272 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



A large female whale of this species, killed in 

 Davis Strait, measured along the curve sixty- 

 five feet, of which the head was nearly a third ; 

 the greatest girth thirty feet. Specimens have 

 been obtained weighing upwards of seventy 

 tons, and such a creature may truly be said to 

 be the largest which swims the ocean deserts. 



The Atlantic Right-whale is another of the 

 immense creatures of the Northern seas, though 

 its range is more to the southward than the 

 Greenland species. In fact, it is well known 

 that at one time it was an object of pursuit 

 round the British coasts; and the English 

 Channel constituted a well-known fishery. Those 

 who practised it here are said to have invented 

 the harpoon, and, subsequently, to have taught 

 the use of that weapon to Dutch whalers. 

 Be that as it may, the chase of this species 

 in our seas dates back to a very early period, 

 and so rigorously was it prosecuted, that the 

 animals were driven further and further north, 

 and only found themselves free from molestation 

 when they reached the polar seas. To prove 

 that this is a different species from the last, it 

 may be mentioned that old Icelandic manu- 

 scripts have two distinct names, one for a 



