THE ORDER CETACEA. 85 



small whale, which sunk, apparently dead. The crew 

 applied all their strength to heave it up ; but sudden and 

 violent jerks on the line convinced them that it was 

 still alive. They persevered, and at length brought up 

 two whales in succession, one of which had many turns 

 of the rope wound round its body. Having become 

 entangled under water, it had, in its attempt to escape, 

 been more and more implicated, till, in the effort to 

 escape, it ultimately shared the fate of its companion.* 



The whale is one of those animals which once was 

 considered as fit for the royal dishes, and we are in- 

 formed that in ancient times, whenever one happened 

 to be thrown on the British coast, the king and queen 

 divided the spoil, the king asserting his right to the 

 head, and her majesty to the tail.f And even at the 

 present period it is customary not only with the sovereign 

 of Great Britain, but I believe with all European mo- 

 narchs, to claim any whale, or species of whale, that may 

 be thrown on the coasts of their respective territories ; 

 and I believe this is confirmed to the English potentate 

 by several acts of Parliament.:!; 



* Murray's ** Narrative," &c. p. 401. 



t " Blackstone's Commentaries," 1. c. 4. " Brit. Zool." &c. 

 $ See the observations which conclude the account of the B. rorqual, 

 in confirmation of this statement. 



