ORDER OF CETACEA. 79 



nor fight, and they fall under the blows of the sailors who are 

 in the boats (Fig. 22). 



The Icelanders manufacture with the Narwhal's tusks their 

 arrows for the chase, and the poles which they use in the construc- 

 tion of their huts ; but they do not eat its flesh, because they 

 believe it to be venemous.* This is not the case, however', with 

 the Greenlanders, and other inhabitants of the north, who esteem 

 it excellent. They dry it hj exposing it to the smoke. The 

 oil furnished by the Narwhal is, it is said, preferable to that of the 

 Whale. 



Naturalists are not agreed as to the use of the Narwhal's 

 formidable weapon. They say that they ^Tse it in their attacks on 

 the Whale, and that they kill this monster by running their swords 

 into its belly. Lacepede says that their tusks have been found 

 deeply implanted in the bodies of Whales ; but other authors 

 formally deny that battles ever take place between these two 

 terrible combatants. 



Narwhals sometimes rush with prodigious speed and force 

 against vessels, which they no doubt take for some gigantic prej^. 

 If the animal attack the ship on the side as it is sailing, the tooth, 

 imbedded ia the wood, breaks off ; but if it attack it from behind, 

 the Narwhal remains fixed to the ship ; it is then dragged along 

 and towed tiU it dies. 



Certain naturalists, relying on the fact that the Narwhal's tusk 

 is smooth towards the end, which is sometimes rounded and, as it 

 were, worn away, have concluded that the animal uses its horn 

 for piercing the ice, when it wants to come up and breathe, and 

 to save itself a long journey to the open water. Others have 

 thought that these traces of wear and tear of its weapon arise 

 from the friction oi it in sand or against rocks, when the animal 

 is looking there for its food, which consists of Cuttle-fish, flat fish, 

 Cod, Ray, Oysters, and other Mollusks. And, lastly, it has been 

 stated that the Narwhal uses its natural lance for attacking its 

 prey, for killing it, and perhaps also for tearing it up before it 

 devours it. Thus the Narwhal's tooth would seem to be at the 

 same time an instrument which serves to satisfy the wants of the 



* The name tliis animal bears was given to it bj' the Icelanders. The meaning 

 of the word is " Whale that feeds on dead bodies ; " for the word nar in their language 

 means dead body or carcass, and the word ir/ial, >Yhale. 



