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A WHALE HUNT IN YORKSHIRE. 



R. S. AUDAS, M.R.C.V.S. 



The opportunity of enjoying- the excitement of a whale-hunt 

 does not offer itself to everyone, and as the experience of 

 capturing and killing- a two-ton Rorqual over twenty feet long^ 

 is, to say the least, uncommon, a brief description may be 

 interesting. 



The writer of this short account, with a friend and two 

 brothers, was camping on a sandy promontory on the East 

 Coast of Yorkshire, which formed a barrier some miles long 



protecting- an estuary and enclosing a large area of sand and 

 mudflats, the latter being covered at high water to an average 

 depth of from six to eight feet. 



Late in the afternoon of August 15th, over the flats and 

 .about the top of the tide, something unusual was observed in 

 the distance about half a mile away from the shore, and on 

 seeing a column of water arise from the object, it was unani- 

 mously decided to be a whale. Being familiar with the various 

 depths of water, the position of the object clearly indicated that, 

 if it could be driven a little south, W'here a hook of sand could 

 hamper its movements, it would reach shoal water, and if kept 



1905 November i. 



