326 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



species frequenting the river of that name, we come to the largest 

 and most ferocious of all the Dolphin family. 



KILLER, OR GRAMPUS.— This large species is black above and 

 whitish beneath, and attains a length of as much as twenty feet 

 or more. Above and behind the eye there is a prominent streak 

 of white. The Killer has a remarkable distribution, "ranging from 

 Greenland in the north to the coasts of Australia in the south." It 

 is an inhabitant for the most part of open seas, but is not averse 

 to ascending tidal rivers, for not many years ago three of these 

 Dolphins were seen in the Thames, almost within a stone's throw 

 of the very heart of the greatest city in the world. 



Fish, Seals, and even relatives of their own order, constitute 

 the food, and in procuring the same the Killer — by name and nature 

 it is such — exhibits a great daring, as befits its "carnivorous pro- 

 pensities." They travel about in little companies, or squads, and 

 have been compared to a small regiment of soldiers disporting in 

 the water, for their movements are stated to present "a pleasing 

 and somewhat military aspect." 



The Killer is possessed of great power of movement and has 

 no difficulty in catching up with and overtaking its prey, swallow- 

 ing the smaller Dolphins alive without even taking the trouble to 

 kill them. As showing what a ravenous beast this is, an instance 

 is recorded of one animal being known to swallow four Porpoises 

 one after the other, and "from the stomach of another individual, 

 whose length did not exceed sixteen feet, were taken fourteen Seals." 



Union being strength, the Killer will, when assisted by its 

 fellows, even attack the Greenland Whale, of which a full account 

 has already been given at the commencement of this chapter, and, 

 wonderful to relate, the largest mammalian monarch of the deep, 

 and, indeed, in the world, seems powerless to defend itself against 

 the attacks of these military pirates of the sea. It has been 

 described as a Wolf of the ocean, and its attacks "may be likened 

 in some respects to a pack of Hounds holding a stricken Deer at 

 bay." 



There is a smaller species belonging to a different genus, known 

 as the Lesser Killer, which also enjoys a cosmopolitan range. It 

 grows to a length of some fourteen feet, and its habits are believed 

 to be similar to those of the remarkable beast just described. 



As this book does not pretend to be scientific or to treat of every 

 known mammal, but merely to give a bird's-eye view of a selection 



