His CAPTORS. 97 



Different Whales Enumerated. The Razor-back. 



twelve or fourteen different species of this great 

 sea monster : right, sperm, black-fish, hump- 

 back, razor-back, fin-back, grampus, sulphur- 

 bottom, killer, cow-fish, porpoise, nar whale, 

 scrag whale, and elephant whale. In the at- 

 tempt to capture one of the latter kind, a New 

 London ship, not long since, lost eleven men, 

 including the first mate. The first four of this 

 catalogue only are much sought after for their 

 oil ; now and then some of the others are taken 

 by chance. The razor-back is sometimes one 

 hundred and five feet long, but not so large 

 round as the right whale, bearing about the same 

 comparison to the latter that a razor-faced fel- 

 low you now and then meet with among men 

 does to a fair, round alderman. The porpoise, 

 as every one knows, is harpooned from a ship's 

 bow, hauled on board, and its carcass eaten by 

 the name of " sea beef." Its oil, like the ship's 

 slush, is a perquisite of the cook's. 



The fin-back, so called from a large fin on 

 the ridge of its back, looking just like the gno- 

 mon of a dial, is a large whale found all over 

 the ocean, and, could it be taken, would add 

 greatly to the productiveness of the whale fish- 

 ery. It often comes near a ship with a ringing 

 G 



