78 E. BROWN ON THE CETACEA OF GREENLAND. 



it, take the young under one pectoral and swim off by aid of the 

 other. When the mother was killed, the cub could not be made 

 to leave the dead body of its mother, though lances were con- 

 tinually run into it by the seamen who were flensing the animal. 

 When the carcass was let go, the young one instantly dived down 

 after it, nor did we see it again. The sight, hearing, and smell 

 of the Whale are all very acute in the water, but are very dull 

 out of it. The power of the Cetacea for remaining beneath the 

 surface of the sea seems to bear a direct ratio to their size. Under 

 ordinary circumstances, the Eight Whale will generally remain 

 no longer than half an hour without rising again to breathe ; the 

 cubs are, however, more stubborn, and will often remain more 

 than three-quarters of an hour. Whalers and Eskimo have many 

 stories of Whales lying torpid at the bottom of shallow inlets and 

 bays for several days at a time ; though I have heard these tales 

 repeated by most credible men, yet I am inclined to Iiesitate at 

 receiving as facts anything so contrary to physiological laws, and 

 so incapable of receiving any explanation of a reasonable nature.* 

 I have frequently known Whales dive and not come up for hours ; 

 but, unfortunately for the acceptance of these wonderful tales of 

 subaquatic being, these universally came up dead ! In nearly 

 every case it appears that, diving with tremendous impetus under 

 the tortures of the harpoon, they had struck their heads on the 

 bottom with such force as to stun them for the time being, and 

 before they recovered were drowned ; the Whale's nose was in 

 nearly every instance covered with the mud of the bottom. This 

 diving to the bottom is a favourite feat of young Whales ; and 

 accordingly these frisky individuals are more difficult to capture 

 than the adult ones of a more staid temperament. All species of 

 Cetacea seem to pass a considerable portion of their time asleep 

 on the surftice of the water, and in this position they are often 

 struck. The Right Whale always keeps near the land-floes of 

 ice ; and its migrations north and west seem to be due to this 

 habit.j 



After man, the chief enemy of the Whale is Orca gladiator, 

 the most savage of all the Cetacea, and the only one which feeds 

 upon other animals belonging to the order. The Thresher Shark 

 {Carchm'ias vulpes), the very existence of which Scoresby seemed 

 to doubt, but which is now so comparatively well-known to 

 naturalists and seamen, is also an enemy of the Whale. It is 

 doubtful, however, whether it attacks it in life, or only preys upon 

 it after death. The "Advice" (Capt. A. Deuchars) once took a 

 dead Whale alongside which this Shark was attacking in dozens, 

 the belly being perfectly riddled by them. J 



* Vide also Dewhurst, I. c. p. 36. 



f Capt. Wells, in the Dundee whaling steamer " Arctic," is reported to 

 have run, in the summer of 1867, up into Smith's Sound in search of Whales. 

 He found open water and no Whales — a case of cause and effect (Sherard 

 Osborn, Proc. Roy. Geogr. Soc, vol. xii., p. 103, Feb. 10th 1868). 



X The sailors have a notion that the Shark does not bite out the pieces, but 

 cuts them by means of its curved dorsal fin, and seizes them as they drop into 

 the water. This belief is widely and firmly received. 



