A SKETCH OF THE ZOOLOGY OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS.
In the arrangement of the following original observations on,
and descriptions of the more remarkable animals inhabiting, or
frequenting, Spitzbergen and the adjacent seas, I have followed
Linnæus, in combination with La Cepède. The latter author has
published a most voluminous and pleasing account of cetaceous
animals, and has made some judicious changes in the Linnæan
arrangements. By La Cepède, for instance, whales having the dorsal
fin are separated from those without it; the former being called, in
distinction from the latter, _Balænopteræ_, signifying whales with a
fin.
Our first description must relate to the animals of the _cetaceous
kind_, which frequent the Greenland Seas.
Of these the first in eminence and of importance to our commerce,
is the _Balæna mysticetus_, the common or Greenland whale. This
animal is productive of more oil than any other of the cetacea, and
being less active, slower in its motion, and more timid than any
other of its kind, of similar, or nearly similar, magnitude, it is
more easily captured. Its size has been much overrated, and, in his
excellent natural history of cetaceous animals, La Cepède has been
guilty of considerable exaggeration. In the age when whales were
regarded with superstitious dread, it is easy to conceive that the
dimensions of an animal inhabiting an element in which it cannot
easily be measured, would be recorded with extravagance. Authors of
the first respectability in the present day give a length of eighty
to one hundred feet to the mysticetus, and remark with unqualified
assertion, that when the captures were less frequent, and the animals
had sufficient time to attain their full growth, specimens were
found of one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet in length, or
even longer; and some ancient naturalists, indeed, have gone so far
as to assert, that whales had been seen of above nine hundred feet
in length. In the present day, however, it is certain that they are
by no means so bulky. Of three hundred and twenty-two individuals,
in the capture of which I have been personally concerned, no one,
I believe, exceeded sixty feet in length, and the largest I ever
measured was fifty-eight feet, from one extremity to the other,
being one of the largest to appearance which I ever saw. An uncommon
whale that was caught near Spitzbergen, about twenty years ago,
the whalebone of which measured almost fifteen feet, was not, I
understand, so much as seventy feet in length; and the longest
actual measurement that I have met with, or heard of, is given by
sir Charles Giesecké, who informs us, that in the spring of 1813,
a whale was killed at Godhaven of the length of sixty-seven feet.
These, however, are very uncommon instances. I therefore conceive
that sixty feet may be considered as the size of the larger animals
of this species, and sixty-five feet in length as a magnitude which
very rarely occurs.
I believe, too, that whales are now met with of as large dimensions
as at any former period since the commencement of the whale-fishery;
a point which, I think, can be established from various historical
records.
The greatest circumference of the whale is from thirty to forty feet.
It is thickest a little behind the fins, or in the middle, between
the anterior and posterior extremes of the animal, from whence it
gradually tapers in a conical form towards the tail, and slightly
towards the head. Its form is cylindrical, from the neck to within
ten feet of the tail, beyond which it becomes somewhat quadrangular,
the greatest ridge being upward, or on the back, and running backward
nearly across the middle of the tail. The head has somewhat of a
triangular shape. The under-part, the arched outline of which is
given by the jaw-bones, is flat, and measures sixteen to twenty feet
in length, and ten to twelve in breadth. The lips, extending fifteen
or twenty feet in length, and five or six in height, and forming
the cavity of the mouth, are attached to the under-jaw, and rise
from the jaw-bones at an angle of about 80°, having the appearance,
when viewed in front, of the letter U. The upper-jaw, including the
“crown-bone,” or skull, is bent down at the extremity, so as to
shut the front and upper parts of the cavity of the mouth, and is
overlapped by the lips in a squamous manner at the sides.
When the mouth is open, it presents a cavity as large as a room, and
capable of containing a merchant-ship’s jolly-boat full of men, being
six or eight feet wide, ten or twelve feet high in front, and fifteen
or sixteen feet long. The fins, two in number, are placed between
one-third and two-fifths of the length of the animal, from the snout,
and about two feet behind the angle of the mouth. They are seven to
nine feet in length, and four or five in breadth; and in the living
animal are capable of considerable flexion. The whale has no dorsal
fin.
The tail, comprising in a single surface eighty or one hundred square
feet, is a formidable instrument of motion or defence. Its length
is only five or six feet, but its width is eighteen to twenty-four
or twenty-six feet. Its position is horizontal. In its form it is
flat and semi-lunar, indented in the middle, the two lobes somewhat
pointed and turned a little backward. Its motions are rapid and
universal; its strength immense.
The eyes are situated in the sides of the head, about a foot
obliquely above and behind the angle of the mouth. They are little
larger than those of an ox. The whale has no external ear. The
spiracles or nostrils of the whale are two longitudinal apertures,
six or eight inches in length, from which a moist vapour, mixed
with mucous, is discharged when the animal breathes, but no water
accompanies it unless the breathing takes place under the surface.
The mouth, in place of teeth, contains two extensive rows of “fins,”
or whalebone, which are suspended from the sides of the crown-bone.
Each series, or side of bone, as the whale-fishers term it, consists
of upwards of three hundred laminæ, of which the longest are near the
middle. Ten or eleven feet is the average length, and the greatest
breadth at the gum ten or twelve inches. The interior edges of these
laminæ are covered with a fringe of hair. In the youngest whales,
called suckers, the whalebone is only a few inches long; when the
length reaches six feet or upwards, the whale is said to be of
_size_. The colour of the whalebone is brownish black, or bluish
black, and occasionally striped longitudinally with white. A large
whale sometimes affords a ton and a half of whalebone. The gum,
in which the thick ends of the whalebone are inserted, is white,
fibrous, tender, and tasteless. It cuts like cheese, and has the
appearance of the kernel of the cocoanut. The animal has a large
tongue, a slight beard, and a remarkably narrow throat.
The milk of the whale resembles that of quadrupeds in appearance, and
is said to be rich and well-flavoured. In the female, two paps are
situated on the abdomen.
The colour of the mysticetus is velvet black, grey, and white, with
a tinge of yellow, according to the parts of the body. The older
animals contain the most grey and white; under-sized whales are
altogether of a bluish black, and suckers of a pale bluish, or bluish
grey colour.
The skin of the body is slightly furrowed, but on the tail it is
smooth. That part of the skin, which can be pulled off in sheets
after it has been dried a little in the air, or particularly in the
frost, is not thicker than parchment. The _rete mucosum_ in adults is
about three-fourths of an inch in thickness over most parts of the
body. Under it lies the true skin, white and tough, and immediately
in contact with it the blubber.
This most valuable portion of the animal encompasses its whole
body. Its colour is yellowish white, yellow, or red; in old animals
sometimes resembling the substance of the salmon. It swims in water.
Its thickness all round the body is eight or ten to twenty inches,
varying in different parts, as well as in different individuals. The
lips are composed almost entirely of blubber, and yield from one to
two tons of pure oil each. The oil appears retained in the blubber
in minute cells, connected by a strong reticulated combination of
tendinous fibres, which are condensed at the surface, and appears
to form the substance of the skin. The oil is expelled when heated.
In its fresh state, the blubber is without unpleasant smell, and it
is only at the end of the voyage that the cargo of a Greenland ship
becomes disagreeable.
