THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY OF 1889. 83 



in the Davis Straits and Greenland Fishery, the present very 

 high price of whalebone, owing to the scarcity of this valuable 

 commodity in consequence of the failure of the American 

 Fishery in Behring's Straits, proved of immense advantage to 

 the Scotch merchants who had not disposed of their bone 

 before the months of November and December, when the great 

 rise took place. 



It will be remembered that the reason assigned for the want 

 of success in 1888 and previous years, in Davis Straits, was the 

 great accumulation of ice which blocked up the principal fishing- 

 ground; this year the ice which has so long been blocking the 

 Straits has cleared away, and the Whales being more accessible, 

 the fishery was much above the recent average. Capt. Phillips, of 

 the 'Nova Zembla,' reports that though the " summer" fish were 

 very scarce, in the fall large numbers of heavy Whales were seen ; 

 in fact, he does not remember to have seen so many Whales 

 since the season of 1880. In consequence of the improved state 

 of the ice, and the number of Whales seen, it is expected that 

 five ships will go to the Straits Fishery in 1890, for three in the 

 past season. The only unsuccessful vessel was the ' Chieftain ' 

 (a sailing vessel), which for want of steam power was unable to 

 penetrate the ice in search of Whales; I am informed, how- 

 ever, that she is to be fitted with engines for the next voyage. 

 The ' Maud ' killed three fine Whales, yielding 60 tons of oil and 

 50 cwt. of bone ; and the ' Nova Zembla ' returned with five Whales, 

 yielding 58 tons of oil and 55 cwt. of bone — no doubt a very 

 satisfactory result from the owner's point of view. 



From Greenland also the reports are much more favourable, 

 no fewer than sixteen Whales having been captured, for four the 

 previous season ; these, however, were not so fine as the Straits 

 Whales. The remarkable feature in the Greenland Seas was the 

 prevalence of southerly winds, and the consequent almost entire 

 absence of the southward drift of the ice which takes place in 

 summer ; the result was that an immense body of ice collected 

 in lat. 74°, stretching in the month of July from the east coast of 

 Greenland so far as 7°E. long. The Norwegian sealer 'Hecla' 

 is said to have turned the south end of the Greenland ice (which 

 usually extends as far south as Cape Farewell), in lat. 70°, and 

 reaching the coast killed 800 Walruses and forty Musk-oxen. 

 In passing round this tongue of ice to reach the south fishery- 



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