GREENLAND. 



381 



year; while the larger Greenland seal (Phoca grcenlandica) is not stationary 

 like the former, but leaves the coast from March to May, and from July to 

 September. The Cystophora cristata, or hooded seal, remarkable for a globular 

 sac, capable of inflation, on the head of the male, appears in the fjords only 

 from April till June. It is the most pugnacious of all the seals. In the south- 

 ern districts, where the seal-hunting must be chiefly carried on in open water, 

 the Greenlander relies upon his boat, the kayak. When the animal is struck, 

 the barbed point of the harpoon detaches itself, by an ingenious mechanism, 

 from the shaft, which otherwise would be broken by its violent contortions ; 

 and as the line is attached to a bladder, it can easily be recovered. 



Among the cetaceans, the white dolphin (Delphinopterus leucas) and th^ 

 narwhal {Monodoii monoceros) are the most valuable to the Greenlanders o! 

 the North Inspectorate, from 500 to 600 of these huge animals being annually 

 caught. The former makes its appearance a short time after the breaking up 

 of the ice, and again in autumn ; in summer it seeks the open sea. Sometimes 

 large herds of the white dolphins are cut off from the sea by the closing in of 

 the ice in the neighborhood of the land, so that several hundred may be killed 

 in the course of a few days. The narwhal is caught only in the Omenak fjord, 

 which it visits regularly in IN'ovember. As its chase is both difiicult and dan- 

 dorous, the Greenlanders generally hunt it in company, so that after a narwhal 

 has been struck with the first harpoon or lance, others are ready to follow up 

 the advantage. The larger whales are now seldom caught, but the dead body 

 of a fin-back is not seldom cast ashore, and affords a rich harvest to the neigh- 

 borhood. Sometimes masses of oil, evidently proceeding from dead whales, 

 are found floating in the fjords. In 1854 ninety-five tons of this matter were 

 collected near Holsteinburg. 



The fishes likewise amply contribute to supply the Greenlander's wants. 

 The shark-fishery {Scymnus microcephalus) is of considerable importance. 

 The entrails of seals and other offal are placed in the openings of the ice to at- 

 tract these sharks to the spot, where they are caught in various ways, particu- 

 larly by torch-light, which brings them to the surface. The fishermen, watch- 

 ing the moment, strike them with a sharp hook, and then drag them upon the 

 ice. They are also caught with strong iron angles attached to chains. They 

 are captured for the sake of their livers, which yield a good deal of oil. It has 

 very recently been ascertained that a valuable substance resembling spermaceti 

 may be expressed from the carcass which was formerly wasted, and for this 

 purpose powerful screw presses are now employed. About 30,000 of these 

 gluttonous animals are caught every year, and the fishery may be greatly ex- 

 tended, as the bottom of the ice-fjords absolutely swarms with them. Their 

 capture is attended with far less trouble and danger than in Iceland, where 

 they are pursued in boats, and in a capricious and tempestuous sea. Improv- 

 ing upon the old Esquimaux methods of fishing or hunting, the Danish resi- 

 dents set nets for the white whale or the seal ; for the former, they are attach- 

 ed to the shore, and extend off at right angles, so as to intercept them in their 

 autumnal southern migration, when they swim close along the rocks to avoid 

 the grampus. When the white whale is stopped by the net, it often appears 



