THE CONQUEST OF THE DRY LAND 207 



itself along ; so do we when we walk. This is 

 the punting method. (3) He may take an oar, 

 and, going to the stern of the boat, he may 

 press the water from side to side, displacing 

 masses of water in a regular rhythm. So does 

 the fish grip the water with the posterior part 

 of its body, popularly called the tail, and thrust 

 the water away from it, first to one side and 

 then to the other. So does the whale with its 

 propeller-like tail a propeller, however, that 

 does not go round. This is the sculling method. 

 (4) Or the man may sit down on the seat of 

 the boat and take up the oars and row. The 

 insect called the Water-Boatman rows on the 

 water with its third pair of legs ; the turtle rows 

 with its flipper-like limbs, and the penguin with 

 its flightless wings and with its feet as well. 

 Aquatic birds, when swimming, row with their 

 feet ; some diving birds row under water with 

 their wings. Flying birds row in the air with 

 their wings. 



Now it may be said that the conquest of the 

 dry land meant, among other things, that the 

 punting kind of locomotion became very im- 

 portant. It was learned on the shore ; it was 

 perfected on dry land. Even the snake, which 



