'CETACEA. 



Greenlander attacking a Narwhal. 



Whale, diying. 



Narwhal Is tusk firmly imbedded in it, came some few years ago under our" own inspection. It is probably 

 only in defence of the females and their young, unless indeed when attacked himself, that the male Nar- 

 whal thus rushes against ships or boats; for we utterly discredit the usual accounts of its causeless and 

 indiscriminate attacks upon any object which approaches within its range. Doubtless when wounded and 

 harassed it becomes desperate; and its power, its velocity, and weapon combine to render it formidable. 



i he Narwhal is gregarious, associating in troops of from six or eight to twenty or more ; and numbers 

 are often seen clustered together, both in the open sea and in bays and inlets free from the ice, forming a 

 compact phalanx, moving gently and slowly along. Under such circumstances the independent move- 

 ments of each individual are necessarily embarrassed, so that a considerable slaughter may be easily effected 



among them. When attacked at such a time, 

 the hind ranks, instead of turning against their 

 assailants, press upon those before, sliding their 

 long weapons over the glossy backs of their 

 leaders, and all becomes disorder and confusion. 

 Opportunities of this kind are welcome to the 

 Greenlanders, to whom the Narwhal is an im- 

 portant animal. 



When struck by a harpoon, the Narwhal 

 dives with great velocity, and in the same man- 

 ner as the Whale, but not to the same extent. 

 In general it descends about two hundred 

 fathoms, and on returning to the surface, is dis- 

 patched by a whale-lance, without any difficulty. 

 The blubber is about three inches in thickness, 

 and invests the w T hole body ; it affords about 

 half a ton of oil. 



The female Narwhal produces a single 

 young one at a birth. 



