Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [2]

Illustrators:

D M *

Subjects:

Hunting, Exploration

    Describes an expedition 'in the Northern Sea [...] to catch a Whale', a task which the explorers seek to accomplish with a variety of weapons including 'cutlasses, pikes, marlin-spikes [...] hammers, knives, and brads'. They crept up on the 'brute' which 'Asleep on the deep lay', and shouted for joy when the whale quivered after being harpooned 'by the score'. Despite the crew's bravado about catching the whale, it escaped from the rope tethering it to the boat. The illustrations show scenes from the voyage, including a rowing boat progressing through icy wastes inhabited by polar bears and the boat crew attempting to harpoon the whale.