THE WHALE FISHERY. 15 



"The smaller class of whalers seldom extend their cruising to the south of the line, but after 

 they have visited the first two whaling-grounds they usually pass to the westward toward the 

 island of Fernando de Noronha, and thence along the South American coast until they reach 

 the Windward Islands. They frequent the Caribbean Sea in the months of January and Feb- 

 ruary, and farther to the. westward off the peninsula of Yucatan and Cuba in April ; after which 

 time they proceed through the Gulf of Mexico to cruise off the Bahama Banks and Cape Hatteras 

 in May. Thence they pass northward, on either side of the Gulf Stream, to the eastern side of 

 the Grand Banks. 



" In the Indian Ocean, the south part of Madagascar, off Point Dauphin, is visited in March 

 and April ; in May, June, and July the ground off the southwest coast of Madagascar, in the 

 Mozambique Channel, and upon, both sides of that channel. The whalers usually recruit iu Saint 

 Augustine's Bay, where supplies are to be had in abundance, and both wood and water are easily 

 procured. After this they usually spend some time off Cape Corrientes. with the cape and head- 

 lauds on either side, and visit the Comoro Isles. Sperm whales are frequently found in numbers 

 among these islands, and ships usually do well in their vicinity. The African coast, from Mozam- 

 bique to Zanzibar, is good ground, and the latter is also a good port for repairing. 



" Some ships extend their cruising during the northeast monsoon, from October to April, to 

 the Arabian coast, but the African is generally preferred. The Chagos Archipelago at times 

 affords some success, but it is very doubtful ground, and has not often been frequented. The 

 proper season is during the southwest monsoon. 



" The most profitable ground iu the Indian Ocean is the west and northwest coast of New 

 Holland, as far eastward as the islands of Timor, Lomboch, and Angier, and westward to the 



Keeling Islands, including the coast of Java. 



********** 



" It wilt be perceived how nearly these grounds coincide with the places wherein, according 

 to the views already stated, the polar streams are obstructed by land or islands, so as either to 

 interrupt their course or create such an impediment as to change it. 



" The Sooloo Sea is the only place that remains to be noticed. American ships, however, have 

 seldom gone thither, but English vessels are reported as having met with much success there."* 



(b) EIGHT-WHALE GROUNDS. 



GEOGRAPHICAL, DISTRIBUTION OF RIGHT WHALES. The right whale (Eubalcena) is found 

 in various parts of the world as far north as latitude 61 30', at the mouth of Hudson Strait, and 

 south to the Antarctic Ocean, though it is rare in the warmest latitudes. This whale, of which 

 there are several species in the different oceans, must not be confounded with the bow-head, 

 or polar whale, which is called right whale by many whalemen, though quite distinct from it and 

 inhabiting much colder waters, the bow-head being an ice whale and the right a temperate whale. 

 The principal right-whaling grounds east of America are in the South Atlantic, while in the 

 Pacific Ocean they are of about equal importance both north and south of the tropics. 



NORTH ATLANTIC GROUNDS. The North Atlantic grounds for this species are few iu num- 

 ber. They are taken during the summer mouths off the southern end of Greenland and to a 

 limited extent in the lower part of Davis Strait, near Resolution Island. Along the eastern 

 coast of the United States they are occasionally captured by shore, whalemen, especially at the 

 whaling stations in North Carolina. During the winter mouths whalers find them on the Hatteras 



" Narrative of Wilkes's U. S. Exploring Expedition, vol. v. 



