GREAT NORTHERN RORQUAL. 133 



were drawn under a vast bank of heavy ice, where 

 they all perished. This great speed and activity 

 renders this species a dangerous object of attack, 

 whilst the small quantity of oil it affords makes 

 it unworthy of the general attention of fishers. 

 When struck, it frequently drags the fast boat almost 

 immediately beyond the reach of assistance, and 

 speedily out of sight both of boats and ship. Hence 

 the striker is under the necessity of cutting the line, 

 and sacrificing his employer's property, for securing 

 the safety of himself and companions. " I have 

 made," says Mr. Scorseby, " different attempts to 

 capture one of these formidable creatures. In the year 

 1 818, 1 ordered a general chase, providing against the 

 danger of having my crew separated from the ship, by 

 appointing a rendezvous on shore, not far distant, and 

 preparing against the loss of much line by dividing 

 it at two hundred fathoms from the harpoon, and 

 affixing a buoy at the end of it. Thus arranged, one 

 of these whales was harpooned by a shot from the 

 harpoon-gun, and another was struck in the com- 

 mon method. The former dived with such impe- 

 tuosity, that the line was broken by the resistance 

 of the buoy as soon as it was thrown into the water ; 

 and the other was liberated within a minute by the 

 division of the line, occasioned, it was supposed, by 

 the friction against the dorsal fin. Both escaped. 

 Another was struck by one of my inexperienced har- 

 pooners, who mistook it for a Mysticetus. It dived 

 obliquely with such velocity, that 2880 feet of line 

 were withdrawn from the boat in about a minute of 



