176 SPORT m NORTH AMERICA. 



and the shark then devours his carcase, and disputes 

 the possession of his remains with the birds of prey 

 that act as the scavengers of the seas. 



It is said that the narwhals, or unicorn-whales 

 [monodon monoceros), form themselves into serried 

 battalions to attack the whale and finish him (so to 

 speak) at the point of the baj'onet. This, however, 

 must be seen to be believed. 



The narwhal which we took had, like the saw- 

 fish, the exterior of his head armed. The weapon 

 proceeds from the jaw, is spiral, and seven feet long 

 or more, and is of a substance chiefly resembling 

 ivory. In fact, it is not a horn, as the name would 

 seem to imply, but a tooth. But there are other 

 fishes closely resembling it, and which are often con- 

 founded with it, which are properly called unicorns, 

 for their weapons are implanted in the midst of the 

 forehead. As the narwhal will never take a hook, 

 and can very seldom be harpooned, it is by no means 

 easy to capture it. It avoids large vessels as soon 

 as it understands that they are not big fish ; but it 

 sometimes happens that it mistakes the side of a ship 

 for a whale, and either yields itself an easy prey or 

 leaves its spear behind as the penalty of its rashness. 

 The narwhal is usually from thirty to forty feet long, 

 and dashes itself against the vessel with prodigious 

 force, piercing the sides and causing serious leaks, if 

 the horn does not remain to stop up the breach 

 which it has made. When the narwhal strikes the 



