THE ANTARCTIC OCEAN. 



397 



gly, while the smaller species always associate in vast numbers. Several were 

 caught in lat. 77° by Sir James Ross and brought on board alive ; indeed it 

 was a very difficult and a cruel operation to kill them, until hydrocyanic acid 

 was resorted to, of which a tablespoonful effectually accomplished the purpose 

 in less than a minnte. These enormous birds varied in weight from sixty to 

 seventy-five pounds. They are remarkably stupid, and allow a man to ap- 

 proach them so near as to strike them on the head with a bludgeon, and some- 

 times, if knocked off the ice into the water, they will almost immediately leap 

 upon it again as if eager for a fight, though without the smallest means either 

 of offense or defense. They were first discovered during Captain Cook's voyage 

 to the Antarctic regions, but Sir James Ross was fortunate in bringing the first 

 perfect specimens to England, some of which were preserved entire in casks of 

 strong pickle, that the physiologist and comparative anatomist might have an 

 opportunity of thoroughly examining their structure. The principal food of the 

 great penguin consists of various species of crustaceous animals, and in its 

 stomach are frequently found from two to ten pounds' weight of pebbles, swal- 

 lowed no doubt to promote digestion. "Its capture," says Sir James Ross, 

 " afforded great amusement to our people, for when alarmed and endeavoring 

 to escape, it makes its way over deep snow faster than they could follow it: by 

 lying down on its belly and impelling itself by its powerful feet, it slides along 

 upon the surface of the snow at a great pace, steadying itself by extending its 

 fin-like wings, which alternately touch the ground on the side opposite to the 

 propelling leg." 



Though the Antarctic Seas possess neither the narwhal nor the morse, they 

 abound, perhaps even more than the Arctic waters, in whales, dolphins, and 

 seals, at least in the higher latitudes. 



The austral smooth-backed whale [Balmna australis) differs from his Green- 

 land relative in many respects : the head is comparatively smaller, being only 

 about one-fourth of the total length, the mouth is broader, the baleen shorter, 

 the pectoral fins are larger and pointed, and the color is almost totally black, 

 the white on the lower surface being confined to a small part of the abdomen. 

 The skull is also differently formed ; and while the Greenland whale has only 

 thirteen pairs of ribs, the austral smooth-back has fifteen. 



According to Mr. Bennett, the austral smooth-back seldom attains a greater 

 length than fifty feet ; but as it yields on an average from eighty to ninety 

 barrels of oil, its capture amply rewards the whaler's trouble. Though met 

 with in the highest latitudes, and roaming over the whole extent of the Antarc- 

 tic Seas, it resorts in spring to the sheltered bays of New Zealand, Australia, 

 Kerguelen's Land, Chili, the Falkland Islands, Algoa Bay, etc., for the purpose 

 of bringing forth its young. This of course makes its capture easier, but must 

 at the same time lead to its extirpation, or drive it to the most inaccessible re- 

 gions of the Polar Ocean. Even now the whale-fishery of the southern seas, 

 which twenty or thirty years ago employed hundreds of vessels, has much di- 

 minished in importance : it is chiefly carried on by the Americans, the French, 

 and our Australian colonies, which have the advantage of being more conven- 

 iently situated than the mother-country. 



