Adventures of the Explorers 155 



Some cow whales yielded as high as 250 barrels 

 each. The bone amounted to as much as 1000 

 pounds for each 100 barrels of oil, and bone was 

 then bringing a price that was worth while. 



In 1843 wna l es were found in abundance on 

 the coast of Kamchatka. The Herkules, Captain 

 Ricketson, and James, Captain J. K. Turner, 

 both of New Bedford, were the first on that coast. 

 The former reached home on April 3, 1845, w ^ tn 

 200 of sperm, 1900 of whale oil, and 12,000 pounds 

 of bone, while the other arrived on June 9, 1845, 

 with 270 sperm, 1600 whale oil, and 20,000 pounds 

 of bone. 



It was in those days that the bowhead, a whale 

 so called because of the shape of its head (it 

 was a "bone" whale), was first seen in the North 

 Pacific. Just which one of three claimants had 

 the honor of this discovery is now past find- 

 ing out. Captain George A. Coville, of New 

 Bedford, having entered the Okhotsk Sea on a 

 venture, killed there a whale which he supposed 

 would yield about 70 barrels. On trying out 

 the blubber it yielded 150. The whaler Hunts- 

 ville was in the region about that time and 



