Forenoon on New Seas 193 



grows, the hide becomes mottled with gray on dirty yellow, then 

 turns all yellow, and finally, absolutely pure, pristine, glistening 

 white, of a purity otherwise seen only on fresh arctic snowfields. 

 Belugas are circumpolar in distribution, but seldom if ever leave 

 freezing water, though they regularly ascend rivers to great distances 

 in pursuit of salmon. They enter the St. Lawrence in spring, and go 

 as far inland as Quebec. They ascend the Yukon as far as six hundred 

 miles beyond salt water. Their food consists of fish, squid and 

 cuttlefish, and a certain amount of other shellfish, for which they are 

 known to dive to incredible depths. They have no dorsal fin at all, 

 and the flippers are small and placed far forward, while the tail is 

 also small. They have distinct necks, but cannot move the head to 

 any appreciable extent. Most amazing of all, however, is their voice. 



It is now known that all whales, and especially porpoises and 

 some dolphins, keep up a tremendous racket under water, lowing 

 like cows, moaning, whistling, and making chuckling sounds. Al- 

 though they have no external ears and auditory exits that will, even 

 in the largest species, only just allow the insertion of a pencil, all 

 whales appear to have very keen hearing both under water and in 

 the air. Belugas have an enormous vocabulary of different sounds, 

 which gives rise to their popular name among seamen of "sea ca- 

 naries." They twitter, whistle, scream, gurgle, chuckle, hoot, and 

 make strange popping and puffing noises. Also, when blowing, they 

 let off a loud "phutt." 



The Amerindian was not a seaman, but he was a skilled fisherman, 

 as is the Eskimo. He had made use of practically every form of sea 

 life he could catch or gather, and he had developed more distinct 

 whaling industries than any other race, millennia before the coming 

 of the Europeans to his country. What he lacked in technical knowl- 

 edge and tools, such as metal weapons and clinker-built boats with 

 oars, he fully made up for in skill, bravery, and endurance. But the 

 latter were never quite enough to free him from a virtual slavery to 

 his environment. It was the white man who first put the Amerindian's 

 whaling efforts on a profitable basis, and it was a white man who fi- 

 nally stumbled upon a discovery that carried American whaling — 

 and with it Anglo-Saxon culture and power — all over the globe. 

 That man's name was Captain Christopher Hussey of Nantucket, 

 and the date of his discovery was 17 12. 



