WHALING 



529 



The above remarks apply to the Greenland Whale (Bakena 

 inysticetus), the ' Black Fish ' of the Scotch whalers, ' Bowhead ' 

 of the Americans. 



THE BOTTLENOSE (Hyperoodon restrains}. 



The name Bottlenose given to these whales is derived from 

 the peculiar shape of their head and mouth, which is extremely 

 like that of a huge bird. They generally go either singly, in 

 pairs, or in bunches of from three to seven, and, unlike the 

 Greenland whale, are extremely inquisitive, rising close to a ship, 

 even a steamer when her screw is in motion, and playing all 

 round her. On a calm day, from the ' crow's nest ' or the 

 rigging, you can sometimes see them under water, lying on 

 their backs gazing up at the ship. They run from twenty to 

 thirty feet long, and on an average yield about a ton of blubber, 

 which is called ' Arctic Sperm.' It is said that the valuable 

 part is the refuse of the blubber after the oil has been extracted. 

 Out of the heads of the fish we caught in 1884, when 'flensing,' 

 we took several bottles of pure oil which we found extremely 

 good for burns. 



There would appear to be two sorts one a larger and light- 

 coloured, nicknamed by the whalers ' Chaney Johns ' ; the other, 

 smaller in size and darker in colour. The Scotch whalers 

 were the first to capture these fish, in the year 1877 ; but not 

 many were taken until 1881, when in were brought home, 

 and in 1883 the number increased to 403. They are princi- 

 pally found from Cape Farewell in Greenland, to Iceland, Jan 

 Mayen, and Bear Island, and they seem to keep on certain 

 banks where jelly fish abound. Some whalers assert that these 

 constitute their food. They are said never to enter the ice ; so 

 that any year in which the pack lies very far to the east, 

 covering their usual feeding grounds, will generally turn out a 

 good season for them, as a ship lying off and on to the ice will 



3 Y 



