THE WHALE. 95 



distinguished from all the other inhabitants of the deep, by its 

 tooth, which stands pointing out directly forward, and resembles 

 a horn, being from ten to fourteen feet long. Of all the variety 

 of weapons with which Nature has armed the different tribes of 

 animals, no other so large and so formidable is found. This 

 tooth, or horn, as it is sometimes called, is as straight as an ar 

 row, as thick as a man's leg, and wreathed, as we sometimes 

 see twisted bars of iron. It tapers to a sharp point, and is 

 whiter, heavier, and harder than ivory. 



Notwithstanding its accoutrements for combat, its long and 

 pointed tusks, prodigious strength, and extraordinary celerity, 

 the narwhale is one of the most harmless of animals. It is seen 

 peaceably sporting among the other great monsters of the deep, 

 no way attempting to injure them, but apparently pleased in their 

 company; and these powerful fishes, although furnished with 

 such terrible weapons of destruction, are as inoffensive as a 

 drove of oxen. They are much swifter than the whale, and 

 would never be taken, if their escape were not prevented by 

 those very tusks which seem to be their principal defence. Being 

 of a gregarious and social disposition, they are always found in 

 herds of several together ; and whenever they are attacked, they 

 crowd so closely, that they are embarrassed by the entanglement 

 of their horns, and prevented from descending towards the bot- 

 tom. The fishermen, in consequence, seldom fail of making 

 sure of one or two of the hindermost. 



THE SPERMACETI WHALE, OR CACHALOT, 



Is not so large as the whale, and consequently does not afford 

 so great a quantity of oil. The head is so disproportioned to the 

 body, that it constitutes the half of its bulk ; and the throat is so 

 formidably capacious, that it is supposed to be capable of swal- 

 lowing an ox. Its appetite is at the same time so voracious, 

 that it often devours a shoal of fishes at once. This may, with 

 propriety, be called the tyrant of the deep ; and Linnaeus informs 

 us, that dolphins and porpoises are frequently driven ashore by 

 this devouring monster. 



But although this voracious fish be so terrible to the other in- 

 habitants of the ocean, mankind consider it as a most valuable 

 animal, on account of the excellent drugs it affords. These are 

 spermaceti and ambergris, which are so universally used as ar- 

 ticles of luxury or medicine, that distant and dangerous voyages 

 are undertaken solely for the purpose of taking this fish ; and its 

 capture is esteemed a sufficient compensation for all the expense 

 and risk attending the enterprise. 



The genuine spermaceti, which is naturally produced, is no- 

 thing but the brain of this fish; and one of them will yield about 



