National Baptist world., 1894-10-12
WHALES AND THEIR YOUNG.
Affection OF the Mother Whales-FideIity
of the Tribe to Each Other.

of the Tribe to Each Other.
Capt. Scoresby relates how one Of
his harpOoners, having struck young
whale in order to secure the mother,
saw her instantly rise, wrap her flip;
pers round her young one, and descend,
dragging about six hundred feet OF
line out of the boat with marvellous
force and velocity. Again she rose tc
the surface. darted furiously to and
fro, frequently stopped short, or sud
denly changed her direction, giving
every possible intimatiOn Of agony.
The boat continued to pursue her
closely for length of time, while she,
poor creature, seemed utterly regard
less of the dangers which surrounded !
her At last one of the boats ap
preached so near that harpOOp
was thrown at her, then a second har
poon and third, still she did not at
tempt to escape. 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 o1
a crea ture evincing such heroic atfec' !
tion for its offspring, yet this feeling
of compassion quickly gave way to the
object of the adventure, the value OF
the prize and the exciting Joy of the |
capture.
The fidelity of the male and female !
whale to each other exceeds that OF
most animals. Anderson, in his '1is
tory of Greenland mentions that some
fishermen, having struck one or two
whales, a male and female that were in
company together, the wounded crea-
ture made long and terrible resist
ance. 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 it's compa aion
and lent it every assistance, till at last
the wounded victim sank under the
number and severity of its wounds,
while it's faithful partner, unable to
survive it's loss, stretched herself upon
the body of her mate and calmly shared
its fate.
To the Greenlanders, as well as to
the natives of southern climates. the
whale is an animal of vast impOrtance
and these people devote much of their
time to fishing for it. When they set
out on their whale-catching expedi-
ton they dress themselves in their
best apparel, imagining that, if they
are not cleanly and neatly clothed, the
whale, which detests dirty, slovenly
garb, would certainly avoid them.
In this manner about fifty 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
husbands 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 at 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
till he is killed. Then they put on
their spring Jackets, made all of one
piece, of a dressed sealsllin, with their
boots, gloves and caps, which are laced
SO tightly to each other that no water
can penetrate them. Thus attired 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
are able to keep themselves upright.
in M
At Uancouver's island the storm
blowing directly from the North Pacific,
bring many whales, which, getting out
of their latitudes and fatigued 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,
gutteral 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 barbed spear, to
which is tied seal-skin bag filled with
air, and to this rope made of seaweed
is attached, acting as an anchor to the
bladder or rope pole is fitted into
a socket in the spear head, and so ar
ranged UndU IL Cdu Uc easily
leaving the head imbedded in the body
of the whale.
Armed with these primitive weapons,
the natives set off in their fragil ca
noes and cast their spears, catching
back the loose handles. In a short time
the monster is covered with sealskin
: bags. When the tide begins to rise,
the bladders prevent the whale from
sinking sufficiently to use his full
strength. keeping him on the surface
of the water. As the canoe men pull
to the shore the lines are tightened and
gradually the poor animal moves slow
ly and steadily to the land. His strug-
giles to free himselfare tremendous. but
all in vain; struggling as a fish out Oh
, water. he is hopelessly in the power of
his liliputian foes. The inhabit;s.ts
for miles around crowd to the shore
singing and beating drums made of the
, hollow tS)le of a tree, over which is
stretched the skin of a sea lion. AS
soon as whale is brought beyond low
: water mark the work is done, and they
, have only to wait till the tide leaves it
. high and dry.-The Month.
! A Happy Medium.
PO1iteneSS iS a inst medium between