picks up
his harpoon. A minute later it flies from his hand, and is buried deep
into the body of the quivering animal, cutting through the thick blubber
as a razor would cut through the skin of a drum.

"'Stern all!' and the harpooner tumbles aft and grips the steer oar,
and the steersman takes his place in the head of the boat and seizes his
keen-edged lance. But 'humpy' is almost spent, and though by a mighty
effort he 'ups flukes' and sounds, he soon rises, for the killers
thrust him upwards to the surface again. Then the flashing lance--two,
three swift thrusts into his 'life' a gushing torrent of hot, dark
blood, and he rolls oyer on his side, an agonised trembling quivers
through his vast frame, the battle is oyer and his life is gone.

"And now comes the curious and yet absolutely truly described final part
that the killers play in this ocean tragedy. They, the moment the whale
is dead, close around him, and fastening their teeth into his body,
by main strength bear it to the bottom. Here--if they have not already
accomplished it--they tear out the tongue, and eat about one-third of
the blubber. In from thirty-six to forty hours the carcase will again
rise to the surface, and as, before he was taken down, the whalemen
haye attached a line and buoy to the body, its whereabouts are easily
discerned from the look-ou