THE BLACKFISH 



rest is put aside for the sheriff's fee, taxes, and ex- 

 penses; of the remainder a large proportion is allotted 

 to the villagers living on the borders of the fjord 

 where the kill takes place, every woman and child 

 having a share. The total value of a catch of five 

 or six hundred may be over $12,000. 



The morning following the hunt the cutting in be- 

 gins, each crew or group of villages taking, without 

 bickering or protestation, the whales apportioned to 

 them by the sheriff. After the blubber has been re- 

 moved, the meat is carefully cut away from the skele- 

 ton, piled in neat heaps, and carried away by the 

 women in wooden creels to their homes. All that re- 

 mains to mark the scene of carnage is the white 

 skeletons bleaching in the sun. 



But blackfish are not of use to the Faroe Islanders 

 alone, for wherever one of the old-time whaling vessels 

 cruises for sperm whales, the green crews and gear are 

 tried out if a school is found. And throughout the 

 voyage when whales are scarce, few of the vessels are 

 above "lowering" for a herd of these huge porpoises. 



The common blackfish of the North Atlantic is 

 without a trace of color above, but has a narrow line 

 of white on the breast and belly, which widens into a 

 fountain- jet shape on the throat. The species found 

 on the American Atlantic coast south of New York 

 (G. brachyptcrus) is black everywhere upon its body, 

 like the blackfish of the Pacific (G. scammoni). 

 Twenty-four feet seems to be about the maximum 

 size of this porpoise, which in the entire family is ex- 

 ceeded in length only by the killer whale. 



295 



