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spot by the attraction of an abundance of palatable food, or a choice situation of the ice. They occur most abundantly in the frozen seas of Greenland, and Davis's straits, in Baffin's and Hudson's bays, in the sea to the northward of Beering's straits, and along some parts of the northern shores of Asia, and probably of America. They are never met with in the German ocean, and rarely within two hundred leagues of the British coast; but along the coasts of Africa and South America, they are found, periodically, in considerable numbers, and are captured by the southern British and American whalers. It is not, however, certainly ascertained, whether this species is identical with the northern, though it evidently approaches it very closely.-The instruments of general use, in the capture of the whale, are the harpoon and lance. The harpoon is an instrument of iron, about three feet in length, terminating in an arrow-shaped head, the two branches of which have internally a smaller reversed barb, resembling the beard of a fish-hook. When this instrument is forced, by a blow, into the fat of a whale, and the line is held tight, the principal barbs seize the strong ligamentous fibres of the blubber, and prevent it from being withdrawn. The lance is a spear of iron, six feet in length, terminating in a head of steel, made very thin and exceedingly sharp, seven or eight inches in length and two or two and a half in breadth. These two instruments, together with lines, boats and oars, form all the necessary apparatus for capturing the whale. Considerable address is requisite to approach sufficiently near to the animal during its short stay at the surface; but when this has been accomplished, the hardy fisher rows directly upon it, and, an instant before the boat touches, buries the harpoon in its back. But if, while the boat is at a little distance, the whale should indicate his intention of diving, the harpoon is thrown from the hand; and when this is done skilfully, it is efficient at the distance of eight or ten yards. The wounded whale makes a convulsive effort to escape. Then is the moment of danger; and both boat and men are exposed to destruction from the violent blows of its ponderous tail. The animal immediately sinks under water: after this it usually pursues its course directly downwards towards the bottom of the

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fatal consequences having been sometimes produced by the most trifling neglect. When the line happens to run foul, and cannot be cleared on the instant, it sometimes draws the boat under water. The average stay under water of a wounded whale, which steadily descends after being struck, is about thirty minutes. The greater the velocity, the more considerable the distance to which it descends, and the longer the time it remains under water, so much greater in proportion is its exhaustion and the facility of accomplishing its capture. Whenever it re-appears, the assisting boats make for the place with their utmost speed; and, as they reach it, each harpooner plunges his harpoon into its back, to the number of three, four, or more, according to the size of the whale and the nature of the situation. Most frequently, however, the whale descends, for a few minutes, after receiving the second harpoon, and obliges the other boats to await its return to the surface, before any further attack can be made. It is afterwards actively plied with lances, which are thrust into its body, aiming at the vitals. At length, exhausted by numerous wounds and the loss of blood, the huge animal indicates the approach of death by discharging from the blow-holes a mixture of blood along with the air and mucus which it usually expires, and, finally, jets of blood alone. The sea, to a great extent round, is dyed with its blood; and the ice, boats and men are sometimes drenched with it. Its final capture is sometimes preceded by a convulsive struggle, in which the tail, reared, whirled, and violently jerked in the air, resounds to the distance of miles. In dying, it turns upon its back or its side. Thus ends this remarkable contest between hu- man ingenuity and brute force, in which man seems to be chiefly indebted for success to his own apparent insignificance, to the animal exhausting itself by its own efforts, and to the necessity it is under of coming to the surface to breathe. The remarkable exhaustion observed in a wounded whale, on its reappearance at the surface, is the effect of the almost incredible pressure to which the animal must have been exposed at the depth of seven or eight hundred fath ms-a pressure on the surface of its body exceeding 200,000 tons, and which is sufficient to force the water through the pores of the hardest wood.-For a full account of the whale, as well as of the various modes of fishing in pack, field, or bay ice, &c.,

