THE GIANTS OF LABKADOE. 161 



and DuguayTrouin, compelled the Dutch to abandon 

 a factory, the exact geographical position of which 

 could not now be easily discovered. 



Eive-and-tsventy years ago, the eastern coast of 

 Greenland was thought by the English whale-fishers 

 to be an excellent place for fishing; but now the 

 whalers pass them without even stopping to look out 

 for the prey. 



It has been said, and with reason, that the whales 

 quit' the icy zones in the winter to seek more 

 temperate latitudes, and it is easy to understand 

 that when they get among the icebergs they fly from 

 regions where they are in danger of being suffocated 

 among the ice, and of being deprived of the power 

 of breathing the atmospheric air which is so necessary 

 to their existence. 



Two words more before I close. The flesh of the 

 whale has a disgusting flavour. Even the whale- 

 fishers themselves are of that opinion; but it is 

 strange how tastes change with the fashions. "Who 

 could suppose that, at one time, whale's flesh was 

 considered a royal dish in England? We have no 

 need to go back as far as the Saxons, who were 

 great whale-eaters, to find examples of this strange 

 taste. The whale was served upon royal tables as 

 late as the sixteenth century. In 1242, Henry III. 

 required the Sheriff's of London to supply his table 

 with a hundred dishes of whale's meat. All whales 

 caught off the coast Avere considered royal waifs. 



VOL. II. M 



