56 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Dexterity Value Well tasted when young. 



fish up a fresh water river, from whence it finds 

 a difficulty to return. These creatures have been 

 often taken in the river Thames, both above and 

 below London-bridge; and it is curious to ob- 

 serve with what dexterity they avoid their pur- 

 suers, and how momentarily they recover their 

 breath above the water. It is usual to spread 

 four or five boats over the part of the river where 

 they are seen, and to fire at them the instant 

 they rise. 



One porpesse yields about a hogshead of oil, 

 and therefore renders its capture an object of 

 consideration. The lean of the young ones is 

 also said to be well tasted, and not unlike veal. 

 They go with young ten months, seldom bring 

 forth more than one at a time, and generally in 

 the summer; from the ova found in this fish, a 

 kind of caviare is made, which is eaten as a 

 sauce, or with bread. It is conjectured that they 

 live about thirty years. 



THE GRAMPUS, 



CALLED by Pliny " an immense heap of 

 flesh armed with dreadful teeth," is from fifteen 

 feet long to twenty-five; and so thick in propor- 

 tion to its length, that one of eighteen feet 

 long is, in the thickest part, more than ten feet 

 in diameter. There are thirty teeth in each 

 jaw; those before are bluni, runnel, and slender; 



