THE FINWHALE FISHERY OF FINMARK. 461 



" How long the Blue Whale goes with young is still a riddle. 

 Two things are certain, viz., that the pairing does not take place 

 at any fixed time of the year, and that the gestation is longer 

 than one year. As proof of this it may he stated that in the 

 course of fourteen days foetuses have been found of 2, 4, and 65- ft. 

 in length, coexisting at the same time of year as the pairing has 

 been observed. From this, again, one may infer that the period 

 of gestation was longer than one year, which is also borne out 

 by several other things. There are, moreover, several certain 

 observations of the fact that the young one follows the mother 

 a long time ; the mother has, for instance, been shot while 

 accompanied by a young one of between 40 and 50 ft. I have, 

 however, also received information that pairing has taken 

 place notwithstanding that the mother was accompanied by 

 its offspring. Consequently my theory is that the Blue Whale 

 goes with young from eighteen to twenty months ; this is 

 borne out essentially by comparison with other mammals. It is 

 a prevailing rule with whales that the size of the offspring 

 amounts to a fourth part (or even a little more) of the mother. 

 According to this, the newly-born young of the Finwhale would 

 be about 15 to 16 ft. long, probably it is still larger ; for, as 

 regards the Blue Whale, the proportion must be between one- 

 quarter and one-third, since foetuses have been removed of 

 23 ft. in length. This latter species also cannot reproduce its 

 species more frequently than every other year. This is its most 

 favourable rate ; we arrive perhaps nearer the truth when we say 

 that the Blue Whale reproduces every third year, since there 

 are many proofs of the fact that the young at a considerable size 

 (up to 50 ft.) still follow the mother, and that the Finwhale 

 reproduces every second year." 



A Blue Whale may be immediately distinguished from a 

 Finwhale by the following external points of difference : — 



Sibbald's Rokqual. Common Roeqoal. 



A fairly stout aud well-proportioned Looks emaciated, and much too long 

 looking whale, in spite of its great for its girth, 



length; a slightly humphacked 

 appearance at the shoulder. 



The whole of the baleen coal-black. Baleen only black on outer edoe, 



partly slate-colour aud yellow. 



No white about the body. Under side white. 



