Description

Monochrome copper engraving showing how the inhabitants of the island of St. Maria, near Madagascar, catch whales. In the background is a party of men on a boat, clad in leaf skirts, pulling rope attached to a hook in a whale. In front of them is an upturned boat and three men swimming to shore beside it, and another boat with men rowing towards the whale; one holds the harpoon-like device, consisting of a hook attached to a long pole with a rope attached to the pole. In the foreground, three men, also in leaf skirts, work on cutting up a dead whale on shore; one of the men holds the rope of the harpoon, still stuck under the whale's flipper. At right is a man in a leaf skirt, earring, and leaf collar, holding some manner of plank, in conversation with a topless woman who points towards the whale. To the left, behind the tail of the whale, is a pair of men in European clothes of the period, watching the scene. The engraving shows great skill in depiction of human figures in a variety of poses, as well as extremely unusual accuracy (for the pre-ca.1750 period) in its depictions of whales.