Sketcher.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 423, 2 June 1904, Page 7

Sketcher.

.„ SOMA NCB S^ T W »H be news to most people that ■ WiS Norwe K i * a ships, with cannon esgg mounted upon them, resort to a harbour in the British Islands, and—as lis the old piratical days—make raids therefrom upon their prey. Moreover, thfc whole business has arisen by the adaptation of modern engineering methods) to whale hunting—an industry wherein /the former, at first sight, would appear tb have no possible utility. It is bretty generally known that the ' true,' whale has become almost extinct n the seas, where it once flourished in great numbers. But it is Icsb common, knowledge that the rorqual, or 'blue' whale, is of even larger size than either the black whale or the cachalot, which are the chief otjectß of pursuit, and are still the most valuable on account of the bone | they yield. The rorqual, however, will I give almost an much oil, and that it bas hardly ever, up to recent years, been capturad is due to two characteristics peculiar to itself. One is that it is essentially a fighting fish, and possesses stamina and cunning that make it a most dangerous enemy to attack by ordinary methods. The second reason is that, when vitally injured, it sinks to the bottom, whilst other whales usually float. Therefoie, it is only since the engineer has been available that the rorqual has been profitably tackled, and it is the Norwegians who have solved the problem. They fish, of course, from their own coasts, but for some seasons past they have also established a station at Bona Noe, a creek on the island known as the Mainland of Shetland. To this spot they send in spring a small army of men, together with materials for huts and factories, for the erections are almost all of a temporary nature. "When these are complete a little Equadron of steamers reaches the Voe j two having mortar-like guns mounted forward, and the other craft in attendance. The two fighting craft set out as soon as maybe, and a very few hours steaming puts them on their battle ground. Here, for a long time, the engineers were checkmated, They had planned steamers to follow the rorqual, cannon to Kill it, and elaborate machinery to mince its flesh and extract the oil, but the creature evaded them for the simple reason -that even with a harpoon shot deep into its huge body, and a cable attaching it to the ship, not all the power of .the engines could keep the fish from towing the steamer where it would, and probably finally breaking away. It wae not until a bomb was attached to the barpoon that the rorqual was conquered. Now the vessel is navigated close to the object oil attack, the barbed and bombed harpoon is fired at a vital spot, the bomb explodes in the great animal's interior, and it usually dies instantly. Then trouble begins, for the carcase drops like lead, and steam has to be turned full into the winches to haul it to the surface and alongside. It would not pay to flense or cut it up; there, however, so the engineer has hit on a plan to make the rorqual float, spite of itself. A tube is sunk into the carcass and connected with the engines, which pump air into the body;; the original wound being of course plugged up. Then a rope is attached and either the fighting boat or one of its attendants tows the whale back into the Voe. There it is hauled ashore, the bone is removed for what it is worth, and the blubber, cut off in huge pieces, is consigned to gigantic steam-driven mincers, and from them to great boilers, whence the oil is extracted. The contrast of all this to the danger, the dirt, the odour, and the less of carrying out the same processes on the narrow area of a ship's deck, as in the old days, can only be realised by those who have' seen the latter operation as the writer has done. It can never be a pretty, or even a cleanly performance, but for the improvements that have taken place, and for the conquest of that, greatest of living organisms the rorqual, the engineer as whaler is entitled to credit.