Mr. Scoresby says, “that he has good reason to believe that the whale feeds chiefly, if not altogether, on the squillæ or shrimp tribe; for, on examining the stomach of one of large size, nothing else was found in it; they were about half an inch long, semi-transparent, and of a pale red colour.—I also found a great quantity in the mouth of another, having been apparently vomited by it. When the whale feeds, it swims with considerable velocity under water, with its mouth wide open; the water enters by the fore part, but is poured out again at the sides, and the food is entangled and sifted as it were by the whalebone, which does not allow any thing to escape.”
Their time of parturition is in April, and though they are said to bring forth two young ones at a time,[26] yet I never saw more than one along with such as we killed. Fabricius says, that, for the most part, they bring forth but one.[27] The female is frequently taken when endeavouring to save her young one, which is generally killed first by way of stratagem. She then strives to take it away under her fins; but, in the midst of these efforts, being overtaken by the boats, she falls a victim to her maternal affection.
The female, during pregnancy, which is about nine or ten months, is very fat; and the cub, when excluded, is black, and about ten feet long. It continues at the breast for a year. To suckle her young, the mother throws herself upon one side on the surface of the water; she is frequently seen carrying it on her back, and when she has occasion to go to the bottom, takes it with her under one of her fins.
Whalebone was formerly an article of great value in commerce, and at one time sold for £600 per ton. It is not now, however, worth a twentieth part of that sum, and is not an object of any attention to the whale fishers. We may remark, that, by an old feudal law, the tail of all whales belonged to the Queen,[28] as a perquisite to furnish her Majesty’s wardrobe with whalebone. A strong proof of the ignorance that had at that time prevailed respecting this animal.
The flesh of the whale is variously prepared by the Greenlanders, and is used either when newly catched, or when sub-putrid. The skin, tail, and fins, they eat raw; the blubber is used either as food, or in lamps; they dress the intestines like those of the seal. The tendons serve them as thread for nets. The bones serve as timber for roofing their houses, and other domestic purposes; and fishing-rods of the best quality are made from the whalebone.[29]
The common whale, notwithstanding its magnitude, swims with surprising agility, and generally against the wind. The flat position of its tail enables it to ascend suddenly to the surface of the water to breathe, which it is frequently obliged to do. Whales are very harmless and timid; but, when attacked, frequently strike the boats a dangerous blow with their tails, in which their greatest strength lies. About midsummer, when they begin to couple, they are very wild, and difficult to catch, unless harpooned during copulation,[30] or when found sleeping on the water.
Their fidelity to each other is said to be very great. Anderson tells us, that having struck one of two whales, a male and female, that were in company, the wounded fish made a long and terrible resistance; it struck down a boat with three men in it, with a single blow of the tail, by which all went to the bottom: The other fish attended its companion, and lent it every assistance, till, at last, the fish that was struck, sunk under the number of its wounds; while its faithful associate, disdaining to survive the loss, stretched itself upon the dead fish, and shared its fate.
The ancients were not unacquainted with the Balæna mysticetus, though they do not seem to have had any knowledge of its uses. Their acquaintance with the spermaceti whale, found in the Indian ocean, was somewhat more accurate. It is interesting to observe, in the account of Nearchus’s Voyage, as given by Arrian,[31] the terror of the sailors when they first perceived the blowing of these animals. As soon as this ancient navigator had successfully conducted his fleet past a single whale, he received an applause equal to what he could have expected had he vanquished an enemy’s fleet.
Whenever a whale is seen from the ship, one or more boats are sent in pursuit; and if they get close to it, the harpooner strikes it with his harpoon; but should the boat not get near enough for this purpose, he heaves the harpoon at the whale with great skill. As soon as the animal finds itself wounded, it descends, dragging the line fastened to the harpoon after it with such velocity, that one of the crew is constantly obliged to pour water on the stem of the boat, to prevent its taking fire by the intense friction of the line. A hatchet is always at hand to cut the line, should it chance to get entangled. A large whale will sometimes run out the lines of two boats.[32] As soon as a whale is struck, they hoist a flag, or jack, in the boat, which being seen by the ship, the crew all run about the decks crying “A fall, A fall;” as much as to say, “He’s fast, He’s fast.” Immediately all hands, except a few to take care of the ship, get into the boats with great expedition, and repair to the place where they expect the whale will rise to breathe. When it appears, they strike it again, and so on till there are sometimes three or four harpoons fast. When the whale becomes fatigued, and is severely wounded, it throws up water mixed with blood, and immediately the whole boats surround the groaning monster, and dispatch it with their spears. At this moment, the sea, to a considerable distance, looks as if tinged with vermilion. In dying, the noise occasioned by the whale’s lashing the water with its tail and fins, is heard to a very great distance.
As soon as a whale is killed, it is towed by the boats to the ship, and being made fast by tackles placed at the nose and tail, is immediately stripped of its blubber. This process is by Greenland sailors termed flinching, and is very speedily performed. The harpooners and their assistants cut the blubber into long stripes, which are hoisted into the ship, cut into smaller pieces, and thrown into the hold, from whence they are again brought upon deck to be pared and barrelled up. In flinching, the whale is turned round by a tackle made fast to the fins.