The Whale, and the Perils of the Whale-Fishery

4 HE WHALE. X because it yields less oil, and that of X BE an inferior quality. The Common X X Whale is not often more than sixty X X feet long, but it yields double the quan- X X tity of oil that the Razor-Back does, x X and is therefore more sought after by x 1°^ whalemen. ' x Whales are found in great numbers x in the polar seas, where they are seen X sporting around the icebergs, or moun- X tains of ice, with which those seas abound. These mountains of ice form x X on the coast, and being at length bro- X $ ken off, float away into the ocean, in X IX huge masses three or four thousand X feet in height. X Dangerous as the whale-fishery is x known to be, yet great numbers ofx ships are sent out every year on this X business; and, indeed, if they were x not, where should we procure oil for X our lamps, and whale-bone for umbrel- x X las, and for many other purposes ? x X The mouth of the Whale is very x X large ; the throat small; and the eyes, x

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