170 
LAST VOYAGE OE CAPT. ROSS. 
tampering* towards the point. The eyes and ears are very small, 
with one respiratory orifice in the back of the head. The back 
broad, convex and tapering towards the tail, which is horizon¬ 
tally placed and is divided into two obtuse oval lobes. The 
body is of an ovoidal shape, with no dorsal fins, but a high 
ridge or projection extends from the blow hole to the tail, and 
gradually diminishes in height as it approaches the tail; there 
are two pectoral fins. The colour of the animal is generally 
cinereous, dappled with numerous multiform black spots; the 
belly is a shining white, and soft as velvet to the touch. 
The mollusca and actinea are its general food. It swims 
with great swiftness, but like other cestaceous animals cannot 
remain long under water without respiring. Although ap¬ 
parently harmless, he is a dangreous enemy to the whale, and 
he has been known to dart his horn into the side of a ship. 
The oil is of a superior quality, and its flesh is held in high 
repute by the Esquimaux, who prefer it to that of the seal or 
the whale. 
The horn of this animal was long the subject of a kind of 
superstitious respect. It was said to be efficacious in the cure 
of several distempers, and was prized as being of the very 
highest value. The Margraves of Bareuth possessed one, which 
cost them six hundred thousand dollars, and the king’s of Den¬ 
mark have a throne formed of it, which is esteemed more valu¬ 
able than if composed of gold. The horn is of a finer texture, 
and takes a better polish than the elephant’s. 
The sea unicorn is generally taken by a harpoon, the barbed 
part of which is about three inches long, having a line attached 
to it of about five fathoms in length, the other end of which is 
fastened to a buoy of a seal’s skin, made into a bag and inflated. 
The blade is fixed in the end of the shaft in such a manner, that 
it may be disengaged from the handle after it is fixed in the 
animal, and the shaft is then pulled back by a line which is tied 
to it for the purpose. When struck, he immediately plunges, and 
carries down with him the seal skin buoy, which fatigues him. 
As he must come up in some pool to respire like the whale, he 
