120 OLD WHALING DAYS. 



from us in agony, giving a great flourish with its fins 

 and tail, causing the water to nearly fill the boat, and 

 wetting us to the skin. The next we saw of her was about 

 a mile away, blowing blood, and swimming at a rapid rate 

 through the water. The boats from the ship were in 

 pursuit. The finner whale we never entangle with 

 harpoons, on account of their great strength and endurance. 

 They would take away all our lines. The blubber is of 

 a glutinous nature, and of little value. The whalebone is 

 short and very coarse, so they are not worth the risk. All 

 our endeavours to make a payable voyage proved fruitless, 

 and the evenings becoming dark, we could not remain 

 any longer, so bore up for home with a fair wind. 



One hundred and fifty miles north of the Shetland Islands 

 we came though large shoals of herrings making their way 

 south, and on arriving at the north island, called Unst, some 

 fishing boats came off to enquire if we had seen them. On 

 giving them a reply in the affirmative, they were satisfied 

 that they would soon begin to reap their harvest, as the 

 herring fishery is one of their chief industries. I have often 

 wondered where the herrings came from, as I have never 

 seen any in the Arctic regions ; yet, when we passed through 

 them, they were coming direct from the north. Soon after- 

 wards, we brought up in Lerwick harbour, and took the 

 body of our doctor on shore and buried him not far from 

 the grave of our late carpenter. A fair wind springing up, 

 we got under weigh, and in a few days once more arrived at 

 Hull, and moored in the dock. 



This had been an anxious and disheartening voyage, after 

 using our utmost endeavours to make a profitable one for 

 ourselves and owner^. We had very little money to take ; 

 in fact, most of the harpooners were in debt to the captain, 

 thus taking away part of the pleasure of coming home to our 

 friends. Such is sometimes the lot of those who venture on 

 these speculative voyages. 



