THE SPERMACETI WHALE. 165 



and slowness. It continues hidden under water 

 for an hour and ten minutes; some will remain 

 only for an hour, and others for an hour and twenty 

 minutes, but these are exceptions. The females 

 remain on the surface for a shorter time, and as 

 might he expected, ascend more frequently to re- 

 spire : they come up about every twenty minutes. 

 The times of the young whales seem regulated by 

 their respective ages and sizes. 



When disturbed or alarmed, this regularity in the 

 breathing is no longer observed; for the instant a 

 " bull" is disturbed, as by the approach of a boat, 

 he immediately plunges under the wave, though he 

 may not have been on the surface half his time ; he 

 will then soon rise again, not far distant, and will 

 complete his time. In this case, generally, also he 

 sinks without previously assuming the perpendicular 

 position, and with remarkable rapidity, leaving a 

 sort of vortex in the place he lately occupied. When 

 urging his rapid course through the ocean, in that 

 mode which is called going " head out," he spouts 

 every time the head is raised above the wave, and, 

 under these circumstances of violent exertion, as 

 might be expected, the respiration is much more 

 hurried than usual. 



This leviathan is, like the mysticetus, remark- 

 ably timid, and is readily alarmed by the approach 

 of any unlocked for object. When frightened, 

 the whale is said by sailors to be " gallied," pro- 

 bably galled; and in this state it performs many 

 actions in a manner very different from the usual 



