ASEBL Journal – Volume 13 Issue 1 , January 2018
spermaceti or whale oil and the ambergris , from which perfume is made . “ You must go to New Bedford to see a brilliant wedding ; for , they say , they have reservoirs of oil in every house , and every night recklessly burn their lengths in spermaceti candles ” ( Melville 73 ). He goes on about the use of sperm whale oil for British coronations , “... what kind of oil is used at coronations ? Certainly it cannot be olive oil , nor Macassar oil , nor castor oil , nor bear ’ s oil , nor train oil , nor cod-liver oil . What then can it possibly be , but sperm oil in its unmanufactured , unpolluted state , the sweetest of all oils ? Think of that , ye loyal Britons ! we whalemen supply your kings and queens with coronation stuff !” ( Melville 154 ). About the tongue of a whale , “ particular tongue now before us ; at a passing glance I should say it was a six-barreler ; that is , it will yield you about that amount of oil ” ( Melville 378 ). Melville compares the large front of the head that contains most of the oil in a sperm whale to the “ Heidelberg Tun ” which is a wine cask in the Heidelberg Castle that holds 57,000 gallons of wine ( Melville 382 ). Melville comments on ambergris , which was used to enhance the smell of perfume . It was obtained from the intestines of sick whales ! “ It is of a hue between yellow and ash color . And this , good friends , is ambergris , worth a gold guinea an ounce to any druggist ... Who would think , then , that such fine ladies and gentlemen should regale themselves with an essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale ! Yet so it is . By some , ambergris is supposed to be the cause , and by others the effect , of the dyspepsia in the whale . How to cure such a dyspepsia it were hard to say , unless by administering three or four boat loads of Brandreth ’ s pills , and then running out of harm ’ s way , as laborers do in blasting rocks ” ( Melville 451 ). Also , in reference to a whale carcass which “... is disengaged and hoisted on deck for the purpose of extracting the ivory teeth , and furnishing a supply of that hard white whalebone with which the fishermen fashion all sorts of curious articles , including canes , umbrella-stocks , and handles to riding-whips ” ( Melville 375 ). And , this was said of some of the fat of the whale : “ It is a most refreshing , convivial , beautiful object to behold . As its name imports , it is of an exceedingly rich , mottled tint , with a bestreaked snowy and golden ground , dotted with spots of the deepest crimson and purple . It is plums of rubies , in pictures of citron . Spite of reason , it is hard to keep yourself from eating it . Plum pudding ” ( Melville 460 ).
Whalers also killed and ate porpoises , which are really small whales . In 1776 Linnaeus made a distinction between whales and a fish , and Ishmael states : “ A well-fed , plump Huzza Porpoise will yield you one good gallon of good oil . But the fine and delicate fluid extracted from his jaws 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 ” ( Melville 183 ).
People at the time did not know the number of whales worldwide ; they thought the number was limitless . “ You may now sometimes sail for weeks and months together , without being greeted by a single spout ; and then be suddenly saluted by what sometimes seems thousands on thousands ” ( Melville 424 ). Chapter 105 is titled : Does The Whale ’ s Magnitude Diminish ? Will He Perish ? ( Melville 501 ). “ We account the whale immortal in his species , however perishable in his individuality ... if ever the
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