THE NARWHALE. 299 



the barb of an arrow, six feet long, and of a triangular 

 shape. As the fat, which covers the body, is not suscep* 

 tibte, it is some moments before the creature becomes 

 sensible of the wound ; but, as the harpoon penetrates 

 towards the muscles, it begins to feel the effect of the 

 most agonizing pain, and it instantly dives with an im- 

 petuous motion, in the hope of evading the attack of 

 its foes ; want of air at length again brings it towards 

 the surface, when several harpoons successively are 

 thrown, until the surrounding waves are totally disco- 

 loured, and the exhausted animal in agony expires* 

 The rope in the harpoon prevents it from sinking, and 

 is fastened to the boat with an iron chain ; the poor 

 animal is then cut into different pieces, and proper 

 means adopted for extracting of the oil. 



THE NAfiWHALE, OR SEA-UNICORN, 



This fish is not so large as the whale, not measur- 

 ing more than sixty feet in length ; the body is infinitely 

 more slender, ai/d it does not yield such a proportionate 

 quantity of oil: The animals just described are totally 

 without teeth, but in this formidable creature's we find 

 them attached to the upper jaw, from which they ex- 

 tend in a straight line with the body, bearing the ap- 

 pearance of immense horns. 



The extreme length of these instruments have in- 

 duced many to consider them rather as horns than teeth, 

 but they doubtless resemble the tusks of the boar, and 

 the elephant, and proceed from sockets in the upper 

 jaw, which are allowed to exceed ivory both in zchite~ 

 ness and strength. In a skull to be seen at Hamburgh, 

 there are two teeth which measure upwards of seven 

 feet, issuing from the head in a straight direction, and 

 about the thickness of a small man's leg. 



