Imported by Putnam for me $3.38.

Herman Melville New York, July 10th 1850.

Turner's Turner pictures of Whalers were suggested by this book.

Cuvier's & Colnet's outlines of the whale p. 14. Beale's true outline, with the outline of the head seen in front p. 22. Three whales in various attitudes p. 33. Staving a boat in the air. p. 173 A fighting whale, belly up. p. 154.

few, with the exception of those immediately engaged in the fishery, had the most distant idea even of the external form of this animal;

of our hardy seamen. While the very term, whale- whale fishery, whale-fishery, fishery, seems associated with the coast of Greenland or icebound Spitzbergen, and the stern magnificence of arctic scenery, beast" with the smiling latitudes of the South Pacific, and the coral islands of the torrid zone; and fewer still

the coast of Greenland or icebound Spitzbergen, and the stern magnificence of arctic scenery,

the more legitimate claims of his southern rival to this pre-eminence. preeminence

But even the Baron Cuvier follows the accout of these old historians, and asserts, that "in the combat, fear, fury, or pain draw from them such profound groans, or piercing cries, that their congeners are attracted in crowds from all sides,

or common Greenland whale, which I have heard myself produce loud sounds, but which have more resem- resembled bled the roaring of an enraged bull, than the vehement sound of a bell, as Anderson has asserted.

but actually possesses a relish for human flesh, which we are led to suppose they wished to satiate,

cause instantaneous death. It is not therefore sur- surprising," prising," says Cuvier, "if the myriads of fishes on which this tyrant preys, are struck with the most lively terror at his presence. So powerful is this feel- feeling, ing, that the multitudes of fish which seek with avidity the dead carcasses of the other cetacea, dare not approach the body of the cachalot when he is floating lifeless on the surface of the ocean."

as his throat is scarcely sufficiently capacious to admit the body of a man, and also from the fact of his teeth not possessing the power of separating, or of masticating his food,

as is some- sometimes times the case in the "Seychelle" fishery, and when the boarts are in hot pursuit,

near the shore as in "Volcano Bay," on the coast of Japan, or in the "Straits of Corea," Korea,"

the utter confusion which

exists among the historians of this animal,

those of Lacapede, the characters of which he obtained from some Chinese drawing, upon the fidelity of which no dependence can of course be placed.

my power, to enter into the inquiry as to the true method of dividing the cetacea into groups, families, genera, or species; but this I can assert in contradiction

to Lacapede, and others of the foregoing authorities, that there is no more than one species of sperm whale,

Take quotation

history of whales in general, entitled "de of l'Histoire History Naturelle Natural des of Cetaces," Whales," and which was published so late as 1836, after stating the difficulty of procuring a cor- correct rect drawing of the sperm whale,

of others; for Scoresby, in his account of the size and length of the Greenland whale, states that about seventy, or seventy-two feet, would measure the longest that he saw; while a male spermaceti whale, which we captured

for Scoresby, in his account of the size and length of the Greenland whale, states that about seventy, or seventy-two feet, would measure the longest that he saw;

This misconception is also disseminated in the volume upon cetacea in the Natu- Naturalist's ralist's Library, conducted by Sir William Jardine, who has also fallen into great errors with regard to the sperm whale's feeding, and the size of the female.

The groups, herds, or "schools," which are formed by the sperm whale, are of two kinds:— firstly, by the females, which are accompanied by their young and one or two adult males; and, secondly, by the young and half-grown half grown half grown males, but the large and fully grown males always go singly in search of food: but M. F. Cuvier has conjectured, that when they are seen alone, that it is

that the left eye of the cachalot is much smaller than the other, so that fishermen attack him on that side, on which his vision is less perfect,

the inextricable veil in which the true history of this animal has been wrapped by a multitude of writers,

they are about six or eight feet in length, and from twelve to fourteen in breadth in the largest males.

