218 The Natural Historg 



be kept sweet by no means. At certain Seasons there may be 

 whole Pails full of it taken out of the Water, for it swims 

 upon the Sea like Fat, as does that of the Sea-Horses and 

 Seals, the Sailors frequently make twisted Whips of the 

 Sinews of the Yard. The Bones are hard like those of a great 

 four-footed Beast, but porous like a Spunge, and filled with 

 Marrow, but w^hen that is consumed, the Holes are as large 

 as those of a Honey-Comb. They have two large strong Bones 

 which hold up the under Lip, and they lie opposite to each 

 other in form of an half Moon, some of which are twenty 

 Feet long of a side. The Flesh is course and hard, like that 

 of a Bull, mixed with many Sinews, and is very dry and lean 

 when boiled, because their Fat lies v^dloly betwixt the Flesh 

 and the Skin. When the Sailors have a mind to eat of it, they 

 cut great pieces off before the Tail, w^hich is tenderest, and 

 boil it. Others report the Tongue to be good Food, and when- 

 ever they kill any of them eat part of it ; some of the Flesh 

 looks gTeen and blue like powdered Beef. The Fat is mixed 

 with Sinews, which hold the Oil, as a Spunge does Water: 

 The other strong Sinews are chiefly about the Tail, with which 

 he turns and winds himself, as a Rudder does a Ship. He 

 swims as swift as a Bird flies, and makes a track in the Sea 

 like a large Ship under sail. Their Tails do not stand up as 

 the Tails of most other Fishes do, but lie horizontally as those 

 of the Dolphin, and are from three to four Fathom broad. 



The middling Whales are about fifty or sixty Feet long, and 

 commonly yield seventy, eighty, or ninty Barrels of Fat or 

 Oil. Besides the uppermost thin Skin, there is likewise an- 

 other about an Inch thick, and of the same colour with the 

 other, but both are so brittle, when dry that they are of no 

 value ; and the softness of the Skin is reckoned to be the cause 



why 



