128 THE STORY OF LIFE IN THE SEAS. 



of Whales as they approach the coast in the 

 summer months, and they occasionally chase 

 their prey some distance up the estuaries of the 

 English rivers. The habit that Porpoises have 

 of accompanying ships for long distances affords 

 us many opportunities of watching their graceful 

 movements, and of estimating the very great 

 speed with which they can swim through the 

 water for hours at a stretch. It is difficult to 

 understand the meaning of this habit of follow- 

 ing ships. It has been suggested that the Por- 

 poises mistake the ship for a huge Sperm-whale, 

 and hope to benefit by stray morsels of large fish 

 that fall from its jaws. But this theory does not 

 account for the fact that the Porpoises so often 

 go in front of the ship. The following extract 

 from Darwin's " Voyage of the Beagle " gives, in 

 a few words, a vivid picture of Porpoise life : 



" In our passage to the Plata, we saw nothing 

 in particular, excepting on one day a great shoal 

 of Porpoises, many hundreds in number. The 

 whole sea was in places furrowed by them ; and 

 a most extraordinary spectacle was presented, as 

 hundreds, proceeding together by jumps, in which 

 their whole bodies were exposed, thus cut the 

 water. When the ship was running nine knots 

 an hour, these animals could cross and recross the 

 bows with the greatest ease, and then dash away 

 right ahead." This description reminds me very 

 forcibly of a sight I once saw in the Talaut 

 Islands, south of the Philippines. In passing 

 between two of the islands the strait seemed to 

 be alive with Porpoises tearing through the water 

 at a terrific pace. They accompanied the steamer 



