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CORNELL
UNIVERSITY
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FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY
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TNT
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The original of this book is in
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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024782975
THE
MARINE MAMMALS
OF. “LE
NortTH-wESTERN Coast or Nortu AMERICA,
DESCRIBED AND ILLUSTRATED:
TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUNT OF
THE AMERICAN WHALE -FISHERY.
Bey.
CHARLES M. SCAMMON,
CAPTAIN U. S. REVENUE MARINE.
SAN FRANCISCO:
POLS “Be CAR MANY AND COMPANY,
NEW YORK: G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS.
T20-7oA.
Entered according to Act of Congress, tn the year eighteen hundred and seventy-two,
By CHARLES M. SCAMMON,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
JOHN H. CARMANY & CO., PRINTERS,
409 Washington Street, San Francisco.
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
LOUIS AGASSIZ.
AS A HUMBLE TRIBUTE FROM THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
CuHapter§ I.
He II.
ee III.
ue IV.
a Vv.
oo VI.
SO NTT:
«VIII.
os IX.
INTRODUCTION
Cuarter I.
3: II.
gE TII.
us IV.
(a3 Vv.
(a3 VI.
ec VII.
CONTENTS.
Tue CaLiIrorniA GRAY WHALE... .
Tue Finpack WHALE
THe SHARP-HEADED FINNER WHALE
THe BownHeEap, or Great PoLtar WHALE
Tue Ricgut WHALE of THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST...............0 02. 020
Ture SULPHURBOTTOM WHALE
Tue Sperm WHALE
Tue DoLpHins.....
Section TI.
ce
I.
Ee: IB Teka S i eo) scence spate se suc cabsesne iar adage ae ara eRe at pete
hex Orea.Or TRAM Rs aiiset ada o tho ee SRA ae peel SO a der ater
The Whitefish, or White Whale...........
The Bay Porpoise..............+..
The Striped or Common Porpoise. ..
Baird’ sD Olphinie 6 Ase ac searorcasieien sy Sate oe sures
Phe Richt. Whale: Porpoise23 che G26 alec a" om aca mo aeons
MENG “Cowl shis ies aordhe bet ns ads 5 ahaha Maen AMR Shh Sane AEN
The Whiteheaded or Mottled Grampus........... Beet
The Bottlenosed :Grampusss.-ce5 chews bataie Saabs r
‘Lhes Panama Grampusznc2. 0c cash ans ate An ates dag anes pee
The Puget: Sound: Grampuss: c..0d pe cedes ve guas Seon es ae oe
The San Diego Bay Grampus................0........00...
The Squareheaded Grampus.......-........0..60200 00000005.
The Brownsided Dolphin of Santa Barbara Channel.........
The Narwhal
FREE LIBAN DIND) (SAT cn cetat ye ache ah soe Ah ath et hia la unclae aincnes vd cob Peet aed ten
EUR HAL e a eet ean GEE oe ne ire ace
Tae LEOPARD SEAL.................
URES SWAN ODE Re tere 5 copie aeestnoni ny cenit cdr ceebeus nes Ca ee
USE WEA TER US cscs cscs Sess ai oneness Org Se nae ee gs ae eee Ate ect cere od
(7)
ioe)
CHAPTER
ce
CONTENTS.
PART III.—THE AMERICAN WHALE- FISHERY.
I.
II.
OnIGIN AND ANCIENT MopE oF WHALE-FISHING................
THE AMERICAN WHALE-FISHERY..............0.0. 000. eee c eee
Suips, Outrirs, AND Manner or TAKING THE WHALE..........
AMERICAN WHALING COMMERCE............0..0.. 000000 e neces
CALIFORNIA (SHORE= WHALING»... sey. sey oh bee ee ee ed ea eS
Lire AND CHARACTERISTICS OF AMERICAN WHALEMEN...........
ERGO ONC AVITATIN Ged Rinse De nechils Oe dim aged hes el nia acy tal etn Sy tt ere
APPENDIX.
CATALOGUE OF THE CETACEA OF THE NortH Paciric Ocean. By W. H. Datt.........
DESCRIPTION OF A SKELETON OF THE RIGHT WHALE............
GLOSSARY OF WORDS AND PHRASES USED BY WHALEMEN.................0.0 00.00. c eevee
List oF STORES AND OUTFITS
GTS Tek LOIN,
Pirate I. Frowtisprsce.— Whaling Scene in the California Lagoons.
ae II. The California Gray Whale, and the Finback Whale........... between pages
He III. Embryos of a California Gray Whale.................0. 0000 cee facing page
ee TV... Indian Wiraline Dniplementsin sion save Gaede eee vate eee eatuesee facing page
ee V. California Grays among the Ice.. 1.1.2.2... 0.0 c cee eee facing page
ns VI. Esquimaux Whaling Canoe and Whaling Implements............. facing page
Outlines of a Northern Finback. 0.2.0.0. 00. 00. cece eee nace
e VII. Humpback and Sharpheaded Finner Whales......0 ........... between pages
«© VIII. Humpbacks Lobtailing, Bolting, Breaching, and Finning...... .. facing page
Outlines: ofa. Humpback Wal@.o x9 ..ssiscspaiadaons Awoeenias @ Sa LE Rgvevaal wale wens
Aleutian Islanders’ Whale Harpoon............. 0.000.002.2050 005 Perch ware ets
Outlines of a Humpback, from above..... 00.0...
os IX. Appearance of a Female Humpback Suckling her Young.......... facing page
ss X, Eye and Parasites of Baleen Whales.............. 000000000 cee eee facing page
Outhne of Roys' “ Bunchback” wens swage weakens avaeen Uae heen eee
#f XI. The Bowhead or Great Polar Whale...............0......004. between pages
Full-grown Baleen of Seven Species of Whales.................000000 020 ee
es XII. Right Whale of the North-western Coast...................... between pages
« SIIL. Sulphurbettom. Wihailé...2.c.cssa.i ected eeaterns seis ag eeeg gists between pages
HO ORIN: Sperm: Whales: coarc 6a set wagenacn arya eed Age setae ane between pages
es XV. Sperm Whale in Search of Food....... 0.00... 0c ee facing page
t XMMI,. The Blackfish. cau. va ac iks Raber Spit ote a aatathaahans uaa! a Siatt ahhh ayes hed Mitt facing page
> ENIDS Opcaignors Killers giecct sca ican SiS Saoigs ia ate ede eee anatinrat oS is be ave dle facing page
* XVIII. White Whale, or Whitefish of the Whalers....................0... facing page
XIX. Baird’s Dolphin, Common Porpoise, and Right Whale Porpoise....facing page
Approximate Outlines of Cowfish, White-headed or Mottled Grampus, Bottle-
nosed Grampus, and Panama Grampus......0........00.. 0000 cece eens
XX. Sea Elephant, and Sea Lion....... 0... ee eee facing page
Club and Lance used in the capture of the Sea Elephant....................
Male Sea Lion Sleeping, and Male Sea Lion Waking....................0005
Appearance of a Male Sea Lion when Roaring, and Female Sea Lions, of St.
Paul's: Uslandeccncacews hha ws os eee es Pe Oa ee eee eabelanene ae
XXI. Banded Seal, and Fur Seal........ 0... es facing page
Full-aged Male Fur Seal, St. Paul’s Island...............0..0.0...00.. 00.0.0...
Head of Female Fur Seal, from below, two-thirds natural size...............
Head of Female Fur Seal, side view, two-thirds natural size................
Side view of Female Fur Seal, view of Female Fur Seal from below, and
attitides,of Wir Séalsaiccics careers eae eyes ga 84 Se seed seed va oN Sarid ada aed
Seal Spear of the Makah Indians, Nee-ah Bay, W. T., 1866, and Spear Head,
full ‘size, swith. line attached. 4064. ose 0444 deccewe gee ee ciccance Saeewn ow ware
Moving attitude of a Leopard Seal, on shore........... 2.0.0.0 cece eee
MARINE MAMMALS.—2. C9
24-25
20
28
32
37
37
40-41
44.
47
47
48
48
56
56
52-53
55
68-69
72-73
76-717
80
84
88
96
100
102
117
118
126
127
140
143
145
147
10
Prate XXII.
« XXY.
‘ XXVI.
«¢ XXVII.
* XXIII.
ce XNXTY.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Leopard Seal, and Sea Otter.......0 0. ccc ce eee eens iacing page
Aleutian Islanders’ Sea Otter Canoe, or Baidarka, with Hunters engaged in
the chase; Aleutian Islanders’ Sea Otter Spear; and Spear Head, full size.
Was S ES) oats. Shs. dee Sen choclate nS a ace eb vin eres 0 cuticle toon cA Pade dase eae er ae
AL Wihtaling Scene: Of 168.45 oo3¢o%s Gadule day me oe Se ae es Saat facing page
Implements belonging to a Whale-boat........... 0.0... 0 eee eee facing page
Pierce’s Harpoon Bomb-lance Gun; Bomb-lance; and Diagram showing in-
side,of Bomb-lances::cess ss oun ise ene aes eee RE ESS LEIA Mone
MAS tei aid. “Wroaitls acs sand. sia eres aleetd orien Mewes ea ne ee ee eRe a hia yar ace nana sh Bee
Diagram showing the manner of Cutting-in the Bowhead and Right Whale...
Blubber-hook, and, Fin=chain s 4 icc ccc cacace eae a Cena e Seek Ad ea tei ede wd as
Implements used in Cutting-in a Whale............ 0... eee ee eee
Head-strap; Toggle; and Throat-chain Toggle............. 0. eee eee
Cutting-tackle toggled to the Blanket-piece ........... 0.0.0.0 02 cece eee
Outline of a Sperm Whale, showing the manner of Cutting-in...............
Mineine Kite: ches erage anys eee renee Pee yell ake Meee es a ewe eee eis
Blubber-fork; Stirring-pole; Skimmer; Bailer; and Fire-pike...............
A. Norther. Whalitio: Seéneay ics. c0's nes Hains owl a ma ben Mere ie ae entaals facing page
Whale-boat with Greener’s Gun Mounted..................0000 02.2,
Whaling Station at Carmel Bay........ 0... ccc eee ee eee ees facing page
Skeleton of a Baleena mysticetus... 0.0.0... ce te eee eee
PREP AGH,
Berna on the coast of California in 1852, when the ‘gold-fever” raged, the
force of circumstances compelled me to take command of a brig, bound on a seal-
ing, sea-elephant, and whaling voyage, or abandon sea-life, at least temporarily.
The objects of our pursuit were found in great numbers, and the opportunities
for studying their habits were so good, that I became greatly interested in col-
lecting facts bearing upon the natural history of these animals. Reference to the
few books devoted to the subject soon convinced me that I was at work in a
department in which but little definite knowledge existed. This was true even of
the whales, the best known of this class; and I was soon led to believe that, by
diligent observation, I should be able to add materially to the scanty stock of infor-
mation existing in regard to the marine mammals of the Pacific Coast. I was the
more encouraged to pursue these investigations, because, among the great number
of intelligent men in command of whaling-ships, there was no one who had contrib-
uted anything of importance to the natural history of the Cetaceans; while it was
obvious that the opportunities offered for the study of their habits, to those prac-
tically engaged in the business of whaling, were greater than could possibly be
enjoyed by persons not thus employed.
The chief object in this work is to give as correct figures of the different
species of marine mammals, found on the Pacifie Coast of North America, as could
be obtained from a careful study of them from life, and numerous measurements
after death, made whenever practicable. It is also my aim to give as full an
account of the habits of these animals as practicable, together with such facts in
reference to their geographical distribution as have come to my knowledge.
It is hardly necessary to say, that any person taking up the study of marine
mammals, and especially the Cetaceans, enters a difficult field of research, since the
Cu J
12 PREFACE.
opportunities for observing the habits of these animals under favorable conditions
are but rare and brief. My own experience has proved that close observation for
months, and even years, may be required before a single new fact in regard to
their habits can be obtained. This has been particularly the case with the dol-
phins, while many of the characteristic actions of whales are so secretly performed
that years of ordinary observation may be insufficient for their discovery.
There is little difficulty in making satisfactory drawings of such smaller species
of marine mammals as can be taken upon the deck of a vessel, but it is extremely
difficult to delineate accurately the forms of the larger Cctaceans. When one of
these animals is first captured, but a small part of its colossal form can be seen,
as, usually, only a small portion of the middle section of the body is above the
water; and when the process of decomposition has caused the animal to rise, so
that the whole form is visible, it is swollen and quite distorted in shape. Again:
these animals change their appearance in the most remarkable manner with every
change of position, so that it is only from repeated measurements and sketches,
and as the result of many comparisons, that I have been able to produce satisfac-
tory illustrations of these monsters of the deep.
I take occasion here to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Rey, of the firm
of Britton & Rey, lithographers, who laid aside his own business, as far as possible,
in order that he might give his personal attention to the execution of nearly all
the plates representing whales and seals. The remaining work of that description
was put into the hands of Mr. Steinegger, the junior partner of the firm; his
excellent sea and landscape backgrounds speak for themselves.
Plain and simple language has been used in description. Where whaling terms
have been employed, their definitions are indicated by reference marks, or may be
found in the glossary contained in the Appendix.
I desire to tender my sincere thanks to many personal friends and others, not
only for literary, but also for financial aid; for, without the generous contributions
of gentlemen of the Pacific Coast, and San Francisco especially, this work could
not have made its appearance in its present form.
To Professor J. D. Whitney, State Geologist of California, I wish particularly
to acknowledge my indebtedness for his encouragement and untiring assistance in
preparing this volume for the press. My thanks are also due to Professor 8. F.
PREFACE. 15
Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution; Professor George Davidson, of the United
States Coast Survey; Doctor W. O. Ayres, of San Francisco; Doctor Theodore Gill,
of Washington; Mr. J. A. Allen, of Cambridge; Mr. R. E. C. Stearns, of San Fran-
cisco; Mr. Albert Bierstadt, of Irvington, N. Y.; Mr. W. H. Dall, of the Smith-
“sonian Institution ; and to Doctor George Hewston, of San Francisco, for special
assistance. Also, to Mr. F. C. Sanford, of Nantucket, Mass.; Messrs. Williams and
Chapel, of the firm of Williams, Havens & Co., New London, Conn.; and Dennis
Wood, Esq., of New Bedford, for valuable statistics relative to the whale-fishery.
It is with pleasure that I also mention the assistance I have received from
officers of the United States Revenue Marine, in making scientific collections for the
study of whales and seals, and in furnishing specimens for the National Museum at
Washington. I would particularly mention Lieutenants George W. Bailey, W. C.
Coulson, G. EK. McConnell, and Engineers J. A. Doyle and H. Hassel.
The account of the American Whale-fishery has been compiled from the most
reliable sources within reach, and from the experience of many whalemen with
whom I was associated for several years, while in active service on the principal
whaling-grounds then frequented. I have also attempted to give a chronological
account of the rise, progress, and decline of our great national maritime enterprise,
the whale-fishery; and to make the picture complete, a few pages have been
devoted to a description of the every-day life of a whaleman, his characteristic
traits, and the incidents that make up the routine of a whaling- voyage.
The ‘Catalogue of the Cetacea” appended to this work has been drawn up
with great care by Mr. W. H. Dall, who has taken pains to do the work as thor-
oughly as circumstances would permit; and as I have assisted him with my per-
sonal knowledge of those species which are of rare occurrence on this coast, and
placed in his hands all my notes and collections, I trust that his paper will be
found of great assistance to the professional naturalist. As Mr. Dall remarks,
however, ‘‘Completeness is not claimed for this list. In fact, it can hardly be
attained for a considerable period, when the difficulties and expense connected with
these researches are appreciated.” Only two species of Cetaceans have been added
to the list of those mentioned as not being represented by “material sufficient to
indicate their zodlogical position ;” and these were not known to Mr. Dall at the
time he was preparing his lst.
14 PREFACE.
The volume now presented to the public has been put together from materials
which have accumulated during many years. At sea, when not occupied with
official duties, amid calms and storms, I have devoted myself to its preparation ;
and it is hoped that the public may find in these results of prolonged labor some-
thing of the profit and pleasure with which the author has been rewarded while
occupied in their collection and elaboration.
CuarLes M. Scammon.
San Francisco, May, 1874.
Pein
CF TT a Tek
Pant L=CETACEA
INTRODUCTION.
THe order of Cetacea, as established by naturalists, includes all species of
mammalia which have been created for inhabiting the water only; and although
their forms bear a strong resemblance to those of the ordinary piscatory tribe, still
they are animals having warm blood, breathing by means of lungs, and frequently
coming to the surface of the water to respire. In nearly all Cetaceans, the nostrils
—termed spiracles or spout-holes—are situated on the top of the head. Through
these the thick vaporous breath is ejected into the atmosphere to various altitudes,
according to the nature of the animal in this particular respect; and through the
same orifices a fresh supply of air is received into its breathing system. Although
the Cetaceans are strictly regarded as mammals, they have no true feet; their pec-
torals being in the form of heavy, bony, and sinewy fins, while the posterior
extremity of the body terminates in a broad cartilaginous limb of semi-lunar shape,
frequently termed the caudal fin or tail, but known among whalemen as the
“flukes,” the lobes of which extend horizontally.
The different species of Cetaceans are numerous; hence they have been divided
into groups, the most prominent of which are the Whalebone Whales, the Cachalots
or Sperm Whales, and the Dolphins. The group of Balenide, or Whalebone Whales,
embraces all those which are destitute of teeth when adult, and whose palate is
lined on each side with rows of horny plates, called whalebone or baleen, which
are fringed on their inner edges. This part of the animal’s organization is pecul-
iarly adapted to the nature of its food, which consists of zodphytes, mollusks, crus-
taceans, and small fish. The group of Sperm Whales comprises those with inordi-
nately massive heads, whose upper jaw has only rudimentary teeth, or none at
all; whose lower jaw is narrow, rounded toward its anterior extremity, elongated
and filling the furrow in the upper one, and furnished on each side with a row
of heavy conical teeth, with which to procure and devour the enormous cuttle-fish
MaBINE MamMats. —3.
18 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
or squid upon which they prey. The group of Dolphins is made up of those com-
prised in the Linnean genus Delphinus, and others, whose heads preserve the usual
proportion to the body, and whose upper and lower jaws are set with sharp and
usually conical teeth. They are the most active and rapacious of the whole order
of Cetaceans.
All Cetaceans produce their young in nearly the same manner as other mam-
mals. The male is commonly called a bull; the female a cow. The attitude of
the two sexes when having intercourse with each other has been differently repre-
sented by numerous observers. Some maintain that the male covers the female;
while others are positive of their lying on their sides breast to breast, or assuming
a perpendicular position. From personal observation, however, we are justified in
stating that all are correct. In fact, it may readily be seen that, with their united
efforts, it is easy for the animals to sustain any desired position in their native
element, during the period of coition. The time of gestation is not known; but
from our observations we believe it is never less than nine months, and that in
some species it extends to one year. The offspring of the female is called her
calf; she nourishes it with rich milk drawn from two teats which lie on each side
of her abdomen.
All Cetaceans are destitute of the hair or fur which protects the surface of
other marine mammals, and instead thereof the dermis is covered by a smooth and
transparent scarf-skin. Under the dermis is the thick layer of fat, or ‘‘blubber,”
which infolds the whole creature, whose flesh is dark and sinewy, resembling coarse
beef. The natural term of life in Cetaceans can only be approximately determined ;
it is probably from thirty to a hundred years. The new-born young are clothed
in fatless blubber with a thick dermis, and over all is a delicate cuticle. The calf,
or ‘‘cub,” follows the dam for several months—perhaps a year with some species—
and during that time draws its chief sustenance from the mother. As her charge
matures, its blubber thickens and becomes fat, the dermis becomes thinner but more
compact, and the cuticle strengthens and presents a lively glossiness.
Among the Balenide, the baleen with its fringes grows rapidly, and hardens as
it matures. As old age comes on, the fringes to these horny plates become de-
cayed and broken, and in some instances the baleen falls out. The thick blubber,
once filled with oil, becomes thin and watery, and, for want of proper sustenance,
the animal yields to the course of Nature and dies. Among the Physeteridw, the
teeth of the young are sharp and perfect when first developed; but they become
more or less broken and worn with age: as years advance, they either fall out or
are reduced to a level with the gums, and, like the Balenide, being deprived of the
INTRODUCTION. 19
natural means of obtaining food, the animals become emaciated, and at last expire.
The same may be said of the Delphinide or Dolphins.
All the Cetaceans propel themselves through the water by the action of their
pectorals and caudal fin, and the individual motions of the various species are simi-
lar. Usually a small portion of the animal is seen rippling along as it makes its
respiration, then, after a few moments, settling below the surface, it again appears
in the same manner. When descending to the depths below, it rises a little, as in
figure 1; then pitching headlong, “rounds out,” as in figure 2; then “turning
2
flukes,” as in figure 3, disappears. Thus these animals wander through the track-
less waters in their migrations; or, when roving about at leisure on their feeding or
breeding grounds, they are sometimes seen in various attitudes, which will be
mentioned hereafter.
CHAPTER. L.
THE CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE.
RaHAcHIaNECTES GLAucUs, Cope. (Plate ii, fig. 1.)
The California Gray is unlike other species of baleen whales in color, being
of a mottled gray, very light in some individuals, while others, both male and
female, are nearly black. The head and jaws are curved downward from near the
spiracles to the ‘“‘nib-end,” or extremity of the snout, and the lateral form tapers
to a ponderous beak. Under the throat are two longitudinal folds, which are about
fifteen inches apart and six feet in length. The eye, the ball of which is at least
four inches in diameter, is situated about five inches above and six inches behind
the angle of the mouth. The ear, which appears externally like a mere slit in the
skin, two and one-half inches in length, is about eighteen inches behind the eye,
and a little above it. The length of the female is from forty to forty-four fect,*
the fully grown varying but little in size; its greatest circumference, twenty-eight
to thirty feet; its flukes, thirty inches in depth, and ten to twelve feet broad. It
has no dorsal fin. Its pectorals are about six and one-half feet in length, and three
feet in width, tapering from near the middle toward the ends, which are quite
pointed. Usually the limbs of the animal vary but little in proportion to its size.
The following measurements give the correct proportions of several males taken
in the Bay of Monterey, California, since 1865:
SEX, MALE. Ft. In
AGO OCIA ae Ltcnct «asinine seescerape thcue erate eterna ckure ross aeede SUAS Agia ronan wiskotti wae 42 00
Circumference: at point of pectoral s.25 c4ue.capiaivia dustin eohu sos eneee arte ove 21 00
Menethvot pectoralss.s2 jissels nee sao ere scence gs oteistaustre woe Bre Gtscesaretec see > 6 06
Waidthyol pectoral ss.) ciaiaswmantes csr as Caves. a, ang ae caida ue eta an ea Nae 210
Nib ends bo“ pectoral sisi. ma drseresaices ae ratceue aa ave cae non een eke oe PO 11 00
Pectorals: 40:sb0p: (Ol Dick kc sen Sie ihe s oie wesc ool tanner aan ida enced 4 06
Nib= end to“cormerol mouths. 2 sche oasis eit esatecit als act pate es eae 7 00
* Forty-four feet, however, would be regard- taken that were much larger, and yielding sixty
ed as large, although some individuals have been or seventy barrels of oil.
