DOLPHINS AND POEPOISES 
151 
a band of Killers to chase large schools of blackfish 
and porpoises into shallow water. They also per- 
secuted the horse-mackerel, or tunny, The Killer 
is widely distributed, and his deeds of destruction 
have made him widely known and feared. 
The Dolphin. — Few persons cross the At- 
lantic, or make a voyage of half a dozen days in 
any direction, without seeing a school of dolphins. 
In fact, it might almost be said that every voyage 
has its dolphins. As a rule, they do not appear 
until the passengers have recovered from sea- 
sickness, and are on deck, eager- 
ly scanning the surface of the 
sea for living things. 
To most voyagers, the sudden 
appearance of a school of dol- 
phins is a thrilling sight. Hour 
after hour the eye scans the 
watery expanse, eager for a sign 
of life, or gazes with awe and 
fear into the dark, watery abyss 
below. Suddenly, out of the 
steep side of a green-topped 
wave leap forth a dozen shining, 
sharp-pointed forms. They seem 
joyous and full of power, like 
acrobats entering an arena. In 
sublime ignorance of man’s ra- 
pacious nature, they confidently 
swim within twenty feet of the 
ship’s side. They curve up to the surface, fre- 
quently leaping clear of the water, arch their 
bodies, breathe quickly, and dive again. For a 
few yards, perhaps, they race along under water, 
but in plain view, then some leap out again. 
How easily they keep pace with the ship ! Their 
mastery of old Ocean is so complete that it is 
a wonderful thing to see. 
Sometimes the animals are so near the ship 
that the species can be determined to a certainty, 
especially those which are marked by light col- 
ors. However, it is no disgrace to any natural- 
ist to declare his inability to say positively what 
species is alongside. 
Dolphins are particularly fond of playing 
around the bow of a ship; but for some reason 
best known to themselves, they evince a decided 
preference for the out-thrusting bow of a sailing 
ship, and are not attracted so much by the high, 
perpendicular cutwater of a steamer, with no 
bowsprit or jib-boom. 
A swift ocean steamship is not escorted very 
far, for such a promenade soon becomes tiresome ; 
but I have seen a school of these interesting creat- 
ures circle about a sailing ship, and play around 
its cutwater for half an hour. It is a simple mat- 
ter for an expert sailor to take a position on the 
martingale-guys of a ship, under the bowsprit, 
and harpoon a dolphin ; but to me it has never 
seemed like a fair thing to do. 
In North American waters there are about 
twelve species of dolphins, most of which are 
species exceed 10 feet. The Short-Beaked 
Dolphin of the Pacific is the most beautiful 
species. 
The Common Dolphin , 1 of the Atlantic 
Ocean, may well be taken as the type of the 
family of true Dolphins. It is the species that 
is most frequently seen, and the one longest 
known. It has a slender, cigar-shaped body, 
a small head, and its beak is long and narrow. 
Its length is from 6J to 7\ feet, and in color it is 
dark gray above and dull white below. Dolphins 
generally feed upon small fish, and at times de- 
stroy great numbers of mackerel. 
The Common Porpoise , 2 of the Atlantic 
Coast, is a jet black creature, blunt-headed, 
heavy in action, a veritable pig of the sea. It 
loves to roll about in the breakers, and loaf 
lazily in harbors and sheltered bays, and at river 
mouths. As before stated of porpoises gener- 
1 Del-phi' nus del’ phis. 2 Pho-cae'na com-mu'nis. 
Drawn by J. Carter Beard. 
THE COMMON DOLPHIN. 
from 6 to 7 feet in length, and but two or three 
