Whales as the Whalers Knew Them 169 



The largest of the sperm whales eighty- 

 four feet long measure thirty-five or thirty- 

 six feet in girth at the thickest part, which is at 

 the neck, if a whale may be said to have a neck. 

 The body is deeper than it is broad at all points 

 from the head to the "small" (namely, where 

 the body joins the flukes), and at the small it is 

 round. The height (or depth) of the largest 

 sperm whale "at the forehead is eleven feet and 

 its width nine or ten feet," according to Davis, 

 author of Nimrod of the Sea. As one of these 

 monsters lies on the surface with its head out of 

 water its crown, or nose angle, is as high above 

 the surface as the roof of a one-story house. 

 When the animal is standing up with head out 

 of water scanning the horizon, the top of its head 

 may be not far from thirty feet up in the air, or 

 say as high as the roof of a three-story house. 

 It would not seem so high to a spectator on a 

 ship, because the immense expanse of the sea 

 dwarfs everything afloat. But if seen from 

 a whale boat alongside, it would seem much 

 larger, especially to a frightened landsman. 



The tails of all whales are divided into two 



