244 



CURIOUS CREATURES. 



THE NARWHAL, 



generally called the Monoceros or Sea Unicorn, is 

 thus shown in one place, by Gcsner ; and, rough though 

 it is, it is far more like the Narwhal's horn than is 

 the other, also, in his work, of a Sea Rhinoceros or 



Narwhal engaged 

 in combat with an 

 outrageous - sized 

 Lobster, or Kraken, 

 I know not which ; 

 for, as we shall 

 presently see, the 

 Kraken is repre- 

 sented as a Cray- 

 fish or Lobster. It was the long twisted horn of the 

 Narwhal which did duty for ages as the horn of the 

 fabled Unicorn, a gift worthy to be presented by an 

 Emperor to an Emperor. 



This sketch of Gesner's, he describes as a one-horned 

 monster with a sharp nose, devouring a Gambarus. 



Glaus Magnus dismisses the Narwhal very curtly: "The 

 Unicorn is a Sea Beast, having in his forehead a very 



