FISHES IN GENERAL. 247 



breasts are white ; in others speckled ; in all, filled with a large quan 

 tity 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 scarce yield above twenty, or 

 twenty-four, barrels of blubber : from that time forward, they are call- 

 ed skull-fish, 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 generally 

 seen in shoals of different kinds together, and make their migrations 

 in large companies, from one ocean to another. They are a grega- 

 rious 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 to- 

 gether, 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 herding 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 scarce possible to 

 touch them without breaking. These serve rather for swimming than 

 flying ; and the little animal is called by the Icelanders, the Wains- 

 chaos, which signifies the whale's provender. They have the taste 

 of raw muscles, 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 Greenland whale ; it pursues 

 no other animal, leads an inoffensive life in its element, and is harm- 

 less in proportion to its strength to do mischief. There seems to be 

 an analogy between its manners and those of the elephant. They are 

 both the strongest and the largest animals in their respective elements ; 

 neither offer injury, but are terrible when provoked to resentment. 

 The fin-fish, indeed, in some measure, differs from the great whale in 

 this particular, as it subsists chiefly upon herrings, great shoals of 

 which it is often seen driving before it. Yet even the swallow of this 

 fish is not very large, if compared to the cachalot tribe ; and its ra" 

 vages are but sports in comparison. The stomach and in.estvces of all 



