Chapter II: “Gloucester, August 28, 1817.” (5)

It is evident that many reports of great sea-serpents have been published here and there, especially in Norwegian and North-American newspapers, which I have had no opportunity to consult, and which probably will never come within my reach. As we learn from Mr. FRORIEP’S _Notizen_, Vol. XL, n^o. 879, p. 328, “Mr. R. Bakewell in the latest edition of his Introduction to Geology (1833?) states: that there are descriptions of the sea-serpent, wherein it is ascertained that it “has flappers like sea-turtles”. I have not been able to consult Mr. BAKEWELL’S work, but I insert this statement here, because we shall observe afterwards more than once this comparison of the flappers with analogous members of turtles.

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=100=.--1834, Summer.--In Captain SHIBBLES’ report (n^o. 101) a passage runs as follows:

“One of the crew told us that his appearance and motion are precisely like that he saw last summer while in the bay” (of Gloucester) “which was said to be a sea-serpent.”

Though no particulars are mentioned, I am convinced that the appearance took place.

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=101=.--1835, March or April.--(_Amer. Journ. Sc. Arts_ Vol. 28, 1835, July.--)

“Captain Shibbles, of the brig Mangehan, of Thomastown, from Boston, for New-Orleans, which arrived here (Gloucester, Mass., March or April, 1835) on Saturday last, states that he saw when about nine or ten miles from Race Point light, what he, as well as the whole crew, supposed to be a sea-serpent,--he could distinctly see it with the naked eye, but to be certain, he took his glass and saw his eyes, neck and head, which was about as large as a barrel--the neck had something that looked like a mane upon the top of it; several times he raised his head seven or eight feet above the water, and for thirty or forty minutes he swam backward and forward with great swiftness. There were two other vessels near, the crews of which were in the rigging looking at the same object. Capt. S. states that it was very long, and that his head, neck and tail and his motion in the water, was exactly like those of a snake; every time he put his head out of water, he made a noise similar to that of steam escaping from the boiler of a steam-boat..... The Captain and crew attest to the correctness of this statement.”

As to the swimming backward and forward, I think that Captain SHIBBLES meant that the animal swam to and fro, and that he used these expressions in reference to the direction of the brig.

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=102=.--1836?--Mr. HEINRICH RATHKE published in the _Archiv für Naturgeschichte_ the following evidence, which he noted down when being in Christiansund in Norway:

“The _Sorenskriver_ Gaeschke (a kind of judge of the same rank as the German country-judges, or the British sheriffs) gave me the following evidence: I saw the sea-serpent for a considerable time in a small fjord, first from a boat, afterwards from the beach, and from there during several minutes, at a distance of from thirty to thirty-six feet. In the beginning it swam round the fjord at Torvig, afterwards it went towards the mouth of the fjord. I saw its head stretched considerably out of the water. I noticed as well two or three undulations of the forepart of the body. Its motion was not like that of an eel, but consisted in vertical undulations. They were so strong, that they caused rather large waves; they were largest at the forepart of the animal and gradually lessened towards the back. The traces of them I discerned in a length of eight to ten fathoms, and in a breadth of two or three fathoms. The head, apparently blunt in front, had the size and nearly also the shape of an anker (ten-gallon cask) and the visible coils of the body were round and their thickness was that of a good timber-stock (twelve to fourteen inches square). I could not judge the entire length of the animal, as I could not discern the animal’s hindpart. The colour of the animal seemed to me to be a very dark grey one. What I believed to be the eyes, had according to my estimation the size of the outlines of a tea-cup (3¹⁄₂ inches). At the back of the head there was a mane, which had the same colour as the rest of the body.”

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=103=.--1837, end of July.--(FRORIEP’S _Neue Notizen_, Vol. IV, n^o. 67, p. 7, October, 1837).

