Big finner whaling, such as I have described in a previous chapter, is much more exciting than killing these sperm or cachalot, for which our tackle is unnecessarily powerful. But after all, in the pursuit of any kind of game, it is the hunting that counts as sport. The killing with any modern weapon of precision is nothing, it is the getting there that counts, and we have had many months both planning and hunting before we got this, our first bull sperm; also it is of greater value than the largest finner; and that must be our first consideration.
We found no ambergris[11] in this one. It disgorged several cuttle-fish but they were not lost, for the sharks soon came round, and nothing comes amiss to them.
“Starboard” Trying to Get Out of the Lasso
Cutting up Sperm Blubber
In the waist of the “St. Ebba.” The boilers are in the background.
Ambergris is found sometimes in sperm’s intestine, sometimes thrown from the whale into sea. It is used as the basis of scents. At present its selling price is 100 shillings per ounce. A whaler a year ago secured some from one whale, sold it for £20,000.
All afternoon we worked, cutting up the whale—first of all we made a cut round its shoulder and fin, or hand—a whale has bones like those of a hand inside the fibrous fin. In fact, the whale’s anatomy is similar to that of a land animal, not like that of fish. The hip bone and thigh are only floating rudimentary bones.