194 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



Around both harbours we noticed various discarded articles which 

 had been used in the whale-fishery, and in two or three places on the 

 steep walls of rock overlooking the inner basin were painted lists of 

 the names of many men whose bones are buried among the gravel near 

 by. These, as well as the poor fellows who lie under the wooden 

 monuments of Deadman's Island outside, were seanien and whalers 

 who had died of scurvy, consumption, and other diseases, or from acci- 

 dents and shipwi-eck in prosecuting the whale-fishery. The short notes 

 accompanying some of their names suggest many a pathetic history 

 of brave and adventurous men who had gone to these northern waters 

 to earn, by honest toil, the means of bettering their condition. No 

 doubt they must have endured great suflferings from sickness, cold, 

 hunger and pain, during the dark days of the long dreary winter 

 before they died a miserable death, unseen by any, save their equally 

 miserable companions. 



In carrying on the whale-fishery around Marble Island the Ameri- 

 can captains call to their assistance the Eskimos of that region, who 

 are willing and industrious workers, already trained to the business ; 

 but it is said they receive very little remuneration for their services. 

 The black whale is stated to be the commonest species taken, but' 

 other kinds are met with. In addition to killing the larger \vh;iles; 

 our neighbours are reported to collect from the natives considerable- 

 quantities of the oil or blubber of the small vv^hite whale, the walrus,' 

 the narwhal, the polar bear and various kinds of seals. As Hudson's 

 " Bay " is really an inland sea of the Dominion, it is questionable if 

 this business may not be a violation of our treaty rights. The' 

 Russian government is understood to exact a veiy heavy license fee 

 from vessels whaling in the White Sea, which is by no means so-' 

 land-locked as the Canadian Mediterranean. In this matter we may 

 be allowing a source of revenue to go unimproved. 



The Whalers' Harbour in Marble Island is an excellent place foj* 

 ballasting ships. The beach is steep, so that boats can lie against it 

 at all stages of the tide, and it is almost everywhere covered with 

 small boulders or coarse shingle derived from the white quartzite. 

 While the Neptune was lying here the captain availed himself of 

 these advantages and took in a large quantity of ballast to compensate 

 for the weight of fuel we had burnt. When the voyage was over, 

 the vessel went to Sydney for coal, and here these beautifully white 



