204 A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SEAS 



commissioner in the vicinity of the bear's habitat at once 

 was circularised, and at length concrete evidence in the 

 form of skins and skulls was forwarded to the Museum 

 for identification. In every instance the remains were 

 those of a leopard or hysena, the skin of the one being 

 forwarded with the skull of the other and vice versa, the 

 two being alleged to have belonged to the same animal. 

 Foot-prints, however, first aroused the suspicion of the 

 authorities since it shows six distinct digits, a feature 

 quite unknown in any mammal — recent or extinct. Upon 

 close examination the foot-print resolved itself into the 

 prints of two separate animals, one having implanted 

 its fore paw in the spoor of another. 



This chapter would be incomplete without a short 

 resume of the facts connected with the famous Monster 

 of Loch Ness, an animal as yet unidentified, but which held 

 the attention of half the world for more than a year and 

 is still, according to some authorities, at large. 



The case is of the first importance since it touches the 

 very root of all such appearances, the human factor. The 

 matter has already been made the subject of two complete 

 and weighty volumes, one by a German Professor, the 

 other by Lieut.-Commander R. T. Gould. 



The loch itself lies in the heart of Inverness-shire, 

 and is the largest body of fresh water in the British Isles. 

 Some thirty years ago the famous oceanographer, Sir 

 John Murray, subjected it to a detailed survey. He found 

 it to have an average depth of 500 feet, and a maximum 

 of 751 feet. It is 22^ miles long, with three approaches 

 to the sea, and whilst these are all under continuous 

 observation there seems some possibility of a large creature 



