Whale-killing With Bombs

The dangerous adventures of whale shipa have been from time imtnemora] a S'jurce of e.vuitf-went to the juvenüe iterary mind from the fact that the lauffhter and capture of the "monarch of the deep" has, until within a few ears, been attended witli dangeis and ïardshipu which were only braved liy lie hardest and mcstcourageous of the ollowers of the sea, but the inventivo t'iiius of man lias of late jears diovered asystem for the capture of' Ihe vhale which is attended with as little anger as an ordinary yachting cruise r íisbing excursión. A small steamer uown us the Daisy WhiteUvv, built tor the purpose of killing whales in the waters contiguous to our barbor, has lor snme time been successf'ully engaged in the c;ipture oí tkese niarnmoth uihabitunts of the sea, and in several voyageB has never failed to kill ftom ne lo iliree of these gigantie animáis, lustend of the time honored and not alwavs effeetive harpoon, a weapon bnown as the bomb-rieket is used, wliich is fired from a taortar and explüdes withln the body of the whale, killingit almost instaiitly. Tlie large tinbück whale receutJy on exhibition at tlie toot of Second street was killed by the gun of' tli is steamer. Tbe whales abound in large numbers at this season of tlie year bet ween the Heads and the Farallone Jslands. Tbe yarieties indigenous to these watera are the finback, liunchback, California gray and sulphur bottorn. The latter is the largest of the wliale species, and one 150 feet long was clmsed by the Whitelaw for several hours, on her last trip, but owing to the f act that it was lookini for feed and very erratic iñ its niovements the gun could not be brought to bear on him. Under ordinary cncumstances an oíd whaler can determine the course of a whale when it disappears under water, and can teil vvithiu a few feet where it wili come up to "blow," but when the whale is looking for food its course undèr. the water cannot be calculiited wiih anv