Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored harborless immensities. Ere that come to pass; ere the Pequod's weedy hull1 rolls side by side with the barnacled hulls2 of the leviathan; at the outset it is but well to attend to a matter almost indispensable to a thorough appreciative4 understanding of the more special leviathanic revelations and allusions7 of all sorts which are to follow.
It is some systematized exhibition of the whale in his broad genera, that I would now fain put before you. Yet is it no easy task. The classification of the constituents8 of a chaos9, nothing less is here essayed. Listen to what the best and latest authorities have laid down.
"No branch of Zoology10 is so much involved as that which is entitled Cetology," says Captain Scoresby, A.D. 1820.
"It is not my intention, were it in my power, to enter into the inquiry11 as to the true method of dividing the cetacea into groups and families.... Utter confusion exists among the historians of this animal" (sperm12 whale), says Surgeon Beale, A.D. 1839.
"Unfitness to pursue our research in the unfathomable waters." "Impenetrable veil covering our knowledge of the cetacea." "A field strewn with thorns." "All these incomplete indications but serve to torture us naturalists13."
Thus speak of the whale, the great Cuvier, and John Hunter, and Lesson, those lights of zoology and anatomy14. Nevertheless, though of real knowledge there be little, yet of books there are a plenty; and so in some small degree, with cetology, or the science of whales. Many are the men, small and great, old and new, landsmen and seamen15, who have at large or in little, written of the whale. Run over a few:-- The Authors of the Bible; Aristotle; Pliny; Aldrovandi; Sir Thomas Browne; Gesner; Ray; Linnaeus; Rondeletius; Willoughby; Green; Artedi; Sibbald; Brisson; Marten; Lacepede; Bonneterre; Desmarest; Baron16 Cuvier; Frederick Cuvier; John Hunter; Owen; Scoresby; Beale; Bennett; J. Ross Browne; the Author of Miriam Coffin17; Olmstead; and the Rev6. T. Cheever. But to what ultimate generalizing purpose all these have written, the above cited extracts will show.
Of the names in this list of whale authors only those following Owen ever saw living whales; and but one of them was a real professional harpooneer and whaleman. I mean Captain Scoresby. On the separate subject of the Greenland or right-whale, he is the best existing authority. But Scoresby knew nothing and says nothing of the great sperm whale, compared with which the Greenland whale is almost unworthy mentioning. And here be it said, that the Greenland whale is an usurper19 upon the throne of the seas. He is not even by any means the largest of the whales. Yet, owing to the long priority of his claims, and the profound ignorance which till some seventy years back, invested the then fabulous20 and utterly21 unknown sperm-whale, and which ignorance to this present day still reigns22 in all but some few scientific retreats and whale-ports; this usurpation23 has been every way complete. Reference to nearly all the leviathanic allusions in the great poets of past days, will satisfy you that the Greenland whale, without one rival, was to them the monarch24 of the seas. But the time has at last come for a new proclamation. This is Charing25 Cross; hear ye! good people all,--the Greenland whale is deposed,-- the great sperm whale now reigneth!
There are only two books in being which at all pretend to put the living sperm whale before you, and at the same time, in the remotest degree succeed in the attempt. Those books are Beale's and Bennett's; both in their time surgeons to the English South-Sea whale-ships, and both exact and reliable men. The original matter touching26 the sperm whale to be found in their volumes is necessarily small; but so far as it goes, it is of excellent quality, though mostly confined to scientific description. As yet, however, the sperm whale, scientific or poetic27, lives not complete in any literature. Far above all other hunted whales, his is an unwritten life.
Now the various species of whales need some sort of popular comprehensive classification, if only an easy outline one for the present, hereafter to be filled in all-outward its departments by subsequent laborers28. As no better man advances to take this matter in hand, I hereupon offer my own poor endeavors. I promise nothing complete; because any human thing supposed to be complete must for that very reason infallibly be faulty. I shall not pretend to a minute anatomical description of the various species, or--in this space at least-- to much of any description. My object here is simply to project the draught29 of a systematization of cetology. I am the architect, not the builder.
