A CAPTURED WHALE 221 



the water. It is only with considerable exertion 

 that a fish makes consecutive leaps in the air, but 

 the porpoise and the whale roll, leap, and bound 

 above the surface of the water with as much grace 

 and ease, as an antelope does on shore. The fishes 

 secure oxygen from the water that passes through 

 their gills and they only leap above water in play, 

 to capture food or escape being captured. 

 We know that a 



MERMAID IS AN AIR BREATHER 



and a milk giver, that is, a mammalian because she 

 is represented with nostrils and lungs and breasts 

 like a woman; we also know that she is a fable, a 

 nature fake, a fanciful creature, but even a fable 

 should be logical and so she should have no scales, 

 but a skin-covered horizontal tail like that of the 

 porpoise and whale. 



Scattered on the beach of white sand, bleaching 

 in the sun just above high tide were the remains of 

 the flippers cut from various whales. Decay had 

 parted the meat from the bones, fiddler crabs and 

 sand fleas had completed the work until all that 

 remained of the giant rubber-like flippers were the 



WHITE BONES OF GIANT HANDS 



of five fingers each. The unexpected sight of 

 these well articulated bony hands make a startling 

 and forcible argument for the evolutionist, and the 

 observer is ready at once to accept as truth the 



