54 TEAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPOKT. 



of their line. Many a time I caught myself inwardly 

 wondering whether any amount of starvation would 

 cause me to partake of mutton in that neighbourhood, 

 and I invariably answered my own question in the 

 negative. The look of the animals was enough to 

 send all thoughts of dinner to the winds. 



We arrived in Vadsoe late in the afternoon, and 

 found ourselves again within the pale of civilisation. 

 It is a small town of about 1800 inhabitants, these 

 consisting chiefly of Quaens, but at the time of my 

 visit it was computed that at least 1000 strangers were 

 in the town for the purpose of participating in the 

 fishing. It was therefore very lively and noisy. 

 Yadsoe is built of wood, and in rather a straggling 

 fashion. Its chief trade is in fish and the products 

 of fish, such as fish-guano and cod-oiL Within the 

 last few years an industry hitherto unknown has 

 sprung up in the little place viz., whale-fishing. 

 This fishing is carried on by means of small steamers 

 armed with a curious weapon of destruction called a 

 harpoon-gun. With this gun the whales are shot at 

 from the steamers, and by some mechanism or other 

 the harpoon explodes on entering the body of the 

 cetacean, thereby causing instantaneous death. The 

 carcass is then towed into port, there to be cut up and 

 converted into oil, guano, &c. How immensely profit- 

 able this undertaking must be is shown from the fact 

 that the Norwegian Income-tax Commissioners in 

 1878 assessed the profits of the whale factory at 



