The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1894-08-31
The Great Sea Mammals,

young While III OtOeT 10 secure tue
mother, saw her instantly rise, wrap
her clippers round her young one, and
descend, dragging about 600 feet of
line out of the boat, with marvellous
force and velocity. Again she rose to
the surface, darted furiously to and fro,
frequently stopped short, or suddenly
changed her direction, giving every
possible intimation of agony. The
boats continued to pursue her closely
for a length of time, while she, poor
creature, seemed utterly regardless of
the dangers which surrounded her. At
last one of the boats approached so
near that harpoon was thrown at
her, then a second harpoon, and a
third, still she did not attempt to es-
cape, but allowed the other boats to
approach, so that more harpoons were
attached, till in the course of an hour
the poor animal was killed. Though
there was something painful in the
deliberate destruction of creature
evincing such heroic affection for her
offspring, yet this feeling of compass
sion quickly gave way to the object
Of the adventure, the value Of the
prize, and the exciting JOY of the cap
ture. The fidelity of the male and fe-
male whale to each other exceeds
that Of most animals. Anderson, in
his 4 history Of Greenland" mentions
that some fishermen, having struck
one Of two whales, male and female
that were in company together, the
wounded creature made long and
terrible resistance. With a single blow
of its tail it upset boat containing
three men, by which they all went to
the bottom. When another boat came
up, the other whale still remained by
its companion, and lent every assist
ance, till at last the wounded victim
sank under the number and severity
of its wounds, while its faithful part
ner, unable to survive its loss, stretch.
ed herself upon the dead body of her
mate, and calmly shared its fate.
To the Greenlanders, as we'll as to
the natives of southern climates, the
whale is an animal ofvast importance,
and these people devote much of their
time to fishing for it. When they set
out upon their whale-catching expe-
dition they dress themselves in their
best apparel, imagining that if they
are not cleanly and neatly clothed,
the whale, which detests dirty sloven-
ly garb, would certainly avoid them.
In this manner about 50 persons, men
and women, set out together in one of
their large boats. The women take
with them their needles, thread, and
other implements, to mend their hus-
bands clothes, in case they should be
torn, and to repair the boat if it should
happen to receive any damage. When
the men discover whale they strike
it with their harpoons, to which are
fastened tubes two or three fathoms
long, made of sealskin inflated with air.
The huge animal, by means Of this
kind of bag, is in some degree com
PEELED to keep near the surface Of the
water. When he is fatigued and rises,
the men attack him with their spears
until he is killed They then put on
their spring jackets, made all in one
piece, of dressed seaiskin, with their
boots, gloves, and caps, which are
laced so tightly to each other that no
water can penetrate them. Thus at
tired they plunge into the sea and be-
gin to slice off the fat all around the
animals body, even from those parts
that are under water, for, their jackets
being full of air, the men do not sink,
and ale able to keep themselves up
right, standing, as it were, in the sea-.
At Vancouver's Isle the winter
storms blowing directly from the North
Pacific bring many whales which,
getting out of their latitude and ia
tigued with fruitless struggles, are
cast upon the coast as the receding
tide leaves the whales, they lash their
tails, unable to regain deep water, and
make low cultural sound as they
vainly try to spout. The native canoes,
which are made of the trunk of tree
followed out by fire, are instantly
launched. The only weapon used is a
barbed spear, to which is tied a seal
skin bag filed with air, and to this a
rope made Of seaweed is attached,
acting as an anchor to the bladder or
rope. A pole is fitted into socket in
the spear head, and so arranged that
it can easily be withdrawn, leaving the
head embedded in the body of the
whale. Armed with both these primi-
tive weapons, the natives set off in
their fragile canoes and cast their
spears, catching back the loose han.
dies. In short time the monster is
covered with sealskin bags. When the
tide begins to rise, the bladders pre-
vent the whale from sinking sufficient
ly to use his full strength, keeping
him on the surface of the water. AS
the canoe men pull to the shore the