SEALS AND WHALES OF THE BRITISH SEAS. 119 



leading Whale like a flock of sheep, a habit of which the Orkney and 

 Shetland Islanders are fully aware, and avail themselves to the full. When 

 a herd appears in one of the bays, boats immediately put off, and if possible, 

 get to seaward of them, then gradually approaching, with shouts and splashes, 

 they urge the whole herd shoreward, and are generally successful in driving 

 a large number of Whales into shallow water; but should the leader break 

 through the line of boats, the probability is that no efforts the boats' crews 

 can make will prevent all its companions following. Bell gives many 

 instances of large numbers of these animals being taken, the last of which, 

 quoted from the ' Zoologist' for 1846, is, perhaps, the most extraordinary. It 

 is there stated, " on newspaper authority," that 2,080 were taken in Faroe in 

 the previous year within six weeks, and that 1,540 were killed within two 

 hours in Quendall Bay, Shetland, on the 22nd September, 1845. 



As it too frequently happens that the unfortunate cetaceans which fall 

 into the hands of the fishermen are simply hacked to pieces, and die only 

 from exhaustion arising from loss of blood, it is worthy of remark that, 

 according to Herr CoUett, of Christiania, in Norway they are readily killed 

 by a rifle shot, in the throat, or under the breast. 



This species (fig. 26) is remarkable for its peculiarly rounded head, — hence 

 its generic name ; the flippers are long and pointed, the dorsal fin long and 

 low ; the teeth are about an inch in length, seldom all present in the adults, and 

 the normal number, according to Bell, about twenty-four on either side each 

 jaw; ten to twelve is, however, the more usual number present. The length 

 of the adult is about nineteen or twenty feet, its colour glossy black, with the 

 exception of a white stripe along the belly, which has a heart-shaped termi- 

 nation under the throat. Its favourite food is said to be cuttlefish. The 

 figure is copied, with permission, from the ' Transactions ' of the Zoological 

 Society, vol. viii., pi. 30. 



