A NATURALIST ON THE PROWL. 
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measuring fully eight feet and a half in length. Now he 
will gambol no more, and the herd will follow another 
leader. But perhaps he did not gambol. Perhaps he was 
a solitary and surly old brute. I always think of porpoises 
as the merriest of beasts, but it may be a very one-sided 
view. We only see them in their sportive moods and 
fancy they are always sportive. When they are sullen 
or sad, doubtless they mope somewhere down in the dark 
unfathomed caves of ocean, looking at the gems of purest 
ray serene. And if they have fits of ill-temper or fierce 
passion, in which they become as dangerous as a rogue 
elephant or a mad bull, how should we know ? 
These things go on in a world to which we have no 
access. I wish that I could gain admittance to it for a 
while and watch the ways of those who are born and live 
and die within its bounds. I should like to see a mother 
porpoise with her young. Where does she cradle it, and 
how does she nurse it ? Remember, that the baby por- 
poise is not a fish, but a beast, and would soon die if left 
at the bottom of the sea. The mother must not only feed 
it and warm it, but “ breathe ” it Does she clasp it in her 
flappers and bring it up and hold its little nose above the 
water ? Her lot is happy in one thing : her baby cannot 
