164 NEWFOUNDLAND 



In spite of this great slaughter, whales were reported to be 

 quite as plentiful as usual in the spring of 1905. In fact, in 

 April and May Sibbald's Rorqual and Common Rorqual were 

 abundant along the edge of the ice at the mouth of the St. 

 Lawrence, and on the south coast of Newfoundland, as far 

 east as Placentia Bay. In June, however, whales suddenly 

 became extremely scarce, owing, said some of the owners and 

 St. John's people, to the excessive slaughter, but in reality to 

 the trend seawards of the stream of " kril " or red shrimp, on 

 which the great Balcenoptera subsist. 



The whales which are hunted are : Sibbald's Rorqual 

 {Balcsnoptera Sibbaldi), called by the Norwegians "the Blue 

 Whale," and by the Americans and Newfoundlanders by the 

 stupid name of " Sulphur-Bottom " ; the Common Rorqual 

 {Balcsnoptera musculus), g&nersiWy knovin as "the Finback"; 

 the Humpback Whale {Megapiera boops) ; and Rudolphi's 

 Rorqual {Balcsnoptera borealis), known to the Norwegians as 

 " Seijval," or Seiwhale. The Lesser Rorqual {Balcsnoptera 

 rostrata), or Minkie's Whale, and the Sperm Whale, are also 

 killed on rare occasions. 



Sibbald's Rorqual, or, as I shall call it in future, the Blue 

 Whale, is the largest of living creatures, and larger than any 

 mammal or reptile that the world has ever seen. Zoologists 

 who revel in piecing together the extinct creatures of the past, 

 and giving them an undue prominence, are somewhat apt to 

 overlook the more interesting forms which still live and fre- 

 quent our seas close at hand. Consequently the distribution 

 and habits of the most wonderful things that have ever 

 breathed have not received the attention they deserved. On 

 commencing the study of whales some years ago, I found the 

 literature of the Balcsnoptera so meagre that much study and 

 personal experience would be necessary to ascertain new facts 



