When feeding the whale swims with open mouth under the water, and all
the objects which lie in the way of that great moving cavern are caught
by the baleen, and never seen again. Along with their food they swallow
a vast quantity of water, which passes back again through the nostrils,
and is collected into a bag placed at the external orifice of the cavity
of the nose, whence it is expelled by the pressure of powerful muscles
through a very narrow opening pierced in the top of the head.
[Illustration: THE CACHALOT]
In this way it spouts the water in beautiful jets from twenty to thirty
feet in height. The voice of the whale is like a low murmuring: it has a
smooth skin all over its body, under which lies that thick lard which
yields the oil for which they are so much sought. The Greenland whale
has but two side-fins; its tail is in the shape of a crescent; it is an
instrument of immense power; it has been sometimes known with one stroke
to hurl large boats high into the air, breaking them into a thousand
fragments. The whale shows great affection for her young, which is
called the calf; the fishermen well know this, and turn it to their own
account; they try to strike the young with the harpoon, which is a
strong, barbed instrument, and if they do this they are almost sure of
securing the mother also, as nothing will induce her to leave it.
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