But it is a ponderous30 task; no ordinary letter-sorter in the Post-Office is equal to it. To grope down into the bottom of the sea after them; to have one's hands among the unspeakable foundations, ribs31, and very pelvis of the world; this is a fearful thing. What am I that I should essay to hook the nose of this leviathan! The awful tauntings in Job might well appal32 me. "Will he (the leviathan) make a covenant33 with thee? Behold34 the hope of him is vain! But I have swam through libraries and sailed through oceans; I have had to do with whales with these visible hands; I am in earnest; and I will try. There are some preliminaries to settle.
First: The uncertain, unsettled condition of this science of Cetology is in the very vestibule attested35 by the fact, that in some quarters it still remains36 a moot37 point whether a whale be a fish. In his System of Nature, A.D. 1776, Linnaeus declares, "I hereby separate the whales from the fish." But of my own knowledge, I know that down to the year 1850, sharks and shad, alewives and herring, against Linnaeus's express edict, were still found dividing the possession of the same seas with the Leviathan.
The grounds upon which Linnaeus would fain have banished38 the whales from the waters, he states as follows: "On account of their warm bilocular heart, their lungs, their movable eyelids39, their hollow ears, penem intrantem feminam mammis lactantem," and finally, "ex lege naturae jure meritoque." I submitted all this to my friends Simeon Macey and Charley Coffin, of Nantucket, both messmates of mine in a certain voyage, and they united in the opinion that the reasons set forth40 were altogether insufficient41. Charley profanely42 hinted they were humbug43.
Be it known that, waiving44 all argument, I take the good old fashioned ground that the whale is a fish, and call upon holy Jonah to back me. This fundamental thing settled, the next point is, in what internal respect does the whale differ from other fish. Above, Linnaeus has given you those items. But in brief they are these: lungs and warm blood; whereas, all other fish are lungless and cold blooded.
Next: how shall we define the whale, by his obvious externals, so as conspicuously45 to label him for all time to come. To be short, then, a whale is a spouting48 fish with a horizontal tail. There you have him. However contracted, that definition is the result of expanded meditation49. A walrus50 spouts51 much like a whale, but the walrus is not a fish, because he is amphibious. But the last term of the definition is still more cogent52, as coupled with the first. Almost any one must have noticed that all the fish familiar to landsmen have not a flat, but a vertical53, or up-and-down tail. Whereas, among spouting fish the tail, though it may be similarly shaped, invariably assumes a horizontal position.
By the above definition of what a whale is, I do by no means exclude from the leviathanic brotherhood54 any sea creature hitherto identified with the whale by the best informed Nantucketers; nor, on the other hand, link with it any fish hitherto authoritatively55 regarded as alien.* Hence, all the smaller, spouting and horizontal tailed fish must be included in this ground-plan of Cetology. Now, then, come the grand divisions of the entire whale host.
*I am aware that down to the present time, the fish styled Lamatins and Dugongs (Pig-fish and Sow-fish of the Coffins56 of Nantucket) are included by many naturalists among the whales. But as these pig-fish are a noisy, contemptible58 set, mostly lurking59 in the mouths of rivers, and feeding on wet hay, and especially as they do not spout47, I deny their credentials61 as whales; and have presented them with their passports to quit the Kingdom of Cetology.
First: According to magnitude I divide the whales into three primary BOOKS (subdivisible into CHAPTERS), and these shall comprehend them all, both small and large.
I. THE FOLIO WHALE; II. the OCTAVO WHALE; III. the DUODECIMO WHALE.
As the type of the FOLIO I present the Sperm Whale; of the OCTAVO, the Grampus; of the DUODECIMO, the Porpoise62.
FOLIOS. Among these I here include the following chapters:-- I. The Sperm Whale; II. the Right Whale; III. the Fin18 Back Whale; IV. the Humpbacked Whale; V. the Razor Back Whale; VI. the Sulphur Bottom Whale.
BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER I. (Sperm Whale).--This whale, among the English of old vaguely63 known as the Trumpa whale and the Physeter whale, and the Anvil64 Headed whale, is the present Cachalot of the French, and the Pottsfich of the Germans, and the Macrocephalus of the Long Words. He is, without doubt, the largest inhabitant of the globe; the most formidable of all whales to encounter; the most majestic65 in aspect; and lastly, by far the most valuable in commerce; he being the only creature from which that valuable substance, spermaceti, is obtained. All his peculiarities66 will, in many other places, be enlarged upon. It is chiefly with his name that I now have to do. Philologically68 considered, it is absurd. Some centuries ago, when the Sperm whale was almost wholly unknown in his own proper individuality, and when his oil was only accidentally obtained from the stranded69 fish; in those days spermaceti, it would seem, was popularly supposed to be derived70 from a creature identical with the one then known in England as the Greenland or Right Whale. It was the idea also, that this same spermaceti was that quickening humor of the Greenland Whale which the first syllable71 of the word literally72 expresses. In those times, also, spermaceti was exceedingly scarce, not being used for light, but only as an ointment73 and medicament. It was only to be had from the druggists as you nowadays buy an ounce of rhubarb. When, as I opine, in the course of time, the true nature of spermaceti became known, its original name was still retained by the dealers74; no doubt to enhance its value by a notion so strangely significant of its scarcity75. And so the appellation76 must at last have come to be bestowed77 upon the whale from which this spermaceti was really derived.
BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER II. (Right Whale).--In one respect this is the most venerable of the leviathans, being the one first regularly hunted by man. It yields the article commonly known as whalebone or baleen78; and the oil specially60 known as "whale oil," an inferior article in commerce. Among the fishermen, he is indiscriminately designated by all the following titles: The Whale; the Greenland Whale; the Black Whale; the Great Whale; the True Whale; the Right Whale. There is a deal of obscurity concerning the Identity of the species thus multitudinously baptized. What then is the whale, which I include in the second species of my Folios? It is the Great Mysticetus of the English naturalists; the Greenland Whale of the English Whalemen; the Baliene Ordinaire of the French whalemen; the Growlands Walfish of the Swedes. It is the whale which for more than two centuries past has been hunted by the Dutch and English in the Arctic seas; it is the whale which the American fishermen have long pursued in the Indian ocean, on the Brazil Banks, on the Nor' West Coast, and various other parts of the world, designated by them Right Whale Cruising Grounds.
Some pretend to see a difference between the Greenland whale of the English and the right whale of the Americans. But they precisely79 agree in all their grand features; nor has there yet been presented a single determinate fact upon which to ground a radical80 distinction. It is by endless subdivisions based upon the most inconclusive differences, that some departments of natural history become so repellingly intricate. The right whale will be elsewhere treated of at some length, with reference to elucidating81 the sperm whale.
BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER III. (Fin-Back).--Under this head I reckon a monster which, by the various names of Fin-Back, Tall-Spout, and Long-John, has been seen almost in every sea and is commonly the whale whose distant jet is so often descried82 by passengers crossing the Atlantic, in the New York packet-tracks. In the length he attains84, and in his baleen, the Fin-back resembles the right whale, but is of a less portly girth, and a lighter85 color, approaching to olive. His great lips present a cable-like aspect, formed by the intertwisting, slanting86 folds of large wrinkles. His grand distinguishing feature, the fin, from which he derives87 his name, is often a conspicuous46 object. This fin is some three or four feet long, growing vertically88 from the hinder part of the back, of an angular shape, and with a very sharp pointed89 end. Even if not the slightest other part of the creature be visible, this isolated90 fin will, at times, be seen plainly projecting from the surface. When the sea is moderately calm, and slightly marked with spherical91 ripples92, and this gnomon-like fin stands up and casts shadows upon the wrinkled surface, it may well be supposed that the watery93 circle surrounding it somewhat resembles a dial, with its style and wavy94 hour-lines graved on it. On that Ahaz-dial the shadow often goes back. The Fin-Back is not gregarious95. He seems a whale-hater, as some men are man-haters. Very shy; always going solitary96; unexpectedly rising to the surface in the remotest and most sullen97 waters; his straight and single lofty jet rising like a tall misanthropic98 spear upon a barren plain; gifted with such wondrous99 power and velocity100 in swimming, as to defy all present pursuit from man; this leviathan seems the banished and unconquerable Cain of his race, bearing for his mark that style upon his back. From having the baleen in his mouth, the Fin-Back is sometimes included with the right whale, among a theoretic species denominated Whalebone whales, that is, whales with baleen. Of these so-called Whalebone whales, there would seem to be several varieties, most of which, however, are little known. Broad-nosed whales and beaked101 whales; pike-headed whales; bunched whales; under-jawed whales and rostrated whales, are the fisherman's names for a few sorts.
