But one of the most curious and surprising of the actions of the sperm whale is that of leaping completely out of the water, or of “breaching,” as whalemen term it. The way in which he performs this extraordinary motion appears to be by descending to a certain depth below the surface, and then making some powerful strokes with his tail, which are frequently and rapidly repeated, and thus convey a great degree of velocity to his body before he reaches the surface, when he darts completely out. When just emerged and at its greatest elevation, his body forms with the surface of the water an angle of about forty-five degrees, the flukes lying parallel with the surface in falling. The animal rolls his body slightly, so that he always falls on his side, and seldom breaches more than twice or thrice at a time. In very clear weather, on the Japan ground, we have seen the breach of a large whale at a distance of sixteen miles; but, as a general thing, eight or ten miles is the distance that a breach may be discovered from masthead. [Illustration: BREACHING.] It is probable that the sperm whale often resorts to this action of breaching for the purpose of ridding itself of various animals which infest its skin, such as large “sucking-fish,” and other animals which resemble crabs. Of the former of the parasites, some fix themselves so closely to this convenient carrier that they sometimes adhere to the skin of the whale for several hours after its death, and then suffer themselves to be forced off by the hands of the whalemen. It is not improbable, also, that some of these actions may be resorted to in the whale endeavoring to avoid the assaults of the swordfish, by which they are sometimes attacked. There is also an animal called a “killer,” which, in company with the swordfish, attack the whale. The latter will goad him from below, while the former leaps out of the water and falls upon him from above, the attack thus intimidating the whale, and giving the swordfish an opportunity to inflict its wounds. _Herding_.—The sperm whale is a gregarious animal, and the herds formed by it are of two kinds; the one consisting of females, the other of young bulls not fully grown. [Illustration: A SCHOOL.]