268 ACCOUNT OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



They seem to prefer those situations which afford 

 them the most secure retreats. Among the ice, 

 they have an occasional shelter ; but so far as it is 

 permeable, the security is rather apparent than real. 

 That they are conscious of its affording them shel- 

 ter, we can readily perceive, from observing, tliat the 

 course of their flight when scared or wounded, is 

 generally towards the nearest or most compact ice. 

 The place of their retreat, however, is regulated by 

 various circumstances ; it may sometimes depend on 

 the quality and quantity of food occurring, the dis- 

 position of the ice, or exemption from enemies. At 

 one time, their favourite haunt is amidst the huge 

 and extended masses of the field ice ; at another, in 

 the open seas adjacent. Sometimes the majority of 

 the whales inhabiting those seas, seem collected 

 within a small and single circuit ; at others, they 

 are scattered in various hordes, and numerous single 

 individuals, over an amazing extent of surface. To 

 discover and reach the haunts of the whale, is an ob- 

 ject of the first consideration in the fishery, and oc- 

 casionally the most difficult and laborious to accom- 

 plish. 



In close seasons, though the ice joins the south 

 of Spitzbergen, and thereby forms a barriei^ against 

 the fishing-stations, yet this barrier is often of a li- 

 mited extent, and terminates on the coasts of Spitz- 

 bergen in an open space, either forming, or leading 

 to, the retreat of the whales. Such space is some- 



