the huge animal in copious streams, it indicates the approach of its dissolution, by discharging from its blow-holes a mixture of blood, along with the air and mucus which it usually breathes out, and finally, jets of blood alone. The sea, to a great extent around, is dyed with its blood, and the ice, boats, and men, are sometimes drenched with the same. Its final capture is, at times, preceded by a convulsive and energetic struggle, in which its tail, reared, whirled, and violently jerked in the air, resounds to the distance of miles.' This animal exhibits such warm affections for its mate and its young, as to excite the strongest sympathy for its fate in the benevolent mind; and this feeling is certainly not diminished by the circumstance, that these very affections are frequently made use of, by the heartless avarice of man, to decoy it into his power. Captain Scoresby mentions, that the cub is often attacked to lure the mother, and when this cruel plan is adopted, it generally succeeds. In June, 1811,' says he, giving an example, 'one of my harpooners struck a sucker, with the hope of its leading to the capture of its mother. Presently she arose close by the fast-boat, and, seizing the young one, dragged about 100 fathoms of line out of the boat, with remarkable force and velocity. Again she arose to the surface, darted furiously to and fro, and 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 that 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 the 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 exceedingly interesting in the fact, that, in these monsters of the ocean, the hand of the Creator has of the Almighty. The solid parts of the body of these animals are heavier than water; consequently, had they not been provided with a sufficient supply of some substance lighter than water, by which their tendency to sink might be counteracted, it would have required a constant effort, on their parts, to keep themselves at any given level below the water; and besides this, cetaceous animals, unlike other fishes, require frequently to be raised to the surface. It has, therefore, been wisely provided, that, while the oil of the blubber serves to render the body collectively, lighter than the water which they inhabit, the spermaceti should render the top of the head the most buoyant part of the body; and, in this way, it is kept above the surface without any exertion. We are indebted to Captain Scoresby for the following interesting notices of the Greenland Whale Fisheries: : The first impulse of the whale, when harpooned, is to plunge deep beneath the waves, going at the rate of eight or ten miles an hour, and carrying the harpoon, to which a long line is attached, still fixed in the wound.' The depth to which it sometimes plunges, is 800 fathoms, and the pressure there sustained, would, according to this writer, be equal to 211,200 tons, a degree of pressure of which we have but an imperfect conception. It may assist our comprehension, however, to be informed that it exceeds in weight sixty of the largest ships of the British navy, when manned, provisioned, and fitted for a six months' cruize.' 'No sooner does the exhausted whale appear, than the assisting boats make for the place, with the utmost speed, and, as they reach it, each harpooner plunges his harpoon into its back, to the amount of three, four, or more, according to the size of the whale, and the nature of the situation. Most fre quently, it descends for a few minutes after receiving the se cond harpoon, and obliges the other boats to wait its return to the surface, before any farther attack can be made. It is afterwards actively plied with lances, which are thrust into its body, aiming at its vitals. At length, when exhausted by numerous wounds, and the loss of blood, which flows from the huge animal in copious streams, it indicates the approach of its dissolution, by discharging from its blow-holes a mixture of blood, along with the air and mucus which it usually breathes out, and finally, jets of blood alone. The sea, to a great extent around, is dyed with its blood, and the ice, boats, and men, are sometimes drenched with the same. Its final capture is, at times, preceded by a convulsive and energetic struggle, in which its tail, reared, whirled, and violently jerked in the air, resounds to the distance of miles.' This animal exhibits such warm affections for its mate and its young, as to excite the strongest sympathy for its fate in the benevolent mind; and this feeling is certainly not diminished by the circumstance, that these very affections are frequently made use of, by the heartless avarice of man, to decoy it into his power. Captain Scoresby mentions, that the cub is often attacked to lure the mother, and when this cruel plan is adopted, it generally succeeds. In June, 1811,' says he, giving an example, 'one of my harpooners struck a sucker, with the hope of its leading to the capture of its mother. Presently she arose close by the fast-boat, and, seizing the young one, dragged about 100 fathoms of line out of the boat, with remarkable force and velocity. Again she arose to the surface, darted furiously to and fro, and 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 that 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 the 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 exceedingly interesting in the fact, that, in these monsters of the ocean, the hand of the Creator has placed the same kindly and disinterested affections, which ennoble the most exalted of his creatures who tread the solid land, and claim kindred with heaven. And who will venture to call that a morbid sensibility which shrinks at the recital of the barbarities to which this fishery gives rise? The enormous size and strength of the animal may perhaps serve to excite the imagination, and call forth sympathies which sleep, when equal cruelties are inflicted on more diminutive animals; but under all circumstances, man abuses his prerogative as lord of this lower creation when he wantonly inflicts torture; and whether the assertion be philoso phically correct or not, it is well to cultivate the humanę sentiment which gave rise to the well known lines of the great poet : WITH regard to the tenants of the ocean, which periodically find their way into the fresh water, for the purpose of spawning, Mr. Kirby gives the following interesting notices : 'The next tribe of migratory fishes is one whose several species are intermediate between marine and fresh water fishes, roving, indifferently, in the sea, and rivers, and lakes, which thus is fitted, by Providence, to make up to the inhabitants of inland countries, their distance from the other migrators, by a supply, brought, as it were, to their very doors. The fishes in question, belong, like the herrings, to the abdominal class, and form the salmon genus, including the salmon, the salmon-trout, the trout, the grayling, the char, the smelt, the hucho, and many other species. I shall however, confine my observations principally to the king, as it may be called, of the river migrators,-the salmon. In our own country this noble fish is too high-priced to form a general article of food, and may be reckoned among the luxuries of the rich man's table; but in others, especially amongst some of the North-western American tribes, they are gifts of Providence, which form their principal food at all seasons. 'The salmon, indeed, frequents every sca, the Arctic as well as the Equatorial; and it is found even in great lakes and inland seas, as the Caspian, into which it is even affirmed to make its way by a subterranean channel from the Persian Gulf; it goes as far south as New Holland and the Australian Seas; but it is said never to have been found in the Mediterranean, and appears to have been unknown to Aristotle. Pliny mentions it as a river. fish, preferred to all marine ones by the inhabitants of Gaul. It traverses the whole length of the largest rivers. It reaches Bohemia by the Elbe, Switzerland by the Rhine, and the Cordilleras of America by the mighty Maragnon, or river of the Amazons whose course is nearly 3000 miles. In temperate climates, the salmon quits the seas early in spring, when the waves are driven by a strong wind against the river currents. It enters the rivers of France, in the beginning of the autumn -in September; and in Kamtschatka and North America still later. 'They rush into rivers that are freest from ice, or where they are carried by the highest tide, favoured by the wind; they prefer those streams that are most shaded. They leave the sea in numerous bands, formed with great regularity. The largest individual, which is generally a female, takes the lead, and is followed by others of the same sex, two and two, each pair being at the distance of from three to six feet * It is somewhat surprising to see this ridiculous fable gravely mentioned even as a report, by so judicious a naturalist as Mr. Kirby.-H. D. |