250 THE PORPESSE. 



afraid to pass or approach them, remain till they are 

 all dry, when they are killed with clubs. 



Two other delphini, of the peaked or long-nosed spe- 

 cies, are sometimes found in the British seas. These 

 are, the BELUGA, (delphmus aptera, so called from its 

 having no dorsal fin, but only a ridge on the back) ; 

 and the BOTTLE-NOSE, (Jiyperoodon, so called from 

 its having tubercles resembling teeth upon the palate). 



The BELUGA, which from its colour is sometimes 

 called the white dolphin, is found in large flocks in the 

 Greenland seas. It also enters the estuaries of rivers, 

 after fish, like the grampus ; but so far as we know, it 

 has not appeared on the coasts of England, and it is 

 but rare on those of Scotland. It has been found in 

 the Orkneys, and one was caught in the Forth below 

 Stirling, in the summer of 1815. Those larger visiters 

 are found in that river more frequently than in others 

 further to the north, the entrances of which are less 

 extended and more interrupted by banks and bars. The 

 salmon, on the other hand, as if instinctively to avoid 

 their enemies, are more abundant in the confined 

 estuaries. 



Sometimes this animal, which is to all appearance a 

 very quiet and harmless one, and finds the Green- 

 landers in many a dainty dinner, is supposed to create 

 great alarm. It is large, (from twelve to eighteen 

 feet long) and it is white, therefore it is mistaken for 

 the formidable shark of the warmer latitudes. The 

 shark is not a warm-blooded animal, neither does it 

 suckle its young, or, though it brings them forth alive, 

 appear to care any thing about them afterwards. Their 



