54 
OF CETACEOUS FISHES. 
on every fide ; and the people from the Chore obferving 
that they had no means left of efcape, poured down upon 
them in boats, armed with fuch weapons as the urgent 
occafion offered. After feveral ineffe£lual attempts to 
efcape, the mother at laft, by her fuperior ftrenglh, forced 
herfelf over the fhallow into deep water : But though in 
lafety herfelf, fhe could not bear the danger that awaited 
her young one ; (he therefore rufhed in once more where 
the fmaller animal was inclofed, and refolved, when fbe 
could not protect, at leaft to fliare its danger. Happily 
for the fafety of thefe animals, the rapid infet of the tide 
foon enabled both to efcape- from their enemies, though 
not till they had received many wounds, and tinged the 
fea all around with their blood. 
It is, however, but for a fhort period that the young 
•whales Hand in need of this parental afiiftance : Their 
growth is fo remarkably rapid, that it may occafion fome 
doubt concerning the accounts that are given of their ex- 
traordinary longevity. The cubs continue at the bread, 
of the mother only for a year, during which period they 
attain to a confiderable fize, and are called Jhort heads 
by the failors. The mother, at the end of that period, is 
extremely lean and emaciated, while her cub is fo large 
and fat, that it frequently yields above fifty barrels of 
blubber. The next year after they have left the bread, 
they are called Jlunts ; becaufe they decreafc in their 
fatnefs, and yield fcarcely an half of the produce that is 
obtained from them when fuckling. After two years the 
young whales are called JkullfiJh ; and though for a while 
they continue of an inferior fize, there is no mark by 
which their age can be afeertained. 
Though the whales are gregareous animals, yet every 
individual 
