CHAPTER VII. 
THE SULPHUR-BOTTOM WHALE. 
Sibbaldius • sulfureus, Cope. (Plate xiii.) 
The largest whale found upon the coast, and the largest known, is the Sul- 
phurbottom. Never having had an opportunity of obtaining an accurate measure- 
ment of its proportions, we can only state them approximately. Length, sixty to 
one hundred feet.* Its body is comparatively more slender than that of the Cali- 
fornia Gray. Its pectorals are proportionately small, even in comparison with the 
Sperm Whale's, which in size and shape they very nearly resemble, being short and 
rounded at their extremities. Its caudal fin bears about the same proportion to 
the body as does that of the Finback, while its dorsal is much smaller and nearer 
the posterior extremity. Its head is more elongated than the Finner's ; its baleen 
is broader at the base, the color being a jet black in several specimens we have 
examined, while others were of a bluish hue. The Sulphurbottom, in its food and 
manner of feeding, is like the other whales of its genus. It is a true rorqual, 
with folds beneath the anterior portion of the animal, which are a series of fine 
longitudinal furrows. The color of this, the greatest whale of the ocean, is some- 
what lighter than the dull black of the lesser rorquals, and in some instances it is 
a very light brown, approaching to white ; but underneath it is of a yellowish cast 
or sulphur color, whence the name "Sulphurbottom" is supposed to have arisen. 
Its coating of blubber is unevenly distributed over its body, massively covering the 
top of the head, but more thinly disseminated over the main portion of the trunk ; 
while the posterior extremity, between the trunk and caudal fin, is more heavily 
infolded with the oily covering than all the rest. 
* Captain Roys, of -whaling notoriety, has Length, 95 feet; girth, 39 feet; length of 
kindly furnished me with the following memo- jaw-bone, 21 feet; length of longest baleen, i 
randa of a Sulphurbottom whale, which was feet; yield of baleen, 800 pounds; yield of oil, 
taken by him while he was in command of the 110 barrels; weight of the whole animal, by 
barque Iceland: calculation, 147 tons. 
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