FOOTNOTES:
[1] They affirm that this part of the coast has never since been frequented by those venomous creatures, although they are quite common in other parts of the kingdom. Credat cui placeat.
[2] Planctus illisæ cautibus undæ.
[3] The funeral piles.
[4] Shetland sheep seem to be peculiarly calculated for an insular situation, hence they are distinguished by Sir John Sinclair by the name of “Island sheep.”
“It has been lately discovered that the skin of this breed, with the fleece on, may be prepared so as to make a beautiful fur; and their excellent quality may probably make them fit to be converted into morocco leather, the raw material of which cannot easily be procured in sufficient quantities.” Vid. Report of the Society for Improvement of British Wool.
[5] Divitiæ eis sunt a mari, ab omni parte summa piscandi commoditate objecta. Buch. lib. 1. § 50.
[6] The Dutch formerly carried on this fishery very extensively. It has, however, been on the decline with them ever since the year 1703. They had then about 500 busses in Shetland, under the convoy of four ships of war, but a French fleet of six ships of war sent out for the purpose, fell in with the Dutch, and, an engagement taking place, the Dutch Admiral’s ship was sunk, on which the remaining three ran away and made their escape; whereupon, the French fleet sailed for the entry of Bressay Sound, sent their boats into the bay, and burned and destroyed about 400 of the Dutch fishing vessels, sparing only a number barely sufficient to carry home the crews of the whole.
“—— Ignemque Laremque
Et pecus et dominos communi clauderet umbra.”—Juvenal.
[8] These animals have been found here, lying huddled together, a thousand in a heap.
[9] The altitude of one near the Black Point, south end, was found, by the megameter, to be 1503 yards. Phipps’ Voyages, p. 87.
[10] Fab. Faun. Groenland. edit. 1780, p. 24.
[11] Fabr. loc. cit.
[12] Tam brumali, quam aestivo tempore occurrit extra praedans. Fab. loc. cit.
[13] Hieme etiam barbam albam, ut hircus habet. Fab. de Cerv. Tarand.
[14] Vocem habet triplicem: esurientis ejulando: coire volenti clamando, periclitantis murmurando.
[15] Under this general appellation, I include the seal, walrus or morse, dugon, &c.
[16] Perhaps Pliny has hit the truth, “Parit nunquam geminis plures.” Nat. Hist. lib. 9. § 13.
[17] Sternunt se somno diversæ in littore Phocæ. Georg. lib. 4.
[18] Pennant’s Quadrupeds, vol. ii. p. 272.
[19] Apol. Rhod. lib. 1. Val. Flac. lib. 5: lin. 440. Gaudebant armine Phocæ.
[20] The largest we caught was only thirteen feet long and seven round.
[21] This account is conformable to that given by the greatest number of writers, but Fabricius seems to be of a different opinion as to the ferocity of the walrus. “Improviso vulneratus infeslat; venatore autem præviso fugit.” Faun. Groenl. p. 5.
[22] Faun. Groenl. p. 104.
[23] The Dutch, in the space of forty-six years caught 32,900 whales, the oil and whalebone of which sold for about £15,800,000. Malte Brun, tom. v. 298.
[24] Phipps, p. 195.
[25] Cancer pedatus et oculatus. Faun. Groenl. p. 33.
[26] Br. Zool. Edit. 1769, vol. iii. p. 37.
[27] Faun. Groenl. loc. cit.
[28] Blackstone, vol. i. p. 223. Edit. 1783.
[29] Compare Fab. de Bal. Myst. with Arrian, Hist. Ind. § 29 and 30.
[30] Congreditur corpore erecto, capite supra aquam prominente. Faun. Groenl. loc. cit.
[31] Hist. Ind. § 29 and 30.
[32] Fifteen hundred fathoms.
[33] There is at the Stadthouse at Amsterdam, the skull of a Narwhal, with two horns. There is likewise a skull to be seen in Hamburgh, having two horns, each above seven feet long, and eight inches round.
[34] Forst. Voy. p. 353.
[35] See Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
[36] Twenty-four whalemen were taken by the British in the late war.
[37] The intrepidity of the Finmarker, and the dangers he has to encounter in the chase of the seal, are well described in Acerbi’s excellent Travels in the North, vol. i. p. 291.
[38] A field of thirty nautical miles square surface, and thirteen feet in thickness, would weigh somewhat more than is here mentioned. Allowing it to displace the water in which it floats, to the depth of eleven feet, the weight would appear to be 10,182,857,142, nearly in the proportion of a cubic foot of sea water to 64 lbs.
[39] “I accompanied my father, on this voyage, in the capacity of chief mate.”
[40] The sledges might consist of slender frames of wood, with the ribs of some quadruped, and coverings of water-proof skins, or other materials equally light.
[41] “See Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea.”