554 MR. R. BROWN ON THE CETACEANS [Nov. 12, 



winter ; and the following occurrence seems to support this view. In 

 April, 1860, a Greenlander was travelling along the ice in the 

 vicinity of Christianshaab, and discovered one of these open spaces 

 in the ice, which, even in the most severe winters, remain open. In 

 this hole hundreds of Narwhals and white Whales were protruding 

 their heads to breathe, no other place presenting itself for miles 

 around. It was described to me as akin to an Arctic Black Hole of 

 Calcutta, in the eagerness of the animals to keep at the place. 

 Hundreds of Eskimo and Danes resorted thither with their dogs and 

 sledges, and while one shot the animal, another harpooned it to 

 prevent its being pushed aside by the anxious crowd of breathers. 

 Dozens of both Narwhals and white Whales were killed, but many 

 were lost before they were got home, the ice breaking up soon after. 

 In the ensuing summer the natives found many washed up in the 

 bays and inlets around. Fabricius describes a similar scene. Neither 

 the Narwhal nor the White Whale are timid animals, but will ap- 

 proach close to, and gambol for hours in the immediate vicinity of, 

 the ship. 



(^) Geographical distribution. — The range and migration of the 

 Narwhal is much the same as that of the White Whale. It is only 

 found on the coast of Danish Greenland during the spring and 

 winter, migrating northward and westward in the summer. It is 

 rarely seen south of 65° N. lat. 



(e) Economic value. — In early times the tusk of the Narwhal was 

 highly valued as a medicine ; and Master Pomet, in his ' Compleat 

 Historic of Drugges,' gives special directions regarding the selection 

 of them. To this day the Chinese esteem them for their medicinal 

 properties. In 1861 the price of Narwhals' ivory was Is. dd. per 

 lb., but of late years it has risen prodigiously in value, but is again 

 falling. In the Palace of Rosenborg is a throne of the kings of 

 Denmark manufactured of this ivory ; and Capt. Scoresby (the father 

 of the Doctor) had a bed made of them. The oil is highly esteemed, 

 and the flesh is very palatable. The skin of the Narwhal boiled to 

 a jelly is looked upon, and justly so, as one of the prime dainties of 

 a Greenlander. The hospitable Danish ladies resident in that country 

 always make a point of presenting a dish of mattak to their foreign 

 visitors, who soon begin to like it. 



14. Globiocephalus svineval (Lacep.), Gray. 



Belphinus melas, Traill, Nicholson's Journal, vol. xxii. (1809) 

 p. 21. 



Belphinus deductor, Traill, MSS. and Scoresby's Arctic Regions, 

 vol. i. p. 496, t. 13. fig. 1. 



Belphinus globiceps, Cuv. Ann. Mus. xix. t. 1. fig. 2, 



Belphinus tursio, O. Fabr. Faun. Grcenl. p. 49. no. 31. 



Popular names. — Bottle-nose, Caaing Whale (fishermen and sea- 

 men) ; Grindaquealur (Faroe Islands) ; Grinde-Hval (Swedish and 

 Danish) ; Nesernak or Nisarnak (Greenland). The term Bottle- 

 nose is applied by sailors to several species of Whales. In fact any 



