From earliest times the whaleman had endeavoured to fashion a harpoon that would not “draw” or pull out. Many variations had been tried of the solid head type of “iron,” but they all gave way before the “toggle” iron, invented by a Negro named Lewis Temple in 1848.
The sketch shows only the principal types—and the large variety of bombs and bomb guns has been omitted; they savour too much of modern methods and wholesale slaughter.
A—Two flued iron.
B—Single flued iron.
C—Temple’s toggle iron.
D—Modern toggle iron.
In the toggles a wooden match-like pin was inserted through the head of the harpoon to hold it straight. This broke as soon as pull was exerted on the line and the head turned as shown in fig. E.
F—An effective darting gun used against Right and Bowhead whales. A short gun barrel was mounted on the end of the pole. On one side of this was inserted a harpoon attached to the line. Reaching half way to the point was a rod, which on coming in contact with the skin of the whale, exploded the charge in the chamber and discharged a bomb. The whole instrument was thrown in the same manner as a harpoon, the gun-pole being retrieved by a line attached to the boat, the iron remaining in the whale.
Except in the case of lone bulls, guns were of no use among sperm whales; the discharge scared the herd—or as the whaleman said, “gallied the pod.”
G—An English double flued iron with “stop withers.”