THE SPERMACETI CACHALOT. 95 



are frequently seen containing two hundred or more 

 individuals. Such herds, with the exception of two 

 or three old males, are composed of females, who 

 appear to be under the direction of the males. The 

 males are distinguished by the whalers as bulls; the 

 females they call cows. The bulls attack with great 

 violence, and inflict dreadful injuries upon other 

 males of the species, which attempt to join their herd. 

 These animals live separately, while young, accord- 

 ing to their age and sex. The young and half 

 grown males are found by themselves; the old cows 

 protect the young females. "When the young bulls 

 attain sufficient strength, they venture into a herd 

 under the protection of some old bulls, an intrusion 

 that is said to produce a severe contest, by which 

 they succeed in gaining admittance to, or are driven 

 from the herd. 



The mode of attacking these animals is as fol- 

 lows: — Whenever a number of them are seen, 

 four boats* each provided with two or three lines, 

 two harpoons, four lances and a crew of six men, 

 proceed in pursuit, and, if possible, each boat strikes 

 or " fastens to" a distinct animal, and each crew 

 kill their own. When engaged in distant pursuit, the 

 harpooner generally steers the boat, and in such 

 cases the proper boat steerer occasionally strikes, 

 but the harpooner mostly kills it. If one cacha- 

 lot of a herd is struck, it commonly takes the lead 

 and is followed by the rest. The one which is 

 etruck, seldom descends far under water, but gene- 



