THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY OP 18*7. 125 



Dundee, one of which, the ' Arctic,' was lost in September, the 

 remaining seven returning with eleven whales and three suckers, 

 the whales, with one exception which produced 21f cwt. of bone, 

 being all very small. A feature in the voyage appears to be the 

 capture of three " suckers," old females followed by their young, 

 although formerly frequently reported, being now rarely met 

 with, or if met with seldom recorded; 1931 White Whales were 

 also procured, and twenty Bottle-noses, the whole producing 

 438 tons of whale oil and 110 cwt. of bone. 



Five vessels went to Greenland, four from Peterhead and one 

 from Dundee; of these the 'Hope' and the 'Alert' returned 

 unsuccessful, so far as Whales were concerned ; the ' Polar 

 Star' and 'Erik,' each with a very small Whale, producing 2 and 

 1 cwt. of bone respectively; and the 'Eclipse' with one very fine 

 Whale which yielded 27 tons of oil and 25 cwt. of bone. The total 

 produce of the Greenland voyage was three Whales, yielding 37 tons 

 of oil and 28 cwt. of bone. The high price of bone will insure 

 the ' Eclipse ' from actual loss, but the result of the voyage to the 

 other four vessels must have been a very considerable deficiency. 



The total quantity of whaling produce brought home by the 

 Dundee and Peterhead vessels consisted of 475 tons of oil, about 

 283 tons of which was White Whale, 23 tons Bottle-nose, and 

 168 tons Bight Whale oil, and 6 tons 18 cwt. of bone. The oil, 

 at the present price of £20 per ton, represents a sum of £9500, 

 and the bone, now selling at £1200 per ton (17 per cent, of 

 which, however, would be under size and worth only half-price), 

 would represent, say, another £7560— together £17,060, against 

 a total of £29,890 for the season of 1886. The low proportion which 

 the bone bears to the oil (about 127 cwt. of the former to about 168 

 tons of the latter) is due to the small size of the whales captured. 



The only whale killed by Capt. Gray was a remarkably large 

 female, measuring 57 feet in length, and the longest slip of bone, 

 including the portion inserted in the gum, 12 ft. 4 in. ; it produced 

 27 tons of oil and 25 cwt. of bone. From experience derived 

 from the comparison of 200 Greenland Whales, Capt. Gray 

 estimates the average length of an adult male at from 48 to 50 ft., 

 and that of tbe female from 53 to 54 ft. ; so great a length as 

 57 ft. is seldom reached and very rarely exceeded. The longest 

 Whale which Scoresby ever measured was 58 ft., and of 322 

 individuals which he assisted in capturing, he does not believe 



