THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 245 
his progress by gently moving his tail from side to 
side obliquely. The bunch and hump may be seen 
above the water, and by the disturbance which they 
cause in cutting the fluid, some foam is produced, 
by which an experienced whaler can judge, even at 
some miles’ distance, how fast the animal is going. 
When disturbed, however, or from any cause in- 
clined to increase his velocity, he uses a very dif- 
ferent mode of progression. The broad tail now 
strikes the water upward and downward alternately 
with great force; at every blow downward the fore 
part sinks down several yards into the water, while 
by the force of the upward blow the head is thrust 
entirely out of the water. A Whale can swim in 
this manner, the head alternately appearing and 
disappearing, which the seamen call “going head- 
out,” at the rate of twelve miles an hour. It may 
appear surprising that so bulky a portion of: the 
animal as the enormous head, should be so easily 
thrust into the air, the head being usually the 
heaviest part of an animal: but here we trace the 
beneficent hand of God in creation, the volume of the 
head being occupied not with dense bone, but, as we 
have seen, with an oil which is considerably lighter 
than water, and which renders this part the most 
buoyant of the whole body. And when we consider 
that the breathing aperture, or blow-hole, must be 
projected from the water for the reception of air, we 
see the reason of this buoyancy.* 
‘ @ 
* For most of the particulars of the history and pursuit of this 
animal I am indebted to Mr. Beale’s valuable work on the Sperm 
Whale 
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