FROM EDINBURGH TO THE ANTARCTIC 357 
enormous breadth quite astonished us.' At that time he 
was within a mile of the position held by us on Christmas 
Eve 1892 (viz., in 64° S. 55 0 28' W.). Elsewhere also, he 
talks of a whale ' greatly resembling, but said to be distinct 
from, the Greenland Whale.' 1 It was chiefly upon the 
authority of these two statements, in addition to some 
others made by Ross, that the Dundee and Norwegian 
whaling-fleet ventured to the south last year. None of 
the vessels saw any sign of a whale in the least resembling 
the Greenland or Bowhead Whale (Balcena mysticetus), 
although they were in the ice for a period extending over 
two months, Are we to conclude that Ross was mistaken, 
or that he has made a misleading statement? I think 
not. All we can say is that we failed to confirm Ross's 
statement, and that, on further search, the whale i greatly 
resembling the Greenland Whale * may yet be found. 
Indeed the vessels of Captain Larsen's fleet, during their 
subsequent voyage in 1893-94, gave chase to a whale 
«* which seemed to resemble the Bowhead, but failed to 
capture it. We shall see whether the plucky little Nor- 
wegian vessel Antarctic, that is pushing to 78 0 S., in the 
region of Victoria Land, has better luck this season. 
Ross says that the whales he saw were i lying' on the 
water, and this is one great characteristic of Balcena 
mysticetus. Contrary to the habits of the Finner Whales in 
the north, on more than one occasion we saw the southern 
Finners also lying on the water, and sometimes the dorsal 
fin seemed to have been almost entirely torn away, perhaps 
1 Ross's Voyage^ vol. i. p. 169. 
