300 A BOOK OF WHALES 



by colour alone. According to the most recent 

 observer of this species, Mr. E. E. Austen,* it "is 

 either wholly pink or flesh-coloured or else entirely 

 black, or black above and pink beneath." Individuals 

 of the different colours are to be seen in company, 

 and it may be that the difference of colour is sexual. 

 The late Mr. Bates, however, denied that the two 

 sets of individuals were intermingled, so the matter 

 must be regarded for the present as unsettled. As 

 to the colour, it is remarkable that there are other 

 examples of pale-coloured river dolphins (e.g., Sotalia 

 sinensis], a circumstance which must make us pause 

 before accepting the view that the white hue of the 

 arctic Beluga is protective in its nature. The ros- 

 trum of this dolphin is beset with scattered stiff hairs, 

 and the dorsal fin is rudimentary, being reduced 

 to a mere ridge. The native name of the animal 

 is " Bouto," and there are legends to the effect that 

 it will attack a man in the water, while the species 

 of Sotalia found in the same river will endeavour 

 to protect him, the two animals thus playing 

 respectively the roles of the Jaguar and the Puma, 

 according to Mr. Hudson. In any case the natives 

 fear the dolphin, and cannot be induced to harpoon 

 it. Nor will they use the oil for fear that it should 

 bring them bad luck. It is curious that another 

 river dolphin in quite another part of the world, the 

 "river pig" of Canton (? Sotalia sinensis], is, accord- 

 ing to the Rev. H. Friend, "looked upon as a 



* Proc. Zool. Soc., 1896, p. 771. 



