422 ZOOLOGY. 



in the Greenland seas, Davis's Straits west of Spitzbergen, Iceland, and 

 ISTorway, on the coast of Labrador, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and round 

 Newfoundland, by the bays of Baffin and Hudson, and in the sea north 

 of Behring's Straits. It is also found among the Philippine Islands, near 

 Socotora (coast of Arabia Felix), and on the coast of Ceylon. It likewise 

 frequents the Chinese seas. Formerly the whales were abundant about 

 Spitzbergen and the Island of Jan Mayen, But since so many whaling 

 vessels have appeared in those places, these animals have left their shores 

 and have retired to the open ocean, where their catching is more expensive, 

 difficult, and dangerous, and less productive. It is by no means improbable, 

 however, that several species will hereafter be found to have been con- 

 founded within the above limits. Thus there is pretty good evidence for 

 supposing that the right whale of the Arctic Ocean of America west of 

 Point Barrow, is different from that of Hudson's Bay. 



It appears from the testimony of ancient naturalists, that the whales 

 advanced more southwards in the ocean than at present, the numerous 

 vessels travei^sing the ocean having caused them to retire to more northern 

 regions, where they enjoy a more tranquil life, and are less exposed to 

 destruction. Man, however, has found out their favorite haunts, and yearly 

 spends a season on those fishing grounds, and exposes himself to numerous 

 dangers for the purpose of capturing them. Dewhurst, in his natural history 

 of the cetaceans, states that the black whale comes from the south polar 

 seas in May to bring forth its offspring; remains in the bays of New 

 Holland, Africa, and South America, till August, and on the coasts till 

 November, when it returns in a southwesterly direction. 



According to ancient records, the whales captured at the earlier periods 

 of the fishery were larger than those known at the present day. The 

 Greenland whale is, however, said still to reach sixty to seventy feet in 

 length. The greatest circumference measures thirty to forty feet ; the 

 length of the tail five to six feet ; the width eighteen to twenty-six feet ; 

 and the weight of the whole animal about 200,000 pounds. The layer of 

 fat under the skin is ten to twenty inches thick. The lips are almost 

 entirelj' composed of fat, and yield alone one or two tuns of oil. Generally 

 a large whale gives one hundred and twenty tons of lard, from which thirty 

 tuns of oil are obtained. 



When a whaling vessel arrives on one of the above mentioned fishing 

 grounds, the first thing is to set up the so-called crow's nest or watch-house. 

 This croAv's nest consists of an old barrel, open above, and which is 

 fastened vertically to the top-galiant mast. One man of the crew, relieved 

 at intervals, stands in it, and keeps watch for the appearance of whales in 

 the vicinity of the vessel. It is often a very dangerous post for the one 

 who takes it ; for, besides the intense cold which reigns in those regions, 

 the winds are sometimes so powerful, that the sailor in the crow's nest rans 

 the risk of being thrown out of it. 



The appearance of a whale in the neighborhood is indicated by the 

 columns of water ascending from#ts nostrils into the air, when the animal 

 comes near the surface of the ocean to breathe, and which are visible from 

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