A species of crab, vulgarly called the whale-louse, the _Oniscus ceti_ of Fabricius, if not the most dangerous, is perhaps the most troublesome of the whale’s enemies. We scarcely took any whales but had one or two of these vermin fastened to them. The _Oniscus ceti_ is about the size of a small crab, and is covered with remarkably hard scales. Head similar to that of the _Pediculus humanus_, with four horns, two of which serve as feelers; the other two are hard, curved, and serve as clinchers to fix the animal to the whale. Underneath its chest, the _Oniscus_ has two carvers, like scythes, with which it collects its food; and behind these are four feet, that serve it for oars. It has six other clinchers behind, which rivet it so closely to the whale, that it cannot be disengaged but by cutting out the entire piece to which it is joined. The _Oniscus_ is jointed in the back like the tail of a lobster, and the tail covers it like a shield when feeding. It fixes itself upon the tenderest part of the whale’s body, between the fins, on the sheath, or on the lips, and in this position tears pieces out of the whale like a rapacious vulture. Dr. Colquhoun gives the following statement of the value of the whale-bone and whale-oil imported into Great Britain in the following years: 1805 £663,535 6 608,206 7 521,240 8 544,567 9 500,715 10 566,967 24th, Latitude at midnight, by observation, 81° 12´ 42´´. Longitude, as near as our incorrect instruments would permit ascertaining, 12° 42´ E. Sea pretty clear of ice, with a considerable swell. 25th and 26th, Continued cruising near the ice in search of whales, and were fortunate enough to capture three, two of which were size fish. 28th, Latitude, by observation, 81° 50´. Sea almost quite clear of ice, with a great swell; weather serene. Had our object been the making of discoveries, there was not _apparently_ any thing to have prevented us from going a good way farther to the north; at least we did not perceive any large fields of ice in that direction; though it is more than probable we should have very soon fallen in with them. We were a little farther north than Captain Phipps, who ran a great risk of being locked up entirely by the ice. He was, in fact, ice-bound from 31st July to 10th August, and during that time the packed ice rose as high as the main-yard. The want of ice in that place, where we then were, was perhaps owing to the effects of some late gale clearing it away. The great swell in the sea appeared to indicate this to have been the case. In my second voyage to this country, in 1807, we could not penetrate higher than 78° 30´. A ridge of ice totally prevented our farther progress. May 29th and 30th, Course nearly E. S. E. towards the Seven Islands. We had on the 30th a considerable quantity of bay ice, and made but little progress. Occasional showers of snow. Saw only one whale.