THE STELLER. 53 



ly, as to cause large pieces of the cuticle to fly off; 

 it breathed strongly, and as if sighing. When 

 wounded in the back, the blood spirts as high 

 as if from a fountain; but this did not occur as long 

 as the head was retained under water, but as soon 

 as it was raised for the purpose of breathing, the 

 blood gushed forth, because the lungs, lying next 

 the back, being wounded, whenever the air was in- 

 haled, it forced out the blood more freely. 



When one of these animals is hooked, he begins 

 to move more impetuously, whereupon the herd and 

 those which are near are set in motion, and endeavour 

 to assist the captive. Some of them strive to upset 

 the boat, others endeavour to break the rope, or by 

 blows with their tails, try to disengage the hook, 

 which they sometimes successfully accomplish. It 

 is a very curious trait in their character, that their 

 conjugal love is exceedingly great: when the male 

 is hooked, the female, after having in vain struggled 

 to set him free, and been herself struck frequently, 

 would nevertheless follow her companion to the 

 shore, and would sometimes unexpectedly approach 

 the dead body, by darting forwards like an arrow. 

 One morning, when we came down very early to 

 cut up the flesh and carry it home, we found the 

 male near the body of his mate, and he remained 

 near, even until the third day afterwards, When I 

 went down to the shore alone, for the purpose of 

 cleaning some of the intestines. 