“HICGHLNOdS BNIMOHS
QVaH 410 ANITLINO € 314 “HTVEHM AVUD VINHOATTVO VW 40
THE CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE. al
Ft. In.
Corner: of mouth to top of head . .....6s cccesdanies cise wie ea sented eetaeees 2 06
Nibsend Lo. 66 ic :drvis case Maratea hich ia wahney Shana rend neste ance are nie ere sae 7 06
Spout=holes to nib=endsccis sc. devew ee stare ta Ge ee she Ev Aue peed aaleeS 6 00
Length of opening of spout-holes 0.0... 0... cee eee tee eeee 08
heneths-of flukes or tailie aicyeu ecg ciaalonsl oieeread te nie ae bale pie deena ees 10 00
Breadthvor flukes or taileatan uswy nuwes tol vp sae ea oe blew ae eka career eer 3 05
Thickness: of each lobe of flukes <2. 0c.ceirs secig ee asc eae cee eee 09
From fork of flukes*to ‘vent sccwiw iva in ce ne ieateecss oo pain yen Ser ee es 12 00
Prom fork of flukes to genital ‘slit; .2%. wom seeks case ee mode wee ene ees 16 08
Tength: of longest: baleenwsscn. cs. cidar nse ueein PA aGees Jou s «Ga Waco eas 18
Wadth-of lone estsbaleen-.1Je\i52 knee en yarn tee aie ioe ae eee bbe enn aden ae AS atol. 09
(Number of layers of baleen on each side of the mouth, 182.)
Mongest fibres: toring Of baleen... work skncka sina sua ed soe ent 05
Average thickness: of -blubber.s. ace au did se dee le ee eae ae ees 07
Depth of ‘smallat junetion-of MUkes 5 cA wade ass tei Oe ee cae nent ane 18
Length of the fissure between the eyelids............ 0... cece eee ee eee eee S 04
Four other individuals, ranging from thirty-five to forty feet, were measured,
the result of which showed corresponding proportions, or nearly so.
The animal has a succession of ridges, crosswise along the back, from opposite
the vent to the flukes. The coating of fat, or blubber, which possesses great solid-
ity and is exceedingly sinewy and tough, varies from six to ten inches in thickness,
and is of a reddish cast. The average yield of oil is twenty barrels. The baleen,
of which the longest portion is fourteen to sixteen inches, is of a light brown or
nearly white, the grain very coarse, and the hair or fringe on the bone is much
heavier and not so even as that of the Right Whale or Humpback. The male may
average thirty-five feet in length, but varies more in size than the female, and the
Both
sexes are infested with parasitical crustaceans (Cyamus Scammoni), and a species of
usual quantity of oil it produces may be reckoned at twenty-five barrels.
barnacle (Cryptolepas rhachianecti), which collect chiefly upon the head and fins.*
furnished with a branchia at each side.
* Following is W. H. Dall’s description of
the Cyamus Scammoni, and of the Cryplolepas
rhachianecti (Proceedings Cal. Acad. Sci., Nov.
9th, 1872). Illustrations, figs. 1, 5, plate x.
Genus Cyamus, Lam.
Lam. Syst. An. s. Vert., p. 166.
p. 80.
Cyamus,
Bate & Westwood, ii,
Larunda and Panope. Leach.
Cyamus Scammoni, n. sp. § Body moder-
ately depressed, of an egg-ovate form; segments
slightly separated. Third and fourth segments
This,
near its base, divides into two cylindrical fila-
ments, spirally coiled from right to left. At
the base of each branchia are two slender acces-
sory filaments, not coiled, quite short, and situ-
ated, one before and the other behind the base
of the main branchia. Second pair of hands,
kidney-shaped, with the carpal art.culation half-
way between the distal and proximal ends, and
having two pointed tubercles on the inferior
edge, before the carpal joint. Third and fourth
segments somewhat punctate above; all the oth-
22 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
The California Gray Whale is only found in north latitudes, and its migrations
have never been known to extend lower than 20° north.
It frequents the coast of
California from November to May. During these months the cows enter the lagoons
on the lower coast to bring forth their young,*
ers smooth; the sixth and seventh slightly ser-
rate on the upper anterior edge, and without
ventral spines. Color, yellowish white. Lon.
0.70, lat. 0.39 in., of largest specimen.
@ Similar to the & in all respects, excepting
in being a little more slender, and in wanting
the accessory appendages to the branchie; the
ovigerous sacs are four in number, overlapping
each other.
Habitat, on the California Gray Whale ( Rha-
chianectes glaucus of Cope), upon the Coast of
California; very numerous. I may remark here
that these species are all so distinct from those
figured by Milne-Edwards, Gosse, and Bate &
Westwood, that a comparative. description has
seemed unnecessary; also, that the species ob-
tained on different species of Cetaceans have so
far been found invariably distinct. The infer-
ence is, of course, that each Cetacean has its
peculiar parasites—a supposition which agrees
with our knowledge of the facts in many groups
of terrestrial animals.
Cryptolepas rhachianecti, Dall, n. s. Valves
subequal, rostrum radiate, not alate. Lateral
valves anteriorly alate, posteriorly radiate; ca-
rina alate, not radiate. Hach valve internally
transversely deeply grooved, and furnished ex-
ternally with six radiating lamine, vertically
sharply grooved; the adjacent terminal lamin
of each two valves coalescing to form one lami-
na of extra thickness; all the laminz bifurcated
and thickened toward the outer edges, with two
or more short spurs on each side, irregularly
placed between the shell-wall and the bifurca-
tion. Superior terminations of the valves (blunt-
ly pointed?) usually abraded, transversely striate.
Scuta subquadrate, adjacent anteriorly, and very
slightly beaked in the middle of the occludent
margin; terga subquadrate, small, separated from
the scuta by intervening membrane; both very
small in proportion to the orifice. Membranes
very thin and delicate, raised into small lamelle
between the opercular valves. All the calcareous
matter pulverulent, and showing a strong tend-
ency to split up into lamine. Antero-posterior
while the males remain outside
diameter of large specimen, 1.62 inch; ditto of
orifice, 0.63 inch; transverse diameter of orifice,
0.58 inch; lon. scuta, 0.17 inch; lat. ditto, 0.08
inch; lon. terga, 0.07 inch; lat. ditto, 0.07 inch.
Color of membranes, when living, sulphur yel-
low; hood, extremely protrusile.
This species is found sessile on the California
Gray Whale (Rhachianectes glaucus, Cope). I
have observed them on specimens of that species
hauled up on the beach at Monterey for cutting
off the blubber, in the bay-whaling of that
locality. The superior surface of the lateral
lamine, being covered by the black skin of the
whale, is not visible; and the animal, removed
from its native element— protruding its bright
yellow hood in every direction, to a surprising
distance, as if gasping for breath—presented a
truly singular appearance.
* The question is often raised, as to whether
the cetaceous animals have more than one young
one at a birth? but it seems evident to us that
they never have more than two, for Nature has
made no provision whereby more than that num-
ber could draw sustenance at the same time from
the parent animal; and even where provision is
made for two among the marine mammalia, par-
ticularly in the case of the seal tribe, it is rare-
It is
true that instances have occurred where two,
ly if ever that the female produces twins.
three, or more cubs have been seen with one
California Gray Whale; but this has only hap-
pened in the lagoons where there had been
great slaughter among the cows, leaving their
young ones motherless, so that these stragele
about, sometimes following other whales, some-
times clustering by themselves a half-dozen to-
gether. We know of one instance where a whale
which had a calf perhaps a month old was killed
close to a ship. When the mother was taken
to the ship to be cut in, the young one followed,
and remained playing about for two weeks; but
THE CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE. ao
along the sea-shore. The time of gestation is about one year.* Occasionally a
male is seen in the lagoons with the cows at the last of the season, and soon after
both male and female, with their young, will be seen working their way northward,
following the shore so near that they often pass through the kelp near the beach.
It is seldom they are seen far out at sea. This habit of resorting to shoal bays
is one in which they differ strikingly from other whales. In summer they congre-
gate in the Arctic Ocean and Okhotsk Sea. It has been said that this species of
whale has been found on the coast of China and about the shores of the island
of Formosa, but the report needs confirmation.
In October and November the California Grays appear off the coast of Oregon
and Upper California, on their way back to their tropical haunts, making a quick,
low spout at long intervals; showing themselves but very little until they reach the
smooth lagoons of the lower coast, where, if not disturbed, they gather in large
numbers,t passing and repassing into and out of the estuaries, or slowly raising
their colossal forms midway above the surface, falling over on their sides as if by
whether it lived to come to maturity is a matter
of conjecture.
* This statement is maintained upon the fol-
We
embryos being taken from females between the
latitudes of 31° and 37° north, on the California
coast, when the animals were returning from
lowing observations : have known of five
their warm winter haunts to their cool summer
resorts, and in every instance they were exceed-
inely fat, which is quite opposite to the cows
which have produced and nurtured a calf while
in the lagoons; hence we conclude that the an-
imals propagate only once in two years.
ft It has been estimated, approximately, by
observing men among the shore-whaling parties,
that a thousand whales passed southward dai-
ly, from the 15th of December to the 1st of
February, for several successive seasons after
shore-whaling was established, which occurred
in 1851.
gaged in the business for over twenty years,
Captain Packard, who has been en-
thinks this a low estimate. Accepting this num-
ber without allowing for those which passed off
shore out of sight from the land, or for those
which passed before the 15th of December and
after the Ist of February, the aggregate would
be increased to 47,000.
states, that at the present time the average num-
Captain Packard also
ber seen from the stations passing daily would
not exceed forty. From our own observation
upon the coast, we are inclined to believe that
the numbers resorting annually to the coast of
California, from 1853 to 1856, did not exceed
40,000—probably not over 30,000; and at the
present time there are many which pass off shore
at so great a distance as to be invisible from
the lookout stations: there are probably between
100 and 200 whales going southward daily, from
the beginning to the end of the ‘‘down season”
(from December 15th to February 1st).
This estimate of the annual herd visiting the
coast is probably not large, as there is no
allowance made for those that migrate earlier
and later in the season. From what data we
have been able to obtain, the whole number of
California Gray Whales which have been capt-
ured or destroyed since the bay-whaling com-
menced, in 1846, would not exceed 10,800, and
the number which now periodically visit the
coast does not exceed 8,000 or 10,000.
24 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
accident, and dashing the water into foam and spray about them. At times, in
calm weather, they are seen lying on the water quite motionless, keeping one posi-
tion for an hour or more. At such times the sea-gulls and cormorants frequently
alight upon the huge beasts. The first season in Scammon’s Lagoon, coast of Lower
California, the boats were lowered several times for them, we thinking that the
animals when in that position were dead or sleeping, but before the boats arrived
within even shooting distance they were on the move again.
About the shoals at the mouth of one of the lagoons, in 1860, we saw large
numbers of the monsters. It was at the low stage of the tide, and the shoal places
were plainly marked by the constantly foaming breakers. To our surprise we saw
many of the whales going through the surf where the depth of water was barely
sufficient to float them. We could discern in many places, by the white sand
that came to the surface, that they must be near or touching the bottom. One
in particular, lay for a half-hour in the breakers, playing, as seals often do in a
heavy surf; turning from side to side with half- extended fins, and moved appar-
ently by the heavy ground-swell which was breaking ;
g; at times making a playful
spring with its bending flukes, throwing its body clear of the water, coming down
with a heavy splash, then making two or three spouts, and again settling under
water ; perhaps the next moment its head would appear, and with the heavy swell
the animal would roll over in a listless manner, to all appearance enjoying the sport
intensely. We passed close to this sportive animal, and had only thirteen feet of
water.
The habits of the Gray have brought upon it many significant names, among
which the most prominent are, “ Hard - head,” ‘ Mussel - digger,” ‘‘ Devil - fish,”
“Gray - back,” and “Rip-sack.” The first- mentioned misnomer arose from the
fact of the animals having a great propensity to root the boats when coming in
contact with them, in the same manner that hogs upset their empty troughs. More-
over, they are known to descend to soft bottoms in search of food, or for other
purposes ; and, when returning to the surface, they have been seen with head and
lips besmeared with the dark ooze from the depths below;* hence the name of
*To our personal knowledge, but little or no of the estuaries. Whether this was taken into
food has been found in the animal’s stomach. the stomach as food some naturalists doubt, giv-
We have examined several taken in the lagoons, ing as a reason that the whale, passing through
and in them we found what the whalers called the water mixed with this vegetable matter, on
‘“‘sedge” or ‘‘sea-moss” (a sort of sea-cabbage), opening its mouth would of necessity receive
which at certain seasons darkens the waters in more or less of it, which would be swallowed,
extensive patches both in and about the mouths there being no other way in which it could be
THE CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE. 25
“Mussel - digger.” ‘‘Devil- fish” is significant of the danger incurred in the pursuit
of the animal. ‘‘Gray-back” is indicative of its color, and ‘‘Rip-sack” originated
with the manner of flensing.
As the season approaches for the whales to bring forth their young, which is
from December to March, they formerly collected at the most remote extremities of
the lagoons, and huddled together so thickly that it was difficult for a boat to cross
the waters without coming in contact with them. Repeated instances have been
known of their getting aground and lying for several hours in but two or three
feet of water, without apparent injury from resting heavily on the sandy bottom,
until the rising tide floated them. In the Bay of Monterey they have been seen
rolling, with apparent delight, in the breakers along the beach.
In February, 1856, we found two whales aground in Magdalena Bay. Each
had a calf playing about, there being sufficient depth for the young ones, while the
mothers were lying hard on the bottom. When attacked, the smaller of the two
set” the
dispatching the animal at a single dart. The other,
old whales lay motionless, and the boat approached near enough to “
hand-lance into her “life,”
when approached, would raise her head and flukes above the water, supporting her-
self on a small portion of the belly, turning easily, and heading toward the boat,
which made it very difficult to capture her. It appears to be their habit to get
into the shallowest inland waters when their cubs are young. For this reason the
whaling-ships anchor at a considerable distance from where the crews go to hunt
the animals, and several vessels are often in the same lagoon.
The first streak of dawn is the signal for lowering the boats, all pulling for
the head- waters, where the whales are expected to be found. As soon as one is
seen, the officer who first discovers it sets a “
waif” (a small flag) in his boat, and
gives chase. Boats belonging to other vessels do not interfere, but go in search of
other whales. When pursuing, great care is taken to keep behind, and a short
distance from the animal, until it is driven to the extremity of the lagoon, or into
shoal water; then the men in the nearest boats spring to their oars in the exciting
race, and the animal, swimming so near the bottom, has its progress impeded,
thereby giving its pursuers a decided advantage: although occasionally it will sud-
denly change its course, or “dodge,” which frequently prolongs the chase for hours,
disposed of. The quantity found in any one we are convinced that mussels have been found
individual would not exceed a barrelful. in the maws of the California Grays; but as
From the testimony of several whaling-men yet, from our own observations, we have not
whom we regard as interested and careful ob- been able to establish the fact of what their
servers, together with our own investigations, principal sustenance consists.
MazineE MAMMALS. — 4.
26 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
the boats cutting through the water at their utmost speed. At other times, when
the cub is young and weak, the movements of the mother are sympathetically
It is rare that the dam will
When within “darting distance” (sixteen
suited to the necessities of her dependent offspring.
forsake her young one, when molested.
or eighteen feet), the boat-steerer darts the harpoons, and if the whale is struck
As
soon as the boat is fast, the officer goes into the head,* and watches a favorable
it dashes about, lashing the water into foam, oftentimes staving the boats.
opportunity to shoot a bomb-lance. Should this enter a vital part and explode, it
kills instantly, but it is not often this good luck occurs; more frequently two or
three bombs are shot, which paralyze the animal to some extent, when the boat is
hauled near enough to use the hand-lance. After repeated thrusts, the whale
becomes sluggish in its motions; then, going “close to,’ the hand-lance is set into
its ‘life,’ which completes the capture. The animal rolls over on its side, with fins
extended, and dies without a struggle. Sometimes it will circle around within a
small compass, or take a zigzag course, heaving its head and flukes above the water,
and will either roll over, ‘‘fin out,’ or die under water and sink to the bottom.
Thus far we have spoken principally of the females, as they are femnd.in, the
lagoons. Mention has been made, however, of that general habit, common to both
male and female, of keeping near the shore in making the passage between their
northern and southern feeding-grounds. This fact becoming known, and the bomb-
guny coming into use, the mode of capture along the outer coast was changed.
The whaling parties first stationed themselves in their boats at the most favorable
points, where the thickest beds of kelp were found, and there lay in wait watching
for a good chance to shoot the whales as they passed. This was called ‘kelp
whaling.”
The first year or two that this pursuit was practiced, many of the animals
* Whalemen call the forward part of a whale-
boat the head, differing from merchantmen, who
term it the bow; still, the oar next to the for-
ward one in a whale-boat is named the bow-
oar. And, likewise, when the boat is hauled
close up to the whale by heaving the line out
of the ‘“‘bow-chocks,” and taking it to one side
against a cleat which is placed a few feet
aft of the extreme bow, it is called ‘‘bowing-
on.”
¢ The bomb-gun is made of iron, stock and
all. It is three feet long, the barrel of which
is twenty-three inches in length; diameter of
bore, one and one-eighth of an inch; weight,
twenty-four pounds. It shoots a bomb-lance
twenty-one and a half inches long, and of a
size to fit the bore. It is pointed at the end,
with sharpened edges, in order to cut its way
through the fibrous fat and flesh, and is guided
by three elastic feathers, which are attached
along the fuse tube, folding around it when in
the barrel. The gun is fired from the shoulder,
in the same way as a musket. For illustration,
see plate xxiii.
THE CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE. 27
passed through or along the edge of the kelp, where the gunners chose their own
distance for a shot. This method, however, soon excited the suspicions of these
sagacious creatures. At first, the ordinary whale-boat was used, but the keen-
eyed ‘‘Devil-fish” soon found what would be the consequence of getting too near
the long, dark-looking object, as it lay nearly motionless, only rising and falling
with one man to scull and another
with the rolling swell. A very small boat
to shoot—was then used, instead of the whale-boat. This proved successful for a
time, but, after a few successive seasons, the animals passed farther seaward, and at
the present time the boats usually anchor outside the kelp. The mottled fish being
scen approaching far enough off for the experienced gunner to judge nearly where
the animal will ‘break water,” the boat is sculled to that place, to await the
ba
“rising.” If the whale ‘‘shows a good chance,” it is frequently killed instantly,
and sinks to the bottom, or receives its death-wound by the bursting of the bomb-
lance. Consequently, the stationary position or slow movement of the animal
enables the whaler to get a harpoon into it before sinking. To the harpoon a lne
is attached, with a buoy, which indicates the place where the dead creature lies,
should it go to the bottom. Then, in the course of twenty-four hours, or in less
time, it rises to the surface, and is towed to the shore, the blubber taken off and
tried out in pots set for that purpose upon the beach.
Another mode of capture is by ships cruising off the land and sending their
boats inshore toward the line of kelp; and, as the whales work to the southward,
the boats, being provided with extra large sails, the whalemen take advantage of
the strong northerly winds, and, running before the breeze, sail near enough to be
able to dart the hand-harpoon into the fish. ‘Getting fast” in this way, it is
killed in deep water, and, if inclined to sink, it can be held up by the boats till
the ship comes up, when a large “fluke-rope” is made fast, or the “fin-chain” is
secured to one fin, the ‘‘cutting-tackle” hooked, and the whale “cut in” immedi-
ately. This mode is called ‘‘sailing them down.” Still another way of catching
them is with ‘“Greener’s Harpoon Gun,” which is similar to a small swivel-gun.
It is of one and a half inch bore, three feet long in the barrel, and, when stocked,
weighs seventy-five pounds. The harpoon, four feet and a half long, is projected
with considerable accuracy to any distance under eighty-four yards. The gun is
mounted on the bow of the boat. A variety of manceuvres are practiced when
using the weapon: at times the boat lying at anchor, and, again, drifting about for
a chance-shot. When the animal is judged to be ten fathoms off, the gun is
pointed eighteen inches below the back; if fifteen fathoms, eight or ten inches
below; if eighteen or twenty fathoms distant, the gun is sighted at the top of its
back.
28 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
Still another strategic plan has been practiced with successful results, called
‘whaling along the breakers.” Mention has been already made of the habit which
these whales have of playing about the breakers at the mouths of the lagoons.
This, the watchful eye of the whaler was quick to see, could be turned to his
advantage.
After years of pursuit by waylaying them around the beds of kelp, the wary
animals learned to shun these fatal regions, making a wide deviation in their course
to enjoy their sports among the rollers at the lagoons’ mouths, as they passed
them either way. But the civilized whaler anchors his boats as near the roaring
surf as safety will permit, and the unwary ‘‘Mussel-digger” that comes in reach
of the deadly harpoon, or bomb-lance, is sure to pay the penalty with its life. If
it come within darting distance, it is harpooned; and, as the stricken animal makes
for the open sea, it is soon in deep water, where the pursuer makes his capture
with comparative ease; or if passing within range of the bomb-gun, one of the
explosive missiles is planted in its side, which so paralyzes the whale that the
fresh boat’s-crew, who have been resting at anchor, taking to their oars, soon
overtake and dispatch it.
The casualties from coast and kelp whaling are nothing to be compared with
the accidents that have been experienced by those engaged in taking the females
in the lagoons. Hardly a day passes but there is upsetting or staving of boats,
the crews receiving bruises, cuts, and, in many instances, having limbs broken;
and repeated accidents have happened in which men have been instantly killed, or
received mortal injury. The reasons of the increased dangers are these: the quick
and deviating movements of the animal, its unusual sagacity, and the fact of the
sandy bottom being continually stirred by the strong currents, making it difficult to
see an object at any considerable depth. When a whale is “struck” at sea, there
is generally but httle difficulty in keeping clear. When first irritated by the har-
poon, it attempts to escape by “running,” or descending to the depths below, taking
out more or less line, the direction of which, and the movements of the boat,
indicate the animal’s whereabouts. But in a lagoon, the object of pursuit is in
narrow passages, where frequently there is a swift tide, and the turbid water pre-
vents the whaler from seeing far beneath the boat. Should the chase be made
with the current, the fugitive sometimes stops suddenly, and the speed of the boat,
together with the influence of the running water, shoots it upon the worried animal
when it is dashing its flukes in every direction. The whales that are chased have
with them their young cubs, and the mother, in her efforts to avoid the pursuit of
herself and offspring, may momentarily lose sight of her little one. Instantly she
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THE CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE. 29
will stop and ‘‘sweep”’ around in search, and if the boat~comes in contact with her,
it is quite sure to be staved. Another danger is, that in darting the lance at the
mother, the young one, in its gambols, will get in the way of the weapon, and
receive the wound, instead of the intended victim. In such instances, the parent
animal, in her frenzy, will chase the boats, and, overtaking them, will overturn
them with her head, or dash them in pieces with a stroke of her ponderous flukes.
