Newport daily independent., 1906-05-09
FORTUNE IN poRPorsEs.
Many of the White Cetaceans Ere. Saent the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
 and Are Valuable.


 American tourists crossing the s.
 Lawrence from the mouth of the Sague
 nay can almost always enjoy thesdght O
 number of porpoises disporting them
 selves upon the water in the neighbor
 hood of Tadoussac, says the New Yorl
 Sun. The great white cetaceans appeal
 like shapeless masses of blubber as theil
 arched backs show from time to tim
 above the surface. They are doubles,
 attracted to the mouth of the Saguena,
 py the large number of salmon which en
 ter the river throughout the season. ! A large industry is expected soon t.
 sprine up in various parts of the Gulf O
 St. Lawrence in connection with tn,
 hunting of p0fpoises. It has already
 been attempted upon a small scale. bu,
 the difficulty of capturing any great
 number of the animals has stood in thu
 way of success. Now the difficulty ha.
 been overcome through the observations
 and experiments of Campbell McNab. q Canadian hunter, who has spent many years in the study of these animals. The adult porpoise of the St. Lawrence agd the North Atlantic ocean Is from 12 to IS feet in length. It somewhat re- sembles dolphin in shape, with large dorsal fin and mouth armed with many strong and sharp teeth. Each porpoise is believed to eat from one to three bar rels of fish a day, so that 1t is difficult to estimate the frightful ravages which they make among the salmon, the her ring and the cod. They are largely gre garious, though they often hunt their prey in couples. MT. McNab has often peered over the edge of an overhanging rock to watch them catch salmon at the mouth of stream and sometimes long distance up river, where they follow their prey. They chase salmon into shallow and then two approach 1t from either side. The salmon appears un- able to move, as if paralyzed with fear. If he attempts to rush from one of his pursuers he falls into the open mouth ot the other.
 The porpoise Is equally expert in fish, Ing for the slippery eel. MT. McNab opened one of these animals the other day and found more than 40 cells in it's stomach. To prevent their wriggling, and to aid digestion, the porpoise cracks the skull of the eel between its teeth be- lore swallowing 1t.
 Like the eel, the pofboise can live . long time out of the water. In fact, 1t is virtually amphibious. Some time ago Mir. McNab shot number of the ani. mals which had been hauled ashcfS and bound together by their tails. After skinning another lot as some distance ind taking out the bIabber, he turned A !ew. days later to the Ios which had been ass shot, Unknown to him one had not 'een Killed. outright. As he passed in ront of fs 1t, growled at him Hike dog" le says, and oFened its jaws to snap him. The porpoisesF are captured by being imprisoned at low ttde on the shoalr yer which they have journeyed when he tide was high. in pursuit of their rey. Hitherto the difficulty has been to nd any barrier strong enough tS retain lch enormously strong, heavy beasts, nd so many of them together as are enclosed. MT. McNab has ade the interesting discovery that tho 1ormous nets through which they often roke are not necessary to hold back e brutes. They are unable to stand the lghtest vibration in the water, and so that the hunter now finds necessaryis fasten long thin pole like flshing q to 6 stake in the mouth of the , rcam. the bay or the estuary within 1Sch 1t Is desired to retain the por- :. ises. They remain to be stranded and | He'd upon the shallows rather than ven- re past the vibrating rod. e Thus sensitiveness is believed to have h seat In the ear of the animal, which T sU email an opening that it might most have been made with pin. For C ITS McNab has held firmly to this a 'ory, Ouly to be laughed at for his III ns: He has now proved 1t beyond n adventure. and has reaped the fruit his persistence. Al one tice the other he secured 69 Of the animals on the b als or tfie Portneuf river a few miles T ow Tadoussac. and next year will e, sues operations there upon a larger le. He has gecured nine year lease .' the shoa1 from the government and n'
 apparently fortune within easy hi oh. The skin and oil from a singl. dt poise are1worth from $30 to $50. so he utmost caution has to be taken to drive the animals away from their so nts. If'any of the blood or refuse O. wi r dead Is permitted to reach the wa- ch MT. McNab declares. they will de- fo the place entirely. This is the ex- T, nation he gives of the present absence 'orpoises from the River Ouelle and ex pr places on the banks of the St. Law he 'e. where few years ago many of an n were annually killed. The DOT s,, e, he says. is one of the most intelii- animals created. "f
 Unprotected Pert.
 he rfDiffa afi0n of A hauoa nff.n 4.