Curious Creatures in Zoology

by John Ashton

And the same story is told in the First Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor, or, as Mr. Lane, whose translation (ed. 1883) I use, calls him, Es-Sindibád of the Sea:—“We continued our voyage until we arrived at an island like one of the gardens of Paradise, and at that island, the master of the ship brought her to anchor with us. He cast the anchor, and put forth the landing plank, and all who were in the ship landed upon that island. They had prepared for themselves fire-pots, and they lighted the fires in them, and their occupations were various: some cooked, others washed, and others amused

themselves. I was among those who were amusing themselves upon the shores of the island, and the passengers were assembled to eat and drink, and play and sport. But while we were thus engaged, lo, the master of the ship, standing upon its side, called out with his loudest voice, ‘O ye passengers, whom may God preserve! come up quickly into the ship, hasten to embark, and leave your merchandise, and flee with your lives, and save yourselves from destruction; for this apparent island upon which ye are, is not, in reality, an island, but it is a great fish that hath become stationary in the midst of the sea, and the sand hath accumulated upon it, so that it hath become like an island, and trees have grown upon it, since times of old; and, when ye lighted upon it the fire, it felt the heat, and put itself in motion, and now it will descend with you into the sea, and ye will all be drowned; then seek for yourselves escape before destruction, and leave the merchandise!’ The passengers, therefore, hearing the words of the master of the ship, hastened to go up into the vessel, leaving the merchandise, and their other goods, and their copper cooking-pots, and their fire-pots; and some reached the ship, and others reached it not. The island had moved, and descended to the bottom of the sea, with all that were upon it, and the roaring sea, agitated with waves, closed over it.”

Olaus Magnus, too, tells of sleeping whales being mistaken for islands:—“The Whale hath upon its Skin a superficies, like the gravel that is by the sea side; so that oft times when he raiseth his back above the waters, Sailors take it to be nothing else but an Island, and sayl unto it, and go down upon it, and they strike in piles upon it, and fasten them to their ships: they kindle

fires to boyl their meat; until at length the Whale feeling the fire, dives down to the bottome; and such as are upon his back, unless they can save themselves by ropes thrown forth of the ship, are drown’d. This Whale, as I have said before of the Whirlpool and Pristes, sometimes so belcheth out the waves that he hath taken in, that, with a Cloud of Waters, oft times, he will drown the ship; and when a Tempest ariseth at Sea, he will rise above water, that he will sink the ships, during these Commotions and Tempests. Sometimes he brings up Sand on his back, upon which, when a Tempest comes, the Marriners are glad that they have found Land, cast Anchor, and are secure on a false ground; and when as they kindle their fires, the Whale, so soon as he perceives it, he sinks down suddenly into the depth, and draws both men and ships after him, unless the Anchors break.”

But apropos of the whale casting forth such quantities of water, it is, as a matter of fact, untrue. The whale has a tremendously strong exhalation, and when it breathes under water, its breath sends up two columns of spray, but, if its head is above water, it cannot spout.

One thing in favour of whales, is “The Wonderful affection of the whales towards their young. Whales, that have no Gills, breathe by Pipes, which is found but in few creatures. They carry their young ones, when they are weak and feeble; and if they be small, they take them in at their mouths. This they do also when a Tempest is coming; and after the Tempest, they Vomit them up. When for want of water their young are hindered, that they cannot follow their Dams, the Dams take water in their mouths, and cast it to them like a

river, that she may so free them from the Land they are fast upon. Also she accompanies them long, when they are grown up; but they quickly grow up, and increase ten years.”

According to Olaus Magnus, there be many kinds of whales:—“Some are hairy, and of four Acres in bigness; the Acre is 240 foot long and 120 broad; some are smooth skinned, and those are smaller, and are taken in the West and Northern Sea; some have their Jaws long and full of teeth; namely, 12 or 14 foot long, and the Teeth are 6, 8, or 12 foot long. But their two Dog teeth, or Tushes, are longer than the rest, underneath, like a Horn, like the teeth of Bores, or Elephants. This kind of whale hath a fit mouth to eat, and his eyes are so large, that fifteen men may sit in the room of each of them, and sometimes twenty, or more, as the beast is in quantity.