The quantity of oil yielded by a certain quantity of blubber varies
according to the age of the animal; the blubber of the sucker
contains a very small portion. The quantity of oil generally bears a
proportion to the length of the longest blade of whalebone. Four tons
of blubber in measure generally produce three tons of oil; the ton of
oil being two hundred and fifty-two gallons, wine-measure.
The flesh of the young whale is of a red colour, and, when broiled
and seasoned with pepper and salt, eats like coarse beef. The bones
are very porous, and contain much fine oil. The ribs are thirteen in
number, and are nearly solid, and the bones of the fins, in number
and proportion, are similar to those of the fingers of the human hand.
A stout whale, of sixty feet in length, is of the enormous weight of
seventy tons; the blubber weighs about thirty tons; the bones of the
head, whalebone, fins, and tail, eight or ten; the carcase thirty or
thirty-two.
The whale is dull of hearing, but its sense of seeing is acute,
especially when under water. It has no voice, but makes in breathing
or blowing a very loud noise. It blows or breathes about four or
five times a minute, discharging vapour to the height of some yards,
which, at a distance, looks like a puff of smoke. When the animal is
wounded, this vapour is often stained with blood, and on the approach
of death jets of blood are sometimes discharged. The whale being
lighter than the water, can remain at the surface with ease, but
requires considerable exertion to descend. It advances through the
water by means of the tail, which, to attain the greatest velocity,
is moved alternately upward and downward; and, for slower progress,
laterally and obliquely downward, in the manner of _skulling_ a boat.
The fins are used for balancing the animal, and in bearing off their
young. I have observed a whale descending, after I had harpooned
it, to the depth of four hundred fathoms, with the average velocity
of seven or eight miles per hour. The usual rate at which whales
swim, however, seldom exceeds four miles an hour, and though their
extreme velocity may be eight or nine, yet we find this speed never
continues longer than for a few minutes. They sometimes ascend with
such rapidity as to leap entirely out of the water, apparently for
amusement, and to the high admiration of the distant spectator. At
other times they throw themselves into a perpendicular posture, with
their heads downward, and rearing their tails on high in the air,
they beat the water with awful violence; the sea is thrown into foam,
the air is filled with vapours, and the noise in calm weather is
heard to a great distance. Sometimes the whale shakes its tremendous
tail in the air, which, cracking like a whip, resounds to the
distance of two or three miles.
When it retires from the surface, it first lifts its head, then
plunging it under water, elevates its back, like the segment of a
sphere, deliberately rounds it away towards the extremity, throws its
tail out of the water, and then disappears. Whales usually remain
at the surface to breathe about two minutes, during which time they
“blow” eight or nine times, and then descend for an interval usually
of five or ten minutes, but sometimes, when feeding, fifteen or
twenty. They commonly descend to only a trifling depth; but, when
struck, they have been known, by the quantity of line taken out of
the boat, to descend to the depth of an English mile, and, with such
velocity, as to break their jaw-bones by the blow struck against the
bottom. Occasionally, they may be found sleeping in calm weather
among ice, and some persons are of opinion that, when undisturbed,
they can remain under the surface for many hours at a time.
The food of the whale consists of various species of _actiniæ_,
_clioncs_, _sepiæ_, _medusæ_, _cancri_, and _helices_, judging from
the fact that some of these genera are always to be seen wherever any
tribe of whales is found stationary. I have only discovered in the
stomachs of dead animals _squillæ_ or shrimps. When the whale feeds,
it swims swiftly through the sea, with its jaws extended; its food is
entangled by the whalebone, which, from its compact arrangement and
thick internal covering of hair, does not allow a particle to escape.
The whale has one young at a birth. At this time the young one
is said to be at least ten feet long, and continues under the
protection of the mother for probably a year, until, by the growth
of the whalebone, it is able to maintain itself. It probably reaches
the magnitude called _size_, that is, with a six feet length of
whalebone, in twelve years, and attains its full growth at the age
of twenty or twenty-five. Whales live to a great age. The maternal
affection of the whale is very interesting. The cub, being insensible
to danger, is easily harpooned, and is sometimes struck as a snare
to secure the mother. In this case she joins it at the surface
whenever it has occasion to rise for respiration, encourages it to
swim off, assists its flight by taking it under her fin, and seldom
deserts it while life remains. In June, 1811, one of my harpooners
struck a sucker, with the hope of its leading to the capture of the
mother. Presently she arose close by “the fast-boat,” and seizing the
young one, dragged about a hundred fathoms of line out of the boat
with remarkable force and velocity. Again she rose to the surface,
darted furiously to and fro, frequently stopped short, or suddenly
changed her direction, and gave every possible intimation of extreme
agony. For a length of time she continued thus to act, though closely
pursued by the boats; and, inspired with courage and resolution by
her concern for her offspring, seemed regardless of the danger which
surrounded her. At length, one of the boats approached so near that a
harpoon was hove at her. It hit, but did not attach itself. A second
harpoon was struck, this also failed to penetrate, but a third was
more effectual, and held. Still she did not attempt to escape, but
allowed other boats to approach, so that, in a few minutes, three
more harpoons were fastened, and, in the course of an hour afterwards
she was killed.
There is something deeply interesting in the manner in which the
great Maker of all things, in giving laws to the animal kingdom, has
thus presented so many illustrations of the parental relation. It
is as if he would not leave his intelligent creatures destitute of
memorials of their relation to himself; so that, while in the field
and on the flood, they behold the signs of parental affection and
filial dependence, they may be led to ponder the solemn question of
their tender and faithful Parent in heaven—“If, then, I be a Father,
where is mine honour?”
The mysticetus occurs most abundantly in the frozen seas of Greenland
and Davis’s Strait, in the bays of Baffin and Hudson, in the sea
to the northward of Behring’s Strait, and along some part of the
northern shores of Asia, and probably America. It is never met with
in the German Ocean, and rarely within two hundred leagues of the
British coast; but along the coasts of Africa and South America it
is met with periodically, in considerable numbers. In these regions,
it is attacked and captured by the southern British and American
whalers, as well as by some of the people inhabiting the coasts to
which it resorts. Whether this whale is precisely of the same kind
as that of Spitzbergen and Greenland is uncertain, though it is
evidently a mysticetus. One striking difference, possibly the effect
of situation and climate, is, that the mysticetus in southern regions
is often covered with barnacles, while those of the Arctic Seas are
free from these shell-fish.
Besides the formidable inroads made upon the whale by man, it is
subject to annoyance from sharks, and it is also said from the
narwal, sword-fish, and thrasher. The opinion as to the narwal I
am persuaded is incorrect; the sword-fish and thrasher (if such
an animal there be) may be enemies of the whale, and the shark
certainly is hostile to the extent of his ability, which, in
comparison to that of the whale, can hardly be very formidable.
It is certain that the flesh of the whale is now eaten by savage
nations, and it is also well authenticated that, in the twelfth,
thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, it was used as food
by the Icelanders, the Netherlander, the French, the Spaniards, and,
probably, by the English. Besides forming a choice eatable, the
inferior products of the whale are applied to other purposes by the
Indians and Esquimaux of Arctic countries, and, with some nations,
are essential to their comfort. Some membranes of the abdomen
are used for an upper article of clothing, and the peritoneum in
particular, being thin and transparent, is used instead of glass in
the windows of their huts; the bones are converted into harpoons
and spears for striking the seal, or darting at the sea-birds, and
are also employed in the erection of their tents, and, with some
tribes, in the formation of their boats; the sinews are divided into
filaments, and used as thread, with which they join the seams of
their boats and tent-cloths, and sew, with great taste and nicety,
the different articles of dress they manufacture; and the whalebone
and other superior products, so valuable in European markets, have
also their uses among them.
