The Scotia had not struck, but she had been struck, and seemingly by something rather sharp and penetrating than blunt. As to classing it in the list of fables, the idea was out of the question. And that it did exist was an undeniable fact and, with that tendency which disposes the human mind in favour of the marvellous, we can understand the excitement produced in the entire world by this supernatural apparition. Taking into consideration the mean of observations made at divers times- rejecting the timid estimate of those who assigned to this object a length of two hundred feet, equally with the exaggerated opinions which set it down as a mile in width and three in length-we might fairly conclude that this mysterious being surpassed greatly all dimensions admitted by the learned ones of the day, if it existed at all. If it was a whale, it surpassed in size all those hitherto classified in science. The facts relating to this apparition (entered in various log-books) agreed in most respects as to the shape of the object or creature in question, the untiring rapidity of its movements, its surprising power of locomotion, and the peculiar life with which it seemed endowed. It had been so much talked of, even through the Atlantic cable, that jesters pretended that this slender fly had stopped a telegram on its passage and was making the most of it. It seemed as if this unicorn knew of the plots weaving around it. For two months no one heard it spoken of. The arsenals were opened to Commander Farragut, who hastened the arming of his frigate but, as it always happens, the moment it was decided to pursue the monster, the monster did not appear.
A frigate of great speed, the Abraham Lincoln, was put in commission as soon as possible. The United States were the first in the field and in New York they made preparations for an expedition destined to pursue this narwhal. The Shipping and Mercantile Gazette, the Lloyd's List, the Packet-Boat, and the Maritime and Colonial Review, all papers devoted to insurance companies which threatened to raise their rates of premium, were unanimous on this point. The industrial and commercial papers treated the question chiefly from this point of view.