19"] HABITS OF THE KILLER WHALE 67 



' Marine Mammalia ' Scammon: 



Adult males average 20 feet; females 15 feet. 



Strong sharp conical teeth which interlock. Combines great 

 strength with agility. 



Spout ' low and bushy.' 



Habits exhibit a boldness and cunning peculiar to their car- 

 nivorous propensities. 



Three or four do not hesitate to grapple the largest baleen 

 whales, who become paralysed with terror frequently evince no 

 efforts to escape. 



Instances have occurred where a band of orcas laid siege 

 to whales in tow, and although frequently lanced and cut with 

 boat spades, made away with their prey. 



Inclined to believe it rarely attacks larger cetaceans. 



Possessed of great swiftness. 



Sometimes seen peering above the surface with a seal in their 

 bristling jaws, shaking and crushing their victims and swallowing 

 them apparently with gusto. 



Tear white whales into pieces. 



Ponting has been ravished yesterday by a view of the ship 

 seen from a big cave in an iceberg, and wished to get pictures 

 of it. He succeeded in getting some splendid plates. This fore- 

 noon I went to the iceberg with him and agreed that I had 

 rarely seen anything more beautiful than this cave. It was 

 really a sort of crevasse in a tilted berg parallel to the original 

 surface; the strata on either side had bent outwards; through 

 the back the sky could be seen through a screen of beautiful 

 icicles it looked a royal purple, whether by contrast with the 

 blue of the cavern or whether from optical illusion I do not 

 know. Through the larger entrance could be seen, also partly 

 through icicles, the ship, the Western Mountains, and a lilac 

 sky; a wonderfully beautiful picture. 



Ponting is simply entranced with this view of Mt. Erebus, 

 and with the two bergs in the foreground and some volunteers 

 he works up foregrounds to complete his picture of it. 



I go to bed very satisfied with the day's work, but hoping 

 for better results with the improved organisation and familiarity 

 with the work. 



To-day we landed the remainder of the woodwork of the 



