count of the spermaceti whale, (the _Physeter
macrocephalus_), to capture which was the object of our voyage. It is
found through every part of the South Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and
frequently makes its way to far northern latitudes. Still the southern
seas must be considered its chief abode. In appearance and habits it is
very different from the black whale. It is nearly as long as the
razor-back, and exceeds it in bulk. In length it may be said to be from
80 to 85 feet, and from 30 to 35 in circumference. Looking at a sperm
whale, the stem on its nose or snout appears very thick, and perfectly
blunt, like a huge mallet about to strike. The head is a third part of
the length of the body. At its junction with the body a hump rises,
which we whalers call the _bunch of the neck_. Behind this is the
thickest part of the body, which tapers off till there is another rise
which we call the hump, in the shape of a pyramid--then commences the
_small_, as we call it, or tail, with a ridge partly down it. The
"small" gradually tapers till it contracts very much; and at the end the
flukes, or what landsmen would call the tail, is joined on. In the
immense head is contained the case, which is a cavity of almost
triangular shape, and of great size, containing, when the whale is
alive, that oily substance or fluid called spermaceti. I have
frequently seen a ton taken from the case of one whale, which is fully
ten large barrels. The use to the whale of the spermaceti in its head
is, that, being much lighter than water, it can rise with great facility
to the surface, and elevate its blow-hole above it. Its mouth is of
great size, extending all the length of its head, or, as I have said, a
third of its whole length. Its jaws narrow forward to almost a point--
indeed, the lower one does so; and thus, as it swims along, like the
stem of a ship, it serves to divide the water wedge, parting to make way
for its huge body--the blunt snout being all the time like the lofty
forecastle of an old-fashioned ship, clear of the waves high up above
it. The inside of the monstrous cavity, the mouth, has nothing like the
baleen or whale-bone, such as is found in the Greenland whale; but in
the lower jaw it has a formidable row of large teeth of conical shape,
forty-two in number. It has, however, none in the upper jaw; but
instead, there are holes into which fit the points of those in the
lower. These teeth are blunt, and are not u