164 THE SPERMACETI WHALE. 



The length of time this whale remains at the sur- 

 face, the numher of spoutings made on one occasion, 

 the intervals between them, and the time it remains 

 beneath, are all, when the animal remains undis- 

 turbed, as regular in succession and duration as it is 

 possible to imagine. With different individuals the 

 time varies, but in each the several acts are minutely 

 regular ; and this is of considerable use to the fisher, 

 for when the periods of any particular whale are 

 once noticed, he knows to a moment when to ex- 

 pect it again at the surface, and how long it will 

 remain there. Immediately after each spout, the 

 nose sinks under water, scarcely a second interven- 

 ing for the act of inspiring, which must consequently 

 be done very quickly. There is no sound caused 

 by the inspiration, and very little by the expira- 

 tion. 



In a " large bull," so an old male is called, the 

 time from the termination of one spouting to that 

 of another is ten seconds ; during six of these the 

 snout is under water, three are occupied by the 

 expiration, and one by the inspiration ; and at each 

 breathing time, the whale makes from sixty to 

 seventy respirations, and therefore remains ten or 

 eleven minutes at the surface. When this is ended, 

 or, a<3 the sailors say, it has had " its spoutings out," 

 the head sinks slowly, the posterior part of the body 

 appears above water, the tail is lifted high into the 

 air, and the animal having thus assumed a straight 

 position, descends perpendicularly to an unknown 

 depth : this act is performed with great regularity 



