4B6 €REAT MrSTICETE. 



quite so di;^ as that of the body. When we have 

 a mind to eat of a Whale we cut great pieces off 

 before the tail where it is four-square, and boil it 

 like other meat : good beef I prefer far before it, 

 yet rather than be starved I advise to eat Whale's 

 flesh ; for none of our men dyed of it, and the 

 Frenchmen did eat it almost daily ; flinging it on 

 the tops of their tubs, and letting it lie till it was 

 black ; and yet eating it in that condition. The 

 flesh of the Whale, like that of Seals, is alone, or 

 by itself ; and the fat at the top thereof between 

 the flesh and skin. The fat is about six inches 

 thick on the back and belly; but I have also 

 seen it a foot thick on the fins, and more than 

 two feet on the under lip ; but Whales vary in 

 this respect, like other animals, according to size 

 and health. In the fat are interspersed little 

 sinews, which hold the oil, as a spunge does 

 waterj which one may squeeze out : the other 

 strong sinews are chiefly about the tail, where it is 

 thinnest, for with it he turns and winds himself 

 about, as a ship is turned by the rudder ; his fins 

 being his oars, and according to his size he rows 

 himself along with them as swiftly as a bird flies, 

 and maketh a long track in the sea, as a great 

 aliip doth when under sail ; so that it remains di- 

 vided for a while. Over the fat is, besides th& 

 uppermost skin already described, another skin, 

 about an inch thick, proportionable to the size of 

 the Whale. It is coloured according to the co- 

 lour of the animal : if the Whale be black this is 

 black also : if on the contrary tlie outward or 



