THE PORPOISE. l6l 



ice in the vicinity of Christianshaab, and discovered one of 

 those 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 aroimd. It was 

 described to me as an Arctic 'Black Hole of Calcutta' in 

 the eagerness of the animals to keep at the place." " Neither 

 the narwhal nor the white whale," he continues, are timid 

 animals, but will approach close to, and gambol for hours in 

 the immediate vicinity of the ship." The oil is highly es- 

 teemed, 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 Common The Porpoise resembles the dolphin in general 



Foipoise. appearance. Its length, from the tip of the snout 

 to the end of the tail, is from five to eight feet; and the 

 width about two feet and a half. The figure of the whole 

 body is conical; the colour of the back is deep blue, inclining 

 to shining black; the sides are gray, and the belly white. 

 When the flesh is cut up, it looks very much like pork; but, 

 although it was once considered a sumptuous article of food, 

 and is said to have been occasionally introduced at the tables 

 of the old English nobility, it certainly has a disagreeable 

 flavour. Their motion in the water is a kind of circular 

 leap; they dive deep, but soon again rise up in order 

 to breathe. They are seen in nearly all seas, where they 

 sport with great activity, chiefly on the approach of a 

 squall. 



The The Grampus (Orca Gladiator) is the natural 



Orampus. enemy of the whale and the seal, who hold 

 him in mortal terror. His swallow is so great that he can 

 take a porpoise or a seal whole, and has been known to 

 swallow several in succession. The whale escapes him by getting 

 among the ice, whither it is said the grampus will not fol- 

 low him. 



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