406 WHALES AND DOLPHINS 



molluscs and jelly-fish which the leviathan takes in its open 

 mouth, as it leisurely passes through the water at a rate of 

 about four miles an hour. The tongue, an immense mass 

 of fat nearly two tons in weight, rises up and forces 

 out the water between the plates of fringed baleen as 

 through a sieve, leaving a mass of food to pass down 

 the Whale's gullet, which is only one and a half inches 

 in diameter. 



Notwithstanding its enormous dimensions, the Greenland 

 Whale is mild and inoffensive ; it leads a timorous and 

 slothful life, perhaps chiefly due to its hampering immensity 

 and the fact that its food costs it so little effort to obtain. 

 It does not even attack its pursuers, and accidents to 

 whaling boats are caused by the sudden diving of the 

 quarry, or the boat approaching too near in its tremendous 

 death-struggles. 



The young Whale measures from ten to twelve feet in 

 length at birth, and its mother suckles it for about a year. 

 A school of these northern Whales usually consists of a bull 

 and a couple of cows, each with a calf. 



The whaling business has been depressed for many years. 

 Half a century ago the whalers of one Scottish port alone 

 would account for fifty or more Whales in a season. Nowa- 

 days not half that number are captured by all the Scottish 

 boats combined ; and the animals are smaller, on an average 

 yielding about one hundred and thirty barrels of oil instead 

 of formerly perhaps twice as much. The quantity of baleen 

 varies from one to three thousand pounds. Thanks to the 

 substitution of steel for many articles that formerly called 

 for whalebone, gas and electricity for lighting purposes, and 

 the increasing competition of vegetable and mineral oils, 

 Whale hunting is probably never likely to attain its former 

 prosperity. Some authorities maintain that there is really 

 no appreciable diminution in the number of Whales, but 

 that modern methods are responsible for decreasing catches. 

 Steam screw vessels have replaced the old sailers ; and it is 

 said that the revolving screws give notice to the sensitive 

 hearing of the Whale that enemies are at hand, with the 

 result that the prospective prey immediately seeks haunts 

 where lies a greater measure of safety. 



