142 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
But of all the enem’es of these enormous fishes, man is the 
greatest : he alone destroys more in a year than the rest in an 
age, and actually has thinned their numbers in that part ot 
the world where they are chiefly sought. At the first dis- 
covery of Greenland, whales not being used to be disturbed, 
frequently came into the very bays, and were accordingly 
killed almost close to the shore; ‘so that the blubber being 
cut off was immediately boiled into oil on the spot. L he ships 
in those times took in nothing but the pure oil and the whale- 
bone, and all the business w T as executed in the country ; by 
which means a ship could bring home the product of many 
more whales than she can according to the present method ot 
conducting this trade. The fishery also was then so plentiful, 
that they were obliged sometimes to send other ships to fetch 
off the oil they had made, the quantity being more than the 
fishing ships could bring away. But time and change of 
circumstances have shifted the situation of this trade. The 
ships coming in such numbers from Holland, Denmark, 
Hamburgh, and other northern countries, all intruders upon 
the English, who were the first discoverers of Greenland, 
the whales were disturbed, and gradually, as other fish often 
do, forsaking the place, were not to be killed so near the 
shore as before; but are now found, and have been so ever 
since, in the openings and space among the ice, where they 
have deep water, and where they go sometimes a great many 
leagues from the shore. 
The whale-fishery begins in May, and continues all June 
and July; but whether the ships have good or bad success, 
they must come away, and get clear of the ice, by the end 
of August ; so that in the month of September at farthest 
they may be expected home; but a ship that meets with a 
fortunate and early fishery in May can return in J une or J uly. 
The manner of taking whales at present is as follows : — 
Every ship is provided with six boats, to each of which belong 
six men for rowing the boat, and an harpooner, whose busi- 
ness is to strike the whale with his harpoon. Two of these 
boats are kept constantly on the watch at some distance from 
the ship, fastened to pieces of ice, and are relieved by others 
every four hours. As soon as a whale is perceived, both the 
beats set out in pursuit of it, and if either of them can come 
up before the whale finally descends, which is known by his 
throwing up his tail, the harpooner discharges his harpoon at 
him. There is no difficulty in choosing the place where the 
whale is to be struck, as some have asserted ; for these crea- 
tures only come up to the surface in order to spout up the 
water, or blow, as the fishermen term it, and therefore always 
keep the soft and vulnerable part of their bodies above 
