88 THE COMMON WHALE. 



shrimps, crabs, &c. ; they in their turn are the 

 food of the smaller fishes, which again supply 

 nourishment to the larger, which are devoured by 

 seals, dolphins, and other Cetacea ; the bear again 

 feeds upon the seal, and thus there is a wonderful 

 dependent chain of existence formed, every link of 

 which seems essential to the integrity of the whole. 



When this whale feeds^ it swims with considerable 

 velocity below the surface, with its jaws widely 

 extended. A stream of water consequently enters 

 its mouth, and along with it large quantities of 

 water-insects ; the water escapes again at the sides ; 

 but the food is entangled and sifted in the baleen, 

 which, from its compact arrangement, and the thick 

 internal covering of hair, does not allow a particle 

 the size of the smallest grain to escape. 



It is presumed the period of gestation is nine or 

 ten months, and the whale has but one at a birth, 

 instances of two accompanying the female being 

 very rare. The young one, at the time of birth, is 

 ten or fourteen feet long. According to Sir Charles 

 Giesecki, it turns on the one side on the surface of 

 the water when it gives suck to its young, and then 

 the cub attaches itself to the teat. It goes under 

 the protection of its mother, probably for somewhat 

 more than a year, till by the growth of the baleen 

 it is enabled to procure its own food. It appears 

 to attain its full growth at the age of twenty or 

 twenty-five. The marks of age are an increase of 

 the quantity of grey colour on the skin, and a 

 change to a yellowish tint of the white parts; a 



