INTRODUCTION.. 
Formerly whales were principally 
taken in the North Seas: the largest 
were generally found about Spitzber- 
gen, or Greenland, some of them meas¬ 
uring ninety feet in length. At the com¬ 
mencement of the hazardous enterprize 
of killing whales, before they had been 
disturbed by man, they were so numer¬ 
ous in the bays and harbours, that when 
taken the blubber was for the most part. 
boiled into oil upon the contiguous coast. 
The pure oil and whale bone were 
only preserved in those days ; conse¬ 
quently a ship could carry home the 
product of a greater number of whales 
than a ship of the same size now can.— 
Indeed, so plentiful were the whalds in 
those seas, and taken with such facility, 
that the ships employed, were not suffi¬ 
cient to carry home the oil and bone, 
and other ships were often sent to bring 
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