224 



Marvels of the Universe 



This iVhale ov\'es its name to the < 

 extending from end to end. In these 

 about the oceans by it. 



THE SULPHUR-BOTTOM WHALE. 



:olour of the under surface, which is pale yellow, 

 furrows many sea-creatures find firm hold, as the 



[//. C SItepstone. 



and thrown into furrows and ridges 

 ■ chns to the Whale and get carried 



such as cod, mackerel, herring, etc. Not that it has any more chscrimination than a trawl: its 

 only anxiety is to get enough. 



Feeding in such a different manner, upon lively food, all the rorquals have developed speed and 

 agility far beyond that of the Greenland whales and the cachalots. Their forms are more elegant, 

 their bodies longer in proportion to their size. Both of these qualifications — i.e., speed and 

 elegance — culminate in the Sulphur-Bottom, which has an authentic maximum length of one hundred 

 and fifty feet, with a maximum girth of little more than thirty feet. As far as size is concerned, 

 this may be compared with the great " Bowhead " of the Behring Sea, which, with a length of 

 seventy feet and a median girth of fifty feet, may very well be the larger creature of the two. 



There is another feature of the Sulphur-Bottom Whale which differentiates him from all the rest 

 of the deep-sea mammals, his enormously high vertical spout. One of the rudimentary lessons 

 which the budding whale-fisher must learn is the ability to distinguish between whales by their 

 spouts, which are visible several miles away. Or perhaps I should say that this knowledge was 

 necessary before the present equipment of whalers, which makes comparatively easy prey of any 

 whale, was invented. In those bygone days, then, from the crow's-nest of a South Seaman even 

 the veriest novice could not fail to detect a Sulphur-Bottom by the tall column of vapour rising 

 vertically into the pure air for a matter of twenty to thirty feet, and hold his peace about it, since it 

 belonged to an animal that was of no earthly use to anybody. 



It really seemed as if the Sulphur-Bottom knew of his immunity, since he cultivated quite a 

 friendly acquaintance with ships in the lonely seas which are his habitat, often lying by them for 

 days in a calm and occasionally rubbing his barnacle-infested belly against their bends, sending 

 disagreeable tremors through the whole fabric and fostering superstitious fears among the sailors, 

 who could not understand this colossal familiarity. 



The trifling reason for the popular name given to this monstrous mamma' is to be found in the 