“About the much mentioned Sea-Serpent the Drontheim Newspaper contains, as is ascertained, from an enlightened and trustworthy gentleman, the following statement: “Uncommonly early in this Summer our coasts and fjords were blessed with a mass of fat herrings, of which till to-day very few were cleaned and pickled, because the uncommon greasiness of the herrings made it difficult to preserve them in the warm air, which, however, was so beneficient to agriculture. Since the beginning of the dog-days the sea-serpent appeared on different spots in this country; one of these sea-monsters seems to have constantly remained near Storfosen and the Krovaag Isles; several fishermen were terrified in the highest degree, when the sea-serpent suddenly came down so near to them, that they had no time to think, to which side they should fly. It is true this terrible visitor properly has not made an attack, but it has followed the boat for a long distance, when one has tried to fly in a great hurry, so that the men overworked themselves, and some of the runaways fell ill afterwards. It is ascertained by quite trustworthy persons, that the length of the sea-serpent may be estimated from 600 to 800 ells, or perhaps still more, because if one was near its head, the other end of the sea-animal was not to be discerned distinctly. The sea-serpent is thickest just behind the head, apparently as thick as a large horse; its black and dark eyes are as large as an ordinary plate, without being glossy or very movable; the skin is smooth and of a dark colour; on the nose there are thick hairs, as on a seal’s, two or three quarters of an ell long, also on the neck there is something movable, which resembles the mane of a horse; the mouth, as far as the writer knows, has not been seen distinctly, and it is quite uncertain whether the animal is a beast of prey or not. Rarely does the sea-serpent appear but in calm weather; its motions and shape are serpentine. These observations are distinctly made in these days, amongst others by a trustworthy and intelligent gentleman, who with his two sons had reached a small islet, where the sea-serpent, after having followed their boat, passed closely and slowly.”

Those who made the statement that when they were near the head, the tail could not be discerned distinctly, of course, spoke the truth, for the tail is very seldom above water, but they who afterwards thereby imagined that the animal therefore must have a length of from 600 to 800 ells, exaggerated in a most ridiculous manner. Again we observe that the Norwegian fishermen are in great dread of the sea-serpent, and the description of their behaviour is quite the same as told us PONTOPPIDAN a century ago. Again we read of the habit of the sea-serpent of following boats, but never attacking them, which may only be the effect of mere curiosity. The description, moreover, given by the not mentioned trustworthy and intelligent observer is quite correct. All the characters given by him are already known to us, and where he states that the eyes are not glossy, apparently in contradiction with former statements, it is natural that in a certain direction and in certain moments they need not give the impression of being so. Remarkable is the statement of the animal having bristles on its upper-lips, as in seals.

In Dr. HAMILTON’S _Amphibious Carnivora_, 1839, we read:

“The most recent account of this monster we have noticed, appeared in the public Newspapers of Drontheim, in the autumn of 1837, and we confess we cannot regard it as a sheer fabrication”.

And he further cites the above mentioned report and tells us that it was the _Adis_ of Drontheim which contained those particulars. The Krovaag Islands are called by Dr. HAMILTON the Kerchvang Islands, and strange enough, the very interesting particulars about the skin, the eyes and the bristles on the upper lips near the nose are omitted.

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=104=.--1838?--The reader will soon be made acquainted with the well known report of Captain M’QUHAE, of the _Daedalus_. As the report was published in the newspapers of Oct., 1848, Captain BEECHY, of the _Blossom_, “one of the most scientific officers and ablest naval surveyors”, wrote a letter to Mr. FRANCIS BEAUFORT, F. R. S., Admiralty Hydrographer. An extract from this letter appeared in the _Illustrated London News_ of Oct. 28, 1848, and runs as follows:

“What an extraordinary creature the Daedalus seems to have fallen in with! The description recalls to my mind an extraordinary appearance we witnessed in the _Blossom_, in crossing the South Atlantic: I took it for the trunk of a large tree, and before I could get my glass upon deck it had disappeared, and I could nowhere find it--fresh breezes at the time.”

As Captain BEECHY writes “recalls to my mind”, the “extraordinary appearance” must have taken place some time ago, say ten years; so I have chosen the year 1838, as the year in which it happened. If I may ever get the opportunity to learn the exact year or date, I shall be glad to correct my supposition in an eventual second edition. But for the present I am sure that the “trunk of a large tree” which had so suddenly disappeared, really was a sea-serpent.

