58 
VOYAGE TO GREENLAND. 
strong, that, if bent, they would fly back with great 
force to their original extension. 
The cavity containing the brains was placed be- 
hind the crown in the head, and very small in pro- 
portion to the size of the fish ; the crown-bone, and 
the bones of the upper jaw, like most of the other 
bones of the whale, were very porous, and contained 
a considerable quantity of oil. — Having finished the 
dissection, and taken drawings of the various parts 
of the animal, I retired to my cabin at twelve 
o’clock at night, with the sun shining in all the 
splendour of meridian day. 
The wind blowing very strong, we sailed 
May 24 . north-west, in readiness to enter 
the western ice as soon as the gale should abate, 
and an opening be discovered ; about noon, the 
wind became moderate and we sailed to the west, 
and at three o’clock, came to the great range of ice : 
on approaching it, the man at the mast-head inti- 
mated that a herd of seals were upon the ice. Two 
boats were lowered, and we went in pursuit of 
them, when I shall never forget the extraordinary 
