WHALING 261 



tongue. A whale when feeding travels at, or near the surface, 

 at a rate varying from two to four miles an hour. The speed 

 at which a free whale travels through the water appears to have 

 been greatly exaggerated. When harpooned, and dragging a 

 whaleboat, the speed rarely exceeds six miles an hour, and as 

 the mass of the whale greatly exceeds that of the boat the latter 

 cannot to any great extent retard its speed, especially as the 

 whale is then exerting its utmost power in its efforts to escape. 



The body is everywhere covered with a thick skin, which 

 varies from an inch to an inch and a half in thickness. This 

 thick ' blackskin ' forms a luxury in the diet of the Eskimos 

 and whalers. It is eaten boiled, a small amount of blubber being 

 attached to give it flavour. When cooked it has the appearance 

 of thick black india-rubber, and is soft and glutinous, while its 

 flavour approaches that of the clam. 



The fat or blubber is found everywhere directly below the 

 skin, and is thickest towards the tail. It bears a resemblance 

 to very fat pork, and is from twelve to eighteen inches in thick- 

 ness. The flesh of the whale is coarse and tough, and is used 

 largely for dog-food ; although often eaten by the Eskimos, it is 

 only when seal or walrus meat cannot be obtained. 



Whales are gregarious, and when plentiful travel in large 

 bands, but they are now so rare that a band of three or four is 

 the greatest number seen together of late years. 



There are two methods employed in the chase after whales. 

 The Scotch whalers of Baffin bay cruise about in small steamers, 

 and depend wholly upon their own white crew to man their 

 boats. The American whalers and the stations depend more or 

 less upon the Eskimos to form their boats' crews. 



The Scotch steamers are small, stout vessels, from 300 to 400 

 tons register. Those, British-built, are of hardwood through- 

 out, while the Norwegian ships have hardwood frames and soft- 



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