22 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



the Tyee Company, Alaska; also to the managers of the several factories, 

 Messrs. J. Qninton, wS. C. Ruck and V. H. Street. These gentlemen, 

 by their generous cociperation in extending the courtesies of their stations 

 and vessels, rendered my stay pleasant as well as profitable. 



The months of May and June were spent on the west coast of Van- 

 couver Island, at Sechart, an old Indian village site on Barclay Sound. 

 Although the weather was bad, Humpback whales were plentiful, and 

 whenever a fair day broke the monotony of rain and fog, the following 

 morning we were sure to find four or five Humpbacks floating breast-up 

 at the end of the wharf. On such a day there was need for rapid work. 

 Little could be done until the whales were drawn out of the water upon 

 the "slip," as the long inclined platform is called; then photographs, 

 detailed measurements and descriptions had to be secured before the 

 animal was denuded of its blubber covering. The ease and quickness 

 with which a large whale weighing, perhaps sixty or seventy tons, can 

 be handled by means of the steam winch is almost incredible; within 

 fifteen or twenty minutes from the time the animal is taken from the 

 water, little remains of the blul)l)er on the upper side. In order to 

 determine the extent of individual variation in color and external char- 

 acters, each specimen was carefully described, a "standard" set of 

 measurements taken, and as much additional matter recorded as time 

 and circumstances permitted. While the flesh was being stripped from 

 the bones, there was opportunity for study of the fresh skeleton, and it 

 was possible to obtain many facts relating to variations in the vertebral 

 •column, pectoral limb, ribs and other parts. Later many of the bones 

 were measured and photographed. Thirty Humpbacks in all were 

 ■examined at Sechart, and the skeleton of an exceptionally fine specimen, 

 including its complete set of baleen, was secured. 



At the end of June, I proceeded one hundred miles up the coast to 

 the station located in Kyucjuot Sound, where Humpl)acks, Sulphur- 

 bottoms and an occasional Finback were being taken. The weather 

 conditons of the month of July were good, and the facilities for study 

 enjoyed through the kindness of ]\Ir. S. C. Ruck, manager of the station, 

 were exceptional. As the result of one day's hunting, the steamer towed 

 to the wharf two large Sulphurbottoms, one Finback and three Hump- 

 backs, a record catch which raised the total number to twenty-six whales 

 for the week. 



At Kyuquot an opportunity offered for work upon a large Sperm 



