THE WHALE FISHERY. 87 



THE. WHALE. 



A brief account of the whale may be of interest. The sperm 

 whale contains in its head, in the fluid state, the spermaceti of 

 commerce. This whale sometimes reaches the length of 

 seventy or eighty feet, the head forming abont one-half of the 

 entire animal. The head is called by the whalers the case, and 

 is divided into compartments communicating with each other. 

 The " head matter " is nearly pure sperm, fluid in consistency 

 as blood, and is laden out of the head of the lisli with 

 buckets fashioned for the purpose. A large w'hale will carry 

 in its case ten or fifteen barrels — a barrel contains about 

 thirty gallons. Between the case and upper jaw lies a large 

 mass of blubber, which yields nearly double the quantity 

 obtained from the " case." When cold the spermaceti 

 hardens and assumes a somewhat snowy flakey appearance. 

 A large sperm whale has been known to yield as much as a 

 hundred and thirty barrels, which would have realised in some 

 seasons as much as £1,250. When Europeans first came to 

 the Western Pacific seas the sperm whale w^as found in large 

 numbers all round the coasts, but experience has made the 

 survivors wary, and they are now as a rule to be found only 

 in deep water. They swim under the surface of the water at 

 the rate of from three to seven miles an hour ; but on being 

 alarmed will dive, and afterwards rise slowly in a perpen- 

 dicular position, Avith their blunt heads more or less above the 

 surface, in apparently a listening attitude, remaining in that 

 position for fully half an hour, scarcely moving. An almost 

 electrical communication is at times perceptible amongst them. 

 A school of upwards of one hundred have been seen spread 

 over the ocean as far as the eye from the mast-head could 

 reach, when on one of the numljer being lanced, an instanta- 

 neous disappearance of the whole school took place, all 

 diving with great celerity and in concert. 



The pLiccht or black whale of the Southern Seas is somewhat 

 inferior in size to its congener the G-reenlahd whale. In regard 

 to their economy they are said to be almost alike. It is from 

 this animal that the wdialebone of commerce is obtained. 

 Unlike the sperm whale it has no teeth, but in the upper jaw 

 of its enormous head, which is some 15 to 20 feet long, 10 to 

 12 feet high, and 6 to 8 feet broad, presenting when the 

 mouth is open a cavity as large as a room, are fixed plates of 

 baleen, about 300 in each row, which, spreading outwards, 



