The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-04-09
NJ y y T o o o o 0


He said that the first four letters were the
mark Of the American whaler Montezuma.
which was engaged in whaling in Bering
Sea and the North Pacific about 1S5O-54. The
five circles represent the number Of the boat
to which this particular iron was assigned.
Taking the latest date. 1854, as the time when
tho whale was struck. 1t appears that the ami
NAL must have carried II thlrty-six years.
The harpoon head was found in a whale taken
in Boring Sea in August, 1890. by the steam
whaling bark Bcluga. After her whaling ex-
periences in the north the Montezuma was
sold to the Government and was sunk in
Charleston harbor during the civil war. Sena-
tor Perkins added that ever since whaling be-
came on industry It has been the custom for
each whaling firm TO have the name OF the ves-
sci stamped on each harpoon. This is done in
order to show. IL two or more boats from differ.
ent vessels surround an animal. which Of the
vessels struck it in case tho whale gets away
and is afterward found dead.
DIR. William II. Dali. commenting on this in.
formation in the National Geographic Maya
zine. refers TO the stories OF whales that have
been struck In Greenland waters and have
got away and arterward have been found In
Bering Strait with the first iron in them. or
vice versa. In other words, the whales made
the Northeast or Northwest Passage. Capt.
T.. T. Herenden..of the United States National
Museum. commenting on these stories. says:
I'VE know that the ships OF the Franklin
search expedition approached very near to
one another to the east OF Banks Land and we
know the whale is able to make long journeys
beneath the summer ice foes. for they easily
see any place whore the light shows through
the ice which denotes q possible breathing
place. / have often heard whales blowing
mo thn ion whnn 7 GOULD con No oir, ,F
water anywhere
Capt. Herendeen thinks it very proba bic that
whales do make the passage between the wa
tiers around Point Barrow and those around
Greenland and Hudson Bay. bu. he does not
regard the evidence Of the harpoon heads as
conclusive. because ships often change owner
shin or are withdrawn from the service and
board other ships: and Willie no secondhand
harpoons would be nut into use. without eras-
ing the marks Of the former shin. there is the
possibility that they might be given or traded
70 the Eskimos; and a whale might be struck
which the name Of the ship had not Leem
erased. near the scene Of It's final ca pture.
1t is evident. however. that the harpoon head
found in the whale captured by the Beluga
must have been in tho animal Tor a long time.
for the shank was eaten away close AZ to the
skin by the action OF :hc salt water. Consid-
cradle rubbing was required before the name
was revealed.
It is we'll known that some Of 1he species Of
tlul illEV u WY NIi' tltu VI tlN
seas. rrof. G. MOhius. in his address in 1894
on the geographical distribution and habits Of
whales. showed that the genus hdlIrnd which
Is the most serviceable of the whalebone whales
Of which the best-known species is commonly
kno VII az the Greenland whale. seems to live
thr )uEhout the northern circum rolar seas.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 1t
was common in the neighborhood Of Spit"berg-
en-. Since the and of the eighteenth century it
has been taken in Davis Strait. SincelS47 il has
been captured in BcrlnG Sea and near HAM
tchatkn. On the west. coast Of Greenland it
IaspanlG IN only IA lDt II hnC hnnnpNn 90
scarce Mt the present day that very few are
now taken. In 1923 only four vessels from
Dundee we're engaged inthe Greenland whaler-
les. but they caugh ia Davis Strait twenty
nine whales. which. was much IN excess of the
record for II number OF wears previous. In
Nova Xembln. after whale in Greenland wa
ters. did not ratch an animal and the Eclipse
did not even see one. The whuler Active was
the only one that secured n catrlI. The Dun
dee. Petarhead and Hull whaling llects are
now reduced to less than y dozen vessels, and
they pay their way only by engaging In seal
hunting also.
Less thar forty vessels nre now engaged in
the New En,!.and Whaling trade where twenty
wears ago about leo vessels were fitted ont an
nuallv. niri in 1876 the number Of wha'ars
hnIIing from the United States was 722. Our
is q prospect OF getting n cargo. Nearly all
the bone used in the United States comes from,
tho Arctic. although Il li:tlo comes from the
South Seas anl from japan. Bur whalehonc
is getting 80 scarce thai "ork. tulher. steel
and other substitutes. none Of which Is So de-
termination of tho rirht whale has been accCl-
Grated by the fact thlt the females ono to tho
coast waters to CIV" birth 70 their calves an
there they TALL an easy lIry to the hunters.