THE FINWHALK FISHERY OF ) 8H6. 209 



The men tied a rope to its tail, but it broke it and nearly 

 wrecked the boat. Its length is said to have been about fift_y- 

 four feet, and, from tlie onl}^ description Mr. Southwell suc- 

 ceeded in obtaining in answer to his enquiries, it was evidently 

 either a Common or Kudolphi's Rorqual, as it had "longitudinal 

 folds of a whitish colour on the lower part" of the body; if it 

 had been a Humpback, the remarkable flippers would almost 

 certainly have been mentioned. It had been seen for about 

 fourteen days previously in Locli Roag " pursuing small herrings," 

 accompanied by a smaller one. It was purchased by Mr. J. N. 

 Anderson, of Stornoway, who had it towed there. 



When " IndenskJEers," that is, inside the barrier of the 

 skerries, in the neighbourhood of Bergen, on August 8tli, we saw 

 a Lesser Rorqual ; and a good many Dolphins, probably D. tursio. 

 As I proceeded north, numerous Dolphins (? D. tursio) between 

 Rorvig and Fjeldvig, and a single one in Porsanger Fjord, were 

 the only cetaceans seen. Vest Fjord was passed earlier than I 

 expected, — during the small hours of the morning, — and though 

 exceptionally calm, no Whales were seen by the watch. In 

 Oxfjord (West Finmarken), on August 15th, I saw the krang of a 

 young male Bottlenose {Hyperoodon rostratns), which, I was told, 

 measured from 2 to 2^ fathoms, and had been picked up in Soro 

 Sund about three weeks previously, then recently dead, and with 

 no mark externally to account for death. 



When returning from visiting the whaling establishments, 

 Capt. Horn kindly gave me a passage on the ' Murmanetz,' when 

 she and the 'Welda' started homeward bound from Yeretiki on 

 September 10th; and I proceeded in her all the way down to 

 Throndhjem, where she and her consort were laid up for the 

 winter. In spite of very heavy weather, we saw several Whales 

 on the passage. On the 14th, in a heavy sea off Bryniln, between 

 the islands Loppen and Logo, we passed a small Whale. On the 

 morning of the 15th, near the head of Vest Fjord, about three- 

 quarters of an hour's run south of Lodingen, blowing hard 

 W.N.W., passed a Humpback to starboard of us; and about ten 

 minutes later, on the opposite side of us, we passed a school of 

 from ten to twenty " Svaerd Fisk " (Sword-fish). They were, I 

 suppose. Killers {Orca gladiator), although, so far as mj' observa- 

 tions went, their appearance did not correspond well with that 

 species; but as such a mass of widely divergent descriptions 



