400 WHALES, SEALS, AND SEA-SERPENTS 



is a small whale, about 10 or 12 feet long, and is an 

 eater of fish, especially, it is said, of salmon (Fig. 220) . 

 Its skin, like that of Hyperoodon, is used for leather. 

 The Dundee whalers still bring a considerable number 

 of White Whales, chiefly from the neighbourhood of 

 Cumberland Gulf. 



Closely akin to the Beluga is that very curious 

 creature, the Narwhal. The teeth of this whale are 

 all absent save one, and this one, which is present only 

 in the males, is magnified into the long, twisted tusk 

 (Fig. 221). In the embryo, besides rudiments of the 

 other teeth, two small tusks may always be detected, 

 and, as a rare abnormality, both of these occasionally 

 grow to a full size. One such two-horned Narwhal, in 

 the museum at Hamburg, is one of the oldest natural 

 history specimens in the museums of the world. The 

 Narwhal is exclusively Arctic, but has now and then 

 wandered as far as our own coasts. It is valuable only 

 for its ivory, which brings a fair price. Some five-and- 

 twenty years ago the price was extremely high, and 

 I used to be told that the commodity had been " cor- 

 nered " by a petty Indian rajah, who stockaded 

 his palace all round with a fence of the tusks, 

 confident in their exceptional virtue against the Evil 

 Eye. 



There is but little difference between the porpoises 

 and the true dolphins, the chief being that the teeth 

 of the latter are pointed, while those of the former have 

 flattened, spade-shaped crowns. The porpoise is the 

 commonest of all our native Cetacea, and is very fre- 

 quently caught in the fishermen's nets. It comes far 

 up our rivers, and has been seen in the Seine at Paris. 

 Its flesh was an old-time dainty, and, by the way, it 

 is in this respect not exceptional, for the flesh of the 

 larger whales is said to be extremely good eating. I 



