CETACEANS. 237 



Horn, nor during any subsequent part of the voyage. 

 They came to us in large shoals, darting actively 

 through the water, and sporting around the bows of 

 the ship ; and were frequently accompanied by distinct 

 shoals of common Dolphin. Our crew never lost an 

 opportunity of harpooning them, as we esteemed 

 their flesh a delicacy. 



DELPHINUS DELPHIS, Linn. 



(The Common Dolphin, or Porpoise of Sailors.) 



Whales, differing in no appreciable respect from the 

 common Dolphin of the British coasts, came around us 

 in the high seas of every region of the globe we visited 

 during this voyage. It is widely open to question 

 whether the Dolphin of so many distinct climates are 

 not also distinct species ;* but, as long as we are to be 

 guided by general resemblance, and are deficient in 

 opportunities of comparing individuals, we must be 

 content to regard them as identical. These small 

 whales came around the bows of the ship in extensive 

 shoals, and many were harpooned by our crew. We 

 held them in much esteem for the table.f When the 



informed that it has been seen by MM. Quoy and Gaimard near New 

 Guinea, (on the Equator,) during the voyage of the Uranie. 



* Some abnormal appearances in the form and situation of the fins 

 in many of the Dolphin which came under our notice, and which were 

 called " common porpoises" by the sailors, strengthen the belief that 

 much labour for zoologists yet remains with this family of whales. 

 One individual we harpooned, and which was considered by the crew to 

 be an aged " Porpoise," was superior in size to the common Dolphin ; 

 while the intervals between the teeth, both in the upper and lower jaw, 

 being occupied by sockets to receive the opposing teeth, sufficiently 

 denoted that it was a distinct species. Its skin was much mottled with 

 white; some onisci adhered to the body; and a cluster of the elegant 

 soft-barnacle, Otion Cuvieri, was pendant from the lower jaw. 



f Formerly, and when animal food was less abundant in this country 



