Page:Natural History (1848).djvu/118

108 at which it is prosecuted, the protraction of exile which each voyage involves, the romantic character of its incidents, and its hazardous nature, is perhaps unrivalled among pacific occupations.

Mr. Beale, in his very interesting volume on the Sperm-whale, describes a male of the largest size as about eighty-four feet in length, and twelve or fourteen in diameter, at its thickest part. The

SPERM-WHALE.

fins are small, being no more than six feet long by three broad. They appear to be used rather in balancing the body, and supporting the young, than in giving progress in motion, which is the proper office of the tail. The skin is smooth, of a very dark grey hue, nearly black on the upper