The White Whale. 



endure. I often think that in the future, even more than now, his produc- 

 tions of this kind will be recognised as " philosophy in sport made science ia 

 earnest." So mote it he ! 



A great many inaccurate statements and unwise suggestions were made 

 concerning tbe treatment of this whale. In justice to those responsible for 

 it, I will notice two of these. 



First, it was asked, " Why did they not make the box water-tight, and 

 keep it full of water, instead of bringing the poor thing in damp weed?" 

 Because those who undertook its conveyance knew that which inexperienced 

 fault-finders did not know — namely, that if they had done this the whale 

 would have been drowned within the first half-hour. It could not have 

 raised its body to the surface for the purpose of breathing in such a position. 

 To do this it requires depth and space to swim, and thus, by the propulsion 

 of its tail, to rise obliquely, and similarly to descend. So, to bring tbe whale 

 in water, a tank would have been requisite almost as large as that provided 

 for it in the Aquarium ; and if that had been practicable the water in it 

 would have swashed about with every movement of the ship, and the animal 

 would have been banged and bruised to death. 



Secondly, it was objected that it was " absurd," " stupid," " ignorant," 

 "the height of folly," etc.,''to expect it to live in fresh-water. I am not pre- 

 pared to say that sea-water would not have been j^i'eferable ; and I have no 

 doubt that if a plentiful supply of this had been at hand the manager and 

 naturalist of the Aquarium would have used it by choice. But neither am 

 I at all sure that it was of the slightest consequence to the whale whether 

 it was provided with salt-water or fresh-water. The cetacea do not breathe 

 the air contained in water by gills as fishes do ; it is merely the medium 

 in which they swim, and whales of many species naturally take to fresh- 

 water. For instance, the common porpoise to which the Beluga is closely 

 allied, is often seen as far up the Thames as Chelsea ; and the Beluga itself 

 is in the habit of running up rivers, and is there caught as I described last 

 week. Mr. W. H. Dall, of the Smithsonian Institution, gives an account of 

 a Beluga being taken by the Russians in 1863, at Nulato, on the Yukon 

 River, in Alaska, about 700 miles from the sea. Theoretically, therefore, 

 these animals should exist equally well in salt or fresh water. But theory ia 

 not always in accord with practice, and it is possible that sea water may be 

 more necessary for the well being of these aquatic animals than has been 

 supposed. If salt water should, in future, be found preferable, "Tidmau'a 

 Sea Salt " may be conveniently used for any of the cetacea. 



Moreover, both of these much-blamed modes of treatment have been pre- 

 viously tried and found practically successful. Mr. Zach Coup, who assisted 

 at the capture of this whale, and accompanied it to England, told me that he 

 had kept others of the same species in fresh-water for months at a time; and 

 Mr. Barnura mentions in his amusing autobiography, " Forty Years' Recol- 

 lections " (a handsome copy of which he kindly presented to me in 1871), that 

 in 18G1 and 18(52 three consignments of these White Whales — six in all — 

 travelled from Elbow Island {^Ile aux Coudes), in the River St. Lawrence, to 

 New York, lying in a box on wet seaweed, and accompanied by an attendant 

 who kept the blow-hole constantly moist during the long journey. One of 

 these Belugas lived, and was publicly exhibited for two years in a water-tank 

 in Mr. Barnum's museum. It was a male, ten feet long, and weighed 700 

 pounds. It became so tame that it would allow itself to bo harnessed to a 



