“GOING ON”
The angle of vision of the whale was very limited, so the approach was made, if possible, from the right rear, except in the case of a left handed boatsteerer.
On nearing the quarry oars were sometimes replaced by paddles. At the right moment the officer made a sign to the boatsteerer to stand by.
The latter unshipped his oar and looked to his harpoons to see that all was clear.
A second iron was attached by a “short warp” on a running bowline to the whale line, and lay handy, alongside number one.
The boatsteerer did not lift his harpoon and stand poised in readiness. In the excitement attending the crucial moment, he might succumb to buck-fever and be unable to let go.
Instead—he flexed his fingers or rubbed his hands up and down his legs, his eye on the whale, waiting for the command.