The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-01 00:00:00

ANOTHER LIVE PORPOISE.

Mr. Frank Buckland writes to the Field:—

" Late on Sunday evening last I received a telegram from
Mr. John Minter, Folkestone, stating that he had obSained
a live porpoise, which was quite at my service for the Zoo-
logicial Society. I went down by a fast train early on Mon-
day moaning to Folkestone, full determined to try my best
to bring the creature alive to London. On my arrival at
Folkeston I was welcomed by Mr. Minter and by Mr. W.
Earnshaw, who had kindly built a tank for the porpoise,
filled it with sea water, and had deposited him therein,
with a sentry to keep watch and guard and supply fresh
water continually till such time as I should arrive to take
him away to London. lat once saw that it was a very
fine beast (not fish, recollect), and seemed in a pretty good
state of health, or as Hall, the man who caught him in his
sprat-net said, Look at him. sit, he is as nice a young fish
as ever came out of the sea. Only just watch his actions,
sir; he is as cheerful as can be; I think he is more frolic-
some since he has been in the tank than he was
when I catched him in my sprat-net. Live out of water,
sir ; in course he will; I only wish I could live as long under
the water as yon fellow can live out of it in the air. WWI
you luck with him I the London folks don't often see
such a beautiful beast as that, sir.' Looking pretty close
at the water in the tank I observed that even though it had
been frequently changed, it had a blood-red tinge, so I got
the porpoise ow, and saw at once that he had rubbed the
bark off the tip of his lower jaw and that it was bleeding
away just like a man's chin bleeds when he has cut himself
in shaving. This hemorrhage will weaken the beast,
thought I; it must be stopped. So I ran off to a chemist's
shop and got a pennyworth of stick nitrate of silver, and,
lifting the porpoise's head out of the water, applied the
out thee water
causticarai treaty to the wound, The smarting made the
porpoise waggle his tail like a duck just come
of
; but the bleeding stopped then and
there,
there, and this was what I wanted. Knowing, however,
that it was tot advisable,i even if we could have managed
to lift the heavy tank he was
the water
to take the porpoise in
water up to London, because ewater splashes down the
blow-hole and chokes him,
. E
arn shaw, at my request,
kindly ordered his carpenter to knock up a
amazinglyrough
like
box,a
which, by the way, when finished looked
coffin; we then wetted some blankets with sea water, ob-
tained a huge can of sea water and a big sponge,
all ready for the start. Two minutes before the and weretraa him
train left
the station we hoisted the porpoise out of the tank, p
on the blankets in his box, and trundled him off in at
fish
w
truck to the station. And here I must return my thanks
gave
me Mr. Bennett, station-master at Folkestone, who
me and Tennant, the keeper from the Zoological, who as
with me to assist the operations, every facility to take taro
of our precious charge. I sat at the end of the box, close
to the sea-water tank, so as to have good command of
him ; and lucky it was I did so, for soon after the train
started the porpoise was taken worse,' and began to
breathe very hard. lat once saw the cause—the delicate
membranes composing his bluw-hole were getting dry,
and would not close properly; so I set to work with
the sponge, and the whole way up to London kept on per-
petually wiping the beast's nose and body with the wet
sponge, so anxious was I that he should live. The train
went very fast, and in order that the porpoise should have
all the air possible I opened all the windows, so that there
was a perfect hurricane blowing through the van where we
three—happy trio—were ensconced in the semi-darkness.
This was evidently a good plan for every part of the journey
save and except the long tunnels. When we got into these
the steam and smoke from the engine came pouring in
through the open windows, got down into the porpoise's
blow-hole, and made him snap and sneeze to such a degree
that, as they say, I became positively alarmed.' His
respirations increased from nine to fifteen in a minute, and
I thought he was going to die then and there. ance out
of the tunnel, he got better again, and the faster the train
went the better the porpoise seemed to breathe. He
had never travelled so fast before in his life, I'll
be bound, and was doubtless much astonished at the
rate in which he was being whisked through the
air ; though even this is doubtful, for he can swim at the
bows of an ocean steamer going at empress pace. In about
two hours and a halt we ran into the London-bridge station,
and right glad I was, for I was tired enough with spong-
ing and watching the creature so incessantly. Mr. Bartlett
had sent a light cart for us, we therefore whipped the por-
poise, box and all, into the cart, and away we went through
the streets at a capital pace. When we got to Cumberland-
market, Regent's Park, I was lighting my pipe, when I
dropped, by accident, a vesuvian on the porpoise's back;
this made him jump up and roll round in his wooden cage
like a jack-in-the-box." He is a-going, sir; he is a-going P
said the driver. No, he is not a-going,' said I, you cut
along with the cart and attend to the horse; leave the
porpoise to me.' Arrived at the Zoological-gardens, we
drove atraigkt to the reservoir, where the water was
deeper than the sturgeon's pond—besides which we
did not want another poetical jobation in the columns of
the Time: from the Royal fish for intruding on
his privacy. The big reservoir would be a much
batter place, I thought, and so we drove the cart as near as
we could to its edge. We then lifted out our porpoise—he
was very bad' and breathing much too fast to please me—
we carried him up to the reservoir, and I let him slip slowly
down, tail foremost, into the water. It was pitch dark, and
wet both above and below, so I could hardly see what I was
about. I knew, however, by the splash that he was all right
in the water. We then sat down and watched, and in about
half an hour he seemed so much better (though occasionally
turning over and showing his white sides, an appearance
which I did not much like) that we went away. The next
morning I was much pleased to hear that my porpoise was
much better. Both Mr. Bartlett and I agreed that he was
weak for want of food, but how to feed him was the diffi-
culty. Mr. Bartlett suggested a fish tied by a string to a
pole. I immediately caught the idea, sent for my trolling rod,
ling, and spinning-tackle, and taking a fresh herring, tied
it by the tail to a fine bit of thin silk, and attached the
other end of the silk to the spinning-tackle—of course with-
out any hooks. I then judiciously spun the herring right in
front of the porpoise's nose. To our great delight he took
it in a moment, with a snap like a jack, and sailed away
with it in his mouth. I gave him plenty of line, as in gorge
bait fishing, and he ran it out famously. I then gave him
some three or four minutes' law, and then jerked suddenly
upon the line. Mr. Bartlett's plan acted admirably, and
just as we wanted it to act, for the silk broke short off, and
the herring remained in the porpoise's mouth. The por-
poise then chumped and gnawed at the bait, but could not
swallow it—he was too weak to get it down, and dropped it
to the bottom of the pond. We then cut a smaller bit of
herring; he attempted to gorge this also, but, as with the
larger fish, he could not swallow, and dropped this also, even
this little bit. We then tried with a small line carp, which
we tied with thin silk on by the tail in the same way as the
herring. Strange to say, he would not attempt to bite at
this, as though he knew it was not a salt-water fish, but a
fresh-water fish, and no good' to him. Mr. Bartlett then
tried with the spinning rod line, and a small whiting being
the bait. The porpoise took seven or eight baits from us in
this way, but not one would he swallow down; he dropped
them all after munching them a bit. Upon consultation,
therefore, we determined that as the beast was too weak to
swallow of his own accord, we would help him—so I got
down by a ladder into the reservoir, and catching the por-
poise by the fin as he passed, watched my opportunifY atone
pushed a herring with my hand right down into
mach ; he scored my hand with his teeth, but I did nti
the
about that. For a minute or two after I had given
ttlehow
herring he seemed better, but he very soon began
beg
L an to
that his supper did not agree with him, for he
efforts
flutter his tail and dance in the water, etleair
en_ungrate-
he made a spring, spat up the herring, a his:are
put it, I
upon him—turned u his fins anuhe—herrang sticking ia
and so suteo-
ful wretch! atter all the trouble anid IdliduouVighnatdobffe.stoTwnede
cause of his death was, 1 believeast
evonach,
his throat as he ejected it from
.t:tomach where I
eating him. If he had left it in #tevr. Sclater, Mr. Bartlett,
dent think he would have died
to persevere and have ;say sorry that this porpoise
leave of us in this off le
and
ashnodumlissoalsfuadrdeenallyi,
manner. Nevertheliss, es II
:days at the gardens. We have nowe a
live porpoise one of theesx
periences in the transport
0 these
hoaf
vrteotal,urs_eeten,
nd
gained mane' mid we intend to persevere till we
curious water mamas ,
meet the eye of any gentlewho -
succeed. Should this
uninjured (mind his eyes h
man can
obtain a live andtouva,
e lam sorry to say, among
crave not been
out, as is the °2-st any reasonable distance .17'
fishermen)
porpoise tor ,
:st obliged if he would at once buyr° town, we
should fees re in large salt-water him, place
;es edietely a tank or
hig` "-)] ervoir of clean water (it there , even a freeh-
pond or res and
be one handy),
h at once to me, and I
and telegrap Mr. Bartlett would
t once to fetch him u t
vane doWn a P 0 the Gardens h
• should succeed, he wo w ere,
if *8 uld doubtless b
source of amusement and instruction to the public."ec a great

