'The basis consists of the crown-bone, from each side of which descend those immense jaw-bones which are sometimes presented to our wondering eyes, and which the whalers place on deck as trophies of their success, and in order that the fine oil contained in them may ooze from their lower extremities. These jaw-bones are from 16 to 20 feet in length, and extend along the mouth in a curved line, till they meet and form a species of crescent. The lips, nearly 20 feet

long, display, when open, a cavity capable of receiving a ship's jolly-boat with her crew. The whale has no external ear; but, when the skin is removed, a small aperture is discerned for the admission of sound. This sense accordingly is very imperfect: yet the animal, by a quick perception of all movements made on the water, discovers danger at a great distance. The eyes are proportionably small, though the sense of seeing is acute; more so, however, through clear water than through an aerial medium. But the most unique feature in the structure of this animal consists in the spiracles or blow-holes, placed nearly on the crown of the head. These have been compared to natural jets d'eau throwing up water to the height of 40 or 50 feet; but the more careful scrutiny of Mr. Scoresby ascertained, that they emit only a moist vapor, and are neither more nor less than huge nostrils. When, however, this vehement breathing or blowing is performed under the surface, a considerable quantity of water is thrown up into the air. The sound thus occasioned is the only thing like a voice emitted by the animal, and, in case of a violent respiration, it resembles the discharge of a cannon.

The tail is the most active limb of this mighty animal, and the chief instrument of his motion. It does not rise vertically like that of most fishes, being flat and horizontal, only four or five feet long, but more than twenty feet broad. It con. sists of two beds of muscles connected with an extensive layer surrounding the body, and enclosed by a thin covering of blubber. Its power is tremendous. A single stroke throws a large boat with all its crew into the air. Sometimes the whale places himself in a perpendicular position, with the head downwards, and, rearing his tail on high, beats the water with awful violence. On these occasions the sea foams, and vapors darken the air; the lashing is heard several miles off, like the roar of a distant tempest. Sometimes he makes an immense spring, and rears his whole body above the waves, to the admiration of the experienced whaler, but to the terror of those who see for the first time this astonishing

spectacle. Other motions equally expressive of his boundless strength, attract the attention of the navigator at the distance of miles.

The fins, called by the French nageoires, and by Dr. Fleming "swimming paws," are placed immediately behind the eyes. They are nine feet long, enclosed by very elastic membranes, and provided with bones similar in form and number to those of the human hand. Such is the spring and vi tality of the parts, that, if we may believe Dr. Reste, they continue to move for some time after being separated from the body. According to Mr. Scoresby, however, while the whale swims, these organs lie flat on the surface of the water, and are not at all instrumental in producing his motion, which arises entirely from the tail. The fins merely direct and steady the movement, and thus serve rather as a helm than as oars.

The period of gestation in the whale is nine or ten months, and the female brings forth in February or March. She is viviparous; that is, the young come forth alive, not enclosed in an egg; and there is usually only one at a time. These delicate nurslings, only about fourteen feet long, and weighing little more than a ton, are watched over by the mother with the most tender care. The whalers strike these suckers, as they are called, not on account of their own value, but under the assurance that the mother will start forth in their defence. Then ensues a contest hard and perilous, but commonly attended with a prosperous issue, for she never seeks safety in flight. She rushes upon the boat, drags the line with extraordinary force, tosses to and fro with extreme agony, and suffers herself to be struck by repeated harpoons without attempting to escape; while the good-natured captain has his triumphant feelings damped by the consideration, that his prize has fallen the victim to such an ardor of maternal tenderness. According to indications afforded by notches in the whalebone, which seem not, however, very fully established, the whale does not attain his full growth under twenty-five years, and is said to reach a very great age.

THE GREENLAND WHALE FISHERY. 1830.

From a file of English papers, published at Newcastle upon Tyne, 1830, it appears that the Greenland Whale Fishery is

extremely depressed. The whales have become exceedingly scarce, so that the last vessels have returned home utterly destitute, and those who have been depending on these returns for support, are thrown into necessitous circumstances. A liberal subscription has been opened for these suffering mariners at Newcastle, and a numerous public meeting was held at North Shields, which raised a handsome sum. It was stated at the meeting that above 120 seamen belonging to North Shields, had returned without success, and at least thirty had suffered shipwreck.

In addition to the total want of success in the fishery, it seems the Greenland Whalemen have been subjected also to storms and shipwrecks, to an unprecedented degree. The Tyne Mercury of November 2, contains the following extract of a letter from a young gentleman who acted as surgeon on board one of the whalers, in Davis' Straits.

