THE GREENLAND WHALE. 1G5 



few minutes he rises to breathe, expelling through the 

 blow-holes a column of steam and w ater, and again 

 plunges to continue his repast. In order to dive, the 

 whale first raises his head, and then plunges it under the 

 surface, drawing his tail at the same time underneath 

 the body so as to form the segment of a circle ; instan- 

 taneously he strikes it out, and goes down like a shot. 

 The length of time passed beneath the surface varies, 

 but according to Captain Scoresby it seldom exceeds 

 half an hour, and this only when harpooned ; under such 

 circumstances, on appearing again, which is generally 

 at a considerable distance from the spot where the ani- 

 mal descended, he is always in a state of great exhaustion, 

 owing chiefly to the immense pressure he has sustained, 

 but no doubt in part to the long suspension of respira- 

 tion : under ordinary circumstances the whale rises to 

 breathe every eight or ten minutes. 



The velocity of the whale is very great. Captain 

 Scoresby harpooned one which, on being struck, de- 

 scended four hundred fathoms, at the rate of eight miles 

 an hour. But under the pain of this weapon they often 

 descend a much greater depth, subjecting themselves to 

 an enormous pressure of water, and are at the same time 

 so overcome by terror as often to bruise themselves 

 severely by the rocks met with in their course, and some- 

 times even to strike so violently against the hard bed of 

 the ocean as to fracture their jaws. At the depth of 

 800 fathoms Captain Scoresby calculates the pressure at 

 211,200 tons. 



The most pleasing as well as astonishing exhibition of 

 the power and activity of these animals is during the 

 pairing season, when they gambol and frolic in the 

 waters, throwing themselves about in the exuberance of 

 delight, little aware of the approach of their enemies. 

 Sometimes they dart along the surface, and then dive 

 and re-ascend with such energy as to leap entirely out 

 of the water ; sometimes they raise themselves perpen- 

 dicularly ; sometimes, head downwards, they flourish 

 their tads aloft, and lash the water with tremendous 

 violence, throwing the sea around them into foam, and 



