Il8 Anecdotal Natural History. 



The frightened whale instantly dives beneath the 

 surface, carrying the harpoon with it, the rope being 

 uncoiled from the boat as rapidly as possible. For half 

 an hour or so, the animal remains beneath the surface, 

 but is at length obliged to rise in order to procure a 

 fresh supply of air. No sooner does it appear, and 

 begin its spouting, than the boat approaches, and 

 again drives it below before the operation is completed. 



Not having been able to aerate the whole of the 

 blood, it cannot remain so long beneath the surface, 

 and is soon obliged to again rise in search of air. 

 Again it is driven below, and so on until the animal is 

 so weakened from want of air that the pursuers can 

 come to close quarters. 



The depth to which a whale will descend when pur- 

 sued is simply astonishing. On one occasion the 

 animal took down with it more than one thousand 

 fathoms of rope, or considerably over a mile, and yet 

 was enabled to bear the tremendous weight of the rope, 

 and also to drag the boat with its pursuers rapidly 

 through the water. 



It appears strange that so comparatively insignificant 

 a weapon as the harpoon should prove so deadly to 

 an animal of such enormous dimensions. But the 

 animal does not lose its life on account of the very 

 slight wound produced by the harpoon. 



The real instrument of death is the spear, which has a 

 small and very sharp blade and a very long handle. 

 When the whale is quite exhausted by fatigue, the spear 

 is thrust into the vital organs, and in spite of its size the 

 animal easily succumbs. 



Formerly, ihe harpoon was always thrown by hand. 

 It is now mostly shot from a gun, and, of course, can 

 penetrate more deeply than the hand-thrown weapon. 



To -mankind, whether in a civilized or a savage con- 

 dition, the whale is of inestimable value. From the 



