Page:Twenty Thousand Verne Frith 1876.pdf/55

 At eight o’clock the mist began to disperse slowly. The horizon gradually cleared. Suddenly the voice of Ned Land was heard,

“Here is the animal astern!”

Everyone looked in the direction indicated. There, about a mile and a half from the frigate, a long black body raised itself about a yard above the waves. Its tail, which moved quickly, kept up a considerable agitation in the water; never had tail beaten the water with such force. An immense frothy wake marked the course of the animal, and described an extended curve.

The frigate approached the cetacean. I examined it carefully. The reports of the Shannon and Helvetia had exaggerated its dimensions a little, and I estimated its length at only 250 feet. As for its bulk, it could not be easily arrived at, but the animal appeared to me to be admirably proportioned throughout. While I was looking at this phenomenal creature, two jets of water and steam spurted from the blow-holes, up to a height of forty yards, which settled its manner of respiration in my mind. From that I concluded that the animal belonged to the vertebrates, class mammifer, sub-class monodolphins, pisciform group, cetacean order, and family— Here I was unable to pronounce an opinion. The cetaceans comprise three families: whales, cachalots, and dolphins; and it is with the last-named that narwhals are ranged. Each of these families is divided into several genus, each genus into species, each species into varieties. Varieties, species, genus, and family failed me here, but I did not doubt that I should be able to complete my classification with the assistance of heaven—and Commodore Farragut!