PIKE WHALE.—Baleendptera rostrata. 
being the most prevalent. The head of this species is elongated and rather flattened, and 
the throat and chest are furnished with very deep longitudinal folds, which are capable 
of dilatation to a great extent. 
At the extremity of the snout there are eight distinct bristles, arranged in perpendicular 
rows on the top of each jaw. It has been called by a great number of names by different 
writers, and is mentioned by various authors under no less than seventeen distinct titles. 
The colour of this animal is black upon the upper parts of the body, and white on the 
abdomen, tinged with a reddish hue. The pectoral fin is almost entirely dark, but changes 
into white on its upper surface, near its base. 
The name Baleenoptera signifies “Finned-Whale,” and is given to the animal on 
account of the size of the pectoral fins. 
A GIANT among giant forms, the huge Rorqual roams the Arctic seas at will, seldom 
molested by the hunter, and scarcely ever captured. 
The bulk of this animal is greater than that of any other Whale, as many specimens 
have been known to attain a length of more than one hundred feet, and one or two have 
reached the extraordinary leneth of one hundred and twenty feet. By inexperienced 
whalers it is sometimes mistaken for the Greenland Whale and harpooned, but is very 
seldom killed; for the creature is so remarkably active and fearless, that in many cases 
the aggressors have paid dearly for their error by a crushed boat and the loss of several 
lives. On one such occasion the Rorqual started off in a direct line, and at such a speed 
that the men lost their presence of mind and forgot to cut the rope that connected the 
