Transcribe Hornaday, W. T. Letter to Ward, Henry A. (1876-03-06)

red that if you wanted a whale skeleton you would have sent and obtained it from the Atlantic seaboard long ago. Prof Baird got 3, and you can get whatever he can, so I reason that it would not be advisable to get a whale skeleton away down here and ship it nearly 3000 miles, when we are but just commencing our expedition and our means are limited. But if you </u do > want us to get a whale skeleton, telegraph as soon as you receive this, and we will get it before the season closes. I must tell you there is a regular whale fishery at those islands, and from two to fifteen are caught every season. Some are sixty ft. long. The season is from the middle of Jan. to the middle of April. Two have been caught this season, just a week apart.

    We left the islands at 1 A. M. Saturday.

</s you'd > arrived at Port of Spain - 16 miles at 6 o'clock and at 7, took the steamer "Alice" to the pitch lake, 30 miles down the coast. Fare each way 3s 3d. steerage, which we took of course. Arrived at 11 A. M. and walked to the lake - a mile inland. Had just 3 1/2 hours to stay. Took a gun, but saw not a single specimen. Set to work and cut out a big block of pitch with a pick and hatchet. as near as we could guess at a cwt. But it has grown heavier since and will now weigh about 120 lbs. The chunk is about 2 ft long, and a foot square on the end. We had a 1 dead certainty on that and knew we did not make a mistake in getting it. By dint of sharp practise we smuggled it aboard the steamer just in the nick of time, at a cost of only 5 s, which was paid for hauling it