, 1890-08-14
wC>PEAKING of the myths and

"'N 'h"iihVT, ~ 10 'N'J -'S
where they all arise. AS an ex-
ample take the unicorn In the
English coat-ofarms; there is no
doubt at all but that it Is distorted
narwhal, which, to my mind, is
quite as remarkable as the supposed
unicorn.
"rhe latter was supposed to be n
horse with fins or webbed feet, pos
sessing horn that projected from
the forehead several feet. This
animal plowed the ocean In olden
times. and, according to old his
tories, was common sight. 1t was
in reality the creation of some
scientist, who had heard the uni
corn described by "a sailor. 1t looked
like u horse, and from the forehead
extended a long horn, terrible
weapon, that no man or fish could
front.
"The sailor had seen a narwhal, n
small whale with rounded fore
head, from which projected a re-
markable spiral horn and some
times two. No wonder the old sea-
men were astonished. The presen
unicorn Is nearer the actual truth
than one might expect, considering
the times and the ignorance regard
ing natu raj history.
"Some years ago" continued the
speaker, "I was in the North At
lantic on government vessel. We
went up to Iceland around the
coast of Newfoundland, and while
in this region / saw moro or less of
the famous unicorn, or narwhal.
We were stopping at a native village
where there was large shark fac
tory; the meat was known as spec,
and, in reality, was the money of
the country, or n medium of ex-
change.
"The sharks here were very large
and were caught in deep water.
Being somewhat curious to see the
method of capture, | asked one of
the men to take me out, which, for
a consideration, he agreed to do.
The boat, or canoe, we went in was
a huge arrangement made of skins
and whalebone, and fitted with
bone spars of all kinds for the cap
ture of big game. 1t took three
men to manage the boat, while q
boy, the son OF the owner, steered.
"rhe shark fishing grounds were
about five miles off shore, and as
the wind was light, the men pulled.
We had gone nearly n mile, | think,
when the boy at the helm gave n
loud grunt, the only sound that had
been made, and pointed up the
coast. Following the direction
indicated, i saw what appeared to be
the heads of several men on the
clear surface Of the calm water. The
natives, lethargic enough at any
time, seemed to be excited, and
immed lately turned the boat in that
direction and began to pull with all
their energy, the boy helping along
by bending his body, as man
of.war's men often do in a race.
''We soon came up to the place
and saw the curious heads projecting
from the water ahead. One of the
men put his oar away and took up
harpoon, and silently the boat
moved on. / now could SEQ that
the animals were not seals, but
cetaceans of some kind. Sud-
denly there came flash and
as one of the creatures dashed
out of the water ! saw that II was a
veritable unicorn, so far as the horn
was concerned, as from the head
projected u long blade or tusk. The
sight appeared to spur the men on
to greater eXertions, and In a mo-
ment we were In the midst of boil.
ing mass of heads and tails, !
knew what the buck fever was from
personal experience with a moose;
but | certainly never experienced
the feeling that came over me as
the animals darted this way and
that about us. Suddenly u large
horn cleaned by our side; the next
instant the harpoon was plunged
into its owner, and we We're del
uged with foam from the big ami.
NAL that rose high in the air. II
must have sounded, as whales do,
going directly to the bottom with u
ruth that made the gunwhale
of the boat smoke. Again II
went down, the coils of rope fairly
leaping from the box; then came
q stop, and the the men hastened to
take in the slack, coiling 1t back
with marvellous rapidity. The
animal had to rise and breath, and
soon an enormous white ivory tusk
shot out of the water not a foot from
the bow. Then calne curious per
formance; for moment the
narwhal seemed to fairly balance,
and then the boy, seeing the long
tusk so near, grasped IL and was
jerked off his feet. For second he
clung to the horn as one would To
q flagstaff, then was dashed into the
water and run over in the mad rush
of the animal that now dashed away
In a lateral direction. The boy was
picked up in half-drowned con.
dition, cuffed and tossed into the
bottom of the boat; not a moment
too soon, as the line exhausted
again brought up with n jerk, and
away went the boat in a wild race
over'the seas.
+" 1t was now merely a question OF
endurance, and directing us all TO sit
in the stern 30 that the bow of the
canoe was we'll out of the water, the
harpooner sat and held the line in
place. For mile, nearly, the gamy
animal tore through the water with
out showing signs of fatigue, then
II began slowly to abate It's pace, &c
that the men yentured to take hold OF
tho limo and ha,,l In. Slow work n
was. Every pull the animal seemed
to resent with fierce bursts of speed
darting this way and that, leaping