20 THE NATUEALIST IN BEEMUDA. 



and kill them ; for I could never hear of any of that sort 

 that were killed by any man,' such is their fierceness and 

 swiftness. One such whale would be wortli many hundred 

 pounds. They are very strong, and inlayed with sinews 

 which may be drawn out thirty fathom long." 



Perhaps it may be interesting to some of our readers, if 

 we insert here the particulars of a " whale case," which was 

 tried at the Bermuda assizes, in the autumn of 1857. It 

 was obligingly communicated by a gentleman, who has 

 kindly assisted us with information for this little volume : — = 

 " Each company of whalers has two or more boats. One of 

 these companies had the good luck during the last season 

 to fall in with a valuable Cape whale, which yielded about 

 ■£"200 worth of oil. The boat which first struck it was 

 split ; her companion was soon at hand, and .struck into it 

 also, cutting away, of course, the first tine ; that boat, also, 

 was injured, and, by some singular chance, the whale, with 

 the boat fast to it, found its way into Castle Harbour. 

 Either from fear or mis-management, the crew did not pull 

 up to the fish to lance it, the whale running about to and 

 fro, and (as they term it), 'feeling for the boat.' After 

 being fast an hour, or longer, a small boat put off from the 

 shore, belonging to another Company ; the harpooner pulled 

 a lance from the 'fast' boat, and went alongside the finny 

 monster, and plunged the lance once or twice right into a 

 vital part, and killed the whale. He claimed allowance for 

 'work and labour,' which was inhumanly denied him; a 

 law-suit was the consequence, and the jury awarded him 

 fifty pounds." 



The domestic animals of the Bermudas are cattle, horses, 

 mules, donkeys, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs, rabbits, and cats. 



