THE ORDER CETACEA. 103 



gust as in a calm evening to be heard at the distance of 

 more than half a mile. The attention of the whale sea- 

 men is drawn to the path of the finner by the noise of 

 this discharge; and should the animal lie beneath the 

 surface, and his course be tracked by the eddying ripple 

 caused by the motion of the whale, which differs a little 

 from that of the common mysticete, and if the har- 

 pooner ascertains it to be the tinner's blast, he imme- 

 diately suspends all operations for effecting its capture. 

 According to Sir Arthur Brooke, this whale is found 

 on every part of the Norwegian coast, in great numbers. 

 They even make their appearance in the harbour of 

 Hundholm, and a few days before that gentleman's ar- 

 rival a very large one was seen by the sailors close 

 under the bows of the ship Eliza, which was then load- 

 ing with stockfish (dried cod) for the Mediterranean.* 

 It is likewise seen in great numbers about Tromsoe and 

 Hvaloen. During Sir Arthur's voyage up the coast, he 

 had repeatedly heard from the fishermen of the mischief 

 they occasionally do, and the danger there is in meeting 

 with them, particularly during the months of July and 

 August, when they collect together, and, if any boat 

 comes in their way, it runs a risk of being upset. When 

 he was near three hundred miles farther south, a report 

 had reached those parts of the damage occasioned by 

 some sea animal between Bodbe and Tromsoe ; and this 

 was now found to have been a whale, which had inspired 

 such an alarm. The foregoing year (1819) so much fear 

 of real or imaginary danger had been excited that the 

 communication between the north and south had ac- 

 tually for a short time been stopped, as no fisherman 

 would venture out, through dread of meeting with the 



* Travels in Norway, &c, p. 254. 



