Newfoundland and New England, over which nations have wrangled for centuries, are in the cold water from Davis' Strait. The fisheries of Japan and Eastern China, which almost, if not quite, rival these, are situated also in the cold water. Neither India, nor the east coasts of Africa and South America, where the warm waters are, are celebrated for their fish.
769. Value of the fisheries.—Three thousand American vessels, it is said, are engaged in the fisheries. If to these we add the Dutch, French, and English, we shall have a grand total, perhaps, of not less than six or eight thousand, of all sizes and flags, engaged in this one pursuit. Of all the industrial pursuits of the sea, however, the whale fishery is the most valuable. Wherefore, in treating of the physical geography of the sea, a map for the whales, it was thought, would be useful: it has so proved itself.
770. Sperm whales.—The sperm whale is a warm-water "fish". The right whale delights in cold water. An immense number of log-books of whalers have been discussed at the National Observatory with the view of detecting the parts of the ocean in which the whales are to be found at the different seasons of the year. Charts showing the results have been published; they form a part of the series of Maury's Wind and Current Charts.
771. A sea of fire to them.—In the course of these investigations, the discovery was made that the torrid zone is, to the right whale, as a sea of fire, through which he cannot pass; that the right whale of the northern hemisphere and that of the southern are two different animals; and that the sperm whale has never been known to double the Cape of Good Hope—he doubles Cape Horn.
772. Right whales.—With these remarks, and the explanation given on Plate IX., the parts of the ocean to which the right whale most resorts, and the parts in which the sperm are found, may be seen at a glance. The sargassos, or places of weed, are also represented on this plate.
