BRIEF SKETCH OF THE TOOTHED WHALES. 99 



valuable species is the Sperm-Whale, the fishing for which was 

 begun by the British in 1775, and ceased when it became no 

 longer remunerative in 1853. The fishery was instituted much 

 earlier by the Americans, who still carry it on. The pursuit of 

 the Sperm-Whale differs in some respects from that of the 

 Greenland or Eight Whale, since it occasionally charges the 

 boats, striking the men out of them with its tail, or rolling over 

 on its back so as to bring its lower jaw more readily into action, 

 it bites the boats. Even the ships themselves, it is said, have 

 been attacked and sunk. A good whale yields ten tons of oil 

 (= sixty barrels), besides spermaceti. Moreover, the intestine 

 frequently contains a valuable concretion called ambergris — a 

 bezoar. This species ranges over most seas, the fishery being 

 chiefly conducted in the warmer parts of the Atlantic and 

 Pacific. They go about in " schools " of males, females, and 

 young, though old males are frequently solitary. It is occa- 

 sionally stranded on our shores, and is captured with other 

 forms at the British whaling stations. 



The Bottle-nose (Hyperoodon rostratus) abounds in the Polar 

 regions, and is supposed to come southwards in autumn and 

 winter. It is hunted near the ice-edge from the coast of 

 Labrador to Nova Zembla, chiefly in May, June, and July. 

 It is not very long, however, since attention has been directed 

 to it ; the first clue was given by a ship from Peterhead in 1877, 

 for, failing to catch Seals, it turned its attention to the Bottle- 

 noses. They have been specially hunted since 1882, in which 

 year two hundred and three were captured by the late Capt. 

 David Gray, of Peterhead. The Norwegians still pursue them, 

 but the British whalers have not found them remunerative. An 

 average specimen yields 22 cwt. of oil, five per cent, of which 

 is spermaceti. 



Of the fresh-water forms, the remarkable Platanista, or 

 Susu, is confined to the Brahmaputra, Indus, and Ganges, as 

 far up the rivers as the water will float it. It is caught by 

 a bamboo shaft with an iron barb loosely let into the end, and 

 to which is attached a long line wound round the bamboo. It 

 is eaten by many of the low caste Hindoos, the Sansee women 

 being particularly fond of it. Its oil is used as an embrocation 

 for rheumatism, for burning in lamps, and for coating leather. 



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