Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-09-07
HUNTING THE TORTOISE.
Most voracious and Difficult of All Denizens of the Deep to
 Capture.

Il + +sE ',
 Among the denjzens of the great St. Lawrence river are not only the salmon and the cod, but the giant white por~ boise, otherwise called the beluga or white whale. This is the enemy of the smaller fry to such an extent as to less en appreciably the harvest of the sea for the riverside f1sherfolk, writes Frank Weigh, in Youths Companion.
 When it is stated that the meal of a full-grown porpoise, IS feet long, Is from one to three barrels of fish, it can easily be understood what destruction the countless thousands of them can accom- plish, especially as their numbers have materially increased in recent years. And they are among the most difficult of all the inhabitants of the deep to cap ture.
 It has remained for citizen of Quebec Province, MT. Campbell MacNab, of Bic, to adopt a method of taking them that is apparently as successful as it is sim pie. He found that the cetaceans, while usually gregarious, frequently hunted pairs, and that their food was, as has been said, salmon, cod and cells.
 Their way of securing meal was to rush up the mouth of river at high tide, and at low tide crowd the fish on the shoals. Tn this manner millions of the f1nny tribe were deyoured. When the porpoises get school of salmon in shoal water, they form a circle and then move toward the center. The salmon look into gaping mouths on every hand, and in trying to escape one throat they disappear down another. At times the salmon seem to be paralyzed with fear and make no effort to escape, but calmly accept their fate as food for porpoises instead of people.
 It would be easy to play the same trick on the porpoise that 1t plays on the salmon were 1t not for the great weight and strength of the animals. The strongest nets strung across the mouths of rivers after the porpoises have swum up have failed to hold them when they returned, and the best the hunters could do was to shoot such as appeared on or near the surface. After experimenting for some time, MT. MacNab hit upon his plan, which Is to place in the mouth of river a thin pole tied to a stake in such way that it will vibrate with the current, making what might be called vibra- tory alarm. When school of porpoises has gone up with the tide the rod is placed in position, with the result that not single cetacean will attempt to regain the sea with the return of the tide. Rather than swim near the dread ed shaking rod, they will stay in the shallow water where they are easily shot.
 The exact reason for this sensitive ness to vibration Is mystery. The ear of the animal ig said to be unusually sensitive, and 1t may be that the vibra- ton causes pain, as 1t does to men, who when under water cannot stand sound
 If, however, the inventor of the plan cannot explain the causes, he is fairly sure of the effect. Not long since he placed rod in the Portneuf river, be- low a shoa1 he has leased, where he captured 69 of the unwieldy brutes: and although he cannot always expect such luck as this, catches of 20 or 30 are not uncommon. And as a porpoise is worth from $30 to $50 for it's hide, which makes fine leather, and for the oil, the new industry bids fair to be
 a profitable one besides helping to rid
 the St, Lawrence of scourge of long standing.