94 MABINE MAM3IALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST. 



of gathering in troops, yet we have observed that it generally advances in lines of 

 seldom more than two or three abreast, or more frequently in single file ; spouting 

 irregularly, and showing little of its form above water. When undulating along in 

 this manner, it often makes a noise at the moment of coming to the surface to 

 respire, which may be likened to the faint lowing of an ox ; but the strain is not 

 so prolonged. Sometimes these animals will gambol about vessels as porpoises do ; 

 but at the slightest noise upon the water, or at the discharge of fire-arms, they 

 instantly disappear. 



Through the kindness of Captain Arnold, we are able to add the measurements 

 of a White Whale killed at the fishery on Tigel River, Eastern Siberia. The de- 

 scription and proportions of the specimen alluded to are as follows : 



Ft. In. 



From tip of snout to notch of flukes 16 6 



From tip of snout to corner of mouth 1 



From tip of snout to eye 1 4 



From tip of snout to spout-hole 2 2 



From tip of snout to pectorals 3 8 



From eye to top of head 1 2 



From notch of flukes to -vent 4 5 



From notch of flukes to genital slit 5 9 



Expansion of flukes 3 10 



Breadth of flukes 1 11 



Thickness of flukes 3 



Kound the body in largest place 9 10 



Length of pectorals 1 11 



Width of pectorals 1 3 



Thickness of blubber 4 



Sex, male ; color, white. Color of blubber, yellowish white ; yield of oil, one 

 hundred gallons. 



At this place the animal ascends the river a distance of thirty miles,* where 

 it is captured with the harpoon and lance as in ordinary whaling ; but in other 

 estuaries which branch from the northern seas it is taken in nets, durinc the sea- 

 son from June to September. Large numbers are captured by the natives of those 

 coasts, and the oil obtained is to them a valuable article of commerce. In winter, 

 the fat of the White Whale is considered a luxurious dish for the table, and the 

 lean flesh supplies ample food for the sledge -dogs. 



*Dall gives an account of a beluga being the Yukon Kiver, about seven hundred miles 

 taken by the Eussians, in 1863, at Nulato, on from the sea. «. 



