48 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



heard the sort of long-drawn sighs which these mighty beasts made in 

 breathing, and the young ones were said to have been heard to cry with a 

 mewing sound. Some of the cows gave birth in their death agony to poor 

 little calves, and very few, old or young, lived more than a quarter of an 

 hour after their final stranding. Some died quietly, others beat the sand 

 and water with their tails, dyeing the water with blood; the children, not 

 realizing the calamity of the poor monsters, were observed to be putting 

 stones on the blow-holes of such as they could reach, delighted to see the 

 stones blown high into the air at each expiration. The men of the settle- 

 ment were engaged with ropes in trying to save the boat-pier from destruc- 

 tion by the furious strokes of the tails of a couple of Whales who had got 

 alongside it to die. 



" By the evening, after that tide had ebbed, there were five Whales 

 afloat only, out of more than 500 that had been afloat that morning, and by 

 next morning only three were to be seen, and they swam round and round 

 for a while, and then, as is if disdaining to live when all their companions 

 were dead, in company they made straight for the beach, and in a few 

 moments they also had passed for ever out of the scheme of existence. 

 Unfortunately for the world at large, all this loss of life benefited nothing 

 but the sea-birds and the pigs of the settlement. Circumstances made it 

 impossible to use the blubber. Some of the bodies have been burnt; they 

 burn like a great oil-shed. The spring tides fortunately floated others up 

 and down and dispersed them, otherwise the stench would have been 

 unbearable. 



" As for the cause of this catastrophe among the Whales, my friend 

 Mr. Felton, who manages the estate, thinks that the school got into the 

 bay of San Salvador and lost their way in its ramifications, and could not 

 get suitable food, and became delirious from starvation, thus committing 

 suicide. He dissected some of them, and found both stomach and 

 intestines empty; but, against this theory, they all had about two inches 

 of blubber all over them, and therefore had not wasted very much. 



" These Whales were from thirty feet to four feet long. The four-feet 

 ones were just born. They were of all ages and sexes. They had small, 

 sharp-cutting teeth in each jaw, and a very large tongue ; the head was not 

 very large, certainly not more than a seventh of the body length." 



As we go to press news has been received of the burning of the 

 residence of Mr. John Harvie Brown, and the total destruction of his 

 valuable Natural History collection. We desired to record "Museum 

 Notes," but deeply regret that this should prove to be the first contribution. 

 We not only express our sympathy with Mr. Harvie Brown, on such a 

 more than personal loss, but feel that British zoologists will universally 

 deplore the catastrophe. 



