284 FOLLOW THE WHALE 



with their other whaling activities, and the Scots monopoly came to 

 an end. The hunting was carried on from small schooners and smacks 

 with a crew of about ten, and most of the harpooning was done di- 

 rectly from these, since the bottlenose will come right alongside and 

 even rub itself against boats. The principal hunting ground lay be- 

 tween the Gulf Stream and the Arctic Stream where those currents 

 meet — about 64° N. to 72° N. and 2° W. to 12° W. — in the East 

 Greenland Sea, and where these whales used to congregate in great 

 numbers in July. 



The bottlenose fishery was the last independent activity in the 

 Late Period of whaling, and even it was ultimately absorbed into 

 the Modern Period due to the vastly improved techniques of the 

 latter. The old whaling would have succumbed to steam power 

 alone, but even if this had not been invented, it would have come 

 to an end anyway with the invention of the harpoon gun, for this 

 made it possible to take the rorquals, and these were always the 

 most numerous, the largest, and the most valuable animals in the sea. 

 It is, therefore, to this period that we must now turn. 



