LARGE SPERMACETI CAPTURED. 133 



large teeth, some of them a foot long, three of 

 which were broken off, and others much worn. 

 There were also several very large scars on the 

 outside of the jaw, and sundry other marks upon 

 his body, that showed him to have been in the 

 wars. All these things, and the way in which 

 he slued his flukes whenever the boat came near, 

 were thought by his captors to prove him an 

 old cruiser in these seas, and to have known a 

 whale-boat, and, not unlikely, to have had a 

 taste of cold iron before. It would seem, in- 

 deed, as if there could be very few of the full 

 grown, or aged sperm whales in the ocean, that 

 have not been, some time or other, chased by a 

 whaler ; and their numbers are getting so greatly 

 reduced, that the sperm whale-fishing alone will 

 not be much longer attempted. 



What goes under the name of the sperm 

 whale's head, is nearly one third of the mon- 

 ster's length. It is customary to sever this 

 entirely at first, and let it tow astern, while the 

 rest of the carcase is being stripped of its very 

 valuable blubber. Utterly unlike the right 

 whale, which has no teeth, the head of a sperm 



