46 The Mysticetus, or Right Whale 



that kills, not the wounds, which are quite superficial 

 and probably cause little actual pain. In fact, the 

 death of the whale is seldom compassed by thresher 

 or swordfish alone, but nearly always in active asso- 

 ciation with a group of killers. 



Seeing, then, how he is begirt with enemies, and 

 how for his valuable spoil men have always hunted 

 him into the farthest navigable recesses of his habitat, 

 it appears cdmost miraculous how he has survived until 

 the present day. Yes, and it is even more marvellous 

 when one remembers that, as compared with all the 

 other species of whales, his range is exceedingly limited. 

 The Arctic seas when freest from ice form but a very 

 small portion of the watery surface of the globe. Small, 

 that is, comparatively ; yet large enough to admit 

 of these gentle monsters eluding their many enemies 

 sufficiently to perpetuate the race, even through the 

 fierce war made upon them all through the last two 

 centuries, when ships from all the Northern European 

 nations frequented the Arctic seas in search of them. 

 Here, probably, came in the saving power of that 

 mysterious winter disappearance. For at least six 

 months of each year the Mysticetae enjoyed a close 

 season that man, at any rate, was unable to break into, 

 and it is highly probable that their other enemies also 

 departed south. Be that as it may, we are confronted 

 with the remarkable fact that, incapable of effective 

 flight or of self-defence, eagerly sought after by man 

 and agile sea enemies, confined to one little comer of 

 the earth periodically frozen solid, the vast Right 

 Whale still exists, and as recently as the year 1900 

 was so numerous that ships in the Pacific actually 

 took but the baleen of the whales they caught and let 

 the blubber go, since they had so many fish they could 

 not possibly flench them. 



