25S 



DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. — CLASS I. 5IAJIMALIA. 



intruders, niid fi^lit fiercely to uiaiiitaiii tlicir riL^lils. In these terrible and 

 frequent encounters, they inillct frightful wounds ou each otlicr, ehieliy iu 

 the under jaw, which is supposed to account for the deformity in that mem- 

 ber which is so often observed among theui. 



The females breed at all seasons, and the period of their gestation is about 

 ten months. They arc much smaller than the males, in the proportion, ac- 

 cording to Bcale, nearly of one to four. Ijike the other whales, they are 

 nrcatly attached to their joung, and arc likewise remarkable fir their strong- 

 feeling of sociability and attachment tg one another ; and this is carried to 

 such an extent, that if one female of the herd be wounded, her faithful com- 

 panions will remain round her till the last moment, or till they are wounded 

 theniselves. 



The capture of the sperm whale, especially the large males, is extremely 

 dangerous, as the enraged animals will sometimes turn upon their perse- 

 cutors with unljounded fury, destroying c\-erything that meets them in their 

 course. The strongest whale-boat is then crushed like an egg-shell, and even 

 mighty ships have been shivered by their gigantic blows, and reduced to a 

 perfect wreck. Sucli was the awful fite of the American ship Essex. 

 A\'hen tlie greater part of the crew were aljscnt in the boats, killing whales, 

 the i'vw people remaining on board saw an enormous wliale come up close to 

 the ship, and when very near, it appeared to sink down for the purpose of 

 avoiding the vessel, and, in dning so, struck its liody violently against some 

 part of the keel, wdiieh was broken off by the force of the blow and Hoated to 

 the surficc. The whale was then observed to rise a short distance from the 

 ship, and to come with apj)arently great fury towards it, striking one of the 

 bows such a tremendous blow as completely staved it in. The ship, of 

 course, iumiediately filled, and turned over on the side, a dreadful spectacle 

 to the poor fellows in the boats. On returning to the wreck, they found the 

 few who had been left on board hastily congregating in the remaining boat, 

 in which they had scarcely taken I'efuge when the vessel capsized. A\'ith 

 much difficulty they obtained a scanty supply of provisions from the wreck, 

 their onlv support lor the long and dreary passage before them to the coast of 

 Peru, whither they endeavored to make their way. Three oidy of the whole 

 crew sm-vived, the remainder having perished under unheard-of sufferings 

 and privations. These three were found in a state of stujiefaction, allowing 

 their boat to drift ahmg where the winds and waves listed. 



The ship Alexander, Captain Duljois, of New Bedford, was destroyed, iu 

 a similar manner, off the coast of Peru ; and Cjuitc recently the bark Osceola, 

 Captain IMallo)-, of the same place, had a fierce enciiunter with one of these 

 animals, but although the vessel received severe injuries, it came off victori- 

 ous. But generally, as we have already remarked, the spermaceti whale is 



