38 WHALING 



Thus it put the whaling industry once more on an even keel, 

 and by 1759 England had established itself in a small way, but 

 firmly, in the Greenland whale *' fishery" and Scotland had 

 begun its whaling fleet. Many seaport towns, both English 

 and Scotch, took up whaling under the bounty system, but few 

 continued long at it. Whales were scarcer and shyer every year 

 and led their pursuers a chase, long and sometimes fatal, into 

 the Arctic ice. Indeed, it was all ice fishing, for the Southern 

 whaling, that bulked so large in our American whaling, was not 

 yet known. The Greenland voyage was usually four or five 

 months long but any vessel properly equipped carried provisions 

 for nine months in case she should be caught in the ice. 



Of course, the whalers of that day, among the English at any 

 rate, were mortally afraid of the fin whales and kept at a 

 very respectful distance. In the "Authentic Relation of a 

 Voyage to Greenland in 1772 of the Volunteer, of Whitby, 

 BY A Gentleman, Surgeon of the said Ship," we are told 

 that, *' these kind of whales have fins on their backs, and are 

 seldom if ever caught, it being dangerous to attempt it for as 

 soon as they are struck they are so strong and swift in nature 

 that no boats can get up to the assistance of the boat that is 

 made fast to them before they are gone, and there is great danger 

 of the boat's oversetting. ... I never heard of any that 

 attempted striking any of that kind but a Dutchman some years 

 since, but he was never more heard of, so that it was suspected 

 the whale had run him quite off, and he had perished in the 

 attempt." The white whale, and the narwhal — which they 

 called the unicorn — they scorned taking, as they did the walrus 

 and other Arctic creatures that later became recognized by- 

 products of whaling. Thus they limited them.selves to a 

 difficult and elusive quarry and had only indifferent success 

 with him. Yet the Greenland and Davis Strait fisheries were 

 evidently prospering and whales must have been abundant, for 

 the Volunteer was in sight of some fifty whaling vessels at one 

 time, and as much as fifteen years later, three Hull vessels, the 

 Gibraltar, the Manchester, and the Molly, together killed twenty- 

 seven in one day. Of course, such catches would be extra- 



