470 ACCOUNT OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



In some of the mysticete, the head measures four- 

 teiiths of the whole length of the animal ; in others 

 scarcely three-tenths ; in some the circumference is 

 upwards of seven-tenths of the length ; in others less 

 than six-tenths, or little more than one-half 



The sexual intercourse of whales is often ohserved 

 about the latter end of summer ; and females, with 

 cubs or suckers along with them, being most com- 

 monly met with in the spring of the year, the time 

 of their bringing forth, it is presumed, is in Febru- 

 ary or JNIarch ; and their period of gestation about 

 nine or ten months. In the latter end of April 

 1811, a sucker was taken by a Hull whaler, to 

 which the funis umbilicalis was still attached. The 

 whale has one young at a birth. Instances of two 

 being seen with a female are very rare. The young 

 one, at the time of parturition, is said to be at least 

 ten, if not fourteen feet in length. It goes under 

 the protection of its mother, for probably a year, or 

 more ; or until, by the evolution of the whalebone, 

 it is enabled to procure its own nourishment. Sup- 

 posing the criterion before mentioned, of the notches 

 in the whalebone being indicative of the number of 

 years growth, to be correct, then it would appear 

 that the whale reaches the magnitude called size ; 

 that is, with a six feet length of whalebone, in 

 twelve years, and attains its full growth at the age 

 of twenty or twenty-five. Whales, doubtless, live 

 to a great age. The marks of age are an increase 



