92 3IABINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST. 



Farther northward, among the icy regions, the Orca delights in the pursuit 

 and destruction of the White Whale, or Beluga, and in robbing the walrus of its 

 helpless offspring. The tender flesh and rich fat of the White Whale furnishes them 

 ■with choice food ; but, as if not content with satiating their own greed, they seem 

 to aim at the total destruction of their victims, by tearing the whole animal into 

 fragments. Captain Holboll writes of the Greenland Killers as follows: "In the 

 year 1827, I was myself an eye-witness of a great slaughter performed by these 

 rapacious animals. A shoal of belugas had been pursued by these blood-thirsty 

 animals into a bay in the neighborhood of Godhaven, and were there literally torn 

 to pieces by them. Many more of the belugas were killed than eaten ; so that the 

 Greenlanders, besides their own booty, got a good share of that of the Killers." 



It has been said that even the full-grown walrus, although armed with long 

 tusks, is fearful of the Orca ; but in relation to that, we have nothing in our notes 

 of observation to substantiate the assertion. It is true, the ponderous creatures 

 will crawl upon the ice with their little ones to avoid the Killers, but it seems 

 to be only for the purpose of keeping their cherished young beyond the reach of 

 their enemies. Sometimes the cub will mount upon its mother's back for refuge, 

 clinging to it with instinctive solicitude. When in this apparently safe position, 

 the rapacious Orca cjuickly dives, and, coming up under the parent animal, with a 

 spiteful thud throws the young one from the dam's back into the water, when in 

 a twinkling it is seized, and, with one crush, devoured by its adversary. 



Compared with other species of the Dolphin tribe, the Orcas are not numer- 

 ous, neither do they usually go in large shoals or schools, like the porpoises and 

 Blackfish. Their mating season, or time of gestation, is a matter of conjecture ; 

 probably in this respect they are similar to the Sperm Whale. We have met with 

 them in midwinter, in the Gulf of Georgia and along the northern coast as far as 

 Sitka, as often as at other seasons of the year, showing plainly that they are not 

 confined to warm latitudes, nor migrate from the colder climates during the rigor- 

 ous months. They are seldom captured by civilized whalemen, as their varied and 

 irregular movements make the pursuit difficult, and the product of oil is even less 

 than that of the Blackfish, in proportion to their size. The Makah Indians, how- 

 ever, occasionally pursue and take them about Cape Flattery, in Washington Terri- 

 tory, as they consider their flesh and fat more luxurious food than the larger 

 baloenas, or rorc^uals. But, in whatever quarter of the world the Orcas are found, 

 they seem always intent upon seeking something to destroy or devour. 



