A VISIT TO THE JAPANESE 273 



short Antarctic summer, just at the time when the 

 comparatively rich animal life of the Bay of Whales 

 shows itself at its best. 



The name of the Bay of Whales is due to Shackleton, 

 and is appropriate enough; for from the time of the 

 break-up of the sea-ice this huge inlet in the Barrier 

 forms a favourite playground for whales, of which we 

 often saw schools of as many as fifty disporting them- 

 selves for hours together. We had no means of dis- 

 turbing their peaceful sport, although the sight of all 

 these monsters, each worth a small fortune, was well 

 calculated to make our fingers itch. It was the whaling 

 demon that possessed us. 



For one who has no special knowledge of the industry 

 it is difficult to form an adequate opinion as to whether 

 this part of Antarctica is capable of ever becoming a 

 field for whaling enterprise. In any case, it will prob- 

 ably be a long time before such a thing happens. In 

 the first place, the distance to the nearest inhabited 

 country is very great — over 2,000 geographical miles — 

 and in the second, there is a serious obstruction on this 

 route in the shape of the belt of pack-ice, which, narrow 

 and loose as it may be at times, will always necessitate 

 the employment of timber-built vessels for the work of 

 transport. 



The conditions prevailing in the Bay of Whales must 

 presumably offer a decisive obstacle to the establishment 

 of a permanent station. Our winter house was snowed 



