Night Is Before the Dawn 21 



ascend rivers for considerable distances after fish. In Europe they 

 have been caught above the locks in the Thames and have been seen 

 as far up the Seine as Paris. Their range is very extensive, for they 

 are found all round the coasts of Europe and in the White Sea, 

 though rarely in the Mediterranean, and in the Baltic numerously 

 only in the summer. They occur round Iceland and Greenland and 

 migrate up the Davis Strait in the summer as far as 69° N. latitude. 

 On the east coast of America they occur down to New Jersey. 

 There is also a porpoise in the North Pacific which has received 

 another name (Phocaena vomerina) but it is hardly, if at all, differ- 

 ent from the North Atlantic type though, being distantly separated, 

 the two groups probably no longer mix. This race extends from 

 Alaska to the coast of Mexico. 



Porpoises are gregarious animals, going about in herds or schools 

 of from fifty to a hundred together. They normally swim just be- 

 low the surface and are propelled entirely by the tail, the individual 

 flukes of which perform a semirotary action like an oar being sculled, 

 while the flippers, which are only about nine inches long, are held 

 pressed against the body and are used only for breaking or turning. 

 Porpoises pair in the summer and the period of gestation is about six 

 months. The North Sea porpoises are known to pair in July and 

 August but young have been born as late as May in more northern 

 latitudes. The calves are about two feet six inches long when born. 

 Porpoises enclosed in stockades can be kept alive indefinitely pro- 

 vided the water is deep enough and they are given enough live food, 

 but several people have reported that, if the animals are too confined, 

 they utter the most heart-rending and plaintive cries night and day. 

 Altogether they give the impression of being rather sad and worried 

 beasts that delight only in their freedom and do not interfere with 

 us. Nevertheless, we have persecuted them for thousands of years. 



