268 A HISTORY OF THE WHALE FISHERIES 



this time to be worth one hundred and fifty pounds, 

 of which the whalebone furnished sixty pounds ; the 

 common Finner (B. musculus) worth one hundred 

 and twenty-five pounds (whalebone fifteen pounds) ; 

 the Humpback worth also one hundred and twenty- 

 five pounds ; and the Sei Whale worth forty to forty- 

 five pounds, to which the whalebone contributed 

 ten pounds. These estimates are, of course, 

 averages. 



In 1896 there were twenty-nine steamers off 

 Finmark, and eighteen off Iceland, engaged in the 

 slaughter of Finner Whales. In 1897 the 

 numbers were respectively twenty-fi^e and twenty- 

 three. 



In 1896 the number of Finners slaughtered was 

 two thousand, in 1897, it was one thousand nine 

 hundred. 



The average number of Finners killed per 

 annum by the Norwegians was : 



For the whole area: 1876-1885 347 



1886-1895 1,107 



1896 2,081 



1897 1,888 



In Finmark alone, thirteen thousand four hundred 

 and ninety-one whales were killed in twenty-seven 

 years. A third whale fishery practised in northern 

 waters at this time was that for the Grindhval or 

 Pilot Whale, which was captured by the inhabitants 

 of the Faroes, Orkney, and Shetland Islands. 

 From 1801 to 1879 no less than seventy-eight 

 thousand two hundred and ten Pilot Whales were so 

 killed; an annual average of nine hundred and ninety. 



