WHALE FISHING 
I visited Beaufort with the purpose 
of securing photographs and informa- 
tion for an article on the ‘‘ North Caro- 
lina Whale Fisheries,’’ with especial 
reference to the whales recently cap- 
tured near there. Information had 
been received that four whales had 
been caught within the four days pre- 
vious to my leaving Raleigh, but on 
arrival at the coast I found the number 
to be but two. The first of these was 
rather small—about thirty feet in 
length—but even that had _ yielded 
25 barrels of oil and 156% pounds of 
whalebone, which brought at auction 
o45us0o. — Dhis-had been cut up before 
my arrivaland, being at the cape, some 
distance away, and having a much 
larger and more recent one available 
for notes, I did not visit it. 
The second one was at Wade Shore, 
about half way between Beaufort inlet 
and Cape Lookout, on Shackleford’s 
banks, and from the captors of this 
one I secured a great deal of valuable 
information regarding its capture, and 
also on the methods of whaling in 
vogue on the North Carolina coast. 
The following is a full account of the 
hunt and capture: 
Before sunrise on the morning of 
March 20, 1894, some of the crew of one 
of the whale boats belonging to this part 
*We are indebted to the Honorable John Robinson, 
Commissioner of Fisheries of North Carolina, for this 
interesting and instructive report as made by H. H. 
Brimley, naturalist. Much of it is new to us, particu- 
larly the methods employed in catching, or rather 
killing, whales in the waters of North Carolina, and the 
number that are found on that coast in the spring of 
the year. Killing whales cannot be called fishing, but 
certainly it is the highest class of remunerative pot 
hunting.—[ED. 
ON, LHE. COASa OF 
CAROLINA.* 
NORTH 
of the beach sighted three whales less 
than a mile from shore. They con- 
sisted of a bull, cow and yearling. In 
an incredibly short space of time, the 
news was conveyed to the members of 
the crews of the four boats lying up on 
the beach, and the men hurried down, 
ran their boats into the water, jumped 
aboard and put out in chase. The first 
boat off was in command of Joe Lewis, 
and about sunrise this boat worked 
carefully up to the nearest whale, the 
cow, until close enough for a harpoon 
to be thrown. The whale was seen to 
be a white bellied one of the largest 
size, and every precaution was taken to 
get the first harpoon in deep and fast. 
The monster rose to blow, the boat 
worked quietly and carefully up until 
within a few feet of its shining black 
body; Mart Guthrie lifted the harpoon 
and with a careful aim and a powerful 
swing of his strong right arm, he threw 
the ironin. The boat backed off; up 
' went the flukes of the monster’s power- 
ful tail and down she went, the harpoon 
fast in her body, while behind it trailed 
the seven fathoms of one-inch line with 
a block of wood attached to the end as 
a drag. The boat followed on, en- 
deavoring to be as near as possible to 
the whale when she should next rise to 
blow. After being down nearly thirty 
minutes, she rose, the boat not far 
away. Joe Lewis was now in the bow 
with the whale gun, aid, as soon as the 
boat could be run in close enough, he 
raised the heavy gun and fired one of 
the long, bolt-like bombs into her body. 
Again she went down, while the gun 
was reloaded and the boat kept away 
