Harping-Iron, a spear or javelin used to strike the whales in the Greenland fishery.

The harpoon, which is sometimes called the harping-iron, is furnished with a long staff, having at one end a broad and flat triangular head, sharpened at both edges, so as to penetrate the whale with facility; to the head of this weapon is fastened a long cord, called the whale line, which lies carefully coiled in the boat, in such a manner as to run out without being interrupted or entangled. See Whale-Fishery.

Gun-Harpoon, a kind of fire-arm for discharging harpoons at whales, and thereby killing them more easily and expeditiously than formerly when the har- poons were thrown by the hand. Though this method was projected a good many years ago, it has but lately come into use; and premiums have been annually offered by the society for encouraging arts, &c., to the persons who first struck a fish in this manner. In the Transactions of that society for 1786, we have an account of the first fish struck in this manner in 1784. The gun was of the blunderbuss construction, loaded with four common tobacco-pipes full of glazed powder; the fish was shot at the distance of ten fathoms, the harpoon going into her back up to the ring; and she was killed in about an hour. In 1785 three whales were killed in this manner; four in 1786, and three in 1787. Since that time the gun-harpoon has come more into use, and will probably soon supersede the other method entirely. In the Transactions of the Society for 1789, we have accounts of a number of whales killed in this manner. The instrument appears to be extremely useful in calm still weather, as the whale, though a timorous creature, will frequently allow a boat to approach it to the distance of 20, 15, or even 10 fathoms, all of which distances are within reach of the gun-harpoon, though not within the reach of that thrown by the hand. The greatest inconvenience was in case of rain or snow, by which the lock was apt to get wet. To remedy this, a case of leather was made to fit round the gun and over the lock, lined with tin, and big enough to fire the gun when it was on. The fish struck with an harpoon discharged in this manner are soon killed by reason of its penetrating their bodies to a great depth, not less than five or six feet, which no man's strength would be able to accomplish. In the volume just quoted, we have an account of one which was shot through the tail. The harpoon broke in the slit, but five fathoms of line went through the tail. The fish was killed in eight hours, which is perhaps the only instance of a fish struck in that part being caught. In another, the harpoon carried six feet of line into its body; the creature died in ten minutes. Others were killed in 15 minutes or half an hour, and one had a rib broken by the violence of the stroke. In the Transactions of the Society for 1790, there are other accounts similar to the foregoing, and all agreeing as to the great usefulness of the instrument both for striking the fish at a considerable distance, and for killing them in a very short time.