CHAPTER VI.
Grandpa Dinsmore had hardly finished relating his reminiscences ofhis former visits to the Bermudas when a sailor-lad came down thecompanionway with a message from the Captain--an invitation to anyor all his passengers to come up on deck, as there was something hewished to show them. It was promptly and eagerly accepted by the youngfolks,--somewhat more slowly and sedately by the older ones.
"What is it, papa? Have you something to show us?" queried Ned, as hegained his father's side.
"Something lying yonder in the sea, my son, the like of which you havenever seen before," replied the Captain, pointing to a large object inthe water at some little distance.
"Ah, a whale!" exclaimed Dr. Travilla, who had come up on Ned's otherside. "To what genus does he belong, Captain?"
"He is a bottlenose; a migratory species, confined to the NorthAtlantic. It ranges far northward in the summer, southward in thewinter. In the early spring they may be found around Iceland andGreenland, Western Spitzbergen, in Davis Strait and probably aboutNovaia Zemlia."
"Oh, do they like to live right in among the icebergs, papa?" askedElsie.
"No, they do not venture in among the ice itself, but frequent openbays along its margin, as in that way they are sheltered from the opensea."
"The group gathered about the Captain on the deck now comprised all hiscabin passengers, not one of whom failed to be interested in the whale,or to have some remark to make or question to ask.
"This one seems to be alone," remarked Lucilla. "Do they usually goalone, papa?"
"No; they are generally found in herds of from four to ten; and manydifferent herds may be found in sight at the same time. The old males,however, are frequently solitary; though sometimes one of them may beseen leading a herd. These whales don't seem to be afraid of ships,swimming around them and underneath the boats till their curiosity issatisfied."
"I suppose they take them--the ships--for a kind of big fish," laughedNed.
"Why is this kind of whale called bottlenosed, papa?" asked Elsie.
"That name is given it because of the elevation of the upper surface ofthe head above the rather short beak and in front of the blow hole intoa rounded abrupt prominence."
"Blow hole," repeated Ned, wonderingly; "what's that, papa?"
"The blow holes are their nostrils through which they blow out thewater collected in them while they are down below the waves. Theycannot breath under the water, but must come up frequently to take ina fresh supply of air. But first they must expel the air remaining intheir lungs, before taking in a fresh supply. They send that air outwith great force, so that it rises to a considerable height above thewater, and as it is saturated with water-vapor at a high temperature,the contact with the cold outside air condenses the vapor which forms acolumn of steam or spray. Often, however, a whale begins to blow beforeits nostrils are quite above the surface, and then some sea-water isforced up with the column of air."
They were watching the whale while they talked; for it followed theyacht with seeming curiosity. At this moment it rolled over nearly onits side, then threw its ponderous tail high into the air, so that foran instant it was perpendicular to the water, then vanished from sightbeneath the waves.
"Oh, dear," cried Ned, "he's gone! I wish he'd stayed longer."
"Perhaps he will come back and give us the pleasure of seeing himspout," said the Captain.
"Do you mean throw the water up out of its nostrils, papa?" asked Ned."Oh, I'd like that!"
"Ah, there's the call to supper," said his father, as the summons cameat that moment. "You wouldn't like to miss that?"
"No, sir," returned Ned, in a dubious tone. "But couldn't we let thesupper wait till the whale comes up and gets done spouting?"
"Perhaps some of the older people may be too hungry to waitcomfortably," returned his father; "and the supper might be spoiledby waiting. But cheer up, my son; the whale is not likely to come upto the surface again before we can finish our meal and come back towitness his performance."
That assurance was quite a relief to Ned's mind, so that he went verycheerfully to the table with the others, and there did full justice tothe viands.
No one hurried with the meal, but when they left the table it was to goupon deck again and watch for the reappearance of the whale. They hadbeen there for but a moment when, to the delight of all, it came up,not too far away to be distinctly seen, and at once began spouting--orblowing; discharging the air from its lungs in preparation for takingin a fresh supply; the air was sent out with great force, making asound that could be heard at quite a distance, while the water-vaporaccompanying the air was so condensed as to form a column of spray.It made five or six respirations, then swam away and was soon lost tosight.
Then the company returned to the cabin as the more comfortable place,the evening air being decidedly cool. Ned seated himself close to hisfather, and, in coaxing tones, asked for something more about whales.
"Are there many kinds, papa?" he queried.
"Yes, my son, a good many; more than you could remember. Would you likeme to tell you about some of the more interesting ones?"
"Oh, yes, indeed, papa!" was the emphatic and pleased response, andthe Captain began at once.
"There are the whalebone or true whales, which constitute a singlefamily. They have no teeth, but, instead, horny plates of baleen orwhalebone, which strain from the water the small animals upon which thewhale feeds."
"Oh, yes, I know about whalebones," said Ned. "Mamma and sisters haveit in their dresses. And it comes out of the whale's mouth, does it,papa?"
"Yes; it is composed of many flattened, horny plates placed crosswiseon either side of the palate, and separated from one another by an openspace in the middle line. They are smooth on the outer side, but theinner edge of each plate is frayed out into a kind of fringe, giving ahairy appearance to the whole of the inside of the mouth when viewedfrom below."
"Whalebone or baleen is black, isn't it, papa?" asked Ned.
"Not always; the color may vary from black to creamy white; andsometimes it is striped dark and light."
