Page:Journal of a Voyage to Greenland, in the Year 1821.djvu/86

58 strong, that, if bent, they would fly back with great force to their original extension.



The cavity containing the brains was placed behind the crown in the head, and very small in proportion to the size of the fish; the crown-bone, and the bones of the upper jaw, like most of the other bones of the whale, were very porous, and contained a considerable quantity of oil.—Having finished the dissection, and taken drawings of the various parts of the animal, I retired to my cabin at twelve o'clock at night, with the sun shining in all the splendour of meridian day.

The wind blowing very strong, we sailed to the north-west, in readiness to enter the western ice as soon as the gale should abate, and an opening be discovered; about noon, the wind became moderate and we sailed to the west, and at three o'clock, came to the great range of ice: on approaching it, the man at the mast-head intimated that a herd of seals were upon the ice. Two boats were lowered, and we went in pursuit of them, when I shall never forget the extraordinary