and of the subsequent operations upon the dead body, we must refer to the work of Scoresby, where the reader will find the most certain information on this subject, so far, at least, as the business is carried on in the Polar seas.-The various uses to which the different parts of the whale are applied, are too numerous for insertion here: suffice it to say, the whale fishery forms an important branch of commerce, and, indeed, seems almost indispensable to the existence of some northern tribes.-The razor-back (B. physalus) is probably the most powerful and bulky of its tribe, and, consequently, of the whole animal creation. It is readily distinguished from the preceding by the presence of a dorsal fin; its form is less cylindrical, the body proportionably longer, the whalebone shorter, its breathing or blowing more violent, and its speed greater. The length is about one hundred feet, and its greatest circumference thirty or thirtyfive. Its blowing, in calm weather, may be heard at the distance of a mile. Its greatest speed is about twelve miles an hour. It is by no means a timid animal; and, when closely pursued, does not attempt to outstrip the boat, but merely endeavors to avoid it by diving or changing its direction. If harpooned, or otherwise wounded, it then exerts all its energies, and escapes with its utmost velocity, but shows little disposition to retaliate on its enemies. It seldom lies quietly on the surface of the water while blowing, but usually has a velocity of four or five miles an hour, and, when it descends, very rarely throws its tail into the air, which is a very general practice with the common whale. Its great speed and activity render it a difficult and dangerous object of attack, while the small quantity of inferior oil it affords makes it unworthy the general attention of the fishers. When struck, it frequently drags the fast-boat with such speed through the water, that it is liable to be carried immediately beyond the reach of assistance, and soon out of sight of both boats and ship. It has been known to dive obliquely with such velocity that 480 fathoms, or more than half a mile, of line were withdrawn from the boat in about a minute of time. The head is small, compared with that of the common whale; the fins long and narrow; the tail about twelve feet broad; the whalebone about four feet in length, thick, bristly and narrow; the blubber six or eight inches thick, of indifferent quality; the color, bluish-black on the hack, and bluish-gray on the belly; the

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skin smooth, excepting on the sides of the thorax, where are some remarkable longitudinal folds. The physalus occurs, in great numbers, in the Arctic seas, especially along the edge of the ice between Cherie island and Nova Zembla, and also near Jan Mayen. It is seldom seen among much ice, and seems to be avoided by the common whale; and, consequently, the whale fishers view its appearance with concern.-The cachalot or spermaceti whale (physeter macrocephalus) differs from the above-mentioned animals in many important particulars. The mouth is entirely destitute of whalebone, and the lower jaw is armed; on each side, with a row of about twenty thick, conical teeth, which fit into corresponding depressions in the upper jaw. The blowhole is single, not symmetrical, but directed towards the left side, and placed at the extremity of the upper part of the snout. The left eye is also smaller than the other. The head is of enormous size, terminating abruptly in front; but the lower jaw is very long and narrow. The upper part of the head is composed of large cavities, separated by cartilaginous partitions, filled with an oil which condenses and crystallizes on cooling, forming the well-known substance called spermaceti. This is the principal object of the fishery; for their body does not yield a great proportion of blubber. The spermaceti whale is found in all seas, but most abundantly in the Pacific. It is gregarious; and herds are frequently seen containing two hundred or more individuals. Such herds, with the exception of two or three old males, are composed of females, who appear to be under the direction of the males. The males are distinguished, by the whalers, as "bulls," and the females they call "cows." The bulls attack with great violence, and inflict dreadful injuries upon other males of the species which attempt to join the herd. Whenever a number of them are seen, four boats, each provided with two or three lines, two harpoons, four lances, and a crew of six men, proceed in pursuit, and, if possible, each boat fastens to a distinct animal, and each crew kill their own. When one is struck out of a herd, it commonly takes the lead, and is followed by the rest. It seldom descends far under water, but generally swims off with great rapidity, stopping after a short course, so that the boat can be drawn up to it by the line, or be rowed sufficiently near to lance it. In the agonies of death, the struggles of the animal are tremendous: the

surface of the ocean is lashed into foam by the motions of its tail; and the boats are kept aloof, lest they should be dashed to pieces. When a herd is attacked in this way, ten or twelve of the number are often killed: those which have been only wounded are rarely captured. The separation of the blubber, or "flensing," is sometimes done differently from the manner used in polar whaling. A strap of blubber is cut in a spiral direction, and, being raised by tackles, turns the animal round, as on an axis, until nearly all the blubber is stripped off.

