THE GREENLAND WHALE, 



Some attack him before, others behind, until at las!, 

 being lacerated in every part by their teeth, he is to- 

 tally subdued, and becomes their victim. 



Against its adversaries of the deep, however, the 

 whale might often prevail by force, or escape them 

 by cunning; but man is a more dextemis and terrible 

 assailant than all its other enemies; and destroys more 

 of the species in one year, than all the ru-vSt in a 

 v.holc century. That his assiduous- and successful 

 hostility has considerably diminished their numbers 

 ii> that part of the world where the) are chiefly 

 sought, or at least expelled them in seme measure 

 from their ancient retreats, is evident from several 

 circumstances; for at the first discovery of Greenland, 

 when they were unaccustomed to molestation and 

 pursuit, they came frequently into the bays, and were, 

 killed close to the shores; so that the blubber, being 

 cut up, was immediately boiled into oil on the .spot. 

 !iip;i ttt that tiuu- !<(i?k hi only du, 1 V'.mv oil and 

 the whalebone, ind ail the business w-ad coast".; new iy 

 executed in the country; by which mode of proceed- 

 ing a ship could bring home the produce of a far 

 greater number of whales than it is possible to do in 

 the present method of conducting the trade. Since 

 that time, however, such numbers of ships arriving 

 from Holland, Denmark, and several other parts, the 

 \vhales took the alarm, and, as other fish, as w r ell as 

 birds and quadrupeds often do, began to forsake their 

 accustomed haunts, and to seek more secure and 

 peaceable retreats. They are now seldom found near 

 the shores, but chiefly in the open spaces among the 

 fields of ice in deep water, and at a considerable dis- 

 tance from land. 



The whale fishery begins in May, continues all the. 

 month of June, and a part or the whole of July, ac- 

 cording to their good or ill success; but whatever 

 may be the case in that respect, the ships must de- 

 part and get clear of the ice before the end of Au- 

 gust. The latest may therefore be expected in Sep- 

 tember, but those that have been speedily successful, 

 jnay return in June, or early in July. 



