Natural-History Notes. 9227 
captain of the vessel on board of which my friend lived broke the back 
of one with a cannon-shot, and the animal lashed about the water for 
some time before it died. It drifted on shore eventually on Namoa 
Island, and was cut up by the native Chinese. A firm in Hong Kong, 
on hearing of the occurrence of whales in the Namoa Straits, fitted 
out a lorcha for their capture. The whalers built huts and boiling- 
vats on Double Island, Swatow, and then went to the pursuit. They 
soon returned, saying that the whales were only razorbacks, the same 
as are found off San Francisco: they are dangerous creatures to 
meddle with, and yield too little oil to compensate the risk run in 
their capture. The whalers took down their gear and returned to 
Hong Kong. As my friend naively observed, before erecting vats and 
making other preparations for boiling down the oil, they should first 
have caught their whale. Some eleven years ago American whalers 
used to rendezvous at Hong Kong, and thence send their oil home to 
the States ; but their countrymen treated them so badly, and cheated 
them so much, that they now seldom come there, preferring the Sand- 
wich Islands, which are nearer and easier of access to their whale- 
boats in the Pacific. While on the subject of whales, it might amuse 
and instruct the readers of the ‘ Zoologist’ to give at length a paper 
that I stumbled across the other day in the ‘ Chinese Repository’ for 
November, 1843. It relates facts on the subject of doubtless the same 
species as I have just been noticing. Itis to be found on page 698 
of that excellent work, and is headed “ Art. IV. Notices of the Whale- 
fishery in the Chinese Seas, as conducted by the Inhabitants of the 
Coasts. Communicated for the ‘ Repository.” 
“During the months of January and February whales and their 
young resort to the coast of China, to the southward of Hailing Shan, 
in great numbers, and during those months are pursued by the 
Chinese belonging to Hainan and the neighbouring islands, with con- 
siderable success. The fish generally seemed to be in bad condition, 
and were covered with barnacles; and their object in resorting to 
that part of the coast during that season is probably to obtain food, 
for themselves and young, from the great quantity of squid, cuttle, and 
blubber-fish which abound, and perhaps also to roll on the numerous 
sand-banks on the coast, in order to clear their skin of the barnacles 
and other animals which torment them. They are often seen leaping 
more than their whole length out of the water, and coming down again 
perpendicularly, so as to strike bard against the bottom. 
“Tt is an exciting scene to see these boats out, in fleets of from 
fifty to seventy, scattered over the bays as far as the eye can reach, 