WHALE FISHERY. The Biscayans were the first people who prosecuted the whale fishery as a regular commercial pursuit. They carried it on with great vigor in the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The whales taken by them were not, however, so large as those taken in the polar seas, and were not very productive of oil; but their flesh was used for food, and the whalebone, which was sold at a very high price, was applied to various useful purposes. The failure of whales in the bay of Biscay put an end to this fishery. The voyages of the English and Dutch to the Northern ocean, in search of a passage to India, laid open the haunts of the whale; and vessels were fitted out by those nations, the harpooners and part of the crew being Biscayans. The numbers of whales were here so great, and the capture so easy, that many were killed and abandoned merely from the ships being full. It was the practice of these times to boil the blubber on shore in the north, and to fetch home only the oil and whalebone; and the Dutch constructed a considerable village on the northern shore of Spitzbergen, which they called Smeerenberg (from smeeren, to melt, and berg), and which, during the busy season, abounded with shops, iuns, &c. The Dutch acquired a decided superiority over their competitors in the fishery; and such was the quantity of oil procured, that ships were sent out in ballast to assist in bringing home the produce. Whales soon became scarce about Spitzbergen, taking to the deep ocean, and to the Greenland seas; and it became usual to send the blubber direct to Holland. The fishery had at first (1614) been granted to an exclusive company, but was thrown open in 1642; from which time it was carried on to the greatest extent, and to the most advantage. The private ships sent out by the Dutch were fitted out on a principle that secured economy and vigilance

on all sides. The hull of the vessel was furnished by an individual, who commonly took upon himself the command; a sail-maker supplied the sails, a cooper the casks, &c. The parties engaged as adventurers: each person shared in the produce according to his proportion of the outfit, and the crew was hired on the same principle, which is also practised to a considerable extent in the U. States. In its most flourishing state (about 1680), the Dutch whale fishery employed about 260 ships and 14,000 sailors. The wars of the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries annihilated this branch of Dutch industry, and, in 1828, only one ship sailed from Holland. The English whale fishery was at first carried on by exclusive companies, but with little success. In 1732, a bounty of twenty shillings a ton to every ship of more than two hundred tons' burthen engaged in the fishery, was granted by parliament, which, in 1749, was raised to forty shillings, and continued, with some variations (being finally reduced, in 1795, to twenty shillings), till 1824, when it ceased. The total amount of bounties paid from 1750 to 1824 has been estimated at about £2,500,000; but the success of British whalers, even with this advantage, is to be attributed principally to the decline of the Dutch fishery. In 1815, there were 134 British ships, with 5800 seamen, engaged in the northern whale fishery, and about thirty ships, with 800 men, in the southern. In 1821, when the number was greatest, there were 142 ships, of 44,864 tons, and with 6074 men engaged in the northern fishery; in 1824, 120 ships, of 35,194 tons, and 4867 men; immediately after the repeal of the bounty, the number fell off at once, and, in 1829, it amounted only to eighty-nine, of 28,812 tons. In 1830, of eighty-seven ships fitted out for Davis's straits, about eighteen or twenty-two per cent. were totally lost; twenty-four returned clean, or without having caught a single fish, and of the remainder not one had a full cargo. The locality of the northern fishery has entirely changed since the first expeditions. The seas between Spitzbergen and Greenland have been entirely abandoned by the whalers, who now resort to Baffin's bay and Davis's strait, or the coast of West Greenland. The Dutch first began to frequent Davis's straits in 1719; but it was quite recently that the English first followed their example. Even so late as 1820, the fishery in the Greenland seas was the most considerable; but within a few years

