WHITE WHALE. 441 



America it ascends the St. Lawrence as far as Quebec, 

 and in Asia Schrenk and Nordmann state that it goes far 

 up the River Amur. 



On the British coasts the White Whale has appeared 

 occasionally as an accidental straggler. Two young ones 

 are stated to have been cast ashore in the Pentland Firth 

 in August, 1793, some miles west of Thurso, and were ob- 

 served by Colonel Imrie ; they were both males of seven 

 or eight feet in length, and were mottled with brownish - 

 grey. In June, 1815, a male was killed in the Firth of 

 Forth, and is now preserved in the Museum of Arts and 

 Sciences at Edinburgh. It had been seen in the Firth 

 for nearly three months, passing up and down with the 

 tide, and was at last killed by some fishermen with guns 

 and spears ; this example was described by Drs. Neil and 

 Barclay in the third volume of the " Transactions of the 

 Wernerian Society." A third occurrence is recorded by 

 Messrs. Baikie and Heddle in their " Historia Naturalis 

 Orcadensis," where it is stated that " a dead White Whale 

 was found stranded on the Island of Auskerry after a 

 gale of easterly wind in October, 1815.'^ 



The Beluga has long been known under various names, 

 all signifying *' White Fish " or " White Whale," Beluffa 

 being a Russian name derived from the adjective " belue,'' 

 white. The snowy colour of the animal, sometimes 

 slightly tinged with yellowish or rosy, renders it the 

 most beautiful of the whole order, and its proportions 

 are admirably adapted for the rapid and gi-aceful move- 

 ments for which it is remarkable. Like most members 

 of the family, it is gregarious, sporting, feeding, and mi- 

 grating in herds of moderate numbers, and often follow- 

 ing vessels and playing round them like the connnon 

 Dolphin. It must be a beautiful aiul interesting sight 

 to witness a number of these animals leaping and playing 



.3 T. 



