■58 THE FIN FISH. 



whale fifnery is carried on. It is, however, a hooty 

 which the iifhermen feldom choofe to purfue : The whale- 

 bone adhering to its upper jaw is Ihort and knotty, and 

 therefore of very little value : The blubber alfo yielded 

 by this fpecles is very inconliderable in quantity ; and 

 thefe circumflances, added to its extreme fiercenefs and 

 agility, render the capture both dlfTicult and dangerous j 

 hence our feamen generally negledl it. 



But meagre as this animal may feem to thofe whofe 

 obje6l is the procuring of oil, it is held in great efleeni 

 by the miferable Greefilanders ; for its flefli affords them a 

 food which to men fo poorly fupplied is very agreeable. 



This fifli is generally of the fame length with the com« 

 mon whale, but of a much more llender conformation. 

 The lips are brown like a twilled rope : The fpout-hole 

 is as it were fplit in the top of its head, through which 

 it blows water with much more violence, and to a greater 

 height, than the common kind. The fifhcrs are not fond 

 of feeing it j for on its appearance the others retire from 

 thofe feas*. It is impoffible to determine whether this 

 fpecies be the fame with the Fhyfalos and Fhy/ster of the 

 ancient writers, fo vague are the terms in which they 

 fpeak of that filh f . If that particular name was affign- 

 ed it from its faculty of fpouting water, or blowing, the 

 habit is not peculiar to any one fpecies, but common to 

 all the whale kind. It would appear from the name 

 criven it by Linnc^us^ that he believed this to be the ani- 

 mal fpoken of by thefe writers. Rondeletius and Gefner 

 have been of the fame opinion ; but the defcription the 

 firfl of thefe writers has given of this animal is in many 



rcfpeds 



^ Britifli Zool. 



t Vide OppianHaIeut,L. 1. 1. 368. Oelian Hift. a»im. and Plin. lib* 

 \t. c. 5. 



