256 



HISTORY OF FISHES. 



Iremely timorous, they will soon be inducoc 

 to quit those shores, where they meet sucl 

 frequent disturbance and danger. .The poor 

 natives of Greenland themselves, who used to 

 feed upon the whale, are diminishing, in pro- 

 portion as their sustenance is removed ; and it 

 is probable that the revolution of a few year 

 will see that extensive coast totally deserted 

 by its inhabitants, as it is already nearly de- 

 serted by the whales. The art of taking 

 whales, like most others, is much improved 

 by time, and differs in many respects from 

 that practised by the Biscay neers, when they 

 first frequented the icy sea. But as the des- 

 cription of their method is the least compli- 

 cated, and consequently the easiest understood, 

 it will be best suited to our purpose. 1 



1 The whale (says Scoresby, who has written from 

 long personal observation on the subject) which is a 

 mammiferous animal, and closely allied, in its anatomical 

 structure, to the class of quadrupeds, affords in the 

 modification of the parts and principles of land animals, 

 tor applying them to a tribe inhabiting the sea, a great 

 number of those striking displays of wisdom and power, 

 the very contemplation of which is calculated to elevate, 

 in no inconsiderable degree, our conceptions of the Great 

 Supreme. The mysticetus feeds on the smallest insects ; 

 its capacious mouth, with the vast fringes of whalebone, 

 which is a most admirable filter, enables it to receive 

 some tons of water at a mouthful, and to separate every 

 substance from it, of the size of a pin's head and up- 

 wards. The physalis feeds on herrings, mackerel and 

 oilier fishes of a similar kind; its whalebone therefore is 

 shorter, stronger, and less compact than that of the mys- 

 ticetu, and the filter formed by it less perfect. 



As the whale must rise to the surface of the sea to 

 breathe, its tail is placed horizontally, to enable it to 

 ascend and descend more quickly ; and its nostrils, or 

 blowholes, instead of being placed at the snout, are gen- 

 erally on the most elevated part of the head, that they 

 may be readily lifted clear of the water. 



When the whale descends to the depths of the ocean, 

 it becomes exposed to an enormous pressure from the 

 superincumbent water. This pressure is sufficient to 

 force the water through the pores of the hardest wood ; 

 yet it is effectually resisted by the skin of the whale, 

 though it is remarkably soft arid flexible. To exclude 

 the water from the lungs, which would occasion suffoca- 

 tion if admitted, the blow-holes are defended by the pe- 

 culiar valves that have been already described. 



The variety discovered in the structure of whales, is 

 by no means one of the least interesting parts of their 

 physiology. In other classes of animals, whose habits 

 are similar, we often find that each organ is the same as 

 the corresponding one, in almost all the species of the 

 same genus, or even of the same order; excepting when 

 their peculiar habits, or necessities, require a modifica- 

 tion of the general structure or principle. But in whales, 

 as if it were intended not only to exhibit the matchless 

 wisdom of the Creator, but to show that his resources 

 are unlimited, the structure of the breathing canals is 

 varied in the different genera of cetaceous animals, and 

 a number of contrivances, alike extraordinary, equally 

 beautiful, and equally efficient, are adapted for perform- 

 ing the same office. 



The whale seems dull of hearing. A noise in the air, 

 such as that produced by a person shouting, is not noticed 

 by it, though at the distance only of a ship's length : but 

 a very slight splashing in the water in calm weather ex- 

 cites its attention and alarms it. 



For this navigation, the Biscayneers, in 

 favourable seasons, fitted out thirty ships, of 

 two hundred and fifty tons each, with fifty 

 choice men apiece, and a few boys. These 

 were stored with six months' provision ; and 

 each ship had its boats, which were to be 

 serviceable when come to the place of duty. 

 When arrived at the part where the whales 

 are expected to pass to the southward, they 

 always keep their sails set, and a sailor is 

 placed at the mast-head, to give information 

 when he spies a whale. As soon as he dis- 

 covers one, the whole crew are instantly in 

 employment : they fit out their boats and'row 

 away to where the whale was seen. The har- 

 pooner, who is to strike the fish, stands at the 

 prow of the boat, with a,harpoon or javelin in 



Its sense of seeing is acute ; whales are observed to 

 discover one another in clear water, when under the 

 surface, at an amazing distance. When at the surface, 

 however, they do not see far. 



They have no voice ; but in breathing or blowing they 

 make a very loud noise. The vapour they discharge is 

 ejected to the height of some yards, and appears at a 

 distance like a puff of smoke. When the animals are 

 wounded, it is often stained with blood; and, on the ap- 

 proach of death, jets of blood are sometimes discharged 

 alone. They blow strongest, densest, and loudest, when 

 " running." When in a state of alarm, or when they 

 first appear at the surface, after being a long time down, 

 they respire or blow about four or five times a minute. 



The whale being somewhat lighter than the medium 

 in which it swims, can remain at the surface of the sea, 

 with its "crown," in which the blowholes are situated, 

 and a considerable extent of the back, above water, with- 

 out any effort or motion. To descend, however, re- 

 quires an exertion. The proportion of the whale that 

 appears above water, when alive, or when recently killed, 

 is probably not a twentieth part of the animal ; hut within 

 a day after death, when the process of putrefaction com- 

 mences, the whale swells to an enormous size, until at 

 least a third of the carcass appears above water, and 

 sometimes the body is burst by the force of air generated 

 within. 



By means of the tail principally, the whale advances 

 through the water. The greatest velocity is produced 

 by powerful strokes against the water, impressed alter- 

 nately upward and downward ; but a slower motion, it is 

 believed, is elegantly produced, by cutting the watei 

 laterally, and obliquely, downward, in a manner similar 

 ;o that in which a boat is forced along, with a single oar, 

 )y the operation of skulling. The fins are generally 

 stretched out in a horizontal position : their chief ap- 

 jlication seems to be the balancing of the animal, as the 

 moment life is extinct, it always falls over on its side, or 

 ,urns upon its back. They appear also to be used in 

 )earing off their young, in turning, and giving a direc- 

 ion to the velocity produced by the tail. 



Bulky as the whale is, and inactive, or indeed clumsy 

 as it appears to be, one might imagine that all its motions 

 would he sluggish, and its greatest exertions productive 

 of but little celerity. The fact, however, is the reverse. 

 A whale extended motionless at the surface of the sea, 

 can sink in the space of five or six seconds, or less, be- 

 rond the reach of its human enemies. Its velocity along 

 ,he surface, or 'perpendicularly, or obliquely downward, 

 s the same. I have observed a whale descending after 

 '. had harpooned it, to the depth of 400 fathoms, with 

 >he average velocity of seven or eight miles per hour. 

 The usual rate at which whales swim, however, even 



