198 
THE FIN WHALE FISHERY IN NORTH LAPLAND. S«P., 1889. 
“ Killer ” ( Orca gladiator ), with its extremely high, scythe-like 
dorsal fin and gleaming white belly. These could be seen 
feeding in company with “ schools ” of dolphins, and perhaps 
a Lesser Rorqual (Balaenoptera rostrata ), following the shoals 
of herrings, the whole presenting a very busy scene. Flying 
over the water would be hundreds of gulls, mid sometimes a 
pair of ospreys would “ join the glad throng.” 
It was late in the season, and fewer Cetacea were to be 
seen than would have been the case a little earlier. During 
our journey eastof the North Cape we saw no whales. The coast 
here is a “ howling wilderness,” a very “psiXvy/m tt)s iprgjubcrew s,” 
and the chief objects of interest, beyond the solemnly 
impressive coastline, were the various “ Fugelbergs ” or bird- 
cliffs, covered with close-packed thousands of gulls, kittiwakes 
chiefly, which present a marvellous sight. We reached the 
odoriferous little town of Vardo at the week’s end, and found 
it looking extremely uninviting. Cod fishery is its principal 
industry, and it advertises this fact to an almost intolerable 
extent. The streets are paved with codfish heads and tails, 
with stacks of dried codfish everywhere, and acres of codfish 
hung on poles, drying to become c< Stockfish,” and emitting 
an effluvium better left undescribed. We went almost 
immediately down to the nearest whale “ factory,” to see if 
anything was going on. One’s first instinctive impulse on 
reaching a whale factory, especially if there is a whale in 
process of demolition, is to turn round and retire again as 
fast as possible. There is an odour connected with these 
establishments which defies description. As soon, however, 
as one can subdue this prompting to flee, one rapidly becomes 
interested in the scene, and puts up with the horribly 
aromatic surroundings. On this occasion a common Rorqual 
was the centre of interest. To get close to a whale stranded 
at one of these factories, it is always necessary to manoeuvre 
considerably, as the beach for hundreds of yards round a 
factory is covered along the high water mark with whale 
remains in various states of decomposition ; bones, blubber, 
entrails, &c., about a foot or eighteen inches deep, the barrier 
being much too wide to jump, and not inviting any attempts 
in that direction, as a false step would be disastrous in the 
extreme. One must select a path across, and choose portions 
which seem more consistent than the rest, and so step over, 
the whole slippery mass quaking violently as you cross, and per¬ 
haps letting you in over your ankles in cetacean decomposition. 
Once across it is not so bad, though still you have to be 
careful not to slip on the smooth rocks, as you may thus be 
at any moment deposited in a pool not of salt water, but of 
