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CATODOXTID.E MAMMALIA. DELPHIXID.E. 



201 



minute particles of water previously lodged in the chink 

 or fissure of the nostril, and also from the condensation 

 of the aqueous vapour thrown off by the lungs. The 

 spout is projected at an angle of 136, in a slow and 

 continuous manner, for about three minutes, and may 

 be seen from the mast-head in favourable weather at 

 the distance of four or five miles. When the whale is 

 alarmed or " gallied," the spout is thrown much higher 

 with great rapidity, and differs much from its usual 

 appearance. Immediately after each spout the nose 

 sinks beneath the water, scarcely a second intervening 

 for the act of inspiration, which must consequently be 

 performed very quickly, the air rushing into the chest 

 with astonishing velocity. There is, however, no sound 

 caused by inspiration, and very little by expiration, in 

 this species ; in short, nothing of that loud noise called 

 the "draw-back" in the finback and other whales. Ten 

 seconds is occupied by a large bull sperm whale in 

 making one inspiration and one expiration ; during six 

 of these the nostril is beneath the water. At each 

 breathing time the whale makes from sixty to seventy 

 expirations, and remains, therefore, at the surface ten 

 or eleven minutes. When the breathing time is over, 

 or, as the whalers term it, he has his " spoutings out," 

 the head sinks slowly; the " small," or the part between 

 the " hump" and the " flukes," appears above the water, 

 curved with the convexity upwards ; the flukes are then 

 lifted high into the a,ir, and the animal having assumed 

 a straight position, descends perpendicularly to an un- 

 known depth. This last act is called "pecking the 

 flukes," and those who are on the look-out call loudly 

 when they see it " There goes flukes." The whale 

 continues thus hidden beneath the surface for one 

 hour and ten minutes ; some will remain an hour and 

 twenty minutes, and others only for one hour ; but 

 these are rare exceptions. Mr. Beale gives us very 

 graphic accounts of the mode of capturing the Sperm 

 whale, which, when excited, seems to be a truly 

 formidable antagonist. Perhaps, however, the most 

 stirring incident, amongst the many daring encounters 

 which have from time to time been recorded, is that 

 given by the Eev. Henry T. Cheever, in his little work 

 entitled " The Whaleman's Adventures in the Southern 

 Ocean," which is edited by that distinguished naviga- 

 tor and cetaceologist, the Rev. Dr. Scoresby. Thus 

 runs the terrible story : " The most dreadful display 

 of the whale's strength and prow'ess yet authentically 

 recorded, was that made upon the American whale ship 

 Essex, Captain Pollard, which sailed from Nantucket 

 for the Pacific Ocean in August, 1819. Late in the 

 fall of the same year, when in latitude 40 of the South 

 Pacific, a school of sperm whales was discovered, and 

 three boats were manned and sent in pursuit. The 

 mate's boat was struck by one of them, and he was 

 obliged to return to the ship, in order to repair the 

 damage. While he was engaged in that work, a Sperm 

 whale, judged to be eighty-five feet long, broke water 

 about twenty rods from the ship, on her weather bow. 

 He was going at the rate of about three knots an hour, 

 and the ship at nearly the same rate, when he struck 

 the bows of the vessel, just forward of her chains. At 

 the shock produced by the collision of two such mighty 

 masses of matter in motion, the ship shook like a leaf. 



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The seemingly malicious whale dived and passed under 

 the ship, grazing her keel, and then appeared at about 

 the distance of a ship's length, lashing the sea with fins 

 and tail, as if suffering the most horrible agony. He 

 was evidently hurt by the collision, and blindly frantic 

 with instinctive rage. In a few minutes he seemed to 

 recover himself, and started with great speed directly 

 across the vessel's course to windward. Meanwhile the 

 hands on board discovered the ship to be gradually 

 settling down at the bows, and the pumps were ordered 

 to be rigged. While working at them, one of the men 

 cried out" God have mercy ! he comes again !" The 

 whale had turned at about one hundred rods from the 

 ship, and was making for her with double his former 

 speed ; his pathway white with foam. Rushing head 

 on, he struck her again at the bow, and the tremendous 

 blow stove her in. The whale dived under again and 

 disappeared, and the ship filled and fell over on her 

 broadside, in ten minutes from the first collision. After 

 incredible hardships and sufferings in their open boats, 

 on the 20th December the survivors of this catastrophe 

 reached the low island called Ducies, in latitude 24 40' 

 south, longitude 124 40' west. It was a mere sand- 

 bank, nearly barren, which supplied them only with 

 water and, very scantily, sea-fowl. On this uninhabited 

 island, dreary as it was, three of the men chose to 

 remain, rather than again commit themselves to the 

 uncertainties of the sea. They have never since been 

 heard from, the island being seldom visited. On the 

 27th of December the three boats, with the remainder 

 of the men, put away together for the island of Juan 

 Fernandez, at a distance of two thousand miles. The 

 mate's boat was taken up by the Indian of London, on 

 the 19th of February, ninety-three days from the time 

 of the catastrophe, with only three survivors. The 

 captain's boat was fallen in with by the Dauphin of 

 Nantucket, on the 23rd of the same month, having only 

 two men living, -whose lives had been eked out only 

 through that last resort of hunger in the wretched, , 

 which words shudder to relate ! Out of a crew of j 

 twenty, five only survived to make the ear of the world 

 tingle at their strange eventful story." 



Several other forms of Cachalot exist, which are consi- 

 dered by Dr. Gray and others as entirely distinct species. 

 These are the Mexican Sperm Whale ( Catodon Colueti) ; j 

 the Short-headed Whale (Kogia breviceps) , which occurs 

 in the neighbourhood of the Cape ; and the Black-fish, 

 or High-finned Cachalot (PJiyseter Tursio), which is 

 undoubtedly distinct. This latter species, according to 

 the testimony of Mr. Barclay, communicated to Mr. 

 Bell, is frequently seen off the coasts of Zetland in sum- 

 mer. It was first described by Sir Robert Sibbald, 

 who compared its long perpendicular dorsal fin to the 

 mizen-mast of a ship. The specimen from which his 

 description was taken was cast ashore on the Orkney 

 isles in the year 1687. 



FAMILY III. DELPHINID^E. 



Under this head naturalists have included a great 

 number and variety of cetacean species, which are col- 

 lectively recognized by their double rows of teeth, or, in 

 other words, by teeth in both jaws. They have smooth 



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