THE GREAT UNKNOWN. 



account of it; it also came near his boat upon the 

 fjord, when it was fired at, upon which it turned 

 and pursued them to the shore, which was luckily 

 near, when it disappeared. They expressed great 

 surprise at the general disbelief attaching to the 

 existence of these animals amongst naturalists, 

 and assured me that there was scarcely a sailor 

 accustomed to those inland lakes who had not 

 seen them at one time or another." 



The Rev. Alfred Charles Smith, M.A., an excel- 

 lent naturalist, who passed the three summer 

 months of 1850 in Norway, and who published 

 his observations in a series of papers in the Zoo- 

 logiat for that and the following year, thus al- 

 ludes to his own inquiries, which, if they add 

 nothing to the amount of fact accumulated, add 

 weight to the testimonies already adduced. "I lost 

 no opportunity," he remarks, "of making inquiries 

 of all I could see, as to the general belief in the 

 country regarding the animal in question ; but all, 

 with one single exception — naval officers, sailors, 

 boatmen, and fishermen — concurred in affirming 

 most positively that such an animal did exist, and 

 had been repeatedly seen off their coasts and 

 fjords; though I was never fortunate enough to 

 meet a man who could boast of having seen him 

 with his own eyes. All, however, agreed in un- 

 hesitating belief as to his existence and frequent 

 appearance ; and all seemed to marvel very much 

 at the scepticism of the English, for refusing 

 credence to what to the minds of the Norwegians 

 seemed so incontrovertible. The single exception 

 to which I have alluded, was a Norwegian officer, 

 who ridiculed what he called the credulity or 

 gullibility of his countrymen ; though I am bound 

 to add my belief, that he did this, not from any 

 decided opinion of his own, but to make a show 

 287 



