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.
The Right whale, though many people make Light of it, is unquestionably
the heaviest of living creatures. Scales never contained anything so
ponderous. But while conceding to Leviathan the proud title of Monarch
of the Deep, it should be remarked that it has a rival on the land,
known as Old King Coal, that completely takes the Shine out of it.
Pages:
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63