84 THE WHALE AND 



The Whale at Breakfast. The Whale Adrift. 



these float in immense shoals on the surface of 

 the ocean, and sometimes color the water for 

 miles. When the whale is disposed to break 

 his fast, he rushes through a field of shrimps 

 with open mouth, until he has received myr- 

 iads of the little animals ; then, with the lips 

 thrown open, the water is forced out between 

 the slabs which I have described, leaving the 

 shrimps attached to the hairy strainer within ; 

 by means of the tongue they are collected, and 

 the delicate mouthful is conveyed to his capa- 

 cious stomach. 



When " cutting in a whale," as the carcass 

 rolls over by the power of the windlass, the lips, 

 which are composed entirely of hard blubber, 

 are cut off and hoisted on board as they present 

 themselves. The crown bone is also disjointed 

 from the body, and is hoisted in with the whale- 

 bone attached to it. A very large head pro- 

 duces a thousand pounds. The tongue and the 

 fins are also saved ; so that when the carcass 

 is turned adrift, after being properly stripped, 

 very little oily matter falls to the share of the 

 birds, who make a terrible clamor, however, in 

 quarreling for that little. 



The " blubber-room" is a space under the 



