304 ANIMALS AT WORK AND PLA Y 



explorers' myths is that of the remora, the gigantic 

 sucking-fish, which stuck to the bottom of ships 

 and prevented their progress. It was the nightmare 

 of early voyagers, who seem to have entertained a 

 genuine belief in its existence, though no one had 

 ever seen a larger species than the common suck- 

 ing-fish of the size of a mackerel. But there was 

 no reason why such a creature should not exist. 

 Voyagers encountered many kinds of whale, grampus, 

 shark, and walrus, of a size far greater than that 

 of the fish and seals of waters nearer home. Every 

 day the ship's bottom grew fouler, and her speed 

 less, and nervous tension found in a gigantic remora 

 the most probable solution of the delay. The 

 ' glutton ' is another subject of Northern myth ; 

 there is no foundation for its alleged excesses in 

 eating, or for other curious habits chronicled by 

 mediaeval naturalists ; but these stories are still 

 current among the Samoyeds, and were quoted by 

 the voyagers just as they heard them. Milton, in 

 his ' Moscovia,' mentions the creature by its Samoyed 

 name, 'rossomakka.' 



The early naturalists could not afford to dis- 

 regard stories derived from native sources ; but they 

 gave them with too little qualification. Herodotus 

 gave currency to animal c myths,' some of which 

 have been shown to be based on fact, while others 



