THE SEA UNICORN. 193 



Norwegian vessel, and the most comical fac'simile imagin- 

 able of an old walrus. It had been taken alive after the 

 harpooning of its mother, and was as playful as a kitten. It 

 was a great favorite with all on board, and the only thing 

 annoyed it was pulling its whiskers. 



Another tusky inhabitant of the Arctic seas is the Nar- 

 wahlj or 3Ionodon, or what is popularly called the Sea-Uni- 

 corn, also an animal of the Mammalian order, about sixteen 

 feet long and eight feet in circumference. In appearance 

 the narwahl resembles a small whale, but with the addition 

 of two long, straight, and pointed tusks, like spears, spirally 

 twisted, directed forwards, and differing in length, the left 

 one being about seven feet and a few inches, and the right 

 one seven feet. It frequently happens, however, that only 

 •one of these tusks grows, and the other, somehow strangled, 

 remains shut up in the bone like a nut. This will account 

 for the appellation given to the narWahl of the "sea-unicorn.^^ 

 These tusks are of a whiter and harder substance than ivory. 

 The Kings of Denmark possess a magnificent throne in the 

 Castle of Rosenberg made of this material. 



In former times, when the origin of the horns of this 

 animal was not well known, they were supposed to possess 

 miraculous powers for healing diseases. The monks, in partic- 

 ular, fostered the delusion, and pretended that every ill under 

 the sun could be removed by their power. The narwahl has 

 no true teeth in either jaw ; the mouth is small and the lips 

 are stiff, but it is able to catch and swallow so large a fish as 

 the skate, the breadth of which is nearly three times as much 

 as the width of its own mouth. It seems probable, however, 

 that the horn serves them in this need, the fish being pierced 

 with it, and killed before devoured. It is used, also, in dig- 

 ging sea-plants from the rocks at great depths, in order to 

 drive from their retreats the shrimps and other animals on 

 which the narwahl feeds. The tail is about twenty inches 

 long and four feet broad. It has no dorsal or back fin, but 



