Family II. Physteridæ.
(Cachalots.)
In this and the following Family we find the largest of all existing animals. They are remarkable also for the enormous size of the head, as compared with the proportions of other animals. In the Cachalots the head, which occupies more than one-third of the whole bulk of the animal, terminates in a broad muzzle, appearing as though it had been abruptly cut off, in its full thickness. The lower jaw is narrow, slender, and pointed the two branches (rami) of which it is composed, being united into one for a great part of their length; and furnished with many stout, conical teeth, somewhat flattened: the upper jaw contains either none, or a few which do not penetrate the gums. They are destitute of baleen. The blow-holes have but a single orifice; situated at the top of the broad muzzle.
Genus Payserer. (Linn.)
As the present genus, which includes only two or perhaps three known species, constitutes the whole Family, it is needless to repeat the distinctive characters already given. We shall confine ourselves, therefore, to a description of the best defined species, the Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus, Linn).
It is not to any extraordinary development of the brain of this animal, nor even of the skull, that the immense bulk of the head is owing; the jaws in- deed are greatly lengthened, but the brain is very smail, and seated at the back of the head, the whole anterior part forming a huge cavity, known to whalers as the “case,” which is not enclosed by bone, but by a thick, tendinous, elastic skin, and lined with a beautiful, glistening membrane. This cavity is filled with a clear oil, sometimes to the amount of ten barrels, which after death cools into the granulated substance, well known, when purified, as spermaceti.
The coat of blubber, contained in the texture of the skin of the body, produces an oil, which is much valued, for its clearness, and other qualities, and is known as sperm-oil. These two products form the principal object of the Sperm-whale fishery; a pursuit which, from the remote distance at which it is prosecuted, the protraction of exile which each voyage involves, the romantic character of its incidents, and its hazardous nature, is perhaps unrivalled among pacific occupations.
Mr. Beale, in his very interesting volume on the Sperm-whale, describes a male of the largest size as about eighty-four feet in length, and twelve or fourteen in diameter, at its thickest part. The
SPERM-WHALE.
fins are small, being no more than six feet long by three broad. They appear to be used rather in balancing the body, and supporting the young, than in giving progress in motion, which is the proper office of the tail. The skin is smooth, of a very dark grey hue, nearly black on the upper parts, but silvery beneath. Some however are pied. Old males usually have a large spot of pale grey on the front of the head, when they are said to be "grey-headed." The eye is situated just above the angle of the mouth; and over this at the junction of the head with the body, there is an elevation called the "bunch of the neck;" from hence the outline of the back is nearly straight, to within one third of its length from the tail, where there is a larger prominence, called the "hump;" it now rapidly tapers away to the tail, and this slender part is technically distinguished as the "small," while the huge tail spreading widely on each side bears the name of "flukes."
The motions of this enormous animal are exceedingly curious; when moving perfectly at leisure, he swims slowly along, just beneath the surface, effecting his progress by gently striking the fluid with his tail from side to side obliquely. The bunch and hump may be seen above the water; and by the disturbance which they cause in cutting the surface, some foam is produced, by which an experienced whaler can judge, even at some miles’ distance, how fast the animal is going. When alarmed, however, or from any cause inclined to increase his velocity, he uses a very different mode of progression. The broad tail now strikes the water upward and downward alternately with great force; at every blow downward the fore part sinks several yards into the water, while by the force of the upward blow, the head is thrust entirely out of the water. A whale can swim in this way, the head alternately appearing and disappearing, which the seamen call "going head out," at the rate of twelve miles an hour. In the facility with which the enormous head is projected, we see the wisdom of its immense size; bulky as it 1s, the fluid oil with which it is filled, rarefied by vital heat, renders it the most buoyant part by far of the animal, being of itself considerably lighter than the surrounding medium: hence, little effort is required to project the breathing orifice, on the summit of the muzzle, into the air; while, again, the swiftness of the animal is greatly increased by the removal of so broad and bulky an extremity from the dense fluid through which it is swimming. "O Lord! how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all.’’[1]
The Sperm-whale is found in all seas, but is most abundant in the Pacific, at some particular points of which herds are said to congregate periodically. The pursuit of this enormous animal forms an important branch of commercial enterprise, in which the bold seamen of the United States have the greatest share. The voyage commonly occupies three or four years, and is one of unexampled hazard and privation. Ships of three or four hundred tons are selected for this pursuit, strongly built, and manned with a crew of about thirty hands. A watch is stationed aloft immediately on leaving the port, although the prey is rarely met within the north Atlantic. This watch is never intermitted during the whole voyage, or at least until a full cargo is obtained. The watch, on the sight of a Sperm-whale, immediately communicates the welcome information by calling aloud in a peculiar tone, "There she spouts!" a cry which never fails to produce a general rush on deck of all hands. "Whereaway?” eagerly demands the master; the position of the distant object is pointed out, and at each fresh "spouting," the watch, accompanied by every individual on board who has caught sight of the Whale, vociferates, "There again!" The spoutings being all performed, the elevation of the broad tail into the air, preparatory to descent, is announced in the same manner by "There goes flukes!"
