WHALE HUNTING WITH GUN AND CAMERA 



steamer, with the dead-weight of two miles of rope and the 

 engines going half-speed astern, and at 9 A. M. the follow- 

 ing morning the monster seemed to be as lively and power- 

 ful as ever. At 10 A. M., however, its strength seemed to 

 decrease, and at 11 it was wallowing on the surface, where 

 at 12:30 it was finally lanced by the captain. This great 

 fight occupied twenty-eight hours, the Whale having dragged 

 the steamer a distance of thirty miles to Cape St. Mary. 



One of the troubles of this form of whaling is the dif- 

 ficulty of avoiding fishing craft when the Whale is struck. 

 In Shetland and Newfoundland captains are not allowed to 

 fire at a Whale within one mile of boats or two miles of 

 the coast, but these precautions are generally ignored. Cap- 

 tain Nilsen, when hunting in the Cabot in Hermitage Bay 

 in 1903, struck a large bull which lay as if dead alongside 

 the steamer. The crew were about to attach the tail to 

 the bow-chains when the Whale suddenly recovered and 

 started full speed for the coast, towing the steamer at ten 

 knots. 



After an hour it stopped and lay on the surface of the 

 sea, when Captain Nilsen fired a second harpoon, which 

 only had the effect of waking up the monster. It then went 

 full speed for the fishing fleet, which was close at hand, 

 dived under their nets, and did damage to the extent of a 

 hundred dollars. After a further rush of five miles a third 

 harpoon was fired, which killed the Whale right opposite 

 the factory. 1 



My friend, Captain H. G. Melsom, tells me that 

 while hunting off the coast of Siberia he struck a blue 

 whale which ran out three thousand feet of line and, 

 with engines at full speed astern, towed the ship for- 



"The Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland." By J. G. 

 Millais. Longmans, Green, & Co., pp. 256-257. 



146 



