112 



OLAFSEN AND POVELSEN ? S 



to another ; and lastly, however little we consider that the ima- 

 gination represents every thing very different from what it actually 

 is; we are almost induced to believe that this thing was a man. 

 But; on the other hand, if the description be exact, it will be 

 observed, that neither the hair, teeth, nor fingers, resembled 

 those of the human species. It must also be remarked, that the 

 inhabitants of Iceland always scrupulously collect and decently 

 bury the corpses or limbs which may be either thrown ashore by 

 the tide, or found in whales and other large fish ; and hence, 

 those who saw the animal in question would have made much 

 hesitation in leaving it on the shore for a week, and afterwards 

 throwing it into the sea, unless they had been convinced it wa& 

 not the corpse of a human being, 



FARTHER PARTICULARS OF THE WHALE. 



Whales formerly frequented the western coast of Iceland m 

 great numbers ; but from the seventeenth to the eighteenth cen- 

 tury, the Spanish and French fishers pursued them so . eagerly, 

 that they are partly destroyed, and the rest have emigrated to- 

 wards the North. Those whales which afford a good food, 

 viz. such as have pieces of horn instead of teeth, and those with, 

 the venter plicatus or plaited belly, are now tolerably well 

 known ; because the fishers do- not care for these species. With 

 respect to the whales with teeth, or those of prey, it is certain 

 that there are many species in the northern seas, which are still 

 unknown to foreign naturalists, because they are not caught by 

 the whale-fishers ; and because, even if these wished to take them, 

 they could not succeed, on account of their extreme agility. 

 The Icelanders, however, are very elaborate in their descrip- 

 tion of these fish ; but all their accounts are so confused and 

 vague that they cannot be relied on. 



Among the species well known to the inhabitants, and most 

 of which have been described or mentioned by naturalists, is the 

 Balana dorso impenni of the moderns, which is more corn~ 

 monly known by the name of Baltma vulgaris et Gr&nlan- 

 dica ; but this is now seldom found, except on the coast of 

 Greenland. They eat its flesh, which is very similar to beef, 

 and when young is particularly white and delicate. The next is 

 the Balana tubere pinniformi; or, as other writers call it, 

 Bal&na pinna adiposa in extremo dorso : this species is now 

 very rare in Iceland. The kind first mentioned is upwards of 

 two hundred English feet in length, and the latter from one hun- 

 dred and forty to one hundred and seventy. 



Of the whale without teeth, or the Bal&na ventre plicato, 

 there are several species known to the Icelanders ; who eat their 

 flesh, which is intermixed with fat^ and has a very delicate taste ; 



