2 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



Mesoplodon layardi (Gray), (Pis. I.- III.). 



Specimens A and B were collected in November 1873 at the Cape of Good Hope by 

 Mr H. N. Moseley, F.R.S., one of the naturalists of the Expedition, and specimen Cwas 

 obtained by the same gentleman at the Falkland Islands in 1875. Mr Moseley has 

 with great courtesy placed at my disposal his notes on these specimens. 



Specimen A. — " The skull of Mesoplodon layardi was obtained from John M'Kellar, 

 Esq., of Cape Point. The animal came ashore at that place about 1865. Mr M'Kellar 

 reports that it was about 1 8 feet long, black on the back, white on the belly, and with a 

 conspicuous line of demarcation on the side between the black and white colours. The 

 animal yielded a large quantity of oil, which was of a very superior quality, selling for 

 more than twice the price of ordinary whale oil. It had long tusks in the lower jaw, and 

 Mr ]\I'Kellar thinks that he gave this bone with the teeth to Mr Layard, so that it is pro- 

 bable that this is the specimen to which Mr Layard's tooth belongs. The skull had lain 

 exposed for eight years on the beach, and was found with the beak stuck in the sand, the 

 skull having been put up as a target for riile practice.^ The fused cervical vertebrae, and 

 one or two dorsal vertebrae, were Ipng with the skull, but the remainder of the skeleton 

 was not to be found." 



Specimen B. — The animal to which the rostrum and lower jaw with teeth belonged 

 " was captured by the men in the employ of Mr Alexander Michael Black of Simon's 

 Town, Cape Colony, who presented the specimens to the Oxford Museum. The animal 

 came ashore at Walwick Bay in 1869. It was from 16 to 18 feet in length, and yielded 

 80 gallons of oil.^ The entire head was brought to Simon's Bay as a curiosity, but it 

 smelt so badly that the snout was sawn off with difficulty, owing to the density of the 

 bone, and the head was pitched overboard." 



Specivwn C, which I have recognised to be a young example of Mesoplodon layardi, 

 " was obtained at the head of Port Sussex, on the west coast of East Falkland Island. 

 The animal ran ashore late in 1875. It was measured by Mr John Bonner, and found to 

 be exactly 14 feet in length. It had a greyish-white colour below, but was black above. 

 The oil was especially clear and good. The paddles were cut off, along with masses of 

 blubber, and dragged to a distance. Mr Bonner gave me the head, which he had separated 

 fi'om the trunk as a curiosity." Mr Moseley carried the head and bones of the trunk on 

 a pack horse from Port Sussex to Stanley,^ where the Challenger was lying, but the jiaddles 

 were not recovered. A similar whale was said by Mr Bonner to have come ashore at the 

 peninsula known as Lafonia in 1866. 



^ See also Notes by a Naturalist on the Challenger. By H. N. Moseley, F.R.S., Loudon, 1879. In these Notes, 

 obviously by a misprint, the animal is said to be only " about 10 feet in length." 

 2 See also Moseley's Notes above cited, p. 158. 

 2 See Notes, p. 559. 



