WHALE FISHEBIES — RABOT. 485 



them, though taking care to retain the more capable gunners. There 

 are at present in Japan seven native companies with 28 vessels. In 

 1909 the most important of them, which alone possessed 20 steamers, 

 captured 605 whales. The preceding year, the Japanese harpooned 

 784 whales. In 1911 one Kussian whaler operated in the vicinity of 

 Saghalin and Bering Strait, but the venture was scarcely profitable, 

 as but six whales were taken. 



In North America whales are pursued on the west coast of Green- 

 land, at Newfoundland and in the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and 

 on the coast of British Columbia. Last year (1911) finbacks were 

 hunted for the first time on the west coast of Greenland, but the 

 results were not very satisfactory, as only 24 whales were taken. At 

 Newfoundland 274 whales were harpooned in 1910, and in the vi- 

 cinity of the island and in the mouth of the St. Lawrence the results 

 of the fishery were also mediocre. On the coast of Alaska, on the 

 contrary, the number of whales taken in 1910 amounted to 1,300. 

 In 1911, up to July 1, the catch of three steamers only was 247. In 

 1912 two companies with five steamers were operating. The catch 

 was 644 whales. 



In South America, one station was established in 1911 and four 

 in 1912 on the coast of Brazil, another at the Falkland Islands, and 

 in 1913 two more stations were established there, one company 

 taking 87 whales; while on the coast of Chile three companies 

 operated in 1911 and ten in 1912. 



Since 1908 South Africa has become one of the most productive 

 centers of the whale fisheries. South of 12° 30' south latitude not 

 less than 12 stations have been established. Five of these, with 10 

 steamers, are located in Angola, at Bahia de Lobito, at Elephant 

 Bay, at Mossamedes, at Port Alexandria, and at Tiger Bay. On the 

 coast of Cape Colony are two stations with four vessels, one at 

 Saldana Bay, and the other at Mosser Bay; also in Natal, near 

 Durban, three companies with nine steamers, and finally in Mozam- 

 bique Channel, two stations, with four boats at Inhambane and at 

 Angoche. 



In 1911, these 12 stations produced not less than 17,000 metric tons 

 of oil. According to the Norwegian Fisheries Journal four com- 

 panies alone captured 1,472, and it would not be excessive to estimate 

 the number taken during the last season around South Africa at 

 2,000 ; there were 23 stations around that coast in 1912, 



The destruction of whales in the Antarctic has been much gi'eater. 

 In 1911 not less than 10,000 finbacks and humpbacks were killed in 

 the Antarctic Seas around South America. It was following the 

 exploration carried on between 1901 and 1903 by Prof. Otto Nor- 

 denskjold in the land situated south of Cape Horn that the whalers 

 took their way to the South Polar Seas, a proof, it may be said in 



