186 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Answer 4. We were quite near the animal, onlj- about as far as from 

 here to the next house over there [about twenty to twenty-five paces]. 



Answer 5. It was a clear morning, with sunshine and a light wind. 



Answer G. The animal was there when we came to the place. 



Answers 7 and 8. It was swimming to and fro, diving several times, 

 wholly below the surface, absolutely in the same manner as a whale 

 does. It was lying on its side for just one moment. Its movements 

 when swimming and diving were very rapid. 



Answer 9. As only the very extreme tip of the tail was visible, I 

 am unable to say what shape it had. 



Answer 10. Only one fore leg was seen when it was lying with its 

 side up 5 it was short and rounded. 



Answer 11. When coming to the surface it blew like a whale, spout- 

 ing out water about 2 to 3 feet high, like a small " plavuu" {ZipMus). 



Answers 12 and 13. It did not lift the head out of the water, only the 

 jet was visible. Nothing of the head could be seen. 



Answer 14. The back had no fin. 



Answer 15. [It is very remarkable that in describing the color he 

 used the very same words as Stepnoff, and that on the color scale he 

 pointed out the very same shade of color. The only difference was 

 that he gave the color of the spots as dark brown 5 their form was 

 rounded or somewhat oblong.] 



Answer 10. As the animal could not be seen in its full length, it is 

 difficult to estimate how long it was, but it may have been as much as 

 3 fathoms (about 18 feet). 



[I told him that Stepnoff said that the animal was so lean that the 

 single bones could be counted. At this he only laughed, thinking that 

 impossible. Nevertheless, he himself had the impression that it was 

 very lean, as he thought that he had seen the backbone protrude like 

 a sharp ridge along the back.] 



Answers 17 and 18. It did not eat Jcapusta, nor anything else, when 

 we saw it. 



Answer 19. Stepnoff would have shot it, but he waited in vain till it 

 should appear again, as it was gone forever. 



Finally, I asked him for his reasons why he considered this animal 

 different from a small whale or a "plavun," to which he answered that 

 the only thing he could think of was that it had no fin on the back like 

 those. 



Comparing these statements with those given by Nordenskjold, the 

 first idea will be that the accounts of the two men are very different 

 in many essential points, while Nordenskjold asserts that they agreed 

 completely. It must, in this connection, be remarked that the state- 

 ments of Merscheniu were less i)recise than those of Steinioff, his an- 

 swers usually beginning with "I don't know." I, therefore, think it 

 rather probable that his answers, if the words were put in his mouth, 

 or if he heard Stepnoff' give his evidence first, would have agreed with 



