The pursuit of this "royal fish"-as the ancient chroniclers call him in contented ignorance of the fact that he is not a fish at all-had not, indeed, originated in New England, but had been practised by all maritime peoples of whom history has knowledge, while the researches of archeologists have shown that prehistoric peoples were accustomed to chase the gigantic cetacean for his blubber, his oil, and his bone.
"American Merchant Ships and Sailors"
Willis J. Abbot
It is not in the nature of things that the writer could ever have seen or even heard of a manatee or a dugong; nor is it likely that he had been a sea-farer, or could have seen any Mediterranean cetacean.
"Creation and Its Records"
B.H. Baden-Powell
Two immense specimens of the cetacean species were in front of the submarine, one on either bow, evidently much puzzled over the glaring lights.
"Tom Swift and his Undersea Search or, The Treasure on the Floor of the Atlantic"
Victor Appleton