The largest animal of the whale tribe is not the mysticetus, but the
_Balæna physalis_ of Linnæus, _Balænoptera gibbar_ of La Cepède, and
razor-back of the whalers. This is, probably, the most powerful and
bulky of created beings. In comparison with the mysticetus, it has
a form less cylindrical, a body longer and more slender, whalebone
shorter, produce in blubber and oil less, colour bluer, fins more
numerous, breathing more violent, speed greater, and actions quicker,
more restless and more bold. Its length is about one hundred feet,
and its greatest circumference thirty or thirty-five. Its colour is
a pale bluish black, or dark bluish grey, in which it resembles the
sucking mysticetus. Besides the two pectoral fins, it has a small
horny protuberance, or rayless and immovable fin on the extremity
of the back. Its greatest velocity in swimming is about twelve
miles an hour. It is by no means a timid animal, yet it does not
appear revengeful or mischievous. When closely pursued by boats, it
manifests little fear, and does not attempt to outstrip them in the
race, but merely endeavours to avoid them by diving or changing its
direction. If harpooned, or wounded, it then exerts all its energies,
and escapes with its utmost velocity, but shows little disposition
to retaliate on its enemies, or to repel their attacks by engaging
in a combat. Unlike the mysticetus, it very rarely, when descending
into the water, throws its tail into the air. Its great speed and
activity render it a difficult and dangerous object of attack, and
the small quantity of inferior oil it affords makes it unworthy the
general attention of the fishers. When struck, it not uncommonly
drags the fast-boat with such speed through the water, that it is
liable to be carried immediately beyond the reach of assistance, and
soon out of sight of both boats and ship. Hence the striker is under
the necessity of cutting the line, and sacrificing his employer’s
property for securing the safety of himself and his companions. In
the year 1818, I ordered a general chase of them, providing against
the danger of having my crew separated from the ship by appointing a
rendezvous on the shore not far distant, and preparing against the
loss of much line by dividing it at two hundred fathoms from the
harpoon, and affixing a buoy to the end of it. Thus arranged, one
of these whales was shot, and another struck. The former dived with
such impetuosity that the line was broken by the resistance of the
buoy, as soon as it was thrown into the water, and the latter was
liberated within a minute by the division of the line, occasioned,
it was supposed, by its friction against the dorsal fin. Both of
them escaped. Another physalis was struck by one of my inexperienced
harpooners, who mistook it for a mysticetus. It dived obliquely with
such velocity that four hundred and eighty fathoms of line were
withdrawn from the boat in about a minute of time. This whale was
also lost by the breaking of the line.
The physalis occurs in great numbers in the Arctic Seas, especially
along the edge of the ice, between Cherie Island and Nova Zembla,
and also near Jan Mayen. Persons trading to Archangel have often
mistaken it for the common whale. It is seldom seen among much ice,
and seems to be avoided by the mysticetus; hence the fishers view it
with painful concern. It inhabits most generally in the Spitzbergen
quarter the parallels of 70° to 76°; but in the months of June, July,
and August, when the sea is usually open, it advances along the land
to the northward as high as 80° of latitude. In open seasons it is
seen near the headland at an earlier period. A whale, probably of
this kind, one hundred and one feet in length, was stranded on the
banks of the Humber, about the middle of September, 1750.
Another species of whale frequenting the coasts of Scotland, Ireland,
Norway, etc., is the _Balænoptera rorqual_ of La Cepède, _Balæna
musculus_ of Linnæus, or the broad-nosed whale.
In many characters, this species resembles the physalis, though, I
think, with an essential difference. The musculus is shorter, having
a larger head and mouth, and a rounder under-jaw than the physalis
and is said to feed principally upon herrings. Several individuals,
apparently of this kind, have been stranded or killed on different
parts of the coast of the United Kingdom. One was embayed and killed
in Balta Sound, Shetland, in the winter of 1817-18, some remains of
which I saw. It was eighty-two feet in length, the jaw-bones were
twenty-one feet long, and the largest lamina of whalebone about three
feet. Instead of hair at the inner edge, and at the point of each
blade of whalebone, it had a fringe of bristly fibres, and it was
stiffer, harder, and more horny in its texture than common whalebone.
It produced only about five tons of oil, all of it of an inferior
quality; some of it viscid and bad. It valued, deducting expenses, no
more than £60 sterling. It had the usual sulci about the thorax, and
a dorsal fin.
A smaller species of whale is _Balænoptera jubartes_ of La Cepède,
_Balæna boops_ of Linnæus, or the finner of the whale-fishers.
The following is its description:—Length, about forty-six feet;
greatest circumference of the body, about twenty feet; dorsal
protuberance, or fin, about two feet and a half high; pectoral fins,
four or five feet long externally, and scarcely a foot broad; tail,
about three feet deep and ten broad; whalebone, about three hundred
laminæ on each side, the longest about eighteen inches in length,
the under-jaw about fifteen feet long, or one-third of the whole
length of the animal; sulci, about two dozen in number; two external
blow-holes; blubber on the body two or three inches thick, under the
sulci none.
The last, and smallest of the whalebone whales, with which I am
acquainted, is the _Balænoptera acuto-rostrata_ of La Cepède, _Balæna
rostrata_ of Linnæus, or the beaked whale. An animal of this kind was
killed in Scalpa Bay, November 14, 1808. Its length was seventeen and
a half feet, circumference twenty. Pectoral fins, two feet long and
seven inches broad; dorsal fin fifteen inches long by four and a half
feet broad. Largest whalebone, about six inches. The rostrata is said
to inhabit principally the Norwegian Seas, and to grow to the length
of twenty-five feet. One of the species was killed near Spitzbergen,
in 1813, and I have some of the whalebone in my possession.
Three species of narwals are noticed by La Cepède, though I myself
have seen but one, and perhaps the other species are imaginary, for
the animal varies in appearance. It is the _Monodon monoceros_ of
Linnæus, and the narwal, or unicorn, of whalers.
It is, when full grown, from thirteen to sixteen feet in length,
exclusive of the tusk; and in circumference (two feet behind the
fins, where it is thickest,) eight to nine feet. The form of the
head, with the part of the body before the fins, is paraboloidal;
of the middle of the body, nearly cylindrical; of the hinder-part,
to within two or three feet of tail, somewhat conical, and from
thence a ridge, commencing both at the back and belly; the section
becomes first an ellipse, and then a rhombus, at the junction
of the tail. At the distance of twelve or fourteen inches from
the tail the perpendicular diameter is about twelve inches, the
transverse diameter about seven. The head is about one-seventh of
the whole length of the animal; it is small, blunt, round, and of
a paraboloidal form. The mouth is small and not capable of much
extension. The under-lip is wedge-shaped. The eyes are small, the
largest diameter being only an inch, and are placed in a line with
the opening of the mouth about thirteen inches from the snout. The
blow-hole, which is directly over the eyes, is a single opening, of
a semicircular form, about three and a half inches in diameter, or
breadth, and one and a half radius, or length. The fins are twelve or
fourteen inches long, and six or eight broad; the tail, from fifteen
to twenty inches long, and three to four feet broad. It has no dorsal
fin, but in place of it an irregular, sharpish, fatty ridge. The
colour of the narwal is in the young animal blackish grey, on the
back variegated with numerous darker spots, running into one another;
in the older animals the ground is wholly white, or yellowish white.
