THE WHALE FISHEHT. 85 



Wales coast is generally of tlie size to yield from 10 to 

 12 tuns of oil and about half a ton of balleen, but further 

 south the whales are very large, often yielding as much as 

 18 tuns of oil, and balleen fully fifteen feet long, and 

 weighing about 15 cwt. or 16 cwt. 



The residents at Norfolk Island, though not possessing 

 any ships, manage to kill a few whales during the year by 

 means of boats, and export thence to Sydney about 40 tuns 

 of black oil and variable quantities of whalebone. Quite 

 recent accounts tell us that the islanders have suffered a 

 severe loss, two of then* boats having been smashed into 

 matchwood and four others badly stove. The season now 

 closing has not therefore been as prosperous as it otherwise 

 would have been. Whales have been more than usually 

 plentiful, but a number whicli were struck were lost owing 

 to the absence of boats, and these numerous misses have told 

 seriously against the exceptionally good take which was 

 anticipated. 



The residents at Twofold Bay, on the south-eastern coast 

 of the Colony, pursue a similar method, and their yearly 

 capture forms a tangible item in the trade of the locality. 



About the year 1848 this bay was the anchorage for 

 numerous whaling vessels which put in there to refit. On 

 the south side was the large whaling establishment of Mr. 

 Benjamin Boyd, whence nine sperm whalers used to sail. 



When it is considered that Great Britain with all her colonies 

 had at that time only fifty-nine vessels engaged in the trade, 

 which in the Pacific Ocean alone emploj'^ed nearly 700 

 American whalers, a very correct estimate of the comparative 

 value of the depots at Twofold Bay can be easily formed. 

 The produce of the whaling operations in 1846 was estimated 

 at — 



500 tuns sperm oil, value ... ... £36,100 



200 „ black oil „ 4,000 



10 tons whalebone ,, ... ... 1,500 



£41,600 



A very interesting feature which should be noted in 

 connection with the prosecution of this industry was the 

 advance in civilization made by the aborigines of the district. 

 It is on record that they proved themselves an active, 



