THE DOLPHINS. 



9 



character, and by the quiet submissiveness 

 with which it often gives itself up to man. 

 An accumulation of fat fills the whole space 

 between the end of the upper jaw and the 

 back of the head, so that the head appears 

 almost round but blunted in front. The body, 

 19 to 22 feet in length, is spindle-shaped, 

 very thick in the region of the pectoral fins, 

 thin towards the tail, and flattened on the 

 sides, the back thus forming a sort of blunt 



keel. The fore-limbs are long and pointed, 

 and attain the length of nearly 5 feet. The 

 dorsal fin is short but pointed, the tail fin 

 deeply lobed. The body is quite black, with 

 the exception of a white stripe along the 

 belly. There is the same number of teeth 

 as in the killer- whale, and they all lie ob- 

 liquely in the gums so that the small conical 

 crown alone projects. The teeth are very 

 apt to disappear. 



Fig. 137. The Pilot-whale or Grind (GloUfcpAalus melas). 



The pilot- whale or grind, as the inhabitants 

 of the Faroe Islands call it, always lives in 

 numerous shoals, frequently numbering several 

 hundreds of individuals, and it feeds chiefly 

 on squids, calamaries, and cuttle-fishes, but 

 also on small fish like the herring. It swims 

 slowly, showing the whole length of its back 

 above the water, and it is seldom seen in- 

 dulging in the violent exercises in which the 

 dolphins and killer- whales take so much 

 delight. The shoal follows almost blindly 

 the movements of an old male who acts as 

 leader. When any of their number are 

 wounded the others collect round them, and 

 do not leave them even though their own life 

 is threatened. The fishermen endeavour to 

 drive the leader ashore, and if they succeed 

 in this they regard the whole shoal as captured. 



It appears to be the lot of the pilot- whales 



Vol. II. 



to be stranded on the shores. On the 

 Orkney, Shetland, and Faroe Islands this is 

 a common spectacle, and the inhabitants of 

 the last- mentioned islands would be un- 

 fortunate if there were not at least one shoal 

 of pilot-whales stranded during the year. 

 Old laws regulate the capture of this animal. 

 On a signal being given from a fishing-boat 

 that the pilot-whales are approaching, boats 

 are sent out to surround them and drive them 

 towards a bay so as to strand them, and the 

 crews begin the slaughter as soon as they are 

 certain that the animals cannot escape. From 

 two to three hundred are often killed at once. 

 It is calculated that each animal yields a tun 

 of train-oil. The flesh is eaten both fresh 

 and salted and cured like bacon. The fresh 

 meat is compared to coarse beef. The pilot- 

 whale fishery is an important resource for the 



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