WHALES WASHED ASHORE ON THE COAST OF CEYLON. 53 



was unbearable. The north-east wind carried the smell for a long 

 distance, and the lumps of flesh that had been cut off drifted for a 

 distance of nearly 10 miles and were cast asb.ore along the coast. 



The skeleton was brought in a Jaffna sailing boat to Negombo, 

 and thence by canal to Colombo lake, where it was loaded into a 

 trolly cart and brought to the Colombo Museum. A cadjan shed 

 was temporarily erected for the reception of the bones. 



The skull, minus the lower jaw, has now been placed in the 

 MammaHan Gallery. 



I have taken a photograph showing a side view of the skull of this 

 specimen. (Fig. 1.) 



In appearance the Sperm Wliale is ungainly and ugly in the extreme, 

 this being chiefly due to the great height and abrupt truncation of 

 the enormous muzzle, . Inside the dome-shaped part of the skull is 

 a huge cavity, which is not the brain cavity as one might suppose, 

 and which is filled in "the living animal with the substance knoAvn as 

 spermaceti. The brain cavity of this beast is surprisingly small. 

 The lower jaw is very long and slender, its two branches being 

 united in the middle line for about half their total length.; the teeth 

 are implanted in the lower jaw in a long groove, partialty divided into 

 sockets by incomplete bony partitions. These teeth are of large 

 size, and when unworn are pointed and recurved at their tips. 

 They are composed solely of ivorj% and the pulp cavity at their 

 base remains open for a long period, although generally more or 

 less completely closed in adult life. 



The Sj)erm Whale is essentially an inhabitant of the open seas. 

 The distribution of the species extends over all the warmer oceans, 

 but does not include the Polar seas. It is in the habit of travelling 

 immense distances, and specimens have been killed in the Atlantic 

 bearmg in their bodies spears that had been fixed there during a 

 sojourn in the Pacific. Formerly this whale was much hunted in 

 the Bay of Bengal and around Ceylon, but it is now comparatively 

 rare m these regions, while its numbers have been greatly diminished 

 in its favourite haunts in the South Pacific. 



In September, 1894, another large whale was washed ashore at 

 Ambalangoda, on the south-west coast, about 50 miles south of 

 Colombo. This specimen was an adult of the Great Indian Fin 

 Whale {Balcenoptera indica). As soon as the information was 

 received I was despatched to the spot to secure the skeleton. This 

 monster was also in a decomposed state, and was being lifted by 

 the waves against the rocks. This proved to be a work of great 

 difficult}'" and of some danger, in consequence of the roughness of 

 the sea and the presence of enormous sharks which swarmed around 

 the carcase, and in consequence the men were afraid to take the risk. 

 The first thing I did was to secure the whalebone and the paddles, 

 but unfortunately I found the right paddle, whicli was lying 

 underneath, a little damaged, but the left one was quite perfect. I 



