Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/86

60 residence, the Links, Peterhead, on May 16th, 1896, at the age of sixty-seven years. Another well-known whaler, Capt. Alexander Fairweather, also died of brain fever, on May 31st last, off Spitzbergen, on board the 'Balæna,' which he commanded. He was one of the most successful of the Dundee whaling captains, and was chosen by Mr. Leigh Smith, in 1873, to take charge of the 'Diana,' which relieved the Nordenskjold Expedition in Spitzbergen; afterwards he returned to the Whale fishery, and in 1892–3 took the 'Balæna' to the Antarctic Seas.

It is probable that the 'Balæna' and the 'Diana' will be withdrawn from the Whale fishery in the coming season; indeed I am informed that the difficulty of finding capable men to command these costly expeditions is very great, and that there are no young men coming forward. This, in addition to the precarious nature of the enterprise and the seeming exhaustion of the old haunts of the Whales, will probably bring about the extinction of this ancient industry, unless some new resorts of the Whales should be discovered, which seems very unlikely to happen.

As on previous occasions, I have to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. David Bruce and Mr. R. Kinnes, of Dundee, and to Mr. Michael Thorburn, of St. John's, Newfoundland, for their kindness in supplying me with information.