Sometimes the calf is fastened to instead of the cow. In such instances the
mother may have been an old frequenter of the ground, and been before chased,
and perhaps have suffered from a previous attack, so that she is far more difficult
to capture, staving the boats and escaping after receiving repeated wounds. One
instance occurred in Magdalena Lagoon, in 1857, where, after several boats had
been staved, they being near the beach, the men in those remaining afloat managed
to pick up their swimming comrades, and, in the meantime, to run the line to the
shore, hauling the calf into as shallow water as would float the dam, she keeping
near her troubled young one, giving the gunner a good chance for a shot with his
bomb-gun from the beach. A similar instance occurred in Scammon’s Lagoon, in
1859.
The testimony of many whaling-masters furnishes abundant proof that these
whales are possessed of unusual sagacity. Numerous contests with them have
proved that, after the loss of their cherished offspring, the enraged animals have
given chase to the boats, which only found security by escaping to shoal water or
to shore.
After evading the civilized whaler and his instruments of destruction, and per-
haps while they are suffering from wounds received in their southern haunts, these
migratory animals begin their northern journey. The mother, with her young
grown to half the size of maturity, but wanting in strength, makes the best of her
way along the shores, avoiding the rough sea by passing between or near the rocks
and islets that stud the points and capes. But scarcely have the poor creatures
quitted their southern homes before they are surprised by the Indians about the
Strait of Juan de Fuca, Vancouver and Queen Charlotte’s Islands. Like enemies
in ambush, these glide in canoes from island, bluff, or bay, rushing upon their prey
with whoop and yell, launching their instruments of torture, and like hounds worry-
ing the last life-blood from their vitals. The capture having been effected, trains
of canoes tow the prize to shore in triumph. The whalemen among the Indians of
the North-west Coast are those who delight in the height of adventure, and who
are ambitious of acquiring the greatest reputation among their fellows. Those among
them who could boast of killing a whale, formerly had the most exalted mark of
30 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
honor conferred upon them by a cut across the nose; but this custom is no longer
observed.
The Indian whaling-canoe is thirty-five feet in length. Hight men make the
crew, each wielding a paddle five and a half feet long. The whaling-gear consists
of harpoons, lines, lances, and seal-skin buoys, all of their own workmanship. The
cutting material of both lance and spear was formerly the thick part of a mussel-
?
shell, or of the ‘“‘abelone ;” the line made from cedar withes, twisted into a three-
strand rope. The buoys are fancifully painted, but those belonging to each boat
have a distinguishing mark. The lance-pole, or harpoon-staff, made of the heavy
wood of the yew-tree, is eighteen feet long, weighing as many pounds, and with
the lance attached is truly a formidable weapon.
Their whaling-grounds are limited, as the Indians rarely venture seaward far
out of sight of the smoke from their cabins by day, or beyond view of their bon-
fires at night. The number of canoes engaged in one of these expeditions is from
two to five, the crews being taken from among the chosen men of the tribe, who,
with silent stroke, can paddle the symmetrical canim close to the rippling water
beside the animal; the bowman then, with sure aim, thrusts the harpoon into it,
and heaves the line and buoys clear of the canoe. The worried creature may dive
deeply, but very little time elapses before the inflated seal-skins are visible again.
The instant these are seen, a buoy is elevated on a pole from the nearest canoe,
by way of signal; then all dash, with shout and grunt, toward the object of pur-
suit. Now the chase attains the highest pitch of excitement, for each boat being
provided with implements alike, in order to entitle it to a full share of the prize
its crew must lodge their harpoon in the animal, with buoys attached; so that,
after the first attack is made, the strife that ensues to be next to throw the spear
creates a scene of brawl and agility peculiar to these savage adventurers. At length
the victim, becoming weakened by loss of blood, yields to a system of torture
characteristic of its eager pursuers, and eventually, spouting its last blood from a
lacerated heart, it writhes in convulsions and expires. Then the whole fleet of
canoes assists in towing it to the shore, where a division is made, and all the
inhabitants of the village greedily feed upon the fat and flesh till their appetites
are satisfied. After the feast, what oil may be extracted from the remains is put
into skins or bladders, and is an article of traffic with neighboring tribes or the
white traders who occasionally visit them.
These “whales of passage,” when arrived in the Arctic Ocean and Okhotsk
Sea, are seen emerging between the scattered floes, and even forcing themselves
through the field of ice, rising midway above the surface, and blowing in the same
THE CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE. 31
attitude in which they are frequently seen in the southern lagoons; at such times
the combined sound of their respirations can be heard, in a calm day, for miles
across the ice and water. But in those far northern regions, the animals are rarely
pursued by the whale-ship’s boats: hence they rest in some degree of security;
yet even there, the watchful Esquimaux steal upon them, and to their primitive
weapons and rude processes the whale at last succumbs, and supplies food and
substance for its captors.
The Esquimaux whaling-boat, although to all appearance simple in its con-
struction, will be found, after careful investigation, to be admirably adapted to the
purpose, as well as for all other uses necessity demands. It is not only used to
accomplish the more important undertaking, but in it they hunt the walrus,
shoot game, and make their long summer-voyages about the coast, up the deep
bays and long rivers, where they traffic with the interior tribes. When prepared
for whaling, the boat is cleared of all passengers and useless incumbrances, nothing
being allowed but the whaling-gear. Hight picked men make the crew.* Their
boats are twenty-five to thirty feet long, and are flat on the bottom, with flaring
sides and tapering ends. The framework is of wood, lashed together with the fibres
of baleen and thongs of walrus-hide, the latter article being the covering, or plank-
ing, to the boat. The implements are one or more harpoons, made of ivory, with
a point of slate-stone or iron; a boat-mast, that serves the triple purpose of
spreading the sail and furnishing the staff for the harpoon and lance; a large knife,
and eight paddles. The knife lashed to the mast constitutes the lance.
The boat being in readiness, the chase begins. As soon as the whale is seen
and its course ascertained, all get behind it: not a word is spoken, nor will they
take notice of a passing ship or boat, when once excited in the chase. All is
silent and motionless until the spout is seen, when they instantly paddle toward it.
The spouting over, every paddle is raised; again the spout is seen or heard through
the fog, and again they spring to their paddles. In this manner the animal is
approached near enough to throw the harpoon, when all shout at the top of their
voices. This is said to have the effect of checking the animal’s way through the
water, thus giving an opportunity to plant the spear in its body, with line and
buoys attached. The chase continues in this wise until a number of weapons are
firmly fixed, causing the animal much effort to get under water, and still more to
remain down; so it soon rises again, and is attacked with renewed vigor. It is the
*It is said by Captain Norton, who com- several years ago, that the women engage in the
manded the ship Citizen, wrecked in the Arctic chase.
bo
MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
oo
established custom with these simple natives, that the man who first effectually
throws his harpoon, takes command of the whole party: accordingly, as soon as the
animal becomes much exhausted, his baidarra is paddled near, and with surprising
quickness he cuts a hole in its side sufficiently large to admit the knife and mast
to which it is attached; then follows a course of cutting and piercing till death
ensues, after which the treasure is towed to the beach in front of their huts, where
it is divided, each member of the party receiving two ‘‘slabs of bone,” and a like
proportion of the blubber and entrails; the owners of the canoes claiming what
remains.
The choice pieces for a dainty repast, with them, are the flukes, lips, and fins.
The oil is a great article of trade with the interior tribes of ‘‘reindeer-men:” it
is sold in skins of fifteen gallons each, a skin of oil being the price of a reindeer.
The entrails are made into a kind of souse, by pickling them in a liquid extracted
from a root that imparts an acrid taste: this preparation is a savory dish, as well
as a preventive of the scurvy. The lean flesh supplies food for their dogs, the
whole troop of the village gathering abot the carcass, fighting, feasting, and howl-
ing, as only sledge-dogs can.
Many of the marked habits of the California Gray are widely different from
those of any other species of balena. It makes regular migrations from the hot
southern latitudes to beyond the Arctic Circle; and in its passages between the
extremes of climate it follows the general trend of an irregular coast so near that
it is exposed to attack from the savage tribes inhabiting the sea-shores, who pass
much of their time in the canoe, and consider the capture of this singular wanderer
a feat worthy of the highest distinction. As it approaches the waters of the torrid
zone, it presents an opportunity to the civilized whalemen—at sea, along the shore,
and in the lagoons—to practice their different modes of strategy, thus hastening
the time of its entire annihilation. This species of whale manifests the greatest
affection for its young, and seeks the sheltered estuaries lying under a tropical sun,
as if to warm its offspring into activity and promote comfort, until grown to the
size Nature demands for its first northern visit. When the parent animals are
attacked, they show a power of resistance and tenacity of life that distinguish them
from all other Cetaceans. Many an expert whaleman has suffered in his encounters
with them, and many a one has paid the penalty with his life. Once captured,
however, this whale yields the coveted reward to its enemies, furnishing sustenance
for the Hsquimaux whaler, from such parts as are of little value to others. The
oil extracted from its fatty covering is exchanged with remote tribes for their fur-
clad animals, of which the flesh affords the venders a feast of the choicest food,
Plate V.
ur
Auth Britton + Aer 8,
el
CAMPO.
S
TAL,
ris
CALIFORNIA GRAYS AMONG THE lc
a
THE CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE. 33
and the skins form an indispensable article of clothing. The North-west Indians
realize the same comparative benefit from the captured animals as do the Hsqui-
maux, and look forward to its periodical passage through their circumscribed fishing-
grounds as a season of exploits and profit.
The civilized whaler seeks the hunted animal farther seaward, as from year to
year it learns to shun the fatal shore. None of the species are so constantly and
variously pursued as the one we have endeavored to describe; and the large bays
and lagoons, where these animals once congregated, brought forth and nurtured
their young, are already nearly deserted. The mammoth bones of the California
Gray lie bleaching on the shores of those silvery waters, and are scattered along
the broken coasts, from Siberia to the Gulf of California; and ere long it may be
questioned whether this mammal will not be numbered among the extinct species
of the Pacific.
MARINE MAMMALS.—5.
CYLAPTER: i,
THE FINBACK WHALE.
BaLEnorrera VELIFERA, Cope. (Plate u, fig. 2.)
Another species of the whale tribe is known as the Finback, or Finner, whose
geographical distribution is as extended as that of the Sulphurbottom, and which
ranks next to it in point of swiftness.
One picked up by Captain Poole, of the bark Sarah Warren, of San Francisco,
affords us the following memoranda: Length, sixty-five feet; thickness of blubber,
seven to nine inches; yield of oil, seventy-five barrels; color of blubber, a clear
white. Top of head quite as flat and straight as that of the Humpback. Baleen,
the longest, two feet four inches; greatest width, thirteen inches; its color, a light
lead, streaked with black, and its surface presents a ridgy appearance crosswise ;
length of fringe to bone, two to four inches, and in size this may be compared to
a cambric needle.
A Balenoptera, which came on shore near the outer heads of the Golden Gate,
gave us the opportunity of obtaining the following rough measurements :
Ft. In.
Dsen ti sieraco ceca vie eis a uals ens vt fe i deena stag ate Botte nae ca terete Sat ceell aa 60 00
Hromenibsend=to: pectoralsiaciananun so sen oulnnan epee kota eed hans nee ae 15 00
Prom -nib=end. 10. cormen-of. Mm OWtlins Neue M sachs teers perenne eee ecient 12 00
ROM DUD SEN OO y. Cis sisson 8 eats tx ectiaee aictetuas oet ei er a sS eee ag ena vada cea, 12 06
From notch.ot-caudal into. Senital siti sn. arn natdaeaiee shh a oe ee bee 21 00
Hrom notch: or-canudal sinrto vent... 2 iio cae a acne pone Sneak ee eee eta 19 06
Hix pansion Of-caucal sfines 2. + csent count narcen ata ee asi mca abe amet TAO te 14 00
Its side fins and flukes are in like proportion to the body as in the California
Gray. Its throat and breast are marked with deep creases, or folds, similar to the
Humpback. Color of back and sides, black or blackish-brown (in some individ-
uals a curved band of lighter shade marks its upper sides, between the spiracles
and pectorals) ; belly, a milky white. Its back fin is placed nearer to the caudal
than the hump on the Humpback, and in shape approaches to a right-angled
[34]
Dn |
THE FINBACK WHALL.
(She)
triangle, but rounded on the forward edge, curved on the opposite one; the longest
side joins the back in some examples, and in others the anterior edge is the
longest. The gular folds spread on each side to the pectorals, and extended half
the length of the body.
The habitual movements of the Finback in several points are peculiar. When
it respires, the vaporous breath passes quickly through its spiracles, and when a
fresh supply of air is drawn into the breathing system, a sharp and somewhat
musical sound may be heard at a considerable distance, which is quite distinguish-
able from that of other whales of the same genus. (We have observed the interval
between the respirations of a large Vinback to be about seven seconds.) It fre-
quently gambols about vessels at sea, in mid-ocean as well as close in with the
coast, darting under them, or shooting swiftly through the water on either side; at
one moment upon the surface, belching forth its quick, ringing spout, and the next
instant submerging itself bencath the waves, as if enjoying a spirited race with the
ship dashing along under a press of sail. In beginning the descent, it assumes
a variety of positions: sometimes rolling over nearly on its side, at other times
rounding, or perhaps heaving, its flukes out, and assuming nearly a perpendicular
attitude. Frequently it remains on the surface, making a regular course and several
uniform ‘‘blows.” Occasionally they congregate in schools of fifteen to twenty, or
less. In this situation we have usually observed them going quickly through the
water, several spouting at the same instant. Their uncertain movements, however
—often showing themselves twice or thrice, then disappearing—and their swiftness,
make them very difficult to capture. The results of several attempts to catch them
were as follows: from the ship one was shot with a bomb-gun, which did its work
so effectually, that although the boat was in readiness for instant lowering, before
it got within darting distance the animal, in its dying contortions, ran foul of the
ship, giving her a shock that was very sensibly felt by all on board, and lkewise
a momentary heel of about two streaks. We had a good view of the under-side
of the whale as it made several successive rolls before disappearing, and our obser-
vations agreed with those noted on board the Sarak Warren in relation to color
and the creases on throat and breast. The under-side of the fins was white also.
At another time the whale died about ten fathoms under water, and after carefully
hauling it up in sight, the “iron drawed, and away the dead animal went to the
depths beneath.” Frequently we have “lowered” for single ones that were playing
about the ship, but by the time the boats were in the water nothing more would
be seen of them, or, if seen, they would be a long way off, and then disappear.
An instance occurred in Monterey Bay, in 1865, of five being captured under
36 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
the following circumstances: A ‘‘pod” of whales was seen in the offing, by the
whalemen, from their shore station, who immediately embarked in their boats and
gave chase. On coming up to them they were found to be Finbacks. One was
harpooned, and, although it received a mortal wound, they all ‘run together” as
before. One of the gunners, being an expert, managed to shoot the whole five,
and they were all ultimately secured, yielding to the captors a merited prize. We
have noticed large numbers of these whales along the coast during the summer
months, and they seem to be more together at that particular season; but, as the
opportunities for observing their habits have been much greater at that time of the
year, we may have been led into error upon this particular point. Their food is
of the same nature as that of the other rorquals, and the quantity of codfish
which has been found in them is truly enormous. On the northern coast, the
Finbacks, in many instances, have a much larger fin than those in warmer lati-
tudes, and we are fully satisfied that these are a distinct species, confined to the
northern waters.
We have had but little opportunity to observe the Finbacks that frequently
rove about the Gulf of Georgia and Fuca Strait. Several have been seen, however,
in May and June, on the coasts of California and Oregon, and in Fuca Strait in
June and July of the year 1864; these observations satisfy us that the dorsal fin
of this—the northern species referred to—is strikingly larger than in the more
southern Finbacks.
Appended are the outlines of one individual of several seen in Queen Charlotte
Sound, in February, 1865, which is a fair representation of them all. Those we
have noticed about Fuca Strait seem to have the back fin modified in size between
the extremely small one found on the coast of Lower California and the one here
represented.
“DONVT'9 ‘SAVIS OL GAHOVIIV NOOGUVH'S NOOdYVH JO MIA AUIS + ‘NOOdUVH 40 MAIA 3904 °e'AONA' 2° SONWI'L
“SLNAWATdAT ONIIVHM. GNV'TONVO ONITVHM XNVWINdgsd
4 hay YUONIIg' YI] ‘Jap uowueo Wd
LY
TA 8teld
t™~
om
FINBACK WHALE.
THE
PuTLINES OF A NorTHERN
PINBACK,
CHAPTER. HI,
THE WUMPBACK WHALE.
MEGAPTERA VERSABILIS, Cope. (Plate vii, fig. 1.)
The Humpback is one of the species of rorquals that roam through every
ocean, generally preferring to feed and perform its uncouth gambols near extensive
coasts, or about the shores of islands, in all latitudes between the equator and the
frozen oceans, both north and south. It is irregular in its movements, seldom going
a straight course for any considerable distance; at one time moving about in large
numbers, scattered over the sea as far as the eye can discern from the mast-head ;
at other times singly, seeming as much at home as if it were surrounded by hun-
dreds of its kind; performing at will the varied actions of ‘breaching,’ ‘‘rolling,”
“finning,”’ “lobtailing,’ or “scooping;” or, on a calm, sunny day, perhaps lying
motionless on the molten-looking surface, as though life were extinct.
Its shape, compared with the symmetrical forms of the Finback, California
Gray, and Sulphurbottom, is decidedly ugly, as it has a short, thick body, and
frequently a diminutive “small,” with inordinately large pectorals and flukes. (2
Width: of each pectoral iis cscs 5 eee eae sri oe wee ea a ee 0 5 05 QO 4}
Circumference of body just behind pectorals................. 2 7 3 0 2 5
No. 4 No, 5.
Length of animal from tip of nose to tip of tail..................... 4 9 3 6
Men sth ot shail vice alee cokye ero Ger eat tear ance ca eae oe Re Saas 02 0 1
Length of posterior Tip pers vn0ic9 voce eter he Miele zane Bae eee 1 5 1 3
Breadth of posterior flippers when expanded .................... 0005 07
From end of posterior flippers to nails......... 0... cee eee ee 0 3
Length of nails on posterior flippers ........... 0... cece cece eee eee 0 Of
From tip of nose to pectorals............ 0.0 ccc cece eee eee eee eee 1 4
hength ofspectorals:\ctenin eae Aka no Maken Meet lace Se accent eo: at
Wadth-of. pectorals' ca ).t/s2s alow earavetiale 0 Oh Sha oe Aw ett 05 O 4%
Prom tip Of Mose tO” Caren shes ome ian iia western Mee a Sue tee estes 0 6
Thength-of each: :6ar is tasua scat eect one eae measeiee seuan oe uin eteeand 0 13
Miomt Mip el mGee Ter rey cia osge sane am eee ea ane ee ah oaeaen 0 2%
Tienoth.-of under, jaw.xcweny ove pancineiye coe Gi os auc ane 0 2
Circumference of body just behind pectorals.,..................0000- 3 1 2 2%
The succeeding figures afford a general illustration of the forms, or proportions,
of the animals, when in various attitudes. The zincograph (No. 1) of the full-aged
male gives a good representation of the animal’s anterior figure, as well as imparting,
FUR SEALS. 143
to some degree, the surly expression ever present with those veterans who have
fought for prestige upon the rookeries many successive seasons. No. 2 is an
excellent representation of a female head when seen in that position. No. 3
affords a good idea of the outline of the head (side view), and the expression
of the harmless mother, who bears her offspring, and submits to the harsh treat-
ment of her male companion and master, without manifest complaint or resistance.
s
N
‘
y
4;
’
!
No. 1.—FULL-AGED MALE Fur SEAL, ST. Paur’s IsLanD. (Drawn by Elliott.)
Nos. 4 and 5 represent the relative proportions of a female, (view from side and
below, which were drawn from a dead animal, verified by measurements. No. 6
illustrates the familiar attitudes of Fur Seals of both sexes, more especially the
younger animals, or those supposed to be three or four years old.
It is very rarely that the ‘‘clapmatch” has more than one pup. Out of twenty-
two individuals examined, not one was found with twins; and the Indians about
Fuca Strait say they never have seen two foetuses in the same seal. They have,
144 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
however, two teats each side of the belly, nearly on a line with the corners of the
mouth and the posterior limbs. While taking measurements of some ‘‘clapmatches”
at the summer village of Kiddy Kubbit, situated near the mouth and on the south
side of the strait, where the animals lay in one of the large lodges, the women
were engaged in skinning them and trying out the oil from the blubber. The
question arose, whether a Fur Seal ever had more than one pup ata birth. A bevy
of squaws discussed the subject with great spirit, raising such a din about our ears
that nothing else could be heard; at last, a herculean Aloochman clutched a knife,
and slashing into the seals, brought forth one pup only from each individual, and,
with a knowing look as well as a multitude of words, gave us to understand that
this examination, together with past experience in the matter, was proof positive
that the offspring of this species of mammalia did not come in pairs.
The time of gestation has been supposed to be about nine months, but later
observations at the seal islands of Behring Sea prove it to be at least ten months,
or more. The pups, when first born, are about one-third the length of the mother.
They are covered with a thick mat of coarse fur, which changes to a finer texture
and lighter shade as the animals mature. The time of bringing forth the young
(“‘pupping season”), on the coast of California, is from May to August, including
a part of both months; on the coast of Patagonia, and the latitudes near Cape
Horn, from October to March.
The flippers of the Fur Seal are destitute of hair, being covered with tough,
black skin, similar to shagreen, which is very flexible about the terminations of
their extremities; the side limbs are shaped much like the fins of the smaller
Cetaceans ; the posterior ones have each five distinct toes, or digits, and three nails,
or claws, project from their upper sides, four inches or more from their tips, accord-
ing to the size and age of the animal. The tail is extremely short, and pointed.
The ears are quite pointed also, slanting backward, and are covered with short, fine
hair. The head, in proportion, is longer and sharper than that of the Leopard Seal.
The number of whiskers on each side of the face may average twenty; they are
of different shades, from blackish brown to white, and frequently attain the length
of seven inches. The eyes are invariably dark and glistening, and have a human-
like expression.
The intrinsic value-of the animal does not depend upon the price of its skin
alone ; for the layer of fat adhering to it yields the oil of commerce, and supplies
light and heat to the natives in their dismal winter quarters. The flesh, likewise,
affords them a staple article of food. Fanning, as well as other early voyagers,
speaks of the flesh of the Fur Seal pups, when six weeks old or more, as being
Marine MamMMALs. — 19.
FUR
SHALS.
(Drawn by Eliott.)
No. 2,.—_HEAD OF FEMALE FUR SEAL, VIEWED FROM BELOW, Two-THIRDS NATURAL SIZE.
MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
146 MARINE
equal to the best mutton, if properly cooked. Notwithstanding, after repeated
trials, we confess our preference for the latter. The hearts and livers of young
seals, whether of the Fur or Ilair species, are excellent; but we would advise those
fond of fresh meat not to witness the killing of the animals and the extraction of
those choice portions of them. The employés of the Russian-American Company
frequently salted seal meat for ship's use, when a supply of beef could not be
obtained.
