4 8 CETACEANS. 



produced after a period of six months' gestation. Three porpoises which were 



enclosed by a fence in the Wareham River in Dorsetshire, many years ago, are 



reported to have incessantly uttered the most distressing cries, which were continued 



by night as well as by day. 



Porpoise- Formerly porpoises were esteemed in England for their flesh, 



Hunting-. but they are now taken mainly for their oil, although the skin is also 



sometimes used. The leather commonly known as porpoise-hide is, however, as we 



have already had occasion to mention, generally made from the skin of the white 



whale. On parts of the coast of North America, porpoise-shooting is regularly 



practised by the Indians ; and tliis pursuit affords to the Passamaquody tribe their 



chief means of support. The average yield of oil will be about three gallons, and 



in a good season an Indian may kill from one hundred to one hundred and fifty 



porpoises. " To make a successful porpoise-hunter," writes Mr. C. C. Ward, 



" requires five or six years of constant practice. Boys, ten or twelve years of age, 



are taken out in the canoes by the men, and thus early trained in the pursuit of 



that which is to form their main support in after years. Porpoise-shooting is 



followed at all seasons and in all kinds of weather — in the summer sea, in the 



boisterous autumn gales, and in the dreadful icy seas of mid-winter. In a calm 



summer day, the porpoise can be heard blowing for a long distance. The Indians, 



guided by the sound long before they can see the game, paddle rapidly in the 



direction from which the sound comes, and rarely fail to secure the porpoise. They 



use long smooth-bored guns, loaded with a handful of powder, and a heavy charge 



of double-B shot. As soon as the porpoise is shot, they paddle rapidly up to him 



and kill him with a spear, to prevent his flopping about and upsetting the canoe 



after they have taken him aboard. The manner of taking a porpoise on board is 



to insert two fingers of the right hand into the blowhole, take hold of the pectoral 



fin with the left hand, and lift the creature up until at least one half of his length 



is above the gunwale of the canoe, and then drag him aboard. This is comparatively 



easy to accomplish in smooth water, but when the feat is performed in a heavy sea, 



one can hardly realise the skill and daring required. In rough weather, with a 



high sea running, the Indian is compelled to stand up in his canoe when he fires, 



otherwise he could not see his game. In such work as this, one would suppose that 



upsets would be unavoidable ; but, strange to say, they seldom happen, and only 



under circumstances where the Indian's skill or foresight is unavailing." 



Although Mr. True believes that there are two other species of 

 Indian Porpoise. . , .,..,. , . .. .,, , 



porpoise with back-fins inhabiting American waters, it will be 



unnecessary to allude further to them here ; and we accordingly pass on to the 



Indian porpoise (P. phoccenoides). This species is readily distinguished by the 



absence of the back-fin, and the reduced number of the teeth, of which there are 



about eighteen on each side of the jaws. Of small size, it is less than 4 feet in 



length, and is of a uniform black colour. It inhabits the shores of the Indian 



Ocean, from the Cape of Good Hope to Japan ; and has been taken in many of the 



tidal rivers of India, and in the Yang-tse-Kiang, at a distance of nearly one 



thousand miles from its mouth. 



The following account of the habits of this species is given by 



Mr. F. W. Sinclair, who states that it " frequents the tidal creeks, 



