DOLPHINS, PORPOISES 



waiting for a shoal to come within reasonable distance of 

 the shore ; and as soon as the long straggling lines are 

 close enough, the boats dash from their hiding-place and 

 glide swiftly and silently between the rows. 



Then all in a moment there is confusion and panic 

 among the shoal ; for narwhals are only courageous against 

 a passive foe, or one of their own kind ; and as the long 

 oar-blades are whisked sharply out of the water and 

 everything is made clear for action, they fall back one 

 upon another, make one futile attempt at flight, and then 

 content themselves with huddling together and spouting 

 or groaning. In this position they are powerless to defend 

 themselves, even if they would, for the long tusks have 

 become hopelessly mixed ; sometimes half a dozen will be 

 thrust together like so much trellis-work, and not one of 

 the owners can stir. Perhaps one of the more daring of 

 the males will make a feeble dash at the boat, but there 

 is always a fisherman ready to receive him. 



The fishing tackle is a pole, eight or ten feet long, with 

 either an ordinary whale-harpoon head fitted to it or else 

 a three-tined fork with barbed points. These the sturdy 

 boatmen work untiringly, stabbing on all sides as far as 

 they can reach, pitchforking the smaller carcasses on 

 board bodily, and leaving the others to take care of them- 

 selves till they can be roped up together and towed ashore. 



Although they see their brethren being butchered on 

 all sides of them, the narwhals still make no attempt at 

 escape ; some few perhaps will dive, but when they want 

 breath they generally seem to come up again in the midst 

 of one of the lines of struggling animals. 



274 



