Butte record., 1855-09-08


poor little flying fish into the air The
latter are soon snapped up by the how
ering birds, or are seized and devoured
by the voracious albacores, the moment
their feeble powers of fight are exhaust
ed, and they drop helpless into the sea
again. The albacores, too, have very
terrible enemy in nothing less
than the sword fish, many of which cor
sairs make rush, from the time, through
the dense droves of albacores, and transit
them, one or two together, with their
long projecting swords, off which the
slain albacores are then shaken and de-
voured by their ruthless enemy. 1t
sometimes happens that the sword-fsh
misses his aim, and drives his weapon
into, and even through a ships side, to
the great danger Of the vessel.
Ha our old look out man sees sign
Now he halls the DICK There she
b'oasl th~re she spouts" :" What lungs
the old fellow has Hark to what fol-
lows. "Where away :" sharply cries
the officer on deck. GA school of whale,
broad off the lee>bow, sir - "Main-
yard aback Sc. Out boats :" "There
she blows again There she fukes !"
''How far off :" ''Three miles, sir -
There she breaches" "Bc lively men
Lower away" "All clear, sir! Lower
away it is!' Cast off fals,-unhook,-
out oars.--give way, men!"
You will please bear in mind, rthy
companion that you and we are now
seated somew here IN the boat, as it Iulls
away, "with measured strokes, most
beautiful' and that we shall conse-
quently see whatever takes place Mean
while, LET US take advantage Of the inter-
val which must intervene ere the whale
we pursue is within harpoon's reach, to
enlighten you little about whales
generally. The cachalot or sperm
whsle is one of the largest of all the
cetacean tribe, not unfrequei ty attain
ing he length of &c feet: there is an au-
thent;cated instance of 4 spcarm- whale
76 feet in length, and 3s feet in girth--
a leviathan among leviathans! The fe-
male cachaot does not attain much
more than half the size of the male, and
yet gives birth to young ones ii feet in
length, and of proportionate girfh. The
average yield of oil is about eighty bar
rels for a ful-grown male, and twenty
FIVE f.r female. The cachalo: i, black
in color, but is occasionally spotted with
white toward the tail. The head IS one
third the entire length Of the creature,
and is of square form, with a very
bluat snout' The body is round, or
nearly so, and tapcrs mach toward the
tail. The fins are triangular shaped
and very small but the tail is of i'm
mense size, very fl xible, and of tremen-
dous power When the animal strikes
it fatty on the water, the report is like
that of a small cannon When used in
propulsion, the tail is bent back beneath
the body, and then sprung out again,
when aiming at boat or other object,
it is bent sharply, and strikes the object
by its recoil. The eyes are placed far
back in the head, and well protected by
integuments, they do not measure more
than two inches in length by one in
breadth, and have small power of gazing
in an oblique directed. The tongue is
small. and can not be protruded but the
gullet or throat is quite in proportion to
the bulk of the animal, so that it could
easily swallow a man and this fact
clearly disposes of the skeptical objec-
tion to the Scripture narrative Of the
prophet Jonah. The expansion of a
pair of jaws nearly score of feet in
length must be startling sight The
lower jaw appears slender in comparison
with the vast bulk of the upper one.
The greater part of the head of the
sperm whale is composed of soft parts,
called junk and case. The junk is oily
fat; and the case is delicate fluid yield
ing spermaceti in large proportion. The
teeth of the cachalot appear mainly on
the lower jaw, projecting about two inches
through the gum, ,and they are solid ivory
but without enamel. The black skin OF
this whale is destitute of hair, and pos
sesses such a peculiar alkaline property
that seamen use it in lieu of soap The
lard of blubber beneath it varies from
| four to fourteen inches in thickness, ane
is perfectly white and inodorous Wha
whalers term schools are assemblages o