In a full-grown full grown full grown male sperm whale, of the largest size, or about eighty-four eighty four eighty four feet in length, the dimensions may be given as follow:— depth of head from eight to nine feet,— breadth, from five to six feet,— depth of body seldom exceeds twelve or fourteen feet, so that the cir- circumference cumference of the largest sperm whale of eighty or eighty-four eighty four eighty four feet will seldom exceed thirty-six thirty six thirty six feet,— the swimming paws or fins, are about six feet long and three broad; the dimensions of the flukes or tail have

nine feet,— breadth, from five to six feet,— depth of body seldom exceeds twelve or fourteen feet, so that the cir- circumference cumference of the largest sperm whale of eighty or

which would in fact answer the same purpose to the whale, would be the only part exposed to the pressure of the water in front,

whale, the shape of whose head more resembles that of the porpoise, and in it the nostril is situated much farther back, rendering it seldom or ever necessary for the nose to be elevated above the surface of the water; and when swimming even at the greatest speed, the Greenland

does not much impede his motion, the rate of which is, however, never equal to that of the greatest rate of the sperm whale.

having an external opening of considerable size for the purpose of conveying sounds to the internal ear more readily and acutely than could be done through the dense and thick integument, which is continued over the auricular opening in the northern whale.

but occasionally, in old whales, wrinkled, and frequently marked on the sides by linear impressions, appearing as if rubbed against some angular body.

Its thickness on the breast of a large whale is about fourteen inches, and on most other parts of the body it measures from eight to eleven inches.

the most abundant and the most convenient opportu- opportunities nities of witnessing their habitudes. I am not vain enough to pretend that the few following pages include a perfect sketch of this subject, as regards the sperm whale; but I flatter myself that somewhat of novelty and originality will be found justly ascribable to the observations I have put together; they are at all events the fruit of long and attentive consideration. —For con- convenience

x There is some sort of mistake in the drawing of Fig: 2. The tail part is wretchedly crippled & dwarfed, & looks altogether unnatural. The head is good.

both eyes of which were completely disorganised, the orbits being occupied by fungous masses, protruding considerably,

the jaw being bent to the right side and rolled as it were like a scroll, in the other it was bent downwards, but also curved upon itself. It would be interesting here to inquire into the

causes of this deformity, but whether it is the effect of disease, or the consequence of accident, I am unable to determine. Old whalers affirm that it is caused by fighting; they state that the sperm whale fights by rushing head first, one upon the other, their mouths at the same time wide open, their object appearing to be the seizing of their opponent by the lower jaw, for which purpose they frequently turn themselves on the side; in this manner they become as it were locked together, their jaws crossing each other, and in this manner they strive vehemently for the mastery. I have never had the good fortune to witness one of these combats; but if it be the fact that such take place, we need not wonder at seeing so many deformed jaws in this kind of whale, for we can easily suppose the enormous force exerted on these occasions, taking into consideration at the same time the comparative slenderness of the jaw-bone jaw bone in this

which progress he effects by a gentle oblique motion from side to side of the "flukes," precisely in the same manner as a boat is skulled by means of an or over the stern.

This disturbed water is called by whalers "white water,"

At very regular intervals of time, the nose, or snout, emerges at a distance of from forty to fifty feet from the hump, in the full-grown full grown full grown male.

fig. 3), and of a white colour: color: it is formed of the expired air, which is forcibly ejected by the animal through the blow-hole, blow hole blow hole acquiring its white colour color from minute par- particles ticles of water, previously lodged in the chink, or fissure of the nostril, and also from the condensation of the aqueous vapour thrown off by the lungs.

and also from the condensation of the aqueous vapour thrown off by the lungs.

it may be seen from the mast-head mast head masthead mast head of a moderate-sized moderate sized moderate sized vessel, at the distance of four or five miles.

and as in these animals the blow-holes blow holes blow holes are situated nearly on the top of the head, it is thrown up to a considerable height,

length of time he remains at the surface, the number of spouts or expirations made at one time, the intervals between the spouts, the time he remains invisible in the "depths of the ocean buried," are all, when the animal is undisturbed, as regular in succession and duration as it is possible to imagine.

spouts or expirations made at one time,

In different individuals, the times consumed in per- performing forming these several acts vary, but in each they are minutely regular; and this well-known well known well known regularity is of considerable use to the fishers— for when a whaler has once noticed the periods of any particular sperm whale, which is not alarmed, he knows to a minute when to expect it again at the surface, and how long it will remain there.

this sound is called by whalers, the "drawback,"

"drawback,"

of which, the nostril is beneath the surface of the water, the inspiration occupying one, and the expiration three seconds, and at each breathing time the whale makes

this act is performed with regularity and slowness, and is called by whalers, "peaking the flukes,"

which is always noticed by those who are employed in the look-out, who call loudly, when they disappear below the surface, "there goes flukes."