The integuments are similar to those of the mysticetus, only thinner.
A long prominent tusk, with which some narwals are furnished, is
considered as a horn by the whale-fishers, and as such has given
occasion for the name of _unicorn_ being applied to this animal. This
tusk occurs on the left side of the head, and is sometimes found
of the length of nine or ten feet; according to Egedé, fourteen or
fifteen. It springs from the lower part of the upper-jaw, points
forward and a little downward, being parallel in its direction to the
roof of the mouth. It is spirally situated from right to left, is
nearly straight, and tapers to around, blunt point, is of a yellowish
white colour, and consists of a compact kind of ivory. It is usually
hollow from the base to within a few inches of the point. In a five
feet tusk the diameter at the base is two and a quarter inches, and
about three-eighths within an inch of the end. This external tusk is
peculiar to the male, and there is another imbedded in the skull,
on the right side of the head, about nine inches long. Two or three
instances have occurred of male narwals having been taken, which
had two large external tusks. The use of the tusk is ambiguous. It
cannot be essential for procuring their food, nor for defence. Dr.
Barclay is of opinion that it is principally a sexual distinction;
and it appears not improbable that it is used in piercing the ice for
convenience of breathing, without the animal being obliged to retreat
to open water. If this latter supposition be correct, it affords
another illustration of the wisdom of the great Creator, who has
adapted in so many instances the organization of every animal to the
locality which it inhabits.
A quantity of blubber, from two to three and a half inches in
thickness, and amounting sometimes to above half a ton, encompasses
the whole body of the narwal, and affords a large proportion of
very fine oil. In a fine fatty substance about the internal ears of
the narwal are found multitudes of worms. They are about an inch in
length, some shorter, very slender, and taper both ways, but are
sharper at one end than at the other. They are transparent. The
vertebral column of the narwal is about twelve feet in length. The
cervical vertebræ are seven in number, the dorsal twelve, the lumbar
and caudal thirty-five. The spinal marrow appears to run through the
processes of all the vertebræ from the head to the fortieth, but does
not penetrate the forty-first. The ribs are twelve on each side, six
true and six false, and are small for the size of the animal. The
principal food of the narwal are molluscous animals. I have found
remains of sepiæ in several stomachs which I have examined. Narwals
are quick, active, inoffensive animals, and swim with considerable
velocity. They appear in numerous little herds of half a dozen or
more together, each herd being most frequently composed of animals
of the same sex. When harpooned, the narwal dives with almost the
velocity of the mysticetus, but not to the same extent; on returning
to the surface it is dispatched with a lance in a few minutes.
Passing now from these tribes, a short space must be allotted to the
description of the dolphins. The first is _Delphinus deductor_,
defined by Dr. Traill, the ca’ing or leading whale. The following are
its specific characters. Body thick, black; one short dorsal fin;
pectoral fins long, narrow; head obtuse; upper jaw bent forward;
teeth subconoid, sharp, and a little bent.
This animal grows to the length of about twenty-four feet, and is
about ten feet in circumference. The skin is smooth, resembling
oiled-silk; the colour a white blueish black on the back, and
generally whitish on the belly; the blubber is three or four inches
thick. The head is short and round; the upper jaw projects a little
over the lower. Externally it has a single spiracle. The full grown
have generally twenty-two to twenty-four teeth in each jaw, and when
the mouth is shut, the teeth lock between one another like the teeth
of a trap. The tail is about five feet broad, the dorsal fin about
fifteen inches high, cartilaginous, and immovable.
This kind of dolphin sometimes appears in large herds off the Orkney,
Shetland, and Feroe islands. The main body of the herd follows the
leading whales, and from this property the animal is called in
Shetland the ca’ing whale, and by Dr. Traill the deductor. Many herds
of this animal have been driven on shore at different periods, and
it is recorded that there were taken in two places in the year 1664
about a thousand; and in modern times extensive slaughters have
taken place on the shores of the British and other northern islands.
The _Delphinapterus beluga_ of La Cepède, _Delphinus Leucas_ of
Linnæus, _Beluga_ of Pennant, or white whale of the fishers, is
the last of the cetacea to which we shall refer. It is not unlike
the narwal in its general form, but is thicker about the middle of
its body in proportion to its length. Both jaws are furnished with
teeth. It has no dorsal fin. The skin is smooth, the colour white.
A male animal of this kind was taken in the Frith of Forth in June,
1815. The length was thirteen feet four inches, and the greatest
circumference nine feet. The beluga is generally met with in families
or herds of five or ten together. They are plentiful in Hudson’s
Bay, Davis’s Strait, and on some parts of the northern coasts of
Europe and Asia, where they frequent some of the larger rivers.
They are taken for the sake of the oil they produce by harpoons or
strong nets; in the latter case, the nets are extended across the
stream, so as to prevent their escape out of the river, and when
thus interrupted in their course to seaward, they are attacked with
lances, and great numbers are sometimes killed.
It is now our purpose to give an account of the _quadrupeds_ which
inhabit Spitzbergen and the icy seas adjacent.
The connecting link between the mammalia of the land and the
water is _Trichecus rosmarus_, walrus, morse, or sea-horse of the
whale-fishers. It corresponds in several of its characters both with
the bullock and the whale. It grows to the bulk of an ox. Its canine
teeth, two in number, are of the length externally of ten to twenty
inches, (some naturalists say three feet,) and extend downward from
the upper jaw, and include the point of the lower jaw between them.
They are incurvated inward. Their full length when cut out of the
skull is commonly fifteen to twenty inches, sometimes almost thirty,
and their weight five to ten pounds each or upward. The walrus
being a slow clumsy animal on land, its tusk seems necessary for
its defence against the bear, and also for enabling it to raise its
unwieldy body upon the ice when its access to the shore is prevented.
The walrus is found on the shores of Spitzbergen twelve to fifteen
feet in length, and eight to ten feet in circumference. The head is
short, small, and flattened in front. The flattened part of the face
is set with strong bristles. The nostrils are on the upper part of
the snout, through which it blows like a whale. The fore paws, which
are a kind of webbed hand, are two-sevenths of the full length of
the animal from the snout. They are from two to two and a half feet
in length, and being expansive maybe stretched to the breadth of
fifteen to eighteen inches. The hind feet, which form a sort of tail
fin, extend straight backward. They are not united, but detached from
each other. The length of each is about two to two and a half feet;
the breadth, when fully extended, two and a half or three feet; the
termination of each toe is marked by a small tail.
The skin of the walrus is about an inch thick, and it is covered with
a short, yellowish brown coloured hair. The inside of the paws in
old animals is defended by a rough, horny kind of casing, a quarter
of an inch thick, probably produced by the hardening of the skin in
consequence of coarse usage in climbing over ice and rocks.
Beneath the skin is a thin layer of fat. At some seasons the produce
is said to be considerable, but I have never met with any that
afforded above twenty or thirty gallons of oil. In the stomachs
of walruses I have met with shrimps, a kind of craw-fish, and the
remains of young seals.
