THE A, B, C, OF WHALES 61 



beat to windward ahead of us and as the whale 

 was moving along at fair speed, remaining below 

 fifteen minutes or so between spouts, it was slow 

 work cutting down the distance that separated 

 us from it. 



" See how dat spout slant up in de air?'* re- 

 marked old Gabriel whom the sight of our first 

 sperm had put in high good humor. 



We looked to where the whale was blowing 

 and saw its fountain shoot into the air diagonally, 

 tufted with a cloudy spread of vapor at the top. 



" You know why it don't shoot straight up?" 



No one knew. 



" Dat feller's blow hole in de corner ob his 

 square head — dat's why," said Gabriel. " He 

 blow his fountain out in front of him. Ain't no 

 udder kind o' whale do dat. All de udder kind 

 blow straight up. All de differ in de worl' be- 

 tween dat sperm whale out dere and de bowhead 

 and right whale up nort'. Ain't shaped nothin' 

 a-tall alike. Bowhead and right whale got big 

 curved heads and big curved backs. Sperm 

 whale's about one-third head and his back ain't 

 got no bow to it — not much — jest lies straight 



