THE WHITE WHALE. 



393 



To the inhabitants of all the Northern islands this dolphin is in- 

 valuable ; on the average, each one yields a barrel of oil ; the flesh is 

 eaten both salted and fresh ; it is said to resemble coarse corned-beef; 

 the fat has no taste ; the skin is used for straps and rudder-lines, the ribs 

 to fence in the fields, and the bladder as a receptacle for oil. 



GENUS BELUGA. 



The most remarkable characteristic of this genus, which contains six 

 species, is the entire absence of a dorsal fin. The pectoral fins are oval, 

 and placed in the first quarter of the total length of the body ; the round 

 head falls perpendicularly to the broad, short truncated muzzle ; the 

 jaws are provided with a few teeth, which fall out in age. 



The White Whale, Beluga Catodon (Plate XXVIII), is an animal 

 nearly akin to the Narwhal, but it is not provided with a tusk, and it has 

 situated in the front-half only of the jaws some teeth which are conical, 

 oblique, often truncated from attrition, and in the upper jaw not unfre- 

 quently disappearing. These teeth vary in number, but there is usually 

 a row of nine above and eight below, occasionally one more or less. 

 The color of the Beluga is wholly white, but the young are black. In 

 length it rarely exceeds fifteen feet. According to Mr. R. Brown, this 

 animal is, beyond all comparison, so far as its importance to the 

 Greenlander and Eskimo are concerned, tlie Whale of Greenland. 

 Like the Narwhal, it is indigenous ; but it is only seen on the coast of 

 Danish Greenland during the winter months, leaving the coast south of 

 72° north latitude in June, and roaming about at the head of Baffin Bay 

 and the western shore of Davis Strait during the summer. In October 

 it is seen to go west, not south ; but in winter it can be observed, in 

 company with the Narwhal, at the broken places in the ice. Its range 

 may be said to be the same as that of the Narwhals : and during the 

 summer months corresponds with that of the Right Whale, of which it 

 is considered the precursor. It, however, wanders farther south than 

 the Narwhal, being found as a regular denizen as far south as 63° north 

 latitude, on the European coast, though on the opposite or American 

 side of the Atlantic it reaches much farther south, being quite common 

 in the St. Lawrence River. The Greenlanders, during the summer, kill 

 great numbers of them, and preserve their oil and dry their flesh foi 

 winter use. Of this animal and the Narwhal, about five hundred are 

 SO 



