Now of the fight betwixt the whale and his contraries; which are the sword-fish and the thresher. The whale is of the greatest fishes in the sea; and to count but the truth, unlesse dayly experience did witnesse the relation, it might seeme incredible; hee is a huge unwildlie fish, and to those which have not seene of them, it might seeme strange, that other fishes should master him; but certaine it is, that many times the thresher and sword-fish, meeting him joyntly, doe make an end of him.
with the sword fish
The sword fish[94] is not great, but strongly made; and in the top of his chine, as a man may say, betwixt the necke and shoulders, he hath a manner of sword in substance, like unto a bone, of foure or five inches broad, and above three foote long, full of prickles of either side: it is but thin, for the greatest that I have seene, hath not beene above a finger thicke.
and thresher.
The thresher is a greater fish, whose tayle is very broad and thicke, and very waightie. They fight in this maner; the sword fish placeth himselfe under the belly of the whale, and the thresher upon the ryme[95] of the water, and with his tayle thresheth upon the head of the whale, till hee force him to give way; which the sword fish perceiving, receiveth him upon his sword, and wounding him in the belly forceth him to mount up againe (besides that he cannot abide long under water, but must of force rise upp to breath): and when in such manner they torment him, that the fight is sometimes heard above three leagues distance, and I dare affirme, that I have heard the blowes of the thresher two leagues off, as the report of a peece of ordinance; the whales roaring being heard much farther. It also happeneth sundry times that a great part of the water of the sea round about them, with the blood of the whale, changeth his colour. The best remedy the whale hath in this extremitie to helpe himselfe, is to get him to land, which hee procureth as soone as hee discovereth his adversaries; and getting the shore, there can fight but one with him, and for either of them, hand to hand, he is too good.[96] The whale is a fish not good to be eaten, hee is almost all fat,[97] but esteemed for his trayne; and many goe to the New-found-land, Greene-land, and other parts onely to fish for them; which is in this maner: when they which seeke the whale discover him, they compasse him round The taking of the whale. about with pynaces or shalops. In the head of every boat is placed a man, with a harping iron, and a long lyne, the one end of it fastned to the harping iron, and the other end to the head of the boat, in which it lyeth finely coiled; and for that he cannot keepe long under water, he sheweth which way he goeth, when rising neere any of the boats, within reach, he that is neerest, darteth his harping iron at him. The whale finding himself to be wounded, swimmeth to the bottome, and draweth the pynace after him; which the fisher-men presently forsake, casting themselves into the sea; for that many times he draweth the boat under water: those that are next, procure to take them up. For this cause all such as goe for that kind of fishing, are experimented in swimming. When one harping iron is fastned in the whale, it is easily discerned which way he directeth his course: and so ere long they fasten another, and another in him. When he hath three or foure boats dragging after him, with their waight, his bleeding, and fury, he becommeth so over-mastred, that the rest of the pynaces with their presence and terror, drive him to the place where they would have him, nature instigating him to covet the shore.
Being once hurt, there is little need to force him to land. Once on the shore, they presently cut great peeces of him, and in great cauldrons seeth them.[98] The uppermost in the cauldrons is the fatt, which they skimme off, and put it into hogsheads and pipes. This is that they call whales oyle, or traine oyle, accompted the best sort of traine oyle. It is hard to be beleeved, what quantitie is gathered of one whale; of the tongue, I have beene enformed, have many pipes beene filled. The fynnes are also esteemed for many and sundry uses; as is his spawne for divers purposes: this wee corruptly call parmacittie; of the Latine word, spermaceti.[99]
Amber-greece.
And the precious amber-greece some thinke also to be found in his bowells, or voyded by him: but not in all seas: yea, they maintaine for certaine, that the same is ingendred by eating an hearbe which groweth in the sea. This hearbe is not in all seas, say they, and therefore, where it wanteth, the whales give not this fruit. In the coast of the East Indies in many partes is great quantitie. In the coastes of Guyne, of Barbary, of the Florida, in the islands of Cape de Verde, and the Canaries, amber-greece hath beene many times found, and sometimes on the coast of Spaine and England. Whereupon it is presumed, that all these seas have not the hearbe growing in them. The cause why the whale should eate this hearbe, I have not heard, nor read. It may be surmised, that it is as that of the becunia, and other beasts, which breed the beazer stone;[100] who feeding in the valleyes and mountaines, where are many venemous serpents, and hearbes; when they find themselves touched with any poyson, forthwith they runne for remedie to an hearbe, which the Spaniards call contrayerva, that is to say, contrary to poyson: which having eaten, they are presently cured: but the substance of the hearbe converteth it selfe into a medicinable stone; so it may be, that the whale feeding of many sortes of fishes, and some of them, as is knowne, venemous, when he findeth himselfe touched, with this hearbe he cureth himselfe; and not being able to digest it, nature converteth it into this substance, provoketh it out, or dyeth with it in his belly; and being light, the sea bringeth it to the coast.
All these are imaginations, yet instruments to moove us to the glorifying of the great and universal Creatour of all, whose secret wisedome, and wonderfull workes, are incomprehensible.
Amber-greece.