NIMROD OF THE SEA ; OR, 



ward stage is carrying forward the spiral cut which reg- 

 ulates the width of the blanket, and the older and more ex- 

 perienced officer on the after stage is delicately amputating 

 the head with his sharp spade. He slowly cuts his way 

 through several feet of dark, red, coarse-fibred muscles, rope- 

 like tendons, and blood-vessels through which a little boy 

 might be propelled, and artistically cleaves his way to the 

 junction of the vertebra with the head. Finally, he severs 

 the thick coating of tough integuments, the head separates, 

 and turns, curiously enough, the bony jaw upward, and the 

 case and blow-hole below. Now is revealed the joint of the 

 vertebra, like an exquisitely polished sphere of whitest ivo- 

 ry, in diameter equal to a barrel. This great joint most im- 

 pressed me with the monstrous proportions of the creature 

 we had been tearing at with windlass, tackles, and spades all 

 this long day. The head thus severed constitutes nearly one- 

 third the length and a greater proportion of the actual bulk 

 of the whale. It is allowed to float under the main-chains un- 

 til the body is disposed of. After the body of a large whale 

 is stripped to the vent, a second transverse section is made, 

 and the great carcass, a mass of red flesh and white integ- 

 uments, drifts slowly to windward, soiling the clean water 

 with its slowly - oozing blood, and smoothing the surface 

 with exuding oil. Accompanying it are flocks of albatross 

 (" mollemokes ") and other birds above, while the surface 

 of the deep appears cut and fretted by the high, sharp fins 

 and lashing tails of troops of sharks, which ravenously bite 

 at the mountain of food we have provided for them. 



The body disposed of, the head occupies our attention. 

 The general form of this immense mass may be better seen 

 in the different illustrations than from description. To ob- 

 tain the valuable spermaceti with which it abounds, we dis- 

 sect it into three parts the "case," junk, and bony part. 

 The latter, containing the skull and lower jaw-bone, is gen- 



