Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/111

Rh they abandoned quarters which have become unsuitable, for others more in accordance with their requirements, and, if the latter, where have they betaken themselves to? When we consider the vast extent of these seas, and the increased wariness of the animals brought about by constant disturbances, it seems highly improbable that the last Whale has been found and killed in this trackless ocean. Surely a remnant must have been left had they not deserted their former habitat of their own accord. But where can they have migrated to? There seems to be an abundance of Whales on the west side of Greenland in Davis Strait, and were it not that a passage round the north of Greenland into Robeson and Kennedy Channels (where they have never been seen) is rendered impossible, as they would undoubtedly perish, suffocated under the unbroken fields of fixed ice, and that they have not been known to pass south of Cape Farewell (there being no other apparent communication between the two seas), it might readily be supposed that they had joined their brethren in the locality above mentioned; but, so far as can be ascertained, such a change of location is an impossibility, and the only certainty is that the conditions necessary to their requirements have of late years greatly changed for the worse, and that the Whales themselves have disappeared—whether permanently or not, who can say?

As to the Seals, the case is much more simple: the destruction year after year of a very large proportion, often virtually of the whole brood and of a large number of old Seals in addition, congregated in a limited area, must inevitably tell in course of time, and sooner or later reduce the breeding pack to such an extent that they would be no longer worth pursuing, and even lead to their final extermination. This has doubtless to a very large extent been the case. The British vessels have quite abandoned the pursuit, and what there is left of the Greenland sealing is now quite in the hands of the Scandinavians, whose more economical outfits enable them to continue the struggle long after we have been driven from the field.

In the year 1881 Dundee sent out fifteen vessels, and Peterhead five. Nine of the Dundee vessels and five of those from Peterhead took part in the Greenland sealing, killing between them 23,984 of these animals. The other six Dundee ships went