It will
then require the same expensive support, or to be abandoned.
2. The Groenland whale oil is next in quality. It resists
coagulation by cold to 36 degrees of Farenheit and 2 degrees of
Reaumur; but it has a smell insupportable within doors, and is not
luminous. It sells therefore in London at about 16l. the ton. This
whale is clumsy and timid, he dives when struck, and comes up to
breathe by the first cake of ice, where the fishermen need little
address or courage to find and take him. This is the fishery mostly
frequented by European nations; it is this fish which yields the fin
in quantity, and the voyages last about 3. or 4. months.
3. The third quality is that of the small Brazil whale. He was
originally found on the coast of Nantucket, and first led that people
to this pursuit. He retired first to the banks of Newfoundland, then
to the western islands; and is now found within soundings on the
coast of Brazil, during the months of December, January, February and
March. This oil chills at 50 degrees of Farenheit and 8 degrees of
Reaumur, is black and offensive, worth therefore but 13l. the ton in
London. In warm summer nights however it burns better than the
Groenland oil.
The qualities of the oils thus described, it is to be added
that an individual has discovered methods 1.
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