CHAPTER XXV 

 THE BLACKFISH 



THE blackfish, the most gregarious and one of 

 the largest members of the porpoise family, is 

 sometimes called the "pilot whale" because it 

 blindly follows a leader and the herds can be driven 

 almost like a flock of sheep. 



Several species have been recognized in different 

 oceans of the world, but the most common and widely 

 distributed is the one called by naturalists Globicepha- 

 lus -melas, which occurs in great schools on both sides 

 of the North Atlantic. 



It is perhaps most abundant about the Faroe Islands 

 north of Scotland, where the natives take advantage 

 of its follow-the-leader habit and drive the herds into 

 narrow fjords to be slaughtered by the hundreds and 

 used for oil and food. These blackfish hunts of the 

 Faroes are famous and lend a w r elcome touch of ro- 

 mance and picturesqueness to the present-day whaling 

 which contains so little of the old-time glamour. 



When a school of grind, as they are called by the 

 Faroe men, is sighted, word is telephoned along the 

 coast, and whether it is night or day, boats begin to 

 assemble to surround the porpoises. The herd is slowly 

 and quietly driven toward the mouth of the fjord 

 which has been selected by the first boats on the scene 



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