THE WHALEBONE WHALES. 665 



along these coasts, feeding upon plankton, but the few Blue 

 Whales caught were all very lean. 



The coast of Chili, from which whaling is at present being 

 prosecuted, also offers opportunities for interesting observations 

 upon the periods of gestation of various species of Whales, especi- 

 ally those of the Blue Whales and Rudolphi's Whales, which are 

 very little known. 



From a consular report which has come to my notice, it appears 

 that great numbers of the Finback Whale congregate in the 

 waters along the Brazil coast between tSouth latitudes 12 and 18 

 every year during the period from May to November. Until 

 more definite information is obtained upon this subject, further 

 comment must, however, be reserved. 



In the IS'orthern Hemisphere, modern whaling is at present 

 being prosecvited from the following localities: — Spitzbergen, 

 Iceland, the Faeroe Islands, Shetland, the Hebrides, the western 

 coast of Ireland, Newfoundland (one station also in Labrador), 

 British Columbia, Japan, and Korea, while preparations are also 

 being made for an eai-ly start in Alaska and in the Sea of Okhotsk 

 from Saghalien Island. 



When the veteran Avhaler Svend Foyn had perfected his 

 harpoon-gun in the latter part of the sixties, and had commenced 

 operations in Varangerfiord on the Finmark coast, the Blue 

 Whales were his only objects of pursuit ; and, so long as the 

 hunting was carried on on a moderate scale, continued to be so for 

 a series of years. As, however, after the expiration of his patent 

 an increasing number of new companies entei"ed the field, the 

 other species of Whales — Finbacks, Humpbacks, and occasional 

 schools of Rudolphi's Whales — also became the objects of the chase. 

 Successively, however, the Blue Whales became scarcer and scarcer, 

 and the other species of Whales, especially the Finbacks, came 

 to play the principal part in the catches. The same order of 

 things has, as a rule, repeated itself also in most other whaling- 

 grounds in the North Atlantic. 



As observations upon the breeding-season and the period of 

 gestation of the various species of Whales in our northern latitudes 

 can only be made during a limited part of the year, no exact 

 information may be said to exist bearing f uUy upon these ques- 

 tions. The results from the Finmark coast may very briefly be 

 summed up thus: — 



The Blue Whales have often been observed in coition during 

 the summer ; the indications are that this act may take place also 

 at other times of the year. They have never been observed with 

 small calves in that locality, but occasionally with larger ones. 

 The period of gestation is supposed to last more than twelve 

 months, and it is believed that there is no fixed time of the year 

 when they give birth to their young ; this probably takes place 

 in American temperate waters*. Contents of the stomach of 



* The Sulphur-bottom variety has occasionally been observed in Finmark waters. 



