270 : THE ZOOLOGIST. 
inhabiting the plains, that the author actually saw Wildebeests and 
other antelopes making their way blindly into the middle of the 
town (Bloem Fontaine) in search of shelter, where they were easily 
captured. “After the storm ceased they were found dying in all 
directions, and the plains were covered with their carcasses. In 
the course of an afternoon’s ride, he counted as many as seventy 
dead antelopes of various species, and was informed that Ostriches 
also were found amongst the slain. A knowing settler turned the 
circumstance to good account by stripping off the hides as they 
lay, and sending them in bales to Cape Town for sale.” 
Want of space precludes our quoting further from Capt. Lucas’s 
readable book. What he has given us, if not very new, is at all 
events pleasantly written, and he has wisely avoided the too- 
common practice of spinning out his material. So agreeably does 
he detail his experiences that the reader, on reaching the last 
page, must almost regret that the author has not more to say. 
The White Whale. By Henry Leer, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &e. 8vo, 
pp- 16. London: Burt & Co. 1878. 
Ir was only to be expected that the hundreds who had flocked 
of late to the Westminster Aquarium, to see the live whale there 
exhibited, would be glad to be furnished with some account of 
this remarkable animal; and Mr. Henry Lee’s pamphlet, which 
has just appeared under the above heading, will supply a want 
which must have been generally experienced. We have heard 
much disappointment expressed at the size of the Westminster 
captive, many having expected, it seems, to have found on their 
arrival at the Aquarium nothing smaller than a Greenland Whale 
of at least fifty or sixty feet in length. To such persons we may 
recommend the perusal of Mr. Lee’s brochure, with the expression 
of a hope that the extremely interesting history which attaches to 
the Beluga or White Whale may in some degree compensate for 
their disappointment. 
The “ Beluga,” Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas), or as Mr. Lee 
terms it Beluga cutodon, can scarcely be said to belong to the 
British fauna, only three instances being on record of its appearance 
on our coasts. ‘Information gathered from trustworthy sources 
leads to the belief that the annual migrations of the Beluga are so 
