The White Whale. 



cavity the great fisli-kettlo was lowered as soon as the last plate had been 

 made water-tight ; so that it rests on a solid bottom, and its upper edge stands 

 up about a foot above the level of the floor. Tiers of raised seats were erected 

 at each end of the tank, from which visitors could look down upon the whale. A 

 better view of the animal's movements in the water might, no doubt, have been 

 obtained if the sides of the tank could have been of glass, and above the level 

 of the floor, but this was quite 'impracticable. The unfortunate liability of 

 the stoutest glass plates to crack, even when fitted in the most solid frame- 

 work, would have rendered such a mode of construction dangerous, and, 

 moreover, time and economy would not admit of its being adopted. 



These costly preparations having so far advanced towards completion, 

 there was leisure for anxiety concerning the condition of the illustrious 

 voyager. Would it arrive alive, or would all the money and energy and 

 enterp)-ise expended on it prove to have been lavished in vain ? As it was 

 thought possible that the " Oder" might arrive at Southampton on Tuesday, 

 the 2Cth, Mr. Fariui, the entrepreneur of " Zazel," who, was interested 

 in the speculation, went there on the previous day, accompanied by Mr. 

 Carrington. A telegram was received from them on tlie Tuesday, at 7 p.m., 

 juat as the iron tank was being lowered on to its bed, that the ship had l^eeu 

 reported in the Channel, and would arrive about five o'clock on AVediiesday 

 morning. Expectation was heightened, and the work hastened, for there was 

 no time to be lost. Sympathising strongly with the experimenters, I was at 

 the Aquarium early on Wednesdiiy morning. I then learned that the grati- 

 fying intelligence had been received that the whale had been landed alive, and 

 apparently uninjured, and that it would arrive at its destination about 11.30 

 a.m. On the arrival of the " Oder" ofi* Netley, the animal was transferred, 

 with other passengers and some specie, to the tender steamer, landed in 

 Southampton Docks, and thence brought to London by the South- Western 

 Railway, on an open truck, by the gentlemen I have named. The passage 

 had fortunately been an extremely calm one. 



About noon, a large wooden box, twelve feet in length, was lifted out of a 

 van and placed at the side of the tank by a score or so of labourers. Within 

 it lay the whale, half embedded in sea-weed — which smelt of anything but 

 ozone — and breathing at intervals of about twenty-three seconds. Now arose 

 a difficulty which might have been serious: it was discovered that the cement 

 at the bottom of the tank had not set, and that it probably never would do so ; 

 for the water, though frequently changed, was thick with limy mud. From this 

 dilemma Mr. Wybrow liobertsou came out well. No hesitation nor indecision ! 

 Out with it ; watei", cement, and all ! The water was run off, and every atom 

 of the cement was sci'aped off the 800 square feet of the bottom of the tank ; 

 the iron plates were brushed and washed as clean as if no composition had 

 ever been on them ; the pure, clean water rusliod in from taps and hose ; and 

 then we had to wait till the huge vat was full. The whole of the work was 

 finished in about four hours from the time of the whale's arrival, and then 

 came the crucial moment. A portion of the wooden case having been cut 

 away, it was turned over, and the whale was gently dropped, sidelong, into 

 the water. Although evidently cramped by its tedious confinement, it imme- 

 diately began to swim around its pond. It remained, however, eo lotig sub- 

 merged without coming up to breathe that I began to fear that, owing to its 

 being weak after its journey, and also possibly to the fresh-water being less 

 dense and buoyant than the sea-water to which it had been accustomed, it was 

 u:'.:il'!-^ lo r 'I' to 'ho eurl'ice. l?'it ]ir(-sontly up ramo the beautiful creature ; 



