THE DOLPHINS- PORPOISES. 



569 



the high seas for miles and avoids the coast for days 

 or even weeks. Wherever Greenland Whales, White- 

 Whales and Seals are found, one will never miss see- 

 ing this their tireless enemy. The White Whale and 

 the Seal rush toward the coast in terror at the sight 

 of it; the former always and the latter usually en- 

 dangering their safety in such flight. All whalers 

 hate the sight of the Grampus, for its arrival is an 

 indication that all other Whales will at once forsake 

 that part of the sea, even if they have to hide be- 

 tween the ice to escape pursuit. Eschricht took 

 out of the stomach of a Grampus over thirteen feet 

 long the remains of thirteen Porpoises and fourteen 

 Seals. The fifteenth Seal had stuck in its throat and 

 choked it. 



Scammon says: "The attack which these Wolves 

 of the ocean make on so gigantic a prey as the 

 Greenland Whale recalls to mind a Stag pursued 

 and run down by a pack of Hounds. Some fasten 

 on to the head of the Whale, others attack it from 

 below, while a few seize it by the lips and hold it 



and placed in the middle of the body, and the teeth 

 are numerous and sharp-edged. 

 The Porpoise and The Porpoise ( Phocana communis) 



its Habits De- attains a length of five feet to six 

 scribed. f ee ^ e jght inches, or perhaps in rare- 



cases of ten feet. The skin is naked, soft, smooth 

 and glistening; the color is a dark blackish brown 

 or black with a greenish or violet lustre above, and 

 pure white beginning narrowly at the tip of the 

 lower jaw and from thence broadening backward; 

 below, the flippers arc of a more or less dark brown 

 tint. The teeth are from forty to fifty in each jaw, 

 thus numbering in all from eighty to one hundred. 



It is the Porpoise that one so frequently sees on 

 every journey through the North Sea; that prowls 

 about the mouths of western European rivers and, 

 swimming against the current, not infrequently pen- 

 etrates to a considerable distance inland. Thus it 

 has been repeatedly found in the Rhine and FAbe 

 and killed in the Seine at Paris and the Thames at' 

 London. 



THE PORPOISE.-- One of the smallest animals among the Whales is the Porpoise, which is very common in all parts of the North 

 Atlantic. It follows vessels of all kinds, has no difficulty in keeping up with the fastest steamships, hut specially likes to play around sailing 

 vessels, as long as they are near the coast. It has a broad tail, a short, dorsal fin and a short body. {Phocana communis.) 



under water or tear its tongue when it opens its huge 

 mouth. In the spring of 1858 I was a witness to 

 such an attack made by three Killers on a female 

 Gray Whale and her young." After so many ac- 

 counts, tallying in all particulars, there can hardly 

 be a doubt of the truth of the stories told of the 

 ferocity and voracity of these beasts. 

 The Grampus of Though the body of the Grampus 

 Little Value possesses hardly any flesh, as Steller 

 to Man. says, but consists of fluid fat, still it is 



nowhere generally hunted. Grampuses are occa- 

 sionally caught in rivers; and there are on record 

 three instances of Killer Whales having been har- 

 pooned in the Thames. 



THE PORPOISES. 



The commonest Dolphin of the northern Atlantic 

 seas is the Porpoise or Sea Hog, a representative of 

 the genus Pliocana, so poor in species. Its body is 

 short and spindle-shaped, the forehead gently slop- 

 ing, the dorsal fin is low, broad-rooted, triangular 



The native region, proper, of the Porpoise may be 

 considered to be the whole north of the Atlantic, 

 from Greenland to north Africa, inclusive of the 

 Baltic Sea. It seems that it also goes north in sum- 

 mer and turns its face south in winter. In spring it 

 goes in the wake of the Herrings and pursues them 

 so diligently that it often annoys the fishermen. Its 

 voracity is proverbial; it digests its food very quickly 

 and requires a considerable quantity of sustenance 

 to meet its needs. Fishermen detest it, as in a gen- 

 eral way it injures their trade, and sometimes in- 

 flicts upon them actual personal loss; for it easily 

 tears the weak nets in which they have captured fish 

 of the smaller varieties and then leisurely eats up 

 the prisoners. Strong nets, however, are often fatal 

 to it, as it entangles itself in them and chokes. 



THE WHITE WHALE. 



Martens, who visited Spitzbergcn in 167 1, as a 

 barber on board a whaler, and gave an account of 

 northern marine animals, first mentions one of the 



