NATURAL HISTORY OF THE WHALE. 65 



crown, and the whole head appearing as a solid 

 mass. 



The food of this whale, as we have already 

 observed, is a species of shrimp, of a blood-red 

 colour. Some of them are very minute, and 

 few are found more than half an inch long; 

 these float in immense shoals on the surface of 

 the ocean, and sometimes colour the water for 

 miles. When the whale is disposed to break 

 his fast, he rushes through a field of shrimps 

 with open mouth, until he has received myr- 

 iads of the little animals; then the water is 

 forced out between the slabs which I have de- 

 scribed, leaving the shrimps attached to the 

 hairy strainer within ; by means of the tongue 

 they are collected, and the delicate mouthful is 

 conveyed to his capacious stomach. 



When "cutting in a whale," as the carcass 

 rolls over by the power of the windlass, the lips, 

 which are composed entirely of hard blubber, 

 are cut off and hoisted on board as they present 

 themselves. The crown bone is also disjointed 

 from the body, and is hoisted in with tin 1 

 whalebone attached to it. A very large head 



