144- THE OCEAN. 



mediately. Mr. Scoresby mentions a case in which 

 it had been cut adrift prematurely, one of the men 

 being still upon it : it began to sink, but unfortu- 

 nately a hook in his boot had a firm hold of the 

 flesh ; he convulsively grasped the side of the boat 

 in which his comrades were, and the whole immense 

 weight was suspended by his foot. The torture was 

 extreme ; it was expected every instant that his foot 

 would be rent off, or that his body would be torn 

 asunder ; but presently, by the merciful interposition 

 of God, one of his companions contrived to hook a 

 grapnel into the carcass, and it was drawn sufficiently 

 near the surface for him to be extricated. 



The AVhale to which the preceding notices refer is 

 by no means the largest of the tribe, as the Great 

 Rorqual {Balcenopera hoops) sometimes attains 

 nearly double the length of the former. Two spe- 

 cimens have been measured of the length of one 

 hundred and five feet, and Sir A. de Capell Brooke 

 asserts, that it is occasionally seen of the enormous 

 dimensions of a hundred and twenty feet. The 

 Rorqual inhabits the same seas as the "right" 

 Whale, but is not usually seen in company with it ; 

 they seem rather to avoid each other. The thinness 

 of its blubber, and the shortness of its whalebone, 

 render it of far less value than the other species ; 

 besides which, its swiftness, strength, and determi- 

 nation, render it a hazardous enemy to encounter. 

 Hence it is usually avoided by the whalers, though 

 the adventurous inhabitants of the Arctic shores of 

 Europe do not hesitate to attack it. It is worthy ot 

 our notice, however, on account of its affording an 



