WHALES 417 
parts of the ocean, that of the whale or the rorqual is without 
doubt the most famous, difficult, and perilous. Formerly, large 
whales used to be caught in the temperate regions of the ocean, 
and in the Mediterranean Sea. We learn from various legislative 
enactments that until the twelfth century, these animals were found 
in tolerable numbers in the Bay of Biscay, and were the source 
of a regular fishery. At the present time, these large mammals 
have become so scarce that their appearance in these very seas is 
looked upon as an actual phenomenon. 
Cuvier believed the whale of the Bay of Biscay to be the 
same as the polar whale, but Professor Eschricht, of Copenhagen, 
has decided that they are two different species. 
The first whalers appear to have been Basques; subsequently 
the Asturians joined in the fishery, then the English, and after- 
wards the Dutch. The scene of these fisheries has frequently 
changed shores, and has passed from the south to the north. In 
ancient times, the eastern coast of Greenland was considered one 
of the best stations, but that part of the sea is now entirely 
deserted. For a long period the Esquimaux have ceased to 
depend upon these colossal animals, for they only resort now to 
the neighbourhood of Holsteinborg, and that very rarely. English 
fishermen have entirely banished the whale from Baffin’s Bay. 
Thirty years ago, as many as one hundred ships, belonging to 
different nations, were employed in whale-fishing in Davis’ Straits. 
Now, hardly five or six vessels visit those shores, and their booty 
is very uncertain. The fishery has travelled gradually from the 
Azores to Brazil, from Brazil to the south coast of Africa, thence 
to Chili and Terra del Fuego, and then to New Holland and New 
Zealand. At present it is carried on in the Sea of Japan, and on 
the shores of Kamtschatka. 
The ships employed in the whale-tishery are generally of 350 
or 450 tons, and their crew consists of from thirty to five-and- 
forty men. Each canoe is provided with a harpooner, who stands 
in the prow, four rowers, and a steersman who takes the hindmost 
oar; they carry with them four harpoons and two lances. The 
harpoon is about three feet long; the shank is of iron, its lower 
end is flattened into a triangular shape, with two diverging points 
turning inward like a hook. To this shank is fixed the handle 
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