"The remembrance of every other transaction is lost when I begin to think of the awful scenes and most disastrous events which have lately occurred. On Friday forenoon the sky was clear, but about two P. M. it became suddenly overcast, and blew a strong gale from the SSW. accompanied by a thick sleet and snow. This awakened our apprehensions, and, indeed, it was not long before they were realized. At nearly four o'clock our dock-sawn with extreme labor, and upon which all our hopes centured-gave way. This was the general signal for getting our traps' on the ice. After each had got what belonged to himself in safety on the ice, provisions were then hoisted up-for, in the first instance, nothing but self-interest was attended to. The pressure of the ice seemed to be going regularly along; it now passed on to several vessels to the eastward of us; about three hundred yards in that direction lay the Resolution, of Heterhead; the Laurel, of Hull; and the Letitia, of Aberdeen, in one dock; the latter vessel, unable to withstand the tremendous pressure of the ice, was soon upon her beam-ends, and in a short time afterward her masts went by the board, and she became a total wreck. The Princess of Wales, of Aberdeen, was next crushed to pieces; and the ice continuing to press the whole of the night, but in a more gradual manner, many of the vessels were on their beam-ends, but again righted; several were crushed many feet above the ice astern, and others a-head. We were lying in dock, yet often did we hear our vessel crack, and at one time having heard a crash, though we were ignorant which of the vessels it was, we simultaneously rush

ed on the ice a hollow on our starboard bow, produced by the pressure of the two vessels, was the cause of this. All Saturday the gale continued; but though the ice seemed to be brought up, out of the sixteen vessels lying within short spaces of each other, all were more or less damaged, except the Cumbrian, of Hull, and a Dutch vessel. On Wednesday, the 30th of June, a melancholy accident occurred at one of the wrecks, while endeavoring to get out a cable.—A man belonging to the Triad, of Kirkaldy, had one of his feet tore off above the ancle. The leg was afterward amputated below the knee. This forenoon the Resolution was set on fire, and burned to the water's edge."

The master of one of the lost vessels, in a letter dated Exeter Bay, 15th Sept. writes as follows.

"On the 2d July, our vessel, along with several others, were caught by the ice, which came with such overwhelming force against her, that it fairly lifted her out of the water on the surface of the ice, as if to give us the last look of her, before she parted. She made a most majestic appearance, standing as upright as if she had been docked. It was not before the water had reached the cabin sole that I abandoned her, to take my seat on my chest that was standing on the ice, there to witness the last struggles of our gallant bark. I am unable to depict the magnificent scene that presented itself to my view, but it was one which would have suited either poet or painter. The first symptoms of destruction appeared among the half-deck planks; then the standing rigging and stays became slackened, and nothing was heard but the crashing of the hull as she went to pieces. Her masts meantime slowly bent toward each other, as if to take their final adieu; and when they came in collision, they seemed to say, "and must we part. They then fell with a tremendous crash; and the hull was buried forever beneath a floe of ice six feet in thickness. It was an appalling-& heart-rending spectacle."

THE POLAR BEAR.

In the caves of the rocks or in the hollows of the ice, dwells the most formidable of Arctic quadrupeds, the Greenland or Polar hear. This fierce tyrant of the cliffs and snows of the

north unites the strength of the lion with the untameable fierceness of the hyena. A long shaggy covering of white soft hair and a copious supply of fat enable him to defy the the winter of this rigorous climate. Under the heat of Britain he suffers the most painful sensations; Pennant saw one, over whom it was necessary from time to time to pour large pailfuls of water. Another, kept for some years by Professor Jameson, evidently suffered severely from the heat of an Edinburgh summer. The haunt of the bear is on the dreary Arctic shores, or on mountains of ice, sometimes two hundred miles from land; yet he is not, strictly speaking, amphibious. He cannot remain under water above a few moments, and he reaches his maritime stations, only by swimming from one icy fragment to another. Mr. Scoresby limits the swimming reach to three or four miles; yet Parry found one in the centre of Barrow's Strait, where it was forty miles across. This bear prowls continually for his prey, which consists chiefly of the smaller cccacia, and of seals, which, unable to contend with him, shun their fate by keeping strict watch, and plunging into the depths of the waters. With the walrus he holds dreadful and doubtful encounters; and that powerful animal, with his enormous tusks, frequently beats him off with great damage. The whale he dares not attack, but watches anxiously for the huge carcass in a dead state, which affords him a prolonged and delicious feast: he scents it at the distance of miles. All these sources of supply being precarious, he is sometimes left for weeks without food, and the fury of his hunger then becomes tremendous. At such periods, man,

viewed by him always as his prey, is attacked with peculiar fierceness.

The annals of the north are filled with accounts of the most perilous and fatal conflicts of the Polar bear. The first, and one of the most tragical, was sustained by Barantz and Heemskerke, in 1596, during their voyage for the discovery of the north-east passage. Having anchored at an island near the strait of Waygatz, two of the sailors landed, and were walking on shore, when one of them felt himself closely hugged from behind. Thinking this a frolic of one of his companions, he called out in a corresponding tone, "Who's there? pray stand off." His comrade looked, and screamed out, A bear! a bear!" then running to the ship, alarmed the crew with loud cries. The sailors ran to the spot armed with pikes and muskets. On their approach the bear very coolly quitted the mangled corpse, sprang upon another sailor, car