xiv THE RORQUALS OR FIN WHALES 199 



of all the whales, being found in all seas, except the extreme 

 Arctic and probably Antarctic regions. Owing to the small 

 quantity and inferior quality of their whalebone, the com- 

 paratively limited amount of blubber or subcutaneous fat, their 

 great activity, and the difficulty of capturing them by the old 

 methods, these whales were not until recently an object of 

 pursuit by whale-fishers ; but since the introduction of steam- 

 vessels, and especially of explosive harpoons fired from guns in 

 the place of those hurled by the human hand, a regular fishery 

 of " finbacks " has been established on the coast of Finmark, 

 where many hundreds are killed every year, their bodies being 

 towed to shore for the purpose of flensing. Some of the 

 rorquals attain the largest size of any of the Cetacea, the blue 

 whale (Balcenoptera sMaldii}, not unfrequent in the British 

 Seas, reaching a length of 80 or perhaps 85 feet when fully 

 adult. On the other hand, one common species (B. rostrata) 

 never exceeds 30 feet in length. 



(3) Besides these there are other two forms of whalebone 

 whales not reckoned as right whales, the grey whale of the 

 North Pacific (Ehachianectes glaucus), and a small and very 

 peculiar species from the seas around New Zealand and 

 Australia (Neobaloena marginata) ; but these being very local 

 in distribution, and of little value except for museums, are 

 more interesting from a scientific than from a commercial 

 point of view. 



I now proceed to ( the next part of my subject the pursuit 

 and capture of whales by man for the sake of the materials 

 they yield, which are of value in commerce. The method 

 universally followed is attacking the animal when it comes to 

 the surface of the water to breathe by means of a weapon called 

 a harpoon, with an iron sharp -pointed barbed head, and to 

 the shaft of which is attached a strong line. In former days 

 this was always thrown by the hand, and to do so effectually 

 required great skill on the part of the man who wielded it. 

 Now the harpoon is generally projected from a gun, which 

 carries a considerably greater distance than could be traversed 

 by a hand-thrown weapon, and the necessity of approaching 

 so closely to the animal is avoided. Various methods to 

 increase the efficacy of harpoons have also been introduced 



