HUNTING WHITE WHALES 



The white porpoise, or white whale as it is more 

 usually called, is not only the most beautiful but also 

 one of the most important members of the family, for 

 it is this animal which furnishes much of the porpoise 

 hide and porpoise oil of commerce. 



Like its nearest relative, the narwhal, it is a north- 

 ern species, seldom being found where the water is 

 far above the freezing point; but during the spring 

 the animals come into the St. Lawrence River by 

 thousands and some remain throughout the summer. 



In early June of 1909 I left New York for the lit- 

 tle French town of Tadoussac at the mouth of the 

 Saguenay River to study these interesting cetaceans 

 and secure skeletons and plaster casts for exhibition 

 in the Museum. 



There are a number of French dwellers along the 

 St. Lawrence River who live by selling the skins 

 and oil of the Marsouin blanc, and arrangements were 

 made to hunt with one of them. The day before, I 

 had driven twenty-five miles from Tadoussac to the 

 porpoise hunter's cabin and in the morning, shortly 

 after five o'clock, my cameras were loaded into one 

 of the canoes and we paddled around the rocky head- 

 land into the little cove where the yawl from which 

 we were to hunt lay at anchor. 



A run of four hours took us across the St. Law- 

 rence and we began beating up the south shore against 

 a strong head wind. It was slow work and not until 

 three o'clock in the afternoon did we drop anchor in 

 a shallow cove at Apple Island, our destination. There 

 is a strong tide rip about the eastern end of this little 



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