204 A BOOK OF WHALES 



attacked one after another a number of boats which 

 had left the vessel for its capture, giving chase to each. 

 Captain Scammon thinks that in some cases vessels 

 which have been mysteriously lost at sea have been 

 sunk by Cachalots. The at least occasional ferocity 

 of Cachalots is emphasised by a name given to such 

 whales; they are spoken of as "eating whales." 



FIG. 27. SPERM WHALE (?) ATTACKING A SHIP. 



(From Olaus Magnus.) 



It may be that the males, as in so many other kinds 

 of animals, fight for the females, and that the black 

 bulk of a whaling vessel may be mistaken for one 

 of their own kind ; the solitary males which are thus 

 ferocious may further be comparable to " rogue " 

 elephants driven out of the herd by their companions. 

 A species, called by Dr. Gray Pliyseter tursio> 



