WHALE AND CUB. 103 
possess a very ample acquaintance with the 
habits and affections of all the several spe- 
cles, before we could safely venture to pro- 
nounce which surpasses the other, in feelings 
of tenderness and love. The singularity in 
nature is, not where these things are found, 
but where they are wanting! Waller, in his 
poem of the Summer Islands, has put into 
verse a real anecdote, illustrative of the ma- 
ternal tenderness of these creatures for their 
offspring. A Whale and her cub had got 
into an arm of the sea, where, by the deser- 
tion of the tide, they were left almost inca- 
pable of retreat. The people upon the shore 
soon saw their situation, and came down 
upon them in boats, with such weapons as 
the occasion permitted. The Whales made 
continual efforts to escape, but were wounded 
upon every side, and soon dyed the water 
with their blood. At length, the mother, by 
superior strength, forced her way through 
the shallows, and found herself in deep water, 
and therefore free. But, though now in 
safety herself, she saw her young one still 
behind, and therefore plunged her way back 
again, to succour it, In the face of all the 
