CETACEANS. 173 



often succeed in overtaking the whales they pursue, 

 or, by their near approach, compel them to seek refuge 

 in the deep. When swimming rapidly, the Cachalot 

 moves with an easy, regular, and majestic pace, the 

 head being much raised above the surface of the sea, 

 and a portion of the back being occasionally exhibited, 

 in the action of leaping. The individuals composing a 

 retreating party will sometimes move in lines, like a 

 troop of horse, and exert their peculiar leaping move- 

 ments, descend, rise, and often even spout, simultane- 

 ously. 



A large party of Cachalots, gamboling on the surface 

 of the ocean, is one of the most curious 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 a 

 salmon, display the entire of its gigantic frame, sus- 

 pended at the height of several feet in the air, and 

 again plunge into the sea with a helpless and tremen- 

 dous fall, which causes the surrounding waters to shoot 

 up in broad and lofty columns, capped with foam; 

 whilst others of the school leap, or " breach/' in a less 

 degree ; sportively brandish their broad and fan-shaped 

 flukes in the air ; or protrude their heads perpendicu- 

 larly above the waves, like columns of black rock. 



As long as the Cachalot continues on the surface 

 of the sea, it casts from its nostril a constant succession 

 of spouts ; each jet following the other after an interval 

 of ten or fifteen seconds, with a regularity highly 

 characteristic of this kind of whale. The respiratory 

 jet, or spout, has the appearance of a thick and white 

 mist, composed of numerous small drops of condensed 



