62 A YEAR WITH A WHALER 



out behind his head. He look littler in de water 

 dan de right and bowhead whale. But he ain't. 

 He's as big as de biggest whale dat swims de sea. 

 I've seen a 150 barrel sperm dat measure seventy- 

 feet. 



"Blow!" added the old negro as he caught 

 sight of the whale spouting again. 



" Bowhead and right whale got no teeth/' he 

 continued. Dey got only long slabs o' baleen 

 hung wit' hair in de upper jaw. Sperm whale 

 got teeth same as you and me — about twenty on 

 a side and all in his lower jaw. Ain't got no 

 teeth in his upper jaw a-tall. His mouth is white 

 inside and his teeth stand up five or six inches 

 out o' his gums and are wide apart and sharp 

 and pointed and look jes' like de teeth of a saw. 

 Wen he open his mouth, his lower jaw fall 

 straight down and his mouth's big enough to 

 take a whale boat inside. 



" Sperm whale's fightin' whale. He fight wit' 

 his tail and his teeth. He knock a boat out de 

 water wit' his flukes and he scrunch it into kind- 

 lin' wood wit' his teeth. He's got fightin' sense 

 too — he's sly as a fox. Wen I was young fel- 



