254 NATURAL HISTOBJ. 



occasionally met with. At other times great fellows are found here and there on lonely pilgrimages, 

 while still at other times a few together will be seen en route to fresh feeding-grounds. Adult females, 

 or those with young in their company, evince a strong affection for each other, and when one is. 

 killed or sustains injury, parents or companions hover about and even render assistance. The whalers 

 take advantage of this trait, and often kill a number ere the others make off. When, however, a 

 company of young male Whales are found, and one is attacked, little love or interest in each other's 

 welfare is manifested, every one rushing off helter-skelter in all dii'ections, to the whalers' chagrin. 

 The old " bulls," on the other hand, are more sedate and less easily frightened, and unless roused by 

 injury to retaliate on their pursuers are more readily harpooned. The Sperm Whale is easily known 

 from all others, even at a great distance, from the regularity of its blowing and the manner in which 

 it throws up a volume of vapour obliquely forwards. It traverses the ocean surface in a steady 

 methodical manner, at the rate of four or five miles an hour, its great head or hump-like back occasion- 

 ally appearing above water. It will remain on the surface from ten to fifteen minutes, and then will 

 descend, staying below an hour or more, but the females and young remain up and descend at more- 

 frequent intervals. At times, instead of quietly swimming on the surface, they proceed more quickly 

 by a kind of lounging motion, the head being thrust well out of the water, a mass of spray, technically 

 called " white water," accompanying this mode of progression. Occasionally they spring headlong out 

 of the sea (" breaching "), or violently beat the surface with their tails (" lobtailing "), or at other 

 times dash about in a variety of attitudes. Sometimes they move their fins as if feeling around for 

 enemies, or throw their bodies awry, bringing the mouth well to the surface. It is pretty certain 

 that Cuttle-fish form a large proportion of their food, though there is reason to believe that they do 

 not despise fish and other marine creatures. It is still a moot point how they feed, and to what 

 use they put their teeth. Some assert that in the depths the under jaw is lowered, and the glistening 

 pearly teeth fully shown ; attracted by the latter, its prey approach and the trap is closed. Blindness 

 at times supervenes. Still more curious are instances where the lower jaw is twisted like a shepherd's 

 crook, and strange to say, notwithstanding this deformity, these Whales seem fat and hearty this 

 fact giving rise to much speculation whether such malformation has arisen from fighting and 

 distortion of the jaw in youth, or from other causes not yet ascertained. The Sperm Whale has 

 its enemies, the Thresher Shark leaping on it and attacking it from above, while the daring Killer 

 Whale (Orca) assaults it from below. The female, it is said, breeds at all seasons, producing one, 

 but occasionally two, at a time. 



The double-bowed whale-boats are manned by six men, and when they approach the Whale one 

 steers aft with an oar while the harpooner plies his craft. As soon as it is struck the rowers " back"' 

 away. Meanwhile the creature dives, carrying harpoon and line, or rolls rapidly round coiling the rope 

 on its body. The other boats approach, and as it rises harpoons and lances are dexterously used, and as 

 the blood escapes in volumes, despite its vast efforts the creature succumbs. Immediately after its- 

 death the boats are made fast to the carcass, and the ship reached as circumstances best permit. Secured 

 alongside, a man descends, cuts a hole behind the head, inserts a hook, often under most dangerous con- 

 ditions, especially if the sea is rough. The fat or blubber is cut by sharp spades in a long spiral strip, 

 and pulleys applied, and these skin and blubber strips, termed the "blanket pieces," are thereupon hove 

 on deck. The carcass afterwards is rolled round and the opposite side similarly treated. The great 

 head meantime is cut off, and floated astern until the trunk is deprived of its blubber. The 

 head is then opened from above, and among the coarse fat and blubber of the forehead the 

 so-called " case " is a fluid oily matter, the spermaceti. This substance is handed up in bucket- 

 fuls, and preserved in casks. On its removal the wedge-shaped oily and fibrous head-piece, the 

 "junk," is next secured; head and trunk are then sent adrift. Then follows the "trying out," 

 that is, boiling the fatty masses and extracting the oil, which operation is done in furnaces, the scraps 

 of fat mainly serving as fuel. Finally, the oil and head matter are casked up, and a fresh look- 

 out from the masthead is kept for more Whales. The crow's nest is a large barrel on the cross- 

 trees, where a watcher is stationed during the whole voyage. No sooner is a Whale spied than the 

 shout, " There she blows ! " or, as the Americans have it, " There she spouts ! " is replied to from the 

 deck by a hurried rush to the boats, for each seaman's kit and provisions are beforehand ready pre- 

 pared in a bundle, and before a few minutes have passed, the hardy mariners are on their way towards 





