Page:The young Nimrods in North America.djvu/302

298 "While they are en^a^ed in trying out, the men have little time for anything else. The main-sail is furled and the top-sails reefed, and the ship drifts and floats pretty much as she likes. It is hard work, and ev- erybody is glad when it is over. There is not an idle person on board, and one of the busiest of the lot is the cooper. It is his duty to get the casks ready for the oil, and to head them up when they have been prop- erly filled ; and when his day's work is done there isn't a man more ready to go to sleep than the cooper." CARCASS OF A WHALE. Harry inquired how many barrels of oil they usually obtained from a whale. "I can't answer that question without an explanation," replied the captain. "Some kinds of whales produce more than others, and then in a school of one kind yon find them of different sizes. "Here are some of the figures about the yield of oil in whales. I have taken a sperm-whale myself that yielded one hundred and nine bar- rels, but he was not as large as another that was taken by a ship I sailed in before I was captain. That one gave one hundred and thirteen bar-