in a small Museum at Margate, and, we think, two others in the Museum in
the _Jardin des Plantes_, at Paris. They resemble a bunch or knot of
dark brown small rope or cord.

There is a popular idea among the Norwegians, that this animal is the
young of the famous Kraken, of which Pontoppidan has related so many
wonders.[5] This monster, it will be recollected, is supposed to live in
the depths of the sea, rising occasionally, to the great danger of the
ships with which it comes in contact, at which times the projection of
its back above the surface of the sea, resembles a floating island.

[5] Nat. Hist. Norway.

Blumenbach has some sensible observations on this subject. When all that
has been said about it is carefully examined, it is clear that various
circumstances have given rise to the misconception. Much of it is
applicable to the whale;[6] much is referable to thick, low, fog-banks,
which even experienced seamen have mistaken for land,[7] an opinion
coinciding with what has been said of this same Kraken, by a Latin
author of considerable antiquity.

[6] See, for instance, the narrative of an accident from the
rising of such an animal, in W. Tench's "Account of the
Settlement at Port Jackson."

[7] See a remarkable instance in _Voyage de la Perouse autour du
Monde_, vol. iii. p. 10.

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