THE WHALE. 



258 



feet; and the teats are like those of a cow. 

 In some, the breasts are white ; in others 

 speckled; in all, filled with a large quantity 

 of milk, resembling that of land animals. 



Nothing can exceed the tenderness of the 

 female for her offspring ; she carries it with 

 her wherever she goes, and, when hardest 

 pursued, keeps it supported between her fins. 

 Even when wounded, she still clasps her 

 young one ; and when she plunges to avoid 

 danger, takes it to the bottom ; but rises sooner 

 than usual, to give it breath again. 



The young ones continue at the breast for 

 a year ; during which time they are called by 

 the sailors, short-heads. They are then ex- 

 tremely fat, and yield above fifty barrels of 

 blubber. The mother, at the same time, is 

 equally lean and emaciated. At the age of 

 two years they are called stunts, as they do 

 not thrive much immediately after quitting 

 the breast ; they then scarcely yield above 

 twenty, or twenty-four, barrels of blubber : 

 from that forward, they are called skutt-JisJi, 

 and their age is wholly unknown. 



Every species of whale propagates only 

 with those of its own kind, and does not at all 

 mingle with the rest ; however they are ge- 

 nerally seen in shoals, of different kinds toge- 

 ther, and make their migrations in large 

 companies, from one ocean to another. They 

 are a gregarious animal, which implies their 

 want of mutual defence against the invasions 

 of smaller, but more powerful, fishes. It 

 seems astonishing, therefore, how a shoal of 

 these enormous animals find subsistence toge- 

 ther, when it would seem that the supplying 

 even one with food would require greater 

 plenty than the ocean could furnish. To in- 

 crease our wonder, we not only see them herd- 

 ing together, but usually find them fatter than 

 any other animals of whatsoever element. We 

 likewise know that they cannot swallow large 

 fishes, as their throat is so narrow, that an 

 animal larger than a herring could not enter. 

 How then do they subsist and grow so fat ? 

 A small insect, which is seen floating in those 

 seas, and which Linnaeus terms the Medusa, 

 is sufficient for this supply. These insects are 

 black, and of the size of a small bean, and are 

 sometimes seen floating in clusters on the sur- 

 face of the water. They are of a round form, 

 like snails in a box, but they have wings, 

 which are so tender, that it is scarcely possi- 

 ble to touch them without breaking. These 

 serve rather for swimming than flying ; and 

 the little animal is called by the Icelanders, 

 the W^alfishoas, which signifies the whale's 

 provender. They have the taste of raw mus- 

 sels, and have the smell of burnt sugar. 

 These are the food of the whale, which it is 

 seen to draw up in great numbers with its 

 huge jaws, and to bruise between its barbs, 



which are always found with several of these 

 sticking among them. 



This is the simple food of the great Green- 

 land whale ; it pursues no other animal, leads 

 an inoffensive life in its element, and is harm- 

 less in proportion to its strength to do mis- 

 chief. 1 There seems too an analogy between 



1 " Among the cetaceous tribes," says the Edinburgh 

 Cabinet Library, vol. I. on the Polar Regions, " the 

 chief place is due to the whale, of all animals ' mightiest 

 that swim the ocean stream.' Enormous as his bulk 

 is, rumour and the love of the marvellous have repre- 

 sented it as being at one time much greater, and the 

 existing race as only the degenerate remnant of might- 

 ier ancestors. Mr Scoresby, however, by collecting va- 

 rious good authorities, has proved that sixty feet was 

 always nearly the utmost length of the mysticetus, or 

 great Greenland whale. Of three hundred and twenty- 

 two individuals, in the capture of which that gentleman 

 was concerned, none occurred of a length exceeding 

 fifty-eight feet; and he gives no credence to any rumour 

 of a specimen which exceeded seventy feet. Even sixty 

 feet implies a weight of seventy tons, being nearly that of 

 three hundred fat oxen. Of this vast mass, the oil of a 

 rich whale composes about thirty tons, and when, as 

 was the case some years ago, that article brought 55 or 

 60 per ton, we may form some idea of the great value 

 of the capture; the bones of the head, fins, and tail, 

 weigh eight or ten ; the carcass, thirty or thirty-two 

 tons. The oleaginous substance, or blubber, the most 

 valuable part of the animal, forms a complete wrapper 

 round the whole body, of the thickness of from eight to 

 twenty inches. The head is disproportionally large, 

 forming about a third of the entire bulk. The basis 

 consists of the crown-bone, from each side of which des- 

 cend those immense jaw-bones which are sometimes 

 presented to our wondering eyes, and which the 

 whalers place on deck as trophies of their success, and 

 in order that the fine oil contained in them may ooze 

 from their lower extremities. These jaw-bones are 

 from sixteen to twenty feet in length, and extend along 

 the mouth in a curved line, till they meet and form a 

 species of crescent. The lips, nearly twenty feet long, 

 display, when open, a cavity capable of receiving a ship's 

 jolly-boat with her crew. The whale has no external 

 ear ; but when the skin is removed, a small aperture is 

 discerned for the admission of sound. This sense ac- 

 cordingly is very imperfect; yet the animal, by a quick 

 perception of all movements made on the water, disco- 

 vers danger at a great distance. The eyes are propor- 

 tionally small, though the sense of seeing is acute ; more 

 so, however, through clear water than through an aerial 

 medium. But the most unique feature in the structure 

 of this animal consists in the spiracles or blow-holes 

 placed nearly on the crown of the head. These have 

 been compared to natural jets d'eau throwing up water 

 to the height of forty or fifty feet ; but the more careful 

 scrutiny of Mr Scoresby ascertained that they emit only 

 a moist vapour, and are neither more nor less than huge 

 nostrils. When, however, this vehement breathing or 

 blowing is performed under the surface, a considerable 

 quantity of water is thrown up into the air. The sound 

 thus occasioned is the only thing like a voice emitted 

 by the animal, and, in the case of a violent respiration, 

 it resembles the discharge of a cannon. 



" The tail is the most active limb of this mighty ani- 

 mal, and the chief instrument of his motion. It does 

 not rise vertically like that of most fishes, being flat 

 and horizontal, only four or five feet long, but more 

 than twenty feet broad. It consists of two beds of 

 muscles connected with an extensive layer surround- 

 ing the body, and enclosed by a thin covering of 



