The Common, or Greenland Whale. 405 



The blubber of a Whale is frequently found to be 

 eighteen or twenty inches thick ; which yields fifty or 

 sixty puncheons of oil, each puncheon containing seventy- 

 four gallons ; and the upper jaw yields about six hundred 

 pieces of whalebone, most of which are about twelve feet 

 long, and six or eight inches broad ; the whole produce 

 of a Whale being worth one thousand pounds, more or 

 less, according to the size of the animal. Whilst the men 

 are at work on the back of the Whale they have spurs 

 on their boots, with two prongs, which come down on 

 each side of their feet, lest they should slip, the back of 

 the Whale being very slippery. 



When the Whale feeds, it swims with considerable 

 velocity below the surface of the sea, with its jaws widely 

 extended. A stream of water consequently enters its 

 mouth, carrying along with it immense quantities of 

 cuttle-fish, sea-blubber, shrimps, and other small marine 

 animals. The water escapes at the sides ; but the food is 

 entangled, and, as it were, sifted by the fringe of whale- 

 bone within the mouth ; this kind of strainer is rendered 

 necessary by the very small gullet, which in a Whale 

 of sixty feet long, does not exceed four inches in width, 

 The sailors say that a penny-loaf would choke a Whale. 



The Whale bellows fearfully when wounded or in dis- 

 tress. Its young is called a cub. 



There is also an extensive Whale fishery in the 

 Southern Ocean, carried on chiefly by the Americans. 

 The Whale found in those seas is distinct from the 

 Greenland Whale, and is described by naturalists under 

 the name of Balcena Australis. 



