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are given for 1810, a number which rises steadily to 157 for 1818. But these numbers refer merely to British ships, and we find (pp. 64, 65) that in 1721, 355 vessels were engaged in the trade, of which 251 were Dutch and the rest belonged to other foreign countries. In one hundred and ten years (1669-1778) the Dutch alone sent out 14,167 ships (Scoresby, table opposite p. 156).
A marked contrast to the above figures is afforded by the statistics of the last few years. Dundee is the port at which the whaling industry has survived the longest among British ports. The British Association Handbook to Dundee (10, p. 32×) states that, in 1867, 12 auxiliary screw steamers were employed, representing a capital of £200,000; that the success of whaling operations during recent years has been very limited; and that only two ships have gone forth to try their fortune during
the current season " [1912].
The history of the Greenland whale fishery has thus been, firstly, the discovery of immense numbers of whales off the coasts of Spitzbergen, Jan Mayen, and East Greenland, followed by a period of intensive" fishing" in those waters, resulting in the diminution of the species hunted to such an extent that the industry, if not the species, is dead. Before the exhaustion of the seas to the east of Greenland, the waters of Davis Straits and the west coast of Greenland had been found extra- ordinarily productive of whales. Here, too, the combined activities of numerous whalers performed the work of reduction so effectually that the large and prosperous fleets of one hundred years ago were represented last year by two vessels sailing from Dundee.
After the eastern whaling grounds had already obtained great importance, and had passed their periods of maximum prosperity, the Greenland Whale was found to be abundant in the North Pacific, including the Sea of Okhotsk, and in the Arctic Ocean, north of Bering's' Straits. Here, too, history has repeated itself (see Brown Goode, (1) (b), pp. 19- ). The whaling grounds were discovered in 1835, but at first the only whales taken were "Right Whales" (B. glacialis, or an allied species). On pushing further north " Bowheads" (B. mysticetus) were taken off Kamchatka, and from 1848 vessels penetrated Bering's Straits into the Arctic Ocean in chase of the Greenland Whale (p. 19).
The North Pacific whale fishery was at its height in 1846, when 202 ships were employed (p. 20). From this time the industry declined, as is shown by the tabular statement on pp. 84, 85 of the American report from which these facts are taken. In 1856 the number of vessels had fallen to 178; in 1866 to 95; and in 1876 to 18. It may be noted that the report in question contains an interesting review of the whale fisheries of foreign nations, beginning with an account of the Spitzbergen whale fishery, on p. 193.
Where figures are so eloquent as they are in the case of the Greenland Whale it hardly seems necessary to bring forward further evidence with regard to other species. But a very similar story could be told of the remaining members of the genus Balena, also known as " Right Whales." These constitute but a single species, according to some authors, differing from the Greenland Whale in having shorter whalebone and in yielding a smaller quantity of oil. According to other authors, several species of these Right Whales may be distinguished, as, for instance, those of the North Atlantic, the Southern Ocean (perhaps more than one species), and Japan.
The history of the Biscay Whaling is referred to by Scoresby (6, pp. 16- who was, however, under the impression that a Fin-Whale was the object of the pursuit of the Biscay whalers of the sixteenth century, and of still earlier centuries. Much valuable information with regard to the "Nordkaper" or Atlantic Right Whale is given in the paper on the Greenland Whale by Eschricht and Reinhardt (2, pp. 31-
). A more recent account of the distribution of this species in past and present times is given by Collett (9, pp. 547- ). The species has been hunted from the tenth century in the Bay of Biscay (by the Basques), and from the end of the fifteenth century off the North Cape, Iceland, Newfoundland, the more southern parts of the American coast, and elsewhere in the Atlantic. The pursuit of this species came to an end, in European waters, by the beginning of the eighteenth century, but in American waters lasted until the end of that century. For many years the species was regarded as excessively rare, or even extinct, but it began to show itself once more about the middle of the nineteenth century, and was even hunted to a moderate extent on the American side. Since the beginning of the present century it has been caught to a small extent off Iceland, the Färoes, the Hebrides, and the west coast of Ireland.
