274 AN EAST COAST NATURALIST 



inches; length of jaws, 6 feet 6 inches. The 

 baleen ran up to 15 inches in length in the longest 

 plates. 



In September of the same year a considerable 

 shoal of White - beaked Dolphins managed to get 

 into a kind of cul-de-sac made by an accumulation 

 of sand (since much altered), where, the tide being 

 low, they floundered about in an excited manner. 

 They would have "retraced their steps," but fail- 

 ing, made considerable efforts until, splashing, and 

 blowing, and thrashing with their tails, they at 

 length surmounted the barrier and reached deep 

 water, their subsequent lively frolics indicating their 

 delight at having escaped. 



A fine female White-beaked Dolphin was taken 

 in the nets of the herring-drifter Thankful off 

 this coast on 13th June 1894. The beast, still 

 alive, was bought at the Fishwharf, and placed on 

 a barrow, on which it was driven into the town 

 for exhibition. I met it in the street, still living, 

 as it was being trundled to the purchaser's fish-house, 

 its travels having been curtailed by police orders. 

 With difficulty, and much against its will, I opened 

 its mouth to admire the fine set of 80 conical, 

 clean, pearly teeth. The animal measured 8 feet 



