THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 173 



the crested foam light as an eider-duck. His right whales, 

 spry as salmon, make clean leaps in the air over the heads 

 of admiring boats' crews, and he actually found a captain of 

 the Royal Navy to swear to such playful practice on the part 

 of these lithe and active creatures. In connection with this 

 habit of breaching, Mr. Bennet, F.R.C.S., remarks, in his nar- 

 rative of a whaling voyage: "A large party of cachalots 

 gamboling on the surface of the sea is one of the most curi- 

 ous and imposing spectacles a whaling-voyage affords; the 

 huge size and uncouth agility of the monsters exhibiting a 

 strange combination of the grand and ridiculous. On such 

 occasions, it is not unusual to observe a whale of the largest 

 size leap from the water with the activity of the salmon, dis- 

 play the entire of its gigantic form suspended several feet 

 in the air, and again plunge into the sea with a helpless and 

 tremendous fall." 



And Mr. Beale, who gives by far the most correct draw- 

 ing of the sperm-whale of any British author (yet incorrect 

 in representing the small as very long and slender), also 

 gives the figure of one descending head first, from a flight 

 in the air, the end of the head being ten feet, and the tail 

 sixty or seventy feet up. Now I am not willing to say that 

 these gentlemen did not see just what is represented. I can 

 only offer the negative testimony that, of the many Amer- 

 ican whaling-captains of greatest experience to whom the 

 question has been put: "Did you ever see a whale thus 

 leap clear of the water ?" the answer has been " No." " Do 

 you believe they possess the power ?" " No, excepting, per- 

 haps, very young calves." From this I infer that such sights 

 are seen from Englfsh ships, and are not seen from Amer- 

 ican vessels. I can only account for the discrepancy from 

 the fact that our ships often sail without rum, and run on 

 cold water. I have no idea of the look of a whale seen 

 through a six -glassed magnifier, each glass containing a 



