THE LAST PHASE OF WHALING 261 



Inlet. In August and September the whales were 

 followed on their southerly migration to Home Bay 

 and Cumberland Sound on the east side of Baffin 

 Land. The return voyage commenced in the early 

 days of November, though some lucky ships occa- 

 sionally obtained full cargoes in September or 

 October. Some ships, both British and American, 

 wintered in Cumberland Sound in order to be ready 

 for the early summer fishery. 



The voyage of the Arctic was a very successful 

 one, thirteen female and fifteen male whales being 

 captured. The weight of whalebone was fourteen 

 tons seventeen hundredweights, and that of the oil 

 two hundred and sixty-five and a half tons, the total 

 value being eighteen thousand nine hundred and 

 twenty-five pounds. 



The Scottish whalers at this time brought the 

 blubber back to Dundee in large tanks. There it 

 was filled into casks and taken to the boiling yards 

 to have the oil extracted. This was done by steam 

 in large coppers holding sufficient blubber to yield 

 ten tons of oil. The seal blubber is so fresh when 

 landed that it is necessary to wait six or eight weeks 

 until it is so decomposed that the oil might be 

 extracted easily. But in 1873 the Dundee Seal and 

 Whale Fishing Company fitted up machinery for 

 cutting and crushing the blubber, so that it could be 

 utilised as soon as landed. For some purposes the 

 oil thus reduced is more valuable. After boiling the 

 oil is allowed to settle in coolers, and then run into 

 storing tanks ready for delivery as required. 



