82 NONDESCRIPT WHALE. 



Abundant It abounds in the sen around the Orkney and Shetland 



ney&Shet?a r nd Isles * In Mr * Neill ' s interesting Tour through those is- 

 islands. lands, we are informed, that 310 of this species were forced 



on shore in Shetland in 1805. From the imperfect account 

 transmitted to him, this gentleman very properly conjectured 

 them to be a new species. 

 Description. Description. — The whole body almost is black, smooth, 



and shining like oiled silk. The back and sides are jetty 

 black; the breast and belly of a somewhat lighter colour, 

 The general length of the full grown ones is about twenty 

 feet. The body is thick. The dorsal fin does not exceed 

 two feet in length, and is rounded at the extremity. The 

 pectoral fins are from six to eight feet in length, narrow, 

 and tapering to their extremities. The head is obtuse ; the 

 upper jaw projects several inches over the lower in a blunt 

 process. It has a single spiracle. The full grown have 

 twenty-two subconoid sharp teeth, a little hooked. Among 

 those stranded in Scapay Bay were many young ones, 

 which, as welf as the oldest, wanted teeth. The youngest 

 measured about five feet in length, and were still sucklings. 

 The females had two teats, larger than those of a cow, out 

 of which the milk flowed when they were squeezed. 

 Habits. These animals are gregarious, generally swimming in con- 



siderable numbers. They frequently enter the bays around 

 the Orkney coast in quest of small fish, which seem to be 

 their food. When one of them takes the ground, the rest 

 surround, and endeavour to assist it: from this circumstance 

 several of them are generally taken at once. I have fre- 

 quently observed an animal, which I conjecture to be of this 

 species, elevating its dorsal fin and a considerable part of its 

 back above the waves, with a slow tumbling motion for 

 many successive times. They are inoffensive, and rather 

 timid. They are chased on shore not unfrequently by a fev* 

 vawls. They seem generally to follow one as a leader with 

 blind confidence. I once was in a boat when the attempt 

 •was made to drive a shoal of them on shore ; but when they 

 had approached very near the land, the foremost turned 

 round with a sudden leap, and the whole rushed past us with 

 great velocity, but carerully avoided the boat. They are ex-, 

 trfcittely fat, and yield a considerable quantity of good oil. 



This 



