OKDER VI. THE CETACEA. 2-43 



TIic flesh of the whale is generally coarse and tough, but that of some of 

 the species is not un[)alataljle when properly cooked and seasoned. I have 

 myself eaten portions of the tail, prepared with vinegar, {lepper, and 

 salt, and also minced pies, made in tlie Yankee fashion, of the flesh, and 

 found them a very agreeable food. Speaking of the wliitc whale, Hans 

 Egcdc says, that it is as well-tasted as any pork, and the fins and tail, pickled 

 and sauced, are very good eating. 



The history of whale-catching dates from a verj' early period ; but not 

 until more recent times did the business become an extensive and profitable 

 branch of industry. In this country, Nantucket took the lead for many 

 years, and employed a large number of ships, and barks, and seamen in 

 tlic enterprise, which was prosecuted with considerable vigor and success ; 

 but latterly New Bedford has appeared to monopolize the bu.-iness, and 

 sends out annually a large fleet of vessels to the Pacific, and also to the 

 Greenland seas, and has met with such success, that the city, in [n)int ol' 

 opulence, is one of the first, in proportion to its size, in the United States. 

 New London, Conn., also is quite largely engaged in the enterprise, which 

 generally has proved successful, returning large profits to those who iiave 

 invested their capital in the business. Still later, the enterprising town 

 of Provincetown, on Cape Cod, has entered the lists with much energy, and 

 has a considerable number of vessels, of various size, afloat ; and tlie hardy 

 and intelligent mariners of the Cape have won a high reputation i'or their 

 skill and prudence in pursuing the hazardous undertaking. 



^Ve need not say that these huge mammalians of the ocean are hunted for 

 their valuable products, the oil and whalebone, which are applied to nu- 

 merous uses, and constitute most important articles of conmierce and trade. 

 The Americans engaged in the " v/ta/iiu/" business as early as llilJO, and 

 prosecuted it with more ardor and success than any other people. For many 

 years our own seas furnished an aljundaiit supply of the animal ; but wjicn 

 these were exhausted, our bold mariners sought their prey in distant oceans, 

 and the ships of the colonists were seen alike among the icebergs of the 

 arctic circle and the frozen regions of the southern jible. So distinguished 

 had our whalemen already become at the time of our great struggle for in- 

 dependence, that Mr. Burke thus eloquently alludes to them in his celebrated 

 speech before the British Parliament : "While we arc carrying on the whale- 

 fishery under the arctic circle, we hear that they have pierced into the oppo- 

 site region of jiolar cold ; that they are at the antipodes, and engaged under 

 the frozen serpent of the south. Falkland Island, which seems too remote 

 and too romantic an object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage 

 and resting-place for their victorious industry. Nor is the equatorial heat 

 more discouraging to them than the accumulated winter of both the poles. 



