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"After the danger and exhilaration of the chase and kill," she explained, "ca the blubber into oil 'Cutting in' and `trying out,' as the old-timers called it"

Next ca station was still maintained and monitored on an annual basis by the British and was considered autensils in the kitchen, along with old books and worn azines, were still there just as the whalers left them when they finally departed for home

"Please do not disturb any of the artifacts," Maeve told the group "Under international law nothing may be removed" She took a moment to count heads Then she said, "Now I'll lead you into the caves dug by the whalers, where they stored the oil in huge casks before shipping it to England"

From a box left at the entrance to the caves by expedition leaders frohts "Is there anyone who suffers from claustrophobia?"

One woman who looked to be in her late seventies raised her hand "I'o in there"

"Anyone else?"

The woman who asked all the questions nodded "I can't stand cold, dark places"

"All right," said Maeve "The two of you wait here I'll conduct the rest a short distance to the whale-oil storage area We won't be more than fifteen minutes"

She led the chattering group through a long, curving tunnel carved by the whalers to a large storage cavern stacked with huge casks that had been assembled deep inside the rock and later left behind After they entered she stopped and gestured at a massive rock at the entrance

"The rock you see here was cut froainst the cold and to keep co surplus oil that remained after the station closed down for the winter This rock weighs ashe or she knows its secret" She paused to step aside, placed her hand on a particular place on the upper side of the rock and easily pushed it to close the entrance "An ingenious bit of engineering The rock is delicately balanced on a shaft through its e"

Everyone

made jokes about the total darkness broken only by the flashlights as Maeve reat wooden casks One had reot and filled it with a s the tourists to rub a few drops between their fingers

"A, even after nearly a hundred and thirty years

It's still as fresh as the day it came from the cauldron and was poured into the cask"

"It feels as though it has extraordinary lubricating qualities," said a gray-haired e red nose, common in a heavy drinker