In connexion with this appellative of "Whalebone whales," it is of great importance to mention, that however such a nomenclature may be convenient in facilitating allusions to some kind of whales, yet it is in vain to attempt a clear classification of the Leviathan, founded upon either his baleen, or hump, or fin, or teeth; notwithstanding that those marked parts or features very obviously seem better adapted to afford the basis for a regular system of Cetology than any other detached bodily distinctions, which the whale, in his kinds, presents. How then? The baleen, hump, back-fin, and teeth; these are things whose peculiarities are indiscriminately dispersed104 among all sorts of whales, without any regard to what may be the nature of their structure in other and more essential particulars. Thus, the sperm whale and the humpbacked whale, each has a hump; but there the similitude ceases. Then this same humpbacked whale and the Greenland whale, each of these has baleen; but there again the similitude ceases. And it is just the same with the other parts above mentioned. In various sorts of whales, they form such irregular combinations; or, in the case of any one of them detached, such an irregular isolation105; as utterly to defy all general methodization formed upon such a basis. On this rock every one of the whale-naturalists has split.
But it may possibly be conceived that, in the internal parts of the whale, in his anatomy--there, at least, we shall be able to hit the right classification. Nay106; what thing, for example, is there in the Greenland whale's anatomy more striking than his baleen? Yet we have seen that by his baleen it is impossible correctly to classify the Greenland whale. And if you descend107 into the bowels108 of the various leviathans, why there you will not find distinctions a fiftieth part as available to the systematizer as those external ones already enumerated109. What then remains? nothing but to take hold of the whales bodily, in their entire liberal volume, and boldly sort them that way. And this is the Bibliographical111 system here adopted; and it is the only one that can possibly succeed, for it alone is practicable. To proceed.
BOOK I. (Folio) CHAPTER IV. (Hump Back).--This whale is often seen on the northern American coast. He has been frequently captured there, and towed into harbor. He has a great pack on him like a peddler; or you might call him the Elephant and Castle whale. At any rate, the popular name for him does not sufficiently112 distinguish him, since the sperm whale also has a hump though a smaller one. His oil is not very valuable. He has baleen. He is the most gamesome and light-hearted of all the whales, making more gay foam113 and white water generally than any other of them.
BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER V. ( Razor Back).--Of this whale little is known but his name. I have seen him at a distance off Cape114 Horn. Of a retiring nature, he eludes115 both hunters and philosophers. Though no coward, he has never yet shown any part of him but his back, which rises in a long sharp ridge116. Let him go. I know little more of him, nor does anybody else.
BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER VI. (Sulphur Bottom).--Another retiring gentleman, with a brimstone belly117, doubtless got by scraping along the Tartarian tiles in some of his profounder divings. He is seldom seen; at least I have never seen him except in the remoter southern seas, and then always at too great a distance to study his countenance118. He is never chased; he would run away with rope-walks of line. Prodigies119 are told of him. Adieu, Sulphur Bottom! I can say nothing more that is true of ye, nor can the oldest Nantucketer.
