Natural History in the English Counties, 199 



attached to his tail, and thus promised to become an easily conquered prize. 

 He was forthwith fastened to the vessel and taken in tow. In about half 

 an hour, however, the tables were turned, the deep water having by that 

 time so much renovated his power, that it was soon apparent he was the 

 stronger swimmer of the two, as he actually towed the ship stern foremost 

 a considerable distance. This trial of strength between two such large 

 floating bodies, so slightly connected, could not last long ; the cable broke, 

 and he regained his liberty. Respecting his ultimate capture and death, 

 Mr. Gould's account differs but little. The whale lay upon his side, and 

 not upon his back ; which position Mr. Gould thinks it impossible for him 

 to assume, from the sharp ridge of the dorsal hne. His death was promptly 

 effected by a seaman in the preventive service, who had served on board a 

 whaler, thrusting a spear in a proper direction, and putting an instantaneous 

 stop to his sufferings. 



This whale, which was a male, belongs to that subdivision of the ceta- 

 ceous animals which are distinguished by their heads being, in appearance, 

 enormously disproportioned to their bodies, occupying about one third of 

 the entire length. Of these there are only two genera, the Physeter, or 

 cachalot, and the ^alae'na, or whalebone whale; and it is to the former 

 that the individual in question belongs. Although these huge monsters of 

 the deep are found occasionally in almost all seas, and migrate, in a limited 

 manner, at 'particular seasons, they very rarely approach the temperate 

 coasts of Europe, their principal locality being the Frozen Ocean. The 

 following instances of their so doing are, however, on record : — A cacha- 

 lot was seen off the Kentish coast in 1769 ; during the life of Sir Thomas 

 Brown (who died in 1774), a very large one was stranded on the coast of 

 Norfolk; in March, 1784, thirty-two young ones were cast on shore, during 

 a violent gale, near Audierne, in France ; and, about twelve years ago, a 

 small one was captured in the river Thames, just above Gravesend. 



The present subject of consideration may be considered as nearly full 

 grown, being 65 ft. in length, and 36 ft. in circumference. In Griffith's 

 translation of Cuvier's Rbgne Animal^ upwards of 70 ft. is mentioned, as 

 their usual length, and 52 ft. 3 in. as their circurgference ; yet, I believe, 

 they are seldom captured exceeding in size the subject of the present 

 article; and it is rather singular, unless a different species had been measured, 

 that Mr. Griffith assigns 1 5 ft. as the length of the lower j'aw, which was 

 precisely that of our smaller specimen. The whale in question yielded 

 9 tons of oil and a considerable quantity of spermaceti : much of both 

 was, however, unfortunately lost, by oozing out of the wounds, in the in- 

 terval between its death and fiencing^ as the cutting up is termed by the 

 whale fishermen. The value of the oil is stated to be 80/. per ton, making 

 the animal worth 720/., exclusive of the spermaceti. As soon as the prize 

 was secured, the fortunate men despatched one of their comrades to towli, 

 to oflPer it for sale for 200/. It is said that he succeeded in his mission, 

 but, by some accident, not returning at the time expected, it was sold to 

 Messrs. Enderby and Sturge, of Thames Street, for 60 guineas, the first 

 purchaser relinquishing his claim ; and copj)ers being erected on the beach 

 by Mr. Sturge*s men, the operation of cutting up and boiling the blubber 

 commenced five days after its death : but, even in that short interval, the 

 internal parts had become so insufferably putrid, that the intestines, which 

 were three cart-loads, were carried away and spread on the fields as manure. 

 Mr. Gould afterwards examined these exuviae, in the hope of discovering 

 ambergris, but was disappointed. This recalls to mind the quaint observation 

 of Sir Thomas Brown upon a similar occasion, as quoted by Dr. Shaw in 

 his General Zoology (vol. ii. part ii. p. 500.) : " In vain it was to rake for 

 ambergriese in the paunch of this leviathan, as Greenland discoverers and 

 attests of experience dictate that they sometimes swallow great lumps 

 thereof in the sea, insufferable foetor forbidding that enquiry ; and yet, if, as 



