388 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



myself, as ifc had headed away to sea, but it was noticed both upon 

 the same and also upon the following day by several boatmen and 

 others who were out in the Bay. When last seen it was about two 

 miles north-east of the Castle Hill, and rose close to a boatload of anglers, 

 who were considerably alarmed at its close proximity. Sir Eobert 

 Lloyd Patterson very kindly gave me the following account of what he 

 had seen : — 



" Understanding that you are the Recorder of tbe local Natural 

 History Society, I put in this form, for reference, the substance of 

 what I told you to-day relative to the appearance of a large cetacean 

 in the Bay here this day shortly after noon. I was at the south end 

 of the Spa promenade on the sea front very shortly after high water? 

 the sea still breaking against tbe wall, when I noticed what at the first 

 glance I took to be a breaking wave ; but almost instantly I saw that 

 it was a good-sized animal which, but for its colour, which was about 

 as white as this paper, I should have taken to be a Rorqual of eighteen 

 to twenty feet long. It was swimming north parallel to, and about 

 120 yards distant from, tbe Spa wall. I walked along, and saw it rise 

 several times again — perhaps eight or ten times altogether — when it 

 headed out to the eastward, increasing its distance from the shore, and 

 was finally lost to view. It had no dorsal fin that I could see, and I 

 have not a shadow of doubt but that it was a Beluga, or White Whale, 

 a most interesting and, I take it, quite unique occurrence. Unless 

 albinism occurs among the cetaceans — a thing I never heard of — it 

 cannot have been anything else but a Beluga. I leave it to you to 

 communicate the foregoing, on my authority, to such scientific journals 

 as you think proper." — R. Lloyd Patterson. 



" P.S. — The animal was so white and so large that one could see 

 its white form beneath the surface before it rose above it. It was swim- 

 ming in a very leisurely manner, not more than five miles an hour." 



I think I am correct in saying that this most interesting occur- 

 rence is the first recorded for the Yorkshire coast, and only the second 

 for England, and it was extremely fortunate that the appearance 

 should have been witnessed by such a competent authority. 



On Aug. 30th, while on Filey Brig at the portion known as the 

 " Emperor's Bath," where there is twenty feet of water close up to the 

 rock edge, my attention was attracted by three tall black objects 

 appearing and disappearing on the surface of the water, which was 

 somewhat turbulent. As they drew nearer, I was able to see that they 

 were the dorsal fins of three large cetaceans, and they eventually 

 approached to within fifty yards of where I was standing, and I was 

 able clearly to see that they were Grampuses. They were swimming 



