l8 FOLLOW THE WHALE 



survive. The one or two ambiguous drawings that cannot surely be 

 identified may be meant to show rare species that were taken by 

 chance. All the others are of the smaller species — porpoises, dol- 

 phins, blackfish, and killers — each of which can be made very dis- 

 tinctive by one who knows — the dolphin with a beak and sharply 

 pointed dorsal fin, the porpoise with rounded muzzle, the blackfish 

 elongated with blunt head and long flippers placed far forward, the 

 killer barrel-like, parti-colored, with an immense dorsal fin and an 

 even set of teeth. 



These are the very species that are found in profusion in the 

 kitchen-middens and other prehistoric sites. Hardly any remains of 

 other whales occur therein, which seems to show that only those 

 species were deliberately hunted. This is just what we might ex- 

 pect, for it is hard to conceive of even these intrepid seamen chasing 

 the great right whales, rorquals, or sperms with bone harpoons and 

 hide ropes in little skin canoes. The only surprise is the frequency of 

 killer whales, both in the engravings and in the form of bones in 

 ancient habitations. Obviously they were taken and yet they are 

 the fiercest and one of the swiftest of marine creatures that hunt in 

 packs and are deliberately aggressive. They grow to a length of 

 thirty feet and have a terrible armament of teeth. These early whal- 

 ers were bold indeed to hunt them with their primitive weapons. 



Prehistoric rock painters do not seem to have indulged in these 

 artistic flights for fun or simply to while away the time in the 

 winter. All the evidence points to their having done these works 

 for mystical purposes — either to thank whatever gods or fates they 

 had for the conclusion of a successful hunt, or by way of supplica- 

 tion for profitable enterprises in the future. On the other hand, it 

 has been suggested that they may have engraved these rocks by way 

 of record and that the figures and symbols are a sort of primitive 

 hieroglyphic writing which others could interpret and were put 

 down for future reference or as tallies. This seems to be a not alto- 

 gether farfetched notion, for the engravings contain a profusion of 

 signs, symbols, and individual figures, all of which must originally 

 have had some meaning to the artists. 



In these engravings there is always a close association between the 

 boats and the quarry that was hunted by means of them. Moreover, 

 whenever skin boats are depicted, whales occur also, and in four 



