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In: Travel Writing·Nature/Gardening/Animals
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #67446.
The work is a detailed, first‑person account of the author’s involvement in the modern whaling and bear‑hunting industries at the turn of the twentieth century. It opens with a description of a June wind at Balta Sound in Shetland, where the steam‑whaler Haldane lies anchored amid herring‑drifters, and immediately establishes the narrator’s dual perspective as both artist and historian. From this point the book proceeds through a systematic, chapter‑by‑chapter chronicle of the planning, construction, and operation of contemporary whaling vessels, the economics of the Southern‑sea whaling boom, and the parallel Arctic pursuits of bear and seal hunting. The opening passages ground the narrative in the author’s own expedition to the Antarctic in 1892, linking the historic voyage with the later commercial enterprises that dominate the first part of the volume, while the second part shifts to the Arctic, offering observations on traditional harpooning techniques and the logistics of bear capture.
The voice is that of a seasoned seafarer who writes with the precision of a naturalist and the vividness of a sketch‑artist. The prose blends technical detail, such as descriptions of harpoon guns, hull design, and whale anatomy, with lively anecdote, nautical slang, and occasional humor. Its period diction reflects late‑Victorian and Edwardian sensibilities, making it a compelling read for readers interested in maritime history, the development of industrial whaling, or the adventurous spirit of polar exploration. Those who enjoy richly illustrated travelogues, detailed industry reports, and the gritty realism of early twentieth‑century adventure writing will find this volume both informative and evocative.
The opening · free to read
The readers of this book will be interested to learn that the expedition from Dundee which set out for the Antarctic regions in 1892 to the Weddell Sea, south and east of Graham’s Land, and in which the author of the present volume took part, was the first of its kind since the famous expedition commanded by Sir James Ross in 1842. Dr W. S. Bruce, the distinguished polar traveller and oceanographer, was the scientific naturalist, and Mr Burn Murdoch, the author of this volume, was the artist and historian of the expedition, which is described by his pen in “From Edinburgh to the Antarctic.” It consisted of three whaling vessels specially built of great strength to withstand ice pressure, barque rigged and fitted with auxiliary steam power. They were accompanied by a Norwegian barque of similar type. The chief object of the expedition was the capture of the Right or Bowhead whale by old methods, from small boats. For three months these vessels were continuously amongst the thick pack ice and enormous bergs on the east side of Graham’s Land.
The publication of the above-mentioned book, and lectures by Dr Bruce and Mr Burn Murdoch, revived both at home and abroad interest in the Antarctic regions, and in 1897 the Belgica expedition followed in their wake, and this again was followed by expeditions of various European nations.
During the expedition of 1892-1893 vast numbers of the largest-sized finner whales were observed in the neighbourhood of Erebus and Terror Gulf, and between South Georgia and the South Shetland Islands. The report brought home of these whales being in such numbers led to the development of the present great whaling industry in the Southern Seas. Companies were formed and modern steam whalers were sent South to hunt these powerful rorquals or finner whales. The extent of this industry and the methods of modern whaling are described in the first part of this volume.
In the second part, which is concerned principally with bear-hunting in the Arctic regions, some description is also given of the old style of harpooning narwhals from small boats.
The publication of this volume has been held over owing to the war. Part of the text was printed off, and it contains references to events, current at the time, which, without this explanation, might puzzle the reader. The prices of the products of the whaling industry are for the same reason more up to date in the Appendix than in the text.
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