Thus ends BOOK I. (Folio), and now begins BOOK II. (Octavo).
OCTAVOES.* These embrace the whales of middling magnitude, among which at present may be numbered:--I., the Grampus; II., the Black Fish; III., the Narwhale; IV., the Thrasher; V., the Killer120.
*Why this book of whales is not denominated the Quarto is very plain. Because, while the whales of this order, though smaller than those of the former order, nevertheless retain a proportionate likeness121 to them in figure, yet the bookbinder's Quarto volume in its dimensioned form does not preserve the shape of the Folio volume, but the Octavo volume does.
BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER I. (Grampus).--Though this fish, whose loud sonorous122 breathing, or rather blowing, has furnished a proverb to landsmen, is so well known a denizen123 of the deep, yet is he not popularly classed among whales. But possessing all the grand distinctive124 features of the leviathan, most naturalists have recognised him for one. He is of moderate octavo size, varying from fifteen to twenty-five feet in length, and of corresponding dimensions round the waist. He swims in herds125; he is never regularly hunted, though his oil is considerable in quantity, and pretty good for light. By some fishermen his approach is regarded as premonitory of the advance of the great sperm whale.
BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER II. (Black Fish).--I give the popular fishermen's names for all these fish, for generally they are the best. Where any name happens to be vague or inexpressive, I shall say so, and suggest another. I do so now touching the Black Fish, so called because blackness is the rule among almost all whales. So, call him the Hyena126 Whale, if you please. His voracity127 is well known and from the circumstance that the inner angles of his lips are curved upwards128, he carries an everlasting129 Mephistophelean grin on his face. This whale averages some sixteen or eighteen feet in length. He is found in almost all latitudes130. He has a peculiar67 way of showing his dorsal131 hooked fin in swimming, which looks something like a Roman nose. When not more profitably employed, the sperm whale hunters sometimes capture the Hyena whale, to keep up the supply of cheap oil for domestic employment-- as some frugal132 housekeepers133, in the absence of company, and quite alone by themselves, burn unsavory tallow instead of odorous wax. Though their blubber is very thin, some of these whales will yield you upwards of thirty gallons of oil.
BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER III. (Narwhale), that is, Nostril134 whale.-- Another instance of a curiously135 named whale, so named I suppose from his peculiar horn being originally mistaken for a peaked nose. The creature is some sixteen feet in length, while its horn averages five feet, though some exceed ten, and even attain83 to fifteen feet. Strictly136 speaking, this horn is but a lengthened137 tusk138, growing out from the jaw102 in a line a little depressed139 from the horizontal. But it is only found on the sinister140 side, which has an ill effect, giving its owner something analogous141 to the aspect of a clumsy left-handed man. What precise purpose this ivory horn or lance answers, it would be hard to say. It does not seem to be used like the blade of the sword-fish and bill-fish; though some sailors tell me that the Narwhale employs it for a rake in turning over the bottom of the sea for food. Charley Coffin said it was used for an ice-piercer; for the Narwhale, rising to the surface of the Polar Sea, and finding it sheeted with ice, thrusts his horn up, and so breaks through. But you cannot prove either of these surmises142 to be correct. My own opinion is, that however this one-sided horn may really be used by the Narwhale--however that may be--it would certainly be very convenient to him for a folder143 in reading pamphlets. The Narwhale I have heard called the Tusked144 whale, the Horned whale, and the Unicorn145 whale. He is certainly a curious example of the Unicornism to be found in almost every kingdom of animated146 nature. From certain cloistered147 old authors I have gathered that this same sea-unicorn's horn was in ancient days regarded as the great antidote148 against poison, and as such, preparations of it brought immense prices. It was also distilled149 to a volatile150 salts for fainting ladies the same way that the horns of the male deer are manufactured into hartshorn. Originally it was in itself accounted an object of great curiosity. Black Letter tells me that Sir Martin Frobisher on his return from that voyage, when Queen Bess did gallantly151 wave her jewelled hand to him from a window of Greenwich Palace, as his bold ship sailed down the Thames; "when Sir Martin returned from that voyage," saith Black Letter, "on bended knees he presented to her highness a prodigious152 long horn of the Narwhale, which for a long period after hung in the castle at Windsor." An Irish author avers153 that the Earl of Leicester, on bended knees, did likewise present to her highness another horn, pertaining154 to a land beast of the unicorn nature.
