ON THE GREENLAND WHALE. 585 



city under water, with its mouth wide open ; the 

 water enters by the fore-part, but is poured out 

 again at the sides, and the food is entangled and 

 sifted as it were by the whalebone, which does not 

 allow any thing to escape. 



It seldom remains longer below the surface than 

 twenty or thirty minutes ; when it comes up again 

 to blow, it will perhaps remain ten, twenty, or 

 thirty minutes at the surface of the water, when 

 nothing disturbs it. In calm weather, it some- 

 times sleeps in this situation. It sometimes as- 

 cends with so much force, as to leap entirely out 

 of the water ; when swimming at its greatest ve- 

 locity, it moves at the rate of seven to nine miles 

 an hour. 



Its maternal affection deserves notice. The young 

 one is frequently struck for the sake of its mother, 

 which will soon come up close by it, encourage it 

 to swim off, assist it, by taking it under its fin, 

 and seldom deserts it while life remains. It is 

 then very dangerous to approach, as she loses 

 all regard for her own safety in anxiety for the 

 preservation of her cub, dashing about most vio- 

 lently, and not dreading to rise even amidst the 

 boats. Except, however, when the whale has 

 young to protect, the male is in general more ac- 

 tive and dangerous than the female, especially males 

 of about nine feet bone. 



The principal enemies of the whale are the 

 sword-fish and thrasher. It is probable that the 

 shark is also an enemy to the whale, for it attacks 



