392 CETACEA. 



GENUS GLOBIOCEPHALUS. 



The fourteen species comprehended under this genus are all distin- 

 guished by the globular aspect of the head, the sickle-formed pectoral 

 fins, and the dorsal fin rising from the centre of the body. To the 

 inhabitants of the Faroe and Orkney Islands, and to the dwellers in 

 remote Iceland, the sea yields no more precious product than the 

 animals we are about to describe. 



The Pilot Whale, Globiocephalus dcductor, is known by many names. 

 The one we have used is that of the British Museum Catalogue ; but 

 the names RouND-HEADED PoRPOisE, Bottle-head, Social Whale, 

 Howling Whale, and Black Whale are given to it by English 

 writers. The Scotch call it the Caaing Whale. In Iceland and the 

 Faroe Islands it is called Grind. This species has long pectoral flip- 

 pers and a black skin, the belly and throat being white ; the teeth 

 seldom exceed fifty in number. The males attain the size of eighteen to 

 twenty feet, the former being perhaps more common. 



More social than others of its kindred, the Pilot Whale is always 

 found in troops varying in number from ten up to thousands, and led by 

 some old experienced male whom the rest follow with the same docility 

 or senselessness with which sheep follow their leader. On the appear- 

 ance of a shoal, the sailors endeavor to get to seaward of their victims, and 

 gradually closing upon them, drive them onwards by shouts and missiles 

 to the shore. When one of them — the leader — is forced upon the beach, 

 a curious scene of self-immolation is acted by. the whole herd. They are 

 then attacked by the whole assembled population of the neighborhood, 

 who dispatch them by various means ; the cries and struggles of the 

 poor animals — some in, some out of the water — the shouts of the men, the 

 bloody sea, combine to form a scene of no trifling interest. By such 

 methods an entire shoal of seven hundred and eighty were captured at 

 once at Sumburgh in Shetland ; while there came ashore at Hvalfiord 

 in Iceland no less than one thousand one hundred and ten, all of which 

 were taken. Cuvier relates that some fishermen drove a cub-whale 

 ashore on the coast of Brittany ; its cries attracted the rest of the herd, 

 all of which, seventy in number, were soon lying on the strand. The 

 herd consisted of seven males and twelve young ones, all the others 

 being adult females, many of which had their udders full of milk. They 

 lived for some time ; one old male did not die till the fifth day. 



