Removing the fire-board from the front of the try-works,
the bare masonry of that side is exposed, penetrated by the two
iron mouths of the furnaces, directly underneath the pots.
These mouths are fitted with heavy doors of iron. The intense heat
of the fire is prevented from communicating itself to the deck,
by means of a shallow reservoir extending under the entire
inclosed surface of the works. By a tunnel inserted at the rear,
this reservoir is kept replenished with water as fast as it evaporates.
There are no external chimneys; they open direct from the rear wall.
And here let us go back for a moment.
It was about nine o'clock at night that the Pequod's
try-works were first started on this present voyage.
It belonged to Stubb to oversee the business.
"All ready there? Off hatch, then, and start her. You cook,
fire the works." This was an easy thing, for the carpenter had been
thrusting his shavings into the furnace throughout the passage.
Here be it said that in a whaling voyage the first fire in the
try-works has to be fed for a time with wood. After that no wood
is used, except as a means of quick ignition to the staple fuel.
In a word, after being tried out, the crisp, shrivelled blubber,
now called scraps or fritters, still contains considerable
of its unctuous properties.
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