THE RIGHT WHALE AND BOWHEAD 



began to adopt the white man's guns, bombs, and 

 other gear. 



The changes introduced by the white man were pro- 

 found and the Eskimo of today has almost completely 

 adopted his methods and materials; even the native 

 boat the only practical one for floe whaling has 

 been modified; the ancient superstitions are gone and 

 the Eskimos have acquired a taste for the luxuries 

 of civilization. Trading stations have been established 

 at various points along the Arctic coast. Point Bar- 

 row boasts of an extensive native village besides sev- 

 eral white residents, and further to the eastward the 

 whalers often wintered at Herschel Island, increasing 

 the profits of the voyage by trade in furs. 



But bowhead whaling is almost a thing of the past. 

 The present low price of baleen for either white man 

 or Eskimo, and the closed season on fur have sealed 

 the fate of the Arctic whaler. 



The hunt for right whales still goes on but has been 

 robbed of much of its picturesqueness, for the shore 

 whalers soon learned that the animals could be shot 

 with the harpoon-gun from their little steamers. But 

 since the baleen has fallen in price they are not of very 

 much greater value than the large fin whales; in Japan 

 a humpback is really more appreciated because its 

 flesh is much better for eating than that of any other 

 species. 



Right whales are often taken on the coast of Long 

 Island, N. Y., and even now, at Amagansett, a whale- 

 boat is kept in readiness to be launched whenever 

 a spout is seen. In February, 1907, a crew under the 



253 



