The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-10-07
Tho Water Unicorn.

Among the near kindred Of the whale is
| tho famous unlcOrn--nOt the companion O1
| the lion on the British coat t-of-arms, but its
counterpart among the wonders Of the deep.
Inferior of size to the right whale, it has
the advantage of Il most formidable weapon,
with which nature has provided it for as
yet unknown purposes. This is the mon.
strous tooth which projects from the upper
jaw of the animal it is rs large as mans
thigh at the base, turned in n spiral, and
sharply pointed at the end hollow within,
it shows externally the finest and whitcst
ivory known to the trade. the Narwal,
or nose whale was so called because the
Dutch, who seem to have had the christcn-
ing of most living things i'm northern re-
gions, at first took this horn, projecting
straight ahead. ten or even fifteen feet. for
a grotesquc long nose. Some say the ami
nal uses this odd appcnGage to pierce
holes through the ice when he comes up to
breathe; others, that he moves off scaward
with it, by which he grazcs. There is no
doubt that, ut times he transiiXcs fish with
his gigantic stlctto, so that lie may be able
to dcvour them at leisure The legend has
it, that king Of Denmark, wishing to
make somebody IL present of piece Of the
horn of the unicorn--for such it WIS long
considercd-ordcrcd one of his high Oili-
cals to cut off Il piece at the thicker end
Of Il fine specimen which he possessed.
The officer did so, and TO his astOnisllmcmt,
found what he had looked upon rs solid
horn was hollow, and in the Concavity he
discovered Il smaller horn Of the same shape
and the same substance. The latter was
about Il foot long and this resemblance to
the teeth of men first led, it is thought, to
the idea that the unicorn might after all be
nothing more than gigantic tooth. In
those days, however, the SupcrstitiOus
people attached marvellous power to the
wonderful horn, and Il brisk trade was car
ricd OIL in fine specimens, and even in
broken fragments. The male alone pos
Scsscs this formidable weapon; ibc female
having, instead, two small tccth Of little
use for the purpose Of attack Or defence.
In the male, however, one of these two, is
disproportionatcly developed, while the
other remains either Of diminutive size or
disappears gradually altogether very much
as in the case with the claws of certain
ciustnccp. At first sight, it would appear
as if this giant of the deep, with his ter
riblc sword, would be the terror of the seas,
killing and dcvouring all that come near to
him. In reality, however, the nurwhalc is
a very harmless animal, and generally his
own enemy more than that OF others. Ills
mouth has no teeth, and immovabc lips,
and is SO small that he can swallow little
else but molusks and little fish and
ScOrcsby, who found in the stomach of one
of these strange beings II ray Of two feet in
length, came TO the conclusion that the fish
must have been first trunstixcd by the tooth,
and killed before it was dcvourcd. Other
wise it would have been difficult to under
stand how an active fish should have
allowed itself to he caught by IN animal
unable to seize it with the lips or retain it
with the tongue, and in Il mouth which
had not even teeth to tear it to pieces
Their swifncss, when they arc alone, is
marvellous; and their capture would be
almost impossible If it were not for the
curious habit they have of travelling in I'M
mcnsc troops, and Of taking refuge in little
bays, from which they cannot easily escape.
Small boats approach them, in such cases,
with prccaution ; The poor animals begin to
crowd upon each other; they press their
ranks SO closely that soon their movements
arc impcdcd, and their enormous weapons
become intcrlaccd, rs each ones tries to
raise the head high into the air. They can
neither escape nor defend themselves, and
thus full an easy prey to the lanccs Of the
whucman.