THE KILLER, OR GRAMPUS 1223 



hence this may be considered as a gregarious form. In the defile below Bhamo, 

 where the river runs for ten miles over a deep bed forty to sixty fathoms in depth 

 and from two hundred to five hundred yards in width, and defined by high, wooded 

 hills on either side, numerous troops of dolphins may be observed passing up and 

 down, rising every minute or two to the surface to emit the short blowing sound, 

 which ends in the more feeble one of inspiration, and all night through this sound 

 may be heard. They never leave the deep water; and when they rise to breathe 

 (which they do in periods varying from sixty to one hundred and seventy seconds, 

 although occasionally exceeded) the blowhole is first seen, then at the end of the 

 inspiration the head disappears and the back comes into view, and is gradually ex- 

 posed as far as the dorsal fin, but the tail flippers are rarely visible. The act of 

 breathing is rapid, so much so indeed that it requires a very expert marksman to 

 take aim and fire before the animal disappears. I have observed some of them dis- 

 porting themselves in a way that has never yet been recorded of Cetacea, as far as I 

 am aware. They swam with a rolling motion near the surface, with their heads 

 half out of the water, and every now and then fully exposed, when they ejected 

 great volumes of water out of their mouths, generally straight before them, but 

 sometimes nearly vertically. . . . On one occasion I noticed an individual 

 standing upright in the water, so much so that one-half of its pectoral fins was ex- 

 posed, producing the appearance against the background as if the animal was sup- 

 ported on its flippers. It suddenly disappeared, and again, a little in advance of 

 its former position, it bobbed up in the same attitude, and this it frequently repeated. 

 The Shan boatmen who were with me seemed to connect these curious movements 

 with the season spring in which the dolphins breed." The food of this dolphin 

 apparently consists exclusively of fish. Dr. Anderson adds that ' ' the fishermen be- 

 lieve that the dolphin purposely draws fish to their nets, and each fishing village 

 has its particular guardian dolphin, which receives a name common to all fellows of 

 his school; and it is this superstition which makes it so difficult to obtain specimens 

 of this Cetacean." 



THE KILLER, OR GRAMPUS 

 Genus Orca 



One of the largest and at the same time the most ferocious of all the Dolphin 

 family is the killer, or killer whale, frequently 

 also known as the grampus ( Orca gladiator] . It 

 is characterized as a genus by its large size, and 

 the conical and depressed head, devoid of a beak. 

 The back fin is of great length, especially in the 

 males, and the flippers are large and broadly 

 ovate'. The teeth (as shown in our figure) are 

 comparatively few in number, varying from ten 



,, . , THE FIRST SIX UPPER TEETH 



to thirteen on each side of the jaws, and are OF THE KII<I<ER 



much larger than in any dolphins yet noticed, (From S ir w. H. Flower.) 