* * * * *

Repeatedly we have already quoted Dr. HAMILTON’S work about the _Amphibious Carnivora_, which appeared in the year 1839. The writer sums up numerous reports and accounts, which he cited from other works, or from which he gave only short extracts. One would say that Dr. HAMILTON is an unbeliever, for he ends his chapter on this animal with the words:

“With these extracts, and without farther comment, we close our account of the Great Sea-Serpent, only remarking, that till favouring circumstances bring the animal under the examination of Naturalists, the satisfaction, which is desiderated respecting it, is scarcely to be expected.”

I only ask, what then was the reason that he spoke of it, and that he published these extracts in a book, which properly treated of Amphibious Carnivora or the Pinnipeds (seals, walrusses, sea-lions and sea-bears)? May it be, that he observed any relation between them and the sea-serpent? I cannot believe it, for after the sea-serpent he treats of the Kraken in the same volume. And why did he end in such a vague way? May it be, because he could not give an explanation, or because he hesitated to show the public that he was really a believer?

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=105=.--1839, August?--According to FRORIEP’S _Neue Notizen_, vol. XII, n^o. 248, of Oct., 1839, the _Boston Mercantile_ mentions that Mr. BUBIER, Lieutenant of the U. S. Navy affirms to have seen the sea-serpent on his way from Daims Island to Nahant, near Boston, and estimated its length at 120 to 135 feet.

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=106=.--1839.--In the same periodical on the same page we read that Captain SMITH who had been a long time in the whale fishery, asserts in the _Kennebek Journal_, that he never before saw such a creature, and that if he had had a harpoon and lines on board, he would have harpooned it.

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=106=, =A=.--1840, April 21.--(_Journal du Havre_, 1840, Sept. 15, _Zoologist_, 1847, p. 1716).--As I have not had the opportunity to consult the first paper, I give the account as I have found it in the _Zoologist_.

“A French captain has just related to us a remarkable circumstance, which he has himself witnessed, and his recital exhibits a degree of cautious reserve, which is well calculated to shake the obstinacy of the most sceptical. We shall preface his narrative by the remark that the sea serpent has been recently alleged to have been seen at different points along the whole line of the American coast. Captain d’Abnour, commander of the Ville de Rochefort, makes the following statements:

“On the 21st. of April, 1840, while we were in 24 deg. 13 min. N. latitude, and 89 deg. 52 min. W. longitude (calculated from the meridian of Paris), in the gulf of Mexico, we were running under a light breeze from E. N. E. with beautiful weather. In a few hours we distinguished something like a long chain of rocks, falling off by a gentle inclination at the two extremities, and elevated at the middle by only a few feet over the level of the sea. Against this object the sea broke softly. As we approached we remarked that its different parts changed their position, and even their form, and we became perfectly certain that it was not a reef. A little later, we distinguished by the assistance of a telescope a long chain of enormous rings, resembling a number of barrels linked together, and in form very like the back of a silk worm. It was a three quarter view of the object which we had first obtained. As the ship approached, these appearances became more distinct, and we presently saw the extremity of an enormous tail, longitudinally divided into two sections, white and black. This tail appeared to wind itself up, and repose on a part of the object itself. Then, at the other extremity, we saw a membrane rising to the height of about two _metres_ from the water, and inclining itself at a considerable angle upon the mass (without leaving it, however); and this led me to conjecture that the monster before us was provided with an apparatus for the purpose of respiration, like the lampreys. At last we perceived something like an _antenna_ rising from the water, to the great height of nearly eight _metres_, terminated by a crescent of at least five _metres_ from one extremity to the other. We could not approach sufficiently near to acquire any very positive idea as to what we had seen; but everything led us to believe that it was an enormous serpent of at least 100 _metres_ in length.”

