after-mentioned is removed, a blaek'spot is dis- 
covered behind the eye, and under that is 
the auditory canal, that leads to a regular ap- 
paratus for hearing. In short, the animal hears 
the smallest sounds at very great distances, 
and at all times, except when it is spout- 
ing water; which is the time that the fishers ap- 
proach to strike it. What is called whalebone, 
adheres to the upper jaw, and is formed of thin 
parallel laminae, some of the longestfour yards 
in length ; of these there are commonly 350 
on each side, but in very old fish more. They 
are surrounded with long strong hair, not only 
that they may not hurt the tongue, but as 
strainers to prevent the return of their food 
when the}' discharge the water out of their 
mouth. The real bones of the whale are hard, 
porous, and full of marrow. Two very strong- 
bones sustain the upper lip, lying against each 
other in the shape of a half-moon. The tail 
is- broad and semilunar; and when the fish 
lies on one side, its blow is tremendous. The 
tail alone it makes use of, to advance itself 
forward in the water ; and it is surprising 
with what force and celerity its enormous 
bulk cuts through the ocean. The fins are 
only made use offer turning in the water, and 
giving a direction to the velocity impressed 
by the tail. The female also makes use of 
them, when pursued, to bear off her young, 
clapping them on her back, and supporting 
them by the fins on each side from falling. 
The whale varies in colour ; the back of some 
being red, the belly generally while. Others 
are black, some mottled, and others quite 
white. Their colours in the water are ex- 
tremely beautiful, and their skin is very smooth 
and slippery. The outward or scarf-skin of 
the whale is no thicker than parchment ; but 
this removed, the real skin appears, of about 
an inch thick, and covering the fat or blubber 
that lies beneath: this is from eight to twelve 
inches in thickness; and is, when the fisli is 
In health, of a beautiful yellow. The mus- 
cles lie beneath ; and these, like the llesh 
of quadrupeds, are very red and tough. 
The teats in the female are placed in the 
lower part of the belly. They breed only 
once in two years. Their fidelity to each 
other exceeds whatever we are told even of 
the constancy of birds. Some fishers, as 
Anderson informs us, having struck one of 
two whales, a male and a female, that were 
in company together, the wounded fish 
made a long and terrible resistance ; it struck 
down a boat with three men in it, with a single 
blow of its tail, by which all went to the bot- 
tom. The other still attended its companion, 
and lent it every assistance ; till, at last, the 
fish that was struck, sunk under the number 
of its wounds ; while its faithful associate; 
disdaining to survive the loss, with great bel- 
lowing, stretched itself upon the dead fish, 
and shared its fate. The whale goes with 
young nine or ten months, and is then fat- 
ter than usual, particularly when near the time 
of bringing forth. It is said that the embryo, 
when first perceptible, is about seventeen 
inches long, and white; but the cub, when 
excluded, is black, and about ten feet long. 
She generally produces one young one, and ne- 
ver above two. "\V hen she suckles her young, 
she throws herself on one side of the surface 
of the sea, and the young one attaches itself 
to the teat. Nothing can exceed the ten- 
derness of the female for her offspring. Even 
when wounded, she still clasps her young one; 
BALiENA, 
' and when site plunges to avoid danger, takes 
; it to the bottom ; but rises sooner than usual, 
! to give it breath again. The young ones con- 
tinue at the breast for a year ; during which 
time, thev are called by the sailors, , short- 
heads- They are then extremely fat, and 
yield above fifty barrels of blubber. The 
mother at the same time is equally lean and 
emaciated. At the age of two years they 
are called .stunts, as they do not thrive much 
immediately after quitting the breast : they 
then yield scarcely above twenty or twenty- 
four barrels of blubber: from that time for- 
ward they are called skull-fish, and their age 
is wholly unknown. The food of the great 
whale is a small sea insect well known under 
the name of the Medusa or sea-blubber. 
4. Balsrna physalus, or fin fish, (see 
Plate, Natural History, fig. 44.) is distin- 
guished from the common whale by a fm on 
the back, placed very low and near the tail. 
The length is equal to that of the common 
kind, but much more slender. It is furnished 
with whalebone in the upper jaw, mixed with 
hairs, but short and knotty, and of little value. 
