THE SEAL AND WHALE PISHEEY OF 1886. 187 



and the 'Pole Star' from Dundee, captured 15 Whales, yielding 

 88 tons of oil, and 80 cwt. of bone— the Whales averaging just 

 over 5| tons of oil, and 5^ cwt. of bone. The 'Hope' and 

 ' Aurora,' as also the ' Earl of Mar and Kellie,' which paid a short 

 visit to the Greenland whaling, were unsuccessful. Fourteen of 

 the above Whales were taken early in the season, and in about 

 the saine locality, the remarkable feature about them being their 

 small size. 



The relative size of the Whales taken in Davis Straits and 

 Cumberland Gulf, compared with those usually taken in Green- 

 land, has in the past season been quite reversed. A large 

 number of Davis Straits and Cumberland Gulf Whales, taken 

 over a period of years, produced an average of 9|- cwt. of bone 

 each ; whereas the Greenland Whales, captured during the same 

 period, yielded 11 cwt. each; but in the past season the averages 

 have been 15 and 5^ cwt. respectively.* 



This may at first sight appear very remarkable, but it is quite 

 intelligible to those acquainted with the habits and seasonal 

 distribution of these creatures. We have seen that the Straits 

 fishermen, owing to circumstances of weather and ice, missed the 

 young Whales, which would have reduced their average ; whereas 

 the Greenland fishermen likewise, from force of circumstances, 

 could only get amongst young Whales early in the season; and 

 later on, owing in a great measure to the ice being so closely 

 packed and its edge so far west, they missed the south fishing 

 altogether. But this is not all : from long experience of the 

 habits and migration of the Whales, the regularity of which 

 is remarkable, the Whalers know precisely where they should be 

 found, under favourable circumstances, at certain definite periods ; 

 and not only so, but also the age .and size which may be expected. 

 I am not at liberty to enter more fully into this subject, fearing 

 to commit a breach of confidence, as it is the application of 

 accumulated experience on such points which enables one man 

 to succeed in capturing Whales when a less accurate observer 

 would fail ; but I may add — to show that the migratory habits of 



* As before stated, the yield of bone is more reliable than that of the 

 oil for purposes of comparison ; I therefore prefer to give that of the bone 

 only, but each cwt. of the latter may be taken as representing an equivalent 

 of one ton of the former. 



