CAI'TURl'.l) NKAU lU'KNllAM. 1 25 



1883, which was described by Prof. I'lovver in I'roc. Zool. Soc. 

 (Nov., 1883), and Trans. E. F. Club (vol. iv. p. 113). 



The alarm was given, and in half-an-hour about thirty men were 

 at work trying to secure the animal with ropes, and soon afterwards 

 Inspector Rome of the Burnham Oyster Company and Mr. John 

 Auger appeared on the scene with a gun, and n)any shots were 

 fired, to which at length it succumbed, lying close under the sea 

 wall. 



The tide was then flowing in, and it was taken in tow by the 

 smacks " Plover " and " Teazer," and subsequently by the steamer 

 "Jumbo," which brought the carcase safely to Burnham, where a 

 crowd had assembled to witness its arrival. It was soon seized on 

 behalf of the Crown by Mr. J. Finch, H.M. Customs officer and 

 receiver, and was put up to auction, being knocked down for 

 £,\'] I OS. to Mr. J. S. Prior, of Southminster, and Messrs. John 

 Hawkins and Henry Cook, of Burnham. Later in the day it was 

 claimed by the solicitors of Sir Henry Mildmay, Lord of the Manor, 

 and owner of the royalty of the river, who had on the previous 

 occasion successfully established his right by a Chancery in- 

 junction. 



Attem{)ts were then made to raise it on to the quay by a crane, 

 but this was found impossible, and on the next day (Friday) fresh 

 efforts were made to raise it on to a slip by means of a capstan and 

 tackle, which were also unsuccessful, the task of raising the carcase 

 being a more formidable undertaking than the buyers had antici- 

 pated. Meanwhile a flutter of excitement was caused in the Dengie 

 Hundred by the news, and the advertisement of Mr. Prior announcing 

 the exhibition at the Malting Yard, and cheap trains at single fares. 

 Many hundreds of people came down on Friday and Saturday, but 

 had to go away disappointed. Subsequently 1,300 paid for admis- 

 sion. 



I went down to Burnham on Saturday, and was surprised to find 

 the whale lying in the shallow water, held by chains, covered over 

 with tarpaulins, and floated by a number of empty casks. Later in the 

 afternoon, as the tide came- in, it was slowly hauled up on a specially 

 prepared slip, at the back of the post-office, Init the tackle broke 

 several times, giving me, however, an opportunity of examining the 

 head and baleen, and identifying the species to which it belonged. 

 Later on it was well hauled up, the tail only resting on the mud, and 

 with the aid of Mr. John Rogers, jun., of Burnham, I was able to 



