The number of times the humpbacks spout at each appearance is exceedingly variable. As a general rule, if the feed is far below the surface, requiring a considerable period of submergence, the animals will blow six or seven times before again descending, in order to reoxygenate thoroughly the blood. If, on the contrary, the feed is near the surface, the dives are short and the number of respirations after each one is correspondingly small. And yet I have seen individuals which were “traveling,” or swimming for a considerable distance under water, rise to spout but once or twice and again descend. I have often been asked how long a whale can stay below the surface. It is quite impossible to answer this with a general statement since some species can undoubtedly remain submerged much longer than others. Twenty minutes is my greatest record for humpbacks but there is no doubt that the animals can stay under a much longer time, if necessary. A blue whale which we struck off the Japanese coast sounded for thirty-two minutes. In the north of Japan there was a whale of the same species which had had its dorsal fin shot away by a harpoon and had become extremely wild. The animal could be easily recognized by the large white scar on its back, and for three successive years was hunted by various ships of the whaling fleet. He was said to stay below half an hour each time and only spout once or twice between dives. One day, when seventy miles at sea, the ship I was on raised his spout, but after the whale went down we lost him. We were close enough to see the white harpoon scar as he sounded but I did not have a further opportunity to witness his reported eccentricities. At Ulsan, Korea, Captain Melsom killed a blue whale which stayed below fifty minutes, spouted twenty times, and then went down for forty minutes. The longest period of submergence which I recorded for a finback was twenty-three minutes. There are many tales of the great length of time which the small-toothed whale, called the “bottlenose” (_Hyperoödon rostratum_), will remain under water but I have had no personal experience with this species. It is said that when a bottlenose has been harpooned it not infrequently sounds to a great depth and stays below for over an hour. Many whalemen believe that cetaceans can remain under water for a long time without coming up to breathe. This owes its origin to the fact that whales will suddenly appear when for several hours previously there has been no sign of a spout even at a distance. Captain Grahame first called my attention to this fact and since then I have personally witnessed it twice. [Illustration: “Suddenly, not more than two hundred fathoms in front of the ship, four humpbacks spouted and began to feed.” The flukes of one are shown, in the distance is a second which has just spouted, and the smooth patches of water where the other two descended are seen in the foreground. ]