THE INNKEEPER AND HIS WIFE I5 



babes the same as do any of the sows in my yard, save 

 that it only has one or two at a time; and the mother 

 suckles its young as they float together just below the 

 surface; other fishes, with the one exception of sharks 

 which also bear their young, spawn their eggs all over the 

 sea and take no interest in the fate of their offspring. And 

 when you feel the flesh of a fresh killed whale it is warm 

 like that of an ox, but other fish are cold through and 

 through when you take them from the sea. It is the 

 whale's blubber that keeps out the cold of the sea and it 

 covers him all over like a thick blanket. It is the reason 

 why men kill the whale for from it comes the oil which 

 is so precious.' 



Mr. Mather puffed at his pipe in silence for a while. 

 Then he said, 'There are many different kinds of whales 

 you know, son. Those within my experience I have 

 always been able to separate into two families; the first 

 with teeth which includes the big spermaceti and smaller 

 ones like the killer, the bottlenose, the white whale and the 

 narwhal and all the small dolphins; and the second 

 without teeth but having curtains of bone which we call 

 fins hanging from their upper jaws; of this family there is 

 the black right whale which you may see off our own 

 shores, and there is the Greenland right whale that the 

 Dutch and the English seek in the northern seas; there is 

 the humpback that loves to frolic close to the shore and 

 many others of this family. But the biggest of all whales 

 is still stranger to me for he was always too fast for any 

 boat that I was in, though I've heard tales of him being 

 found stranded and measuring over a hundred feet in 

 length. The oceans are wide and there are many I have 

 not sailed and only the Lord knows what wonders are to 

 be found there.' 



*In truth, Mr. Mather,' said Jonathan, 'this business of 

 whaHng is a big subject and you make me wish I knew 

 more of it. Until now my knowledge of whales had 



