280 THE OCEAN. 



this part the most buoyant of the whole body. 

 And when we consider that the breathing aperture 

 or blow-hole must be projected from the water 

 for the reception of air, we see the reason of tliis 

 buoyancy.* 



Everything connected with the breathing of the 

 Sperm Whale is performed with a regularity that 

 is very remarkable. The length of time he remains 

 at the surface, the number of " spoutings " made at 

 each time, the length of interval between the spouts, 

 the time he remains below the surface before again 

 rising to breathe, are all, when he is undisturbed, as 

 regular in succession and duration as it is possible 

 to imagine. This is a circumstance of the greatest 

 value to the whaler ; for though there is considerable 

 variation in these particulars in different animals, yet 

 such is the precision with which each maintains his 

 own rates of movement, that when the periods of any 

 particular Whale have been observed, the whaler can 

 calculate, even to a minute, when he will reappear, 

 and how long he will continue at the surface. A large 

 male, called " a bull whale," usually remains at the 

 surface about ten minutes, during which he spouts 

 sixty or seventy times ; then, to use the nautical 

 phrase, "his spoutings are out," the head gradually 

 sinks, the "small" is projected from the water, and 

 presently the " flukes " of the tail are raised high in 

 the air, and the animal descends perpendicularly to 

 an unknown depth, remaining below from an hour to 



* For most of the particulars of the history and pursuit of this 

 animal I am indebted to Mr. BeiJe's valuable work on the Sperm 

 Whale, 