The blubber also in the body of this kind is 
very inconsiderable. These circumstances, 
added to its extreme fierceness and agililv, 
which render the capture very dangerous, 
cause the fishers to neglect it.’ The natives 
of Greenland, however, hold it in great es- 
teem, af; it affords a quantity of flesh which to 
Ilnur palate is very agreeable. The lips are 
brown, and like a twisted rope : the spout 
hole is seemingly split, in the top of ifs head, 
through which it blows water with much more 
violence, and to a greater height, than the 
common whale. r l he fishers are not very 
fond of seeing it, for on its appearance the 
others retire out of those seas. It feeds on 
herrings and small fish. Inoffensive as the 
whale is, it is not without enemies. There is 
a small animal, of the shell-fish kind, called 
the whale-louse, that slicks to its bodv, as 
we see shells sticking (o the foul bottom of a 
ship. This insinuates itself chiefly under the 
fins ; and whatever efforts the great animal 
makes, it still keeps its hold, and lives upon 
the fat, which it is provided with instruments 
to arrive at. 
The sword-fish, however, is the whale’s 
most terrible enemy. “ At the sight of this 
little animal,” says Anderson, “ the whale 
seems agitated in an extraordinary manner, 
leaping from the water as if with affright: 
wherever it appears, the whale perceives it at 
a distance, and Hies from it in the opposite 
direction. L have been myself,” continues 
he, “ a spectator of their terrible encounter. 
The whale has no instrument of defence ex- 
cept the tail ; with that it endeavours to sf rike 
the enemy; and a single blow taking place 
would effectually destroy its adversary : but 
the sword-fish is as active as the other is strong, 
and easily avoids the stroke ; then bound- 
ing into tiie air, it falls upon its enepiy, and 
endeavours not to pierce with its pointed 
beak, but to cut with its toothed edges. The 
sea all about is soon dyed with blood, pro- 
ceeding from the wounds of the whale ; while 
the enormous animal vainly endeavours to 
reach its invader, and strikes with its tail 
against the surface of the water, making a 
report at each blow louder than the noise of a 
cannon.” 
There is still another powerful enemy to 
this fish, which is called the orien or killer. A 
JB b 2 
igs 
number of these are said to surround the 
whale in the same manner as dogs get round 
a bull. Some attack it with their teeth be- 
hind; others attempt h before : until, at last, 
the great animal is torn down, and its tongue is 
said fo be the only part they devour when 
they have made it their prey. 
But of all the enemies of these enormous 
fishes man is the greatest; lie alone destroys 
more in a year than the rest in an age, and 
actually has thinned their numbers' in that 
part of the world where they are chiefly 
sought. At the first discovery of Greenland, 
whales not being- used to be disturbed fre- 
quently, came into the very bays, and were 
accordingly killed almost close to the shore ; 
so that the blubber being cut off, was imme- 
diately boiled into oil on the spot. The 
ships, in those times, took in nothing but the 
pure oil and the whalebone, and all the busi- 
ness was executed in the country ; by which 
means a ship could bring home the product of 
many more whales than she can according to 
the present method of concluding this trade. 
I lie fishery also was then so plentiful, that 
they were Obliged sometimes to send other 
ships to fhtclr off the oil they had made, the 
quantity being more than "the fishing ships 
could bring away. But time and change of 
circumstances have shifted the situation of 
this trade. The ships coming in such num- 
bers from Holland, Denmark, Hamburgh, 
and other northern countries, all intruders 
upon the English, who were the first discover- 
ers of Greenland, the whales were disturbed ; 
and gradually, as oilier fish often do, forsak- 
ing the place, were not to be killed so near 
the shore as before ; but are now found, and 
have been so ever since, in the openings and 
space among the ice, where they have deep 
water, and where they go sometimes a great 
many leagues from the shore. 
The whale fishery begins in May, and con- 
tinues all June and July ; but whether the ships 
have good or bad success, they must come 
away, and get clear of the ice, by the end of 
August ; so that in the month of September at 
farthest they may be expected home ; but a 
ship that meets with a fortunate and early 
fishery in Mav, may return in June or 
July. 
The manner of taking whales at present is as 
follows. Every ship is provided with six 
boats, to each of which belong six men for 
rowing the boat, and an harpooner, whose 
business is to strike the whale with his har- 
poon. Two of tiiese boats are kepi constant 1y 
on the watch at some distance from the ship, 
fastened to pieces of ice, and are relieved bv 
others every four hours. As soon as a whale 
is perceived, both the boats set out in pur- 
suit of it, and if either of them can come up be- 
forethe whale finally descends, which is known 
by his throwing up his tail, the harpooner 
discharges his harpoon at him. 'There is no 
difficulty in choosing the place where the 
whale is to be struck, as some have asserted ; 
for these creatures only come up to the surface 
in order to spout up the water, or bloiv, as the 
fishermen term it, and therefore always keep 
the soft and vulnerable part of their bodies 
above water. A laie improvement was made 
in the method of discharging the harpoon, 
namely, by shooting it out of a kind of swivel 
or mnsquetoon : but it does not appear that 
since this improvement was made the whale- 
fishing ships have had better success than 