The Narwhale has a very picturesque155, leopard-like look, being of a milk-white ground color, dotted with round and oblong spots of black. His oil is very superior, clear and fine; but there is little of it, and he is seldom hunted. He is mostly found in the circumpolar seas.
BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER IV. (Killer).--Of this whale little is precisely known to the Nantucketer, and nothing at all to the professed156 naturalists. From what I have seen of him at a distance, I should say that he was about the bigness of a grampus. He is very savage157--a sort of Feegee fish. He sometimes takes the great Folio whales by the lip, and hangs there like a leech158, till the mighty159 brute160 is worried to death. The Killer is never hunted. I never heard what sort of oil he has. Exception might be taken to the name bestowed upon this whale, on the ground of its indistinctness. For we are all killers161, on land and on sea; Bonapartes and Sharks included.
BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER V. (Thrasher).--This gentleman is famous for his tail which he uses for a ferule in thrashing his foes162. He mounts the Folio whale's back, and as he swims, he works his passage by flogging him; as some schoolmasters get along in the world by a similar process. Still less is known of the Thrasher than of the Killer. Both are outlaws163, even in the lawless seas.
Thus ends BOOK II. (Octavo), and begins BOOK III, (Duodecimo.)
DUODECIMOES.--These include the smaller whales. I. The Huzza Porpoise. II. The Algerine Porpoise. III. The Mealy-mouthed Porpoise.
To those who have not chanced specially to study the subject, it may possibly seem strange, that fishes not commonly exceeding four or five feet should be marshalled among WHALES--a word, which, in the popular sense, always conveys an idea of hugeness. But the creatures set down above as Duodecimoes are infallibly whales, by the terms of my definition of what a whale is--i.e. a spouting fish, with a horizontal tail.
BOOK III. (Duodecimo), CHAPTER 1. (Huzza Porpoise).--This is the common porpoise found almost all over the globe. The name is of my own bestowal164; for there are more than one sort of porpoises165, and something must be done to distinguish them. I call him thus, because he always swims in hilarious166 shoals, which upon the broad sea keep tossing themselves to heaven like caps in a Fourth-of-July crowd. Their appearance is generally hailed with delight by the mariner167. Full of fine spirits, they invariably come from the breezy billows to windward. They are the lads that always live before the wind. They are accounted a lucky omen103. If you yourself can withstand three cheers at beholding168 these vivacious169 fish, then heaven help ye; the spirit of godly gamesomeness is not in ye. A well-fed, plump Huzza Porpoise will yield you one good gallon of good oil. But the fine and delicate fluid extracted from his jaws170 is exceedingly valuable. It is in request among jewellers and watchmakers. Sailors put it on their hones. Porpoise meat is good eating, you know. It may never have occurred to you that a porpoise spouts. Indeed, his spout is so small that it is not very readily discernible. But the next time you have a chance, watch him; and you will then see the great Sperm whale himself in miniature.
BOOK III. (Duodecimo), CHAPTER II. (Algerine Porpoise).--A pirate. Very savage. He is only found, I think, in the Pacific. He is somewhat larger than the Huzza Porpoise, but much of the same general make. Provoke him, and he will buckle171 to a shark. I have lowered for him many times, but never yet saw him captured.
