110 VOYAGE INTO 



are well they are slippery as an eel, but one may stand upon 

 tliem, because they are so soft that the flesh thereof giveth 

 way to our weight : and the outward skin is thin, like parch- 

 ment, and is easily pulled off with ones hands when the fish 

 grows hot. I know not whether the skin is thus burnt by the 

 inward heat of the fish when he lies dry a floating upon the 

 water. The sun beams seem not to have so great power as 

 to dry the skin so. We found our flrst xoliale so much heated 

 by his hard swimming that he stunk alive ; we could pull 

 off" great pieces of the skin of the length of a man, which we 

 could not do to other fishes that were not so much heated : 

 but from whales that have been dead some days and are dry, 

 where also the sun shines upon them, or when it doth not 

 rain, one may pull off" a great deal of the skin, but it stinks 

 basely of train-oyl or fat, that ferments thro' the pores of the 

 skin. I know not what use to make of this skin, but I have 

 seen women tye their flax with it about the distaff. 



The toJiale loseth its beautiful colour when it groweth dry, 

 for before there is more black amongst it, which niaketh the 

 white shew the better ; neither doth the black look so well 

 after it is dry, for it groweth then brownish. When you 

 hold the skin against the light you see many small pores in 

 it, where the sweat comcth through. 



The yard of the whale is a strong sinew, and according as 

 they are in bigness, six, seven, or eight foot long, as I have 

 seen myself. Where this yard is fixed the skin is doubled, 

 so that it lies just like a knife in a sheath, where you can see 

 nothing of the knife but only a little of the haft. The part 

 of generation in the female is just shaped like as that of four 

 legged beasts. At the sides oi 'pudendum stand out the two 

 breasts, with nipples on them like unto those of cows : some 

 of these breasts are quite white, some are speckled with black 

 and blew spots, like a lapwing's egg. When they have no 

 young ones they have but small breasts. I am informed, 

 when they couple together they stand upright, close to one 



