THE SULPHURBOTTOM WHALE. 73 
dines and prawns with which the waters were enlivened ; and the whales, when in 
a state of lassitude from excessive feeding, would frequently remain nearly motion- 
less ten to twenty minutes at a time, thus giving the whaleman an excellent oppor- 
tunity to shoot his bomb -lance into a vital part, causing almost instant death. 
The enormous size of the Sibbaldius sulfureus is not easily to be comprehended 
by the reader, when compared even with the lesser rorquals, or the mysticetus, or 
the Cachalot. In 1802, the whalemen at Monterey, California, killed one of these 
immense animals which measured ninety -two feet in length. Before they could tow 
it to the station, it became "blasted;"* but on arrival, no effort was spared to 
strip the colossal prize of its fatty covering. Accordingly, their "purchases" were 
applied to roll the swollen creature over upon the beach ; but in so doing, the 
capstan, which was firmly placed on the bank, and had lifted many a large whale, 
was torn up and the "falls" were parted. Finally the whalemen gave up the under- 
taking, and only cut off the fat that could be reached above water. In contempla- 
ting this, the greatest whale of the ocean, one can but admire its prominent char- 
acteristics, which are its enormous yet symmetrical proportions, and the muscular 
development which enables it to excel in velocity all its congeners, while its whole 
bearing indicates its superiority to all the other Cetaceans. It glides over the sur- 
face of the ocean, occasionally displaying its entire length. When it respires, the 
volume of its vaporous breath ascends to a height which reveals at once, to the 
observer, the presence of that leviathan of the deep, whose capture baffles the 
practical skill of the most experienced whalers. When "rounding" to descend to 
the depths below, it throws its ponderous flukes high above the waves, with a 
swoop that is well in keeping with its matchless strength and vigor. 
*" Blasted" is a whaler's term for being much swollen. 
Marine Mammaxs. — 10. 
