FAUNA AND FLORA. 



15 



wliale fishing is almost abandoned in the Nortli Atlantic. The walrus also, 

 formerly so common that the Normans, without leaving the Scandinavian waters, 

 procured enough ivory from this animal to pay their " Peter's pence," is no 

 longer met beyond the northern latitudes. But the grindehval is still hunted, and 

 the fishermen of the Fiiroer Islands alone capture over 1,200 yearly.* 



The Scimmus borealis {haakjdring, hakal) is also sought for the sake of its liver, 

 and as many as 23,000 are annually killed on the coasts of Iceland. The seal, of 



Fijr. 9.— Norwegian Coast : View of Tiiondhjem. 



which five species are met on the shores of Iceland, Jan Mayen, and Spitzbergen, 

 forms a special object of prey, and about one million are yearly taken in the seas 

 stretching between Scandinavia and Greenland.t Modern industry needs a 



* Irminger, " Notes sur lea pêches du Danemark, des îles Faroer," &c. 

 t Ch. Grad, "Esquisse physique des îles Spitzbergen." 



