l8 THE WHALE HUNTERS 



not reached beyond the story in the Holy Bible. What 

 kind of whale would you say it was that swallowed 

 Jonah?' 



*Might have been a spermaceti, son. He feeds on big 

 cuttlefish and has a bigger gullet than any other. It 

 could not have been a killer because, though he might 

 make a meal off any man that might be so foolish as to 

 offer himself, he is too small in the gullet. And it most 

 certainly was not one of the whales with fins in their 

 mouths for they feed only on very small creatures like 

 shrimps. It is a terrible thing to see one of them coming 

 towards you with his cavernous jaws wide agape, scooping 

 up his victuals off the sea's surface, and though you'd 

 think at the time that he could swallow you and your boat 

 at one gulp his gullet is made very small. All these 

 whalebone whales can take into their mouths tons of 

 water at a time and the whalebone curtains hanging 

 from their jaws act like big shrimp nets. The water is 

 forced out at the sides of their mouths and the small 

 creatures are left inside for them to swallow. That is 

 why their gullets are so small.' 



Mr. Mather's pipe had gone out and he lit it with a 

 spill from the fire. 



*If it was not a spermaceti that swallowed Jonah,' he 

 said, 'then it must have been some whale of which I am 

 ignorant.' 



Jonathan was trying hard to digest all this information. 

 He had not expected Mr. Mather to give his simple 

 question such deep consideration. 



*I think,' he said, 'that I shall have to see all these 

 things for myself before I can fully understand them.' 



'You'll see much,' said the innkeeper, 'just by taking a 

 walk around the shores of this island. But now it is time 

 you were in bed.' 



