92 THE WHALE. 



" I have been myself," continues he, " a spectator of their 

 terrible encounters. The whale has no instrument of defence, 

 except its tail ; with that it endeavours to strike the enemy, 

 which a single blow taking place, would effectually destroy ; but 

 the sword-fish, which is as active as the other is strong, avoids 

 the stroke. Then bounding into the air, it falls upon its enemy, 

 and endeavours not to pierce him with its pointed beak, but to 

 cut him with its toothed edges. The sea all around is imme- 

 diately dyed with the blood proceeding from the wounds of the 

 whale, while the enormous animal endeavours in vain to reach 

 its assailant, and strikes with its tail against the surface of the 

 water, making a report at each blow louder than that of a 

 cannon." 



There is also another, and a still more formidable enemy 

 called, by the New-England fishermen, the killer. It is said that 

 a number of these fishes surround the whale like so many dogs 

 baiting a bull. Some attack him before, others behind, until at 

 last, being lacerated in every part by their teeth, he is totally 

 subdued and becomes their victim. 



Against its adversaries of the deep, however, the whale might 

 often prevail by force, or escape them by cunning ; but man is a 

 more dexterous and terrible assailant than all its other enemies; 

 and destroys more of the species in one year, than all the rest 

 in a whole century. That his assiduous and successful hostility 

 has considerably diminished their numbers in that part, of the 

 world where they are chiefly sought, or at least expelled them 

 in some measure from their ancient retreats, is evident, from 

 several circumstances ; for at the first discovery of Greenland, 

 when they were unaccustomed to molestation and pursuit, they 

 came frequently into the bays, and were killed close to the 

 shores ; so that the blubber, being cut up, was immediately 

 boiled into oil on the spot. The ships at that time took in only 

 the pure oil and the whalebone, and all the business was conse- 

 quently executed in the country; by which mode of proceeding, 

 a ship could bring home the produce of a far greater number 

 of whales than it is possible to do in the present method of con- 

 ducting the trade. Since that time, however, such numbers of 

 ships arriving from Holland, Denmark, and several other parts, 

 the whales took the alarm, and, as other fish, as well as birds 

 and quadrupeds often do, began to forsake their accustomed 

 haunts, and to seek more secure and peaceable retreats. They 

 are now seldom found near the shores, but chiefly in the open 

 spaces among the fields of ice in deep water, and at a consider- 

 able distance from land. 



The whale fishery begins in May, continues all the month of 

 June, and a part or the whole of July, according to their good 