The whale continues thus hidden beneath the surface for an hour and ten minutes; some will remain an hour and twenty minutes, and others for only one hour, but these are rare exceptions. If we then take into con- consideration

The females being found generally in large numbers and in close company, it is difficult to fix the attention upon one individual, so as to ascertain precisely the time consumed below the surface; however, as all in one flock generally rise at the same time, it may be observed, that they remain below the water about twenty minutes, they make about thirty-five or forty

The females

The same circumstances of accelerated respiration are observable also in "young bulls," and the acceleration seems to bear a certain definite proportion to their respective ages and size.

and in this case, generally also, he sinks without having assumed the perpendicular position before described, the contrary, he sinks suddenly in the horizontal posi- position, tion, and with remarkable rapidity, leaving a sort of vortex, or whirlpool, in the place where his huge body lately floated,— this curious movement is effected; as has been before stated, by some powerful upward strokes of the swimming paws and flukes.

and in this case, generally also, he sinks without having assumed the perpendicular position before described,

When urging his rapid course through the ocean, in that mode of swimming which is called "going head out," the spout is thrown up every time the head is raised above the surface,

x White & green voxtex vortex in the blue— as when a ship sinks.

cumstances. One of them is what is called "sweeping," which consists in moving the tail slowly from side to side on the surface of the water,

"sweeping,"

resembling large black rocks in the midst of the ocean; this posture they seem to assume for the purpose of surveying more perfectly, or more easily, the surrounding expanse.

in falling, the animal rolls his body slightly, so that he always falls on his side: he seldom breaches more than twice or thrice at a time, or in quick succession.

It is probable that the sperm whale often resorts to this action of breaching for the purpose of ridding itself of various animals which infest its skin, such as large "sucking fish," and other animals which resemble small crabs.

It may be it is the whale's act of defiance, as a horse shaking his mane,— for the waves then seem like the mane of the monster.

frequently attacked and this is supported by the fact of a portion of the sword of one of these animals having been found imbedded in the side of a whale stranded on the coast of Yorkshire, and which was probably broken off by the violent struggles between them.

There is also an animal called a "thresher," which is described by whalers, but which I have never seen, although I have observed hundreds of sword-fish sword fish sword fish swordfish while off the coast of Peru, and also in other parts of the world. It is said by whalers, that the "thresher" and the sword-fish sword fish sword fish swordfish attack the whale in conjunction, the latter of which goad him from below, while the first leaps out of the water, and falls upon him from above— the attack thus intimidating the whale, and giving an opportunity to the sword-fish sword fish sword fish swordfish to inflict his wounds; but for what purpose I am at a loss to conjecture, for I am not aware that the latter has any power of devouring the whale after his death, were he even able to cause it. Never- Nevertheless, theless, a gentleman in whose veracity I have great confi- confidence, dence, informed me that he once witnessed an attack of this kind, which took place while he was sailing along the coast of Peru. He stated, that he had been observing a sperm whale during the time it had remained at the surface to breathe, which after it had performed went through the evolution of "peaking" its flukes in the usual manner and disappeared. As it was a large whale, and as he knew it was likely to remain under water for a considerable time, he scarcely expected to see it again. However, in this he was mistaken; for after it had disappeared only for a few

Thresher here.