Although the editors of the _Journal du Havre_ believed that Captain D’ABNOUR by his “exhibiting a degree of cautious reserve would shake the obstinacy of the most sceptical”, I think that on the contrary his narrative has had quite another effect. Every sceptic, I think, will smile or even laugh when he reads this report, for who can help laughing when he reads of a “membrane which led me to conjecture that the monster before us was provided with an apparatus for the purpose of respiration, like the lampreys”, and of an “antenna of eight metres, terminated by a crescent of at least five metres from one extremity to the other.” We find here several limbs enumerated, and mentioned by the names of the corresponding limbs of different classes of the animal kingdom. A “membrane” in my opinion is a thin and transparent or nearly transparent planely extended object. If what the captain saw was one, I don’t know what it could be. If not, if untransparent, how could they see from such a great distance, that it was thin; what reason was there to call it a “membrane”?

I am convinced that Captain d’ABNOUR really saw a sea-serpent. The animal lay extended on the surface of the water, nearly still, showing numerous bunches; head and tail being under water and invisible. Quite the same thing was afterwards witnessed by Captain WEISZ, of the _Kätie_ (n°. 154, fig. 50). We know that sea-serpents lying still may show coils or bunches or hillocks. It resembled “a long chain of rocks, falling off by a gentle inclination at the two extremities, and elevated at the middle by only a few feet over the level of the sea”. The sea broke gently against it. As they approached, the animal seen through a telescope had the appearance of “a long chain of numerous rings, resembling a number of barrels linked together”. We remember that this comparison has often been made by different witnesses. The other comparison of the captain, viz.: “in form very like the back of a silk worm” is also tolerably well chosen. “As the ship approached, these appearances became more distinct” and the sea-serpent raised in a playful manner “its enormous tail, longitudinally divided into two sections, white and black”. We know that the animal’s head and neck are longitudinally divided into two sections, dark brown or nearly black above, and white beneath. It is, therefore, probable that also the trunk has a dark back and a light coloured belly. The supposition of this division of colours had already been made by Mr. MATTHEW GAFFNEY (n^o. 41, p. 169). It is, therefore, very remarkable that Captain d’ABNOUR really saw that the tail too is coloured black above and white beneath! The animal curled its tail and let it for a moment “repose on a part of” its body. Then, “at the other extremity” the animal elevated its foreflapper to the height of about two metres (six feet) from the water. The flapper “inclined itself at a considerable angle upon the” body, consequently the animal made the same movement with its foreflapper as the individual afterwards witnessed by Captain WEISZ (n^o. 154, fig. 50). At last a tail of a spermwhale or of a finwhale elevated above the water, “an antenna terminating in a crescent” “to the height of nearly eight metres” (about 25 feet), which tail of course has nothing at all to do with the sea-serpent. Captain d’ABNOUR says: that it rose “from the water” and he says nothing as to its relative position to the animal, nor whether it was close to or far from it. The length of at least 100 metres (about 320 feet) is at all events exaggerated. Evidently head and neck remained constantly under the water.

The above mentioned account, translated into German, is in FRORIEP’S _Notizen_, _Third Series_, Vol. III, n^o. 54, p. 148, 1847.

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=106 B=.--1840, June?--In the _Journal du Havre_, of 15th September, 1840, (see _Zoologist_, 1847, p. 1716,) we read:

“Not long since the _Boston Daily Advertiser_ announced a new appearance of this marine monster, about whose existence the world is so naturally incredulous.”

I do not think that I am wrong in fixing this appearance in the month of June of that year.

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=107=.--1840, July?--In his Postscript Mr. RATHKE (_Archiv für Naturgeschichte_, 1841, Vol. I) says:

“According to a letter addressed to me by Dr. Hoffmann, a respectable physician in Molde, which is situated several miles south of Christiansund on one of the largest fjords, the school-inspector HAMMER, the adjunct KRAFT, and some other persons, who in 1840 made together an excursion in a boat on this fjord, saw very distinctly a so-called sea-serpent of considerable length.”

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=107 A=.--1840, August?--The Editor of the _Journal du Havre_ before publishing Capt. D’ABNOUR’S report (n^o. 106 A) says, (see _Zoologist_, 1847, p. 1715):

“We shall preface his narrative by the remark, that the sea-serpent has been recently alleged to have been seen, at different points along the whole line of the American coast.”

