iS'Z THE WHALE. 



years, in ships commanded by myself, 70 were males, 

 and 54 were females, being in the proportion of five to 

 four nearly. The mysticetus occurs most abundant^ 

 ly in the frozen seas of Greenland and Davis's Strait 

 — in the bays of Baffin and Hudson — in the sea to 

 the northward of Behring's Strait, and along some 

 parts of the northern shores of Asia, and probably 

 America. It is never met with in the German Ocean, 

 and rarely within 200 leagues of the British coast; 

 but along the coasts of Africa and South America, 

 it is met with periodically in considerable numbers, 

 In these regions it is attacked and captured by the 

 Southern British and American Whalers, as well 

 as by some of the people inhabiting the coasts, to 

 the neighbourhood of which it resorts. Whether 

 this whale is precisely of the same kind as that of 

 Spitzbergen and Greenland, is uncertain, though it 

 is evidently a mysticetus. One striking difference, 

 possibly the effect of situation and climate,. is, that 

 the mysticetus found in southern regions is often co- 

 vered with barnacles, (Lepas diadema, &c.) while 

 those of the Arctic seas are free from these shell- 

 fish. 



It would be remarkable, if an animal like the 

 whale, which is so timid that a bird alighting upon 

 its back sometimes sets it off in great agitation and 

 terror, should be wholly devoid of enemies. Be- 

 sides man, who is doubtless its most formidable 

 adversary, it is subject to annoyance from sharks, 

 and it is also said from the narwal, sword-fish, and 



