THE CHASE OF THE BLUE WHALE 193 



a whale even when it is fastened to the ship, and Andersen, 

 one of the sailors of the Si. Laioreiice, told me he had killed 

 with the lance as many as ten killer whales in a few minutes, 

 by standing in the ship's bows. 



Our arrival at Little St. Lawrence was hailed with delight, 

 for a " Sulphur " had not been slain since May. The present 

 example measured 78 feet, being considered a fair-sized adult 

 bull. On the following morning, after making some draw- 

 ings, I witnessed the whole process of disintegration. Every 

 part of the whale was utilised, even the blood, which ran 

 in rivers into a huge vat. 



The various processes through which whales pass before 

 being converted into oil, fat, soap, and guano are not of 

 much interest to the general reader, so I will omit them. 



With the man who devised the utilisation of these pro- 

 ducts, Dr. RismuUer, I spent eight days. He insisted on 

 my remaining as his guest, and gave me much valuable 

 information, his general knowledge of whales being very 

 considerable. The scientific attainments of Dr. Rismuller 

 are not appreciated in the New World as they should be. 

 In a society whose one aim and object is the rapid accumu- 

 lation of money, many things of this world that are of real 

 importance and interest are scarcely noticed, that is at the 

 time of their inception ; and so people go hurrying on, only 

 to find too late that they had had a great man in their midst 

 without their knowledge. If Dr. Rismuller had made a 

 fortune rapidly out of his discoveries, people in America, 

 Canada, and Newfoundland would have thought him a wonder- 

 fully " cute " fellow, and would have placed him on the pedestal 

 of fame allotted to successful trust magnates and other human 

 sharks, but as it is others have for the most part benefited by 

 his genius, and he is still comparatively a poor man. 



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