“But if they do not exist, how can you explain the accident to the Scotia?”
“Perhaps—” began Ned.
“Well, go on.”
“Because it is not true,” replied the Canadian, imitating unconsciously a celebrated reply of Arago.
But this reply only proved the harpooner’s obstinacy—nothing more. I said no more upon that occasion. The accident to the Scotia was undeniable. The hole existed, and it had to be stopped up, and I do not think that the existence of any hole could be more conclusively demonstrated. Now as the hole did not get there of its own accord, and since it had not been produced by rocks or submarine engines, it must have been caused by some animal.
Now, according to my view, and for reasons already given, this animal belonged to the vertebrate branch, class mammalia, group pisciform, and to the order of cetacea. It was of the whale family (or of the cachalots or dolphins), its genus and species was a matter for later decision. To decide this it must be dissected; to dissect it, it must first be caught; to catch it we must have the harpooner—that was Ned Land’s business; the harpooner must see it, which was the ship’s affair; and to see it, it must first be in sight, which was a matter of chance!
