The Hunter
The voyages of William Scoresby were just as much about discovery as they were about whale-fishing. Thoughout his log-books, the Captain recorded the day to day experiences aboard his whaling vessels as he sailed around Greenland. Included in his detailed notes are descriptions of landmarks, narwals, and his many inventions. These books are copies that were published 95 years after his final voyage.
This page comes from Scoresby's first voyage as Captain of the "Henrietta" in 1791. He describes a sighting on Thursday, April 28th.
"...the ship struck as if she had struck against the ice - being at the masthead...a whale was laid without motion, lowered a boat but she settled down before the boat got to her."
This page from May 10, 1972 displays the notes Captain Scoresby made when his crew successful caught two fish. Many of his accounts are described in a similar style. He writes of a whale 7 feet, 7 iches in size.
"The boats in pursuit of the fish at 6 pm killed her at 8, the mate struck a fish killed in half an hour..."
In the back of his log-book for his voyage taken in 1807, Captain Scoresby includes this sketch of a shakle he developed that was made from iron that would better withstand the temperatures of the Arctic.