254 DIVISION I. VEirrEBKAL ANIMALS. — CLASS I. ilAMMALIA. 



ncsscd Iiis c-xtraonlinarv rciiiovid dliscrvcil, tliat it was so exceedingly quick, 

 tliat altliougli iiis eye was upon iiiui at the iiistaut, he could scarcely dis- 

 tingiiisii the ohjcct as it disa|i[iearcd."' 



IVriloiis, however, as this l)usincss is, unHincliing courage, self-possession, 

 and pi'csence of mind will often carry the whaleman safely through the most 

 :ip[)alling of these accidents. The late IMr. Charles Galacar, formerly of 

 I'roviucetown, ^lass., related to us an instance in point, where he was 

 jiersonally concerned, which we introduce here, with the lielief that it 

 may induce others to take the same precautions, and exercise a similar 

 amount of courage. " I was in a l)oat of one of the vessels of the New Bed- 

 ford fleet, in the North Pacific, when an event occurred which I sliall never 

 forget to the end of my life. A whale was stru<-k, and, as usual, [ilunged 

 into the abyss, dragging out the line with great velocity, when in some 

 manner my foot became entangled in the coil, and in an instant I was hurled 

 into the sea. Downward into the dark and foaming gulf I was drawn, with 

 the sjiced of lightning, liut never, i\>r a moment, yielded to an emotion of 

 fear. In this terrible crisis, ' dc j)roJ'i(ii(/is c/diuffvi,' and experienced one of 

 those mental illuminations which are not infrequent with jiersons in the pres- 

 ence of tieath. I seemed all mind. All the past of my lil'c, witli all its acts 

 and experiences, was present in my thoughts, and during tlie few seconds I 

 remained under water, long and eventful years rolled through my memory. 

 jMeanwhile the pressure on mv nostrils and ears was tremendous, and attend- 

 ed with terrible agony. I usually wore a leathern belt around my waist, and 

 at this time iiad stuck in it a sharp knife, known among fishermen as a 

 spJilluKj-hiiifr. The moment I found myself in the water, I seized the 

 instriunent in which was centred mv only h(i[)e of escape, and, fortunately, 

 succeeded in se\ering the line, on which I ascended to the surface with a 

 velocity and force which threw half my liody out of the sea, bleeding at the 

 nose, mouth, and ears, and, on being ])icked u[) by the boat, was in sucli a 

 state of exhaustion tliat some days of rest were required to restore my 

 accustomed strength and energy." 



J3. xhi.-<lniUt<. — The Whale of the Southern Seas, ilany families and 

 species of animals appear to have their habitat fixed by nature, beyond the 

 limits of which they never pass, mdess driven by some accident, such as a 

 furious tcm[)cst, into unknown waters. Thus the Greenland whale is never 

 i'ound in luu'opean seas, or far fmm the boimdaries of the green water in 

 which it finds its food, and the whale of the south appears never to migrate 

 farther towards the north than the coasts of Brazil and Chili. 



The B. Anstralts is much smaller tlian the ilysticetus, measuring usually 

 from thirty-five to fifty feet in leugtli. The head is often encrusted with 

 barnacles, which give it a wliite color, although the uniform color, when this 