The habits of the Fur Seals differ in several respects from those of the numerous
Hair species. One of their most remarkable traits is their extended geographical
range. To give a clear idea of their varied haunts as regards climate and diversity
of locality, we may mention the following as among their favorite resorting-places :
The coast of Patagonia, west coast of Africa, Falklands, New South Shetlands, South
Georgia, southern coast of Chile, island of Masafuero, Lobos Islands (on the coast
of Peru), Galapagos Islands (off the coast of Hcuador), the islands of Desolation,
Crozets, and St. Paul's in the Indian Ocean, and St. Paul and St. George islands
Thus it will be
seen that these curious animals are inhabitants of the antipodes of the globe, and
(Behring Sea), and Robin and Jonas islands in the Okhotsk Sea.
bask in a tropical sun as well as endure the rigors of the icy regions of the Arctic
and Antarctic.
Some idea may be had of their numbers in former years, when on the island
of Masafuero, on the coast of Chile—which is not over twenty-five miles in circum-
ference—the American ship Betsey, under the command of Captain Fanning, in the
year 1798,* obtained a full cargo of choice skins. It was estimated at the time
* At the present day, when the American him also was the project first discussed, of fit-
ships that double Cape Horn, and the Cape of ting out a suitable vessel, which should proceed
Good Hope, are magnificent types of naval arch-
itecture compared with those of the early voy-
ages, a2 reminiscent note, relative to the Betsey,
her owners, commander, and ship’s company,
is of peculiar interest, as portraying the char-
acter of all those who, at that period, entered
so practically yet enthusiastically into commer-
“In the early part of the month
of May, 1797,” writes Captain Fanning, ‘it was
the good fortune of the author to meet at New
York with Captain John Whetten, a gentleman
cial pursuits.
distinguished as an able navigator, and at the
time in command of the ship Ontario, in the
China trade. With him originated, and with
to the South Seas, there to procure a cargo of
Fur Seal skins, and with this cargo thence to
cross the Pacific for the Canton market, where
the article was well ascertained to be greatly in
demand, and held at prices that furnished good
grounds upon which to hope that a very hand-
some profit would be realized. Another great
inducement held out in favor of the attempt,
was the probability that Captain Whetten him-
self, in the Ontario, would be at Canton at
about the period of the arrival there (which
would be in our fall part of the year, say the
month of September, October, or November) of
any vessel shortly fitted out. The intimate knowl:
147
FOUR SHALES.
(ory Ag umvig )
‘AZIS IV
MALVN SAMIHL-OML
‘
MAIA ACIS
‘IvaS UNY AIVWaY 20 avay—‘f on
148 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
that there were left on the island at least five hundred thousand seals. Subse-
quently, there were taken from the island but little short of one million skins.
The seal fishery was extensively prosecuted for many years by our countrymen.
The sealing flect on the coast of Chile alone, in 1801, amounted to thirty vessels,
many of which were ships of the larger class, and nearly all were under the Amer-
ican flag. Up to the present day, American vessels are the pioneers in the most
remote and unexplored regions, wherever the migratory animals are to be found in
sufficient numbers to induce that class of our seamen who are fond of a sportsman’s
life, in addition to that of sea-faring, to embark in the enterprise.
In the midst of the Crimean War, an enterprising firm in New London, Con-
necticut, fitted out a clipper bark, which was officered and manned expressly for a
edge Captain Whetten had of the manner of doing
business with these people, and the great assist-
ance he could afford, being conversant in all
their intricate trade, and in the purchasing of
silks and other articles for the New York mar-
ket, as our homeward cargo, were certainly such
arguments as were well calculated to increase
the confidence of success in the contemplated
voyage. This was an opportunity not to be left
unimproved; and to one naturally possessed of
an ambitious and aspiring mind, with a strong
attachment to a seaman’s profession, increased
as it had been, since my first visit to the South
Seas, by a perusal of the voyages of such cir-
cumnavigators as Drake, Byron, Anson, Bougan-
ville, Cook, and others, the hope of being able
to add some new discoveries to the knowledge
already in the possession of man relating to
those seas, and the no less flattering hope of
realizing a fortune should the enterprise be well
conducted and successful in its termination, were
sufficient to bind me to exert myself in bringing
about this desired voyage. Every view was en-
couraging; but funds were necessary, and to
raise these without delay, I applied to that up-
right and liberal merchant, Mr. Elias Nexsen,
with whom also to consult and advise upon the
best means of securing the early fitting-out and
sailing of the enterprise. To the information
and encouragement given by Captain Whetten,
was added my own strong confidence in its
practicability, and the flattering results that such
an adventure held forth. The plan met with
his entire approval, and after some conversation
with Captain Whetten, on ’Change that day, in
the afternoon of the same he made the offer of
his brig, the Betsey, then in port. She was
New York built, a little short of one hundred
tons, and an excellent vessel of her class. ‘If
she will answer,’ said he, ‘I will put her into
the business, and at whatever price, upon a mi-
nute inspection, her value shall be ascertained
to be, I will take the one-half in the adventure
of the vessel, and her outfits.’ I was unable,”
adds the captain, ‘‘to take more than one-eighth
myself, but the remaining three were, by the
evening of the same day, taken by other friends,
and thus the whole amount required to insure
the sailing of the vessel was made up. An in-
ventory was taken, agreeably to the understand-
ing at the commencement, by which the value
of the vessel was ascertained, and made satis-
factory to all concerned. In less than a month
from the time the enterprise was first enter-
tained, the Betsey sailed from New York, to stop
at New Haven (the native place of Mr. Caleb
Brintnall, the first officer, a great disciplinarian ),
and afterward at Stonington, to obtain and com-
plete her complement of men, in all twenty-
seven; for it had been concluded to be the
FUR SEALS. 149
CM Leamnron Dee
No. 4.—S1pE View oF FEemMAtr Fur SEAL.
FRomEcclorT
No. 6.— ATTITUDES OF FUR SEALS.
150 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
. : : al aq Wa r ne ] ] q
sealing voyage in the Okhotsk Sea. The captain was a veteran in the business, and
many thought him too old to command, but the result of the voyage proved him
equal to the task. The vessel proceeded to Robin Island—a mere volcanic rock,
situated on the eastern side of the large island of Saghalien. Many outlying rocks
and reefs are about it, making it dangerous to approach, and affording but slight
Here the vessel (of about three hundred tons) lay, with
Much of the time
fresh winds prevailed, accompanied by the usual ugly eround-swell; and, in conse-
shelter for an anchorage.
ground-tackle of the weight for a eraft of twice her size.
quence of her being long, low, and sharp, the deck was at such times frequently
flooded; nevertheless, she ‘rode out the whole season, though wet as a half-tide
rock,” and a valuable cargo of skins was procured, which brought an unusually
most judicious policy, to select the greatest pro-
portion of them from the New England States.
Having obtained the number of hands required
for the Betsey, on the 13th day of June, 1797,
the vessel was got under way, and proceeded to
When off
Watch-hill Point, (situated about nine leagues
to the northward of Montague Light, on the
east end of Long Island) she was brought to,
sea, from Stonington, Connecticut.
in order to discharge the pilot, and the occasion
was embraced, as the best suited to ascertain
the minds and inclinations of the seamen. All
hands were therefore mustered on deck, aft, and
liberty was given to all such as were disinclined
to proceed on the voyage—to all those who were
unwilling to encounter the dangers, privations,
and sufferings, usually attendant on similar ex-
Not-
withstanding this, no one seemed so inclined,
peditions— now to return with the pilot.
but all, to a man, answered, their desire was to
proceed on the voyage, confirming the same by
three hearty cheers. And here it may be re-
marked, that a more orderly and cheerful crew
never sailed round the world in any vessel. The
pilot accordingly returned by himself. At six
p.m. we took our departure from Block Island,
with a fine breeze from the southwest.” On
their passage to the Cape de Verde Islands, as
related on the ship’s log, ‘At four p.w. fell in
with a mast; sent the boat to tow it alongside ;
hoisted it on deck, to be made to answer any
purpose that future emergency might require.”
‘While on the passage to the Cape de Verdes,
by the expressed wish and counsel of the offi-
cers, it was thought advisable to alter the rig of
This,
it was supposed, and afterward ascertained to
the Betsey, and change her into a ship.
be the fact, would be greatly to our advantage ;
for while laying off and on at the seal islands,
to procure our cargo of Fur Seal skins, the
cabin-boy alone could tend and work a mizzen-
topsail, who certainly would be altogether unable
to do anything with the heavy boom of a brig’s
At this place the alter-
ation was carried into effect; the mizzen-mast,
fore-and-aft mainsail.
top, spars, rigging, sails, etc., were already in
readiness, and the armorer, at his forge erected
on shore, forged and made the chains and all
the other requisite iron-work, so that the mast
was stepped, sails bent, and the Betsey rigged
into a ship all ready for sea, in five days’ time.
This was accomplished without one dollar extra
,
expense to the owners.” The Betsey, having ob-
tained supplies at the Cape de Verdes, sailed
on the 23d day of July, 1797, for the Falkland
Islands, where she arrived October 19th of the
same year. Not finding Fur Seals there in any
considerable numbers, it was decided to double
Cape Horn and make the best of their way to
the Island of Masafuero ; accordingly they sailed
FUR SEALS. TL
high price in the European market, on account of the regular Russian supply being
cut off in consequence of the war. This is only given as one instance of the many
that may be related of sealing life.
The ‘‘season,” as understood by sealers, is the time the animals collect in
herds, or rookeries, on shore: the females to bring forth their young, and copulate
with the vigorous males, while the valiant old bulls guard the rookeries, until all
again return to the sea, and migrate to some unknown quarter. A few days before
the main body arrive, a number of old “wigs” come up as if to see that all is
right. Frequently the innumerable herd have been seen, in the southern hemi-
sphere, from the high elevations of mountainous islands, as far as the eye could
distinguish at sea, leaping and plunging like a shoal of porpoises until nearing the
from the Falkland Islands December 8th, 1797,
and arrived at their destination January 20th,
1798. On the 5th day of April following, havy-
ing obtained a full cargo of selected seal-skins,
the little vessel with her valuable freight depart-
ed for China.
the trade winds, the ship was unrigged and
On the passage thence, through
rigged again from deck to truck, which inci-
dent Captain Fanning makes mention of as fol-
lows: ‘‘Previous to the ship’s departure from
New York, a sufficient quantity of rope for a
new gang of standing rigging had been taken
on board; this had been prepared, during our
leisure hours heretofore, and fitted, in readiness
For
several days past the trade wind had not veered
to go over the mast-head when necessary.
more than two points, blowing directly on our
stern, so that all the sails which would be of
service, could be set on one mast. This was a
most favorable opportunity for replacing our old
rigging with the new; we, therefore, hit upon
the expedient of stripping one mast at a time,
and accordingly commenced with the foremast,
securing it well by purchases and tackles at the
hounds, before letting up the lower ngging;
afterward, putting the new suit on the lower-
mast, topmast, etc., and then setting all taut up
preparatory to spreading sail upon it. As soon
as everything was completely ready, this was
done, and the mainmust served in a lke man-
ner. Our carpenter and armorer -were first-rate
workmen, and had made a set of machinery, by
means of which, from the old rigging, we laid
a new set of running rigging throughout; thus
equipped, our ship, as respected her rigging,
was in a far better condition than when she left
the United States.” We will add, that the Bet-
sey was an armed vessel, which carried ‘“ eight
four-pounders, of iron, and two brass long six-
pounder guns,” with a ship’s company of twen-
ty-seven officers and men. This pigmy sbip
arrived safely at Canton, and disposed of her
valuable furs to great advantage. A China cargo
was purchased, and when received on board, the
vessel sailed for home by the way of the Cape
of Good Hope.
of Sunda, the vessel was attacked by a fleet of
In passing through the Straits
twenty-nine piratical proas, which were badly
punished by her gallant crew. Continuing on
her course, the Betsey, which sailed as a brig
upon a voyage of adventure the 13th day of
June, 1797, returned to her home-haven on
the 6th day of April, 1799, transformed into a
full-rigged ship, having accomplished one of the
most successful sealing voyages of those days.
Furthermore, the author states ‘“‘he believes it to
be the first American vessel, manned and offi-
cered wholly by native-born citizens, that ever
sailed around the world from the port of New
York.”
152 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
shore; then, passing through the surf, they collect upon the beaches, and divide
into families, or rookeries, as far as practicable. These families, or divisions,
are guarded by the “wigs,” who can only maintain their authority and position
at the expense of frequent pitched battles with others of their sex who may
attempt to displace them. They also keep a watchful eye over the numerous
“elapmatches” under their charge; and should one attempt to take to the water,
she is immediately driven back, and frequently suffers from the savage bites of her
master for attempting to escape. It is no unusual occurrence, in the height of the
season, to see two full-grown “wigs” fight by the hour, exhibiting much tact in
their assaults upon each other, both endeavoring to gain advantage by some adroit
movement—at times making a savage lock with their mouths, or seizing each other
by the fore flippers, or gashing necks and bodies with their sharp, tusk-like teeth.
Sometimes we have seen several old males together on a separate beach, who
were cut in every direction, and apparently had retired from the main herd, being
unable to continue the fight in consequence of wounds received.
Frequently, many thousands of seals congregate on the same island. They
prefer remote, isolated situations, often upon barren rocks or islands, the shores of
which are surrounded by a high surf, in which they delight to play. They some-
times ascend high, precipitous rocks, where it is next to impossible for man to
follow them. Their food consists of fish and a variety of other marine productions,
and small stones or pebbles are found in their maws. When a great number are
collected on shore, their barking and howling is almost deafening; and when
passing to leeward of a seal island, the odor arising from it is anything but pleasant.
We have before spoken of the wide geographical distribution of the Fur Seals,
and of their gregarious propensities. We may add, likewise, from our own observa-
tion as well as the expressed opinion of several experienced sealing-masters, that
their natural migrations extend over a great expanse of the ocean; and if they are
unusually disturbed in their favorite haunts for several successive seasons, they are
quite sure to seek some distant or unknown place, where they can congregate
unmolested by man.
The females have great affection for their young, which may be more manifested
on a coast where, by almost constant hunting from year to year, they have become
wild and shy.
On one of the San Benito Islands, on the coast of Lower California, we once
watched with interest a ‘‘clapmatch” and her pup, which was but a few weeks
old. She approached the shore cautiously, with her little one nestling about her ;
a (4 : ’
and while hauling” upon the beach, she was constantly on the lookout, but at
FUR SEALS. 153
the same time caressing and endeavoring to~quiet the object of her care, with a
fondness almost human. All being still about the shore save the “wash” along the
beach, she soon lulled it into quietness, and both lay huddled on a shelving rock,
enjoying the warmth of a midday sun. Now and then a heavier swell than usual
would roll in, varying the otherwise monotonous sound, when instantly the mother
would raise her head and gaze with glaring eyes to make sure that there was no
cause for alarm; then again she would resume her former posture, with her pup
hugged to her breast by one of her pectorals, as if to sleep.
Some small sticks being at hand, we broke one, to see what effect so slight a
noise might have upon them. The instant it snapped, the young one uttered cries
of alarm, and the mother yelped defiantly ; they soon, however, became quict again,
and we were on the point of leveling the rifle, when accidentally an old “wig”
was caught sight of, lying on a high rock not far distant: taking sure aim we fired,
then turned to observe the movements of the ‘‘clapmatch” and her little one.
With a bound or two she reached the water, but returned again to urge her young
one off as best she could; soon both were in their chosen element, and disappeared
around a rocky point—and that was the last seen of them.
Our observations having been confined almost exclusively to the Pacific Coast,
and chiefly between Chile and Alaska, what may follow, in addition to personal
knowledge, has been obtained from the most reliable sources within our reach.
In former times, when Fur Seals abounded, they were captured in large num-
bers with the ordinary seal-club in the hands of the sealer, who would slay the
animals “right and left” by one or two blows upon the head. A large party
would cautiously land to leeward of the rookery, if possible; then, when in read-
iness, at a given signal all hands would approach them, shouting, and using their
clubs to the best advantage in the conflict. Many hundreds were frequently taken
in one of these ‘knock-downs,” as they were called. As soon as the killing was
over, the flaying commenced. Some sealers became great experts in skinning the
animals; and the number of skins one would take off in the course of an hour
would be a decidedly fishy story to tell. However, to flay fifty seals in a day
would be regarded as good work. It will be readily seen that a sealing-ship’s
crew, numbering twenty or more, would make great havoc among a seal rookery
in very short time; and it is no matter of surprise that these valuable fur- bearing
animals soon became comparatively scarce. As early as 1835, about Cape Horn,
Patagonia, and other points in the Antarctic regions, men were left to “watch
out” and shoot the animals as one or more came on shore.
Both officers and men have been frequently landed from sealing-vessels on
MaRi1NE MAMMALS.—20.
154 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST.
barren islands, rocks, or points, which would appear quite inaccessible to any but
sealers or sea-elephant hunters, by reason of the heavy surf and surge about them;
and where men occasionally have perished of starvation or thirst, by not receiving
the needful supplies from the ship, which might have been wrecked before the time
for her return. One can hardly imagine more desolate habitations than the Diego
Ramirez, off Cape Horn, or the Crozets and Prince Edward's Islands, in the Indian
Ocean; but these places are no more forbidding in point of gloomy climate, isola-
tion, and barrenness, than scores of others that might be mentioned, where men
were left for months with or without a boat, as occasion required.
On the coast of California, many beaches were found fronting gullies, where
seals in large numbers formerly gathered; and as they there had plenty of ground
to retreat upon, the sealers sometimes drove them far enough back to make sure
of the whole herd, or that portion of them the skins of which were desirable.
On the North-western Coast, south of the Aleutian Islands, but few Fur Seals
are taken, and those are chiefly caught by the Indians with spears of native manu-
facture—the fishing being almost entirely confined to the mouth of Juan de Fuca
Strait, and the contiguous coast of the Pacific.
The Indian seal-fishers are among the tribes inhabiting the coast from Gray's
Harbor to the southern part of Vancouver Island. The seals appear on the coast
some years as early as the first of March, and more or less remain till July or
August; but they are most plentiful in April and May. During these two months,
the Indians devote nearly all of their time to sealing, when the weather will permit.
It is but a few years since the Indians have turned their attention to taking
seals solely to procure their skins and oil for barter; and what may seem surpris-
ing, it is but a few years since the animals have been known to resort to the
vicinity of the strait in such large numbers. We have it from the most reliable
source, that there were but a few dozens of Fur Seal skins taken annually by the
Indians, from 1843 to 1864; after which period, the number of skins sold by them
at Victoria, Vancouver Island, Nee-ah Bay, and points on Puget Sound, has steadily
increased, up to 1869, when the number in the aggregate amounted to fully five
thousand skins.
When going in pursuit of seals, three or four natives embark in-a canoe at an
early hour in the morning, and usually return the following evening. The fishing-
gear consists of two spears, which are fitted to a pronged pole fifteen feet in length ;
to the spears a line is attached, which is fastened to the spear-pole close to, or is
held in the hand of, the spearman when he darts the weapon.
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CATALOGUE
OF THE
CETACKA OF THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN,
WITH
OSTEOLOGIOAL NOTES, AND DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME NEW FORMS;
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
THE FORMS DESCRIBED AND FIGURED IN THE FOREGOING MONOGRAPH OF PACIFIC
CETACEA, BY CAPTAIN C. M. SCAMMON, U.S. R. M.
boxe “Va. Gi. 2A Gila
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
THE object in the following Catalogue—hesides bringing together condensed
descriptions of the species of Cetaceans reported from the Pacific, and such of
unknown habitat as might have come from that ocean, with references to such
figures and fuller descriptions as may be readily consulted by the student—has
been especially to determine, as exactly as possible, the genera and species described
by the author in the preceding pages of this work, in order that his figures and
contributions to our knowledge of the habits and natural history of those animals
may have their fullest value for the scientific student of the group in question.
I have adopted in full the general groups eliminated by Professor Theodore
Gill, of the Smithsonian Institution, in the Catalogue of the Families of Mammals
published by the Institution; a course warranted not less by the scientific standing
of: the author in question, than by the paucity of works of reference on this coast,
and the confusion which has hitherto existed among the best naturalists in regard
MARINE MAMMALS.—36, ( 281]
989, APPENDIX.
to the classification of the Cetacea. For convenience in reference I have also, for
the most part, adopted the minor divisions used by Dr. J. E. Gray in his Supple-
mentary Catalogue of Seals and Whales in the British Museum, 1871; though many
of them appear to have a more subordinate value than that ascribed to them by
that eminent naturalist. In quoting his works, for greater brevity, I have simply
referred to them by their dates, namely: the Sritish Museum Catalogues of 1850 and
1866; the Synopsis of Whales and Dolphins, 1868 (containing, with others, the plates
of the Zoology of the Erebus and Terror, partially published in 1846); and the Sup-
plementary Catalogue of 1871.
I have to thank Captain C. M. Scammon for placing all the material and infor-
mation in his possession at my disposal, for examination; also, Professor S. F.
Baird and Doctor Theodore Gill, of the Smithsonian Institution, for assistance ren-
dered in many ways, without which I should hardly have been able to complete
this Catalogue.
I have also incorporated extremely brief notices of the material from which
each species has been described, and the museum in which the specimens are pre-
served; “S. I.” referring to the National Museum, in charge of the Smithsonian
Institution at Washington. I have also endeavored to refer to all the remains of
Cetacea preserved in the collections on the west coast.
Completeness is not claimed for this list; in fact, it can hardly hope to be
attained for a considerable period, when the difficulties and expense connected with
these researches are appreciated. Still, it is to be hoped that, in bringing together
this material, something has been accomplished in rendering the path easier for
subsequent students.
The references to plates opposite the specific name adopted, are to the plates
and figures in the preceding portion of this volume.
CATALOGUE OF THE CETACEA. 98:
Order CETE.
Suborder Denticete.
Superfamily DELPHINOIDEA.
Family De.pninip».
Subfamily Detparwapreri x.
Genus Delphinapterus, Lac.
Delphinapterus, Lacépede, Lilljeborg, Gill, 95.
Beluga, Gray, 1871, p. 94. Auctorum.
Delphinapterus catodon. PI. xviii, fig. 1.
Beluga, of Scammon, Proc. Phil. Acad. 1869, p. 57.
Beluga catodon, Gray, 1866, p. 307, fig. 61; 1871, p. 94.
Physeter catodon, Linn., 8. N. 107.
Delphinus leucas, Gmelin, S. N. 1232.
Delphinaplerus beluga, Lacépede, Cét. 243, 1804.
Arctic Seas, Bering Sea, Ochotsk, Japan?
Pure white. Twelve to sixteen feet long. Skulls in B. M. Three skulls from Norton Sound,
Dall, Coll. S. I. Doctor Gray, having examined skulls collected by Captain Kellett, R. N., from
Bering Strait, unites the beluga of the western seas with that of the north of Europe. The teeth
in specimens (80 or 90 in number) examined by me, in Norton Sound, Bering Sea, varied from
é to {}; often being unequal in number on opposite sides.
Genus Monodon, Linn.
Monodon monoceros.