The Editor would have done better if he had published all the reports of the sea-serpent, that had come within his reach. The reader must know that with the terms “the whole line of the American coast” the Editor can only have meant the east coast of British America and of the United States, from Newfoundland to Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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=108=.--1841.--In a Postscript to his paper (_Archiv für Naturgeschichte_, 1841, Vol. I) Mr. RATHKE tells us:

“According to a letter which I received some time ago from Mr. Soern Knutszon, a sea-serpent is again seen there some weeks after I had left Christiansund, by several persons.”

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The well known Mr. HEINRICH RATHKE in 1841 published in the _Archiv für Naturgeschichte_, 7th year, Vol. I, his dissertation “On the Sea-Serpent of the Norwegians”. I am obliged to give a translation of his paper:

“On a journey which I made through Norway I availed myself of the opportunity of making inquiries after a hitherto problematical and even doubted animal, the so-called sea-serpent (Soe Orm in the language of the Norwegians). The most favourable opportunity offered in Christiansund, in the neighbourhood of which this animal is said to have often been observed. The general notices which I received about the sea-serpent, agree in the following points: It is mostly seen in the larger fjords of Norway, but seldom in the open sea. In the fjord of Christiansund, which has such a considerable extent, manifold ramifications, and in which numerous islets are found, it appears almost every year. It is said to have been especially observed in that part of the fjord on which the village of Lorvig is situated. This only happens in the warmest part of the year, viz. in the dog days, and only then when the weather is quite still and the surface of the water smooth. When after its appearance the water is ruffled, however slightly, it immediately disappears. Great is the dread of it, so that in the dog days many fishermen, otherwise intrepid, don’t go far into the sea, without taking with them asa foetida, which is said to drive away the animal by its smell, when thrown into the water. Moreover the fishermen advise to be very quiet, when a sea-serpent approaches, and therefore rowing must be avoided, because the least noise attracts it still more.”

“To have, however, more accounts than those general ones which are spread amongst the people, I wrote to several persons who were said to have seen it with their own eyes. Some of them who at the request of SOEREN and WILHELM KNUDTSZON Brothers, two distinguished and very intelligent merchants, paid me a visit, I questioned personally; for others I had put down several questions to which I received a written answer. I will communicate here the result of my inquiry.”

Now Mr. RATHKE publishes the affidavits which I have inserted above (n^o. 90, 91, 92, 94, 95, 102), and his Postscript (see n^o. 107 and 108).

“If one” Mr. RATHKE goes on, “were to submit the above mentioned evidences to an inquiry, one would soon observe, that they not only contain several contradictory statements, but also that each evidence by itself cannot pretend to accuracy. Yet I believe, that we may at least admit so much of them, to be right, that what those persons who bear the evidences, took for a long animal, was really such a one. For I should not know, what could be the cause of the illusion, which had created the belief in such an animal. Some persons, as I know, believe that what has been taken for a so-called sea-serpent, was nothing else but a row of porpoises, swimming in a line. But all those persons by whom the above mentioned evidences are borne were too familiar with the sea, and had observed porpoises together too often to be deceived by a row of such animals swimming on the surface of the water. If this, however, had been the case, all the observations related to me of the sea-serpent holding its head above the surface, and about its size, must have been mere fictions, and this I cannot believe. According to all this, it evidently cannot be doubted that there is a long serpentine animal in the sea of Norway, which may grow to a considerable length.”

Now Mr. RATHKE weighs and considers to what kind of animals the sea-serpent may belong. This, however, we omit here, as we have partly discussed these views in our Chapter on Would-be Sea-Serpents, where we spoke of the Animal of Stronsa, and as we shall once more refer to it in our Chapter of Explanations.

Every one, I think, will agree with me, that Mr. RATHKE has committed two faults. 1. He criticises the correctness of the statements in question, apparently without having taken the trouble to read all that had been written about the subject. If he had done so, he would never have said that the particulars of the evidences collected by him in Norway were sometimes contradictory; on the contrary, he would have observed that they completed one another! 2. He was the first scientific man and zoologist who had an opportunity to see the sea-serpent, probably even to kill it, and yet he returns to Germany without having made one single effort either to kill or to see it!

