6 
INTRODUCTORY 
strously ferocious than the sperm whale ; not only is his 
true character of being a quiet and inoffensive animal 
taken from him, but he is represented on the same page, 
as the greedy and cruel pursuer of all kinds of marine 
animals, on which of course we are to suppose that he 
feeds. “ There are some, however,” observes the Baron 
Cuvier, “among the cachalots that pursue seals, and some 
are sufficiently audacious to attack many species of the 
balaenae (whales), especially such individuals as are not 
adults which certainly represents him as a formidable 
opponent to all the marine tribes, and we infer, a 
voluptuous devourer of every animal which is so un- 
fortunate as to wander within its reach. 
But after all these relations, it requires but a little 
observation and reflection to convince ourselves, now 
that we are more acquainted with the real habits of the 
sperm whale, that the authorities of which previous 
writers have availed themselves in the compilation of 
their histories of it, have all either wilfully misrepre- 
sented the natural habits of this animal, or have mis- 
taken the cachalot for some other whale which possesses 
these voracious and combative dispositions. 
For not only does the sperm whale in reality happen 
to be a most timid and inoffensive animal as I have 
before stated, readily endeavouring to escape from the 
slightest thing which bears an unusual appearance, but 
he is also quite incapable of being guilty of the acts of 
which he is so strongly accused. The formation of his 
teeth and the size of his gullet are quite sufficient in 
themselves to prove that he is incapable of devouring 
