BELMULLET WHALING STATION. 127 
while B. borealis yields whalebone of considerably greater value, 
although, since this is a small species, the plates are not of great 
length. 
The flesh of B. sibbaldii has an excellent flavour even when taken 
from a large specimen. As it is full of oil it must be soaked in salt 
water and vinegar for several hours before being used. If this pre- 
caution is observed, it is almost impossible to distinguish whale-meat 
from good quality of beef-steak. The flesh for food is generally cut 
from the lateral post-anal region. On the Japanese Stations the 
entire carcases of the whales taken are, or used to be, sold on the 
market for food, it being more profitable to dispose of the animals in 
this manner than to boil them down for oil and guano. In Norway 
also a considerable amount of whale-meat is utilised by butchers. It 
is usually salted as soon as the whales are flensed, and is seldom 
placed on the market in the fresh condition. On account of the 
extreme rapidity with which whales decompose very few of the 
Blacksod Company’s whales could be used as food. 
The attempts to recover the glue from the water resulting from 
the various cooking processes applied to blubber, meat, &c., have 
failed, The reason for the failure lies in the amount of steam which 
is required to evaporate down the solution. This steam comsumption 
necessitates the use of so much coal that the expenditure is not 
covered by the price received for the glue which results from the 
process of evaporation. 
In whale-hunting the shot which is generally attempted is aimed at 
a point behind the pectoral fin, as the animal here presents a large 
target, and the cast-iron harpoon head, with its charge of blasting- 
powder, is most likely to prove fatal when exploded in the thoracic 
cavity. The shot, as a matter of fact, which explodes beside the 
vertebral column in an anterior position is the most fatal. When this 
happens the whale dies instantaneously. On the other hand, the 
harpoon may fail to explode. In this case nothing can be done at the 
moment except to let the harpoon line run out. The whale may 
rush along the surface or descend almost vertically. If a surface run 
is made the engines are put at full speed ahead in order to avoid 
straining the harpoon rope, which is three-inch manilla cable. When 
the whale dives down there is serious risk of the rope snapping. 
One such case occurred to our knowledge during the 1913 season. 
Only a few fathoms of cable were lost on this occasion, but at other 
times whales have been known to take out the whole of the three or 
four hundred fathoms attached to the harpoon, and then to break 
the line at the bow of the boat. The whale is very much exhausted 
after a deep dive such as this, and when it returns to the surface 
another harpoon is fired into it, which almost invariably proves fatal. 
Even if the rope is broken the animal is usually so fatigued that 
it is readily approached and secured. We were informed by a very 
experienced Norwegian whaler that it has happened that a steamer, 
having become fast to a wounded whale, has ‘ played * it for as much 
as thirty hours before the cowp de grace could be delivered. 
