WHALES. 421 
days the whale becomes a sort of larder, to which every one 
comes to take his daily portion. 
Linnzus says that the oil furnished by a single whale is often 
so abundant,as to form the cargo of a vessel. This quantity is 
estimated at twelve tuns. The fishery of this valuable animal 
in the polar seas has yielded in 1859, 2,078 hogsheads of oil; in 
1860, 1,909 hogsheads, and in 1861, 1,710. These last 1,710 
hogsheads were all taken by ships from Dundee, except 697 
belonging to ships from other ports. 
In 1861, a great change was made in the material of the 
weapons and vessels employed in whale-fishing. Screw-steamers 
were substituted for sailing vessels, and the results of the second 
season were sufficiently encouraging to induce fishermen to continue 
their attempts. In consequence, a great number of sailing vessels 
were sold, and it seems acknowledged now that the question is 
settled, and that in future operations will be carried on by screw- 
steamers. Thus the polar seas have not been inaccessible to the 
onward march of science. 
