CACHALOT, OR PHYSETER. 133 



or other accidents. The substance known by the appel- 

 lation of whalebone adheres to the upper jaw, and is com- 

 posed of thin parallel plates, some of which are four yards 

 long. 



The whale is faithful to its mate ; and, though it lives 

 in societies, is not corrupted by the intercourse. The 

 female suckles her young for a year with maternal fondness, 

 and is resolute only in its defence. Indeed, though the 

 whale is one of the largest of animals, it is, at the same 

 time, one of the most harmless. Instead of preying on 

 the other inhabitants of the deep, it appears to subsist 

 solely on insects of the medusae kind. 



It is not to be wondered at if such a pacific animal 

 should have many enemies to encounter. A small shell- 

 fish, called the whale-louse, adheres to its body, and preys 

 upon its fat ; but, next to man, the xiphias, or sword-fish, 

 is its greatest pest and most dangerous foe. Against its 

 adversaries of the deep, however, it may prevail by force, 

 or escape their malice by artifice ; but men, the lords of 

 the creation, pursue it with dexterous and successful hos- 

 tility, stimulated by mercantile avarice, or a more laud- 

 able wish to supply the necessary wants of human life. 

 It is well known that a number of ships are fitted out an- 

 nually for the whale-fishery on the coast of Greenland, 

 and in the South Sea. The animal is pierced with a har- 

 poon, to which a long rope is affixed, kept coiled up, and 

 allowed to run off to a great length ; as often as the 

 wounded whale rises to respire, it receives another har- 

 poon ; till at last it sinks, exhausted with fatigue, pain, 

 and the loss of blood. The blubber, or fat, is then cut 

 up, and put into barrels, and is afterwards melted into oil. 

 The flesh is of no value, according to our taste; but some 

 of the northern nations consider it as a great delicacy 

 and even a dead whale thrown on their shores as a special 

 blessing of Providence. 



THE CACHALOT, OR PHYSETER. 



^Naturalists are not agreed with regard to the number of 



