8RPRI0US NARWHAL. ~ r S8S 
©f defence. It is at no pains to keep them in re- 
pair for action ; but on the contrary, the tooth 
is constantly seen covered with weeds, slime, and 
all the filth of the sea. In one instance, they evi- 
dently operate to the destruction of the owners ; 
for the narwhals being gregarious animals, they 
are no sooner attacked by a fishing vessel, than 
they crowd together in such a manner, that they are 
mutually embarrassed by their tusks, and are pre- 
vented from sinking to the bottom. In this situa- 
tion the harpooners seldom fail of striking one 0 * 
two of those that are longest detained upon the 
surface of the water ; and the quantity of the oil 
which they produce renders their capture an object 
©f very considerable emolument. 
Spurious narwhal. 
A species most allied to the narwhal, but not, 
perhaps, strictly speaking, of the same genus : no 
teeth in the mouth ; but from the extremity of the 
upper mandible project two minute, conic, obtuse, 
teeth, a little curved at the tip, weak, and not 
above an inch long : body elongated, cylindric, 
black. Besides the pectoral fins, and horizontal tail, 
is also a minute dorsal fin. It must be numbered 
among the rarest of the whales. Its flesh and oil 
are considered as very purgative : inhabits the 
main ocean, seldom coming towards the shore : 
feeds on the loligo : has a spiracle like other whales* 
Both flesh and oil are eaten, but not without ap- 
prehension, for the reason before mentioned : gene- 
rally found dead, being very seldom taken living. 
y The above is the description of Fahricius, in his 
Fauna Groenlandica, and the animals seems to have 
been described by no other author. 
