352 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



Black bass sent to Amsterdam.— March 10, 1885, Mr. Black- 

 ford arranged with Captain Taat, of tbe Edam, for sending out by him 

 five black bass to tbe Zoological Garden at Amsterdam. April 8, Dr. 

 C. Kerbert acknowledged their receipt as follows : 



"I have the pleasure of communicating the fact that I have received 

 the five black bass in excellent condition. Many thanks for this valu- 

 able present for the aquarium of our society. You write me in your 

 letter of March 17, ' If you want more of these fish, they can probably 

 be supplied later in the season.' With great pleasure I accept your 

 offer. I would like to have a tank with American black bass alone, and 

 will try to breed these fish here in our country. On the 2d of May the 

 Edam will start from New York for Amsterdam. Captain Taat will re- 

 ceive the fish in case that you have more to send* at present." 



The Greenland whale fishing. — The whaler Alert arrived at 

 Lerwick yesterday from the Greenland seal and whale fishing with 30 

 tuns of oil. The whale fishing this year has been a comparative failure, 

 the catches of the other vessels up to June 30th being as follows: 

 Eclipse, 1 fish, 14 tuns ; Erik, 3 fish, with seals, 70 tuns ; Hope, 3 fish, 

 with seals, 90 tuns ; Earl of Mar, 80 tuns ; Catherine, 35 tuns ; Alert, 

 30 tuns ; Polar Star, 40 tuns ; Star, 60 tuns : Active, 25 tons ; Remania, 

 7 tons 5 Intrepid, no report. The weather in Greenland this season has 

 been moderate, the prevailing winds being easterly. 



Yesterday forenoon the Norwegian vessels Franklin (Captain Ander- 

 sen) and Ora (Captain Pedersen) arrived at Dundee from the Green- 

 land bottle-nose whale-fishing. The captains report that during the 

 fishing foggy and stormy weather was experienced ; but, notwithstand- 

 ing this, the crews of the Franklin and Ora secured 50 and 36 bottle- 

 nose whales respectively. The only British vessel spoken was the 

 Catherine, of Peterhead, which had on the 25th of May 25 bottle-nose 

 whales and a few seals. The Ora proceeded to the White Sea fishing, 

 but it turned out to be a complete failure, and Captain Pedersen at- 

 tributes his small catch to the time he spent at these grounds. During 

 the fishing the crew of the Ora harpooned a large-sized whale, which, af- 

 ter being fastened, turned round and struck the boat, sending the crew 

 and the boat spinning into the air. The crew, however, managed to 

 get into the boat again. Unfortunately the line which was attached to 

 the fish broke, and the whale sunk and was lost. All the Norwegian 

 vessels were very successful at the Greenland seal and whale fishing. 

 The fleet, which consists of 25 vessels, secured a catch which will yield 

 in the aggregate over 1,000 tuns of oil. 



The Germania (Captain Walker), of Peterhead, arrived yesterday 

 from the Greenland whale-fishing, bringing 14 bottle-nose whales, cal- 

 culated to yield a tun of oil each. No news has been brought of other 

 vessels since the month of May. (From the Herald, Glasgow, Scotland, 

 July 22, 1885.) 