minutes it again rose, apparently in great trepidation, and as it reared with great velocity, half of its huge body projected out of the water. Gaining, however, in a few seconds the horizontal position, it went off at its utmost speed, "going head out"— the moment after which he saw a fish, somewhat resembling a conger-eel conger eel in figure but rather more bulky, and to all appearance about six or eight feet in length, fling itself high out of the water after the whale, and fall clumsily on its back, which caused still more alarm to the immense but timid animal, so that it beat the water with its tail, and reared its enormous head so violently, that sounds from the former could be heard at a great distance: it still how- however ever continued its rapid career, receiving every few minutes the unwelcome visits of its galling adversary. My informant also stated, that he had good reason to believe that some other animal was at the same time attacking it from below; for he, on more than one occa- occasion, sion, saw some animal dart at times to the surface with amazing quickness, as if engaged with great fury in the contest; and which, he supposed, prevented the whale from descending, in which he had the power no doubt, if he had not been thus prevented, of leaving his antago- antagonists nists far behind. The attack was continued for a con- considerable siderable time, during which the whale had got a great distance from the ship, when it twice threw itself com- completely pletely out of its native element, no doubt endeavouring endeavoring to escape from its tormenting adversaries by this act of "breaching," and which I have myself seen him do, after having been unsuccessfully chased by the boats.

With each herd or school of females are always from one to three large "bulls"— the lords of the herd, or as they are called, the "schoolmasters."

"schoolmasters."

The what Vidocq in his "Memoirs" calls wandering friars

and this is carried to so great an extent, as that one female of a herd being attacked and wounded, her faithful companions will remain around her to the last

When about three-fourths grown, or sometimes only half, they separate from each other, and go singly in search of food.

The mode by which this is effected, remains a curious secret.

until they attain their like old Ixion's & his sins & punishment.

the head is always turned downwards, and the body up- upwards, wards, so that the animal may be considered as literally walking on its head!

These processes are employed by cuttle-fish cuttle fish cuttlefish as anchors, for the purpose of fixing themselves firmly to rocks during violent agitations of the sea;

"Other animals of this kind inhabit shells, one of which is the argonaut, or paper-nautilus, paper nautilus nautilus which possesses a shell, says Roget, "exceedingly thin, and almost pel- pellucid, lucid, probably for the sake of lightness, for it is intended to be used as a boat. For the purpose of enabling the animal to avail itself of the impulses of the air while it is thus floating on the water, nature has furnished it with a thin membrane, which she has attached to two of the tentacula, so that it can be spread out like a sail, to catch the light winds which waft the animal forward on While its diminutive bark is thus scudding over the surface of the deep, the assiduous navigator does not neglect to apply its tentacula as oars on either side, to direct as well as to accelerate its motion. No sooner does the breeze freshen, and the sea become ruffled, than the animal hastens to take down its sail,

While its diminutive bark is thus scudding over the surface of the deep, the assiduous navigator does not neglect to apply its tentacula as oars on either side, to direct as well as to accelerate its motion.

The paper-nautiluses paper nautiluses nautiluses like so many

as many anchors as Sinbad's ship did in the gale.

and quickly withdrawing its tentacula within its shell, renders itself specifically heavier than the water, and sinks immediately into more tranquil regions beneath

'during this forenoon we passed several fields of spawn, which caused the water to bear the appearance of barley cover- covering ing the surface of a bank.'"

large portions are thus highly coloured, colored, and receive from the whalers the name of Banc Bank du of Bresil. Brazil. He also states that another similar bank occurs near Cape Horn, in 57 south latitude.

Banc Bank du of

Bresil. Brazil.

bank

A gigantic cephalopod was discovered by Drs. Bank and Solander, in Captain Cook's first voyage, floating dead upon the sea, surrounded by birds, who were feed- feeding ing on its remains.

"One of the gentlemen," says he, "who was so kind as to communicate to me his observations on this subject (ambergris) also, ten years ago, hooked a spermaceti whale that had in its mouth a tentaculum of the sepia octo- octopodia podia nearly twenty-seven. feet long! This did not appear its whole length, for one end was corroded by digestion, so that, in its natural state, it may have been a great deal longer. When we consider," says the Doctor, "the enormous bulk of the tentaculum here spoken of, we shall cease to wonder at the common saying of the fishermen, that the cuttle-fish cuttle fish cuttlefish is the largest fish of the ocean." In Todd's Cyclopaedia of Anatomy, p. 529, treating of cephalopoda, in an admirable paper by Mr. Owen, it states, that "the natives of the Polynesian Islands, who dive for shell-fish, shell fish shellfish have a well-founded well founded dread and abhor- abhorrence rence of these formidable cephalopods, and one cannot feel surprised that their fears should have perhaps exag- exaggerated gerated their dimensions and destructive attributes."

