80 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AXD SPORT. 



My first acquaintance with the white whale in the 

 flesh was made on the " snow-foot " at the base of the 

 cliffs below the Samoyede settlement at the head of 

 Karmakula harbour, having previously encountered 

 by the hundred their mouldering skeletons scattered 

 along the beach in various parts of the island, picked 

 remarkably clean by the burgomaster or glaucus gull, 

 that greedy scavenger of the arctic regions. On the 

 stretch of snow-ice in question there were ranged the 

 bodies of half-a-dozen white whales, varying from six 

 to sixteen feet in length ; the young ones being of a 

 brown colour, and the adults white, which was seen 

 to be tinged with yellow by contrast with the snow 

 on which they lay. Their very fine dolphin-like lines 

 are well depicted in many works on natural history, 

 the great peculiarity of their appearance being given 

 by the odd profile of the concave forehead, which 

 ends in a projecting upper lip or jaw ; thence the 

 mouth takes an upward direction, whilst the chin 

 slopes quickly off to the under surface of the body. 

 The diminutive eye adds the finishing - touch to a 

 countenance expressive of that silliness and indecision 

 of character which is amply exemplified by the be- 

 haviour of the creature when beset by the hunters. 

 Hearing a snarling sound behind one of the carcasses, 

 I went up to discover the cause, and was surprised to 

 see a young polar bear making off with a large piece 

 of offal in his mouth, and smeared from head to foot 

 with gore, grumbling loudly to himself as he shambled 



