4i'S 



THE RORQUAL WHALE. 



The bulk of this animal is greater than that of any other Whale, as many specimens have 

 been known to attain a length of more than one hundred feet, and one or two have reached the 

 extraordinary length of one hundred and twenty feet. By inexperienced whalers it is some- 

 times mistaken for the Greenland Whale and harpooned, but is very seldom killed ; for the 

 creature is so remarkably active and fearless, that in many cases the aggressors have paid 

 dearly for their error by a crushed boat and the loss of several lives. On one such occasion 

 the Rorqual started off in a direct line, and at such a speed that the men lost their presence of 

 mind, and forgot to cut the rope that connected the Whale with the boat. Making directly 

 for a neighboring ice-field, the Rorqual shot under it, and drew the boat with all its crew 

 beneath the ice, where they disappeared forever from the gaze of mankind. 



RORQUAL.— Bulauioptera Itoops, Physalus anliyuomm. 



Mr. Scoresby, desiring to secure one of these powerful animals, made preparations for 

 the chase by employing very short lines, only two hundred fathoms in length, and attaching a 

 buoy to each of their extremities, in order to tire out the creature by the resistance which they 

 would offer to the water through which they would be dragged by the Whale. 



Two Rorquals were struck, and in both cases the intended victims escaped. In the first 

 instance, the Whale dived with such impetuous speed that the line snapped by the resistance 

 of the buoy against the surface of the water, and in the second case the line only held together 

 for a single minute, and was severed apparently by friction against the dorsal fin. A third Ror- 

 qual was afterwards harpooned through the error of the seamen, who mistook it for a Green- 

 land Whale. As soon as it felt the sting of the harpoon, the animal dived with such rapidity 

 that it carried nearly three thousand feet of line out of the boat in about a minute of time, 

 and escaped by snapping the rope. 



Not contenting itself with such mode of escape, the Rorqual will often turn fiercely upon 



