4 
Siz Ferre Tfes. 
them in the neck with long knives; an 
adroit champion with two ftabs will pierce 
the whale to the bone, who, in his agita- 
tions and ftruggles to difembarrafs himfelf, 
fnifhes by twifting his own neck. 
_ The fifhermen lay hold of this oppor- 
tunity to drag it further off, to difpatch 
it with lefs trouble: but they take great 
care not to ftrike it in the eyes, the pain 
of which would caufe it to brandith its 
tail very vigoroufly, as it has a fineu- 
lar ftrength in that part, and might 
wound the operators very dangeroufly 
with it. 
‘The fea is reddened with the blood of 
thele fithes to a confiderable extent ; but, 
what is aftonifhing, no fooner do thofe 
that have efcaved being wounded gain 
the open fea, than they return to the field 
of battle, yet covered with the blood of- 
their comrades, where death awaits them. 
Great advantage is made by the acqui- 
fition of this fpecies of whale; the natives 
eat it with pleafure, while it is frefh; and 
certain morfels of it are in much requetft 
with foreigners; the fiefh found under the 
fat has almoft the tafe of beef; what is 
not eaten frefh, is cut into long flices and 
dried. .. The fat ferves to make oi] with, 
or itis falted and eat like meat; it will keep 
for many years. ' 
Independently of thefe whales, of the 
fmaller fpecies, fometimes the larger whale 
is found in the circumjacent feas. The 
fithery of this is much more eafy. They 
approach it in a boat, and tickle its back 
with an oar, which it fupports patiently. 
While it complacently fubmits to this 
fport, a feaman thrufts into his fpout-hole 
a woollen glove, which deprives it of 
the faculty of being able to plunge; he 
next pierces it ina part full of fat, and ties 
acord to.it, with which they are enabled 
to drag it towards the fhore, where they 
make it faft~ The animal feems amufed 
with this manceuvre, which is to become 
fo fatal to him ; but he is foon affailed 
with a multitude of boats, from which they 
dart their harpooos on him, till he lofes 
blood. The combat then becomes dan- 
erous for the ffhermen, from the ‘terrible 
firokes of the tail which it gives when 
it feels itfelf wounded. 
Neither the fat nor the flefh of this fort 
of whale is eaten. It has been found, 
that when the fat was eaten, thete exha- 
led through the pores a fetid fweat, which 
tinged the wearing-apparel yellow. A 
property fo fingular feems worthy to fix 
the attention of phyficians, and to be the 
objeé&t of fome experiments j—as does, 
likewife, another obfervation, which 
doubtlefs will not appear indifferent, that 
many women in the flower of their age 
experience here, without any apparent 
caufe, a compleat fuppreffion of their 
menjes,and oftenwithout any inconvenience. 
We are not to expect to find a confide- 
rable commerce 1 a country which is 
totally deftitute of manufa€tures and 
where agriculture and the fifhery can never 
become objects of importance. The ex- 
portation is reduced to fome trifling arti- 
cles, fuch as ftockings, flannel waiftcoats, 
fuet, fifth, fifl-oil, quills, fkins and but- 
ter; it is carried on, proviforily, by a mo- 
nopoly, which the government has referved 
to itfelf, not to enrich the fifcal purfe at 
the expence of thefe iflanders, but: to 
fupply their ever-urgent wants, without 
being obliged to make too confiderable fa- 
crifices. - . 
The inhabitants of thefe iflands, the 
population of which does not exceed s000 
fouls, are, in general, well-made; they 
have fair complexions, and the fun feldom 
impairs their whitenefs. No faces are 
feen among them, which offer thofe hide- 
ous marks which the {mall-pox leaves, and 
which are fo common elfewhere. A great 
number of them havewhite hair. They are 
not deficient in underftanding, which may 
be,doubtlefs, attributed tothe little confine- 
mentand conftraint which they experience, 
and to the extreme liberty which they en- 
joy ininfancy. They are phlegmatic, but 
neverthelefs fympathizing, beneficent, 
and hofpitable. Nothing is more rare than 
quarrels among them; they carry politefe 
in converfation fo far,,that in addrefling 
a difcourfe to any one, they entitle him 
Valfigravur, that is to fay, ‘The bleffed.’ 
They are upright and frugal, and are 
{carcely ever feen to be intoxicated with 
brandy, although they are very fond of 
that liquor. We may, perhaps, reproach 
them with a blind attachment to antient 
ufages, and with afingular tendency to 
credulity, and to fuperftitions praétices, 
Even envy is no ftranger to them. © 
As there is no {chool, and the parents 
themftlves are the infiru€tors of: their 
children, it may be eafily conceived that 
knowledge here muft be very backward. 
They are fond, however, of reading. 
Many know how to write; and in general 
they can calculate very well, without 
either pen or pencil. ‘The frequent noc- 
turnal fifheries, and their refiding among 
the rocks, have taught them fo well to 
know the ftars, that they can ufually indi- 
cate the hour by the rifing of thofe ftars. 
They 
