Enter the Bay of La Madeleine, whatever the weather, is a highlight! What strikes me the most is its sharp mountains, a kind of fortress that surround this small fjord. It is also noticed that the Dutchman Willem Barents in 1596 when he entered the Baie de la Madeleine during his journey in search of the Northwest Passage is. He also named this island until then unknown named Spitsbergen translate "pointed mountains". It is then another browser Henry Hudson sailing in the waters around Spitsbergen (still believing in passing that this land was connected to Greenland), mentioned in his diary, that whales are as many "carp pond." That phrase too, whalers rushing around Spitsbergen, the Basques, the Dutch and the English to embark this new El Dorado. La Baie de la Madeleine bears the traces of this history of whaling, not less than 130 graves are present. In most cases it was men died of scurvy or accidents related to the hunt itself. There was not, however, installation whaling station, except a great camp. When a whale was spotted, canoes each with five men aboard, was launched from a main vessel. Of these five men, four were the rowers, the fifth the harpooner. He had the task, aiming to better the harpooned whale that once plunged in an attempt to escape his pursuers. The harpoon was connected to a rope that would not only keep in touch with the whale, but also where and when it would resurface before being harpooned again! After the unfortunate dead from exhaustion and / or drained of blood, the men brought her back to the bay to cut it into pieces. The main interest for them was to melt the fat to make fuel for such street lighting in many major cities. To transform fat, cut pieces were mixed with water in a large pot, itself embedded in a large oven stone. The process for obtaining oil free from all impurities (gravel, salt, invertebrates ...) it was enough to collect on the surface of the pot. Once in barrel, the oil was then exported by ship.
These are also the remains of the past that add a little more charm to the Bay de la Madeleine. Although they refer to a dark period for the whales, they are truths that must be men, their struggles, their sufferings and their hopes ...