BOOK III. (Duodecimo), CHAPTER III. (Mealy-mouthed Porpoise).--The largest kind of Porpoise; and only found in the Pacific, so far as it is known. The only English name, by which he has hitherto been designated, is that of the fisher--Right-Whale Porpoise, from the circumstance that he is chiefly found in the vicinity of that Folio. In shape, he differs in some degree from the Huzza Porpoise, being of a less rotund and jolly girth; indeed, he is of quite a neat and gentleman-like figure. He has no fins57 on his back (most other porpoises have), he has a lovely tail, and sentimental172 Indian eyes of a hazel hue173. But his mealy-mouth spoils all. Though his entire back down to his side fins is of a deep sable3, yet a boundary line, distinct as the mark in a ship's hull, called the "bright waist," that line streaks174 him from stem to stern, with two separate colors, black above and white below. The white comprises part of his head, and the whole of his mouth, which makes him look as if he had just escaped from a felonious visit to a meal-bag. A most mean and mealy aspect! His oil is much like that of the common porpoise.
Beyond the DUODECIMO, this system does not proceed, inasmuch as the Porpoise is the smallest of the whales. Above, you have all the Leviathans of note. But there are a rabble175 of uncertain, fugitive176, half-fabulous whales, which, as an American whaleman, I know by reputation, but not personally. I shall enumerate110 them by their fore-castle appellations177; for possibly such a list may be valuable to future investigators178, who may complete what I have here but begun. If any of the following whales, shall hereafter be caught and marked, then he can readily be incorporated into this System, according to his Folio, Octavo, or Duodecimo magnitude:-- The Bottle-Nose Whale; the Junk Whale; the Pudding-Headed Whale; the Cape Whale; the Leading Whale; the Cannon179 Whale; the Scragg Whale; the Coppered Whale; the Elephant Whale; the Iceberg180 Whale; the Quog Whale; the Blue Whale; &c. From Icelandic, Dutch, and old English authorities, there might be quoted other lists of uncertain whales, blessed with all manner of uncouth181 names. But I omit them as altogether obsolete182; and can hardly help suspecting them for mere183 sounds, full of Leviathanism, but signifying nothing.
Finally: It was stated at the outset, that this system would not be here, and at once, perfected. You cannot but plainly see that I have kept my word. But I now leave my cetological System standing5 thus unfinished, even as the great Cathedral of Cologne was left, with the cranes still standing upon the top of the uncompleted tower. For small erections may be finished by their first architects; grand ones, true ones, ever leave the copestone to posterity184. God keep me from ever completing anything. This whole book is but a draught--nay, but the draught of a draught. Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!
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hull
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hulls
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sable
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appreciative
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| adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的 | |
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standing
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rev
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allusions
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constituents
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chaos
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zoology
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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sperm
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naturalists
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| n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者 | |
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14
anatomy
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| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
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15
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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16
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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17
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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18
fin
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| n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼 | |
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19
usurper
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| n. 篡夺者, 僭取者 | |
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20
fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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22
reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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23
usurpation
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| n.篡位；霸占 | |
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24
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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25
charing
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| n.炭化v.把…烧成炭，把…烧焦( char的现在分词 )；烧成炭，烧焦；做杂役女佣 | |
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26
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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27
poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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28
laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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29
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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30
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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31
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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32
appal
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| vt.使胆寒，使惊骇 | |
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33
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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34
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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35
attested
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| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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36
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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37
moot
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| v.提出；adj.未决议的；n.大会；辩论会 | |
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38
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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40
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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41
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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42
profanely
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| adv.渎神地，凡俗地 | |
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43
humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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44
waiving
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| v.宣布放弃( waive的现在分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等） | |
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45
conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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46
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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47
spout
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| v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱 | |
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48
spouting
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| n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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49
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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50
walrus
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| n.海象 | |
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51
spouts
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| n.管口( spout的名词复数 )；（喷出的）水柱；（容器的）嘴；在困难中v.（指液体）喷出( spout的第三人称单数 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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52
cogent
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| adj.强有力的，有说服力的 | |
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53
vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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54
brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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55
authoritatively
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| 命令式地，有权威地，可信地 | |
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56
coffins
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| n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物 | |
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57
fins
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| [医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌 | |
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58
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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59
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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60
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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61
credentials
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| n.证明，资格，证明书，证件 | |
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62
porpoise
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| n.鼠海豚 | |
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63
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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64
anvil
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| n.铁钻 | |
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65
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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66
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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67
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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68
philologically
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| adv.语言学上 | |
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69
stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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70
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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71
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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72
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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73
ointment
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| n.药膏，油膏，软膏 | |
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74
dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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75
scarcity
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| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
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76
appellation
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| n.名称，称呼 | |
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77
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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78
baleen
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| n.鲸须 | |
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79
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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80
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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81
elucidating
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| v.阐明，解释( elucidate的现在分词 ) | |
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82
descried
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| adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的 | |
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83
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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84
attains
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的第三人称单数 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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85
