178 NEWFOUNDLAND 



the methods of taking it employed in the sixties and 

 seventies, and for a reliable narrative of the chase of this 

 whale in Friendly Islands the reader will find " My First 

 Whale," by Stanley Mylius, most entertaining. 



In Europe the Humpback was not hunted until the intro- 

 duction of the little steamers and the bomb-gun invented by 

 Svend Foyn (1865), but now some hundreds are annually 

 killed in the northern waters of the Atlantic. In Shetland 

 about four or five per station is the usual take. Between 

 the years 1865 and 1885 large numbers of Humpbacks were 

 killed off the Finmark coast by the Norwegians ; in fact, so 

 successful were these steamers that they have decimated the 

 BalcBHOptera in the neighbourhood of the north-eastern waters. 

 A close time is now, however, in force. 



Humpbacks appear in spring in the northern waters, and 

 often come close in shore, where they have been seen rubbing 

 their noses, lips, and fins on the rocks to free themselves 

 from the objectionable barnacles which grow on these parts. 

 They feed principally on " kril," but also eat a variety of 

 fish, such as caplin, &c. 



The Humpback may be described as the clown of the sea. 

 It is of a joyous, lively disposition, rollicking and sporting 

 in the ocean with all the happy irresponsibility of a monstrous 

 child. We can hardly imagine a huge creature like a whale 

 being frolicsome, but such is the case, and within the limits 

 of its vast bulk it contrives to gret a lot of fun out of life. 

 In fact it is a sort of Marine White-tailed Gnu. The animal 

 loves to fling itself clear out of the water, coming down with 

 a huge splash, and to see two or three playing and romping 

 in a summer sea is quite an education in elephantine joy. 



As a rule these whales are of a fearless disposition, and 

 will permit the close approach of a boat or small steamer. 