"Is there much of it in one whale, papa?"
"Yes, a great deal on each side of the jaw; there are more than threehundred of the plates, which, in a fine specimen, are about ten ortwelve feet long and eleven inches wide at their base; and so much as aton's weight has been taken from a large whale."
"And is the baleen all they kill the whales for, papa?"
"Oh, no, my son! the oil is very valuable, and there is a great dealof it in a large whale. One has been told of which yielded eighty-fivebarrels of oil."
"Oh, my! that's a great deal," cried Ned. "What a big fellow he musthave been to hold so much as that."
"The whale is very valuable to the people of the polar regions,"continued the Captain. "They eat the flesh, and drink the oil."
"Oh, papa! drink oil!" cried little Elsie, with a shudder of disgust.
"It seems very disgusting to us," he said, with a smile, "but in thatvery cold climate it is an absolute necessity--needful, in order tokeep up the heat of the body by a bountiful supply of carbon."
"Whales are so big and strong it must be very dangerous to go nearthem, I suppose," said Elsie, with an inquiring look at her father.
"That is the case with some of the species," he said, "but not withall. The Greenland whale, for instance, is inoffensive and timorous,and will always flee from the presence of man, unless roused by thepain of a wound or the sight of its offspring in danger. In that case,it will sometimes turn fiercely upon the boat in which the harpoonersare who launched the weapon, and, with its enormous tail, strike it ablow that will shatter it and drive men, ropes and oars high into theair. That Greenland whale shows great affection for both its mate andits young. When this whale is undisturbed, it usually remains at thesurface of the water for ten minutes and spouts eight or nine times;then it goes down for from five to twenty minutes, then comes back tothe surface to breathe again. But when harpooned, it
dives to a greatdepth and does not come up again for half an hour. By noticing thedirection of the line attached to the harpoon, the whalers judge of thespot in which it will rise and generally contrive to be so near it whenit shows itself again, that they can insert another harpoon, or strikeit with a lance before it can go down again."
"Poor thing!" sighed little Elsie, "I don't know how men can have theheart to be so cruel to animals that are not dangerous."
"It is because the oil, whalebone and so forth, are so valuable," saidher father. "It sometimes happens that a stray whale blunders into theshallow waters of the Bermudas, and not being able to find the passagethrough which it entered, cannot get out again; so is caught like amouse in a trap. It is soon discovered by the people, and there is agreat excitement; full of delight, they quickly launch their boatsfilled with men armed with guns, lances and other weapons which wouldbe of little use in the open sea, but answer their purpose in theseshoal waters.
"As soon as the whale feels the sharp lance in its body it dives as itwould in the open sea; but the water is so shallow that it strikes itshead against the rocky bed of the sea with such force that it rises tothe surface again half stunned.
"The hunters then take advantage of its bewildered condition to comeclose and use their deadly weapons till they have killed it. The fatand ivory are divided among the hunters who took part in the killing,but the flesh is given to any one who asks for it."
"Is it really good to eat, papa?" asked Ned.
"Those who are judges of whale flesh say there are three qualities ofmeat in every whale, the best resembling mutton, the second similar topork, and the third resembling beef."
"The whales are so big and strong; don't they ever fight back when mentry to kill them, papa?" asked Elsie.
"Yes," he replied, "sometimes a large whale will become belligerent,and is then a fearful antagonist, using its immense tail and huge jawswith fearful effect. I have heard of one driving its lower jaw entirelythrough the plankings of a stout whaling boat, and of another thatdestroyed nine boats in succession. Not only boats, but even shipshave been sunk by the attack of an infuriated old bull cachalot. Andan American ship, the 'Essex' was destroyed by the vengeful fury of acachalot, which accidentally struck itself against the keel. Probablyit thought the ship was a rival whale; it retired to a short distance,then charged full at the vessel, striking it one side of the bows,and crushing beams and planks like straws. There were only a few menon board at the time, most of the crew being in the boats engaged inchasing whales; and when they returned to their ship they found herfast sinking, so that they had barely time to secure a scanty stock ofprovisions and water. Using these provisions as economically as theycould, they made for the coast of Peru, but only three lived to reachthere, and they were found lying senseless in their boat, which wasdrifting at large in the ocean."
"I wonder any one is willing to go whaling when they may meet with suchdreadful accidents," said Evelyn.
"I suppose it must be very profitable to tempt them to take suchrisks," remarked Chester.
"It is quite profitable," said the Captain; "a single whale oftenyields whalebone and blubber to the value of thirty-five hundred orfour thousand dollars."
"I should think that might pay very well, particularly if they took anumber."
"Our whale fishing is done mostly by the New Englanders, isn't it,papa?" asked Grace.
"Yes," he said, "they went into it largely at a very early date; atfirst on their own coasts, but they were deserted by the whales beforethe middle of the eighteenth century; then ships were fitted out forthe northern seas. But for a number of years the American whale-fisheryhas been declining, because of the scarcity of whales and thesubstitutes for whale oil and whalebone that have been found. However,New Bedford, Massachusetts, is the greatest whaling port in the world.
"Now it is nearing your bedtime, my boy, and I think you have hadenough about the whale and his habits for one lesson."
"Yes, papa; and I thank you very much for telling it all to me,"replied Ned, with a loving, grateful look up into his father's face.
Elsie's Winter Trip Page 6
