158 TEE CBUISJE OF TEE " CACEALOTr 



eastward again to the southward of the Aleutian Archi- 

 pelago. The greatest number of whales are always 

 found in the vicinity of the Bonin and Volcano groups 

 of islands, which lie in the eddy formed by the north- 

 ward bend of the mighty current before mentioned. 

 This wonderful ground was first cruised by a London 

 whale-ship, the Syren, in 1819, when the English branch 

 of the sperm whale-fishery was in its prime, and London 

 skippers were proud of the fact that one of their number, 

 in the Emilia, had thirty-one years before first ventured 

 around Cape Horn in pursuit of the cachalot. 



After the advent of the Syren, the Bonins became 

 the favourite fishing-ground for both Americans and 

 British, and for many years the catch of oil taken 

 from these teeming waters averaged four thousand tuns 

 annually. That the value of the fishery was main- 

 tained at so high a level for over a quarter of a century 

 was doubtless due to the fact that there was a long, self- 

 imposed close season, during which the whales were quite 

 unmolested. Nothing in the migratory habits of this 

 whale, 80 far as has ever been observed, would have pre- 

 vented a profitable fishing all the year round; but custom, 

 stronger even than profit, ordained that whale-ships 

 should never stay too long upon one fishing-ground, 

 but move on farther until the usual round had been 

 made, unless the vessel were filled in the mean time. 



Of course, there are whales whose habits lead them 

 at certain seasons, for breeding purposes, to frequent 

 various groups of islands, but the cachalot seems to 

 be quite impartial in his preferences; if he "uses" 

 around certain waters, he is just as likely to be found 

 there in July as January. 



The Bonins, too, form an ideal calling-place, from 