Squid.

times prey upon men! "In those shallow waters," says Sir Grenville, "are caught great quantities of fish, by forming curved lines or palisades some way out to sea, with palm branches, by which the fish that come up with The horrid polypus, which is, however, greedily eaten, abounds, and some are of enormous size. some are of enormous size. They prove at times highly dangerous to bathers. "An instance of this occurred two years since: a Sardinian captain, bathing at Jerbeh, felt one of his feet in the grasp of one of these animals; on this, with his other foot he tried to disengage himself, but this limb was immediately seized by another of the monster's arms; he then, with his hands, endeavoured endeavored to free himself, but these also, in succession, were firmly grasped by the polypus, and the poor man was shortly after found drowned, with all his limbs strongly bound together by the arms and legs of the fish; and it is extraordinary, that where this happened, the water, was scarcely four feet in depth."

The horrid polypus, which is, however, greedily eaten, abounds, and some are of enormous size.

Squid a fish

calamaries, or "flying squid," as they are termed by whalers, have the power of propelling themselves through the atmosphere.

onychoteuthis, I am led to believe, often serves the sperm whale for food. I have seen, on several occa- occasions, sions, very large limbs of the latter species of squid floating on the surface of the ocean, appearing as if bitten

On another occasion, and while upon the Bonin Islands, searching for shells on the rocks, which had just been left by the receding sea-tide, sea tide sea tide I was much astonished at seeing at my feet a most extraordinary looking animal, crawling towards the surf, which had only just left it. I had never seen one like it under such circumstances before; it therefore appeared the more remarkable. It was creeping on its eight legs, which, from their soft and flexible nature, bent con- considerably siderably under the weight of its body, so that it was lifted by the efforts of its tentacula only, a small dis- distance tance from the rocks. It appeared much alarmed at seeing me, and made every effort to escape, while I was not much in the humour humor to endeavour endeavor to capture so ugly a customer, whose appearance excited a feeling of disgust, not unmixed with fear. I however endea- endeavoured endeavored voured to prevent its career, by pressing on one of its legs with my foot, but although I made use of consi- considerable derable force for that purpose, its strength was so great that it several times quickly liberated its member, in spite of all the efforts I could employ in this way on wet slippery rocks. I now laid hold of one of the

tentacles with my hand, and held it firmly, so that the limb appeared as if it would be torn asunder by our united strength. I soon gave it a powerful jerk, wishing to disengage it from the rocks to which it clung so forcibly by its suckers, which it effectually resisted; but the moment after, the apparently enraged animal lifted its head with its large eyes projecting from the middle of its body, and letting go its hold of the rocks, suddenly sprang upon my arm, which I had previously bared to my shoulder, for the purpose of thrusting it into holes in the rocks to discover shells, and clung with its suckers to it with great power, endeavouring endeavoring to get its beak, which I could now see, between the roots of its arms, in a position to bite! A sensation of horror pervaded my whole frame when I found this monstrous animal had affixed itself so firmly upon my arm. Its cold slimy grasp was ex- extremely tremely sickening, and I immediately called aloud to the captain, who was also searching for shells at some distance, to come and release me from my disgusting assailant— he quickly arrived, and taking me down to the boat, during which time I was employed in keeping the beak away from my hand, quickly released me by destroying my tormentor with the boat knife, when I

originally presented to the Royal Society by the great John Hunter which treats of the structure and economy of whales.

the great John Hunter

This part of the book will likewise contain a short description of the skeleton of the sperm whale preserved at Burton-Constable, Burton Constable which I have been enabled to give through the kind permission of Sir Clifford Con- Constable, stable, Bart. to whom the skeleton belongs.

for the skeleton in them does not give us the true shape.

istic form of the The bones of the anterior ex- extremity tremity give no idea of the shape of a fin, the form of which wholly depends upon its covering.

This the authority authenticity of Beale

giving the animal externally a uniform and elegant form, resembling an insect enveloped in its chrysalis coat.

in which last may be included the fingers, because the number of bones are those which might be called fingers, although they are not separated, but included in one general covering with the meta- metacarpus carpus.