THE FIRST TRAIN OF CARRIAGES, with loco-
motive and tender, passed over Hungerford-bridge this
afternoon about half• past two. Of course it was merely an
experimental one.

SHOCKING AND FATAL ACCIDENT AT THE
FELTHAM STATION OF THE SOUTHWESTERN
RAILwaY.—A frightful occurrence took place last evening,
about '2O minutes past five, at the Feltham Station of the
Windsor Branch of the London and South-Western Rail-
way. It seems that one of the porters, a young man named
Dowding, had occasion to cross the lino from the down to
the up side just as the down train from London was leav-
ing the station. Being very foggy it is supposed that he
did not see the up express train from Reading, which
passes Feltham without stopping at 5.15 p.m. He aunfortunately knocked down by the engine :he
body being
ap-
proaching train and killed on the spot,
the
eace removea
frightfully crushed. The remains were
of the poor
to the Railway Inn, near 014 station,
the unfortunate man now lies.
iaThe.sea married man,
fellow was completely smashed. W_„9, is lying ill at
and had two children. His wile, we hell"
Feltham. siviha,te,rde the body of
SOPIIIE ARNOULD'S
oak had been devoured
Hearing one day that a cap,nocalli'd
Sophie, compassionately,
by wolves, " Poor beastse,a' thing r,
ConiarroAL COMPASSION.—
~ay,on's
"hunger must be
" Queens of 'Song." _
AMERICAN NOVELS are :—" Broken
THE NEW r radine ;or the Martindale Pastoral,"
Columns,"
"Orheetsee bro ; " The Castle's Heir," a Novel in
a dr
by Caroline
Real Life, by Mrs. Henry Wood ; and "The Old Rennet,"
by the Author of "'Tie Wide Wide World,",

SECOND EDITION.

SUN OFFICE, HALF-PAST 4 o'CLocZ

THE POLISH INSURRECTION,

CRACOW, Nov. 30.—The Polish leader Bosak
attacked the town of Opatow, in Radom,
two days back, driving out the Russians and
seizing 6,000 roubles which were in the public
Trtasury. The Dziennik„ in referring to the nume-
rous banisments to Siberia w ithout trial, represents
them as measures of precaution.