It is not at all improbable that the walrus has afforded foundation
for some of the stories of mermaids. I have myself seen a sea-horse
in such a position, that it requires little stretch of imagination
to mistake it for a human being; so like, indeed, was it, that the
surgeon of the ship actually reported to me that he had seen a man
with his head just appearing above the surface of the water.
The walrus is a fearless animal. It pays no regard to a boat,
excepting as an object of curiosity. It is sometimes taken by a
harpoon when in the water. If one attack fails, it often affords
an opportunity for repeating it. The capture cannot be always
accomplished without danger, for, as they go in herds, an attack
made upon one individual draws all its companions to its defence. In
such cases they frequently rally round the boat from which the blow
was struck, pierce its planks with their tusks, and, though resisted
in the most determined manner, sometimes raise themselves upon the
gunwale, and threaten to overset it. The best defence against these
enraged animals is, in such a crisis, sea-sand, which, being thrown
into their eyes, occasions a partial blindness, and obliges them to
disperse. When on shore they are best killed with long sharp-pointed
knives.
The tusks of the walrus, which are hard, white, and compact ivory,
are employed by dentists in the fabrication of false teeth. The
skin is used in place of mats for defending the yards and rigging
of ships from being chafed by friction against each other. When
cut into shreds and plaited into cordage, it answers admirably for
wheel-ropes, being stronger and wearing much longer than hemp. In
ancient times, most of the ropes of ships, in northern countries
at least, would appear to have been made of this substance. When
tanned, it is converted into a soft porous leather, above an inch in
thickness, but it is by no means so useful or so durable as in its
green or raw state.
As early as the ninth century, we have accounts of the walrus being
extensively fished for on the western coast of Norway. Prior to the
institution of the Spitzbergen whale-fishery, the capture of this
animal was an object of some commercial importance. It was at first
attacked by the English, on Cherie Island, but being driven from
thence, if not extirpated in that quarter, by the great slaughter
that was carried on, it was then pursued to Spitzbergen. The earliest
attacks made on it were very unsuccessful, but experience rendered
the assailants more skilful, and, in one voyage, nine hundred or
one thousand sea-horses were killed in less than seven hours. The
Russians now, rather than the British, are their enemies.
With the exception of the head, the general form of the walrus is
similar to the next animal which we describe, the phoca, or seal.
Several species of seals occur in the Greenland Sea, and resort
to the ice in the neighbourhood of Spitzbergen and Jan Mayen, in
immense herds; but, as the seal frequents the British coast, and is a
well-described and well-known animal, I shall not particularize the
well-known species that are met with in the Arctic Seas. Some few
general observations only will be necessary.
Seals are generally fat in the spring of the year, and afford several
gallons of blubber; even small seals will then yield about four or
five gallons of oil. The voice of the young seal when in pain or
distress is a whining cry, resembling that of a child. They appear
to hear well under water; music, or particularly a person whistling,
draws them to the surface, and induces them to stretch their necks
to the utmost extent, so as to prove a snare by bringing them within
reach of the shooter. The most effectual way of shooting them is by
the use of small shot, fired into their eyes; when killed with a
bullet they generally sink, and are lost. Seals are often seen on
their passage from one situation to another in very large shoals.
Their general conduct in such cases is such as to amuse spectators,
and the sailors call such a shoal a “seal’s wedding.” The feet of
seals are better adapted for motion in the water than on land. They
feed on birds, crabs, and small fishes, and are very tenacious of
life.
The uses of the seal are various, and to some nations highly
important. It yields train-oil, and its skin is extensively employed
in making shoes, and, when dressed with the hair, in covering trunks.
To the Esquimaux the seal is everything. Its flesh is food, its fat
gives light, and its skin, dressed so as to be waterproof, is used
for covering for boats and tents, and for garments.
The _Phoca vitulina_ is the common species in the Greenland
Sea, especially near Jan Mayen. The hooded seal is common near
Spitzbergen. The latter is longer than the former, and is said to
grow to the length of ten or twelve feet. It is also much more
formidable. Seals are not fond of the water, but, when on the ice,
are extremely watchful, and secure their retreat either by reclining
at the edge or by keeping a hole in the ice open for them. The young
ones, however, are not so wary as the old folks. The best situation
for the seal-fishery in the Arctic Sea is in the vicinity of Jan
Mayen, and the best season March and April. The capture of the
seal is the work of a moment. A blow with a seal-club on the nose
immediately stuns it, and affords opportunity of making a prize
of many at a time. Ships fitted out for the whale-fishery have
accidentally obtained in April from two thousand to three thousand
seals, and sometimes more; and vessels sent out for seal-fishery
only, four thousand or five thousand, yielding nearly one hundred
tons of oil. From the ports of the Elbe and Weser a number of sealers
are annually dispatched, but few comparatively on this pursuit alone
sail from Britain.
Of the dangers of the seal-fishery, arising from the liability to
heavy storms at the season and in the place where seals are taken,
the following narrative will furnish full illustration.
Fifty-four ships, chiefly Hamburghers, were, in the year 1774, fitted
out for seal-fishery alone from foreign ports. In the spring of
the year they met with several English ships on the borders of the
ice, about sixty miles to the eastward of the island of Jan Mayen.
While the boats of the fleet were in search for seals, a dreadful
storm suddenly arose. Almost all the people who were at a distance
from the ships perished. The Duke of York, captain Peters, had two
boats at that time down. The crews of these by great exertion rowed
up to the ship, got hold of the rudder rings, but were unable to
make their way alongside; they held fast for some time, but the sea
was too strong for them, and they lost their hold and fell astern.
The chief-mate of the ship, seeing that they were too exhausted to
recover their position, determined to attempt their rescue at the
peril of his own life. He manned a boat with six stout seamen beside
himself, and went to their assistance. On reaching them he exchanged
four of his vigorous crew for two of the fainting men in each boat.
Thus reinforced, the three boats, by the exertions of their crews,
were brought to the stern of the ship; but while in this critical
situation, a sea struck the boats, filled and overwhelmed them, on
which the whole of their crews, nineteen men, perished. This was only
a portion of the disasters of the storm. One ship foundered in a
heavy surge, and all hands were lost. Another was wrecked on the ice,
and all hands perished. Many boats and men were washed from several
others, and the results were that about four hundred foreign seamen,
and two hundred British, were drowned, four or five ships lost, and
scarcely any escaped without damage.
To all those who navigate the treacherous ocean, especially to such
as do business in such dangerous waters, it ought to be of more than
ordinary importance to live in a continued preparation for death and
judgment, and to be the servants of that God who
“—— rides upon the stormy sky
And manages the seas.”
Beneath his care the mariner is safe, and whether from the abysses of
its ancient caves, or the foundations of its lofty icebergs, the sea
must surrender unto eternal life the bodies of the disciples of Jesus.
The Arctic fox, _Canis lagopus_, is an animal known to those who
winter in Spitzbergen, though seldom seen by the whale-fishers.
They are rarely found on the ice, though I have often found their
impressions on the snow. They are of a white colour, and not easily
distinguished.
A more remarkable animal is the Polar or Greenland bear, _Ursus
maritimus_. He is the sovereign of the quadrupeds of the Arctic
countries. He is powerful and courageous; savage and sagacious;
apparently clumsy, yet not inactive. His senses are extremely acute,
especially his sight and smell. As he traverses extensive fields
of ice, he mounts the hummocks and looks for prey, and on rearing
his head and snuffing the breeze, he can perceive the scent of the
carrion of the whale at an immense distance. Seals are his usual
food, but from their watchfulness he is often obliged to fast. He is
as much at home on the ice as on the land, and is found on field-ice
above two hundred miles from shore. He can swim with the velocity of
three miles an hour, and can dive to a considerable distance.
Bears occur in Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, Greenland, and other Arctic
countries, throughout the year. In some places, they are met with in
great numbers. By means of the ice, they often effect a landing on
Iceland, but as soon as they appear, they are generally attacked by
the inhabitants and destroyed. On the east coast of Greenland, they
have appeared like flocks of sheep on a common.
The size of the bear is generally four or five feet in height, seven
or eight in length, and nearly as much in circumference. Sometimes,
however, the size is much larger. His paws are seven inches in
breadth, and his claws two inches in length. His canine teeth,
exclusive of the part in the jaw, are about an inch and a half in
length. He has been known by the strength of his jaw to bite a lance
in two, though made of iron half an inch in diameter. In the water
he can be captured without much danger, but on land the experiment
is hazardous. When pursued and attacked, he turns upon his enemies.
He always, however, unless urged by hunger, retreats before men.
His general walk is slow, but upon the ice he can easily outrun any
man. If struck with a lance, he is apt to seize it in his mouth,
and either bite it in two, or wrest it out of the hand. If shot
with a ball, unless he is struck in the head, in the heart, or in
the shoulder, he is enraged rather than depressed, and falls with
increased power upon his pursuers. When shot at a distance, and
able to escape, he has been observed to retire to the shelter of a
hummock, and, as if conscious of the styptical effect of cold, apply
snow with his paws to the wound.
The bear feeds on the kreng, or carcases of the whales, as they are
left by the fishers; on seals, birds, foxes, and deer, when it can
surprise them; on eggs, and indeed on any animal substance that comes
within its power. The skin of the bear, when dressed with the hair
on, forms beautiful mats for a hall or for the bottom of a carriage.
Prepared without being ripped up, and the hairy side turned inward,
it forms a very warm sack bed, and is used as such in some parts of
Greenland. The flesh, when cleared of the fat, is well flavoured and
savoury, especially the muscular part of the ham. I once treated my
surgeon with a dinner of bears ham, and he did not know for above
a month afterwards, but that it was beefsteak. The liver is very
unwholesome.
Bears are remarkably affectionate towards their young, and peculiarly
sagacious. The female has generally two at a birth. On one occasion,
a mother bear with two cubs was pursued across a field of ice by
a party of armed sailors. At first, she urged her young ones to
increase their speed, but finding the pursuers gaining on them,
she carried or pushed or pitched them alternately forward, until
she effected their escape. The little creatures are said to have
placed themselves across her path to receive her impulse, and when
thrown forward they ran on till she overtook them, when they adjusted
themselves for a second throw.
Many instances have been observed of the peculiar sagacity of these
animals. A seal, lying on the middle of a large piece of ice, with
a hole just before it, was marked out by a bear for its prey, and
secured by the artifice of diving under the ice, and making its way
to the hole by which the seal was prepared to retreat. The seal,
however, observed its approach, and plunged into the water, but
the bear instantly sprang upon it, and appeared in about a minute
afterwards with the seal in its mouth.
The captain of one of the whalers being anxious to procure a bear
without wounding the skin, made trial of the stratagem of laying the
noose of a rope in the snow, and placing a piece of kreng within it.
A bear, ranging the neighbouring ice, was soon enticed to the spot
by the smell of burning meat. He perceived the bait, approached, and
seized it in his mouth, but his foot, at the same moment, by a jerk
of the rope being entangled in the noose, he pushed it off with the
adjoining paw, and deliberately retired. After having eaten the piece
he carried away with him he returned. The noose, with another piece
of kreng, being then replaced, he pushed the rope aside, and again
walked triumphantly off with the kreng. A third time the noose was
laid, and this time the rope was buried in the snow and the bait laid
in a deep hole dug in the centre. But Bruin, after snuffing about the
place for a few minutes, scraped the snow away with his paw, threw
the rope aside, and escaped unhurt with his prize.
In the month of June, 1812, a female bear, with two cubs, approached
the ship I commanded, and was shot. The cubs, not attempting to
escape, were taken alive. These animals, though at first evidently
very unhappy, became at length, in some measure, reconciled to their
situation, and being tolerably tame, were allowed occasionally to go
at large about the deck. While the ship was moored to a floe, a few
days after they were taken, one of them, having a rope fastened round
its neck, was thrown overboard. It immediately swam to the ice, got
upon it, and attempted to escape. Finding itself, however, detained
by the rope, it endeavoured to disengage itself in the following
ingenious way:—Near the edge of the floe was a crack in the ice, of
considerable length, but only eighteen inches or two feet wide, and
three or four feet deep. To this spot the bear returned; and when,
on crossing the chasm, the bight of the rope fell into it, he placed
himself across the opening; then, suspending himself by his hind
feet, with a leg on each side, he dropped his head and most of his
body into the chasm, and, with a foot applied to each side of the
neck, attempted for some minutes to push the rope over his head.
Finding this scheme ineffectual, he removed to the main ice, and
running with great impetuosity from the ship, gave a remarkable pull
on the rope; then, going backward a few steps, he repeated the jerk.
At length, after repeated attempts to escape this way, every failure
of which he announced by a significant growl, he yielded himself
to his hard necessity, and lay down on the ice in angry and sullen
silence.
Accidents with bears occasionally occur; not so many, however, as
the ferocity of these animals, and the temerity of the sailors,
might lead one to expect. Some of the early voyagers to the Polar
Seas had hard conflicts with them. Barentz’s crew especially were
often in danger from them, but always succeeded either in conquering
or repelling them. Two, however, of the crew of a vessel which had
anchored near Nova Zembla, landed on an island at the mouth of
the Weigats, and, impelled by curiosity, wandered some distance
from the beach; but, whilst unconscious of danger, one of them was
suddenly seized on the back by a bear, and brought to the earth. His
companion ran off, and gave the alarm, and a party of his shipmates
came to their assistance. The bear stood over its prey during their
approach without the least appearance of fear and, on their attack,
sprang upon one of their number, and made him also a victim to its
ferocity and power. The rest now fled in confusion, and could not
be induced to renew the conflict. Three sailors only among the crew
had sufficient courage to combat with this formidable animal; they
attacked it, and, after a dangerous struggle, killed it, and rescued
the mangled bodies of their two unfortunate shipmates.
Captain Cook, of the Archangel, of Lynn, being near the coast of
Spitzbergen, in the year 1788, landed, accompanied by his surgeon
and mate. While traversing the shore, the captain was unexpectedly
attacked by a bear, which seized him in an instant between its
paws. At this awful juncture, when a moment’s pause must have been
fatal to him, he called to his surgeon to fire; who, with admirable
resolution and steadiness, discharged his piece as directed, and
providentially shot the bear through the head. The captain, by this
prompt assistance, was preserved from being torn to pieces.
On a more recent occasion, a commander of a whale ship was in a
similar danger. Captain Hawkins, of the Everthorpe, of Hull, when
in Davis’s Strait, in July, 1818, seeing a very large bear, took a
boat, and pushed off in pursuit of it. On reaching it, the captain
struck it twice with a lance in the breast; and, while in the act of
recovering his weapon for another blow, the enraged animal sprang
up, and seized him by the thigh, and threw him over its head into
the water. Fortunately it did not repeat its attack, but exerted
itself to escape. This exertion, when the attention of every one was
directed towards their captain, was not made in vain, for it was
allowed to swim away without further molestation.
With regard to curious adventures, on one occasion a bear, which was
attacked by a boat’s crew, made such formidable resistance, that it
was enabled to climb the side of the boat and take possession of it,
while the intimidated crew fled for safety to the water, supporting
themselves by the gunwale and rings of the boat, until, by the
assistance of another party from the ship it was shot, as it sat
inoffensively in the stern. With regard to narrow escapes, a sailor,
who was pursued on a field of ice by a bear, when at a considerable
distance from assistance, preserved his life by throwing down an
article of clothing whenever the bear gained upon him, on which it
always suspended the pursuit until it had examined it, and thus gave
him time to obtain some advance. In this way, by means of a hat, a
jacket, and a neckerchief, successively cast down, the progress of
the bear was retarded, and the sailor escaped from the danger that
threatened him, in the refuge afforded him by his vessel.
The rein-deer, _Cervus tarandus_, deserves to be mentioned amongst
the quadrupeds of the Arctic regions. I have never seen one myself,
though it is known to inhabit almost every part of Spitzbergen.
Our remarks must now be directed to the _Birds_ which frequent the
sea and coast of Spitzbergen.
The brent goose and eider duck, _Anas bernicla_ and _Anas
mollissima_, are found in these regions; the former occurring
in considerable numbers near the coast of Greenland, but not in
Spitzbergen, and the latter frequenting all the islands in the
Greenland Sea. The puffin, or Greenland parrot, _Alca arctica_,
feeding on shrimps, is rarely seen out of sight of land, but is very
common near the coast of Spitzbergen. _Alca alle_, also, the little
auk or roach, is an extremely numerous species in some situations in
the Polar Seas. They occur in the water in thousands together, and
sometimes in like abundance on the pieces of ice. They dive quickly
on being alarmed, and on the approach of thick weather they are
particularly noisy.
The fulmar, _Procellaria glacialis_, is the constant companion of
the whale-fisher. It joins his ship immediately on passing the
Shetland Islands, and accompanies it through the trackless ocean
to the highest accessible latitudes. It keeps an eager watch for
anything thrown overboard; the smallest particle of fatty substance
can scarcely escape it. As such, a hook baited with a piece of fat
meat or blubber, and towed by a long twine over the ship’s stern, is
a means employed by the sailor-boys for taking them. In the spring
of the year, before they have glutted themselves with the fat of the
whale, they are pretty good eating. They are remarkably easy and
swift on the wing, and can fly to windward in the highest storms.
Though very few fulmars should be seen when a whale is about being
captured, yet, as soon as the flensing commences, they rush in
from all quarters, and seize, with great audacity, all the pieces
of fat that come in their way. They frequently glut themselves so
completely as to be unable to fly, in which case, when not relieved
by a quantity being disgorged, they rest on the ice until restored
by digestion. The fulmar is a bold and very hardy bird. Its feathers
being thick, it is not easily killed with a blow. Its bite, from the
crookedness, strength, and sharpness of its bill, is very severe.
Fulmars differ in colour; some are a dirty grey, others much paler,
and totally white on the breast and belly. In size this bird is a
little smaller than a duck. Beneath its feathers is a thick bed of
fine grey down. When carrion is scarce, the fulmar sometimes points
out the whale to the fisher by following in its track. They cannot
make much impression on the dead whale until some more powerful
animal tears away the skin.
The tysté, or doveca, _Colymbus grylle_, is a beautifully formed
bird, occurring in considerable numbers in icy situations, at various
distances from land. It is so watchful, and so quick at diving, that,
if fired at without precaution to conceal the flash of the powder, it
generally escapes the shot. It feeds on shrimps and small fishes. The
common colour is black, but the feet are all red.
Almost equally common with the preceding is the _Colymbus troile_,
a clumsy bird, weighing two pounds or upwards, and measuring only
sixteen or seventeen inches in length, and twenty-eight inches across
the wings, when full spread, in breadth. It cannot rise on the
wing in any direction except to windward. If it attempts to fly to
leeward, it runs for a considerable distance along the surface of the
water, and at length falls into it. Both in this instance and that of
the doveca, shortness of tail is compensated for by the feet, which
are used as a rudder in flying. The _Colymbus glacialis_ was seen by
captain Phipps on the coast of Spitzbergen.
The sea-swallow, or great tern, _Sterna hirundo_, is an elegant bird,
common on the shore of Spitzbergen, but is not met with at a distance
from land. Its length is seven or eight inches, and including the
tail fourteen, and the spread of its wings twenty-nine or thirty
inches. It flies with great ease and swiftness, and to a considerable
height. It defends its eggs and young with great boldness from the
Arctic gull, and even descends within a yard of the head of any
person who ventures to molest them, startling him with its loud
screams. It lays its eggs among the shingle of the beach above
high-water mark, where the full power of the sun falls.
There are several varieties of the gull tribe. The kittywake, _Larus
rissa_, is seen in every part of the northern Atlantic from Britain
to the highest latitudes. It is a better fisher than its enemy, the
Arctic gull, _Larus parasiticus_, by whom it is pursued until it
gives up the food it has procured. The latter kind of gull lives at
the expense of its neighbours, preying upon their eggs and their
young. _Larus crepidatus_ and _Larus eburneus_ are other varieties.
The latter, remarkable for its immaculate whiteness, is as ravenous
as the fulmar. _Larus glaucus_, burgomaster, is the chief magistrate
of the feathered tribe in the Spitzbergen regions, as none of its
class dare dispute its authority, or refuse at its bidding to
surrender their prey. It is a large and powerful bird, twenty-eight
inches in length, and five inches in breadth across the wings. The
kittywake, snow-bird, and burgomaster, are sometimes shot for the
sake of their feathers. The two latter species are very shy. They
are shot with the greatest ease, however, from a house built of snow
on the ice. The _Tringa hypoleucos_, sandpiper, and the _Emberiza
nivalis_, snow-bunting, are inhabitants also of these regions. A bird
of great delicacy and smallness is _Fringilla linaria_, the lesser
redpole. On our approach to Spitzbergen, several of this species
alighted on the ship, and were, apparently, so wearied by flight
that they allowed themselves to be taken alive. It is difficult to
understand how this small bird manages to perform the journey from
Spitzbergen to a milder climate, without becoming exhausted and
perishing by the way.
The _Amphibia_, _Fishes_, _Animalcules_, etc., must conclude our
sketch of the zoology of the Arctic regions.
In the class _Amphibia_, the most notable personage is the Greenland
shark, _Squalus borealis_. It has not, I believe, been described.
The ventral fins are separate. It is without anal fin, but has the
temporal opening, and it belongs, therefore, to the third division of
the genus. The spiracles on the neck are five in number on each side.
The colour is cinereous grey. The eyes are the most extraordinary
part of the animal. The pupil is emerald green, the rest of the
eye blue. To the posterior edge of the pupil is attached a white
vermiform substance, one or two inches in length. Each extremity of
it consists of two filaments, but the central part is single. The
sailors imagine this shark is blind, because it pays not the least
attention to the presence of a man, and is, indeed, so apparently
stupid, that it never draws back when a blow is aimed at it with a
knife or a lance. It is twelve or fourteen feet in length, and six or
eight feet in circumference, and in general form very much resembles
the dog-fish. It is one of the foes of the whale. It bites and annoys
it when living, and feeds on it when dead. With its teeth, which are
serrated in one jaw, and lancet-shaped and denticulated in the other,
it scoops out of the body of the whale pieces as large as a person’s
head, and continues scooping and gorging till its belly is filled.
It is so insensible to pain that, though run through the body with a
knife, it will return to its food, and for some hours after its heart
is taken out, or its body cut in pieces, they will continue to show
signs of life. It does not, so far as I am aware, attack the fishers.
In the class _Pisces_, _Gadus carbonarius_, the coal-fish, was
procured by captain Phipps, as also of the former class, _Cyclopterus
liparis_, during his stay in the vicinity of Spitzbergen. _Mullus
barbatus_ was taken out of the mouth of a seal by a seaman, near
Spitzbergen. It was boiled by our officers, and proved an excellent
dish.
In the class _Articulata_ are one or two species of _gammarus_. The
_G. arcticus_ of Leach, the actions of which suggest as a familiar
name, the mountebank shrimp. There are also various crabs, and the
_Oniscus ceti_ of Linnæus, or whale’s louse. This little animal is
about half an inch in diameter, and firmly fixes itself by hooked
claws on the skin of the mysticetus. It is found under the fin, and
wherever the skin is tender, and it is not likely to be dislodged. A
similar animal, though smaller, is found on the body of the narwal.
In the class _Vermes_ are several species found in various animals
inhabiting the northern seas. The sea-snail, _Clio helicina_, is an
animal covered with a delicately beautiful sheet, similar to that of
the nautilus. The diameter is from two-eighths to three-eighths of an
inch. It is found in great quantities near the coast of Spitzbergen.
The _Clio borealis_ occurs in vast numbers in some situations near
Spitzbergen, but is not found generally in the Arctic Seas. In
swimming, it brings the tips of its fins almost into contact, first
oil one side and then on another. I kept several of them alive in a
glass of sea-water for about, a month, when they gradually wasted
away and died.
The cuttle-fish, _Sepia_, were found by me in large numbers in the
stomachs of the narwals.
More than six or seven kinds of _Medusæ_ may be distinguished,
among which may be named, _Medusa pileus_, and the purse-shaped,
bottle-shaped, and orange-coloured _medusæ_. _Medusa pileus_ is one
of the most curious of the tribe. It consists of eight lobes, with a
beautiful, irridescent, finny fringe on the external edge of each. A
canal, four-fifths the length of the animal, penetrates the centre
of it, and two red cirrhi, which may be extended to the length of
nearly a foot, proceed from a crooked cavity in opposite sides. The
animal is semi-transparent, the colour white, and the finny fringes
of deeper red. It is found of various sizes.
The substance of the purse-shaped medusa is tougher than that of any
other species which I have examined. It has one large open cavity,
and is divided by the finny fringes into eight segments, each
alternate pair of which are similar. The colour is a pale crimson,
with waved purple lines, and the finny fringes deeper crimson. The
animal appeared to be almost without sensation. The only evidence it
gave of feeling was in an increased vibration of the finny fringes.
Though it was cut into pieces, each portion on which there was any
of the fringe continued, by its incessant play, to give evidence of
life during two or three days, after which it became putrescent, and
began to waste away. I have only seen one specimen of this and of
the orange-coloured medusa. The colour of the latter was a brilliant
orange, and it was not transparent. It was not tenacious of life,
having died, to appearance, soon after it was taken.
The Greenland Sea, frozen and extensive as it is, teems with life.
The variety of the animal creation is not, indeed, very great, but
the quantity of some of the species that occur is truly immense. The
minute medusæ and animalcules, throughout the Spitzbergen Sea, would
exceed all the powers of the mind to conceive. These little creatures
constitute the food of the largest animals in the creation. The
common whale feeds on medusæ, sepiæ, cancri, actiniæ, etc., and these
feed, probably, on the minor medusæ animalcules. The fin-whales and
dolphins feed principally on herrings and other small fishes. These
subsist on the smaller cancri, medusæ, and animalcules. The bear’s
most general food is the seal; the seal subsists on the cancri and
small fishes, and these on lesser animals of the tribe, or on the
minor medusæ and animalcules. Thus the whole of the larger animals
depend on these minute beings, which, until the year 1816, when
I first entered on the examination of the sea-water, were not, I
believe, known to exist in the Polar Seas.
The manner in which these minute animals are preserved, in a sea
which is surrounded by an atmosphere ten or twelve degrees in mean
temperature below the freezing point of salt water, is curious and
interesting, and illustrates the combined wisdom and goodness of the
Lawgiver of these icy regions, as well as of the entire globe. If the
water of the sea were stationary, the temperature of the atmosphere
would soon freeze it to the very bottom, and destroy all these minute
animals, who have not either instinct or power of motion to retire
into a more southern region. A current, however, is provided,
setting towards the south-west, which carries away the ice into a
parallel where it can be dissolved, and creates a circulation of
water into the frozen regions from a warmer climate; while therefore
the superficial current is carrying away the ice, an under-current,
in a contrary direction, is bringing in warmth beneath. But how, it
may be asked, does it happen that the minor medusæ are not carried
away into the southern region? It is no violation of commonly
received principles to suppose, that whenever the medusæ are carried
to some extent southward, they sink in the water until they reach the
stream of the under-current, and are by it conveyed to their proper
element. The fact that the olive-green water of the sea maintains a
similar position for years together, while surface after surface of
ice is carried away and dissipated, is in support of this conjecture.
Thus, by a most beautiful contrivance, a large portion of the
surface of the globe is rendered habitable, which would otherwise
be a solid mass of ice, and the Polar Sea affords a dwelling-place
for many tribes of animals most useful in supplying the wants, and
contributing to the comfort, of man.
It is not only, therefore, in those regions where
“Spices breathe and milder seasons smile,”
but even in the laws of a less genial climate, that we are called
upon to observe His eternal power and godhead, who gives the
bounties of his providence to the just and the unjust, and pleads
with us, in the gospel of his Son, that we should be reconciled
to him. The mighty whale, the ephemeral insect, and the minute
animalcule, all the productions of his power and skill, have their
wants supplied by his laws, and are subject to his control. In these
he displays the strength of his arm, and the adaptations of his
wisdom, but in man, redeemed and sanctified, “the exceeding riches
of his grace.” Happy, indeed, are we, if whilst, with the ancient
psalmist, we can proclaim that the earth is full of the goodness of
the Lord, “who gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap,”
and “layeth up the depth in store-houses,” we can also, without
presumption, through our union with the great heir of all things, the
Lord Jesus, and by the merit of his life and death, honestly declare
all things are ours, whether ... the world, or life, or death, or
things present, or things to come, all are ours, and we are Christ’s,
and Christ is God’s.