132 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 



dares every power, braves every danger ; and bent upon 

 carnage, he attacks without provocation, combats with- 

 out rivalry, destroying without necessity ; and the only 

 enemy to whom he is occasionally compelled to yield 

 to, is man. 



The form of the narwhale is ovoid, their usual length 

 is from thirteen to sixteen feet in length, exclusive of 

 the tusk, and in circumference (two feet behind the 

 fins, where it is thickest,) from eight to nine feet. On 

 perusing Baron Cuvier's work on the Animal Kingdom,* 

 I was astonished at finding a great error into which this 

 eminent naturalist had fallen, when he states the usual 

 length to be from forty-two to sixty feet, whereas the 

 longest I saw, and we caught several, was not more 

 than fifteen feet. 



Zoologists are indebted to Captain Scoresby, for the 

 best description of the Narwhale. Previous to the publi- 

 cation of this gentleman's paper on this subject, very 

 little was known respecting its peculiarities; I shall 

 therefore quote his account, with a few remarks respect- 

 ing its structure from my own observations and contem- 

 porary authors. 



The form of the head, observes this gentleman, 

 with the part of the body anterior to the fins, is para- 

 boloidal, of the middle of the body nearly cylindrical, of 

 the hinder part to within two or three feet of the tail 

 somewhat conical, and from thence a ridge commencing 

 both at the back and belly the section becomes first an 



* I am much pleased to find that a cheap and elegant edition of this 

 work is now publishing in English by Mr. Henderson, Old Bailey ; from 

 the Baron's last revised edition before his death ; and in which I hope his 

 former errors alluded to above will be corrected. 



