STEAM WHALERS 
373 
following medicine as a profession, was interested in nat- 
ural science, and had a Shetlander's love of the sea. 
The Balsena sailed from Dundee on September 6th, 
1892, amidst a scene of great excitement, the docks being 
crowded with friends of the sailors, and members of the 
public interested in the new enterprise. So long and 
uncertain a voyage as that contemplated is rare nowadays, 
and although many of the whalemen had never spent a 
summer at home since they were boys, they had hardly 
ever spent a winter away from their families. A few 
scientific friends accompanied Mr. Bruce down the Firth 
of Tay and were landed at Broughty Ferry in company 
with half a dozen wretched stowaways. Those unhappy 
“ out-of-works ” were unearthed from various hiding- 
places, and begged hard to be allowed to proceed on the 
voyage on any terms before they obeyed the peremptory 
orders to get into the boat. They had evidently no idea of 
the nature of the new whaling grounds, their one thought 
being that here was a chance of food at least for a year 
to come. The Diana sailed with the same tide, the Active 
and Polar Star followed a few days later, and all of them 
had a wild burst of bad weather at the outset. Five 
stowaways were landed from the Diana at Stornoway, 
no less than fifteen from the Polar Star, at Blyth, and 
two more were found on board long afterwards. 
The ships saw nothing of each other on the whole 
long outward voyage, but the Balasna and Active reached 
the Falklands on the same day, December 8th, and sailed 
for the fishing grounds on the nth, just before the Diana 
arrived. On the way out the Active had sailed for a day 
in company with an American whaler off the coast of 
Brazil. She had been twenty-seven months at sea hunt- 
ing the sperm whale in tropical waters. Visits were 
