Whales 249 



Suddenly Pa, from his precarious perch on the box, 

 let out a yell. After a few seconds, Patsy, our driver, 

 brought our junk heap to a standstill. This had to be 

 effected by coaxing the gear into reverse, so that we 

 rolled a few hundred feet before coming to a full 

 halt. Pa leapt out and ran back along the beach. I must 

 say he was an odd-looking figure — his hip boots bog- 

 ging down in the loose sand. 



We tried to be very casual but we were convinced 

 that Pa had lost his mind. Finally, he arose from the 

 deep, dragging a heavy object after him. It was a large 

 and very dead porpoise which Pa had firmly by the 

 tail. He eased back to the beach buggy dragging his 

 booty and looking for all the world like the 40-fathom 

 codfish advertisement. He asked us to alight and view 

 his prize, which we did. We tried to look appreciative. 



Then we were asked to hold the beast in our laps 

 while we continued our way homeward. I kept think- 

 ing how remarkable it was that Pa had seen anything 

 floating in that surf, and, having seen it, cared enough 

 to chase into the water, get wet, and then give his 

 family the doubtful pleasure of carrying it home. It 

 must have been something rare, but it certainly looked 

 ordinary, this critter whose aroma circled around us 

 like a thick fog. 



This find, however, turned out to be a specimen of a 

 Prodelphinus, one of the swift racers of the ocean of which 

 we had no specimen in the Museum. We were able to ship 

 it entire, as it was cold weather, and we could have draw- 

 ings made as well as a complete skeleton prepared after it 

 arrived safely in Cambridge. 



