64 



BOREAL PROVINCE. 



dant, the smaller whales especially, and every here 

 and there, becoming more and more frequent as we 

 proceed northwards, great " finners " may be seen, 

 the giants of the ocean, steaming rapidly across the 

 deep, and, in spite of their enormous bulk, rivalling 

 vivacious porpoises in their gambols, as I once 

 witnessed even as far south as the Zetlands. But 

 the great Greenland whale is wholly absent from 

 the Boreal province, a negative character of no 

 small importance. Some of the dolphins are found 

 here in wonderful abundance, especially the bottle- 

 nosed whale, shoals of which occasionally strand 

 themselves on the islands and the mainland of this 

 region, bringing a rich harvest of oil and blubber to 

 the fortunate fishermen, in whose neighbourhood 

 they make their luckless landing. The numbers of 

 the caa'ing whale (DelpMnus melas) cast ashore in 

 Faroe in 1843, according to Sir Walter Trevelyan, 

 was 3146, from which 87,404 gallons of oil, the 

 value of which was 56651. were obtained ; the flesh, 

 moreover, was cut into long strips, and dried for the 

 purpose of feeding cows, who throve upon this novel 

 food, and produced very excellent cream. The lives 

 of no fewer than 600 cows were calculated to have 

 been saved in one winter by this means. 



The Boreal region is well characterised by its 

 more peculiar fishes, especially those inhabiting the 

 deeper parts of the Norwegian seas. Nowhere in 

 Europe are fisheries habitually conducted at such 

 great depths. Roving among groves of gigantic 