Monodon monoceros, Linn. Faun. Suec. 2, 16; S. N. i, 105.
Narwhal.
Arctic Seas.
Specimens are sometimes brought overland, across eastern Siberia, by the natives, and sold to
traders in the Ochotsk Sea
Subfamily Dezpuryiy.z, Gill, p. 95.
Genus Delphinus, Gray.
Delphinus, Gray, 1871, p. 67.
Delphinus Bairdii. Pl]. xix, fig. 1.
D. Bairdii, Dal. Prel. Descr. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. v, Jan. 1873.
Back, posterior sides, fins and flukes, black. Anterior sides gray, with two narrow lateral
white stripes. A white, lanceolate, belly- patch. Full descriptions of the colors and measurements
284 APPENDIX.
of two female specimens taken by Captain Scammon, off Point Arguello, California, will be found
in his monograph. Length, six feet and seven to nine inches. Dorsal falcate, immediately over
the navel. Front of head prominently bulbous or convex beyond the even curve of the back of
the head; a slight convexity below, behind the vent. Beak slender, elongated. The following are
the dimensions of the cranium, in inches and decimals:
Length of skull in: straight dines. 6.0 sic. keds Hoa oA ea Re eRe wae 18 .76
Internal lenethof brawn. Cavity) nccsiets eas ee uae os elles is eee ele Se 4 .40
Length of beak anterior to maxillary notches .............. 0.00... cece ee eee 11 .90
Length from tip of beak to anterior margin of superior nares................. 13 .40
Length from tip of beak to posterior notch of palate in the median line...... 13 .90
Length from tip of beak to posterior tooth............ 6 cece eee eee eee 10 .50
Hlerehit; Of Sli at) Vertex is chee. cue ce ies avian: sewes ua ees conaveitise sn dogs apnea ceusvite aver stars lat anehisavers 6 .00
Greatest breadth at zygomatic process of squamosals.................. 0020020, 6 .95
Breadth at-supra-orbital. TIdG6 cs asses ak sce itcs aes ce pao ea eulealegie ea nns eemies 6 .10
Breadth between maxillary notches ............ 0... cece ee eee e ee ence eee ec eeees 3 .40
Breadth~aticmiddle: Of beak 2s. c tesco joonsetrecscetedand fat avehaneunds Masten ekisrevetacosse palate nea 2 .00
Breadth of the two premaxillaries at middle of beak.........-.............04. 0 .90
Wadthof cond ylesia sian. craien Aras genes eis oes dee dd Go ee eae eee ee 3.70
Closest approximation of condyles below the foramen...................+.-000- 0 .90
Height; of foramen magnum soya vive See nee ia ie eo e etnias arene 1 .40
Wadth.:of foramen: mae nwt oe ai sda fess sais Gal ens loses vieis-a\ oi die sie vigaaee alee eee 1 .60
Entire length of ramus of lower jaw. .......... 0.2 e cece cece cc eee cee ee eenees 15 .90
Tip to posterior edge of last tooth ...... 2... 0. ccc cece nett ene eees 9 .80
Hength: of spy mphysisivach ices cae issishedin tare eats Bal evlcwn a one Be anaenenaiers Sweet a oA 2.10
Height of ramus at coronoid process ........... 60. e ee eees 2.75
Width between outsides of articular surfaces............0 0.0000 cece cece eee 6 .10
Width between posterior teeth ........ 6... cece cc eee ee ee ce eeeenaaens 2.10
Length from tip to anterior notch of dental foramen.....................000- 11 .40
Length of largest teeth, sharply conical.............. 0.0.0.0 cece cece eee eee ees 0 .56
Greatest: diameter of SAME. <2. 665 cece ata ee eee ea Gh eee ee eee Hes whee laws 0.18
Length from tip of beak to superior transverse ridge behind the frontals....... 15 .60
Teeth in the specimen before me, }3 by $3. The anterior six on each side above are barely
indicated, and do not project above the gums; the next four on each side, though projecting, are
very small. Below, 47 teeth on each side are plainly visible, and there is room for four or five
more between the most anterior tooth and the end of the symphysis. The teeth are very sharply
conical, rather wider transversely than in the direction of the ramus, and slightly incurved at the
tips. The number in the other specimen is reported to have been 54 on each side.
The frincipal features of the cranium, as compared with the other species of the genus Del-
phinus as restricted by Gray (1871), are the great length of the beak as compared with the brain-
case, and the remarkably deep channels in the maxillary bones on each side of the palatal ridge,
which actually overlaps on each side to the extent of 0.2 of an inch. Six and a half inches
behind the end of the beak, a groove commences in the median line of the palate, which widens
anteriorly, exposing the premaxillaries near the end of the beak. Behind the point mentioned,
the palate rapidly rises as a narrow ridge (from 0.7 of an inch to one inch in width), evenly
rounded on the edges and slightly convex in the middle, contracting a little in width after passing
the posterior end of the tooth line; its edges overlapping the lateral channels, and its inferior
face extending at its junction with the palatines to the distance of 1.2 inch below the superior
arch of the maxillaries. A groove extends posteriorly between the palatines and pterygoids, ter-
minating in a slight notch between the latter, which notch is a little posterior to the posterior
termination of the narial septum. The pterygoid and tympanic bones are wanting in this specimen,
CATALOGUE OF THE CETACEA. 2
with the exception of those portions of the former which form the deeply - notched lateral walls of
the posterior nares, and which are continuous with the very broad lateral expansions of the basi-
occipital. The occipital condyles are nearly an inch apart at their closest approximation below;
the foramen magnum is large, rounded below, and angular, rather than notched, above. There Be
a sharp vertical lamina on the inner side of the supra-occipital, extending forward in the median
line, nearly an inch from the inner surface of the supra-occipital, and terminating below about
half an inch above the foramen in a small triangular tentorium, from which slight laterally
extending ridges indicate the boundary of the cerebellar fossa. :
The superior aspect of the cranium presents no very distinctive features. Compared with
Clymenia microps, Gray, as figured in the Zodlogy of the Erebus and Terror, pl. 25 (also, in Synopsis
of Whales and Dolphins, 4to., Gray, 1868, pl. 25), the following differences are noted: The pre-
maxille are narrower, more elevated above the maxille; the nasal triangle extends half an inch
beyond the posterior end of the tooth line instead of falling about as far behind it, and is much
more acute in front in D. Bairdit. The posterior angle of the supra-orbital process in D. Bairdii
is much less prominent, when viewed from above, than in microps, and the extension of the max-
illaries over the jugals is less elevated, being evenly rounded off at the sides and in front. The
supra-occipital is pressed in above the condyles, and the superior portion of it is more roundly
convex than in microps. The proportion of the beak to the brain-case is greater than in Clymenia
stenorhynchus, Gray, and the beak is wider, both at the notches and anteriorly. The laterally
channeled palate would in any case distinguish it from the species of Clymenia and Steno, to which
it bears a superficial resemblance. In the anterior third of the beak, the premaxille evenly slope
off toward the maxillze in the same plane, and are separated by the mesethmoid cartilage. Behind
this, however, the premaxille are solidly united, and much more elevated above the maxille,
forming a ridge with nearly parallel and vertical sides, rounded off above, and attaining a maximum
height above the maxille of 0.48 of an inch. The nasal triangle is evenly excavated, divided by
an open suture terminating in a notch above the narial septum. The mesethmoid plate is provided
with a submedian ridge, and terminates above in three points. The nasals are knob-lke and
rounded transverse, forming the vertex of the skull.
CrrvicaL VERTEBR®.— These are codssified into three groups, as hereafter mentioned; but it is
probable that individuals vary in this respect to some extent. The first mass has a total diameter,
from point to point of the transverse processes, of 5.35 inches; and from the middle lower anterior
edge of the atlas to the bifurcation of the spinous process of 3.65 inches. The neural arch is 1.10
inch high and 1.53 inch wide; the extreme width across the condylar facets is 3.3 inches. The
centrum of the third cervical is 1.3 inch wide by 1.0 inch high. The neural arch (incomplete at
the top), 0.92 inch high by 1.0 inch wide; the extreme width from point to point of the vertebra
is 1.65 inch. The fifth cervical has a total width between the points of the lower transverse
processes of 1.57 inch. The height of the centrum is 1.1 inch; of the neural arch, 0.8 inch; the
width of the centrum is 1.15 inch; of the neural arch, 0.89 inch. The length of that part of the
vertebral column composed of third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh cervicals is 1.2 inch, and that
part composed of the atlas and axis, 1.0 inch more. The neural spine of the seventh cervical is
0.8 inch long, and the width from point to point of the transverse processes, 3.65 inches; of the
second thoracic, the spine is 1.6 inch, and the width 3.55 inches.
The first mass consists of the atlas and axis solidly codssified both by their spines and bodies,
so that the only vestige of separation is an ovate and somewhat oblique opening between the
pedicels of the arches. The inferior portion of the atlas is much produced forward, giving an
oblique appearance to the whole bone, which is of an approximately triangular shape. Its arch is
transversely ovate, with a broad triangular space between the condylar facets. The first spinal
nerve enters by a shallow groove over the latter. The transverse processes appertaining to the
atlas are rather long and obliquely flattened above and below, with a slight knob, indicating a
superior transverse process, just above them. ‘These two processes are separated by a narrow
groove from two nodular projections which indicate the corresponding parts in the axis. A slight
ridge exists on the inferior surface of the centrum. The neural spine is very broad, stout, and
286 APPENDIX.
moderately long; it tapers from before backward, and has a stout, blunt, bifid, posterior termina-
tion. The anterior face is broadly triangular, the base of the triangle (forming the superior portion
of the neural arch) being straight. The spine is concave below and grooved throughout its extent ;
the triangular portion of it overshadowing the arches of the third and fourth vertebre. The
pedicels of the axis are very slender.
The centra of the third and fourth vertebre are codssified, but not the arches. The summit of
the arch in the third is incomplete in this specimen, and the pedicels in this and the succeeding
cervicals are slender and compressed. In the third and fourth, the superior transverse processes
are only slightly indicated, and the inferior are absent; the centra are slightly pointed below and
flattened above, though generally rotundate.
The fifth and sixth cervicals are ankylosed by their centra and inferior transverse processes,
and the sixth by its centrum to the seventh cervical, forming the third mass previously mentioned.
In the fifth and sixth, short inferior transverse processes are developed, though the superior
ones are insignificant. The centra are more squarely shaped than in the preceding. There are
no spinous processes, but the superior portion of the arches is rather pointed. The planes of the
zygapophyses are nearly horizontal, and the arches are not codssified. The pedicels of the seventh
cervical are much broader, and long recurved superior transverse and spinous processes are deyel-
oped, though the inferior transverse processes are barely indicated. Two rounded knobs, which
are nearer the summit of the centrum than the processes of the preceding cervicals, serve as points
of articulation for the head of the first rib. In the first thoracic, this tubercle appears to be
missing, though it re-appears on the second. Both the first and second thoracic have strong,
stout, superior transverse processes, with large and prominent facets for the tubercular articulations
of the ribs. The vertebre rapidly increase in size and the spinous processes in length, and the
centra assume a more rounded outline.
Two specimens of this species were obtained October 29th, 1872, by Captain C. M. Scammon.
The entire skeleton of one specimen, and the skull and cervical vertebre of the other, above
described, were preserved. The former is now in the Mus. §. I. Of the species included under
the genus Delphinus, as restricted by Gray (Supl. Cat. 1871, pp. 68-9), D. lungirostris is entirely
black, of different proportions, with the posterior part of the palate keeled instead of grooved, and
the triangle extending only to the tooth line instead of beyond it. (Reported from Japan.) D.
major has the grooves on each side of the palate, ‘‘very wide and rather shallow, scarcely extend-
ing behind the hinder half of the beak.” (Habitat unknown.) WD. Forsteri is differently colored
and proportioned. (Norfolk Island.) D. obliquidens, Gill, belongs to another genus. The remain-
der are all Atlantic species.
Of other species of unknown or Pacific habitats, which have been described from drawings, or
of which the skull is unknown, and to some of which this species might be suspected to belong,
D. Nove Zelandie is differently colored (though the distribution of the color is somewhat similar),
and has a short beak; the pectorals are white and the flukes slate color; D. obscurus, Gray, to
which Peale’s Phocena australis and D’Orbigny’s D. bivittatus have been referred by Cassin and
Gray, belongs to an entirely different group. None of Peale’s other species resemble this one at
all, and after long and careful consideration, I am forced to the conclusion that the species is
undescribed; and it is with great pleasure that I have followed the request of Captain Scammon,
and dedicated it to Professor §. F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution, to whose never - tiring
courtesy and unfailing liberality nearly every American naturalist is more or less indebted.
Delphinus longirostris.
D. longirostris, Gray, 1866, p. 241; 1868, p. 5; 1871, p. 68. Schlegel, F. Jap., pl. 24.
Japan?
Highty-one inches long. Black, with large high dorsal. Skull, 22 inches; beak, 133 inches;
teeth, 2%. Stuffed specimen, Cape of Good Hope; B. M. Skull, Malabar; Mus. Paris. Drawing,
Japan; Schlegel.
CATALOGUE OF THE CETACEA.
i)
oO
aI
Delphinus major.
D. major, Gray, 1866, p. 397; 1868, p. 5; 1871, p. 68.
Habitat ?
Skull, 21 inches; beak, 12} inches; width at notch, 44 inches. Teeth, 4%, five in an inch.
Palate grooves very wide and rather shallow. Skull only, B. M.
Genus Clymenia, Gray.
Clymenia, Gray, 1868, p. 6; 1871, p. 69.
Clymene, Gray, 1866, p. 249.
Type D. clymene, Gray, 1866, p. 249.
Clymenia alope.
C. alope, Gray, 1866, p. 252; 1868, p. 6, pl. 32; 1871, p. 70.
Cape Horn.
Cranium, 16 inches; beak, 10} inches; width at notch, 33 inches. Teeth, 48. Skull only,
Mus. Warwick.
Clymenia stenorhynchus.
Delphinus stenorhynchus, Gray, 1866, pp. 240, 396.
C. stenorhynchus, Gray, 1868, p. 6; 1871, p. 69.
Habitat ?
Cranium, 18 inches; beak, 12 inches; width at notch, 3 inches. Teeth, £3. Like C. microps,
but larger, with proportionally longer beak. Skull only, B. M.
Clymenia dorides.
Tursio dorcides, Gray, 1866, p. 400.
C. dorides, Gray, 1868, p. 6; 1871, p. 71.
Habitat ?
Skull thick and heavy; beak once and one-third the length of the brain-case; twice and one-
third the width at the notch. Palate flat. Teeth, 43, slender, five in an inch. Skull only, B. M.
Clymenia obscura.
Delphinus Fitzroyi, Waterhouse.
D. bivittatus, D’Orbigny.
Phocena australis, Peale, Zool. U. S. Ex. Exp., pl. 6, fig. 2, 1848.
Tursio obscurus, Gray, 1866, pp. 264, 400.
C. obscura, Gray, 1868, p. 6, pl. 16; 1871, p. 71, fig. 3.
Cape of Good Hope, South Pacific.
Black, with oblique diverging streaks at the sides; beneath, whitish. Length, 15 feet. Skull,
14 inches. Teeth, 34 to 34. Full material, B. M.
Clymenia zsthenops.
Delphinus cesthenops, Cope, Proc. Phil. Acad. 1865, p. 201.
C. cesthenops, Gray, 1871, p. 72.
Habitat ?
Cranium, 15 inches; beak, 9 inches; width at notch, 3.3 inches. Teeth, 38, to 38. Skull
only, Mus. Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, Mass.
288 APPENDIX.
Clymenia crotaphisca.
Delphinus crotaphiscus, Cope, 1. c., 1865, p. 203.
C. crotaphiscus, Gray, 1871, p. 72.
Habitat ?
Cranium, 16 inches; beak, 10 inches, flat; width at notch, 33 inches. Teeth, 4%. Temporal
fossa small; a keel in front of superior nares. Skull only, Mus. Peabody Academy.
Clymenia longidens.
Delphinus longidens, Cope, Proc. Phil. Acad. 1866, p. 295.
Habitat ?
Teeth, 22. Skull, 15.25 inches. Beak, to maxillary notches, 8.25 inches. Breadth at notch,
3.55 inches. Skull only, 8. I.
Professor Cope, in criticising Doctor Gray’s arrangement, suggests that Steno, Delphinus, Lageno-
rhynchus, and Tursio can form but one genus if further characters can not be brought forward.
While this criticism might be somewhat justified by the confused arrangement of the Catalogue of
1866, yet it would seem as if that of 1871 to some extent remedied the difficulty, and that the
groups there indicated are natural ones, and recognizable, though perhaps some of them are of
less value than supposed by Doctor Gray. In this new light Professor Cope’s view would hardly
seem tenable.
Clymenia plagiodon.
Delphinus (Tursio) plagiodon, Cope, 1. ¢., p. 296.
Habitat ?
Skull, 17 inches. Beak to notch, 9.8 inches. Width at notch, 3.55 inches. Greatest width
of skull, 7.25 inches. Teeth, 34. Triangle advancing a little before the last tooth. Resembles
Gray’s figure of @. doris. Skull only, S. I.
Genus Tursiops, Gervais.
Tursiops, Gervais, Mammif., p. 323.
Tursio, Gray, 1866, p. 254.
Type D. tursio, Linn.
Tursiops Gillii. Outline, p. 102.
T. Gillii, Dall, Prel. Descr. Proc. Cal. Acad. v, January, 1873.
Cowfish, Scammon, Proc. Phil. Acad. 1869, p. 45.
Monterey, California.
Dull black, lighter on the belly. Dorsal low, falcate. Teeth, 23 to 24?
A lower jaw of the present species, which is the only portion of the animal yet collected by
Captain Scammon, has twenty-two teeth on each side. The rami are solid and strong, especially
their anterior halves. The symphysis is short, extending backward as far as the fifth tooth. The
gonys is more produced downward than in any of the species figured by Gray, and is evenly
rounded upward in front. The ramus has the least height about the middle of the tooth line,
which rises before and behind. The anterior six teeth are smaller than the others, and much more
incurved, The teeth are solid and conical, with the tips attenuated and sharply pointed, which
accounts for the ease with which they may become truncated. The outer margins of the alveoli
are remarkably rough, being produced in arborescent points resembling the septa of some ammon-
ites. The gonys is somewhat keeled. The condyles are broad, of a rounded triangular shape,
CATALOGUE OF THE CETACEA. 289
with the inner edges obliquely inclined to the vertical plane of the ramus. The measurements, in
inches and decimals, are as follow:
Length from end of beak to condyles............. 0. ccc e cece teen teens 16 .80
Length from end of beak to end of coronoid process...............0..0 eee ee 15 .80
Length from end of beak to end of tooth line.................00. 00.0000 eee 9 .30
Length from end of beak to inner notch of dental foramen................... 11 .00
henethook: Sym physi ccd sree auecan yates es eis seeder vaccum erate tonne in eles 2 .00
Width between outer edges of condyles...... 0... 0. cece ce cece cee cee ees 9.75
Width between inner corners of condyles .......... 0.0... eee 6 .50
Width between two posterior teeth ...... 0... cece ccc ccc eet eens 3 .50
Width between teeth at posterior end of symphysis......................0005 1 .40
‘Width: between. anterior teéthcis ac sense ly ae ners ote itn dy wae el we dae we 0.75
Height of ramus: at coronold process... cic eee geek veins sesso be een wee eee 4 .40
Height of ramus at posterior tooth ......... 0... eee eee eens 2.25
Height of ramus at twelfth pair of teeth .................00002.000 002 ee. 1 .50
Height of ramus at middle of symphysis............... 0.0 c cece eee ee eee 1.70
Thickness of ramus at twelfth pair of teeth.............0.... 0... eee 0 .85
Height of largest tooth above alveolus........... 00.6. ce eee eee eee 0 .80
Height of smallest tooth above alveolus............ 0.0.0 cece eee eee 0 .42
Transverse diameter of larger teeth... .c.c0s cee eee ceed oe ee eee ee eee 0 .88
Diameter in the plane of the ramus. . o..0. 0 us cece ca cee eee eee tn ee tee een 0 33
The angle at which the rami meet behind the symphysis is quite acute. The anterior end of
the symphysis from above appears bluntly rounded, and has a narrow median groove.
This species does not appear to have been described, and though the material at hand is
unfortunately very slender, I have applied to it the name of Tursiops Gillii. The specimen was
obtained at Monterey, California, in 1871. The hardly-worn appearance of the teeth suggests that
it was a young animal, though the bones are thoroughly solidified. The only other species which
may be found in the books, from the Pacific or its vicinity, is the TZ. catalania, Gray, N. W.
Australia, and it is described as being lead -colored.
Genus Cephalorhynchus, F. Cuvier.
Cephalorhynchus, F. Cuvier, Cétac., p. 158.
Eutropia, Gray, P. Z. 8. 1862, p. 145; 1866, p. 262; Leth pe (a:
Cephalorhynchus Eutropia.
Delphinus Eutropia, Gray, P. Z. S. 1849, p. 1.
Eutropia Dickiei, Gray, P. Z. S. 1866, p. 215; 1868, p. 7, pl. 34; 1871, p. 75.
Tursio Eutropia, Gray, 1866, p. 262.
Coast of Chile, South Pacific Ocean.
Skull, 15 inches; beak, 8 inches; width at notch, 3.5 inches. Sides of skull bent down
behind the notch. ‘Teeth, 24, five or six in an inch. Skull only, Coll. Dickie.
Some one of the species described from drawings, and of which the skull is unknown, may be
identical with this.
MARINE MAMMALS.—37.
290 APPENDIX.
Genus Lagenorhynchus, Gray.
Lagenorhynchus, Gray, Zot). E. and T., 1846, p. 34; 1850, p. 97.
Section Hiectra, Gray.
Electra, Gray, 1866, p. 268; 1871, p. 76.
Lagenorhynchus electra.
L. electra, Gray (1846), 1866, p. 268.
Electra obtusa, Gray, 1868, p. 7, pl. 13; 1871, p. 76.
Habitat ?
Skull, 17.5 inches; beak, 9.75 inches; width at notch, 5.5 inches. Teeth, 24, four in an inch.
Skull only, B. M.
Lagenorhynchus asia.
L. asia, Gray, 1866, p. 269.
Electra asia, Gray, 1868, p. 7, pl. 14; 1871, p. 76.
Habitat ?
Skull, 16.75 inches; beak, 9 inches; width at notch, 4.75 inches. Teeth, 24. Skull only,
B. M.
Lagenorhynchus clanculus.
L. clanculus, Gray, 1866, p. 271.
Electra clancula, Gray, 1868, p. 7, pl. 35; 1871, p. 77.
South Pacific, New Zealand.
Skull, 14.5 inches; beak, 7.25 inches; width at notch, 4.75 inches. Teeth, 33. Skeleton and
skulls, B. M.
Lagenorhynchus thicolea.
L. thicolea, Gray, 1866, p. 271.
Electra thicolea, Gray, 1868, p. 7, pl. 36; 1871, p. 77.
West coast of North America.
