Instead, an elongation of the arytenoid cartilages and the epiglottis fits into the soft palate, thereby forming a continuous passage between the nostrils and the trachea, or windpipe, and entirely shutting off the nasal passages from the mouth. In this way a whale can swim with its mouth open, when feeding, without danger of being strangled by getting water into the breathing organs. The blowholes, or nostrils, have been pushed backward and upward to open on the top of the head instead of at the end of the snout. This is an adaptation to aquatic life, which is also seen in other water mammals, for in this way the nostrils are almost the first part of the body to appear at the surface and the whale can begin to breathe immediately upon rising. Although all the fin whales have two nostrils, the spout ascends in a single column, which, in the humpback, is from twelve to fifteen feet high. The cloud of vapor is narrow at the base but spreads out at once, forming a low bushy column which rapidly drifts away. The height and density of the spout in all whales depends upon the animal’s size and the length of time it has been below. If the whale has been submerged but a brief period, as during surface dives, a comparatively small quantity of air is expelled and the breath has not had time to become highly heated; consequently the column will be low and thin. The first spout after sounding is usually the highest and fullest. I have seen humpbacks, which had been badly wounded, lying at the surface close to the ship, blowing every few seconds, and the spout could hardly be seen although the opening and closing of the blowholes and the metallic whistling of the escaping breath were plainly distinguishable. Immediately after the delivery of the spout the lungs are refilled, the blowholes being opened widely and protruded upward, and the breath rapidly drawn in. The elevation of the blowholes is probably to prevent a wave from slopping over and filling the nasal passages, but when a whale lies dead upon the slip there is no indication that the nostrils can be protruded. This was first learned through a photograph of a spouting blue whale, taken by Dr. Glover M. Allen in Newfoundland waters, and since then I have secured two others which show it admirably. At the time my first picture was taken we had an interesting experience which I shall never forget. CHAPTER III AN EXCITING EXPERIENCE IN ALASKA After leaving Vancouver Island I had gone north to Murderer’s Cove, Tyee, Alaska, and was being most hospitably entertained on board Captain Charles Grahame’s ship, the _Tyee_. We were hunting in the waters of Frederick Sound and had been out two days. A big finback had given us an exciting time of it in the afternoon and evening of the second day and I had gone to bed tired out. Next morning at five o’clock I was awakened by a hand on my shoulder and the voice of the Mate saying: