Chapter III: Iii.--The Earless Seal Family (phocidæ) (2)

The Whales form one of the most extraordinary groups of the Mammalia, for they are warm-blooded, air-breathers, and sucklers of their young, and are most strangely adapted for life in a watery element. Oddly enough the term “Fish” is still applied to them by the whalers, though they have nothing in common with these creatures save a certain similitude in shape. The vulgar notion of a Whale is an enormous creature with an extremely capacious mouth, but the fact is that many of the Cetacea are of relatively moderate dimensions, though doubtless, on the other hand, the magnitude of some is perfectly amazing. Thus, in size they are variable as a group, a range of from five or six feet (equal to the stature of man) to seventy or eighty feet giving sufficiently wide limits. With certain exceptions, notwithstanding length, an average-sized Whale by no means conveys to the eye the same idea of vastness, say for instance, as does an Elephant. The reason is that most Cetaceans are of a club shape, the compact cylindrical body and long narrow tapering tail reducing the idea of size. The head is in such continuity with the body that of neck there seems nothing. In some there are upright fleshy back fins; in others these are wanting. The gristly caudal fin is horizontal and not upright or rayed like a fish’s. The body is smooth and devoid of hair. The eye is remarkably small and without eyelashes, and the ear orifice is so diminutive as to seem deficient. The head is either rounded, massive, or has a long snout. There are no hind limbs, and only in the enormous Whalebone Whales have the rudiments of any been found. Small pelvic bones, however, are present, embedded in the flesh at the setting-on of the tail. The fore-limbs, which are ordinarily termed flippers, have the usual bones extremely broadened and flattened; the free part--equivalent to the hand--being encased in a rigid or stiff nailless membrane; and in a few instances the phalanges are exceedingly numerous, producing a long-fingered peculiarity met with in no other Mammal. The two mammæ adjoin the pelvic bones, the nipples being sunk in slits. In one section only, the Mysticete, is the mouth very large. In them great plates of the so-called whalebone, a horny substance, occupy the place of teeth. In another section, the Denticete, with moderate-sized mouth, teeth are present in few or greater numbers. These are implanted in simple sockets without successors--_i.e._, there is no milk and adult dentition as in the foregoing orders. The tongue cannot be thrust out. The gullet is narrow in some, and wider in others, but the stomach in all is peculiar, and composed of three or more chambers with narrow passages between; in this respect corresponding to that of Sheep and cattle. The intestines are long, glandular, and full of little pouches. There is no gall-bladder. The brain is of considerable calibre, globular, and remarkably convoluted. The heart is distinguished only for great size, and the blood-vessels are exceedingly capacious and numerous. But what is remarkable in the vascular system is a great mass composed of enormous numbers of minute tubes, forming a so-called _rete mirabile_, like that formerly described in the Lemurs. It is situated within the body along the inside of the spine. This, in the Whales, has been supposed to be a respiratory provision to enable them to remain long submerged; but I have shown elsewhere that its connection with the glands of the lymphatic system may render it functionally subservient to nutrition and purification of the blood. The lungs are large, but the most extraordinary features are the larynx and nasal passages. The nostrils, often a single crescentic aperture, open right on the top of the head, except in the Sperm Whale, and not in front as in all other Mammalia. In some there are small pouches near the orifice or blowhole of uncertain use. In front of the larynx of man we all know there is an elastic lid, the epiglottis, which folds over and protects the passage as food is swallowed. The side cartilages constitute the walls of the organ of voice, and protect the vocal cords. Now, in the comparatively voiceless Whale the cartilages including the epiglottis form a long rigid cylindrical tube which is thrust up the passage at the back of the palate in continuity with the blowhole. It is there held in place by a muscular ring. With the larynx thus retained bolt upright, and the blowhole meanwhile being compressed or closed, the Cetacean is enabled to swallow food under water without the latter entering the lungs. Respiration, “blowing” or “spouting,” takes place at intervals as the animal reaches the surface, and the volume of air thrown up along with surrounding moisture and condensed vapour in some rises in a great jet. The flesh of the body terminates in long cords of tendon running to the tip of the tail. These tendons, like a telegraphic cable, bound together in the smallest compass, are moved by the enormous fleshy masses of the body, and thus their vast force is conveyed to the caudal appendage, whose great power as a propelling agent (and even a destructive one) enables the Whales to be truly roamers of the sea. Save the tail and flippers, the body is covered by a dense layer of fat, the blubber. In the skeleton the neck-bones are often soldered into one or two separate pieces, rigidity being needful in front, while the remaining vertebræ, tapering to exceedingly small bones in the tail, are each separated by thick elastic fibro-cartilaginous cushions, thus giving great flexibility behind. The breast-bone is often in a single flat piece. The skull is greatly modified and by no means uniform throughout the group. Among the Dolphins and others (Delphinidæ) it is strangely distorted, so that the one side does not agree with the other. The upper jaw-bones (_maxillæ_) and the pair of bones above and between them (_premaxillæ_) are unusually produced, and this production in front, with corresponding extension of lower jaw, gives a lengthened facial region and snout accordingly. The bones surrounding the occiput and brain-pan are directed upwards, the former occasionally forming a great horseshoe crest. The bony nasal passages instead of coming forward lead nearly direct upwards towards the summit of the cranium, nasal bones themselves being all but absent. The orbits are often small and open behind. Curiously enough, though deficient in ears, the interior tiny ear-bones of other Mammals are in the Whales great massive structures and exceedingly dense, so much so that they are frequently preserved fossil when other osseous structures are destroyed.

_Ep_, epiglottis; _vc_, vocal cord; _s_, sac; _c_, cartilage; _gl_,
gland; _tr_, trachea. The arrows show direction of air-currents in
ingress and egress.]

_s_, Spermaceti Cavity; _n_, Nasal Passage, in dotted line; _b_, Blowhole.]

Cetacea have been a troublesome group to unravel, being ocean-dwellers, and many of them huge brutes. To study them in the live state has been difficult, and their carcases when captured or stranded on shore are as unmanageable for purposes of examination. As to their classification the two sub-orders--Denticete, Toothed Whales, and Mysticete, Whalebone Whales--are universally accepted. As regards the families, the main groups are tolerably well agreed upon, though differently named by authorities. Among the sub-families, the genera and the species, there is less unanimity. The grouping of the living forms proposed by Professor Flower is in Great Britain more frequently adopted, while MM. Gervais and Van Beneden, in their great work on “Osteographie des Cétacés,” have collated the living and fossil forms. Some species and genera of Whales are restricted within given areas, as are the Seals, but of the habitat of many others in truth so little is known that no defined limit can be assigned. The great majority are migratory; some are gregarious, others more solitary in disposition. A few are quite fluviatile; but most are found in the high seas. Following the above primary divisions, we give precedence to

THE TOOTHED WHALES (DENTICETE).

Except the possession of teeth, no other available common character need here be given.

THE SEAL-TOOTHED WHALES (PHOCODONTIA OR ZEUGLODONTIA).

We begin with these, as they are supposed by some authorities to be intermediate between the Seals and Whales. This extinct family, judging from the various mutilated remains found, comprised several different genera. The most notable of these are Zeuglodon, Squalodon, and Phocodon. The ZEUGLODONS may have attained a length of fifty or sixty feet. Their vertebral column was cetacean in character, but the neck-bones were separate, though considerably flattened from before backwards. Some assert that their skull bore resemblances to that of the Seals in several respects. Their brain-cavity undoubtedly was remarkably small, and relatively less than that of known Whales; but the supposed Seal-like skull structure is open to question. The teeth were of two kinds: those in front being conical, pointed, and lengthened; and those behind laterally compressed, serrate, and double-rooted. The dental formula is stated to have been--Incisors, (3-3)/(3-3); canines, (1-1)/(1-1); molars, (5-5)/(5-5) = 36. Hind limbs may have been absent, but the fore limbs suggest rather than furnish precise data showing approximation to the Seals. The SQUALODONS are known chiefly from the skull, which, as a whole, has strong resemblances to those of the curious Amazon Dolphins, called Inia and Pontoporia, but the dentition, however, agrees rather with that of the Dolphin of the Ganges, _Platanista_. They possessed a long, narrow snout, but no special crest on the summit of the head, and the blow-holes were situate as in the foregoing three last-mentioned living genera. Van Beneden has given the following formula of the dentition:--Incisors, (3-3)/(3-3); canines, (1-1)/(1-1); molars, (11-11)/(11-11) = 60. Their teeth in most respects resembled those of the Zeuglodons. Much less is known of the PHOCODONS, our information regarding them being chiefly derived from the teeth. These latter were not unlike the rearmost of those of the Zeuglodons and Squalodons. The Zeuglodons have been found in the Eocene and Miocene strata of North America. The first remains from Alabama were considered by Dr. Harlan to be those of an enormous reptile (_Basilosaurus_), but Professor Owen proved their Mammalian character from the teeth being implanted in distinct sockets. The Squalodons and the Phocodons have not only been found in the United States, but in Australia, and in France, Belgium, Austria, Italy, and England. Of course nothing is known respecting their habits other than what may be legitimately inferred from their skeletal peculiarities. To all intents and purposes, so far as we know, the balance lies in favour of their having had the habits of Whales. They may have been river-frequenters, and judging from the dentition their food would be similar to that of the Ganges and Amazon Dolphins.

THE RIVER DOLPHINS (PLATANISTIDÆ).

Three living forms come under this heading, which, however, barely present such characters in common as to render them a compact group; and some authorities even incline to regard them as representative of sub-families. As in the Seal-toothed Whales their neck vertebra are separate.

THE SUSU, OR GANGETIC DOLPHIN.[231]--This remarkable Cetacean is never found in the salt water, or at best only in the brackish water of the Sunderbunds; its habitat being the rivers Ganges and Indus from their mouths upwards, and their various tributaries almost to the mountain ranges in the north. Specimens have been got at least 1,000 miles beyond Calcutta. It measures from six to twelve feet in length, and in colour is entirely sooty black. Its long body has a moderate girth, and just behind the middle of the back there is a slight elevation which can barely be called a fin. The tail is broadish; the flippers are short, very broad, fan-shaped, and not pointed as in most Whales. The head is globular, with a long, narrow, spoon-shaped snout. The opening of the blow-hole, unlike that of other Whales, excepting the Inia, is not transverse, but a single longitudinal slit. The eye externally, situated above the angle of the mouth, is so diminutive as barely to be visible. We may compare the Susu to the Mole in this respect, for in an adult eight feet long the whole of the eyeball is no bigger than a pea in size. Small though this eye is, nevertheless it is perfect in lens and humours, &c. The ear-orifice behind the latter may be compared to a pin-hole. The narrow rostrum of the upper and of the lower jaw is implanted with a series of teeth, more pointed and conical in front, and narrower and laterally flattened in those behind. In the young animal the difference between the anterior and the posterior teeth is exceedingly marked in size, the former being very long, the latter very short, while as age advances quite the reverse is the case. The back teeth also wear down very considerably in the crown, and increase in breadth in root-substance; indeed, as Dr. J. Anderson has shown, the true dental material is worn away, and finally nothing but bone is left. The head of the male is about two-thirds the length of that of the female, and in both its point is slightly upturned. The apparently rounded skull behind the snout has broad thick zygomatic arches, and above and in front of these the cheek-bones (_maxillæ_) each send forwards and inwards a great roughened sheet of bone or crest, which forms a kind of open helmet. In the large hollow between these bony plates, and somewhat behind, are situated the nasal orifices, which are slightly awry.

The Susu frequents the deep reaches and creeks of the river, occasionally coming to the surface to blow, and although often heard are but seldom captured. Ordinarily their movements are slow, but at times they seem exceedingly active. Their food is chiefly fish, shrimps, &c., which they grovel for among the mud, something like Pigs wallowing in the mire. Grass, rice, and shells have been found in their stomachs, but Dr. Anderson has clearly shown that they are not vegetable feeders, for in the rainy season, when great tracts of land are under water, these animals pursue the fish right into the submerged “paddy-fields,” and the grass is thus most probably swallowed with their prey. The Hindoos have religious superstitions concerning the Susu. It certainly is one of the oldest known Cetaceans, since Pliny and Ælian both allude to it. It has been supposed that the kind which inhabits the Indus was a separate species, but this error has doubtless arisen from the great difference in size of the skulls of the two sexes. This animal must be all but blind, the optic nerve being no thicker than a thread; but the fact of its living habitually in muddy water renders sight less necessary than it otherwise might be. Its peculiar dentition, so like that of the ancient Squalodons in many respects, is of exceeding interest. The following is the dental formula of one specimen, (27-28)/(30-32) = 117. The broad roots of the rearmost teeth are usually grooved, and this gives them a deceptive appearance of possessing more than one fang; moreover, differing as the teeth do front and rearwards, still distinctions as to incisors, canines, and molars can hardly be said to exist.

THE INIA, OR AMAZON DOLPHIN,[232] is another of the remarkable fresh-water forms. The former name is that given to it by the Indian tribes of Bolivia. It ranges from the mouth of the river up the whole of its affluents of any magnitude, 2,000 miles from the sea. Mr. Bates, in his “Journey on the Amazon,” tells us that when it rises the top of the head is the part first seen; it then blows and immediately afterwards dips head downwards, its back curving over, exposing successively the whole dorsal ridge with its fin. It seems thus to pitch heels over head, but does not show the tail fin. It generally goes in pairs. Exceedingly numerous throughout the Amazons, it is nowhere more plentiful than in the shoaly water at the mouth of the Tocantins, especially in the dry season. The Indians have a story that the “Bouto,” as they also call this creature, “once had the habit of assuming the shape of a beautiful woman, with hair hanging loose to her heels, and walking ashore at nights in the streets of Ega, to entice the young men down to the water. If any one was so much smitten as to follow her to the water-side, she grasped her victim round the waist and plunged beneath the waves with a triumphant cry.” It is held in veneration, and on this account the Indians can hardly be induced to harpoon it. They have a superstition that blindness results from the use of its oil (which nevertheless is excellent for lamps), and though Mr. Bates prevailed upon an Indian to capture one, the fellow repented of his deed the day afterwards, declaring that his luck had there and then forsaken him. This animal is seven or eight feet long. Its colour commonly is bluish above, passing into a pale flesh-colour beneath, the tail and flippers being bluish, but the tints vary considerably, and even differ with age and season. The head is furnished with a long beak. There is a kind of keel-shaped dorsal fin, and the flippers are of fair size, broadish and tapering, thus differing from those of the Susu. The skull has a certain resemblance to that of the Gangetic Dolphin, but without the great cheek-crests peculiar to the latter, besides other minor differences. In both jaws there is a long series of stout conical teeth of a pretty uniform size. These vary in number in different specimens, as the following formulæ in two separate individuals show (26-26)/(25-27) = 104; (34-32)/(33-32) = 131. The muzzle of the young is hairy; while both the eye and the ear-hole are much better marked than in the Susu. It is a fish-eater, and the mother exhibits great affection and devotedness towards her young.

THE PONTOPORIA.[233]--Like Inia this is a South American form, and is now known to inhabit the mouth of the La Plata and other rivers entering into the Atlantic on the coasts of the Argentine Republic and Patagonia. But, unlike the two preceding forms, it is not confined to the rivers, for it ranges along the sea-coast. The very few specimens met with show it to be a small animal, not more than four feet long, of a blackish tint, pale beneath, with a white streak along each side from behind the blow-hole. It has an unusually long narrow beak, but not such a prominent head as in the two others. This animal has a well-marked triangular dorsal fin, and the fore-flipper is somewhat fan-shaped and broadish, and not pointed as in the Inia. The crestless skull has characters intermediate between the river Dolphins and the marine Dolphins to be described farther on. The teeth are small and very numerous, somewhat fewer in the young animal, conical in shape, with a swollen ring round their base. The dental formula is as follows:--(53-53)/(53-53) = 212 or (57-57)/(54-54) = 222.

THE ZIPHIOID WHALES (ZIPHIIDÆ).

These singular Whales form a very compact group, closely united by common attributes, but they are readily separated by definite characters from others. Until the beginning of the present century, the Bottlehead (or Butzkopf) was that only known. Since then, at irregular intervals, chiefly solitary individuals have been caught or stranded in various parts of the world; but even now the numbers coming under observation have been few. Their apparent comparative rarity in the present day is in great contrast with the frequent discovery of their remains in the Norfolk Crag formations, where fragments, principally of their dense solid beaks, show that they must have been at a long distant period exceedingly numerous. On these grounds the supposition has been expressed that the present paucity of forms is indicative of a survival of an ancient family that once played an important part in Nature. The living forms range from fifteen to thirty feet in length, but their ocean habits are extremely obscure. Their common characters are long narrow beaks, elevated heads, a small but well-marked dorsal fin placed behind the middle of the back, short flippers with rounded extremity, a pair of short throat-furrows of a V-shape (point in front), a single somewhat crescentic blow-hole, placed crosswise in the middle of the head, absence or only rudiments of teeth in the upper jaws, and one or two pairs of very peculiar teeth, variable in size, in the lower jaws, along with certain other peculiarities of the skull. We shall refer but to a few of the group.

Of the genus _Ziphius_ we may admit CUVIER’S WHALE[234] and VAN BENEDEN’S WHALE.[235] Their size appears to vary from sixteen to twenty-four feet, and their colour is said to be steel-grey, with irregular white body streaks, the abdomen also being whitish. The head is less prominent than in the Bottlehead, and the snout is a trifle shorter, with the lower jaw slightly upturned, fuller than the upper, and furnished with two teeth at the tip. The flippers are short and somewhat pointed, and the dorsal fin is situated well behind, and not very large. There is a deep hollow at the base of the rostrum or beak, over which the skull rises crest-like from behind forwards. The genus _Ziphius_ was originally based on a supposed fossil skull from near the mouth of the Rhone; living species, however, have been since recorded, and of one from South America Burmeister gives a detailed notice under the name of _Epiodon australis_; still it is doubtful whether this is not one of the two above-mentioned animals.

SOWERBY’S WHALE[236] is representative of the genus _Mesoplodon_. This animal is black above, white below, and the sides marked with wriggly white streaks. The small dorsal fin is situated well back, the flippers are small and narrow, the head is rather low, sloping towards the beak, and the upper jaw is shorter than the under. It also has two teeth in the lower, and none in the upper jaw. Thus externally it bears strong resemblance to Cuvier’s Whale, but it differs in the slender beak, without a hollow at its base. Sowerby’s Whale is interesting from having been first obtained in 1800 off the Elgin Coast, and described by Mr. Sowerby as the Two-toothed Cachalot (_Physeter bidens_). The genus _Mesoplodon_ has since given rise to considerable discussion, various names being assigned to it. Professor Flower points out that of the various Ziphioid Whales obtained on British coasts, France, the Cape, and New Zealand, described as different genera, &c., he recognises seven species of _Mesoplodon_, Sowerby’s Whale being the type, and the others differing chiefly in the form of the teeth. Another of this curious family is the NEW ZEALAND BERARDIUS,[237] of which some four specimens only are known to science. Dr. Julius Haast records the capture of one near Canterbury, New Zealand, in 1868, which animal was 30½ feet long, velvety black, with greyish belly. One of the observers who saw the creature alive stated that it protruded its teeth--a remarkable fact if true. In its stomach were found half a bushel of the horny beaks of a species of Octopus. Professor Flower has described its skeleton, and affirms that it is truly ziphioid in character, but on the whole approaches nearer to the true Dolphins; whereas the Bottlehead is modified in the direction of the Sperm Whales. THE BOTTLEHEAD, OR COMMON BEAKED WHALE,[238] is a constant visitor to the coasts of Britain, many instances having been recorded of its capture, and one classical example came under the scalpel of the celebrated anatomist John Hunter. It inhabits the breadth of the North Atlantic, and according to Eschricht very probably spends the summer far north in the Polar Sea, and migrates southwards towards autumn or winter. Dr. R. Brown regards it as rare in the Greenland Seas, three or four, however, being occasionally seen at the mouth of Davis Strait. On the French and Scandinavian coasts small herds have sometimes run ashore. The female gives birth to a single young one in autumn. They feed chiefly on cuttle-fish, but also upon soft-bodied Trepangs (_Holothuria_). It ranges from twenty to forty feet in length, according to age and sex, and is of a uniform blackish hue, lighter beneath, but not white. The skull is most peculiar in having two crests at the occiput, of most unequal size and figure, and the cheek-bones at the root of the beak raised into a pair of huge elevations. The upper jaw is toothless, and the lower jaw has only two or three small concealed teeth. The neck vertebræ are united; and moreover the stomach is remarkable even among Cetacea for the number of chambers it contains, there being some six or seven divisions.

THE SPERM WHALES, OR CACHALOTS (PHYSETERIDÆ).

This family includes but two forms: the valuable Sperm Whale (_Physeter_) and the Short-headed Whale (_Kogia_). They are unlike in many respects, but they agree in having no teeth, or only rudimentary ones in the upper jaw, while the lower jaw is provided with a series of conical teeth. The dorsal fin is small, either hump-like or high and falcate; the flippers are very short, and situated along with the small eye near the angle of the great mouth. The neck vertebræ are fused together. The upper surface of the broad shoe-shaped skull has a large basin-like cavity, wherein in the soft parts the material known as spermaceti is lodged. The blow-hole is single, and in the case of the Sperm Whale is situated quite in front, but is placed farther back in the Kogia. In both, however, it is somewhat of an _f_-shape obliquely placed, the left extremity being much wider than the right.

THE SPERM WHALE, OR CACHALOT.[239]--Next to the Greenland Whale the Cachalot is by far the most important animal of the Whale tribe in a commercial point of view. A rare interest, moreover, is attached to it from the daring deeds and hair-breadth escapes of the whalers pursuing it, inasmuch as in certain cases it is among the fiercest of the Cetacea. At times it not only attacks boats and their crews in pursuit of it, but there are also well-authenticated instances of ships themselves being assailed and sunk by this powerful monster of the deep. It attains a size varying from forty to seventy feet, the average of old males being about sixty feet, while the females are much smaller. It is black above, lighter on the sides, and silvery-grey on the belly parts. Its head is of enormous proportions, forming nearly half the bulk of the animal. The snout is extraordinarily dilated and terminates abruptly; the upper jaw quite overhangs the lower, and the bones of the latter are united close together for a long distance, and are furnished with from twenty to thirty teeth on each side. As shown in the woodcut, each tooth is conical and slightly curved, hollow at the base, but elsewhere it is dense and solid. When the lower jaw is closed the teeth fit into hollows in the upper lips, in this respect somewhat resembling what takes place in the Crocodile’s mouth; but besides the remarkable lower jaw, the Sperm Whale’s skull rivets attention from the extensive basin-shaped spermaceti reservoir already alluded to. The throat is very large as compared with that of the Greenland Whale. It was believed that there were several species of Cachalot, but only one is now acknowledged, the Kogia really belonging to a different genus. The Sperm Whale is seldom found in inland waters, but is met with in all the oceans, from the Polar to the Antarctic, though it chiefly inhabits the tropical or sub-tropical seas. Among the favourite resorts of the whalers are the coasts of New Guinea and adjacent parts, Australia, New Zealand, and several of the Polynesian islands, the coasts of Peru, Chili, and California, the Japanese and Chinese waters, the Molucca group, and the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Its appearance in the Atlantic has of late years been irregular and seldom, though at one time it was of tolerably frequent occurrence in the South Atlantic and American coasts, and near the Bahamas. Its steady pursuit for a long series of years has greatly thinned its numbers. About 1770 the Americans, and a few years later the British, in small ships of 100 tons and over, established the Sperm Whale Fishery with very moderate success. Before 1780 the British Government issued bounties to encourage the trade, and this led to the sending out of larger vessels, while Mr. Enderby, a London merchant, pushed the fishery into the far-distant shores of the Pacific. The vessels, of much larger tonnage and better manned, were absent for two or three years, and the scenes of the chase, they say, at times almost defied description. Surgeon Beale’s incident, though tolerably well known, is worth notice. On the coast of Japan, in 1832, some three boats pursued a Whale all day long. By a dexterous move the animal was at last lanced, when it spouted blood, suddenly descended about forty fathoms, and as quickly rose and dashed the boat into the air in fragments. The men clung to the oars and broken wood, and, in spite of the vicinity of Sharks and the Whale itself, were saved by the other boats, the crews of which avenged themselves by ultimately killing the Whale. Of fighting Whales there are numbers of stories, that of one old male, familiarly known as “New Zealand Tom,” being still traditionally recounted in the forecastle. In 1804 the _Adonis_ and several other ships simultaneously attacked the fellow, who destroyed some nine boats before breakfast, but in the end was captured, when a host of harpoons were found in its body. There can be no doubt that the Sperm Whale is a migratory animal, though its migrations are by no means clearly understood. It is a gregarious creature, “schools” of a dozen to fifty or sixty being occasionally met with. At other times great fellows are found here and there on lonely pilgrimages, while still at other times a few together will be seen _en route_ to fresh feeding grounds. Adult females, or those with young in their company, evince a strong affection for each other, and when one is killed or sustains injury, parents or companions hover about and even render assistance. The whalers take advantage of this trait, and often kill a number ere the others make off. When, however, a company of young male Whales are found, and one is attacked, little love or interest in each other’s welfare is manifested, every one rushing off helter-skelter in all directions, to the whaler’s chagrin. The old “bulls,” on the other hand, are more sedate and less easily frightened, and unless roused by injury to retaliate on their pursuers are more readily harpooned. The Sperm Whale is easily known from all others, even at a great distance, from the regularity of its blowing and the manner in which it throws up a volume of vapour obliquely forwards. It traverses the ocean surface in a steady methodical manner, at the rate of four or five miles an hour, its great head or hump-like back occasionally appearing above water. It will remain on the surface from ten to fifteen minutes, and then will descend, staying below an hour or more, but the females and young remain up and descend at more frequent intervals. At times, instead of quietly swimming on the surface, they proceed more quickly by a kind of lunging motion, the head being thrust well out of the water, a mass of spray, technically called “white water,” accompanying this mode of progression. Occasionally they spring headlong out of the sea (“breaching”), or violently beat the surface with their tails (“lobtailing”), or at other times dash about in a variety of attitudes. Sometimes they move their fins as if feeling around for enemies, or throw their bodies awry, bringing the mouth well to the surface. It is pretty certain that Cuttle-fish form a large proportion of their food, though there is reason to believe that they do not despise fish and other marine creatures. It is still a moot point how they feed, and to what use they put their teeth. Some assert that in the depths the under jaw is lowered, and the glistening pearly teeth fully shown; attracted by the latter, its prey approach and the trap is closed. Blindness at times supervenes. Still more curious are instances where the lower jaw is twisted like a shepherd’s crook, and strange to say, notwithstanding this deformity, these Whales seem fat and hearty--this fact giving rise to much speculation whether such malformation has arisen from fighting and distortion of the jaw in youth, or from other causes not yet ascertained. The Sperm Whale has its enemies, the Thresher Shark leaping on it and attacking it from above, while the daring Killer Whale (_Orca_) assaults it from below. The female, it is said, breeds at all seasons, producing one, but occasionally two, at a time.

The double-bowed whale-boats are manned by six men, and when they approach the Whale one steers aft with an oar while the harpooner plies his craft. As soon as it is struck the rowers “back” away. Meanwhile the creature dives, carrying harpoon and line, or rolls rapidly round coiling the rope on its body. The other boats approach, and as it rises harpoons and lances are dexterously used, and as the blood escapes in volumes, despite its vast efforts the creature succumbs. Immediately after its death the boats are made fast to the carcass, and the ship reached as circumstances best permit. Secured alongside, a man descends, cuts a hole behind the head, inserts a hook, often under most dangerous conditions, especially if the sea is rough. The fat or blubber is cut by sharp spades in a long spiral strip, and pulleys applied, and these skin and blubber strips, termed the “blanket pieces,” are thereupon hove on deck. The carcass afterwards is rolled round and the opposite side similarly treated. The great head meantime is cut off, and floated astern until the trunk is deprived of its blubber. The head is then opened from above, and among the coarse fat and blubber of the forehead--the so-called “case”--is a fluid oily matter, the spermaceti. This substance is handed up in bucketfuls, and preserved in casks. On its removal the wedge-shaped oily and fibrous head-piece, the “junk,” is next secured; head and trunk are then sent adrift. Then follows the “trying out,” that is, boiling the fatty masses and extracting the oil, which operation is done in furnaces, the scraps of fat mainly serving as fuel. Finally, the oil and head matter are casked up, and a fresh look-out from the masthead is kept for more Whales. The crow’s nest is a large barrel on the cross-trees, where a watcher is stationed during the whole voyage. No sooner is a Whale spied than the shout, “There she blows!” or, as the Americans have it, “There she spouts!” is replied to from the deck by a hurried rush to the boats, for each seaman’s kit and provisions are beforehand ready prepared in a bundle, and before a few minutes have passed, the hardy mariners are on their way towards their gigantic spoil. Sperm oil, we need hardly say, is exceedingly valuable. The quantity obtained between 1835 and 1872 by the Americans alone is reckoned at 3,671,772 barrels, and the wholesale price has varied during these years from four to ten shillings per gallon.

THE SHORT-HEADED WHALE, OR SNUB-NOSED CACHALOT.[240]--Under this name, and possibly also that of Gray’s Kogia,[241] an animal has been described which, far smaller in size and in many respects differing from the Sperm Whale, nevertheless is more closely allied to it than to any other of the Cetacea. Whether the two names belong to different or the same species may be left open for the present. At all events, specimens have been obtained at the Cape of Good Hope, the East Indies, and Australia, which so closely resemble each other as probably to belong to one and the same species. This animal measures from six to ten feet in length, and is almost Porpoise-like in general appearance. It has a well-marked dorsal fin behind the middle of the body, short flippers, and the snout is said to be turned up with a margin somewhat like a Pig’s. The upper surface of the body is black, and the under parts have a tinge of yellow or light flesh-colour. The few specimens hitherto obtained afford no information regarding its habits. The peculiar construction of its skull, short, broad, distorted, with a bony division in the spermaceti cavity and other skeletal characters, give it an interest as being an intermediate form between the Cachalot and the Dolphins proper.

THE DOLPHINS (DELPHINIDÆ).

This group possesses considerable diversity in outward form, in skeletal characters, and dentition; nay more, many of the genera blend into each other. The Narwhal by its peculiar teeth, and the White Whale by its colour, besides some few other points, stand apart. The Porpoise and the Neomeris agree in teeth and skull; the Killer Whales are distinguished by their broad flippers; the Pilot Whales, on the contrary, by the extreme length and narrowness of their flippers; the Dolphins proper have long narrow beaks and numerous teeth; while several other genera unite characters so that it is difficult to define where one commences and another ends. Nearly all have dorsal fins. Excepting in the Narwhal, numerous teeth exist in both jaws. The lower jaws are united only for a short distance, and there is no distinct skull crest behind the nasal orifice, while the neck vertebræ in most are soldered together. The difficulty in giving the natural sequence, the genera, and species of this group, for reasons aforesaid, leads us to commence with one which has a singular prominence in the forehead, composed of a soft blubbery material intermingled with strong fibres, one might say, a kind of modified spermaceti substance.

THE CAAING, OR PILOT WHALE, OR DEDUCTOR,[242] is one of the best known Whales that frequent the British coasts, herds of hundreds having often been run ashore in the Shetlands, Orkneys, and even in the Firth of Forth. Adults average from sixteen to twenty-five feet in length, are of a jet-black colour, but lighter or whitish on the abdomen. The body is cylindrical, tapering to the tail; the dorsal fin is high, placed at the middle of the back; the flippers are unusually long and narrow, and the fingers possess an unusually great number of bones, as many as fourteen to the second digit. The head is quite characteristic, having the form of a massive boss. The teeth are somewhat numerous, namely, (24-24)/(24-24) = 96. When these Whales are seen gambolling in the bays of the Scottish shores, the hardy fishermen start in their boats and form a cordon seawards. Then by gunshots, shouts, splashings, and throwing stones they drive them towards the shore; and as the animals madly plunge to shallower water, pressing through fear one over the other, the men dash into the water and begin havoc with harpoons, scythes, spears, picks, or spades--indeed, whatever weapon comes handiest. Thus numbers, from even fifty to as many as two hundred, fall an easy prey. Such an encounter took place in 1867 near Prestonpans on the Firth of Forth, when one Whale wounded by harpoons struck seawards, hauling a boat and crew of twelve men nearly as far as Inchkeith ere it succumbed. There may be more than one species of this Whale, widely distributed, but whether or not, their habits and general appearance have much in common.

A rather remarkable form is RISSO’S GRAMPUS,[243] inasmuch as its colouring and marking are so variable, and in some cases so characteristic; indeed, no two specimens yet obtained can be said to be alike. The head is fuller and rounder than that of the Porpoise, and its flippers longer and narrower--in these respects approaching the Pilot Whale. The prevailing tint is grey, darker above, and under parts paler, and in some there are a few indistinct and irregular lighter-coloured bandings. In other examples, notably one obtained by M. Risso in the Mediterranean, and by Professor Flower on the British coast, the side of the body and even top of the head exhibited a mass of intercrossing, wavy, scratched lines and spots of white and grey, following no special pattern. It has been found both on the French and English coasts in spring and summer, but is suspected to be migratory, visiting Europe in summer, and proceeding to the African or possibly the American continent towards winter. The variation in colour has given rise to different specific names. Somewhat intermediate between the foregoing and the Porpoises, are certain forms found on the Indian coasts and even the Irrawaddy River; the genus _Orcella_, for example, combining the head of the Pilot Whale with the body and flippers of the Porpoise.

THE COMMON PORPOISE,[244] the _marsouin_ of the French or _meerschwein_ of the Germans, is the most familiar Cetacean of the British and adjoining coasts. Their average length is four or five feet, though often more. The colour slightly varies with age and sex, more usually a polished bluish-black tint on the upper parts, merging into a pink or mottled grey or whitish below. The dorsal fin and flippers are both of moderate dimensions. Their head is roundish, and not so blunt or bomb-like as in the _Globiceps_, nor so sharp-nosed as in the true Dolphin tribe. Its diminutive eye, no visible ear, tapering body, and broad tail are all markedly Cetacean in character, so that, though small, it gives a very good idea of the Whale tribe generally. The semilunar transverse blow-hole as it rises to the surface slightly opens, but in a tank no lofty jet of vapour is thrown up as is the case with the large Whales at sea. In looking into the pink-coloured mouth one sees above and below a row of small equal-sized simple teeth, and a flat tongue which is not protrusible. The dental formula is (20-20)/(20-20) = 80, or (26-26)/(26-26) = 104. In structural detail, both internally and in the skeleton, it is a fair type of the group Delphinidæ. Porpoises either of the common sort or species barely to be distinguished from it have a tolerably wide distribution, being found all over the Mediterranean, Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic regions. They evidently migrate, as they appear in Davis Strait in the spring, and stop there till November. They are true fish-feeders, and herd in enormous numbers. A prettier sight can scarcely be conceived than a large shoal frolicking, dashing, and springing in all manner of fantastic curves with an amazing rapidity. Woe betide the “schools” of Herrings, Mackerels, and Pilchards that are followed by these rapacious creatures, which cause great havoc among them! They give birth to their young about May. Mr. H. Lee, on Mr. Scott Siddons’ authority, relates that in the surveying voyage of the _Herald_ the natives of Moreton Bay entreated the seamen “not to shoot their tame Porpoises.” These crowded lazily near the shore, and when a shoal of fish entered the bay the people roused the Porpoises, which dashed among the fish, ate some, and drove the rest ashore. Porpoise flesh, though no longer an article of diet, was once held in high estimation, and even graced the royal table as late as the time of “bluff King Hal.” Porpoise meat was generally eaten with a kind of mint sauce, and porpoise pudding was not an unusual dish during Lent as coming under the denomination of supposed fish. “Porpoise leather” now in vogue is in reality the skin of the White Whale.

