purposely upon the poop of the ship, from which there descends a rope with an iron hook at the end of it, and this hook is made to take fast hold of a piece of the fat, or blubber, and as, by turning the capstow, it is raised and lifted up, the cutter, with his long knife, looseth it from the flesh, even as if the lard of a swine were, by piece and piece, cut off from the lean. When it is in this manner clean cut off, then do they lower the capstow and let it down to float upon the water, making a hole in one side or corner of it, whereby they fasten it upon a rope. And so they proceed to cut off more pieces, making fast together ten or twelve of them at once, to be towed ashore at the stern of a boat or shallop. These pieces, being brought to the shore side, are, one by one, drawn upon the shore by the help of a high crane there placed, and at length are hoisted up from the ground over a vessel which is set to receive the oil that runs from it as it is cut into smaller pieces; for whilst it hangeth thus in the crane, two men do cut it into little pieces, about a foot long and half a foot thick, and put them into the foresaid vessel, from which it is carried to the choppers by two boys who, with little flesh-hooks, take in each hand a piece, and so convey it into tubs, or old casks, which stand behind the choppers, out of which tubs it is taken again, and is laid for them, as they are ready to use it, upon the same board they stand on. The choppers stand at the side of a shallop, which is raised from the ground and set up of an equal height with the coppers, and stands about two yards distant from the furnaces. Then a fir-deal is laid along the one side of the shallop within board, and upon it do they set their chopping blocks, which are made of the whale's tail, or else of his swimming fin. Now the blubber is laid ready for them by some appointed for that purpose as before is set down, in such small pieces as the boys do bring from the crane; and so they take it up with little hand-hooks, laying it upon their blocks, where, with chopping knives, they chop it into very small pieces, about an inch and a half square. Then, with a short thing of wood, made in fashion like a coal rake, they put the chopped blubber off from the block down into the shallop, out of which it is taken again with a copper ladle, and filled into a great tub which hangs upon the arm of a gibbet, that is made to turn to and again between the blubber boat and the coppers. This tub containeth as much blubber as will serve one of the coppers at one boiling, and therefore, so soon as it is emptied, it is presently filled again, that it may be ready to be put into the copper when the frittires are taken out. These frittires, as we call them, are the small pieces of chopped blubber, which, when the oil is sufficiently boiled, will look brown, as if they were fried; and they are taken out of the coppers, together with some of the oil, by copper ladles, and put into a wicker basket that stands over another shallop, which is placed on the other side of the furnaces, and serves as a cooler to receive the oil drained through the said baskets. And this shallop, because it receives the oil hot out of the two coppers, is kept continually half full of water, which is not only a means to cool the oil before it runs into the cask, but also to cleanse it from soot and dross, which descends to the bottom of the boat. And out of this shallop the oil runneth into a long trough, or gutter of wood, and thereby is conveyed into butts and hogsheads, which, being filled, are bunged up, marked, and rolled by, and others set in their place. Then is the bung taken out again, that the oil may cool; for, notwithstanding the shallop is half full of water, yet, the coppers being continu ally plied, the oil keeps very hot in the boat, and runs also hot into the cask, which sometimes is the occasion of great leakage. Now concerning the fins. When the whale lies floating at the stern of the ship, where he is cut up, they cut off his head, containing his tongue and fins, commonly called whalebone; and by a boat or shallop they tow it so near the shore as it can come, and there let it lie till the water flows again; for at high water it is drawn farther and farther upon the shore, by crabs and capstows there placed for that purpose, until, at low water, men may come to cut out the fins, which thing they do with hatchets, by five or six fins at once. And these are trailed farther up from the shore side, and then are severed each from another with hatchets, and by one, at once, are laid upon a fir-deal, or other board, raised up a convenient height for a man to stand at, who scrapeth off the white pithy substance that is upon the roots or great ends of the fins, with such scraping irons as coopers use, being instruments very fitting for the purpose. Then are they rubbed in the sand, to cleanse them from grease, which they receive when the heads are brought to the shore side; for whilst the whale is in cutting up, his head is under the water, and his fins remain clean; but being brought near the shore and grounded, then does the grease cleave into them at the ebbing or falling of the water, which is always fatty with blubber that floats upon it continually. When the fins are thus made clean, they are sorted into five several kinds, and are made up into bundles of fifty containing of each sort ten fins. These bundles are bound up with cords, and upon each of them there is tied a stick whereon is written some number, and the Company's mark set, and so they are made ready to be shipped. A DESCRIPTION OF THE SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS 1637 2 UPON the beak head sitteth royal king Edgar on horseback, trampling upon seven kings. Upon the stemine 1 head there is a Cupid, or a child resembling him, bestriding and bridling a lion. On the bulk head right forward stand six several statues in sundry postures, their figures representing Counsel, Care, and Industry; Counsel holding in her hand a closed or folded scroll; Care a sea compass; Industry, a lint stock fired. Upon the other, to correspond with the former, Force handling a sword; Virtue, a spherical globe; and Victory, a wreath of laurel. The moral is, that in all high enterprises there ought to be, first, Counsel to undertake, then Care to manage, and Industry to perform and in the next place, where there is Ability and Strength to oppose, and Virtue to direct, Victory consequently is always at hand ready to crown the undertaking. Upon the hances of the waist are four figures, with their several properties: Jupiter riding upon his eagle, with his trisulk, from which he darteth thunder, in his hand; Mars, with his sword and target, a fox being his emblem; Neptune, with his sea-horse, dolphin, and 1 Stemine head: top of the stem. 2 Lint stock: linstock, a stick to hold a lighted match. 3 Trisulk three-forked dart. trident; and lastly, Eolus upon a chameleon, a beast that liveth only by the air, with the four winds his ministers or agents. I come now to the stern, where you may perceive upon the upright of the upper counter standeth Victory, in the middle of the frontispiece, with this general motto, Validis incumbite remis. Her wings are equally displayed on one arm she weareth a crown, on the other a laurel, which imply Riches and Honour. In her two hands she holdeth two mottoes: her right hand, which pointeth to Jason, bears this inscription, Nava. She pointeth to Hercules on the sinister side, with his club in his hand, with this motto, Clava, as if she would say, O Hercules, be thou as valiant with thy club upon the land as Jason is industrious with his oar upon the water. Hercules again pointeth to Eolus, the god of winds, and saith, Flato, who answereth him again, Flo. Jason pointing to Neptune, the god of the seas, riding upon a sea-horse, saith, Faveto, to whom Neptune answereth, No. In the lower counter of the stern, on either side of the helm, is this inscription: Qui mare, qui fluctus, ventos, navesque gubernat, Thus English He who seas, winds, and navies doth protect, 'There are other things in this vessel worthy remark, at least, if not admiration; namely, that one tree or oak made four of the principal beams of this great ship, which was forty-four foot of strong and serviceable timber in length, three foot diameter at the top, and ten foot diameter at the stubb, or bottom. Another as worthy of |