NOTES ON THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY. 47 



Bears. In addition to these the 'Eclipse ' lost another very large 

 Whale, which, after an exciting struggle, succeeded in breaking 

 away. 



The ' Diana ' was the next vessel to arrive. She killed her 

 first fish on the 29th of June, and then proceeded to Lancaster 

 Sound in search of White Whales. Here, however, the ice was 

 so heav)', and the weather so boisterous, that little could be done, 

 and she narrowly escaped destruction on two occasions from ice 

 pressure, and was glad to escape from so dangerous a locality. 

 The next Whale she met with, and that a very large one, broke 

 away after receiving three harpoons ; and it was not till the end 

 of October that a second fish of much smaller dimensions was 

 secured. Her total produce was 2 Whales, 110 White Whales, 

 1 Walrus, and 20 Bears, yielding 47 tuns of oil and 38| cwt. of 

 bone. The last vessel to arrive was the ' Balsena,' with 2 Right 

 Whales, 104 White Whales, 2 Walrus, 3 Seals, and 8 Bears, pro- 

 ducing 46 tuns of oil and 36 cwt. of bone. The 'Alert' brought 

 from the Cumberland Gulf station the produce of 2 Black 

 Whales, 149 Walrus, and 3420 Seals, equal to 40 tuns of oil and 

 6 cwt. of bone ; including which the total return for the season 

 amounted to 14| Black Whales, 738 White Whales, 420 Walrus, 

 3420 Seals, 149 Bears ; equal to 260 tuns of oil and 163^ cwt. of 

 bone. 



The present price of produce is £22 10s. for oil. There 

 are so many grades of Walrus hides that it is difficult to estimate 

 the value of the bulk, but the price has gone down considerably. 

 White Whale hides have realized very good prices. One sale of 

 bone has been effected, I am informed, at the rate of a£l450 per 

 ton ; but, in consequence of the falling off in the American 

 fishery, £2000 per ton is now being asked for size-bone, with 

 every chance of being realized. At a rough estimate the value of 

 the produce would probably be about £24,680. 



I mentioned earlier in these notes the ' Problem,' formerly of 

 Yarmouth. Three of the trawlers, which formed part of the 

 " Short Blue " fleet of Messrs. Hewitt & Co., of that port, and 

 which has now been dispersed, were purchased for service in the 

 Arctic ; they were sailing vessels, averaging about 136 tons d. w., 

 very handy, good sea-boats, and splendid sailers; but the ven- 

 ture has been most unfortunate. Of the three, the ' Problem,' 



