132 THE WHALE HUNTERS 



those of a cow ; and you might search diHgently and never 

 find the pinprick holes through which it seems miracu- 

 lously to be able to hear the splash of an oar a mile away. 



Sometimes the whalemen found in the stomach of a sick 

 sperm whale a substance known as ambergris which 

 seemed to form itself around the undigested beak of a 

 cuttlefish. It possessed the singular quality of being able 

 to retain the scent of highly volatile perfumes and perfume 

 manufacturers paid many pounds for a single ounce of it. 



The sperm whale now lashed to the Meribah was a 

 female and its fourteen-inch thick blubber would yield 

 about fifty barrels of oil which although of lower quality 

 than the spermaceti oil contained in the head would also 

 be used for lighting purposes. 



