34-0 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BERMUDAS. 



June ist, 1849. — A Spermaceti Whale {Physeter macro- 

 cephalus) drifted on shore to-day, south of the Lighthouse. 

 It is supposed to have been killed by the crew of an Ameri- 

 can whaler which has been cruising off these islands for 

 some days past. 



In the summer of 1840, a whale of this species, was killed 

 by the island boats near St. George's. These are the only 

 instances of its capture in the Bermudas, during the last 

 nine years. The present specimen was only half grown. 



July 2&th, 1 85 1. — A Spermaceti Whale, {Physeter macro- 

 cephalus') was killed some weeks ago by the boats of a 

 whaling company off St. David's Island. This is a rare 

 occurrence on the shores of Bermuda, though at a short 

 distance from the coast the American whaling vessels 

 annually capture a few of these valuable creatures. 



The "Bermuda Royal Gazette" of December the 23rd, 

 1879, mentions the following— "A multitude of Whales 

 — The barque ' Elsinore,' which arrived at New York on 

 the 23rd of October, from Rio Janeiro, reports that six 

 days before, when abreast of Bermuda, she passed through 

 an immense shoal of Whales. The captain says that, in 

 an experience of many years, he never saw so many 

 Whales together. The procession must have been at least 

 two miles long." It is a very uncommon thing to fall in 

 with a large gathering of Whales so far south as Bermuda. 



On the 9th of April, 1887, a Seal was harpooned in the 

 Bermudas. My friend John Mathew Jones, in a letter from 

 Halifax, Nova Scotia, dated the ist of June, observes : — 

 " The Seal captured at Bermuda turns out to be a veritable 



