CHAP. II.] WHALES AND WHALERS. 47 



cially how far it depends on the greater or lesser quan- 

 tity, in certain localities and at certain seasons, of the 

 small animal of the Medusa kind upon which the 

 black whales feed. Their approach to the shores of 

 New Zealand, however, is particularly connected 

 with the process of parturition, as I have already 

 mentioned. In the month of June they are ob- 

 served in the same condition, viz. with calves, at 

 the Cape of Good Hope. It seems as if certain 

 herds of whales, if I may be allowed to use that 

 term, which occupy a limited district, visit at the 

 end of the period of gestation the bights and inlets 

 of those countries which are next to their feeding- 

 grounds: the same is the case round Van Diemen's 

 Land. But it has yet to be proved that the black 

 whale of the Cape of Good Hope is the same with 

 the black whale of New Zealand. 



Besides this general migration, which, until more 

 accurate data are obtained, I do not conceive should 

 be termed a circumnavigation, but merely a migra- 

 tion of different species in a certain marine district, 

 there exists also a daily one. These fish approach 

 the shores and bays with the flood-tide, and quit 

 them with the ebb. In their general migrations, 

 also, they seem to be influenced by the direction of 

 the tides. Whales are often seen in places where 

 the depth of water does not much exceed their own 

 breadth, rubbing their huge bodies against the 

 rocks, and freeing themselves of the barnacles and 

 other parasitical animals with which they are covered. 



