No. II. MAMMALIA. 197 



than the meeting of the Baffin's Bay and Polar tides near the 

 above-mentioned cape. 



CETACEA, 



8. BALDEN A MYSTICETUS (Linn.) A portion of the rib of 

 a Greenland whale was found by Lieutenant Egerton on the 

 northern shores of Grinnell Land, in lat. 82 33' N. It was 

 of great antiquity, but I am unprepared to advance any 

 opinion as to how it got there. I am, however, quite satisfied 

 on one point, and that is, no whale could inhabit at the 

 present day the frozen sea to the north of Robeson Channel. 

 To penetrate thither from the north-water of Baffin's Bay 

 would be a hazardous task for this great animal, and in 

 this opinion the experienced whaling quarter-masters who 

 accompanied our Expedition coincided. We may dismiss 

 from our minds the idea or hope that nearer to the Pole, and 

 beyond the limits of present discovery, there may be haunts 

 in the Polar Sea suitable for the right whale. I do not look 

 for the speedy extinction of the Greenland whale ; but it is 

 probable that in a few years the fishing will no longer prove 

 profitable to the fine fleet of whalers that now sail from our 

 northern ports, and I see no hope of Arctic discovery in- 

 creasing our knowledge of the range of this animal. 



9. MONODON MOXOCEROS (Linn.) During the month of 

 August, while we were waiting in Payer Harbour, near Cape 

 Sabine, we noticed several narwhals playing at the edge of 

 the ice, but we saw no more of them after entering the pack 

 of Smith Sound. The range of the narwhal in that direction 

 is no doubt coincident with the summer extension of the 

 north-water of Baffin's Bay. It is not included by Dr. Bessels 

 among the animals of Hall Land. An ancient tusk of the 

 narwhal was picked up by Lieutenant Parr on the shore of 

 Grinnell Land, a little above the present sea-level, a few 

 miles to the north of the winter quarters of the ' Alert.' 



