30 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 
was transferred largely, if not wholly, from the Humpback to the Right whale, 
but of this there is no evidence. 
In 1902 Professor A. E. Verrill published a brief statement regarding whales 
at Bermuda, citing the early records and adding a few data of recent date. The 
baleen whales which he includes as having been seen or captured about the 
islands are a Humpback, a Finback, and a Right whale.’ 
WEST INDIES. 
Two comparatively early explorers of the West Indies, Rochefort (1658) and 
Du Tetre (1667), have some little to say regarding the cetaceans of those waters. 
Rochefort in his History of the Antilles, after mentioning the marine monsters 
found in those parts, and describing two species of Marsouins or porpoises, has 
an article on “ whales and other monsters of the sea,” from which the following: 
“Those who travel about these islands sometimes see whales in their journey- 
ings, which throw up water from their blowhole to the height of a pike, and 
which only show ordinarily a little of their back, which resembles a rock above 
water. 
“Ships are also sometimes accompanied for quite a long time by monsters 
which are of the length and breadth of a boat (chalouppe), and which seem to 
find pleasure in thus showing themselves. The sailors call them Morhous or 
Souffleurs (puffers), because that from time to time these prodigious fish put a 
part of their head out of water, to take breath, and then they blow and scatter 
the water from in front of their pointed snouts. Some say that it is a species of 
large porpoise.” * 
These whales would appear to be Finbacks, though it is possible, of course, 
that the reference is to some species of ziphioid whale, perhaps Ziphius cav- 
trostris, or that various kinds of whales are confounded. 
Du Tetre in his General History of the Antilles (1667-71) speaks first of the 
“great number of whales, of puffers (Soufflewrs) and of porpoises” about Mar- 
tinique and then devotes a section of his work to whales. In this section he 
throws some light on the Souffleur, but hardly enough to make it certain what it 
really is. The matter is as follows: 
“ Whales are seen about these islands [ Antilles] from the month of March to 
the end of May more frequently than in all the rest of the year. They are in heat 
and copulate at this time, and one sees them roaming about principally in the 
morning, all along the coast, two, three or four, all in a school, blowing and as if 
syringing from their nostrils two little rivers of water, which they blow into the air 
to the height of two pikes, and in this effort they make a kind of bellowing (meu- 
glement) which may be heard for a good quarter of a league. When two males 
meet near one of the females they join battle and give themselves over to a danger- 
ous combat, striking the sea so hard with their fins and tail that it seems as if they 
were two ships engaged with cannon.” ® 
* VERRILL, A. E., The Bermuda Islands. Zvans. Conn. Acad., 11, 1902, pp. 682-688. 
* ROCHEFORT, C. DE, Hist. Nat. et Morale des Isles Antilles, rst ed., 1658, p. 179. 
“Du Terre, J. B., Hist. Gén. des Antilles, Tom. 2, Traité 4, ‘Des Poissons,” 1667, p. 196. 
