150 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF MAMMALIA. 



. — Beluga. 



his species visiting our coasts ; we refer to the individual 

 taken, in the summer of 1815, in the Frith of Forth, 

 where it had been observed for nearly three months 

 ascending with the flood-tide and regularly descending 

 with the ebb. This individual, as is proved by the time 

 of the year in which it was seen, was a stray wanderer 

 from its native latitudes, and not on a regular journey of 

 migration. The flesh of this animal is eaten by the 

 Greenlanders and other people of the boreal regions, 

 Crantz says it is as red as beef, and of somewhat similar 

 flavour; Pallas, that it is black. The carcase yields ex- 

 cellent oil, and it is principally for the sake of this that 

 the beluga is hunted. It is sometimes intercepted by 

 nets extended across the inlet or stream it has entered, 

 and attacked with lances while endeavouring to force its 

 return : on other occasions it is harpooned, and sometimes 

 even caught by means of hooks baited with fish. The 

 female produces one or two young at a birth, towards 

 which she displays the strongest attachment; they follow 

 her in all her movements, and do not quit her until they 

 are of considerable size. Cuvier states that the teeth 



