NOTES ON THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY. 87 



they abandoned quarters which have become unsuitable, for others 

 more in accordance with their requirements, and, if the latter, 

 where have they betaken themselves to ? When we consider the 

 vast extent of these seas, and the increased wariness of the 

 animals brought about by constant disturbances, it seems highly 

 improbable that the last Whale has been found and killed in this 

 trackless ocean. Surely a remnant must have been left had they 

 not deserted their former habitat of their own accord. But 

 where can they have migrated to ? There seems to be an 

 abundance of Whales on the west side of Greenland in Davis 

 Strait, and were it not that a passage round the north of Green- 

 land into Robeson and Kennedy Channels (where they have 

 never been seen) is rendered impossible, as they would undoubt- 

 edly perish, suffocated under the unbroken fields of fixed ice, and 

 that they have not been known to pass south of Cape Farewell 

 (there being no other apparent communication between the two 

 seas), it might readily be supposed that they had joined their 

 brethren in the locality above mentioned ; but, so far as can be 

 ascertained, such a change of location is an impossibility, and the 

 only certainty is that the conditions necessary to their require- 

 ments have of late years greatly changed for the worse, and that 

 the Whales themselves have disappeared — whether permanently 

 or not, who can say ? 



As to the Seals, the case is much more simple : the destruc- 

 tion year after year of a very large proportion, often virtually of 

 the whole brood and of a large number of old Seals in addition, 

 congregated in a limited area, must inevitably tell in course of 

 time, and sooner or later reduce the breeding pack to such an 

 extent that they would be no longer worth pursuing, and even 

 lead to their final extermination. This has doubtless to a very 

 large extent been the case. The British vessels have quite 

 abandoned the pursuit, and what there is left of the Greenland 

 sealing is now quite in the hands of the Scandinavians, whose 

 more economical outfits enable them to continue the struggle 

 long after we have been driven from the field. 



In the year 1881 Dundee sent out fifteen vessels, and Peter- 

 head five. Nine of the Dundee vessels and five of those from 

 Peterhead took part in the Greenland sealing, killing between 

 them 23,984 of these animals. The other six Dundee ships went 



