148 “MAMMALS OF BERMUDA. 
him. This I write by relation, for I have not seen any killed my- 
self.” 
The fact of their capturing the whale in shoal water proclaims it to 
belong to this species, for the sperm whale, which is the only other 
cetacean known to visit the Bermudas, is never known to come near 
shore. 
Another communication to the same society from one Richard Staf- 
ford, dated at Bermuda, July 16, 1685, also proclaims the identity of 
this species : 
‘“We have hereabouts very many sorts of fishes. There is amongst 
them great store of whales, which in March, April, and May, use our 
coast. I have myself killed many of them. Their females have abun-- 
dance of milk, which the young ones suck out of the teats that grow 
by their navel. They have no teeth, but feed on moss growing on the 
rocks at the bottom during these three months, and at no other season 
of the year. When itis consumed and gone, the whales go away also. 
These we kill for their oil.” 
The Right Whale fishing around the Bermudas appears to have been 
prosecuted by the islanders with more or less success from these early 
times until the present, when, owing probably to the more profitable 
and pleasant pursuit of agriculture, which combines at the same time a 
security of person quite foreign to that of the whale fisher, as the 
numerous accidents on record prove, it is not followed with the same 
ardor which characterized the efforts of the early settlers. Neverthe- 
less we find that almost every year some of these whales are taken; 
and one season they were so numerous that no less than twenty were 
taken off the east end of the islands. Cub whales are more commonly 
taken than adults. These are of all sizes, as announcements in the 
island papers such as the following, prove: ; 
‘A fine whale of the hump-back species, a maiden cub of last year, 
was captured on Friday morning last (April 22, 1866), by the boats be- 
longing to Mr. Masters’ establishment at Port Royal. It was 33 feet 
long, exceedingly fat, and it is supposed will produce 40 barrels of oil. 
It was first harpooned, and then shot at three several times with bomb- 
lances, and though hit each time the third bomb only exploded and 
caused the almost instant death of the leviathan. This is the first 
whale that has been captured here for some years.” Again: ‘A cub 
whale about 22 feet long was captured by the boats of Port Royal cn 
Wednesday last (April 26, 1871). The old whale followed the young 
one and struck the boat with its tail. It was harpooned but broke the 
