Now, I care not who maintains the contrary, but all this is both foolish and unnecessary.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        The headsman should stay in the bows from first to last; he should both dart the harpoon and the lance, and no rowing whatever should be expected of him, except under circumstances obvious to any fisherman. I know that this would sometimes involve a slight loss of speed in the chase; but long experience in various whalemen of more than one nation has convinced me that in the vast majority of failures in the fishery, it has not by any means been so much the speed of the whale as the before described exhaustion of the harpooneer that has caused them.   To insure the greatest efficiency in the dart, the harpooneers of this world must start to their feet from out of idleness, and not from out of toil. Out of the trunk, the branches grow; out of them, the twigs. So, in productive subjects, grow the chapters. The crotch alluded to on a previous page deserves independent mention. It is a notched stick of a peculiar form, some two feet in length, which is perpendicularly inserted into the starboard gunwale near the bow, for the purpose of furnishing a rest for the wooden extremity of the harpoon, whose other naked, barbed end slopingly projects from the prow. Thereby the weapon is instantly at hand to its hurler, who snatches it up as readily from its rest as a backwoodsman swings his rifle from the wall. It is customary to have two harpoons reposing in the crotch, respectively called the first and second irons. But these two harpoons, each by its own cord, are both connected with the line; the object being this: to dart them both, if possible, one instantly after the other into the same whale; so that if, in the coming drag, one should draw out, the other may still retain a hold. It is a doubling of the chances. But it very often happens that owing to the instantaneous, violent, convulsive running of the whale upon receiving the first iron, it becomes impossible for the harpooneer, however lightning-like in his movements, to pitch the second iron into him. Nevertheless, as the second iron is already connected with the line, and the line is running, hence that weapon must, at all events, be anticipatingly tossed out of the boat, somehow and somewhere; else the most terrible jeopardy would involve all hands. Tumbled into the water, it accordingly is in such cases; the spare coils of box line (mentioned in a preceding chapter) making this feat, in most instances, prudently practicable. But this critical act is not always unattended with the saddest and most fatal casualties. (0 comments)

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1783 – George Washington delivered his Farewell Address to the Continental Army. 1845 – U.S. President James K. Polk announced to Congress that the United States should aggressively seek the annexation of Texas. 1908 – The first U.S. prison was opened at McNeil Island, Washington. 1945 – The United States Senate voted to reject membership in the United Nations. 1991 – U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev announced to the world efforts that would lead to the START treaty to reduce nuclear weapons. 2013 – Nelson Mandela passed away; President Obama delivered a eulogy honoring the late South African leader in accordance with U.S.-South African relations.   (0 comments)

This post is on the live blog rss feed. This post is a test of the new stack mini layout and the special chars on the rss feed. The character – ndash And the character — em-dash. And this is an ampersand test Jane & Live.  (1 comments)