THE WHITE WHALE 171 



Next day in perfect weather we skirted the sand- 

 hills of Spain, and with the towering headland of 

 Africa to starboard sailed safely through the Straits 

 of Gibraltar. 



The smart appearance of the porpoises seen in 

 the Bay impresses vividly upon one's mind the fact 

 that many cetaceans (whales, porpoises and dolphins), 

 in spite of their uncouth and fish-like outlines, are 

 very handsome animals. Thus the white-beaked 

 dolphin (occasionally seen off our own shores) 

 has a greyish-white snout and creamy-white sides, 

 while a purplish nuance plays on the black back 

 like the fugitive shimmer on a bird of paradise. 

 The short-beaked dolphin is extremely smart, a kind 

 of marine zebra, handsomely streaked with longitu- 

 dinal black and white ; the slender dolphin is dotted 

 all over with white spots ; the curious black fish 

 is entirely of a sable hue. A striking contrast 

 to this latter animal is seen in the beautiful beluga 

 or white whale of the Arctic Seas. 



The white whale (Delpkinapterzis leticas) — beluga 

 of the Russians — hvitfisk or hvidfisk of the Scandi- 

 navian sailors and Danish colonists of Greenland — 

 kelelluak of the Greenlanders — measures about 

 sixteen and a half feet in length and is about nine 

 feet ten inches in maximum girth. The head is 

 short and rounded, with a convex forehead cushioned 

 with fat. The eye is relatively small, and the orifice 

 of the ear is almost concealed by a well-developed 



