1898] THE MIGRATION OF THE BIGHT WHALE 409 



task for this great animal, and in tliis opinion tlie experienced whal- 

 ing quartermaster who accompanied the expedition coincided. We 

 may dismiss from our minds the idea or hope that nearer the pole, 

 and beyond the limits of present discovery, there may be haunts in 

 the Polar Sea suitable for the Greenland whale ; . . . and I see no 

 hope of Arctic discovery increasing our knowledge of the range of 

 this animal." That it is impossible for the whales to pass more than 

 a very limited period in ice of too close a texture is certain, as it 

 would not only impede their breathing but also prevent their feed- 

 ing, for both of which purposes open spaces are necessary. That 

 whales are subject to the risk of suffocation is beyond doubt, and 

 Eschricht and Eeinhardt (^.c.,p. 12) quote an instance of its actual 

 occurrence from an old MS. account by a Mr Geelmuyden, who 

 states that in the year 1750 "the masses of ice in Disco Bay were 

 uncommonly large, staying there until the year was far advanced ; 

 that the fishing therefore, generally speaking, had been very bad, but 

 that the Greenlanders had been fortunate enough near the Dog's and 

 Whale's Islands, at the outlet of Disco Bay, to find no less than 

 fourteen whales, ' which had perished by themselves beneath the 

 ice,' " evidently suffocated for want of breathing spaces. 



It was not until the year 1(S17 that the whalers ventured to 

 enter the pack in Melville Bay, and until the introduction of steam 

 the passage through this dreaded obstruction was by no means 

 certain. Now, however, having reached the ' north-water ' of Baffin 

 Bay some time in June, they are accustomed to find the whales wait- 

 ing the disruption of the ice at the entrance of Lancaster Sound.^ 

 As soon as that takes place all the whales pass up the Sound, and 

 entering Prince Regent's Inlet, or it may be some of them continu- 

 ing into Barrow Strait, remain until the autumn ice compels them to 

 return southward. How far west the whales extend their wander- 

 ings in this plexus of Straits and Sounds it is difficult to say, but it 

 seems probable that they do not pass in that direction much beyond 

 Prince Regent's Inlet or a short distance into Barrow Strait, seldom 

 so far as to meet the whales from the Pacific side, which probably also 

 do not penetrate far into the narrow ice-bound channels between the 

 islands of the ISTorthern Archipelago. The only Cetaceans which I 

 have found mention of in Jones Sound are White Whales, and these 

 appear to be very numerous in that locality. 



It has been observed that in the return or southward migration 

 along the west side of Davis Strait in autumn, there is an absence of 

 female and immature whales, and the question arises, by what route 

 do they return ? This I will now endeavour to trace. Sir John 

 Ross, on the 15th of August 1829, when off Bellot's Strait, said 

 " many whales of a light colour [a sign of immaturity] came close to 



' The ' Arctic ' took four small whales here on 15th of June 1873. 



2 P 