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Immediately after Mr. HEINRICH RATHKE’S dissertation, the Editor of the _Archiv für Naturgeschichte_, the well-known Prof. Dr. W. F. ERICHSON, wrote a paper, in which he gave full details of the Animal of Stronsa and descriptions of the saved bones. He ends this extract with the words:

“Consequently the Animal of Stronsa has no relation at all with the sea-serpent of the Norwegians; the animal, however, seen by the Rev. Maclean” (n^o. 31) “might be considered as such an animal.”

These words convince me of the fact that Mr. ERICHSON, like Mr. RATHKE firmly believed that there are in the Norwegian seas animals still unknown to them, which are called “sea-serpents”.

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=109=.--1842?--(_Times_, Nov. 4, 1848).--

“A parish priest residing on Romsdal fjord, about two days journey south of Drontheim, an intelligent person, whose veracity I have no reason to doubt, gave me a circumstantial account of one, which he had himself seen. It rose within 30 yards of the boat in which he was, and swam parallel with it for a considerable time. Its head he described as equalling a small cask in size, and its mouth, which it repeatedly opened and shut, was furnished with formidable teeth; its neck was smaller, but its body--of which he supposed that he saw about half on the surface of the water--was not less in girth than that of a moderate sized horse.” (Part of a letter from “OXONIENSIS”).--

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=110=.--1842?--“Another gentleman, in whose house I stayed, had also seen one, and gave a similar account of it: it also came near his boat upon the fjord, when it was fired at, upon which it turned and pursued them to the shore, which was luckily near, when it disappeared” (Also a part of the letter from OXONIENSIS, _Times_, Nov. 4, 1848).

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=111=.--1843, Summer.--In FRORIEP’S _Neue Notizen_, Vol. XXVIII, n^o. 606, p. 184, Nov. 1843, we read:

“Some months ago the sea-serpent again appeared between the islets and inlets of the fjord of Christiansund.”

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=111 A=.--1843, October?--(FRORIEP’S _Neue Notizen_, Vol. 28, n^o. 606, p. 184).

“The Editors of the _Christiansands Posten_ add the following remarks: “This whole description accurately fits on an appearance, which the writer of these lines has witnessed a few times in the North Sea, and when the inhabitants of the coast near Ibbestad, if not withheld by their fear of the supposed sea-monster, had rowed with their boats towards the animal, they would soon have observed without any doubt that the supposed intervals between the coils were nothing else but water.””

The number of the _Christiansands Posten_ was most probably one of the beginning of November or of the end of October. Consequently the appearance spoken of must have taken place some days before. At all events this is a proof of an appearance of the sea-serpent, swimming in vertical undulations, near Ibbestad, in Norway, at that time.

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=112=, =113=.--1845.--The report of Captain M’QUHAE, which we shall meet with a little further on, induced Mr. J. D. MORRIES STIRLING to write a letter on the sea-serpent to the Admiralty.

“By the courtesy” says the Editor of the _Illustrated London News_ in his number of Oct., 28, 1848, “of the Secretary to the Admiralty, we have been favoured with the following letter from a gentleman long resident in Norway.”

“13, Great Cumberland Street, October 25, 1848.”

“My dear Sir,--I regret that I have not found the volumes referred to in our conversation respecting the recent authentication of the existence of the sea-serpent by Captain M’Quhae, of H. M. frigate Daedalus, but I will give you that part of the information which I remember best. Several years ago, a museum was established at Bergen, in Norway, the directors of which have, amongst other subjects of interest, turned their study to Natural History in general, and to the elucidation of some of its more doubtful or less known subdivisions. The question of the sea-serpent’s existence had previously attracted the attention of several scientific men in Northern Europe; and my friend, the late Dr. Newmann, Bishop of Bergen--a man much and justly respected for his learning, research and energy--made it the subject of inquiry within the last twenty or twenty-five years among his clergy and those of the adjoining dioceses. The amount of proof thus collected was sufficient to convince any one, however sceptical, as it is not mere hearsay evidence, but the testimony of known and respectable persons in various walks of life. One of the most striking statements is made by some fishermen, who saw the animal quite close to them, and of whom one more hardy than the rest struck it with a boat-hook, upon which it immediately gave them chase; and, had they not been very near a small island or rock, on which they took refuge, in all probability they would have been destroyed.”

