270 The Sperm Whale and its Food 



of Rennes, dealing especially with the specimens of gigantic 

 cephalopods obtained. It will be convenient to give the 

 proceedings of the yacht, during and after the capture of the 

 cachalot, in the form of an abstract of the Prince's own com- 

 munications, and to deal with the specific details of the animals, 

 collected, in the form of an abstract of Prof. Joubain's paper. 



Proceedings of the Yacht. 



On July 18 of last year, about nine o'clock in the morning, 

 I * observed, while engaged in operations in the deep waters of 

 the south of the island of Terceira, two boats leave the coast 

 under sail, and about half an hour later two other boats pro- 

 ceeded in the same direction from another point. It was 

 evident that they were not bound on an ordinary fishing 

 expedition, and I quickly perceived that they were in pursuit 

 of a school of sperm whales or cachalots; and I finished with 

 the greatest speed the work in hand, in order to be able to take 

 full advantage of the rare occasion of being able to assist at 

 the capture of one of these interesting animals, should such be 

 the result of the exertions of the whalers. About eleven 

 o'clock I observed a whale spouting at a distance of about two 

 miles, and I perceived that one of the whalers was approaching 

 it cautiously. I was careful to remain at the same distance, 

 in order not to run the risk of interfering with the whaler, and 

 I closely followed all the manoeuvres. The officer or coxswain 

 of the boat stood erect in the stern, steering the boat with an 

 oar. The harponeer stood in the bows, and I distinctly saw 

 him strike the whale. I then approached the group at full 

 speed, while the other whalers Dispersed in pursuit of other 

 members of the schdol. When I had arrived within one or 

 two hundred metres, the cachalot had already towed the 

 whaler attached to it by the harpoon, and the whole length 

 of this line, to a considerable distance, and the harponeer had 

 just succeeded in giving the animal the thrust of the lance, 

 which terminates the struggle if skilfully delivered. The spray 

 thrown out by the animal had become pink, and soon became 

 quite red, while a pool of blood extended itself more and more 

 1 The Prince of Monaco. 



