Northern Whales and Whaling. 



195 



is nothing more or less than the blubber, or fat. This blubber is 

 generally about eighteen inches to two feet thick according to loca- 

 tion on the body, and, besides being of value as an article of com- 

 merce, is of great use to the whale, offering an elastic resistance to 

 the waves and pressure of the water. In a full-sized whale the 

 blubber will weigh thirty or forty tons. 



HARPOONING A WHALE. 



The head of the whale is of enormous size, being about one-third 

 of the length of the entire body. The jaws are very long — more 

 than fifteen feet — about eight feet wide, and ten or twelve feet from 

 top to bottom when open. The most peculiar part of the mouth is 

 the abundance of whalebone that it contains. It lies in a series of 

 plates, thick and close where it is attached to the jaw, but running 