it has been almost entirely deserted. Of ninety-one ships, fitted out in 1830, only four were for Greenland. The discoveries made in the northern waters, by the English exploring voyages (see North Polar Expeditions), have made the fishers acquainted with several new and advantageous situations for the prosecution of their business. The sea in Davis's straits is less incommoded with field ice than the Greenland and Spitzbergen seas; but it abounds with icebergs (see Ice), and the fishery is more dangerous. The South sea fishery was not prosecuted by the English till about the beginning of our revolutionary war; and, as the Americans had already prosecuted it with much success, four American harpooners were sent out in each vessel. In 1829, thirty-one ships were sent out, of the burthen of 10,997 tons, and carrying 937 men, the number having declined since 1818, when fifty-eight ships, of 18,214 tons, and carrying 1643 men, were engaged in it. France has, of late years, had little share in the whale fishery. In 1784, Louis XVI fitted out six ships, on his own account, which were furnished with harpooners and a number of seamen from Nantucket. In 1790, there were about forty French ships employed in the fishery, which was destroyed by the wars of the French revolution. Since the peace, the government has attempted to revive it, but with little success. The whale fishery has been carried on with greater vigor and success from the U. States than from any other country. It was begun by the colonists on their own shores at a very early period; but, the whale having abandoned them, the American navigators entered with extraordinary ardor into the fisheries in the Northern and Southern oceans, from about the middle of the eighteenth century. From 1771 to 1775, Massachusetts employed annually 183 vessels, of 13,820 tons, in the northern, and 121 vessels, of 14,026 tons, in the southern fishery. These were the first to prosecute the fishery in the southern Atlantic, on the coasts of Africa and Brazil, and led the way into the Pacific seas. "Look at the manner," says Burke (1774)," in which the New England people carry on the whale fishery. While we follow them among the tumbling mountains of ice, and behold them penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's bay and Davis's straits; while we are looking for them beneath the arctic circle, we hear that they have pierced into the opposite region of polar cold; that they are at the antipodes, and engaged

under the frozen Serpent of the south. Falkland island, which seemed too remote and too romantic an object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and resting-place for their victorious industry. Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to them than the accumulated winter of both the poles. We learn that, while some of them draw the line or strike the harpoon on the coast of Africa, others run the longitude, and pursue their gigantic game along the coast of Brazil." These are the seas that are still vexed by the American fisheries, which have been pushed, however, into higher southern latitudes than had ever before been visited, and are carried on from the shores of Japan to the icy rocks of New South Shetland. (See South Polar Islands.)* They have been principally carried on from Nantucket and New Bedford (see the articles), and have proved very lucrative. At present, they are also prosecuted with great success from several other places. One class of ships is fitted out for the Pacific in pursuit of the spermaceti whale. These are from 300 to 500 tons' burthen, carrying from twenty-five to thirty men, and are absent about thirty to thirtysix months. Their number is about 170, of about 62,000 tons, and carrying nearly 5000 men. Another class sail to the coasts of Africa and Brazil, in search of the common or right whale. They average about 325 tons each, carry about twenty-five men, and are absent eight to twelve months. The whole amount of tonnage of this class is about 40,000; number of seamen engaged, 3000. quantity of sperm oil brought home in 1815, was 3944 barrels; in 1820, 34,700; in 1825, 62,240, and, in 1830, 106,800. The quantity of whale or black oil brought in in 1830, was about 115,000 barrels; of whalebone, about 120,000 pounds. The sperm oil is chiefly used at home; and 2,500,000 pounds of sperm candles are made, employing about thirty manufactories. The whale oil and whalebone are chiefly exported to Europe. From the report of the secretary of the treasury, May 4, 1832, it appears that for the year ending Sept. 30, 1831, there were exported whale and other fish oil to the value of $554,440; spermaceti oil to the value of $53,526; whalebone to the value of

The

* The seas visited by the Americans are, in many parts, little known; the currents are uncertain, and the seamen have had to construct their own maps and charts. Yet shipwrecks have been rare. Two men are always kept at the mast-head on the lookout for land or breakers.

