166 THE SPERMACETI WHALE. 



mode. One of these is what is called " sweeping," 

 which consists in moving the tail slowly from side 

 to side on the surface of the water, as if feeling 

 for any object that may he near. This whale has 

 also an extraordinary fashion of rolling over and 

 over on the surface, and especially when harpooned ; 

 and in this case it will sometimes coil an amazing 

 length of line around it. But one of its most sur- 

 prising feats, as has been mentioned of the genera 

 already described, is leaping completely out of the 

 water, or "breaching," as it is called. The mode 

 in which this appears to be done, is by its descend- 

 ing to a certain depth, and then making several 

 powerful and rapid strokes with its tail, thus im- 

 parting great velocity to the body before it reaches 

 the surface, when it darts completely out of the 

 water. The body forms, when just emerged and 

 at its greatest elevation, an angle of 45, the tail 

 being parallel with the surface ; in falling, the 

 body rolls over on the side : it seldom breaches 

 more than twice or thrice at a time, and in quick 

 succession. This performance may be seen in a 

 clear day at a distance of six miles from the mast- 

 head. As has also been previously stated regarding 

 the mysticetus, " lob tailing" is another frequent 

 and favourite amusement with this genus. 



The Sperm Whale is a gregarious animal, and the 

 herds are of two kinds, the one consisting of females, 

 and the other of young and not fully grown males ; 

 the latter are again generally subdivided into groups 

 according to their ages. These herds are called 



