VOYAGE TO GREENLAND. 
69 
strange tremulous hurried noise is heard : they ge- 
nerally rise in little herds, and make a feeble blast 
in the direction over their nose. The food of the 
narwal consists of the sepia or cuttle-fish, many of 
which I took from the stomach of this specimen. 
Just as we were finishing the examination of the 
narwal, a whale was seen to blow at a great dis- 
tance : six boats were immediately sent off, but as 
they were not able to overtake it, the signal of 
recall was made, and five of them returned. On 
the arrival of the first, I went into it with my gun, 
for the purpose of shooting a remarkable snow-bird 
with a black head, which came near the ship : this 
with two others I shot, and they fell upon a piece 
of ice : but, as we were rowing round it, in search 
of a convenient spot to ascend, the ship again became 
in a state of uproar, and the shout of a fall !” 
was vociferated by all on board. The chase of the 
birds was consequently abandoned for a nobler pur- 
suit, and our boat, with the other four, was rowed 
to the one attached to the fish, which was upwards 
of two miles distant, and which, besides its jack 
flying, had two oars elevated as signals that early 
assistance was required ; not long after a third oar 
was raised to evince that the demand for aid was 
pressing. Never was a boat-race better contested, 
and never was greater exertion made by men to 
reach the goal. On our passage, the straight line of 
direction was interrupted by several large flat pieces 
of ice, some of them bearing hummocks mountain 
high. At length, when within a quarter of a mile. 