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The Right Whale of the Atlantic is thus a species which has been brought to the verge of extinction, resulting in the cessation of its pursuit, and after a long interval has shown evidence of an unexpected power of recovering some of the ground lost. It would, however, be very unsafe to presume, on the evidence afforded by this species, that it would be advisable to reduce a given whale-species to the vanishing point in the expectation that it would again become common when it was no longer hunted.
A general account of the Sperm Whale, another species of special value on account of its valuable products, spermaceti, oil of high quality, and occasionally ). It reads ambergris, is given by Brown Goode (1 (a), pp. 7– ; 1 (b), pp. 63-
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like the other accounts. "There is no reason to doubt that Sperm Whales were at one time, nearly two centuries back, as abundant in the North Atlantic as in more recent years in the North Pacific. The vigorous prosecution of the whale fishery
by American vessels has had much to do with their present scarcity (1 (a), p. 8). In 1775 more than 150 vessels were hunting Sperm Whales in the Atlantic (1 (b), p. 65). In 1837 the industry had reached its highest point of pros- perity (p. 70), and in 1839 the United States alone had 555 vessels enìployed in the chase of this species (p. 71). The fleet then began to decrease as the Sperm Whale became scarcer; and one fishing ground after another was abandoned. In 1880 the receipts of sperm-oil from the American fleet were the smallest, with two exceptions, since 1826 (p. 72).
The pursuit of the Sperm Whale is still carried on in certain parts of the world with success. The issue of the " Morgenbladet," a newpaper published at Christiania, for October 18th, 1913, contains an account* by Gustav B. Bull, the manager of a Norwegian whaling company operating on the south coast of Western Australia. It appears from this account that 285 Sperm Whales were obtained there during the season 1912-1913; and the same statement is contained in a letter, August 4th, 1913, which has been received at the British Museum from Mr. H. J. Bull, the father of Mr. G. B. Bull.
The Sperm Whale is occasionally caught by the Irish and Scotch whaling stations at present in existence. But it is clear that the Sperm Whale fishery is in a far less prosperous condition than it was early in the nineteenth century; and that this result is due, as in other cases, to over-fishing.
Some account of what is going on at British whaling stations is given in Mr. S. T. Burfield's. two Reports (7, 8), a copy of each of which is enclosed.
A useful summary of the facts, up to 1887, is afforded by plate 183, illustrating the American report numbered (1) (5). The plate consists of a map showing the extent and distribution of the present and abandoned whaling grounds of the world. Special attention may be directed to the shrinkage or disappearance of the areas referring to the Sperm Whale, particularly in the Pacific Ocean.
In former days it was the Right Whales and the Sperm Whales which formed the principal object of pursuit. The methods then in use did not allow the whalers to molest the Fin Whales or Rorquals and Humpbacks to any great extent. To-day the position is changed, and any species which is not composed of individuals so small as to be beneath the whalers' notice is in danger. It need hardly be pointed out that Humpbacks and Rorquals are at present the object of an unremitting pur- suit, particularly off South Georgia and in the Antarctic circle.
(2) MIGRATION AND SEASONAL APPEARANCES.
Many important questions are involved under the head above given. It has been contended, for instance, that a species may protect itself by retiring from areas in which it is persecuted into more inaccessible places. In this connection it is ad- visable to consult the interesting Memoir by Eschricht and Reinhardt (2), published in Danish in 1861. They give evidence (pp. 5- ) to show that the Greenland Whale appears at definite times of year at different places on the west coast of Greenland, and (p. 12) that the observations recorded give no reason for believing that this species ever had a larger range than it had when their memoir was written, on the coast in question. The dates of appearance and disappearance for a par- ticular place were the same then and eighty years previously. The Greenland whale is thus, like other Cetaceans, a migratory animal" (p. 9). It changes its station according to the season, with perfect regularity; and in some cases even the
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* Continued from October 15.
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