400 
CACHALOT TRIBE. 
ed from all the other cetaceous tribes, by having 
sharp arcuated teeth in the lower jaw : their bo- 
dies being- more slender, they are more active than 
the Greenland whale ; are capable of remaining 
longer at the bottom ; and yield a smaller quan- 
tity of oil. The tongue is commonly small, but 
the mouth 'and throat are so capacious, that the 
animal could easily swallow an ox. The teeth are 
about seven inches long, exceedingly thick and 
hard ; they enter, when the mouth is shut, into a 
number of cavities in the upper jaw, prepared for 
their reception. 
This formidable conformation of the mouth and 
throat seems to indicate an extraordinary degree of 
voracity in these animals. The history of the 
cachalot corresponds to these appearances : for 
while the stomach of the whale is seen to con- 
tain hardly any thing but froth, that of the cacha- 
lot is crammed with a variety of different kinds of 
fishes ; some half digested,, others whole ; some 
small, others eight or nine feet long. The cacha- 
lot, therefore, is probably one of the most rapa- 
cious fishes of the deep : and is as destructive 
among the lesser tribes, as the whale is harmless. 
But it is not to the smaller fishes alone, that this 
animal is formidable ; among these the contest is 
soon ended, for it can devour thousands at one 
swallow ; it pursues and terrifies those of its own 
order, the dolphin, and the porpesse to such a de- 
gree, that they are frequently driven ashore in en- 
deavouring to escape. 
Of the cachalot there are no less than seven va- 
rieties : that of a black colour, with two fins ; 
the cachalot with a white back, and the same 
number of fins ; the species with its spout- 
nole in the neck ; that with the spout near the 
mouth ; that with three fins, and sharp pointed 
teeth ; that with three fins, and sharp edged teeth ; 
