The White Whale, or Beluga, is included among the dolphins. The body is white, tinged with yellow, or rose-colour, and its proportions are more agreeable than those of most of the cetacea. It measures from twelve to eighteen feet in length. White Whales are gregarious, assembling in flocks or herds, and playing about with rapid and graceful movements. The female has two young ones at a time, over which she watches with the greatest apparent affection. They follow all her movements, and do not quit her till they are nearly full grown. This Whale is generally confined to the northern latitudes, though one was taken in the Firth of Forth in 1815. The oil is of excellent quality, and the flesh eats like beef. According to some writers the flesh, when pickled with vinegar and salt, is as well tasted as pork; and thus the body, which is generally thrown away when the sailors have cut off the blubber, might be used by them as food. The internal membranes are used by the Greenlanders for windows, and the sinews for thread, and the fins and tail, when properly prepared, are said by some of the old writers to be good eating.
