164 The Story of the New England Whalers 



"A whale is a fish with a tail that lies on the 

 water as flat as a pancake," said an old whaler 

 to the writer, "and every fish, big or little, with 

 that kind of a tail, is whale." The tails of fish 

 are in a vertical plane. 



Of the many kinds of whales described in the 

 works of scientists two are of special interest 

 here. One is called the right whale, and the 

 other the sperm whale. Cachelot is another 

 name applied to the sperm. If seen side by 

 side at sea, they are at first glance very much alike, 

 for each looks like a long, smooth, black rock, 

 or say a monster log of black wood (albinos 

 have been seen), over which the waves run 

 freely, or break in masses of foam and spray. 

 When they raise their heads out of the water, 

 however, differences are at once seen. The 

 head of the sperm whale is as blunt and flat as 

 if the animal had, during untold ages, been in the 

 habit of striking its head on the bottom every time 

 it dove for food. The lower jaw is long and 

 slender. The head of the right whale is blunt, 

 but well rounded instead of flat on the end. It 

 is rather flat on top and the lower jaw or chin 



