The Sun.
London, England, 1838-08-18 00:00:00

WHALES IN SUTHERLAND•

The bay of Golspie was on Wednesday, the Ist instant,
visited by several sea animals whose

" Delights
Were dolphin like ; they showed their backs above
The element they liv'd in."
The upward jets of water which marked their progress,
along the shore, indicated that these playful monsters of
the deep were of the whale tribe. During the night time
they approached the mouth of the Little Ferry, or the Es-
tuary of the Fleet, when the ferrymen with a few other
hands boldly ventured out in a small boat to eudeavour to
drive them ashore. They speedily found their boat sur:
rounded by several large fish, whose uncouth gambols and
formidable tails threatened them with instant destruction,
while the constant descent of a great many waterspouts
thoroughly drenched the adventurers, and would in a short
time have filled their boat with water. The boat, however,
was rowed close to one large fish which appeared to be the
leader or conductor of the others, and while passing him,
one of the men succeeded in giving him a deep wound with
a hatchet across the head, and directly through one °f
his eyes. The huge animal instantly dived downwards
leaving his solid and semilunar tail up above the water for
a few seconds, during which short time the boatmen adroitlY
threw the noose of a rope over the tail ; and the other
end of the rope being fastened on board, the boat was in-
stantly dragged along bounding and bowling after the
fish in a very violent and rapid manner, and was nearly
pulled under water at every desperate plunge of tuc,
wounded animal. " Merrily, merrily bounds the bark!:
and that too in a most mysterious manner, without sal':
wind, or tide, thought an individual who happened to °°-
serve the boat from a distance, and who could not con.i°°;
ture the cause of the very irregular leaps and railway spee',
of a small boat on still water : but fortunately the concealea
conductor did not proceed seaward, but went up the c
tuary, and proved to be a true illascullus Cetorum dux,
all his mates having closely followed him and the boat ft'r
about two miles, until they got into a shallow bay, where
they ran themselves ashore and were speedily killed. Their
were found to amount to fifty-three in number, and all
them were secured except one which the tide carried °
after it was dead.

These animals are of the Ambidentate order of cetaces'
with teeth in both jaws, and are a variety or rather species
of the genus Delphinia, which has not hitherto been 3'.
nutely described by naturalists from actual examination
but they are known in the Orkney Islands by the local
name of "'The Ca'ing Whale," and probably are the sonic
as those which are elsewhere called the bottle-nose whale'
Some writers have supposed them to be merely a variety°`
the grampus (Delpkinus circa) ; but Mr. Neill, in his Orke.
ney Tour, considers " the Ca'ing Whale" to be a distinct
species ; and, judging from those now seen in the Littler
Ferry, it differs essentially from the grampus in the number
and shape of the teeth, in the absence of a project.
snout, in the moderate length of the dorsal fin, and in he
length and narrowness of the swimming paws, and also i°
the absence of large white spots behind the eyes ; and sit':
gether these whales resemble more closely than any other:
we have seen figured, the Delphinus deductor in ‘, scoresbss
Arctic Regions." The animal to which the boat was fast"
ened, and which was followed as a leader by the others'
proved to be the largest of them all. His extreme
was 20 feet 6 inches ; and the circumference of his b°,",,),
where thickest, about 12 feet. The dorsal fin 26 inc Fig
in length, with a tapering, point 9 inches longer, and " '
fin was placed 5 feet 10 inches back from the rounded es'
tremity of the head. The swimming paws were 13 inches
wide at their root, and tapered with one obtuse bend t°:
point, and to the length of 5 feet. The opening of tha,
mouth extended on the outside 14 inches into the he 4;
and each jaw had 24 sharp teeth ; but as the smaller any
mals had only 20 teeth in each jaw, while a few very 3'°Ui
ones had none, the number of teeth seems to be regniat—,,
by the age of the animal. The tongue was without on'
papillary protuberances as often appear in the graniPn,g'
but it was bluntly serrated on the edges, and seemed to I
formed of fat and soft muscle. The eve was oblong nna
very small, and not far from the angle of the mouth ; o„
the blow-hole placed far back on the top of the head. 1-1,01"
whole colour of the animal was black, with a whitish tin,'
along the belly, which ended in a gracefully curved ii°3
below the neck