66 A YEAR WITH A WHALER 



a sperm whale is killed, he spews out chunks o' 

 cuttle feesh and I've seen de water about a dead 

 sperm thick wit' white chunks of cuttle feesh as 

 big as a sea ches' and wit' de suckin' disc still 

 on 'em. 



"Blow!" said Gabriel again with his eyes on 

 the whale. " Dat feesh certainly some traveler." 



We were hauling closer to the whale. I could 

 see it distinctly by this time and could note how 

 square and black its head was. Its appearance 

 might be compared not inaptly to a box-car glis- 

 tening in the sun under a fresh coat of black 

 paint. It did not cut the water but pushed it in 

 white foam in front of it. 



" Sperm pretty scarce nowadays," Gabriel re- 

 sumed. " Nothing like as plentiful in Pacific 

 waters as dey used to be in de ole days. Whalers 

 done pretty well thinned 'em out. But long 

 ago, it used to be nothin' to see schools of a 

 hundred, mostly cows wit' three or four big bulls 

 among 'em." 



"Any difference between a bowhead and a 

 right whale? " some one asked. 



" O good Lord, yes," answered Gabriel. 



