THE ORDER CETACEA. 83 



Held of ice be near, for instance, it makes for the water 

 under it, whither it cannot be followed by the boat; and, 

 even when it tries to release itself merely by a precipi- 

 tate plunge downwards into the sea, it would be difficult 

 to say how it could act more wisely with a view to snap 

 the line to which it has got attached. If the effort were 

 not met on the part of the crew in the boat with the 

 most energetic application of those various resources of 

 art, dexterity, and decision, which are peculiarly at the 

 command of man, it would probably be in every case 

 successful. If it be the fact, also, as is asserted, that 

 the whales of the North Seas have abandoned certain 

 parts of their original domain, which are more accessible 

 to the fishing-vessels, and retired to other situations 

 which are more difficult of approach, this would seem 

 to imply, not only something of reflection and con- 

 trivance in individuals, but almost the possession of a 

 power in the species to transmit the results of experi- 

 ence from one generation to another. 



The whale, in attempting to escape, sometimes exerts 

 prodigious strength, inflicting upon its pursuers not only 

 danger, but likewise the loss of their property. In 1 8 1 2 y 

 a boat's crew belonging to the Resolution, of Whitby, 

 struck a whale on the margin of a floe. Supported by 

 a second boat, they felt much at their ease, there being 

 scarcely an instance in which the assistance of a third was 

 required in such circumstances. Soon, however, a 

 signal was made for more line, and, as Mr. Scoresby was 

 pushing with his utmost speed, four oars were raised as 

 signals of great distress. The boat was now seen with 

 its bow on a level with the water, whilst the har- 

 pooner, from the friction of the line, was enveloped in 

 smoke. At length, when the relief was within a few 

 hundred yards, the crew were seen to throw their jackets 



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