CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON 

 THE CETACEA. 



Having finished my remarks on each individual spe- 

 cies of the cetacea, I may not improperly conclude with 

 a few general recapitulatory observations on this tribe 

 in general. 



ABODE OF THE WHALE, &c. 



According to the testimony of the ancient naturalists, 

 the whale was more frequently seen in the ocean than 

 at present ; for, on account of its being disturbed by the 

 numerous fleets traversing the ocean, they have retired 

 to the northern regions, where they are less exposed to 

 the noise of the mariners, less harassed by the fisher- 

 men, and enjoy that tranquillity which is no longer 

 found in their former haunts. 



The B. Mysticetus is most frequently found in the 

 Greenland seas, Davis's Straits, the coast of Spitz- 

 bergen, Iceland, and Norway ; on the coast of Labra- 

 dor, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and round New- 

 foundland, by the bays of Baffin and Hudson, in the 

 sea to the northward of Behring's Straits. It is also 

 found among the Philippine islands, near Socotora (an 

 island on the coast of Arabia Felix), and on the coast of 

 Ceylon. It likewise frequents the Chinese seas ; and, 

 if the reports of voyagers are to be believed, it is found 



