OCEAN FISH AND OCEAN FISHING 41 



It is exciting sport to attack the rorqual, as it 

 goes at great speed, being preternaturally cunning 

 and agile ; unfortunately, when killed, it sinks. 



Commercially, it used to be almost worthless, 

 but lately, both it and its cousins, the smaller fin- 

 backs, have been extensively utilised in Scandinavia, 

 where small steamers with a special kind of bomb 

 attached to a steel line are used to capture them, 

 the bomb killing them instantly, and the line 

 securing their carcase. In 1887 there existed a 

 fish-preserving factory at Aberdeen that from 200 

 tons of the blue whale produced 5,000 Ibs. of edible 

 extract, each pound yielding 100 pints of soup. The 

 flesh when properly treated resembled reindeer 

 meat without any smell. Not a particle of the 

 debris of the carcases was wasted, but converted 

 into glue, guano, &c. Other kinds of large fish 

 were turned into soup, sausages, and biscuits. 



