The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1930-06-27
Continuation of
CHAPTER X.

It's enormous size quite startled
nv wife and her little boy; the
length being from sixty to sixty
five feet, and the girth between
thirty and forty, while the weight
could not have been less than
$4,000 pounds.
The color was a uniform vel
vetv black. and the enormous
head about one-third of the length
Of the entire bulk, the eyes quite
small. not much larger than those
Of an OK, and the ears almost un-
discernible.
The Jaw opened very far back,
and was nearly sixteen feet IN
length, the most curious part OF
its structure being the remark
able substance known as whale
hone, masses of which appeared
all along the jaws, solid at the
base, and splitting into a sort or
fringe at the extremity. This ar
rangement is for the purpose OF
aiding the whale in procuring its
food. and separating it from the
water.
The tongue was remarkably
large, soft, and full of oil; the
opening Of the throat wonderfully
small. scarcely two inches in d.
ameter.
"Why. what can the monster
eat?" exclaimed Fritz; "he never
can swallow a proper mouthful
down this little gullet!"
'"The mode of feeding adopted
by the whale is so curious l
replied, that 1 must explain it to
YOU before we begin work.
'aThis animal (for I should tell
you that a whale is not a fish;
he possesses no gills, he breathes
atmospheric air, and would pc
drowned if too long detained be-
low the surface of the water);
this animal, then, %frequents those
parts of the ocean best supplied
with the various creatures on
which he feeds. Shrimps, small
fish. Holsters, various molluscs,
and dedusae form his diet. Drlv-
ing with open mouth through the
c-ongregated shoals of these little
creatures, the whale engulfs them
bv millions in his enormous Jaws
and continues his destructive
course until he has sufficiently
charged his mouth with prey.
CLOSING his jaws and forcing
out. through the interstices or
the whalebone, the water which
he has taken together with his
prey. he retains the captured ami
mails. and swallows them at his
leisure.
1.-THE nostrils, or blow-holes, are
placed, you see, on the upper
part of the head, in order that
the whale may rise to breathe,
and repose at the surface OF the
sea, showing very little of his
huge carcase.
1.-THE breathings are called
'spoutings,' because a column OF
mixed vapor and water is thrown
to a height of twenty feet.
And now, boys, fasten on your
buskins, and let me e if yon
can face the work of climbing
this slippery mountain of flesh,
and cutting it up"
Fritz and Jack stripped, and
went to work directly, scrambling
over the back to the head, where
they assisted me to cut away the
lips, so as to reach the whale
bone, a large quantity of which
was detached and carried to the
boat.
Ernest labored m~anfully at the
creatures side, cutting out slabs
of blubber, while his mother and
Franz helped as well as they
could to put it in casks.
Presently we had a multitude
OF unbidden guests.
The air was filled by the shrill
screams and hoarse croaks and
cries of numbers of birds Of prey
they flew around us in ever mar
rowing circles, and becoming bold
or as their voracity was excited
nv the near view of the tempting
prey, they alighted close to US
~snatching morsels greedily from
under the very strokes of ou1
knives and hatchets.
Our work was seriously inter
rupted by these feathered ma
RAIDERS, who, after all, were NJ
greater robbers than we ourselves
We kept them off as well as W
could by blows from our tools
and several were killed, my wifi
taking possession of them imme
diately for the sake Of tn
feathers.
1t was nearly time to leave tn
island, but first l stripped off
long piece OF the skin, to be use
for traces, harness, and othe
leather-work. 1t was about three
quarters Of an inch thick, an
very soft and oily-but l knee
it would shrink and be tough an
durable.
also took a part of the gum
in which the roots Of the balee
or whalebone was still enbeddet