NOTES ON ARCTIC WHALING VOYAGE. 67 



only reached the ship after five days' journey over water and ice, 

 and the substitutes and stores landed on Sept. 12fch in Eepulse 

 Bay had to be conveyed in the same tedious and exhausting 

 manner on the return journey. After again visiting the mica 

 station the ' Active ' bore up for home on Oct. 7th. 



Another remarkable feature in the past season is the fact that 

 for the first time since the year 1899 Whales have been killed in 

 the East Greenland Seas, Capt. Kobertson, of the ' Scotia,' having 

 captured four small fish, yielding in the aggregate 40 cwt. of bone. 

 From this there seems reason to hope that these valuable animals 

 are still present in these seas in greater numbers than was sus- 

 pected ; they are so dependent on glacial conditions that their 

 absence may be more apparent than real. This was illustrated 

 to a remarkable degree in the season of 1888, a most interesting 

 account of which voyage, from the pen of Mr. (now Dr.) Eobert 

 Gray, appeared in your pages in the first three months of 1889. 

 Although Whales were seen in abundance to the end of May, 

 early in June the swell from the south-east broke up all the floes, 

 and the Whales disappeared, only four being killed by the five 

 vessels present (cf. Zool. April, 1889), three returning clean. 

 Capt. Kobertson remarks that " when we get a tight pack-edge 

 from 80° to 77° N. very few Whales are caught, and when the 

 margin of the ice is in west longitude it is nearly always hope- 

 less" ; and adds : " About the year 1891, Capt. David Gray told 

 me he estimated there were seven hundred Whales in the 

 Greenland Sea. In four seasons since then I have seen a great 

 number of Whales, particularly in 1895, whereas only ten have 

 been caught since that year. The race is certainly not getting 

 exhausted in the Greenland Sea, and never will be. I consider 

 the apparent absence of Whales at North Greenland (during 

 some seasons) entirely due to ice conditions." This optimistic 

 opinion of a man of Capt. Eobertson's great experience is 

 certainly very reassuring. 



Seven vessels were actively engaged in whaling in the past 

 season, three of which were clean ; the ketch ' Queen Bess ' is 

 attached to the Hudson Strait station, and the ' Albert ' is win- 

 tering at Pond's Bay. The total produce was : 7 Right Whales 

 (4 from East Greenland, 2 Davis Strait, and 1 Hudson Strait), 

 8 White Whales, 534 Walruses, 1264 Seals, 189 Bears, 817 



