Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/156

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148 NARWHAL diplomatic relations between the two govern- ments. He resigned Jan. 10, 1851, and became ambassador to Vienna. After Espartero's with- drawal, July 14, 1856, and O'Donnell's brief term of office, Narvaez was again called upon to preside over the cabinet, Oct. 12, but with- out special office. The concordat of 1851 with the holy see, which had been variously modi- fied, was restored. The outbreak at Malaga on Nov. 16 was put down by force of arms, and a general amnesty to the Carlist rebels of 1855 and 1856 was promulgated, April 8, 1857. Narvaez caused stringent laws to be enacted against the press, and made various dignita- ries of church and state ex officio members of the senate. Overthrown in November, 1857, he became once more chief of the cabinet in September, 1864; and in January, 1865, he pro- posed in the cortes the abandonment of Santo Domingo, which was adopted after protracted discussions. In June of the same year his min- istry was overthrown ; but in July, 1866, he was again prime minister, and held that post till his death. NARWHAL, a cetacean mammal, of the genus monodon (Linn.), frequenting the arctic seas ; its popular name is sea unicorn. It has no proper teeth, but in the males, and sometimes in the females, there are two tusks arising from the intermaxillary bone ; these are true incisors, but only one, usually the left, is de- veloped, the other remaining rudimentary in most cases ; the former is long, pointed, spirally twisted and grooved, and directed straight for- ward, growing through life from a permanent pulp as in the elephant. The tusk, of solid ivory and 6 or 8 ft. long, is a most formidable weapon when wielded by such an active and powerful animal, and is sometimes driven deep- ly into the timbers of a ship. According to Mulder there are two small teeth in the gum of the upper jaw. In the only well ascertained Narwhal. species (M. monoceros, Linn.) the body may attain a length of 15 or 16 ft., and the tusk from 6 to 10 additional ; there is no well marked separation between the head and body ; the forehead rises suddenly, and the blow-hole is on the top of the head ; the eyes and mouth NASCAPEES are small, and the lips unyielding ; the pecto- rals are small for the size of the animal; the caudal is transverse, bilobed, and about 4 ft. wide ; instead of a dorsal fin there is a low fatty ridge 2 or 3 ft. long in the middle of the back. The prevailing color is dark gray above with numerous darker spots, white on the sides and below, on the former with grayish spots ; some specimens are very light-colored, and the young are said to be bluish gray. The food consists principally of cephalopod mollusks, and, on the authority of Scoresby, of flat and other fishes, which it transfixes with its horn ; other uses of this weapon are for breaking the ice for the purpose of obtaining air, and for defence. Narwhals are sometimes seen in bands of 10 to 20, sporting about whaling ships, ele- vating their tusks above the water, and play- ing about the bows and rudder ; they are mi- gratory, and their appearance is hailed with delight by the Greenlanders, who consider them the certain forerunners of the right whale ; and this, the result of their experience, is probably due to both using the same kind of food. They are harpooned for their ivory, oil, and flesh ; the last is considered a delicacy as food by the Greenlanders. The blubber is from 2 to 4 in. thick, and yields a very supe- rior oil. The ivory of the tusk is very hard and white, and takes a high polish ; it was formerly a valuable article of commerce, when the origin of the horns was less known ; a famous throne of the kings of Denmark is said to be made of the ivory of narwhals' tusks. NASCAPEES, and Nehiroirini or Montagnais, In- dian tribes of Labrador, the most easterly di- vision of the great Algonquin nation. The Nehiroirini, called Montagnais by the French Canadians, now occupy the territory from the Saguenay to the straits of Belle Isle ; but when the French first settled Quebec they held the valley of the St. Lawrence from above that point. They were always friendly to the set- tlers, but were driven back by the Iroquois and the want of game to their present location, the Esquimaux retiring before them. The Catho- lic missions among them established in Cham- plain's time are still maintained; but they are hunters, and cannot be made cultivators. The caribou is their chief game. They dress well in skins or purchased clothing, but live in wretched cabins of poles covered with bark and branches, often pitched on the snow or damp grounds. La Brosse, the last of the old Jesuit missionaries, taught them generally tb read and write, and this knowledge is still maintained by family instruction. They num- bered in 1872 about 1,700 in various bands at Point Bleu, Chicoutimi, Moisie, the Seven Isl- ands, Cascapediac, and River Godbout. The Nascapees or Naskapis (i. e., people standing upright) occupy the table land in the interior from Lake Mistassini to the Atlantic. They are shorter and lighter than the Montagnais, with clear-cut features and large eyes. Their language is so near the Montagnais that they