



Iceland 



whale. 





tin 



impossible to tf it away. It is probable 

 :sc parasites occasion an intolerable uciiiiwr, 

 as the whale ij said to strike himsel; !OCK 



.ills, with the view of freeing himself from 

 h troublesome companions, andoft> 



..Me injury in these fruitless endeavours. 

 In speaking of man as the great enemy of the 

 whale, we shall not at present enter on any account 

 of the WIIAI.I: I'lsiiKiiv, which we shall reserve for 

 a future article ; but it may be proper here to notice, 

 as an interesting part of his manners, the way in 

 which he conducts himself when attacked by the 

 fishing- boats. As soon as he perceives himself 

 wounded, he flies off with extreme rapidity, swim- 

 ming to a distance, and at the same time diving to- 

 wards the bottom. His flight is so rapid, that 

 were the coil of rope to which the harpoon is fasten- 

 ed to be in the least entangled, the boat and her 

 crew would be instantly overset, or hurried to the; 

 bottom ; and, were it not for the precaution of con- 

 tinually wetting the rope, its friction against the 

 gunwale would set the boat on fire. When fatigue 

 and want of breath compel him to reascend to the 

 surface, he is immediately, on coming into sight, at- 

 tacked by another harpoon from the same, or another 

 boat, and flies off with the same rapidity as at first ; 

 but from his second flight he is soon obliged to re- 

 turn : thus, by successive wounds, and the conse- 

 quent fatigue and loss of blood, he is rendered inca- 

 pable of farther resistance. He is then secured by 

 a hawser, or small cable, and towed by several boats 

 towards the ship. Even then, however, it is danger- 

 ous to approach him, as he lashes furiously with his 

 tail, and would soon sink or disable the largest boat. 

 When dead, the carcase floats on the surface of the 

 water, with the belly upwards. 



There are few parts of the whale which may not 

 be converted to some use. The consumption of the 

 oil drawn from its blubber, in the burning of lamps 

 and the dressing of leather ; and of the horny plates, 

 or luhale-bone, for stays, corsets, umbrellas, handles 

 of whips, and ramrods for fowling-pieces, is well 

 known. The intestines are used in some countries 

 instead of glass for windows ; the tendons split into 

 fine fibres, to supply the want of thread ; the hairy 

 part of the whale-bone in constructing fishing nets 

 and lines ; and the ribs and jaw-bones as beams and 

 rafters for houses. Even the flesh is eaten by the 

 inhabitants of Greenland, and the heart and tongue 

 are esteemed great delicacies. 



Species 2. Bal&na Nordcaper, Iceland Whale. 



Bultena Mysticettis, Var. B. Linn. Syst. Nat. a 

 Gmeliu. Baleiiie Nordcaper, Bonnat.Deacr. D' Island, 

 Lacepede, Hist. Nat. des Cetaces, p. 103. Balcena 

 Glacialis, Klein, Miss. Pise. Nordcaper Anders. 

 Island. . 



This species differs from the preceding, chiefly in 

 having a mure lengthened body, and a proportionally 

 smaller head. It seems to agree with it in the abso- 

 lute length of the body. Its head has the appearance 

 of an ovoid, truncated behind ; aud this form is given 

 it mort particularly by the under jaw, which is very 

 round and deep, and very broad in proportion to the 

 upper. The point of the snout appears a little hol- 

 lowed, and the plates of whalebone are much shorter 



* ** 



LO 



CcK.:.yy. 



uternal 



but its ext 

 and r 

 whicl 

 obliquely. 



surf 



each ' 

 with the 



The inner ftrface 

 beset with black hairi, 

 tirely destitute W IMUT, 

 , and even soft to the ton h. Tir- eye, 

 snsall, has its large,t diameter placed 



The swimming paws are situated at about a thJRl 

 part of the whole length of the animal from the snout, 

 and are so long as to equal a fifth part of the whole 

 length. 



The fail, which is slender and vw tapered, is ter- 

 minated by a hollow fin, the lubes of which, measured 

 from tip to tip, extend to about i of the whole length 

 of the animal. 



The general colour of this whale is a grey, more 

 or less bright, shaded occasionally with irregular and 

 confused spots cf grey and black, but the lower ; 

 of the head is of a brilliant white colour. 



The Nordcapcr inhabits the northern ocean, 

 pccially about the coasts cf Norway and Iceland. ' 



It is said to live chiefly on herrings, medusae, and 

 some species of helix. When this animal swims at 

 the surface of the water, every part of its body is 

 plunged below the water, except the top of the back 

 and the orifices of the blow-holes. He swims with 

 great agility, and is so ferocious as to render it diffi- 

 cult and dangerous to approach him. Hence his 

 pursuers arc obliged to use considerable caution ; 

 and when the harpooner has struck the animal, the 

 boat instantly retreats, and a fresh wound is inflicted, 

 by the harpooner of another boat, and so on til|i'. v 

 the animal is dispatched. Each harpoon is dis- 

 tinguished by a particular mark, and that which 

 appears to have inflicted the fatal wound, entitles 

 its owner to a certain reward. Anderson, in his ac- 

 count of Iceland, gives an account of the Icelanders f 

 method of taking this animal, which has too much 

 appearance of the marvellous to be easily credited, 

 and is contradicted by Horsebow, who describes the 

 method we have already mentioned from his own 

 observation. 



? 



1 





GKNLS II. BALJENOPTERA. Finned Whales. 



* 





The animals of this tribe agree with the Balx- Finned 

 noe, in having the upper jaw furnished with horny wuali=. 

 laminae, being entirely destitute of teeth, and having 

 two distinct orifices to the blow-holes, placed to- 

 wards the middle of the upper part of the head. 

 They are distinguished from the Balicns-, in being 

 provided with a dorsal fin. 



La Cepede divides this genus into two sections. 

 The first of these is distinguished by having the 

 throat and belly destitute of folds. The second has 

 longitudinal folds under the throat and belly. There 

 are four species, oae belonging to the first subdivi- 

 sion, and three to the second. 



Specie* 1. Bala-noptcra Gibbar, Fin-fish. 



Buhzna Phy&alus, Linne System. Nat. a Gmelio. p u i 

 Baletue Gibbar, Bonnat. Encycl. Method. Fin- 

 Ji-sh, Marten's. Spit/brrgen, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. 

 lii. Bulcinoptrra Gibbar, La Cepede, p. 1J4-. 



Fhib species is about 50 feet long, but is not fo 

 thick 111 proportion to its length as the common 





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