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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86
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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87
derives
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| v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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88
vertically
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| adv.垂直地 | |
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89
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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90
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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91
spherical
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| adj.球形的；球面的 | |
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92
ripples
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| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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93
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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94
wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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95
gregarious
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| adj.群居的，喜好群居的 | |
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96
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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97
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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98
misanthropic
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| adj.厌恶人类的，憎恶（或蔑视）世人的；愤世嫉俗 | |
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99
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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100
velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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101
beaked
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| adj.有喙的，鸟嘴状的 | |
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102
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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103
omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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104
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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105
isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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106
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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107
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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108
bowels
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| n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处 | |
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109
enumerated
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
enumerate
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| v.列举，计算，枚举，数 | |
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111
bibliographical
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| 书籍解题的，著书目录的 | |
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112
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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113
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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114
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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115
eludes
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的第三人称单数 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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116
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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117
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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118
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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119
prodigies
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| n.奇才，天才（尤指神童）( prodigy的名词复数 ) | |
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120
killer
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| n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者 | |
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121
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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122
sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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123
denizen
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| n.居民，外籍居民 | |
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124
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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125
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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126
hyena
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| n.土狼，鬣狗 | |
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127
voracity
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| n.贪食，贪婪 | |
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128
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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129
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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130
latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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131
dorsal
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| adj.背部的，背脊的 | |
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132
frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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133
housekeepers
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| n.（女）管家( housekeeper的名词复数 ) | |
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134
nostril
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| n.鼻孔 | |
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135
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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136
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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137
lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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138
tusk
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| n.獠牙，长牙，象牙 | |
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139
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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140
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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141
analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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142
surmises
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的第三人称单数 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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143
folder
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| n.纸夹，文件夹 | |
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144
tusked
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| adj.有獠牙的，有长牙的 | |
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145
unicorn
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| n.(传说中的)独角兽 | |
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146
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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cloistered
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| adj.隐居的，躲开尘世纷争的v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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148
antidote
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| n.解毒药，解毒剂 | |
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149
distilled
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| adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )；从…提取精华 | |
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150
volatile
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| adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质 | |
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151
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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152
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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153
avers
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| v.断言( aver的第三人称单数 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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154
pertaining
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| 与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to) | |
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155
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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156
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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157
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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158
leech
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| n.水蛭，吸血鬼，榨取他人利益的人；vt.以水蛭吸血；vi.依附于别人 | |
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159
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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160
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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161
killers
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| 凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事 | |
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162
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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163
outlaws
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| 歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯 | |
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164
bestowal
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| 赠与，给与； 贮存 | |
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165
porpoises
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| n.鼠海豚( porpoise的名词复数 ) | |
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166
hilarious
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| adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed | |
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167
mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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168
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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169
vivacious
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| adj.活泼的，快活的 | |
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170
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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171
buckle
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| n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲 | |
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172
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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173
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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174
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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175
rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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176
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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177
appellations
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| n.名称，称号( appellation的名词复数 ) | |
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178
investigators
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| n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
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179
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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180
iceberg
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| n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人 | |
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181
uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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182
obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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183
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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184
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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