Six Hours’ Sleep: June 4th, 1811

For several days now the Resolution had been taking at least one whale each day, and by Tuesday the crew was tiring. They took a whale in the morning, and another at 4pm, both of which had to be ‘flinched’ and the blubber brought on board. The Aimwell was enjoying similar success, having taken seven whales, two of which Scoresby describes as “of size,” and therefore yielding 30-40 tons of oil. Jackson reminds us that “‘size’ meant a whale with whalebone six feet in length or greater”. Scoresby sent all but one boat’s crew to bed for six hours, before setting off to the Northeast in pursuit once more: “I having seen with a Telescope from the masthead several Fish in that direction.