The sperm whale, or cachalot, (genus _physeter_) is a rare visitor in
the higher latitudes. Now and then a solitary specimen is taken in the
Northern Atlantic, but the best place to catch a lot is on the Pacific
coast. It may be mentioned incidentally, as a curious meteorological
coincidence, that Whales and Waterspouts are invariably seen together,
and hence it was, (perhaps,) that the long-necked cloud pointed out by
HAMLET to POLONIUS, reminded that old Grampus of a Whale.

The favorite food of the great marine mammal of the Pacific is the
Squid, and as this little creature swarms in the vicinity of Hawaii, the
cachalot instinctively goes there at certain seasons to chew its Squid
by way of a Sandwich.

Although the capture of the whale involves an immense amount of Paying
Out before anything can be realized, it has probably always been a
lucrative pursuit. The great fish seems, however, to have yielded the
greatest Prophet in the days of JONAH. No man since then has enjoyed the
same facilities for forming a true estimate of the value of the monster,
that were vouchsafed to that singular man. Perhaps during his visit to
Nineveh he entertained the Ninnies with a learned lecture on the
subject, but if so, it has not turned up to reward the research of
modern Archaeologists. LAYARD found the word JONAH inscribed among the
ruins of the old Assyrian city, but the name of the ancient mariner was
unaccompanied by any mention of the whale.

All the whale family, though apparently phlegmatic, are somewhat given
to Blowing up, and, when about to die, instead of taking the matter
coolly and philosophically, they are always terribly Flurried. In fact,
the whale, when in _articulo mortis_, makes a more tremendous rumpus
about its latter end than any other animal either of the sea or land.