SEALS AND WHALES OF THE BRITISH SEAS 95 



the port of London. Beale sailed from London, in 1831, in the "Kent," 

 returning in the " Sarah and Elizabeth," both of which vessels belonged to 

 Thomas Sturge. The duration of the voyage was from two to four or even 

 five years, the average of 199 voyages being three years and three months, 

 and the yield of oil, 169 tons per voyage. At the present time no British 

 vessels are engaged in the South Sea trade, which has again reverted to the 

 Americans. 



I have said very little about the method of pursuit and capture of this 

 species, and of the Right-Whale, because it is a subject in which I take no 

 pleasure ; those who wish to know how these peaceful and highly-organised 

 giants are approached, and how they behave when terrified and smarting 

 under the harpoon and whale-lance, can pursue the subject ad nauseam in the 

 pages of Scoresby, Beale, and others ; the sickening process of " flensing " 

 and disposing of the blubber is described with equal minuteness. The halo 

 of romance with which some authors seek to surround the whale-fishery, is, 

 doubtless, in a great measure due to the solitary and distant fields of 

 operation, whether it be in the frozen regions of the north, or the vast and 

 trackless oceans of the south, but its stern reality is prosaic enough. The 

 occupation is one of hardship and danger, but the remuneration when success- 

 ful is large in proportion, and I can hardly conceive, under any circumstances, 

 of men inflicting the fearful amount of suffering which every " full " whale- 

 ship, or in a still greater degree every "full" sealer, represents. Science 

 is constantly adding to our resources, and it is sincerely to be hoped that ere 

 long substitutes may be found for animal oil and whalebone which will 

 supersede their use in the few processes in which they are still requisite : 

 should this be long delayed, it is to be feared that the Seals and Whales, at 

 least of the northern seas, will soon cease to exist. In the meantime, it is 

 gratifying to find that it is from the sealers and whalers themselves that the 

 demand for the better regulation of the trade has emanated, and the name of 



