164 THE SPERMACETI WHALE. 



The length of time this whale remains at the sur- 

 face, the number of spoutings made on one occasion, 

 the intervals between them, and the time it remains 

 beneath, are all, when the animal remains undis- 

 turbed, as regular in succession and duration as it is 

 possible to imagine. With different individuals the 

 time varies, but in each the several acts are minutely 

 regular ; and this is of considerable use to the fisher, 

 for when the periods of any particular whale are 

 once noticed, he knows to a moment when to ex- 

 pect it again at the surface, and how long it will 

 remain there. Immediately after each spout, the 

 nose sinks under water, scarcely a second interven- 

 ing for the act of inspiring, which must consequently 

 be done very quickly. There is no sound caused 

 by the inspiration, and very little by the expira- 

 tion. 



In a " large bull," so an old male is called, the 

 time from the termination of one spouting to that 

 of another is ten seconds ; during six of these the 

 snout is under water, three are occupied by the 

 expiration, and one by the inspiration ; and at each 

 breathing time, the whale makes from sixty to 

 seventy respirations, and therefore remains ten or 

 eleven minutes at the surface. When this is ended, 

 or, as the sailors say, it has had " its spoutings out," 

 the head sinks slowly, the posterior part of the body 

 appears above water, the tail is lifted high into the 

 air, and the animal having thus assumed a straight 

 position, descends perpendicularly to an unknown 

 depth: this act is performed with great regularity 



