The National Register.
London, England, 1809-04-02 00:00:00

470

saw it, and have been repeatedly occupied in the Greenland
fi'dlery, allege it to be a young one, not more than a year old ;
yet its dimensions art' as follow :
Its extreme length from the lower jaw to the end of its tail,
16 feet ti inches ; from lower jaw to the end of the holy at the
tail, 89 feet ; lower jaw longer than the upper jaw, 1 foot 4
inches ; end of upper jaw to its eye, 14 fret'; from upper.jaw
to its dorsal fin, 4S feet 2 inches ; It-ngth of dorsal fin at the base.
4 feet ; height of the dorsal fin, 2 feet ; from body to the end of
the tail, feet 6 inches ; extremity of the tail, 15 feet ; eircum,
femme of the body at the dorsal fiu, 21 feet ; eye placed from
the spiracle, 5 feet ; length of its mouth from the lower jaw 16
feet 6 inches; length of pectoral fin, 6 feet ; breadth of pectoral
tin, 2 feet ; longitudinal lines, (almost straight), beginning under
the mouth to the middle of the fish ; length of its eye, 5 inches;
colour of its lamina', whitish forward, black behind ; distance
of the eve to its mouth, inches; 6 feet to the pectoral tin
ert'im back-bone ; outer skin peeled off, thickness of tine writing-
pa per; from one eye to the other, 9 feet 9 inches ; breadth of
the lines on its belly, 3 inches ; orifice of its ear, 3 inches ; from
its eye to the ear, 3 feet 2 inches.
From which proportion, in a sucking fish of only a year old,
those not skilled in the Natural History of such creatures, or ac:
customed to see them in great variety, may form some concep-
tion of what a whale must he at its years of maturity. It is
pronounced by judges to he the Balena Boops, or pike-headed
Species. It completely tills the cavity of the West-country
barge, on board of which it is exhibited, and its tail projects
sear four yards outside the stern of the vessel.
It was killed on the 25th inst. in the river Thames, at Sea
Reach, some miles below Gravesend, by Mr. John Barnes, a
Pilot of the latter place, who was going in his boat down to the
Tore, and observing the water agitated unusually by the motions
of the fish, he approached it within swivel shot, and fired at it
three different times ; the second shot passed through the fish's
tail, and the third mortally wounded it in the body, when by a
sudden and violent plunge a-head, it run upon a shoal near the
beach, and was left nearly dry at low water. Four hours elapsed
between the time the fish was wounded, until it was completely
dead. It was towed the next title to the beach off Gravesend,
where it was exhibited during four days. It was brought up
to London, as we understand, by the order of the Lord Mayor,
under the direction of the Water Bailiff; and the contrivance
for its conveyance was rather curious. The barge on board of
which it now is, was brought along-side the fish at high-water,
scuttled and sunk ; the next title of flood the fish was towed to a
position directly over the barge, and gradually sunk into her, as
the title ebbed. The barge, ting on shore at low water, was of
course soon drained through hr.r scuttle holes, and the plugs be-
ing then replaced, she floated v. ith her unwieldy cargo the next
tide, and was twought up to her preseut moorings on Wednesday
Afternoon.

The appearance of whales in the Thames, though rare,
is by tin means umistial. Grainpn=es, indeed, have been often
teen so high as Black wall, and even Lowlon Bridge. In the
memory of many per-on- resiEng near the fo,-mer place, four
have been seen there at one time, sporting am: spontinz up the
water to a considerable height and in the year 1780, a whale
of 90 feet in length was killed near the same place as that now
exhibiting.
It may he well, as a matter of curiosity, to gratify the public
of the metropolis, ever in,atiable after ranee shows, with the ex-
of this wonder of the marine k ingdom. lint the pro-
t••tis e of bringing into the centre or a popidnit- city, for the mere
y-,iziti,:ntion of gazers, a monster of &itch bulk, in a state of putre-
tar! i,;n, is quite another consideration. The stench is intolerable.
z is the constant usage of the inhabitants nit the coasts of t hose
i:ens where whal..s abound, winreever a dtNtd one drifts near the
shore, immediatc:y to man their boats or canoes, and tow it out
a considerable distance to sea, in order to avem the formidable
danger of infection from its putrescence, it be thrown
high on their bench by the tide. flow fir less necessary such a
caution may be in the centr,• Of the City of London is worthy of
attention. In all event?, those who visit the whale will do well
In use t he:ex pedient of holding to their month. and noses !mod-
kerchiefs well moistened with strong vinegar, to guard ng:aiust
iiihaling the putrid of it emits, that which few things can
be move noxious to health, and even life.
A contest has aris:ot between the Lord 7,Tavor and the Ad-
irt:ratty w ith respect to the riglit of property in this ti.it. The
firmer claims it as Conservator of the River ; ani the
Tatter consider it as :t Droit: and accordingly the Marshal of
the Admiralty seised it 4):1 l'hursnay, inavritastandint the Lord
Mayor's protest asaiwo such a proceeding...

lEri Intel! and Publil-hc(l by and for .1, B. BELL an* .1. DE CAMP, at the Office of Le Bean Monde ; or, Literary and FashivtaT,
vi!:, .11 q;:z:i ;. '•'n ('ioherine•critet) `,:trattti; a.nd oia) br had of ail the Newsmen in the United Kingdom.