102 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



ivory tusk of this creature. The Greenlanders employ this 

 ivory in the manufacture of spears, arrows, hooks, &c. They 

 take the Narwhal by a kind of harpoon attached to a line, 

 with a buoy at its extremity. The use of the buoy is to 

 harass and retard the Narwhal when struck, and to give 

 notice when it is about to rise. Immediately that it reaches 

 the surface, a lance is thrust into it, which generally proves 



MONODOX. (Gr. Mowf, solitary; odovc, or bfiuv, a tooth.) 



Monoceros (Gr. Mofoj- /ctpaf, a horn), the Narwhal. 



its death-blow. The adventurous Greenlander find it a most 

 welcome prey, as he obtains from it oil, food, weapons, arid 

 ropes. 



Although an inhabitant of the northern seas, it has several 

 times visited our coasts. Its body is from thirty to forty feet 

 in length, and its tusk from five to nine. 



The Manatees and Dugong omitted. 