Skull, 14.5 inches; beak, 8.33 inches; width at notch, 3.9 inches. Teeth, 42? Skull only,
B. M.
Compare Clymenia crolaphisca, Cope. ‘This is very likely to be one of the species described
from drawings by Peale.
Section Leucopleurus, Gray.
Leucopleurus, Gray, P. Z. S. 1866, p. 216; 1868, p. 7; 1871, p. 78.
Lagenorhynchus obliquidens. Plate xix, fig. 2.
L. obliquidens, Gill, Proc. Phil. Acad. 1865, p. 177.
Delphinus obliquidens, Cope, Proc. Phil. Acad. 1869, p. 21; Gray, 1871, p. 69.
Striped or Common Porpoise of Scammon.
California.
Not the ‘‘Bottle-nosed Grampus” of Scammon, as supposed by Cope, loc. cit.
I have been able to identify this species by means of photographs of Professor Gill’s typical
specimen, which were kindly sent me by Professor Baird. It differs, however, in some particulars
from those I have examined. The skull is a little larger and longer, the pterygoids are ieee
pointed, the temporal fossa smaller, and the edges of the triangle are higher and more extended
CATALOGUE OF THE CETACEA. . 9
co
pam
laterally, than in the specimens which I have seen. The teeth are more numerous (34), and the
occipital condyles less rounded and prominent, but larger. It is quite possible that this skull may
be that of a male. Those which I have examined were both of females. I consider the differences
as at most no more than sexual, and probably only individual peculiarities; and I have no doubt
whatever of the identity of Captain Scammon’s species with that described by Professor Gill.
It is evidently the most abundant species on the coast of California, and varies considerably in
size with age. It is very close to L. leucopleurus of the Atlantic.
The following are the measurements of two crania, in inches and decimals:
No.1 No, 2.
Length of skull in a straight line.................0 000... cee eee 16 .00 15 .50
Internal length of brain cavity. .....00.0000 00. e ee ees 5 .00 5 .00
Length of beak before the maxillary notches.....................05. 8 .00 8 .20
Tip of beak to anterior margin of superior nares.................... 10 .25 10 .00
Tip of beak to posterior notch of palate..................0.00.00 00. 9.75 2
Tip of beak to posterior tooth ...........0 000: ccc cece ens teeeeeseees 7 40 7.75
Height/ot- ‘skull: at vertex ncn. dvsices cased va hoa es ere ed oa 6.75 5 .50
Greatest breadth at zygomatic process of squamosals................. 8 .20 7 .50
Breadth. at supra-orbital ridge... 2... 06.6.6 cc ce dsas eee cenvnevecaeas 7 .20 6 .30
Breadth between maxillary notches..............0 0... cece cence ee eees 4 .60 4 .00
Breadth: atemiddlecof bealias peace Mads x scekenenve seca vienna 3 .40 2.80
eWildthieof Com dyes rete tea sere cece oh eV eyo cnamestarat thomsen theta ea me tia res 4 .00 3 .25
Closest approximation of condyles below the foramen magnum........ 0 .12 0.18
Heisht:of-foranien ma enum inns. tcres ee aares conn woseais av ae ees 1 .35 1 .30
Width of foramen: maenum soos ates wasn Soe ernie casa He SRR 1.35 1 .50
Entire length of ramus of lower jaw................00 00 ccc e cee eee 13 .00 12 .00?
Tip to posterior edge of last tooth in lower jaw.................... 7.50 6.75
eneth Of sym pHysiss os vacsg evan otog i miaaiyaw ayers autee omen: 1.30 1 .00
Height of ramus at coronoid process..................00 00 cece eee eee 3 .00 2 .60
Height of ramus at four inches from tip of anterior end............ 1 .00 0 .95
Width between outsides of articular surfaces............ 0... ..00 0005 7.25 6 .40
Width between posterior teeth.... 2.0.0.0... cece cece cece eens 3.50 3 .50
Length from tip of beak to superior transverse ridge behind frontals.. 13 .00 12 .00
Length from tip of ramus to anterior notch of inferior dental foramen, 9 .00 7.75
Greatest: width: of -préemaxwWlaries 6.6 cece areas ea dajeo adie Jeyardee Son 3.75 3
Width of premaxillaries at middle of beak................. 0.000002. 2.10 1 .60
The surface of the beak in No. 1 is moderately and quite regularly arched from side to side,
no grooves separating the maxille and premaxille. The nasal triangle is nearly plane, but elevated,
and its surface rough; behind, it gradually ascends; before, it is gradually incurved, and is con-
tinued as a narrow internal margin to the premaxille, to the anterior fourth of the beak; its
greatest width is less than half the width of the cranium. The mesethmoid groove is wide, and
scarcely contracted in the middle. The supra-occipital projects forward, nearly or quite touching
the nasals. The temporal fosse project far backward.
The teeth are 22 in number, elongated and boldly curved, about four in an inch. The occiput
is deeply impressed above the condyles. The mesethmoid plate is sharply pointed above, and
divided into three lobes behind the narial openings, by perpendicular sutures, which are evident
for an inch and a half vertically. The mesethmoid is evident for nearly an inch between the
premaxille in front of the superior nares. The pterygoids are obtusely keeled below, but not at
the sides, and deeply roundly notched laterally. The palate is flat, constricted slightly at the
palatines, and somewhat concave in the anterior half of the jaw. The periotics are wanting. A
very peculiar feature of the cranium is the enormous development of the tentorium. The septum
above it projects into the brain-case nearly two inches. From the base of this septum, half an
292 APPENDIX.
inch above the foramen magnum, the broad arch of the tentorium, as long in its axial diameter as
the septum, extends on each side a little farther than the upper exterior angles of the condyles,
thence giving out a triangular wing on each side, which, attenuating as it descends, reaches the
floor of the brain cavity in advance of the opening between the alisphenoid and ex-occipital, and
is ankylosed with the former. The cerebellar fossa is thus almost completely inclosed, communi-
cating with the cerebral fossa only by an opening in the front of the arch but little larger than
the foramen magnum, and by the narrow openings between the outer edges of the wings of the
tentorium, bounded below by the alisphenoid, and laterally by the ex-occipital wall. The septum
ceases abruptly in front, below the frontal and supra-occipital suture. A ridge from the front of
the tentorial wings is codssified with the orbito-sphenoid, above the sphenoidal fissure; the latter
in this species being posterior to and distinct from the foramen rotundum, which opens into the
cerebral cavity.
In No. 2, the dimensions were constantly smaller, the skull belonging to a younger, though
fully adult individual. The teeth were 3%,, the tip of the lower jaws being mutilated. The ten-
torlum presented the same features as in No. 1, and the skull offered no special peculiarities not
common to the other.
The scapula and cervical vertebree of a third specimen, of which the entire skeleton was
preserved, offered the following peculiarities: The external face of the scapula is flattened, slightly
excavated in the middle, and with a slight ridge behind. The prescapular fossa is inconspicuous,
but has a width of three-quarters of an inch on the outer face of the scapula, above the acromion.
The latter is # shaped, notched above behind, with a projecting process below in front. The
upper anterior corner is connected with the anterior angle of the prescapular fossa by a strong
ligament; the anterior termination of the acromion is incurved, and externally convex. The cora-
coid is triangular, with the distal edge thickened, anteriorly excavated, and knobbed at the corners.
The external surface is concave. The glenoid cavity is sub-rotundate; the post-scapular edge is
evenly rounded in a sigmoid curve. Beyond the upper posterior corner a triangular mass of
cartilage extends beyond the bone, an inch in its greatest width. The inner face of the scapula
is flattened, with three or four narrow low ridges radiating from the glenoid border. The inner
surface of the coracoid is convex, and of the acromion concave. The measurements are as follow,
in inches and decimals:
Greatest lenoth Oi iscap ula sues teataeciacsde eee vara aomiya toys aa came ovens vas aed oe 9 .50
Greatest length of acromions. ve.ssscnege bis see Shabu acd ae eie ale ee buee whid ate eee 3 .00
Greatest: length Of ‘coracoid, 240 oa vie vere venereal we te wteetten clave 2.25
Greatest diameter of glenoid: Cavity co. ose. ocean eG ena es eebck ceeadeieewa dese 1 .30
Glenoid cavity to anterior angle... 00.606. cence eee eee eee vee sueaeuerececaan 6 .25
Glenoid cavity to superior border ............ 0.0. cece cece c eee eee 6 .00
Gilenoid. cavity ‘to posterior angle:....-c..0405:de0 cea suami ans ee etide eae oee enue is 6 .00
Glenoid cavity to anterior angle of acromion............ 0.0.0.0... ccc cece cece. 4 .50
Glenoid cavity to anterior angle of coracoid..............00000 00 cece eee eee 3 .00
Glenoid cavity to posterior angle of coracoid.................. 0. ccc cece ee eee. 2 .00
The cervical vertebrz offer some differences from those of Delphinus Bairdii. The atlas and
axis are solidly codssified by both body and spines; the others are all free, though whether in
aged individuals this condition continues, is a matter of doubt. It is probable, from the generally
abnormal condition of the cervical vertebre in the Cetacea, that comparatively wide variations in
the amount of ankylosis may obtain in different individuals of the same species, and also in the
same individual at different ages. The bones in this individual are larger and stronger than in
D. Bairdii, but the spinal canal is proportionately smaller. The canal of the first Spinal nerve,
which in D. Bairdii is a shallow groove behind the upper edge of the condylar facets, is here (by
a slender process extending upward and backward from that edge, and coalescing with the anterior
base of the spinous process) converted into a foramen. The spine is keeled and convex below,
instead of excavated, and flat, with a very narrow median keel, above. The spine is broader, and
CATALOGUE OF THE CETACEA.
bo
c©
wo
not distinctly bifurcated. The lower transverse processes in the axis, instead of being obsolete, as
in D. Bairdii, are here produced into sharp points. A median triangular area on the lower surface
of the centrum (wanting in D. Bairdii) is here very prominent, and continued backward by a
strong, deep keel. In the posterior vertebre, all except the third are provided with a more or
less evident spinous process, while in D. Bairdii none except the seventh shows any spine. In
the present species the cervicals behind the axis are more nearly equal in size than in the former,
and the upper and lower transverse processes are more strongly developed. In the third, fourth,
and fifth cervicals in the median line, below and in front of the base of the neural spine, projects
a small triangular prolongation of the bone, connected with the axis in the third, and with the
preceding vertebrae in the fourth and fifth, by a small but unmistakable articular surface or facet.
The pedicels of the neural canal are more arched laterally than in D. Bairdii, giving the passage
a more flattened appearance than in that species. The following measurements will facilitate a
comparison :
Coossified atlas and axis, extreme width, 6.0 inches; from the middle of the lower anterior
edge to the posterior point of the spine, 4.1 inches. Height of neural arch, 1.0 inch; width, 1.5
inch. Extreme width of condylar facets, 3.6 inches. Third vertebra: width of centrum, 1.58 inch;
of neural arch, 1.15 inch; height of centrum, 1.42 inch; of arch, 0.8 inch. Extreme width of
vertebra between the points of the transverse processes, 2.25 inches. Length of that part of the
vertebral column consisting of the five posterior cervicals, 1.6 inch. Atlas and axis, 1.35 inch
more. ‘The neural spine of the seventh cervical is 0.93 inch, and the extreme width between the
points of the transverse processes is 3.75 inches. The spinous processes of the fourth, fifth, and
sixth cervicals average about 0.3 inch in length. The head of the first rib articulates with the
body of the seventh cervical, as in D. Bairdit.
The animal is rather thick in proportion to its length; black above, with a strongly falcate
dorsal. Below, white, to the edge of the patch passing from the lower lip below the pectorals
and terminating a short distance behind the vent. A broad gray smouch on each side above the
line of the black color, and interrupted about the middle of the animal on each side; the edges
of the gray are ill defined. The posterior edges of the pectorals and dorsal are also grayish.
Length of animal, 7 feet and 3 inches; breadth of flukes, 2 feet; tip of snout to anterior edge of
dorsal, 3 feet.
Full descriptions of the colors and full measurements are given by Captain Scammon in the
preceding monograph. A complete skeleton and the additional skull above described were obtained
from two female specimens taken at Monterey, November 20th, 1872; besides which, one other
skull is in Captain Scammon’s possession, and one in the collection of the California Academy of
Sciences.
Lagenorhynchus albirostratus?
Delphinus albirostratus? Peale, U. 8. Ex. Exp. 1848; pl. 6, fig. 2.
D. ceruleo-albus (Mayen) Cassin, 1. ¢., p. 31, pl. vi, fig. 2.
Pacific Ocean, latitude 2° south, longitude 174° west. Peale.
Blue gray, with small vermicular white spots. End of snout white; dorsal nearest the head.
Six feet and seven inches long; teeth, 4%,, No specimens; described from drawing (Peale).
This species is referred by Cassin (as I think, erroneously) to D. ceruleo-albus, Mayen, a south
Atlantic species; and to D. Chamissonis, Wiegm., by Gray.
Captain Marston, of the schooner Maggie Johnstone, on a voyage from Tahiti to San Francisco,
obtained a specimen of a porpoise which is not improbubly the species described by Peale. He
informed me that the animal was gray, lighter below and darker above; that some of the same
“school” had white noses, but in others the snout was light gray. The dorsal is rather small.
The specimen was obtained in latitude 13° north. The skull presents intermediate characters
between several of Gray’s sections, and agrees with none of the skulls described or figured in the
works accessible to me. It is in the collection of the California Academy of Sciences.
294 APPENDIX.
The following are its dimensions, in inches and decimals:
Length of skull in straight line....... 0... cee ne eee ees 14 .00
Internal length of brain cavity... ccc... ek cee hee cae et ete we eae tee eee 4.25
Length of beak anterior to maxillary notches ...............0 eee eee eee eee 8 .00
Length from tip of beak to anterior margin of superior nares.............+--- 6 .30
Length from tip of beak to posterior notch of palate............. cece eee eee 9 .20
Length from tip of beak to posterior tooth... 2.0.0.0... 06. 6 .75
Height of skull: at: Verte xs... concise) shat asc aleroe siete euaneials eleus eres Sade areca ee Seeieee 5 .40
Greatest breadth at zygomatic process of squamosals............ 0.02... 0 eee ee 6 .50
Bresdth: at: supra-orbital rideeig i542. veediets Gea hee A ee 5 .50
Breadth between maxillary notches ............ 0. cee cc cee eee eens 3.25
Breadth atmiddlevot beaks ocn..n cnvanin seein we ewe ene s Saree ee sa eae 1.75
Width “of ‘cond ylestvnc canis Seu wee Ace and fais Bee ee Rel SE ee ee 3 .20
Closest approximation of condyles below the foramen magnum................ 0 .22
Height: of foramen: Magnums Acacia aie oe A disie des Secs henner e ei ners oe eee eh eS ee 1.40
Wadth-of foramen MmaonUM hs. o4 hoo a ae ee earnies oe oe etn nese aaie ine 1.50
Entire. length of ramus of lower jawecco. occ. on cone pe veeae eo aleels ee biees 11 .90
Tip to posterior edge of last tooth in lower jJaw.............. 0.00.0. e eee eee 7 .00
Mieneth: Of sSymMiphysisve doce: ssc Noonan heels hia pilitata ie a dalek ON aaa GA Bilactceaen 1 .50
Height of ramus at coronoid process........... 0... cece eee eee ee eeee 2 .20
Height of ramus 3.5 inches from tip of anterior end.................. 002200 0 .60
Width between outsides of articular surfaces.......... 0.0.0. 5 .20
Width between posterior teeth... ........ 0. c cece cece eee e eee esteeeens 1.70
Length from tip of beak to superior transverse ridge behind frontals.......... 11 .25
Length from tip to anterior notch of inferior dental foramen.................. 7.70
Greatest’ width: of premaxillariresin.. 2 5cste.c0 co vou eare oA NeW aa eon ees 2 .50
Width of premaxillaries at middle of beak............. 00... 0 .90
Teeth, 38, six in an inch, subcylindrical, conical, recurved at tip, sharply pointed. Coronoid
process, slender, inconspicuous; jaws thin and light. Anterior three teeth minute. Premaville
separated widely by the mesethmoid cartilage, approximating more nearly at the middle of the
beak, hard, rather flat in front. Beak rather flat, evenly shelving at the sides. Nasal triangle
passing an inch before the hinder tooth, rough anteriorly, subcarinate in the middle behind, on
the left side not reaching the nasals. Maxille sharply turned up before the notch, evenly rounded
off behind it. All the bones of the left side a little shorter behind, and the left nasal smaller
and in advance of the right. Brain cavity larger on the left side. Septum and tentorium small
and inconspicuous. Lateral keels of the pterygoids flattened. Vomer extended back as far as the
posterior edge of the zygomatic process of the squamosals. Posterior ridge of the temporal fossa
obsolete. Mesethmoid appearing between the maxille for 1} inch in the middle of the beak, and
succeeded by the premaxille, to the end of the beak. Palatines separated by a slight groove.
Lateral notches of the pterygoids, narrow, small. The portion of the basi-occipital gutter formed
by the vomer and pterygoids, narrower than the inferior nares. Palate flattened above, impressed
before the palatines, with a tendency toward lateral grooves at the outer edges. Skull evidently of
a young animal.
Genus? Feresa, Gray.
Feresa, Gray, 2. Z. 8. 1870, p. 77; 1871, p. 78.
Feresa intermedia.
Feresa intermedia, Gray, 1871, p. 78.
Orca intermedia, Gray, 1866, p. 283; 1868, p. 8, pl. 8.
Habitat ?
Skull resembling Orca, but only 14 inches long; beak, 7 inches; width at notch, 44 inches.
Teeth, 14. Skull only, B. M. .
CATALOGUE OF THE CETACEA.
bo
co
Or
Species incerte sedis.
The following species are known only from drawings, or very insufficient materials; most of
them (unless we except those of Mr. Peale, whose delineations have proved in at least one case
to be remarkably accurate) can hardly hope for identification, and it is very probable that many
of them are identical with species described from skulls only. It is of course impossible to
determine the genus of any of them; and it would be a relief, if they, together with the species
erected on aboriginal pottery and carvings, and drawings of Chinese and Japanese artists (!), could
be wiped away from our books altogether.
DeELPHINUS ALBIMANUS, Peale, Zool. U. 8. Ex. Exp., ed. i, p. 33, 1848; Cassin, Mamm. ditto, p. 29,
pl. vi, fig. 1.
Coast of Chile.
Head, back, and flukes, black; sides, tawny; belly, white; top of pectorals, white. Length,
6 feet 6 inches. @ Snout to eye, 12 inches. Teeth, 43
> 47°
No specimens known. Referred to D. Nove-Zelandie by Cassin, but not by Gray.
Devrninus Forsrert, Gray, 1868, p. 6, pl. 24.
New Caledonia.
Rust colored above; beneath, white; a small white spot on the disk of the dorsal and pectoral
fins. Six feet long. Teeth, 44. No specimens known. Described from Forster’s drawing. Per-
haps the same as C. microps, Gray.
DELPHINUS LATERALIS, Peale, 1. c., p. 35, pl. 8, fig. 1, 1848; Cassin, Mamm. ditto, p. 32, pl. vu,
fig. 1.
Pacific Ocean, latitude 13° north, longitude 161° west.
Dark above, purplish gray below, with a dark lateral line with light spots above and below it.
Fins and snout, black. Length, 90 inches. Teeth, $4. No specimens; described from drawings.
Referred to Lagenorhynchus, by Cassin.
Dexpuinus pecrorauis, Peale, 1. c.; Cassin, p. 28, pl. v, fig. 2.
Near the Sandwich Islands.
Black above; belly, reddish white; a frontal band of slate color extending behind the eyes; a
white spot on each side before the fins. Length, 8 feet 8 inches. Teeth, $3. No specimens.
DeLrHinus CHINENSIS, Desmoul., Gray, 1850, p. 182.
China Seas.
“Shining white ;” no specimens; perhaps a beluga.
Detrainus tunatus, Lesson, Voy. Coq., pl. ix, fig. 4.
Coast of Chile.
“Tunenas” of the Chilenos. No specimens. From sketch of animal swimming!
De.puinus nicer, Lacépede, Mém. Mus. iv, p. 475.
China ?
Black, with white edges to lips and fins. No specimens. From Chinese drawing!
DeLpuinus LoriceR, Schreb. Saugeth., pl. 362.
Habitat ?
Lead colored; middle of sides, chest, and belly, white. No specimens.
296 APPENDIX.
Delphinus styx, Gray, has been referred with doubt to Scammon’s ‘‘Common Porpoise,” and the
North Pacific habitat thus indicated has been credited to D. slyx by Gray in his last supple-
mentary catalogue, but there are no good grounds for considering it a West American species,
and the type is known to come from West Africa.
Genus Leucorhamphus, Lilljeborg.
Leucorhamphus, Lilljeborg, Gill.
Delphinapterus, Gray (not Lacépede), Zobl. EH. and T., 1846, p. 85; 1871, p. 72.
Leucorhamphus Peronii.
Delphinus Peronti, Lacépede, Cét., p. 517, 1804.
D. leucorhamphus, Brooks, Cat. Mus., p. 39, 1828.
Delphinapterus Peronti, Gray (Lesson), 1866, p. 276; 1868, p. 6, pl. 15; 1871, p. 72,
West coast of South America, latitude 50° south (Pickering).
Black above, white below; the dividing line passing from the middle of the forehead below
the eye, above the pectorals, and stopping at the flukes, which are black. Skull, 18.25 inches;
beak, 10 inches. Teeth, 44, six in an inch. Skulls, Mus. Paris, and drawings of animal.
Leucorhamphus borealis. Pl. xix, fig. 3.
Delphinapterus borealis, Peale, Zool. U. S. Ex. Exp., p. 38, 1848; Gray, 1866, p. 277.
Delphinus borealis, Cassin, Mamm. U. 8S. Ex. Exp., p. 30, pl. vii, fig. 2.
Right Whale Porpoise, of Scammon.
West coast of North America.
Form elongate; black, with a lanceolate white spot beneath, extended in a narrow line nearly
to the tail. Length, 4 to 6 feet. Teeth (?). Skull, Mus. 8. I. Notes and measurements from
life.
A specimen of this species was obtained by me off Cape Mendocino, October, 1868. Careful
notes, a sketch, and measurements were secured, together with the cranium, now in the National
Museum. On comparison with Mr. Peale’s original drawing, they agreed exactly, except that my
specimen was considerably larger, measuring about six feet. Unfortunately, these notes are not
now accessible. Cassin and Gray refer to it as being probably the young of a species of beluga ;
but why they should do so, I can not imagine, as there are no grounds apparent for such a belief.
It is unquestionably a dolphin.
Genus Orca, Gray.
Orea, Gray, Zoél. H. and T., 1846, p. 33; 1866, p. 278.
Ophysia, Gray, P. Z. 8. 1870, p. 76; 1871, p. 98.
Orea magellanica.
O. magellanica, Burmeister, An. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 3, xviii, p- 101, pl. 9, fig. 5; Annals
Mus. Buenos Ayres, i, p. 3873, pl. 22.
Patagonia.
Skeleton, Mus. Buenos Ayres.
Orea destructor.
