208 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



The total of Humpbacks killed in 1886 was as nearly as 

 possible the same as in 1885, and if, as in the preceding species, 

 we reckon the totals for the three years, only of those companies 

 of which I had returns in 1884, we find the figures so nearly alike 

 that, without complete returns, it would be impossible to show 

 any diiference. 



On my outward passage over the North Sea, when about 

 152 miles from the Spurn, on the afternoon of August 6th, or, 

 roughly speaking, in about 55° 33' N. lat., and 1° 52' long. E. G., 

 we passed tolerably close to some Rudolphi's Rorquals. There 

 were, I am nearly certain, three of them, though it is possible 

 that there were, as conjectured by some of the other spectators, 

 only two. They kept blowing for some minutes, as we crossed 

 their track, and occasionally putting their heads out of the water. 

 The position indicated would be about the latitude of Bamborough, 

 on the Northumberland coast, and inside the forty fathom line, 

 clear of the N.W. margin of the Dogger Bank. I saw them well 

 enough to feel confident in my identification, though it was not a 

 species one would expect to meet with thereabouts, and to see 

 any species of Whale there is an exceptional incident. The 

 Whales were heading about W.N.W., and as that course (or 

 within several points of it) would bring them before very long to 

 the Scotch coast, I lost no time, after landing in Throndhjem, in 

 writing to apprise Mr. Southwell of the likelihood of a visit being 

 paid to the British coast by this rather rare species, and begging 

 him to keep a look-out in the newspapers in case any arrival 

 should be chronicled. Mr. Southwell was good enough to take a 

 great deal of trouble in the matter, and in a few days heard of a 

 Whale ashore, which is worth putting on record here, although it 

 was probably not one of the individuals he was on the look-out 

 for. On August 14th, three fishermen off the Island of Bernera, 

 on the west coast of Lewis, heard a tremendous noise proceeding 

 from a small creek called Sandy Cove. On getting nearer, they 

 found a Whale fixed across the entrance. One of them, named 

 Angus M'Arthur, landed and aimed a blow at its head with an 

 oar. The Whale lunged to one side, and brought down upon 

 itself a piece of rock estimated at over a ton in weight. The 

 fishermen then attacked it, and with much difficultj^ after a 

 prolonged resistance during which it brought down several more 

 pieces of rock in its struggles, they succeeded in killing it. 



