WHALES AT HOME. 



427 



dive for shelter, they would never, once 

 having been seen, be able to escape from 

 the whalers, since they can neither swim fast, 

 dive far, nor fight. This it is, no doubt, 

 that has led to their extermination, as well 

 as the persistence with which they have been 

 hunted and the comparatively restricted area 

 of the seas they inhabit, in spite of the long 

 period of each year during which they are 

 secure from pursuit by reason of the darkness 

 and freezing up of all the hunting-grounds. 



Where, then, does the Greenland whale go 

 in winter ? A question easier asked than 

 answered. He is never met with in milder 

 seas, so that it is not possible to suppose 

 that he, like his hunters, retires before the 

 advancing winter, the closing of the ice 

 barriers against the sea. Yet he must 

 breathe the air of heaven, must also at the 

 same time lie afloat, unless, as one theory 

 goes, he hibernates beneath the ice until 

 released by the spring. The indignant 

 repudiation of this idea has led to the belief 

 in a comparatively warm Polar sea which is 

 open all the year round, and to which, by 

 some secret channel known only (and 

 possibly only) to themselves, the whales 

 depart when the sun has gone. 



The Esquimaux tell some strange stories 

 of the disappearance of the whales, one of 

 which has the merit of being absolutely 

 novel in its conception. They say that a 

 whale, having been pursued by a " kayaker," 

 or native hunter, in his skin canoe, dived 

 beneath a vast iceberg for shelter. Long did 

 the kayaker wait, but never again did he see 

 the object of his chase, and, worn out, he 

 returned to his "igloo," full of the assurance 

 that the whale was a witch that had en- 

 deavoured to lure him to his destruction. 

 Taking a gift in his hand he sought the local 

 priest (Angekok), who told him that he 

 should assuredly find that whale again, and 

 bespoke as his reward a goodly portion of 

 the blubber. Thus strengthened he called 

 some associates, and with them returned 

 to the vicinity where they had last seen the 

 whale. After watching for many hours in 

 vain they suddenly saw, by the commotion 

 in the sea, that an iceberg was reversing 

 itself, its base having melted away until its 

 equilibrium was changed. Hastening to a 

 safe distance they watched the revolution of 

 the ice-island, and as they gazed beheld the 

 body of a whale, imprisoned in its hollowed 

 base, rise majestically from the waves and 

 be carried high into the air, vanishing from 

 their sight as the berg settled into its 

 new position. They stared at one another, 



unable to realize the position for awhile, 

 until at someone's suggestion they again 

 sought the Angekok. When he heard what 

 had happened his form dilated, his eyes 

 flashed, and he poured out an impassioned 

 flood of eulogy upon himself and his magical 

 powers. Then he bade them begone and 

 wait events, while resuming their normal 

 occupations and troubling their minds no 

 longer about the whale thus wonderfully 

 raised to high honour. 



The summer waned and winter came. 

 Darkness and utter cold prevailed as usual, 

 and food was scarce in the camp. So fierce 

 was the frost that nothing could be found, 

 and starvation was already glaring at them 

 through the long night when the Angekok 

 arose and spake unto them. He bade them 

 travel in a given direction over the ice-field 

 until they came to a mountain which they 

 must scale, for there at its summit they 

 would find food. They remembered the 

 whale and were glad. Of their toil and 

 peril as they scaled the black cliffs of ice 

 much might be said or sung, but nothing 

 adequately. Sufficient that they succeeded, 

 lighted by the glorious coronal of the 

 Northern Lights, and there found, but lightly 

 frozen in, the enormous carcass of the whale 

 — one hundred tons and more of rich fat 

 and flesh ready for their eating, a banquet 

 whereon they all might feast right bountifully 

 until summer came again, great though their 

 appetite might be. From thenceforward 

 their Angekok was lord of all the region 

 round about, his fame was established upon 

 an unshakable base, and no man but 

 deemed himself happy could he by any 

 means obtain a word of advice at whatever 

 cost from so wonderful a seer. 



In spite, however, of the long close season 

 each year, during which it is only reasonable 

 to suppose the whales are unmolested, these 

 gentle monsters are almost entirely removed 

 from the sea fauna. As if their relentless 

 persecution by man were not enough they 

 are the prey of the savage killer, or Orca 

 Gladiator^ who devours their tongue and 

 leaves the rest ; of the thresher shark, whose 

 attacks upon them are so furious that the 

 wide sea boils and frets, while the white 

 walls of the ice echo back the blows 

 in thunderous reverberations. Other sharks 

 lie in wait for the young calves, easily 

 pulling them down and devouring them. 

 And upon none of these aggressors is 

 the mysticetus ever known to turn in 

 self-defence. Escape is all he strives for, 

 and in his massive efforts to do so 



