WHALING 261 
tongue. A whale when feeding travels at, or near the surface, 
at a rate varying from two to four miles an hour. The speed 
at which a free whale travels through the water appears to have 
been greatly exaggerated. When harpooned, and dragging a 
whaleboat, the speed rarely exceeds six miles an hour, and as 
the mass of the whale greatly exceeds that of the boat the latter 
cannot to any great extent retard its speed, especially as the 
whale is then exerting its utmost power in its efforts to escape. 
The body is everywhere covered with a thick skin, which 
varies from an inch to an inch and a half in thickness. This 
thick ' blackskin ' forms a luxury in the diet of the Eskimos 
and whalers. It is eaten boiled, a small amount of blubber being 
attached to give it flavour. When cooked it has the appearance 
of thick black india-rubber, and is soft and glutinous, while its 
flavour approaches that of the clam. 
The fat or blubber is found everywhere directly below the 
skin, and is thickest towards the tail. It bears a resemblance 
to very fat pork, and is from twelve to eighteen inches in thick- 
ness. The flesh of the whale is coarse and tough, and is used 
largely for dog-food; although often eaten by the Eskimos, it is 
only when seal or walrus meat cannot be obtained. 
Whales are gregarious, and when plentiful travel in large 
bands, but they are now so rare that a band of three or four is 
the greatest number seen together of late years. 
There are two methods employed in the chase after whales. 
The Scotch whalers of Baffin bay cruise about in small steamers, 
and depend wholly upon their own white crew to man their 
boats. The American whalers and the stations depend more or 
less upon the Eskimos to form their boats' crews. 
The Scotch steamers are small, stout vessels, from 300 to 400 
tons register. Those, British-built, are of hardwood through- 
out, while the Norwegian ships have hardwood frames and soft- 
