258 CKUISE OF THE NEPTUNE 



of the l north water ' to the western shores of Baffin bay. 

 Should there be a good land-floe in Jones and Lancaster sounds, 

 they are found there late in July and in the beginning of 

 August, but the greater number go south to the mouth of Ponds 

 inlet, where the principal summer catch is made. During Sep- 

 tember and October they are found along the western edge of 

 the ' middle pack,' and the whalers pass southward from Ponds 

 inlet, making use of a number of good harbours known only to 

 themselves on the eastern side of Baffin island, and going out 

 only in fine weather. According to the season they remain on 

 that coast, to the northward of Cumberland gulf, until the 

 middle or end of October, when they leave for Scotland. In 

 October the whales again enter Cumberland gulf, and remain 

 along the edge of the newly-formed land ice until December, 

 when their position is unknown until their return in the follow- 

 ing March. They are supposed to go in the meantime, to the 

 southward, off the mouth of Hudson strait and along the north- 

 ern Atlantic coast of Labrador, but the weather then is too 

 severe to permit of the use of open whaleboats. 



The Greenland whale, commonly called a ' fish ' by the 

 whalers, is, as all know, a mammal, warm-blooded, reproducing 

 and suckling its young like any of the land mammals. Its out- 

 ward resemblance to a fish is merely a provision of nature, 

 whereby its shape is adapted to the conditions in which it lives ; 

 that is, for a wholly marine life. Its swimming ( fins ' when 

 stripped of their covering, are found to correspond to the fore- 

 limbs of quadrupeds, and although the whale does not possess 

 any hind-limbs, there are rudiments of such to be found in their 

 place, or at least the rudiments of the pelvis to which the after 

 limbs were attached. 



In colour the whale is usually black or bluish-black above, 

 and whitish or piebald below. Sometimes white spots occur on 

 the upper parts, and the markings frequently vary with the 

 individual. The young are lighter-coloured, being bluish. 



