296 TRAVELS IN 
put on board others on freight. Their oil, therefore, conti- 
nued to lie as a dead ftock in their cifterns, till the high premium 
of bills on England induced fome of the Britifh merchants to 
purchafe and make their remittances in this article. The price 
at the Gape was about 40 rix dollars the legger^ or tenpence 
fterling per gallon. Sometimes, indeed, fhips from the Southern 
Whale Fifhery took a few cafks to complete their cargoes, but, 
in general, they preferred to be at the trouble of taking the fifh 
themfelves, in or near fome of the bays within the limits of the 
colony, where they are fo plentiful and fo eafily caught, as to 
enfure their fuccefs. It is remarked that all the whales which 
have been caught in the bays are females ; of a fmall fize, ge- 
nerally from 30 to 50 feet in length, and yielding from fix to 
ten tons of oil each. The bone is very fmall, and, on that ac- 
count, of no great value. 
The Whale Fifliing Company, finding there was little proba- 
bility of their difpofmg of the oil without a lofs, thought of the 
experiment of converting it into foap. The great quantity of 
fea-weed, the fucus maximus^ or buccinalis^ fo called from its 
refehiblance to a trumpet, which grows on the weftern fhore 
of Table Bay, fuggefted itfelf as an abundant fource for fup- 
plying them with kelp or barilla ; and from the fpecification of 
a patent obtained in London, for freeing animal oils of their 
impurities, and the ftrong and offenfive fmell that train-oil in 
particular acquires, they endeavoured to reduce to pracSlice this 
important difcovery. The experiment, however, failed ; for 
though they fucceeded in making foap, whofe quality, in the 
mod effential points might, perhaps, be fully as good as was 
defired, 
