684 A. E. Verrill — The Bermuda Islands. 



been studied by any zoologist, so far as I can learn. Nor are there 

 any complete descriptions of its external characters. There were 

 doubtless two or three distinct species of whalebone whales taken 

 or seen in former times. Of these the one called the Cape Whale 

 by the fishermen was, without doubt, the Biscay Right Whale, It 

 certainly was not the Greenland Right Whale, as Matthew Jones 

 supposed. The Biscay Whale was formerly common off the eastern 

 '•n.ist of the United States, and is still occasionally seen there. 

 Therefore it naturally would sometimes have visited the waters of 

 Bermuda. 



The best local description of the common Bermuda Whale that I 

 have seen was written by an anonymous writer to the Royal Society 

 of London, and published in vol. i, p. 11, of their Transactions, in 

 1665. This writer stated that several unsuccessful attempts had 

 been made to take them that year, but without much success. Yet 

 two adult females and three "cubs," 25 to 30 feet long, were killed. 

 One female was 60 feet long. The other was 88 feet long;* tail 23 

 feet ; swimming fin [flipper] 26 feet ; "gills" [baleen] 3 feet long. 

 It had a dorsal fin on the hinder part of the back. The color was 

 black above ; white beneath. The head was somewhat bluff. 



The presence of a dorsal fin, the blunt head, and the very long 

 nippers show that this must have been the true Hump-back 

 Whalef (Megaptera nodosa Bonnat.) of Europe and America. 



In a later letter, the same writer states (op. cit., ii, p. 132) that in 

 1666 sixteen whales had been taken, yielding 50 to 60 tuns of oil. 

 He does not mention any difference. The small amount and short- 

 ness of the baleen was quite unlike that of the Biscay Whale. 



We can only judge of its abundance by the records of the amount 

 of oil shipped, after the whale fishery was organized in 1065. Some 

 data in regard to this early fishery have been given on a previous 

 page (p. 521). Therefore it will be sufficient to add, in this place. 

 the following records, which evidently refer mainly or entirely to the 

 Hump-back, and supplement those given previously. 



* This is an unusually large size for a specimen of this whale, but the other 

 measurements are in good proportions to the length. In more modern times, 

 specimens of 50 feet in length were considered large. Mayor Hayward says he 

 never knew of one over 60 feet. Mr. Hayward of St. David's says 50 feet was 

 the largest size, and that the average yield was 30 to 33 barrels of oil, very rarely 

 70 barrels. This whale of 1665 must have been a giant specimen of its race. 



f It has, however, received a special name (M. Americana < fray), based entirely 

 on the above description. It is also identical with M. longimana, and with M. 

 bellicosa Cope, of the West Indies, according to the determinations made by Dr. 

 F. W. True. (See Science for May 2, 1902, p. 690.) 



