Into the Frozen South

by J. W. S. Marr

Mr. J. Lister.

On the Way: The Quest in the Trades.

Photo: Topical.

THE SHIP’S PETS.
Query, the Wolfhound. Questie, the Cat, on Marr’s Shoulder.

Query and the cat betrayed curiosity mingled with awe of our catch. Especially the cat: it completely failed to understand the queer body with its piglike snout and its scaleless skin; and when, by way of hardening it to the realities of the sea, the cat was thrown on the porpoise’s back, you would have thought it had landed on india-rubber, so actively did it bounce into the air from the unpleasing contact.

But after a bit of skylarking, the porpoise was taken into stock: the best parts of the flesh, cut into steaks, were handed over to the cook, together with the brains and tongue; the tail was cut off to be used as a trophy of our prowess, and the rest of the carcass was returned to the sea.