86 A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY 
body of the fish taken lengthwise; on the opposite 
side of the snout thefe was not the least appearance 
of a horn, or protuberance of any kind, as is said to 
be frequently observed in these fish: but much greater 
anomalies than this have occasionally been met with, 
for specimens are known where the two horns grew 
to the usual size, and, if I am rightly informed, 
many instances have occurred where the horn on the 
right side has protruded through the skin. The 
female of this fish is said never to have any horns, 
and, owing to this circumstance, I have been told 
it frequently happens at the custom-houses, where 
our whalers give an account of the fish they have kill- 
ed during the season, that all the unicorns they have 
taken are said to be “ she ones,” in order to evade the 
duty on the horns. The narwhals have no teeth, nor 
the appearance of any other substance that can an- 
swer as a substitute for them, so that their food, like 
that of the common whale, must be of a very soft 
nature ; their tongue is also like that of the latter 
fish, not at all calculated to assist in mastication, 
being nothing but a mass of soft fat adhering 
nearly throughout to the under part of the mouth. 
The eyes were small, considering the size of 
the fish; they were deep-seated, but not so far 
in as to be situated in the socket of bone that was 
underneath them. ‘The form of the eye, or rather 
of the eyelids, was that of a triangle, whose sides 
measured about three-fourths of an inch. The tail of 
the narwhal resembles the rest of the cetaceous order, 
in being horizontal, and consists, like that of the com- 
mon whale, of gristly fat, covered with skin, as is the 
rest of the body. ‘The fins are also formed of the 
same materials, so that it may be said that these fish 
