THE BOWHEAD, OR GREAT POLAR WHALE. 
61 
opinion that this is a different species. There is little doubt, however, of this 
being a young whale of the same species, as its blubber is close and fine, produc- 
ing but little oil in proportion to size of body, as is the case with all calves or 
young whales of every description.* 
BOWHEAD WHALING. 
In the Arctic and about Behring Sea, the whaling is "done from the ship," 
as it is termed: i. e., the vessels cruise, and the look-outs are kept aloft as usual, 
and when whales are seen, the boats are lowered and the pursuit is carried on in 
sight from the ships, unless obscured by fog. In the Okhotsk, much of the whal- 
ing is about the bays, particularly Tchantar Bay, and contiguous waters. The nat- 
ure of the pursuit is such, in these localities, that the modus operandi is quite differ- 
ent. Vessels bound to Tchantar Bay endeavor to approach the land off Aian, if the 
along the top of the back two to three feet, and 
in some individuals rises in the highest place 
about sis inches. The sketch on page 56 will 
perhaps better represent the difference in shape, 
than a written description. Captain Roys says 
he has repeatedly taken them in the Arctic, as 
well as in the Okhotsk. They have been fre- 
quently taken in the North-east Gulf (Okhotsk 
Sea). Our personal observation was only on a 
dead one (in Tchantar Bay, 1862), and on that 
individual the protuberance was so slight, that 
it would not have been noticed unless our par- 
ticular attention had been called to it. Captain 
Randolph, of the American whale -ship South 
Boston (1862), informed us at the time that 
nearly all the whales he had taken that season 
in the North-east Gulf were "Bunchbacks," and 
yielded a very large amount of bone in propor- 
tion to yield of oil. Captain Roys also men- 
tioned that one season he took numbers of them, 
and to distinguish them from others they were 
then called "Bunchbacks." Several whaling- 
masters who have taken them observed that the 
spiracles are usually situated higher than upon 
those not having the bunch or hump on the 
"small." 
* Captain Roys is of the opinion that the 
Bowheads breed but slowly. Moreover, his ob- 
servations of many years in northern whaling, 
goes to show that the young of this species 
suck but a short time compared with other ceta- 
ceous animals. This opinion seems quite con- 
elusive when we compare the immense head and 
baleen of even the smallest individuals with 
those of other species, as though nature had 
provided them with immensely capacious mouths 
to gather insect food, instead of drawing suste- 
nance from the dam. As to the linear propor- 
tions of the young of the Bowhead, in com- 
parison with the dam, there is a diversity of 
opinion among those whalers who may be relied 
upon as men of excellent judgment, but a large 
majority maintain that the calf is not over one- 
fourth the length of the cow, and usually the 
proportions would be nearer one -fifth. From 
our own observations on the young of other 
whales, we have arrived at the conclusion that 
there is considerable diversity of size in the 
young of all whales when first born ; and their 
rapid growth, until weaned, may doubtless be 
ascribed to the constant attention of the mother, 
in affordihg her offspring a bountiful supply of 
nutritious milk from her capacious and prolific 
udder. 
