98 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
further examination I found an immense number of Calani 
present where the water was oily, and these crustaceans the 
Mallemokes were eating. The streaked arrangement of the oil 
must, I think, be due to the wind blowing it away from more or 
less stationary areas, where in this case Calani were present in 
abundance, either in the surface or sub-surface waters. , 
July 24.—Lat. 74° 43’, long. 11° 30’ W. During the last few 
days we have seen many schools of Narwhals, all of which 
invariably consisted of full-grown females accompanied by calves. 
The calves were all about the same size, very small, and evidently 
only recently born. This observation, together with the finding 
of the mature fcetuses already mentioned, renders it probable 
that the Narwhal usually brings forth its young at this season, 
—an «@ priori conclusion agreeing with previous observations. 
To-day a female was killed, from which I obtained a foetus 
7z inches in length,—an illustration of the fact that foetuses of 
a similar size are not unfrequently procured during the months 
of June and July. If there is a regular season for bringing 
forth the young, the period of gestation would appear to be about 
twelve months. This agrees with the fact that copulation occurs 
during May and June. The foetuses of small size—e. g. 74 in. 
in length—must, then, be regarded as about two months old. 
This may appear a somewhat rapid rate of growth, but it is well 
to bear in mind, as Owen pointed out, that the cetacean fetus 
bears, when mature, a greater proportion to the mother as 
regards size than that of any other animal. In the case of the 
Narwhal I have measured several foetuses exceeding 5 feet in 
length, the average length of the mother being 14 feet ; while in 
Hyperoodon I have seen two, both over 10 feet in length, the 
mother in each case being about 26 feet long. Therefore, both 
in the case of the Narwhal and in the case of Hyperoodon, the 
foetus may reach while in utero fully one-third the length of 
the mother. . 
The colour of the water, which, as I have already mentioned, 
was everywhere blue and clear when we first visited this locality, 
has now assumed in many places a dark green colour. The 
change was gradual, and occurred probably through the develop- 
ment of diatom spores. During the interval the ice had cleared 
away, exposing the surface waters to the light, evidently the only 
favourable condition wanting to the presence of vegetable life. 