O. destructor, Cope, Proc. Phil. Acad. 1866, p. 293.
Payta, Peru.
Teeth, 8. Skull only, S. I.
CATALOGUE OF THE CETACEA. 997
Orea rectipinna. Pl. xvii, fig. 1.
O. rectipinna, Cope, Proc. Phil. Acad. 1869, p, 25; Scammon, 1. c., p. 56, fig. 15, 16.
North Pacific, coast of California, Bering Sea.
Black, with high, erect dorsal. Skull? coll. Scammon. Skull, coll. Cal. Acad. Sci. Estab-
lished on Scammon’s figures and descriptions.
The first skull referred to is supposed to be that of O. rectipinna, but this is not absolutely
certain. The most notable peculiarities are the turning up and in of the posterior ends of the
maxillaries, by the side of the nasals, and to some extent over the posterior ends of the premaxil-
laries. The transverse frontal ridge is very high and thin, the back of the skull behind it quite
flat; in the temporal fossa, in the line of union of the squamosals and parietals, and extending
some distance each side of the suture, is a ridge, or blunt carina, nearly as long as the fossa,
The measurements of the cranium are as follow, in inches and decimals. The individual was
doubtless rather aged :
Length of iskull ain a ‘straicht. dine 3 pcs. peccealeedun chai Mae ds gaan ead via Uses 39 .00
hence th of brain: cayaty,, internal lycra, ane aapakiaek eeu meee ne Oey Ee eR BBS 11 .00
Length of beak before the maxillary notches.............00....0. 0.00 2c 21 .00
Length from tip of beak to anterior margin of superior nares................. 24 .50
Length from tip of beak to posterior notch of palate...................00 000. 25 .00
Leneth from tip of beak to posterior edge of last tooth...................05.. 17 .00
léneth: from tip: of beak. to: frontal md gés. i. s.eenGusws aaeaulelag ooh aes aks 32 .50
Height: obskullvat Vertex. 2. c.ct nas: tute ccieu nee Hida ae ee ani recta wea nea 16 .50
Greatest breadth (at zygomatic process of squamosals)................--.00084 25 .00
Breadth:of supra=Orbital MOG: ..454.4.s5semnsan aeecied nadie ape cd hae eR age ee 23 .00
Breadth: between maxillary: notched? s.0) oa wie acensmia we oases mealies Mat acee x 11 .50
Breadbhvat-marddlecor beak, 4a is Ais 5 cet Gass scons sreph, ceed seen eee eee oat whee ese eee toes 10 .50
Breadth of the two premaxillz at middle of beak .............. 00 cece eee ee 4 .6O
Breadth of the fissure between them... ........60 0. cece erste een beeen ees 0.75
Breadth Of condyles: occa cd le 6 RON Pe ee eis ee EE Ee ee 7.50
Closest approximation of condyles beneath the foramen magnum............-.. 0 .40
Height of foramen magnum (notched above ).......... 0.60.0 ee eee eee terre eee 3 .25
Width of foramen magnum... ........ ccc ee eee een teen nee 2.75
Teeth in upper jaw, 12 or 18 (lost.)
Orca ater. Pl. xvii, fig. 2.
O. ater, Cope, l. ¢., p. 23; Scammon, 1. c., p. 58, fig. 17.
O. atra, Gray, 1871, p. 92.
Coast of California and Oregon.
Smaller, with a white spot before the pectorals; white below, with a maroon colored, crescentic
spot behind the dorsal. Established on Scammon’s descriptions and figures.
A jaw, supposed, with some probability, to belong to this species, is in Captain Scammon’s
possession. It is of an adult individual, but retains all the teeth, and measures as follows, in
inches and decimals:
Taeneth Of PaMUS occu Saree sepia eae meee ai Tee ents teased erecta et es 28 .00
Tip to posterior edge of last tooth ...sc0cssecgees sero tes ea enon eine eens b ees 13 .00
Theneth of pymphysiegg eis .v scene stan eh a ce tee teeth a Ra eaten ete ere 6 .25
Height of ramus al coronoid process......5.<2ersnesee ert cte etree erste ert ene 8 .50
Width between outsides of articular surfaces........ 0.65006 e eee rete 21 .00
Width behind posterior teeth.....2..-... 0 sees eee eee ete tet ee pene es 10 .00
Length from tip to anterior notch of dental foramen .......-..+++ +000 sees ree 17 .00?
Height of largest teeth above alveoli..........--+sseceree cere essseseeseee anes 1 .30
MARINE MAMMALS.—38.
298 APPENDIX.
Greatest diameter of the same (transverse)...... 0.0... eee ees 1 .00
Antero-posterior diameter of same. ........ 6. ec eect ene eee eens 0.70
Hee bt Of awe bc GON YS 258.2 »
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GLOSSARY
WORDS AND PHRASES USED BY WHALEMEN.
Bailer.— A copper or iron vessel used in dip-
ping up oil. Two of these utensils are used
on board of a whaler: one with a short,
upright handle, called the hand-bailer; the
other, with a staff to it six feet long, used
at the try-works for bailing the oil from
the pots, is called a long-handled_bailer.
For illustration, see fig. 4, p. 239.
Becket. — A thing used in ships to confine loose
ropes, tackles, or spars.
Black-skin.—The rete-mucosum and the cuti-
cle, the principal seat of color in whales.
Black- whale, or black-whale oil.—Is that
produced from all the baleen whales, in-
cluding the rorquals. All these varieties of
whales are sometimes termed black whales,
in contradistinction to the Sperm Whale.
Blanket-piece.— A strip or section of blubber
cut from a whale in a spiral direction, and
raised by means of the cutting-tackle. It
varies from two to four feet or more in
width, and is in length from ten to twenty-
five feet.
Blasted.—A term used to signify that a whale
is much swollen, or far advanced in decom-
position after death.
Blink, or ice-blink.—A stratum of lucid white-
ness which appears in the lower part of the
atmosphere over ice and land covered with
snow.
Blow.—Blow signifies the action of the whale
in making one respiration.
Blubber-fork.— A utensil used in pitching the
minced blubber from the tubs into the try-
pots. For illustration, see fig. 1, p. 239.
{ 309 ]
Blubber-hook.—A stout iron hook of seventy-
five to a hundred pounds weight, which is
used in flensing a whale.
p. 232.
Boarding -knife.— A sharp two-edged instru-
ment, principally used in cutting the togele-
hole in the blubber of a whale, for the
purpose of inserting the strap to the cut-
ting-tackle, so as to hoist up the mass of
fat called the blanket-piece. For illustra-
tion, see pl. xxv.
Bolting.—Signifies the action of a whale when
it leaps out diagonally to the surface of the
water.
Bone -spade.— A cutting-spade, with a thin,
long shank to it. See cutting-spade, pl.
XXY.
Bonnet.— Cheever defines the bonnet of a Right
Whale ‘‘as being the crest or comb where
there burrow legions of barnacles and crabs,
like rabbits in a warren, or insects in the
shagey bark of an old tree.” [Nore.— This
description applies especially to the south-
ern Right Whales; in the northern Right
Whale’s bonnet, but very few barnacles are
present, and comparatively few parasites of
See illustration,
any description. |
Bomb-shot.—The distance a bomb-lance can
be fired into a whale effectively, which is
about twenty yards.
Breaching.— Signifies the movement of a whale
when leaping out of the water, in nearly a
perpendicular direction or otherwise.
Breaking black-skin.—The act of darting a
harpoon into a whale.
310
Bring-to.— The act of a whale when it ceases
its progressive motion.
Eroken voyage.— An unprofitable voyage, or a
losing voyage.
Case.—The sack or cavity which lies on the
right side and upper portion of the head
of a Sperm Whale, and which contains oil
and spermaceti. These combined constitute
what is called ‘‘head-matter.”
Cooler.— A copper or iron tank into which the
oil from the try-pots is first bailed.
Cutting-spade.—A sharp, flat implement, lke
a thin chisel, which is fixed to a pole ten
or more feet in length, and is used in cut-
ting the blubber from a whale. A ‘‘bone-
spade” is merely a cutting-spade, with a
long, thin shank to it. It is employed in
cutting out the throat-bone of a baleen
whale. The ‘‘head-spade” is thicker and
heavier than the ordinary cutting -spade,
and is used in cutting the skull- bone,
which separates the whale’s head from the
body. See illustration, pl. xxv.
Darting distance.—The distance the harpoon
is usually thrown effectively by hand, which
is about eighteen feet.
Deck-pot.—An iron pot of similar shape and
size with the try-pots, but having legs to it.
Fast.— A term used when the harpoon pene-
trates the whale, ‘‘as the boat is fast,”
signifying that the boat is fastened to the
whale by means of the harpoon attached to
the line.
Fins.—The pectorals or side fins of a whale
are called fins, in contradistinction to the
flukes, or caudal fin.
Finning.— The action of a whale when lying
partly on its side, raising one fin out of
the water, and striking it upon the surface,
causing a splash.
Fire-pike.—An instrument used in feeding and
stirring the fires when trying out oil. See
illustration, fig. 5, p. 239.
Flukes.—The posterior extremities, or caudal
fin of a whale. —
Flukes, to cut flukes out, or the whale cuts
its flukes out.—Is a whaler’s phrase to
describe the action of the animal when it
throws its caudal fin sidewise and upward,
upon or above the surface of the water,
which is an indication that the creature has
taken fright, and suddenly endeavors to
APPENDIX.
escape. ‘‘He attempted to cut his flukes
out,” is a slang expression in whaling par-
lance, when any members of a ship’s com-
pany become refractory, or attempt in any
manner to create disturbance on board.
Gaff, or gaff-hook.— A sharp, strong iron hook
attached to a short or long wooden handle,
and used in handling blubber. See pl. xxv.
Galley.—Frightened; as, ‘‘The whale is- gal-
hed,” or ‘‘The boat-steerer got so gallied
he could not strike the whale.” The state
of being frightened.
Gam.— Signifies two or more ships meeting, and
Gam also
signifies a large collection or herd of whale-
bone whales.
Gamming.— To visit from one whaling- vessel
to another.
Gurry.—Is the term by which the combination
of water, oil, and dirt is known when col-
lected upon the ship’s deck and below, dur-
ing the time of cutting in and boiling out
a whale.
Head -spade.—A thick, heavy cutting -spade
used in cutting the head-bones of a whale.
See head-spade, pl. xxv.
Hopper, or scrap-hopper.—A flaring wooden
box used as a receptacle for the scraps when
taken from the try- pots,
Hose -cock.—A large brass cock attached to the
end of the oil-hose.
Hose -scuttle.—A small opening in a whaling-
vessel’s deck through which the oil from a
cask runs into the hose-tub.
Hose -tub.—A large wooden tub, or copper
tank, with a strainer in the bottom to
which the oil-hose is attached. The tub is
lashed close beneath the deck, immediately
under the hose-scuttle.
Hump.—A protuberance or elevation upon the
top of a whale’s body, and generally near-
est to the posterior extremity. In some
species it appears somewhat like a dorsal
fin.
Junk.— A wedge-shaped mass of cellular mem-
branous substance, filled with oil and sperm-
aceti, which lies between the case and the
white-horse of a Sperm Whale’s head.
Knuckle -joint.—The joint of the fin, or pec-
torals, which connects with the shoulder-
blade of a whale.
Lay on, or lay the boat on.—Is to turn the
their companies exchanging visits.
GLOSSARY OF WORDS
head of the boat toward any object by
means .of the steering - oar.
Lay off, or lay the boat off.—Is to turn the
head of the boat from any object, by means
of the steering - oar,
Leaning blubber.—To cut the flesh, or lean
meat, etc., from it.
Leaning -knife.— A large knife used in cutting
the flesh, or other tissue destitute of oil,
from the blubber, preparatory to trying it
out.
Lipper.—A piece of thin blubber cut into an
oblong square, and punctured, so as to
admit a man’s fingers to hold it, when
used in wiping up the gurry from the
decks, etc.
Lipper off the decks.—Is to wipe the gurry
off with lippers.
Lobtailing, or loptailing.— The action of a
whale when it raises its flukes high out of
water, and strikes them down with great
force upon the surface. 2d. A whale beat-
ing the surface of the water with its caudal
fin.
Loose irons.—Harpoons which are darted into
a whale with no line attached.
Mate.— This word is used by whalers to signify
a partnership between two vessels in pur-
suing whales.
Mill.— To turn in an opposite direction, or
nearly so; as, ‘‘The whale was running to
windward, but ‘milled,’ and ran to lee-
ward.”
Mincing -knife.—A thin, broad steel implement,
sharp on one edge, with a handle on each
end, which is used in cutting the blubber
into thin slices, preparatory to being boiled
or tried out. For illustration, see page 238.
Mux, or muxing.—To perform work in an
awkward or improper ‘*He
made a mux of it, and missed the whale,”
i. e., by improper management a whale was
not struck, which otherwise might have been
secured.
Noddle-end.—The anterior and upper portion
of a Sperm Whale’s head.
Nib-end.—The anterior and upper portion of
a whalebone whale’s head.
Nisket.—The anus of a whale.
Oil-hose.—A stout hose made of grained leather,
for the purpose of conducting the oil from
a vessel’s deck into empty casks in the hold.
manner; as,
AND PHRASES. 31]
Piece.— This word is frequently used for brief-
hess, instead of the word blanket- piece.
Pike.—A pointed iron or steel implement fixed
to the end of a pole, and used in pitching
or handling the pieces of blubber, ete. For
illustration, see plate xxv.
Raising whales.— When first seeing a whale
from the mast-head, or other place, it is
termed ‘‘raising a whale.” It is also used
to express the fact of seeing any object, as,
‘*We raised the land, sixty miles distant.”
Recruits.— Fresh provisions and supplies for a
whale-ship. 2d. Various articles put on
board the ship to purchase recruits with
(at remote islands or coasts), such as cloth-
ing, calicoes, tobacco, and a variety of other
domestic articles.
Ridge.— The upper portion of a whale’s “small.”
Ripple.—The agitation of the surface of the
water by a whale when swimming near it,
but still not visible, as, ‘‘I can not see the
whale, but can see its ripple.”
Rounding, or rounding out.—The attitude of
a whale when curving its small in order to
descend below the surface of the water.
Rugged.— The state of the sea when agitated.
A rough
weather,
weather.”
Sampson-post.—A heavy upright timber, firmly
secured in the deck (and extending about
two feet above it), to which the fluke-chain,
or fluke-rope, is made fast.
Scooping.— This term is applied to the action
of whalebone whales when feeding.
Scrap-hopper.— A flaring wooden box which is
placed beside the try-works to receive the
scraps when skimmed from the try-pots.
It has holes in the bottom through which
the oil that drips from the scraps runs into
a tub called a ‘‘strainer-cooler.”
Scraps.— The residue of the blubber after the
oil is extracted by boiling.
Scrimshawing, or to scrimshaw, or skim-
shander, as sometimes termed.—Is to ex-
ecute any piece of ingenious mechanical
work. It is applied particularly to polishing
and engraving upon whalebone or whale’s
teeth, or manufacturing fancy articles from
sea, accompanied with blowing
is termed by whalers ‘rugged
the same materials.
Skimmer.—A broad scoop composed of copper,
iron, and wood. The utensil is about seven
feet long,
from the try - pots.
fig. 3, p. 239.
Skimming -slicks.—A phrase used by whale-
men when employed in saving any small
amount of fat from the entrails or from the
exterior of the carcass after the blubber has
been stripped off.
Slumgullion.— The offal from the blubber of a
whale.
Small.—The posterior portion of a whale, be-
tween the vent and caudal fin.
Sounding. —TIs the term signifying the descent
of the whale after being fastened to.
Stern, or stern all.—Is the invariable order
given to the whaleboat’s crew, when it be-
comes necessary to propel the boat stern
foremost.
Stirring -pole.—A wooden pole six or seven
feet long, used to stir the blubber in the
try-pots. See illustration, fig. 2, p. 239.
Stopped.— To confine a rope, or ropes, usually
by a smaller line, as, ‘‘Stop the line to the
‘iron-pole’” (or harpoon staff), 7. e., con-
fine the line to the pole by passing one or
more turns of twine, or rope-yarn, around
both line and pole, and confining the ends
by knotting them together.
Suds.—The foam on the surface of the water
and is used in removing scraps
For illustration, see
APPENDIX.
caused by the violent actions of a whale in
the course of its capture, as, ‘‘In order to
get a good chance to kill the whale, you
must keep close to the suds.”
Sweeping.—The action of a whale when wield- --:
ing its flukes from side to side in an offen-
sive or defensive manner, causing a great
commotion on the water.
perernnneg
Toggle.— A large wooden pin, about three feet .
long, and six or eight inches in diameter,
with a swell or shoulder near the middle.
It has a hole near one end, through which
a rope is attached, which is termed the
toggle-lanyard. This lanyard is used in
handling or confining the toggle. See il-
lustration, p. 234.
Turning flukes.—The last action of a whale
upon the surface of the water when making
its descent beneath, which is to elevate its
caudal fin in the air as the body assumes
nearly a perpendicular attitude.
Trying out.—To extract the oil from the blub-
ber by boiling.
White - horse.— An extremely tough and sin-
ewy substance resembling blubber, but des-
titute of oil, which les between the upper
jaw and junk of a Sperm Whale.
White-water.—The foam or spray caused by
the violent actions of a whale.
Lisl ‘Gh STORES AND OQ UTRITS
FOR A
FIRST-CLASS WHALE-SHIP, FOR A CAPE THORN VOYAGE,
THE INVENTORY OF A MERCHANT-SHIP, WHICH,
EXCLUSIVE OF
ALTHOUGH INCLUDED IN A
WHALE-SHIP’S OUTFIT, IS NOT HERE ENUMERATED.
350 barrels of bread.
100 barrels of flour.
180 barrels of mess beef.
90 barrels of extra prime pork.
1,000 barrels of fresh water.
1,600 pounds of codfish.
2 barrels of mackerel.
1,200 gallons of molasses.
1,200 pounds of sugar.
2,000 pounds of butter.
6 barrels of Indian meal.
300 pounds of rice.
33 bushels of corn.
20 bushels of beans.
400 pounds of dried apples.
300 pounds of cheese.
2 barrels of cucumber pickles.
15 bushels of onions.
50 pounds of raisins.
1 large medicine chest, full.
5 gallons New England rum.
MaRrInE MammMats.—40.
PROVISIONS, ETC,
200 pounds of tea.
1,200 pounds of coffee,
50 pounds of chocolate.
2 pounds of hops.
6 bottles of essence of spruce.
12 bottles of pepper-sauce.
8 pounds of ginger.
25 pounds of pepper.
6 pounds of allspice.
1 mat of cassia.
6 bottles of ground mustard.
1 quart of mustard -seed.
1 pound of nutmegs.
60 pounds of saleratus.
1 pound of cloves.
3 bushel of fine salt.
6 bottles of lemon syrup.
3 pounds of sage.
3 pounds of summer savory.
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.
2 callons brandy.
2 callons port wine.
(313]
12 bushels of coarse salt.
300 gallons of vinegar.
6 dozen 2-th cans roast beef.
4 dozen 2-Tbh cans roast mutton.
6 dozen 2-th cans soup and
bouillon.
for)
dozen 2-tb cans clams.
4 dozen 1-tb tins canned lob-
ster.
4 dozen 2-tb tins canned oys-
ters.
4 dozen 2-ib tins canned tur-
key.
1,800 pounds soap.
1 barrel oil-soap.
50 pounds sperm candles.
12 gallons whale oil for burn-
ing.
gallons sperm oil for burning.
bo
6 dozen pain - killer.
3 dozen rat exterminator.
al4
20 bushels charcoal.
14 bushels Cumberland coal.
100 pounds assorted iron.
1 bar steel.
1 soldering iron.
1 vice.
2 sledges.
1 hand hammer.
3,500 barrels of oil-casks.
25 tons hoop iron.
100 pounds 5d. rivets.
100 pounds 4d. rivets.
5 pounds 3d. rivets.
OU
pounds 2d. rivets.
16 barrels sand.
800 pounds flags.
50 new staves.
300 feet yellow pine headine.
1 piece red cedar for worm
pecks.
50 pounds chalk.
1 double iron jointer.
1 large croze.
1 small croze.
1 patent croze-iron.
700 feet white pine lumber.
12 pine and spruce planks, as-
sorted leneths.
100 feet oak plank.
900 feet cedar boat boards.
24 boat timbers.
12 boat knees.
2. boat stems.
1 boat keel.
1 oak plank for gunwales.
40 white-oak butts.
3 grindstones with cranks.
1 calking mallet.
4 calking irons.
1 panel-saw.
1 wood-saw and 1 extra plate.
2 handsaws.
1 splitting - saw.
1 back- saw.
APPENDIX.
BLACKSMITH’S DEPARTMENT.
1 wrench.
1 lot of old bolts.
1 anvil.
+ pound borax.
+ pound spelter solder.
2 pounds soft solder.
1 tuer-iron.
1 bellows.
COOPER'S DEPARTMENT.
1 pair compasses.
5 vices.
1 bit-stock.
dozen bits.
bo klH
spokeshayes.
saw.
a
bilge-plane.
isu)
marking irons.
bo
anvils.
inshave.
heading saw.
pee
bung - borers.
tap - borers.
axe.
adze.
chamfering knives.
wmonwrere
drawing knives.
CARPENTERS DEPARTMENT.
1 compass - saw.
+ dozen augers, assorted sizes.
1 broad -axe.
2 jointers.
2 fore- planes.
2 smooth - planes,
1 hollow-plane.
3 round- planes.
1 adze.
iron square.
carpenter’s rule.
bevel.
Dee H
board gauges.
compasses.
scarfing chisel.
socket chisels.
i firmer chisels, assorted.
CO mm bo
J
1 try -square.
4 socket gouges, assorted.
2 pairs tongs.
1 set taps and dies.
1 screw- plate.
1 dozen assorted files.
3 punches.
1 cold- chisel.
1 swedge.
1 stock howeling knife.
1 leveling plane.
8 cast-steel hammers.
18 cast-steel drivers.
8 cast-steel punches.
8 cast-steel cold-chisels.
2 rivet sets.
2 worm - punches.
3 flageine-dogs.
1 round plane.
1 cooper’s horse.
1 harness-cask.
1 water- butt.
1 grindstone-tub.
6 line-tubs.
1 cooper’s bellows.
500 bungs, assorted sizes.
6 firmer gouges, assorted.
2 chalk lines.
2 spike eimlets.
deck-uail gimlets.
12 nail gimlets.
¢
bo
rough gimlets.
b
3 claw-hammers,
iy
boat hammer.
H
pump hammer.
whetstones,
2 sandstones.
6 wood files.
1 pair large boat nippers.
1 pair small boat nippers.
4 narrow axes.
6 broad hatchets.
2 deck hatchets.
1 hold hatchet.
2 large half-round wood rasps
or
LIST
5 flat files, assorted.
3 half-round files.
12 hand -saw files.
4 small saw files.
3 round files.
1 saw-set.
1 screw - driver.
bit-stock.
eimlet bits.
assorted bits.
spoke- shave.
1
5
11
1
1 dvawing - knife.
1 caboose, complete.
2 sets grates for same.
2 sets linings for same.
1 spare tea-kettle for same.
1 spare steamer for same.
1 spare boiler for same.
4 stew-pans.
2 frying-pans.
1 cook’s ladle.
1 cook’s fork.
1 cook’s skimmer.
1 cook’s bellows.
1 tinder-box (flint, steel, etc.)
1 chopping- knife.
1 chopping - tray.
1 sieve.
1 coffee - mill.
1 mortar and pestle.
1 table-bell.
1 cabin- bell.
2 stoves and pipes.
2 tables.
2 table-covers.
2 dozen table-cloths.
2 dozen birch brooms.
NAUTICAL INSTRUMENTS,
1 sextant, provided by the cap-
tain.
Quadrants and octants, provid-
ed by the officers.
2 chronometers.
1 barometer.
1 thermometer.
1 spy-glass.
CABIN
OF STORES AND
20 pounds clinch nails,
12 pounds timber nails.
5 pounds wood-end nails.
2 pounds lap nails.
4 pounds foot nails.
10 pounds ceiling nails.
6 pounds 6d. wrought nails.
6 pounds $d. wrought nails.
12 pounds 10d. wrought nails.
15 pounds 8d. cut nails.
25 pounds 10d. cut nails.
10 pounds 12d. cut nails.
AND COOKING FURNITURE,
dozen corn brooms.
bho bp
dust - pans.
bo
dust- brushes.
bo
chairs.
stools.
looking - glasses.
bo
molasses vate.
carving knife and fork.
eee
ee
or)
Bere ee
spare knives and forks.
dozen spoons (table ).
dozen spoons (tea).
britannia soup ladle.
table steel.
tumbler basket.
hand basket.
bushel baskets.
eross of matches.
bo
| ST ed
dozen flints.
scrubbing brushes.
t dozen Bristol brick.
1 tinned iron wash - basin.
2 cook’s shovels.
1 corkscrew.
aaa NS)
1 pair scissors.
2 binocular glasses.
2 fourteen-second glasses.
1 transparent compass.
4 brass boat compasses and
wooden ones.
2 brass binnacle compasses.
1 mast-head compass.
1 binnacle lantern.
WEE:
set of table knives and forks.
STATIONERY, ETC,
9
OUTFITS. 915
5 dozen iron and brass screws,
assorted,
50 pounds old lead.
20 pounds sheet lead.
10 pounds coppering nails.
5 pounds sheathing nails.
50 pounds wrought iron spikes.
12 sheets yellow metal.
1 pound clinch copper nails.
2 pairs steelyards.
18 roughs and clinches.
4 large platters.
1 dozen assorted bowls.
+ nappies.
3 bakers.
1
dozen soup plates.
D te
dozen dinner plates.
dozen dessert plates.
dozen mugs.
at
bo bo hi wl Fob
dozen saucers.
butter dishes.
sugar bowls.
3 pitchers.
1 large stone pitcher.
1 chamber.
2 soup tureens.
1 large covered dish.
1 castor, complete.
3 spare bottles for same.
1 dozen tmnblers.
2 salt-cellars.
1 large oval dish.
1 gravy dish.
2 spittoons.
1 cabin clock.
1 log- book.
2 log-slates.
4 nautical almanaes for succes-
sive years.
2 account books.
4 memorandum books.
3 sticks sealing - wax.
7, dozen lead peucils.
16
1 dozen slate pencils.
6 dozen steel pens.
+ dozen pen- holders.
2 bottles of ink.
2 inkstands.
4 whaling bomb- guns.
150 bomb-lances.
5 powder- flasks.
5 chargers,
set cutting blocks.
set cutting - guy blocks.
3-sheave purchase blocks.
4-sheave purchase blocks.
pH be
2-sheave purchase blocks.
set of burton blocks,
; dozen spare sheaves.
dozen spare sheave -pins,
dozen spare jib- hanks.
a
Ret cH JH et
gaff).
4 mast-hoops.
1 lot belaying - pins.
2 sets pump gear.
1 pump hook.
6 handspikes.
4 watch - tackle blocks.
2 dozen assorted blocks.
30 coils of whale-line.
14 coils of 4-inch tarred rope.
400 pounds white lead.
250 pounds black lead.
60 gallons linseed oil.
2 gallons Japan varnish.
24g
10 pounds verdigris.
allons spirits turpentine.
12 papers lampblack.
10 gallons bright varnish.
1 spare lower yard.
1 spare topsail yard.
3 rough spars.
dozen spare hoops (stay and
APPENDIX.
100 envelopes.
3% quires letter and note paper.
% quire bill paper.
4 inward manifests.
WHALING CRAFT.
15 two -flued harpoons.
150 togele harpoons.
35 cast-steel lances.
BLOCKS, CORDAGE, CANVAS, ETC.
2 coils of 15-thread ratline.
2 coils of 12-thread ratline,
1 coil 2-inch tarred rope.
1 coil 24-inch tarred rope.
1 coil 2}-inch tarred rope.
coil 34-inch tarred rope.
Klee ile
coil 84-inch tarred rope.
504 pounds old tarred rope, as-
sorted.
ns
coils 2-inch Manila rope.
coils 25-inch Manila rope.
oo
coils 1}-inch Manila rope.
coil 1$-inch Manila rope.
mee bw
cutting - falls).
2 coils 18- thread ratlne.
1 coil 2- yarn spunyarn.
1 coil 38-inch Manila rope.
3 coils 2}-inch Manila rope.
1 coil 9- thread worm - line.
PAINTS, OILS, ETC.
1 gallon copal varnish.
10 pounds whiting.
50 pounds putty.
50 pounds chrome green.
50 pounds yellow ochre.
10 pounds Venetian red.
3 pounds Prussian blue.
10 pounds red lead.
SPARE SPARS AND SAILS,
1 spare topmast.
1 foresail.
1 spare jibboom.
coil 54-inch Manila rope (for
1 Gunter’s scale and dividers.
1 set charts around the world.
1 set harbor charts ( foreign.)
1 parallel rule.
4 Pierce’s harpoon bomb-lance
guns.
50 Pierce’s bomb -lances.
10 pounds bomb - gun powder.
1 coil 6- thread worm -line.
1 coil seizing stuff.
1 coil 3- yarn spunyarn.
1 coil 3% -inch Manila rope.
1 coil 84-inch Manila rope.
1 coil 2-inch Manila rope.
1 coil 44-inch Manilarope(cut- + +22
ting- guys).
1 spare cutting - fall.
1 spare lance line.
2,000 pounds old junk.
1 ship’s ensign.
1 agent’s signal.
1 set private signals.
2 spare log-lines.
2 spare hand-lead lines.
2 dozen fish lines.
1 deep - sea lead line.
1 deep - sea lead,
1 hand lead.
12 large size paint- brushes.
6 sash tools.
3 seam brushes.
25 panes window elass.
4 pounds chrome yellow.
10 pounds burnt umber.
» barrel coal tar.
1 fore-topsail.
1 main -topsail.
2 topgallant- sails.
LIST
1 fore spencer.
1 fore-topmast staysail.
1 jib.
1 flying jib.
4 dozen pairs of blankets.
4 dozen suspenders.
4 dozen comforters.
6 dozen Scotch caps.
10 dozen woolen drawers.
10 dozen cotton drawers.
8 dozen Guernsey frocks.
6 dozen duck frocks.
6 dozen handkerchiefs.
8 dozen hats.
4 dozen pea-jackets.
5 bales bleached cotton cloth.
7 bales brown cotton cloth.
7 bales blue cotton cloth.
40 pieces of prints.
6 dozen of shoes.
20 cutting -spades.
2 wide spades.
2 throat- spades.
2 head-spades.
8 boat-spades.
3 blubber- hooks.
1 large boat- hook.
8 small boat- hooks.
2 steel blubber - forks.
1 long-handled pike.
6 short-handled pikes.
6 gafts.
3 boarding - knives.
6 leaning - knives.
1 mincing- machine.
2 mincing - knives.
2 line -hooks.
6 shackles for topsail sheets.
3 sets can-hooks.
1 single can-hook for cooper.
10 marline- spikes.
250 iron poles.
OF STORES AND OUTFITS.
1 mainsail.
2 royals.
1 main spencer.
1 mizzen - topsail.
CLOTHING, ETC.
2 dozen monkey jackets.
4 dozen short jackets.
6 dozen sheath - knives.
6 dozen jack - knives.
6 dozen mittens.
20 dozen stockings.
10 dozen shoes.
4 dozen red twilled kersey
shirts.
4 dozen drab twilled kersey
shirts.
RECRUITS, OR TRADE,
10 dozen of pumps.
20 dozen of boots.
50 boxes of soap.
10 boxes of sperm candles
1,000 pounds of tobacco.
MISCELLANEOUS.
6 boat masts.
40 spruce poles for spare masts,
sprits, ete.
24 lance - poles.
40 cords oak wood,
6 cords pine wood.
40 barrels saw- dust.
7 new whale - boats.
1 old whale - boat.
9 sets of oars (45 oars).
9 steering oars.
7 sets rowlocks (35 rowlocks).
1 pair lifters.
1 cradle.
18 scrapers.
3 shovels.
1 hoe.
8 dozen fish- hooks, assorted.
1 copper cooler and cock.
1 hose-cock and joints.
1 scuttle-butt cock.
3 copper hand-pumps.
wo
—
~I
2 mizzen-topgallant- sails.
1 spanker.
15 bolts assorted canvas.
7 dozen striped cotton shirts.
20 pieces of calico.
6 dozen sheaths and belts.
6 dozen blue woolen trowsers.
6 dozen drab woolen trowsers.
6 dozen duck trowsers.
25 pounds of thread.
10 pounds linen thread.
1 gross assorted needles.
4 dozen thimbles.
6 gross of pipes.
3 dozen axes.
3 dozen hatchets.
6 reams writing paper.
6 reams letter paper, ete.
2 skimmers.
3 long handled bailers.
2 hand bailers.
1 copper vent- pipe (large ).
1 copper vent- pipe (small).
1 copper tunnel.
2 copper tunnel noses.
1 branding iron (ship’s name).
1 binnacle bell.
1 ship’s bell.
1 tin bailer.
1 tin oil-tunnel.
3 tin assorted tunnels.
2 deck scoops.
1 large signal lantern.
1 bowsprit lantern.
1 side lantern.
2 side lights.
1 globe lantern.
1 cabin lantern.
6 boat lanterns.
1 cook’s lantern.
318 APPENDIX.
1 oil hose and cock.
1 hose-tub.
1 draw - bucket.
1 fin- chain.
3 head-straps.
1 chain stopper.
1 binnacle lamp.
12 chimneys for ditto.
2 blubber-room lamps.
2 candlesticks. 1 fish hook. 2 sets chest hinges.
2 britannia lamps. 4 chain punches. 8 erate bars for try- works.
6 Japan stand-lamps. 1 pair of grains. 4 iron knees for try- works.
8 jacket lamps. 1 rope -jack. 4 smoke pipes for try - works.
6 bake-pans for oven. 28 hooks and thimbles. 2 iron doors for try-works.
6 pie plates. 18 thimbles. 1 caboose stove (large) and ap-
5 large tin pans. 4 boat anchors. paratus.
5 small tin pans. 1 set chain pendants. 1 Horsburgh’s East India Di.
4 dozen sailor pans. 1 fire pike. rectory.
3 coffee - pots. + dozen oil-scoops. 2 trowels.
3 tea-pots. 3 shackles. 1 blubber-room steel.
1 britannia tureen. 3 cutting -togeles. 2 rigging screws.
1 one-pint measure. 1 masthead waif. 12 pairs handcuffs.-
1 one-quart measure. 3 dozen large marline needles. 1 screw cutting-plate and dies.
1 two- quart measure. 3 dozen small marline needles. 20 boat paddles.
1 three-quart measure. 3 dozen roping needles. 6 boat anchors.
1 gallon measure. 5 dozen assorted sail needles. 4 boat grapnels.
1 molasses cup. 1} dozen sewing palms. 6 boat kegs.
6 tinder boxes, complete. 4 balls shoe thread. 4 lantern kegs.
1 brass speaking -trumpet. 20 pounds whipping twine. 4 drags.
1 tin speaking - trumpet. 50 pounds sail twine. 6 line-tubs.
1 pepper-box. 2 pounds lamp-wick, 4 fog-horns.
1 nutmee grater. 2 dozen corks. 1 dozen boat knives.
3 lamp feeders. 4 pounds brimstone. 1 dozen boat hatchets.
2 cullenders. 6 Bath brick. 4 boat crotches.
1 tea canister. 1 side pump leather. 4 tub-oar crotches.
1 coffee canister. 2 sides rigging leather. 4 boat buckets.
3 pudding - bags. 50 pounds cannon powder. 1 dozen nippers.
1 flour- box. 25 pounds musket powder. 4 dozen chock - pins.
2 flour-scoops. 2,000 percussion caps. 1 case bucket.
1 bread - tray. 1 signal-eun. 1 turning -lathe.
2 cook’s dippers. 1 dozen muskets. 1 set turning gouges.
3 tin wash - basins. 2 barrels clay. 1 set turning chisels.
3 spare frying-pans. 1 barrel lime. 3 dozen floats, or coarse files,
1 match safe. 3 barrels tar. for working whalebone.
4 dozen tin pots. 3 barrel rosin. 12 brad -awls.
1 crowbar. 3 try-pots (two sets in the 3 saddler’s awls.
1 stowing bay. try - works ). 3 sewing awls.
12 chain - hooks. 1 deck-pot and 1 spare deck- 4,000 copper tacks.
1 set marking irons for craft. pot. 4,000 iron tacks.
4 grapnels. 4 tons hard coal. 1,000 pounds of tobacco.
3 fluke-chains. 200 bricks. Books for ship’s library.
Norr.—Many of the articles herein enumerated are made on board ship from materials sup-
plied for the purpose, while there are many others of but trivial importance which are not men-
tioned. Relative to the quantity of clothing and recruits—the last named being also called “trade”
—they vary materially with different owners of ships and the nature of the voyage undertaken,
Hence, the lists referred to can only be regarded as approximative. A Cape Horn voyage, as
LIST OF STORES AND OUTFITS. 319
termed, ordinarily involves the time of three years or more. A ship that takes three seasons north,
after arriving in the Pacific, generally prolongs her absence from home to three years and a half.
Sperm whalers are not so much confined to the regular annual seasons for pursuing their prey as
ave the Right or Polar whalemen, as they change from one ground to another through the year,
and their voyages are frequently extended from three and a half to four years. Vessels fitted out
for the North Pacific, Arctic Ocean, Okhotsk Sea, or Japan Sea, generally sail from home in the
fall of the year, in order to make the passage of Cape Horn or Cape of Good Hope during the
summer season of that region; and all whalers, as far as practicable, return to the home coast in
the spring months; yet we may say they are continually coming and going. But the old routine
of whaling-voyages is now much changed, especially with the larger class of vessels which ply their
vocation in the Pacific and contiguous waters. Many of the ships are now ordered by their owners
to San Francisco, California, at the termination of each northern season, where an agent meets the
vessels, and transacts the business of transshipping oil and bone, refitting ship, and changing officers
and crews, which now often occurs.
INDEX.
PAGE
Aleuts, mode of capturing the Sea Lion by. 136
American Whale-fishery, The........... 185-275
whaling commerce........ 185, 209, 240, 241
Anderson on early whaling commerce...... 186
Arctic, Bowheads of the................... 58
ice fields, whales in................... 31
Baidarka (skin-boat)...........00.. 0000005. 46
Baidarra (large open skin-boat)........... 32
Baird's Dolphin. 4 ive segue a asa adelante es 99
Baleena mysticetus, anatomy of ............. 308
Baleen of seven species of whalebone whales. 55
Banded: Seal sachs csegy vee eee aie 140
Barnacle, specieS Of.....0. 00066 c eee e see es 21
Bay, POrpoiseisscieacec a auc bara ncwmnente tare: 95
Bay-whaling, commencement of........... 23
Beale On 8M DereviSssci0s iiae ie ede pe 82
on nature of Sperm Whale food....... 80
Behring Sea, whale first taken in.......... 213
Strait, when ships can pass through.... 59
Belon’s description of Right Whale........ 187
Blache hslian.. 2.2 c.coaastecmsonanerasmeeeconenar sets a) somes 85
Cescrupbron, Of want ised eciieaa gh ah eres Saece 85
HOW ACA DULE Uigee aes aoa be em cade ore 87
MICASUPE MENTS: OL aiid c.d.tiewici Ne ade puemee ena 86
Ou. PROCUCH Offs 21.5 sass Singh einen ears 87
where formerly found and favorite resort. 87
Boat, peculiar form of, used in capture of
the! Seas Obber ..c2c5 Seen ae aeweneoes 170
BOMB OUI s. oti ancwtereinns ape ont ol ens 26
Bottlenosed Grampus...............-0.0055 104
Bowhead, or Great Polar Whale.......... 52-65
Bowheads of the Arctic, classification of.... 58
Of OlehGtske Seay t4skiscae eee aro pees ata 60
Browne, J. Ross, chronological account of
whaling commerce by.............-- 185
Brownsided Dolphin............-...0+ 0405 106
Bryant, Captain, account of the Fur Seal
Dy sisien ect ek ete Sires, Sarath ie 156-163
MARINE MAMMALS.—4I.
|
Pace
SSB UMA CISi x, .94 cutkcen ve dane erage pete ee ee 61
Pb lenss, AB OMe yaa eee a ars Dm rans oer 130
Cachalot (French for Sperm Whale)....... 74
California Academy of Sciences, Proceedings
Bienen ee ye aay ee 21, 38
California Gray Wialé oc.c cccud ew anes coax 20-33
California shore-whaling ........5.0...0005 247
lagoons, whaling in the............... 259
Carmel Bay, whaling station at............ 250
Cetacea of the North Pacific, Catalogue of., 281
Cetaceans, prefatory remarks to........... 17-19
FS\CCH SRG) Za le RC ee AU ae See 18
descending movements of.............. 1)
PLOPUISION NOL. J acu se ae icunaaas Raw gees 19
Secular eiey birhsio bere: Arccsen tse oeeuses oee oe 18
Th GNX COW iS TiaC0 chee RprerVat tek eee NCE oe eee eR 17
timevot eestation: Ofeni cise eae Ys 18
Cuthlestishies sooo one teh oan sea y koe 79
Coo yet S Bis dea rere wares sila ont nena ee einen ee 101
Ceseription: OF noe maak ace ia) see 101
R@BItS Of antes eae yal einen tts atten 101
Where Observed... ik eda. ccmeedea dagen ears 101
GORE: MOMCE- OL WO EA LO MEBs ic otic ers arsenate 169
Dall, W. H., Catalogue of Cetacea of North
WaciiGest sauce chat nek ane ea seueeueen Tae 281
description of parasites by....... 21, 38, 57
Desolation Island, hunting the Sea Elephant
Tay Roy eee er ae coe sle ce evar eget ear oy 122-123
Dolphin, Of ei. canta cee 66
Sharpheaded Finner, description of.... 49
habitat and habits of......... mueath OM
measurements of..,..... 5.2.50 0085 50
movements and foetus of .......... 49
Sperm, description and size of......... 74
ferocity: Olea vetiat evs es aeeny termes 78
habitat Ol etacnntve oe oes See eee eas 77
habits Of. okie easiness acne 75
manner of cutting-iIn a............ 236
PaGE
Whale, Sperm, manner of feeding......... 79
manner of suckling young......... 74
NHAvULe OF LOO Ob. saan Bee ue: 80
vessels destroyed by.............. 78
when first captured in the Pacific.. 209
when first discovered on the Japan
CODS DE ce aii cies Bets caeietedeen tue ara. 212
yleld (Of Olle wien ct ew ane eee 76
Sulphurbottom, baleen of.............. 55
following a Vessels ce we Sy sees Ges 71
size and mode of capture of..70, 72, 73
Wheré found... ws aise wees a 71
Whale, how approached... .acecee etwas 227
OWicap ture de eet goatee Pelee tages Ae 256
manner of capture and trying-out in
CAtly WayS: cc) wk we ae te 191
ships, outfits, and manner of taking the. 216
Whale-boat, how manned................. 226
description of an Esquimaux.......... 31
Whale-fishery, American, early history of.. 202
statistics of for 38 years............... 243
Whale-fishing, origin and ancient mode of. 185
Whale-grounds, Northern Right........... 214
Southern Rag toh caer area ae eats 215
DOSEN: cohen 3 Ate aeh ale wage se le Secor atone 214
Whalemen, Life and Characteristics of Amer-
LG UTI ey as ns areata a) Caner eae NEN de Bi il 252
Whales, by whom first pursued............ 185
in lagoons, manner of taking.......... 266
manner of signaling direction of 230
number captured vac. veres eae eh eee os 251
passing from Atlantic Arctic to Pacific
UNE SCR ae eee eR oer Caen ee ee eA See 0g)
taken off Karaginski Island............ 59
Whale-ship, again to the frozen seas...... 273
distribution of officers and crew of..... 222
SQUID MON t(ORi2 3 tes eerste od ates, 224
how made up, crew of a.............. 255
homeward. bound sect ss oh ects akc 275
outfit of a first-class.............0.0.. 313
outward DOWN. ove nae ee eee een 220
POSt= OMI CES. isaac ten aye 8 Sank 253
FOULING OL (dUby: ON Bilt ic coisas a 226
PECQUISILES HOW ematuraud money wae rks 221
stores and outfits: Of a... 05.6. 00000 es ccan 312
Whale-ships, communication between...... 25
CUOUMCILE: Of sao vate nm etenys oaes ers: 254
history Ol Oldixi we nee caiaeok ee wate han 244
Where: -TeCrinited coc. assis waweeree daar 258
Whaling among the Indians of the North-
western Coast
INDEX.
Pace |
Whsline Bowheads oiecccs.asvsrayavesasen 61 | Whaling, in Tchantar Bay................
California Shore. .2..2 ccna te beaiineds 247 | in the Pacific, first.................
California shore, how prosecuted....... 248 | merchants, early American. ...........
Casualties: OF COASbss. ca caccs ae daa cee: 28 | scene of 1768, description of..........
Commerce, AMEP CAD a. c0n5ecc ey ens 240 | station at Carmel Bay.... a
PesIMMING COE ce enc faves eure beens 185 | voyages of the Dutch and Kuelish.....
eGhie Ol Gahan AH hae geet ee tented 241 | voyage, preparations for a...
sald LY oG Menred aene rete Ramer token avec sea ny Seegeener 209 | voyages to the coast of Peru
fleet of the world in 1842............. 212 | where prosecuted. . :
prounds: Of Indians... 2 .2c2kcte ewe neas 30 | Whitefish, or White Whale.
implements of Indians ............... 30 | CAPUUNE*OLS. scm sceceananes
Andian manner Ofte sect oes dear ee 30 | deseriplom Of... 2 uch e seas
in the Bay of Monteréy......0...2..05. 44 measurements of.....
in the California lagoons.............. 259 where observed..:.......55--
in Magdalena Bay idle Pe eeeetone Wag ise Aw aa 270 Whiteheaded, or Mottled Grampus
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