CHAPTER XIX. ANIMALS OF COMMERCE-GAME-FISH SEA AND LAND ANIMALS-GROWING SCARCE-THE CAUSE THE WHALING FLEET-WHALES OF THE ARCTIC DESCRIBED PERILOUS SPORT-THRILLING EXPERIENCE OF AN UNSUCCESSFUL CATCHDEATH OF ONE OF THE WHALERS-THE PURSUIT OF WHALES-WHALE SHIPS-HOW WHALES ARE HUNTED “There She BLOWS"—THE HARPOON -HOW THE SPECIES ARE DETERMINED VALUE OF THE CATCH-THE WALRUS OF BERING SEAPOLAR BEARS-FUR SEALS THE MOOSE-THE CARIBOU THE REINDEER-MOUNTAIN SHEEPOTHER ANIMALS BIRDS FISHES SALMON CANNERIES-PRODUCTION OF 1900. - - The coming of the great whaling ships and the trading schooners, and the use of improved firearms by the natives, have wrought havoc among the wild animals of Alaska. The larger sea animals flee to the waters of the far north every spring, hoping thereby to escape the destructive bombs and harpoons of the whalers, and the few remaining land animals have been driven to isolated spots far into the interior by their relentless foe, the natives, who hunt them persistently for food and clothing. One may travel for weeks along the coast, up the streams, over the tundra and through the woodlands of Arctic Alaska without seeing an animal larger than a muskrat or a ground squirrel, and should the traveler carry a rifle he would probably find it a useless incumbrance, and to lighten his pack, would likely trade off the gun to the first aboriginal he chanced to meet. A large whaling fleet from San Francisco cruises annually in the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and the whale is hunted with unrelenting vigor. The whales are generally found in the immediate vicinity of the ice, except the species known as the fin-backed whales, which linger in the waters of Bering Sea long after the ice has left the straits. The reason that the fin-back is not hunted by whalers is that this species has no commercial value. Whales in the northern waters which have such value are the right, the spermaceta, the bowheaded and the humpbacked. These are hunted by the whalers for their oil and bone. The right whale will exceed occasionally seventy-five feet in length, but not often. Those found in the Arctic waters usually measure from 40 to 60 feet in length by 30 to 40 feet in circumference. The largest of this species ever caught in these waters had a length of 80 feet. Ordinarily, a right whale will produce in the neighborhood of fifteen hundred pounds of bone, and from forty to sixty barrels of oil. They feed swimming on the surface, upon very small animals known as animalcula, so small that they are nearly invisible to the naked eye. The mouth of the right whale is an organ of peculiar structure. It is 16 to 20 feet long, 6 to 8 feet wide, and 10 to 12 feet high, inside. The mouth. contains no teeth, but it is filled with baleen or whalebone. The tongue is large, 10 to 12 feet long and 4 feet through, soft and fatty, and it has been known to make ten barrels of oil. The gullet is scarcely six inches in width. The eyes are small. The tail is 6 or 8 feet long and 20 to 25 feet wide, and is wielded with immense power. They come to the surface every few minutes, blow a number of times, flap their tails and again disappear under water. The sperm whales of the Arctic are about the same size as the right whales. The head of the sperm whale comprises nearly one-third of the whole body. The mouth has an opening of more than ten feet in width, and the gullet is fully capable of swallowing a man as large as the Hebrew Jonah. There is no baleen or whalebone in the sperm whale's mouth. The lower jaw is practically solid bone, containing about fifty ivory teeth, from six to nine inches in length. The eyes are larger than those of the right whale, and the tongue thick and soft. The blubber is white and hard, and will yield from 50 to 150 barrels of oil, according to the size and condition of the animal. A sperm whale caught in Bering Sea some years ago produced 165 barrels of oil. The sperm whale feeds upon squids and mollusks, commonly known as cuttle-fishes, which abound in vast quantities in the northern waters, and which are often used by fishermen as bait. This whale can stay under water from forty to fifty minutes and come up fresh and vigorous, while the right whale must come to the surface every ten minutes. The sperm will stay on the surface of the water longer than the right whale, and for this reason the former is more easily captured than the latter. The sperm whale will spout from forty to fifty times, and will allow a boat with a fair breeze to go a mile before he will descend. But on the other hand the sperm whale is more dangerous to attack than any other. Though naturally timid, it becomes furious when wounded, and its enormous head and ponderous fluke, sometimes prove fatal to the venturesome whale men. Hunting the sperm whale is always an exciting and oft-times a very perilous sport. When struck by the harpoon, the massive body may, and usually does, at once dive into the sea and start with a rush to get away, instinctively striking at the same time with the fluke in the direction of the attack. The latter danger is usually avoided by immediately backing the boat, but if successful in this, there are other dangers to be guarded against. The flight of the whale causes the line attached to the harpoon to pay out with startling rapidity, and in such case a defective coil or a projection or rough place on its surface coming in contact with the gunnels, will surely capsize the boat and hurl its occupants into the sea. The line requires careful attention in other respects. The diving and fleeing whale moves with such velocity, that water must be constantly poured upon the line to keep it from setting the boat on fire by its friction. Again, when wounded, the whale may become aggressive, and then it requires stout hearts, cool heads, and steady and skillful management on the part of the boat-crew to escape the onslaught of the formidable head, or ever dangerous fluke. To the writer have been described many instances of the thrilling experiences of whalers in the pursuit of their calling. One of these was related by Captain George F. Allen, of New Bedford, Mass., as having occurred on one of his many whaling cruises. Sighting one day a large sperm whale, he at once ordered the boats to be lowered for its capture. Cautiously approaching the unsuspecting prey, the harpooner in the bow of the captain's boat made ready for his work. The throw was successful, but the instant the harpoon struck, the monster of the Arctic raised his fluke, and striking a tremendous blow, cut the boat completely in two, amidships, dashing the men into the water. Five of the wrecked crew succeeded in gaining temporary support by clinging to the afterpart of the broken boat, but one of them, to the astonishment of his companions, was caught by the line and becoming entangled in its meshes, was seen to disappear from sight. The course taken by the whale carried it directly under the center of the boat, and Seaman Perry, of Wareham, Mass., was thus instantly snatched away. Everything possible was done for the man's rescue, the line was cut, and other boats were sent out on patrol to pick him up if he should rise, but without avail. As surely and as quickly as did the legendary youth, who ventured once too often to recover the royal amulet from the genii of the sea, this unfortunate sailor went down into the depths, helpless in the fatal suction whirling in the wake of the whale. The animal was chased all day, but rendered wary by the first assault, would not give the opportunity for another, and the chase was abandoned. No trace of the man being found by the boatmen they were compelled to leave to his fate, one of the best liked and sturdiest young men of the crew. The bow-headed whale, so called because of the shape of the head, yields more bone than any of the other species. The baleen is also longer and of finer quality, and so brings a better price in the market than that of any other. The oil is the same in quality as that of the other varieties. The bow-headed whale yields on an average about 1,500 pounds of bone. They have been known to produce as high as 3,000 pounds. From 100 to 150 barrels of oil is generally netted from the bow-head, yet sometimes they yield 200 barrels. The oil is worth about 50 cents a gallon and the bone about $6.00 a pound. The bowhead is the ice whale; the ice sea is their nursery and they herd most numerously in the Arctic Ocean around Point Barrow. They are extremely hard to capture, being shy and quick in their move |