NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE. 127 



year 1716, "Mr. Jonathan Howes was killed by a whale which he attacked in a boat." This 

 whale was probably Eubalaena as that was the species commonly sought by the shore whalers 

 in those days. 



Douglass, writing in 1755, clearly indicates the difference between the Arctic Bowhead 

 Whale, and the southern Right Whale in size and yield of oil or bone. He adds, that the 

 latter species "are wilder, more agile and do fight." 



Mr. J. Henry Blake has most kindly written out for me an account of the capture of a 

 Right Whale off Plymouth in April, 1864. It had been seen by people at Provincetown, and 

 Capt. Robert E. Smith had set out in pursuit. At length its spout was descried, and the 

 whale itself made out lying quietly at the surface. Two boats hastened toward it, and Stephen 

 T. Nickerson, captain of the foremost boat put in the first harpoon. The whale commenced 

 rolling in the water, and shortly received a second harpoon from the other boat. It then settled 

 out of sight but shortly came to the surface striking the bottom of the second boat with its 

 'bonnet' (or forward end of the upper jaw), directly under the feet of a boy who was pulling 

 the leading oar. So great was the impact that a hole was broken in the bottom at this point, 

 the boat tipped on end, and its crew thrown into the water. They managed to cling to their 

 overturned craft till picked up by their vessel, while the second boat shortly lanced and killed 

 the whale. That the bottom of the boat should have been broken by the impact with the tip 

 of the whale's head may be evidence that the animal had risen in a rather more vertical posi- 

 tion than when merely spouting, and with more than usual force. The incident shows that 

 the whale manifested some purpose and determination in its action and points to the possible 

 use of the 'bonnet' as a sort of bumper for offensive purposes, akin to the horn of the 

 rhinoceros. 



The Nantucket Inquirer of May 10, 1854 (vol. 34, no. 55) mentions a 'SO-barrcl' Right 

 Whale, that was struck off Southampton, L. I., on April 29th, of that year, and though 

 mortally wounded, showed much fighting power. It eventually turned upon its pursuers, 

 stove in their boat, and threw them all into the sea, severely injuring Capt. Albert Rogers, 

 and several others of his crew. Other boats engaged in the chase, speedily came to their 

 rescue and picked them up. The whale meanwhile made off, spouting blood. 



Major Edgar A. Mearns sends me a note from an interleaved almanac, dated at East 

 Greenwich, R. I., November 17, 1759, which doubtless refers to a fatal encounter with a Right 

 Whale. The account reads: "This day sailed poor Ebenezer Simons, of Swansey, and off 

 Man Tongue [Montauk] Point, end Long Island, was, about 3 P. M., struck by a whale, 

 which stove their vessel, so that she sank immediately. Out of seven men two were saved. 

 Master and mates and 3 men lost" (Newport Hist. Mag., 1880, vol. 1, p. 123). 



The endurance of the Right Whale, while not equal to that of the swifter-moving Ror- 

 quals, is yet considerable. Thus a '60-barrel' Right Whale that was struck off Nantucket 



