are by no means creatures of ill odor; nor can whalemen be recognised, as the people of the middle
ages affected to detect a Jew in the company, by the nose. Nor indeed can the whale possibly be otherwise
than fragrant, when, as a general thing, he enjoys such high health; taking abundance of exercise; always
out of doors; though, it is true, seldom in the open air. I say, that the motion of a Sperm Whale's flukes
above water dispenses a perfume, as when a musk-scented lady rustles her dress in a warm parlor.
What then shall I liken the Sperm Whale to for fragrance, considering his magnitude? Must it not be to
that famous elephant, with jeweled tusks, and redolent with myrrh, which was led out of an Indian town
to do honor to Alexander the Great?