APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 335 



The halibut, which is so often mentioned for its size and abnn- 

 85 dance, is less generally known than the others. It is common in 

 the fisheries of Norway, Iceland, and Greenland. In onr country 

 its reiratation is local. Even at the seaport of Norfolk, in Virginia, it 

 does not appear to have been known before 1843, when its arrival was 

 announced as that of a distinguished stranger: "Our market yesterday 

 morning was enriched with a delicacy from the northern waters, the 

 halibut, a strange fish in these parts, known only to epicures and natu- 

 ralists." The larger fish are sometimes coarse and far from delicate, 

 but they furnish a substantial meal, while the smaller halibut is much 

 liked. 



The cod is perhaps the most generally diffused and abundant of all, 

 for it swims in all the waters of this coast from the Frozen Ocean to 

 the southern limit, and in some places it is in immense numbers. It is a 

 popular fish, and when cured or salted is an excellent food in all parts 

 of the world. Palatable, digestible, and nutritious, the cod, as com- 

 pared with other fish, is as beef compared with other meats, so that its 

 incalculable multitudes seem to be according to a wise economy of 

 Nature. A female cod is estimated to contain 3,400,000 eggs. Talk of 

 multiplication a hundredfold ! Here it is to infinity. Imagine these 

 million eggs grown into fish, and then the process of reproduction 

 repeated, and you have numbers which, like astronomical distances, are 

 beyond hunum conception. But here the ravenous powers of other fish 

 are more destructive than any eftbrts of the fisherman. 



Behind all these is the u-Jiale, whose corporal dimensions fitly repre- 

 sent the space which he occupies in the fisheries of the world, hardly 

 diminished by petroleum or gas. On this extended coast and in all 

 these seas he is at home. Here is his retreat and i)layground. This is 

 especially the case with the right whale, or, according to whalers, the 

 " right whale to catch," with his bountiful supply of oil and bone, who 

 is everywhere throughout this region, appearing at all points, and 

 swarming its waters. At times they are very large. Kotzebue reports 

 them at Ounalaska of fabulous proportions, called by the natives 

 "Aliamak," and so long "that people engaged at the opposite end of 

 the fish must halloo very loud to be able to understand each other." 

 There is another whale known as the " bow-heail," which is so much 

 about Kodiak that it is sometimes called the Kodiak whale. The 

 valuable sperm whale, whose head and hunch are so productive in 

 spermaceti, belongs to a milder sea, but he sometimes strays to the 

 Aleutians. The narwhal, with his two long tusks of ivory, out of 

 which was made the famous throne of the early Danish Kings, belongs 

 to the Frozen Ocean; but he, too, strays into the straits below. As no 

 sea is now mare clanaum, all these may be pursued by a ship under any 

 flag, except directly on the coast and within its territorial limit. And 

 yet it seems as if the possession of this coast as a commercial base 

 must necessarily give to its peojjle peculiar advantages in this pursuit. 

 What is now done under diiliculties will be done then with facilities, 

 such at least as neighbourhood supplied to the natives even with their 

 small craft. 



In our country the whale fishery has been a great and prosperous 

 commerce, counted by millions. It has yielded very considerable gains, 

 and sometimes large fortunes. The town of New Bedford, one of the 

 most beautiful in the world, has been enriched by this fishery, and yet 

 you cannot fail to remark the impediments which the business has been 

 compelled to overcome. The ship has been fitted on the Atlantic coast 

 for a voyage of two or three years, and aU the crew have entered into a 



