THE DEDUCTOR, OR CA*ING WHALE. 215 



one hundred and twenty more, out of a herd of 

 about five hundred, were forced ashore on the same 

 spot in Uyea-Sound in Unst. In 1806, ninety-two 

 were stranded in Scalpa Bay, Orkney : in the winter 

 of 1809 and 1810, eleven hundred and ten of these 

 whales approached the shore of Hvalfiord, Iceland, 

 and were captured: in 1812, seventy were chased 

 ashore near the village of Bloubalzhance, on the 

 coast of Bretagne ; and in 1814, one hundred and 

 fifty were driven into Balta Sound, Shetland, and 

 were there despatched. These are only a few of the 

 instances, in which, in modern times, an extensive 

 slaughter of the Deductor has taken place. 



As exhibiting the nature of these occurrences, we 

 subjoin an account of the capture of ninety-eight, 

 which was effected in 1832 in the island of Lewis. 

 " The little town of Stornaway was lately enlivened 

 by a scene of the most animating and striking de- 

 scription. An immense shoal of whales was, early 

 in the morning, chased to the mouth of the harbour 

 by two fishing boats, which had met them in the 

 offing. This circumstance was immediately descried 

 from the shore, and a host of boats, about thirty or 

 forty in number, armed with every species of 

 weapon, set off to join the others in pursuit, and 

 engage in the combat with these giants of the deep. 

 The chase soon became one of bustle and anxiety 

 on the part both of man and whale. The boats 

 were arranged by their crews in the form of a 

 crescent, in the fold of which the whales were col- 

 lected, and where they had to encounter tremendous 



