ties exhibited by us could make up for
the lack of "fish" which was lamentably evident. It was not easy to
understand why, because these islands were noted as a breeding-place for
the humpbacked whale. Yet for years they had not been fished, so that a
plausible explanation of the paucity of their numbers as a consequence
of much harassing could not be reasonably offered. Still, after
centuries of whale-fishing, little is known of the real habits of
whales, Where there is abundance of "feed," in the case of MYSTICETA it
may be reasonably inferred that whales may be found in proportionately
greater numbers. With regard to the wider-spread classes of the
great marine mammalia, beyond the fact, ascertained from continued
observation, that certain parts of the ocean are more favoured by them
than others, there is absolutely no data to go upon as to why at times
they seem to desert their usual haunts and scatter themselves far and
wide.

The case of the cachalot is still more difficult. All the BALAENAE seem
to be compelled, by laws which we can only guess at, to frequent the
vicinity of land possessing shallows at their breeding times, so that
they may with more or less certainty be looked for in such places at
the seasons which have been accurately fixed. They may be driven to seek
other haunts, as was undoubtedly the case at Vau Vau in a great measure,
by some causes unknown, but to land they must come at those times. The
sperm whale, however, needs no shelter at such periods, or, at any rate,
does not avail herself of any. They may often be seen in the vicinity of
land where the water is deep close to, but seldom with calves. Schools
of cows with recently born young gambolling about them are met with
at immense distances from land, showing no disposition to seek shelter
either. For my part, I firmly believe that the cachalot is so terrible a
foe, that the great sharks who hover round a gravid cow of the BALAENAE,
driving her in terror to some shallow spot where she may hope to protect
her young, never dare to approach a sperm cow on kidnapping errands, or
any other if they can help it, until their unerring guides inform them
that life is extinct. When a sperm whale is in health, nothing that
inhabits the sea has any chance with him; neither does he scruple to
carry the war into the enemy's country, since all is fish that comes
to his net, and a shark fifteen feet in length has been found in the
stomach of a cachalot.

T