488 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



the mother, the whalebone is only 

 a few inches long. The whale- 

 bone is immediately covered by the 

 two under lips, the edges of which, 

 when the mouth is shut, overlap 

 the upper part in a squamous 

 manner. 



On the upper part of the head 

 there is a double opening, called 

 the spout-holes or hlow-holes. Their 

 external orifices are like two slits, 

 which do not lie parallel, but form 

 an acute angle with each other. 

 Through these openings the animal 

 breathes. 



The eyes are very small, not 

 larger than those of an ox; yet tiie 

 whale appears to be quick of sight. 

 They are situated about a foot 

 above where the upper and under 

 Jips join. 



In the whale, the sense of hear- 

 ing seems to be rather obtuse. 



The throat is so narrow as 

 scarcely to admit a hen's egg. 



The fins are from 4 to 5 feet 

 broad, and 8 or 10 feet long, and 

 seem only to be used in bearing oft' 

 their young, in turning, and giving 

 a direction to the velocity pro- 

 duced by the tail. 



The tail is horizontal ; from 20 

 to 30 feet in breadth, indented in 

 the middle, and the two lobes 

 pointed and turned outwards. In 

 it lies the whole strength of the 

 animal. By means of the tail, the 

 whale advances itself into the water 

 with greater or less rapidity; if 

 the motion is slow, the tail cuts 

 the water obliquely, like forcing a 

 boat forward by the operation of 

 skidliiig; but if the motion is very 

 rapid, it is effected by an undulat- 

 ing motion of the rump. 



The skin in some whales is 

 pmpoth and shining; in others, it 



is furrowed, like the water-lines in 

 laid paper, but coarser. 



The colour is black, grey, and 

 white, and a tinge of yellow about 

 the lower parts of the head. The 

 back, upper part of the head, most 

 of the belly, the fins, tail, and part 

 of the under jaw, are deep black. 

 The fore part of the under jaw, 

 and a little of the belly, are white, 

 and the junction of the tail with 

 the body grey. Such are the com- 

 mon colours of the adult whale. I 

 have seen piebald whales. Such 

 whales as ai-e belaw size are almost 

 entirely of a bluish-black colour. 

 The skin of suckers is of a pale 

 bluish colour. The cuticle, or 

 scarf-skin, is no thicker than parch- 

 ment ; the true skin is from three- 

 fourths to an inch in thickness all 

 over the body. 



Immediately beneath the skin 

 lies the blubber, or fat, from 10 to 

 20 inches in thickness, varying in 

 dift'erent parts of the body, as well 

 as in different individuals. The co- 

 lour, also, is not always the same, 

 being white, red, and yellow; and 

 it also varies in denseness. It is 

 principally for the blubber that the 

 Greenland fishery is carried on. It 

 is cut from the body in large lumps, 

 and carried on board the ship, and 

 then cut into smaller pieces. The 

 fleshy parts and skin connected 

 wiih the blubber are next separat- 

 ed from it, and it is again cut into 

 such pieces as will admit of its be- 

 ing passed into casks by the bung- 

 hole, which is only three or four 

 inches in diameter. In these casks 

 it is conveyed home, where it is 

 boiled in vessels capable of con- 

 taining from three to six tons, for 

 the purpose of extracting the oil 

 from the fritters^ which are ten.« 