$133,842, and spermaceti candles to the value of $217,830.-See an article in the Foreign Quarterly Review (No. 14), by J. R. McCulloch, and Scoresby's Voyage to the Northern Whole Fishery (Edinburgh, 1823), and his Arctic Regions.

WHALEBONE; a substance of the nature of horn, adhering, in thin parallel plates, to the upper jaw of the whale. These laminæ vary, in size, from three to twelve feet in length: the breadth of the largest, at the thick end, where they are attached to the jaw, is about a foot. They are extremely elastic. All above six feet in length is called size bone. (See Whale.) WHARTON, Thomas, marquis of, an English statesman, was one of the first persons of distinction who joined William III on his arrival in England, and by that prince was made a privy counsellor and justice in Eyre, south of the Trent. Queen Anne created him earl of Wharton; and, in 1709, he was sent as viceroy to Ireland; but the following year he resigned all his employments. Being a zealous whig and firm supporter of the Hanoverian succession, he was favored by George I, who raised him to the rank of marquis. He died in 1715.

WHARTON, Philip, duke of, son of the preceding, was born in 1699. He displayed, when quite young, talents which attracted notice; and, having been educated under domestic tutors, at the age of fourteen he married clandestinely, to the great disappointment of his father, whose death shortly after left him at liberty to follow his own inclinations. In 1716, he set out on his travels, for the purpose of finishing his studies at Geneva. But, disgusted with the sober manners of that place, he left his governor there, and went to Lyons, and afterwards to the court of the Pretender at Avignon. That prince, highly gratified by his attentions, gave him the title of duke of Northumberland. About the end of 1716, he returned to England, and thence proceeding to Ireland, where he possessed a peerage, he was allowed to take his seat in the Irish house of peers. He then displayed the versatility of his character by defending, with all the powers of reasoning and eloquence, the established government; in consequence of which he obtained a dukedom. On attaining the age of majority, he made his appearance in the English parliament, where he pursued a line of political conduct diametrically opposite to that which he had lately exhibited; distinguishing himself as the warm defender of bishop Atterbury, impeached as an adherent to the house of Stuart.

He also published a virulent opposition paper, called the True Briton. Having impoverished himself by extravagance, his estates were, by a decree in chancery, vested in the hands of trustees; and he retired to the continent, and visited Vienna and Madrid. After practising new intrigues, deceiving, by the levity of his conduct, the Spanish court, and the chevalier de St. George, and rendering himself contemptible alike to all parties, he deprived himself of all his resources, by rejecting an offer of restoration to his title and estate, made him by sir Robert Walpole. Overwhelmed with debts, he went to Paris, where he lived for some time meanly and disreputably. At length he returned to Spain, and, ruined in health as well as in fortune, he was proceeding towards a mineral spring in Catalonia, when he died at a small village, in 1731. Towards the close of his life, he engaged in writing a tragedy on the story of Mary, queen of Scots. His poems, speeches, and letters, with his life prefixed, were published in 1731, in two volumes, octavo.

WHEAT (triticum sativum). Among the different kinds of grain which form the principal nutriment of the civilized world, and to the culture of which civilization is even attributed, by ancient and modern writers, the first rank is universally conceded to wheat. It is now cultivated in almost all temperate climates, throughout the greater part of Europe, in all the provinces of China, in Natolia, Syria, Persia, and the other temperate parts of Asia, in the north of Africa, and at the cape of Good Hope, in the U. States, and even in the extreme southern parts of South America. The plant belongs to the family of the grasses, like the other cerealia. The spikelets of the flowers are sessile, and disposed on two opposite sides of an axis, the whole forming a terminal spike or ear, which, in one variety, is even branched. The culture of wheat, from time immemorial, and in different soils and climates, has produced numerous varieties, which, in some instances, have even been mistaken for distinct species. Winter wheat, sown in the spring, will ripen the following summer, though the produce of succeeding generations of spring-sown wheat is found to ripen better. White, red, awned and beardless wheat change and run into each other in different soils and climates; and even the Egyptian wheat is known to change into the single-spiked common plant. The most permanent varieties are the red and white grained, and the spring wheat,

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