THE KILLER WHALE, OR ORCA,[245] is truly the terror of the ocean. Not only Porpoises, White Whales, and Seals spring out of the water and run ashore in fear of it, but the great Sperm Whale and the Greenland Whale stand in deadly awe of its attack. It ranges in size from eighteen to thirty feet long, and its fierceness and voracity are unbounded, as is well shown in an example which came under Eschricht’s observation. From the stomach of this individual he took thirteen Porpoises and fourteen Seals, and the atrocious glutton had been choked in the attempt to swallow a fifteenth! Hollböll saw a herd of White Whales driven into a bay in Greenland where they were literally torn to pieces by these voracious Sea-wolves. Scammon says that three or four do not hesitate to grapple with the largest Baleen Whales; the latter, often paralysed through fear, lie helpless and at their mercy. The Killers, like a pack of hounds, cluster about the animal’s head, “breach” over it, seize it by the lips, and haul the bleeding monster under water; and should the victim open its mouth they eat its tongue. In one instance he relates that a Californian Grey Whale and her young were assaulted; the Orcas killed the latter, and sprang on the mother, tearing away large pieces of flesh which they greedily devoured. These brutes have been known to attack a white-painted herring-boat, mistaking it for a Beluga; and it is stated that occasionally they will boldly lay siege to Whales killed by the whalers, almost dragging them perforce under water. Near some of the Pacific sealing-grounds they continually swim about and swoop off the unwary young; even the large male Sea Lions hastily retreat ashore and give these monsters a wide berth. The Walrus also, with his powerful tusks, cannot keep the Killers at bay, especially if young Morses are in the herd. The cubs on such occasions will mount upon their mother’s back for refuge, clinging for dear life; but the Orca, diving, comes suddenly up with a spiteful thud, and the cub losing its balance falls in the water, when in an instant it is seized by the remorseless Whales. These latter do not restrict themselves in diet solely to their own or the Seal tribe; for Scammon asserts that they even make marauding expeditions up strong-flowing rivers in pursuit of the Salmon and other fishes, a statement corroborated by observers on British coasts. The great swiftness of these creatures is best realised by the fact that they pursue and overtake the quick-swimming Dolphins, literally swallowing them alive. They are not gregarious in the sense of being found in large herds, but follow their prey in small squads. At times they move rapidly near the surface, their great back-fins projecting, or they tumble and roll about, even leaping out of the water and cutting all manner of capers. They have an evenly-rounded head, blunter than the Porpoise’s, the upper jaw a trifle longer than the lower. Their flippers are broad and oval-shaped, and what renders them peculiar and easily recognised is their greatly-lengthened dorsal fin, in some species said to be equal to one-fifth of the whole length of the animal. Though slightly varying in colour, they are usually glossy black above, and white below, the tints sharply defined. Above the eye is a white patch, and occasionally there is a greyish saddle mark on their back. Their capacious mouth is provided with eleven or twelve teeth on each side above and below, and each tooth is most powerful, conical, and slightly recurved.

THE TRUE DOLPHINS, from which in fact the group _Delphinidæ_ takes its origin, are associated in mythology and poetry to a considerable extent. The car of Amphitrite drawn by these oceanic animals is well known. The COMMON DOLPHIN[246] and the BOTTLE-NOSE DOLPHIN[247] of British coasts are kinds familiar to fishermen and sailors, the former evidently being that known to the ancients. Naturalists have recognised many genera and numerous species of the Dolphin tribe, but into these and their distinctions we shall not enter. If we take the common Dolphin as a representative, it will be seen that the head has a well-marked rostrum or beak, and an abruptly-rounded forehead; the dorsal fin is high, and the flippers of moderate size. When adult they average from six to eight feet in length. Their colour is black above and brilliant white beneath; though many of the species of Dolphins are parti-coloured, white predominating. The teeth vary in number from forty to fifty on each side, above and below--that is, from 160 to 200 in all. They feed on fish, medusæ, and crustaceans; and they congregate in great herds, never being seen alone. This species inhabits the North Sea, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean; but the different genera and species of the Dolphins have a wide range over the seas of the warmer and of the temperate zones; some even ascending rivers after their prey. As a group their habits are considerably alike, and they are all excessively playful and active, and seem to delight in gambolling around vessels,

“Or dive below, or on the surface leap,
And spout the waves, and wanton in the deep.”

THE WHITE WHALE, OR BELUGA.[248]--In September, 1877, a White Whale nine feet and a half long, which had been captured on the coast of Labrador, arrived at the Westminster Aquarium. Though not of the largest size--for they attain a length of even sixteen feet--this example nevertheless was characteristic. Symmetrical in form, creamy white in colour, without dorsal fin, with short stumpy flippers, and a bulging-rounded forehead, there could be no mistaking the species. Unfortunately it lived but a few days, though Mr. Barnum was more fortunate in keeping these creatures alive in a tank in his museum at New York. The dental formula of the Beluga is (8-8)/(8-8)=32; or (10-10)/(10-10)=40; the small conical teeth are implanted only in the front of the jaws, and frequently drop out early in life. It is abundant over a wide area of the northern regions, and is very partial to ascending rivers after fish, for a long distance. Dall records one taken 700 miles up the Yukon river, and Nordmann mentions that it ascends the river Amoor. It is well known in the St. Lawrence and Labrador coasts, as also in the White Sea, where there is a regular White Whale fishery; but withal it is truly a Greenland Cetacean, being found there all the year round. Like the Narwhal it is very gregarious, sportive, and migrates in numbers, both sexes associating in the droves. It is fearless and inquisitive, approaching the ship with an easy roll, occasionally emitting a whistling sound; hence seamen call them “sea canaries.” The female gives birth to a young one in the spring months, and this is of a bluish-grey colour, paling with age. Their docility and indeed intelligence, when captured, are well illustrated by one in America, which was trained to draw a car round the tank. It recognised its keeper, and allowed itself to be freely handled. It would play with a Sturgeon and a small Shark as a Cat would with a Mouse, but without injuring them; at other moments it would splash about and toss stones with its mouth. The Greenlanders dry their flesh for winter use, hoard their oil, and capture them by nets at the entrance of the fjords and inlets whenever chance permits. Five hundred or more every year are thus obtained. Dr. Rae says that the Beluga is similarly caught by nets in the St. Lawrence. The Indians also paint their canoes white and sail promiscuously among them, harpooning betimes. Every part of the animal is valuable to the natives of the north, the skin being manufactured into capital leather. A white Porpoise-looking Whale visits Amoy and other southerly harbours of China, but it is a true Dolphin (_D. sinensis_), and not a Beluga.