OK WHAT A GOOD CHALLENGE DA FLARF I AM LOOKING FOARWARD TO FOR YOU TO READ MY SUMBITTION :DDDDDDDDDD
It frequently happens that when several ships are cruising in company, a whale may be struck by one vessel, then escape, and be finally killed and captured by another vessel; and herein are indirectly comprised many minor contingencies, all partaking of this one grand feature. For example,โafter a weary _W_E_A_R_Y_!_!_ and perilous chase and capture of a whale, the body may get loose from the ship by reason of a violent storm; and drifting far away to leeward, be retaken by a second whaler, who, in a calm, snugly tows it alongside, without ๐ท ๐ฎ ๐ธ ๐ฐ of life or line L I F E O R L I NE. Thus the most vexatious and violent disputes would often arise between the fishermen, were there not some written or unwritten, universal, undisputed law applicable to all cases. Perhaps the only formal whaling code authorized by legislative enactment, was that of Holland. It was decreed by the States-General in A.D. 1695. But though no other nation has ever had any written whaling law, yet the American fishermen have been their own legislators and lawyers in this matter. They have provided a system which for terse comprehensiveness surpasses Justinianโs Pandects and the By-laws of the Chinese Society for the Suppression of Meddling with other Peopleโs Business. Yes; these laws might be engraven on a Queen Anneโs farthing, or the barb of a harpoon, and worn round the neck
๐ช., so small are they. I. A Fast-Fish belongs to the party fast to it. II. A Loose-Fish is fair game for anybody who can soonest catch it. But what plays the mischief with this masterly code is the admirable brevity of it, which necessitates a vast volume of commentaries to expound it. First: What is a Fast-Fish? Alive or dead a fish is technically fast, when it is connected with an occupied ship or boat, >> S H I P >> O R >> B O A T >> , by any medium at all controllable by the occupant or occupants,โa mast, an oar, a nine-inch cable, a telegraph wire, or a strand of cobweb, it is all the same. Likewise a fish is technically fast when it bears a waif, or any other recognised symbol of possession; so long as the party waifing it plainly evince their ability at any time to take it alongside, as well as their intention so to do. These are scientific commentaries; but the commentaries of the whalemen themselves sometimes consist in hard words and harder knocksโthe Coke-upon-Littleton of the fist. True, among the more upright and honorable whalemen allowances are always made for peculiar cases, where it would be an outrageous moral injustice for one party to claim possession of a whale previously chased or killed by another party. But others are by no means so scrupulous. Did ๐บ๐บ๐บ๐บ(you) Catch๐ฃ It? โฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธ Up There๐OK ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐ !
