The reader will be interested in the following account of The Whale Fishery.

As when enclosing harpooners assail,

In hyperborean seas, the slumbering whale;

Soon as their javelins pierce the scaly side,

He groans, he darts impetuous down the tide;

And rack'd all o'er with lacerating pain,

He flies remote beneath the flood in vain. Falconer.

Whales are chiefly caught in the North Sea: the largest sort are found about Greenland, or Spitzbergen. At the first discovery of this country, whales not being used to be disturbed, frequently came into the very bays, and were accordingly killed almost close to the shore, so that the blubber being cut off, was immediately boiled into oil on the spot. The ships, in those times, took in nothing but the pure oil and the fins. and all the business was executed in the country ; by which means, a ship could bring home the product of many more whales, than she can according to the present method of conducting this trade. The fishery also was then so plentiful. that they were obliged sometimes to send other ships to fetch off the oil they had made, the quantity being more than the fishing ships could bring away. But time and change of circumstances have shifted the situation of this trade. The ships coming in great numbers from Holland, Denmark, Hamburgh. and other northern countries, all intruders upon the English. who were the first discoverers of Greenland, disturbed the whales, which gradually, as other fish often do, forsaking the place, were not to be killed so near the shore as before; but they are now found, and have been so ever since, in the openings and spaces among the ice, where they have deep water. and where they go sometimes a great many leagues from the shore.

The whale fishery begins in May, and continues all June and July; but whether the ships have good or bad success. they must come away, and get clear of the ice by the end of August, so that in the month of September, at farthest, they may be expected home; but a ship that meets with a fortu-nate and early fishery in May, may return in June or July.

The manner of taking whales at present is as follows : As soon as the fishermen hear the whale blow, they cry out, Fall! fall and every ship gets out its long-boat, in each of which there are six or seven men, who row till they become pretty near the whale; then the harpooner strikes it with the har-poon : this requires great dexterity, for through the bone of his head there is no striking, but near his spout there is a soft piece of flesh, into which the iron sinks with ease. As soon as he is struck, they take care to give him rope enough. otherwise, when he goes down, as he frequently does, he would inevitably sink the boat: this rope he draws with such vio-lence, that, if it were not well watered, it would, by its friction against the sides of the boat, be soon set on fire. The line fastened to the harpoon is six or seven fathoms long, and is called the fore-runner; it is made of the finest and softest hemp, that it may slip the easier: to this they join a heap of lines of 90 or 100 fathoms each, and when there are not enough in one long-boat, they borrow from another. The man at the helm observes which way the rope goes, and steers the boat accordingly, that it may run exactly out before; for the whale runs away with the line with so much rapidity, that he would overset the boat if it were not kept straight. When the whale is struck, the other long-boats row before, and observe which way the line stands, and sometimes pull it: if they feel it stiff, it is a sign the whale still pulls in strength; but if it hangs loose, and the boat lies equally high before and behind upon the water, they pull it in gently, but take care to coil it, that the whale may have it again easily, if he recovers strength: they take care, however, not to give him too much line, because he sometimes entangles it about a rock, and pulls out the harpoon. The fat whales do not sink as soon as dead, but the lean ones do, and come up some days afterwards. As long as they see whales, they lose no time in cutting up what they have taken, yet keep fishing for others: when they see no more, or have taken enough, they begin with taking off the fat and whiskers in the following manner. The whale being lashed alongside, they lay it on one side, and put two ropes, one at the head and the other in the place of the tail, (which, together with the fins, is struck off as soon as he is taken,) to keep those extremities above water. On the off-side of the whale are two boats, to receive the pieces of fat, utensils, and men, that might otherwise fall into the water on that side. These precautions being taken, three or four men, with irons at their feet to prevent slipping, get on the whale, and begin to cut out pieces of about three feet thick and eight long, which are hauled up at the capstan 01 windlass. When the fat is all cut off, they cut off the whiskers of the upper jaw with an axe, previously lashing them together to keep them firm, which also facilitates the cutting, and prevents them from falling into the sea; when on board, five or six of them are bundled together, and properly stowed: and after all is got off, the carcase is turned adrift, and devoured by the bears, who are very fond of it. In proportion as the large pieces of fat are cut off, the rest of the crew are employed in slicing them smaller, and picking out all the lean. When this is prepared, they stow it under the deck, where it lies till the fat of all the whales is on board i then cutting it still smaller, they put it up in tubs in the held, cramming them very full and close. Nothing now remains but to sail homewards, where the fat is to be boiled, and melted down into train oil.

During the summer of 1821, an attempt was made to kill whales with Sir William Congreve's rockets. The trial was conducted by William Scoresby, Esq. who took out with him, on board of the Fame, in which he sailed, several rockets, by way of experiment. Success attended his expectation; and little doubt can remain, if they continue to be skilfully applied, that the danger attending the harpoon will be nearly done away; and, consequently, this valuable branch of commerce will be essentially benefited by the discovery.

The Whale Fishery. The Engraving Represents The Lancing Of The Whale, Who Has Already Been Narpooned, And Is In A Dying State In His Last Struggles He Has Broken One Of The Whalers' Boats.