The White Whale. 



But, al.is ! it lived tbei*e less than foui' days. On the Saturday morning, 

 in response to a kind invitation to accompanj' Professor Flower to examine it, 

 I was at the lloyal Aquarium at ten o'clock, expecting to witness a lively and 

 interesting scene. Mr. Carringfcon was ready to remove it fi-om the water 

 that some necessary work might bo done in the tank. For this purpose lie 

 had had made a capacious hammock of canvas, which was to he passed under 

 its huge body, and then hoisted up high and dry. But on my arrival there 

 were grave faces around that tank, and when, instead of seeing the whale in 

 graceful motion, I cauglit sight of its shapely body lying still and lifeless on 

 its side, I know that there was as sorrowful an expression on my own counte- 

 nance as on that of any one present ; for, in truth, it was a bitter disappoint- 

 ment to all of us. 



For more than one reason I viewed this unfortunate event with deep 

 regret. The idea of bringing this great aquatic mammal alive across the 

 Atlantic was so bold and plucky, the plan adopted for its transport was appa- 

 rently so well chosen, and so carefully and skilfully carried out, and the pre- 

 parations for its exhibition were so ample and complete, that I cordially sym- 

 pathised with its owners and tbe- authorities of the Aquarium in their loss. 

 The public, too, were deprived of a great sight, from an educational point of 

 view. Thousands of persor.s who had opportunities of seeing the porpoises iu 

 the Brighton Aquarium learned then for the first time to appreciate the fact 

 that the cetacea are not fishes. They read with their own eyes from Nature's 

 own book, far better than any printed page could teach them, that the whales 

 breathe by lungs and not by gills ; that they propel themselves by vertical 

 movements of the tail and not by their pectoral fins ; that they never spout 

 water from their spiracle ; and many other details of their movements, habits, 

 and mode of life. And as they looked, and learned, and their interest increased 

 with their uiidcrstanding of the subject, they were taught that they had before 

 them a warm-blooded animal that suckles its young, and one of high intelli- 

 gence, almost, if not quite, equal in brain-power to the seals. And if this 

 whale had lived, thousands more who never went to Brighton, and whoso 

 means or duties would not, perhaps, permit them to do so, would have learned 

 similar lessons. Popular fallacies would have been dissipated, and popular 

 knowledge increased. 



The whale had died, I was told, about four o'clock that morning. Mr. 

 Home, the foreman of the Aquarium, informed me that he had been in 

 attendance on it all night, and that at the time above mentioned, after turning 

 occasionally on its side, and breathing unequally and laboriously for some 

 hours previously, it struggled violently, made a sudden rush from one 

 extremity of the tank to the other, as if in delirium, and breathed its last. 



No sooner was it dead, tlian the eels, which had been placed in the tank 

 for it to feed upon, began to nibble at its fins, and produced appearances 

 which probably misled a right reverend cleric to make, on second-hand 

 information, an erroneous statement in the Times, that it bore marks of 

 ill-usage. 



Now I do not wish to descend to bathos, but it is a fact that most of those 

 present on that Saturday morning having been made the confidants of the 

 hopes and fears of those who were jDccuniarily interested in the undertaking, 

 the feeling of regret was so universal and sincere that all looked on in 

 blank concern, and for some time no attempt was made to remove the dead 

 Beluga. Ecgrets, however, were useless, so the poor beast was hoisted out 



