43$ ON THE ORKNEY ANIMAL. 



the only solid bone in the body : That the tail was 

 quite flexible, turning in every direction, as he 

 lifted it ; and he supposes the neck to have been 

 equally so, from its appearance at the time : That 

 he has brought ill, to deliver to Mr Laing, the 

 skull, two joints of one of the largest limbs, next 

 the head, with different parts of the back- bone, 

 beside the bones that were formerly sent in : That 

 there were either five or six toes upon each paw, 

 about nine inches long, and of a soft substance : 

 That the toes were separate from each other, and 

 not webbed, as far as he could observe ; and that 

 the paw was about half a foot each way, in length 

 and breadth : That a few days thereafter, a gale of 

 wind came on, and drove it to another part of the 

 shore, where it was broken to pieces by the surge, 

 and when Mr Petrie came out to take a drawing 

 of it, no part of the body remained entire : That 

 he endeavoured to convey an idea of the animal to 

 Mr Petrie, by drawing the figure of it as accu- 

 rately as he could, with chalk, on the table, ex- 

 actly as it lay upon the shore, after which Mr Pe- 

 trie made six or seven different sketches or plans 

 of the fish, before he could bring it to correspond, 

 in each minute particular, with the strong idea 

 which he retains of its appearance : That he was 

 the more attentive to its shape, dimensions and fi- 

 gure, in order to be able to give an accurate ac- 

 count of it to any travellers that might come to 

 Rothiesholm ; and that he is ready to make oath, 



