TION. 



62 COMMON WHALE. Class IV. 



they are unmolested, whales are still seen one 

 hundred and sixty feet long. * 

 Descrip- The head is very much disproportioned to 

 the size of the body, being one-third of its 

 length ; the under lip is much broader than the 

 upper; the tongue is composed of a soft 

 spongy fat, capable of yielding five or six bar- 

 rels of oil ; the gullet is very small for so vast 

 a fish, not exceeding four inches in width. In 

 the middle of the head are two orifices, through 

 which it spouts water to a vast height, and with 

 a great noise, especially when disturbed or 

 wounded. The eyes are no larger than those 

 of an ox ; on the back there is no fin, but on 

 the sides, beneath each eye, are two large ones ; 

 the penis is eight feet in length, inclosed in a 

 strong sheath; the teats in the female are 

 placed in the lower part of the belly ; the tail 

 is broad and semilunar. This whale varies in 

 color; the back of some being red, the belly 

 generally white ; others are black, some mottled, 



* Adansons voy. 174. From this account we find no reason 

 to disbelieve the vast size of the Indian whales, of whose bones 

 and jaws, both Strabo, Lib. XV. and Pliny, Lib. IX. c. 3. 

 relate, that the natives made their houses, using the jaws for 

 door-cases. This method of building was formerly practised by 

 the inhabitants of Greenland, as we find from Frolisher, in his 

 second voyage, p. 18, published in 1587. 



