50 
VOYAGE TO GREENLAND. 
fish, to the upper and lower indentations. The tail 
and fins are covered with skin like that on the other 
parts of the body ; but internally they widely differ 
from it, the body having blubber under the skin, 
but the tail and fins being a combination of strong 
cartilages. The skin of the Mysticetus is very 
smooth, and slightly furrowed, like the water-marks 
in paper : it varies in colour ; being, when young, of 
a bluish black, but, when the fish is full grown, 
black. On some, towards the tail, are brown spots 
on a light ground ; some have white round the eyes, 
and streaks of white on the fins and different parts 
of the body, whilst others are much and irregularly 
spotted. The organs of generation are placed near 
that part of the abdomen, where the body begins 
to taper suddenly towards the tail ; that of the male, 
is concealed in a longitudinal groove. The teats or 
nipples are placed on each side of the female organ, 
and are not capable of protrusion, beyond an inch 
or two ; in a dead fish they are always retracted. 
The sexual intercourse takes place about the end 
of summer, and once in two years the fish feels the 
access of desire. Their fidelity to each other, ex- 
ceeds even the constancy of birds. Anderson, a 
celebrated whale-fisher, informs us, that ‘‘ having 
struck one of two whales, a male and a female, that 
were in company together, the wounded fish made 
a long and terrible resistance : it struck down a 
boat with three men in it, by a single blow of its 
tail, and they all went to the bottom. The other 
remained with its companion, and rendered it every 
