PILOT-WHALE. 455 



Whales, the whole fishing squadron of the neighbour- 

 hood is put into requisition, each boat being provided 

 with a quantity of stones. The first object is to get to 

 seaward of the victims, then the boats are formed into a 

 large semicircle, and the whole herd is driven into some 

 bay or creek. The stones are thrown .to splash and 

 frighten the Whales if they try to break back, and in 

 Faroe, ropes are stretched from boat to boat with wisps 

 of straw hung at intervals. Should one Whale break 

 through the line all is lost, the rest will follow it in 

 spite of every exertion of the fishermen. But if they 

 are forced into shallow water, they plunge wildly on till 

 they strand themselves, and then the whole population 

 rush upon them, armed with harpoons, spears, hatchets, 

 picks, spades, any weapon that comes to hand, and the 

 cries and dying struggles of the poor animals, the shouts 

 of the men, the clash of weapons, and the bloody and 

 troubled sea, combine to form an extremely exciting if 

 somewhat revolting scene. 



In this manner, very large numbers are often secured. 

 Provost Debes, in his " Description of Faeroe " (English 

 Ed., London, 1676), says that " it happened in the year 

 1664 there were taken in two places about a thousand. 

 Wherefore," adds the good old Provost, " the Lord, as 

 also for his other benefits, be blessed and praised." In 

 the winter of 1809-10 no less than eleven hundred and 

 ten are said to have been captured at Hvalfjord in 

 Iceland. In the "Zoologist" for 1846 it is stated, on 

 newspaper authority, that two thousand and eighty were 

 taken in Faroe in the previous year within six weeks, 

 and that fifteen hundred and forty were killed within two 

 hours in Quendall Bay, Shetland, on the 22nd Sept., 

 1845, not one escaping. 



Like the other Delphinida, the Pilot-Whale feeds on 



