Traill. — A7itarctic Exploration. 479 



steam-wlialer in the uortlieru seas ; and he is convinced that, 

 if a pushing man were to bring a steam- whaler to these waters, 

 he could have no surer road to a fortune. Not only has the 

 northern fishery been unsuccessful of late, but in consequence 

 of that, and of new uses being found for baleen, the value of 

 that article has risen to the extraordinary price of £1,500 per 

 ton. The baleen from our southern "right whale," commonly 

 known as the black whale, is not so valuable as that from the 

 northern animal ; but the difference in value is not great, and, 

 as far as I can learn, it is not owing to the quality being in- 

 ferior, but only to the average length being less. It has been 

 said that we have two right whales, but I have not heard 

 whalers speak of more than one ; and I think Dr. Hector haa 

 come to the conclusion that we have but one, the EubalcBjia 

 amtralis. The animal closely resembles the right whale of the 

 North ; its capture is more easy than that of the sperm whale, 

 and there seems no reason to suppose that men accustomed to 

 the northern fishery, coming with their ordmary equipments, 

 would find the southern fish less easy of capture than the 

 northern one. Indeed, they would probably be more thoroughly 

 in their element in dealing with our black whale than some 

 southern whalers are who have given their attention almost ex- 

 clusively to the sperm whale. Mention is often made by Eoss, 

 when in the seas to the southward of New Zealand, of numerous 

 whales and seals being in sight. On the way south from Camp- 

 bell Island, in latitude 63° S., he says, " A great many whales 

 were seen in the afternoon." At 7.20 p.m. the first icebergs 

 were seen ; and, next day, he says, " A great many whales were 

 seen, chiefly of the common black kind, greatly resembling but 

 said to be distinct from the Greenland whale. Sperm as well 

 as hunchbacked whales were also observed. Of the common 

 black species we might have killed any number we pleased ; 

 they appeared chiefly to be of unusually large size, and would 

 doubtless yield a great quantity of oil, and were so tame that 

 our ships sailing close past did not seem to disturb them." 



Again, when much further to the eastward, in about lat. 63° 

 S., he says : " We observed a very great number of the largest- 

 sized black whales, so tame that they allowed the ships some- 

 times almost to touch them before they would get out of the 

 way ; so that any number of ships might procure a cargo of oil 

 in a short time." It is to be observed that in both these cases 

 the whales were seen directly on making the ice, and in the 

 same latitude. On Eoss's other trip ice was met with sooner, 

 in lat. 58° 30' S. ; but from there to lat. 63° 47' mention is 

 several times made of numerous whales being seen. Since that 

 time the sperm whale has been chiefly sought after ; but now 

 that the value of sperm has fallen, while that of baleen has 

 greatly increased, the black whale will doubtless be more in 