The object of these announcements is explained by the remarkable regularity with which every motion connected with the respiration of this animal is performed, The length of time it remains at the surface, the number. of expirations, or spoutings, performed on each occasion, the length of the interval between the spouts, the time it remains submerged before again rising to breathe, are all, when the animal is undisturbed, as regular in succession and duration, as can be imagined. This circumstance is of the greatest value to the whaler; for when the periods of any particular Whale have been observed, it may be calculated even to a minute when it will re-appear, and how long it will continue at the surface.
At the first announcement, the boats, which are constantly kept in readiness, are lowered, and manned with joyful alacrity. Every nerve is strained to reach the animal before his spoutings are out, which, in a large bull-whale, may be about ten minutes. If he is too far off, however, they strive to note the direction in which he dives, stationing themselves near the spot where they expect he will emerge. On his re-appearance, the boats are rowed up as silently as possible, and the harpooner of the foremost darts his weapon with all his strength. At the same moment, he cries "Stern all!" and the oarsmen give the boat stern-way with precipitation. The Whale in his agony dives perpendicularly, drawing the line of the harpoon swiftly through its grove; the other boats are ready to bend on their lines, each of which is two hundred fathoms long; for a Whale will sometimes carry down four lines, descending to the depth of nearly a mile. But again he approaches the surface; "the gurgling and bubbling water, which rises before, proclaims that he is near; his nose starts from the sea; the rushing spout is projected high and suddenly from his agitation." The other boats now infix their harpoons, and sharp steel lances are thrust deeply into the body.
The most dangerous part of the enterprise now ensues: the Whale is in his last agony: he dashes hither and thither, snaps convulsively with his long lower jaw, rolls over and over, coiling the line round his body, or leaps completely out of the water. The boats are often upset, sometimes broken into fragments, and the men wounded or drowned. The crimson blood spouted from the blow-hole, falls in showers around; the poor animal whirls rapidly round in unconsciousness, in a portion of a circle, rolls over on its side, and is still in death.
The body is then towed to the ship; the head is cut off and secured at the stern; a hole is cut into the skin of the fore part of the body, into which a large hook is inserted. A strong pulley being attached to this hook, the blubber is thereby hoisted up, as it is gradually cut by sharp spades in a spiral strip, going round and round the body. As this band is pulled off, the body revolves, until the stripping reaches the small, when it will turn no more. In the mean time, the head having been placed in an upright position, an opening is made in the front of the case, and the spermaceti dipped out with a bucket at the end of a pole. The junk, a thick mass of tough, tendinous substance, situated beneath the case, is then extracted and cut into pieces, as well as the blubber; both of these substances being rendered into oil by means of heat. The products are then stowed away in barrels in the hold.
The preparation of the crude spermaceti, when brought home, is thus performed:—"The mass is put into hair or woollen bags, and pressed between plates of iron in a screw-press, until it becomes hard and brittle; it is then broken into small pieces, and thrown into boiling water, where it melts, and the impurities are separated from it. After being cooled, and taken from the first water, it is put into a boiler of clean water, and a weak solution of potash is gradually added. This is | thrice repeated, after which the whole is poured into coolers, when the spermaceti concretes into a white semi-crystallized mass, and on being cut into small pieces exhibits a beautiful flaky appearance, so well known as belonging to the spermaceti of commerce."
- ↑ Psalm civ. 24,