SHAL AND WHALE FISHERY, 1897. 17 
untoward weather, not the absence of Whales, which prevented 
their returning all ‘‘full ships.” All three vessels bore up for 
home about Oct. 27th. 
The total produce of the Whale fishery in the past season 
was 9 Right Whales and 772 Walruses, yielding 143 tons of 
Whale oil and 120 cwt. of bone. In addition to this the ‘ Alert ’ 
brought home from Cumberland Gulf station 3 cwt. of bone, the 
yield of a very small Whale of 4 foot bone, and 70 tons of oil, 
part of last season’s catch; and the ‘ Perseverance,’ which had 
wintered for three seasons at Rowe's Welcome, had the bone of 
three Whales (30 cwt.), and part of the oil (15 tons), the rest of 
the blubber having been lost. During her stay in Rowe’s 
Welcome the ‘ Perseverance’ got six Whales, the produce of the 
other three having been previously sent home by the Hudson 
Bay Company’s ship ‘ Erik.’ It is rather difficult to value this 
miscellaneous produce; but, taking the 228 tons of Whale oil at 
£18 per ton, or £4104, and the 153 cwt. of bone at £1600 per 
ton (‘size bone,’ I am told, has been sold at £1800 per ton) or 
£12,240; the 772 Walrus hides at, say, £5 each, or £3860; and the 
ivory, which was light and mostly female tusks, at, say, £200, the 
total produce would represent a sum of about £20,404, as 
compared with £16,207 in the previous season. 
The Norwegian Fin-Whale fishery, Prof. Collett tells me, is 
still flourishing, and several of the companies have also estab- 
lished themselves on one of the Faroes, where they are doing 
well. The Whales taken last year were for the most part 
Balenoptera borealis ; also several B. sibbaldi and B. megaptera ; 
but commonly B. musculus is the most numerous. The Cabot 
Whale-fishing Company, formed at St. John’s to prosecute the 
Fin- Whale fishery after the Norwegian fashion mentioned in my 
last year’s communication (p. 59), has not yet commenced opera- 
tions, but is expected to do so shortly. 
In my last notes on this subject (Zool. 1897), p. 58, fourteen 
lines from the bottom, for ‘ Arctic,’ read ‘ Active.’ 
As on so many previous occasions, I have to tender my best 
thanks to Mr. David Bruce and Mr. Kennes of Dundee, and to 
Mr. Michael Thorburn, of St. John’s, for their kind assistance. 