“The size of the sea-serpents seen in the Norwegian fjords varies much; and I do not now remember what the dimensions of the largest are said to be. As far as I can tax my memory, none of them lately seen are larger than that described by Capt. M’Quhae. The one seen by the fishermen above alluded to, was, I think, not above 70 feet long. I have written to my colleagues in the direction of the Bergen Museum, and as soon as their answer arrives I will give you a more full account.”

“There are I believe, several varieties of the reptile, known as the sea-serpent, but almost all the accounts agree as to the existence of a mane, and as to the great size of the eye. In several of the fossil reptiles somewhat approaching the sea-serpent in size and other characteristics, the orbit is very large; and in this respect, as well as having short paws or flappers, the descriptions of the northern sea-serpents agree with the supposed appearance of some of the antediluvian species. A great part of the disbelief in the existence of the sea-serpent has arisen from its being supposed to be the same animal as the Kraken, or rather from the names having been used indiscriminately.”

“In concluding this hurried statement, allow me to add my own testimony as to the existence of a large fish or reptile of cylindrical form. (I will not say sea-serpent.) Three years ago, while becalmed in a yacht between Bergen and Sogn in Norway, I saw (at about a quarter of a mile astern) what appeared to be a large fish ruffling the otherwise smooth surface of the fjord, and, on looking attentively, I observed what looked like the convolutions of a snake. I immediately got my glass, and distinctly made out three convolutions, which drew themselves slowly through the water. The greatest diameter was about ten or twelve inches. No head was visible; and from the size of each convolution, I supposed the length to be about thirty feet. The master of my yacht (who, as navigator, seaman, and fisherman, had known the Norwegian coast and North Sea for many years), as well as a friend who was with me, an experienced Norwegian sportsman and porpoise shooter, saw the same appearance at the same time, and formed the same opinion as to form and size. I mention my friend being a porpoise shooter, as many have believed that a shoal of porpoises following each other has given rise to the fable, as they called it, of the sea-serpent.”

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=114=.--1845 or 1846, Summer.--(Copied in the _Illustrated London News_ of June, 13, 1857, from the _Cape Argus_ of March, 14, 1857).

“Sir,--I inclose a letter addressed to me by a friend Dr. Biccard (with a drawing) containing an interesting account of the sea-serpent seen by him and others off the old lighthouse at the entrance of Table Bay on the 16th. of last month. It savours not a little of presumption to maintain that such a marine monster does exist, in the face of the deliberately recorded opinion of the greatest living Zoologist, Professor Owen, yet I venture to do so upon the simple testimony of my own eyes. In the year 1845, or 6, Mr. G. D. Brunette (of St. George’s-street, the conveyancer) and myself were fishing at Camp’s Bay one bright, clear summer day. There was not a breath of air, and the water was as smooth as the surface of a pond. About midday we were leaving the rocks to proceed to the marine villa, when Mr. Brunette suddenly directed my attention to what he at first thought was a whale. A moment’s inspection was sufficient, however, to detect the real nature of the animal. At about a mile from the shore we saw a line of shining black objects, like a string of large casks, floating on the surface of the water, lying parallel with the shore. It kept gently bobbing up and down, and on one occasion we saw the whole length for a few seconds above the water. Judging from the size of an Indiaman, 1000 tons, at a similar distance, I should say the animal’s length was from 150 to 200 feet. Of its girth I can form no estimate; but, from the show it made at so great a distance, it must have been at least three feet above the level of the sea. Nor could we distinguish head from tail, though near one extremity we saw what looked like foam or froth, as though the animal was blowing water in a lateral direction. It seemed to be basking in the warm sun, with no other motion than that I have described, or dipping under occasionally. After watching it for about a quarter of an hour we started for the villa, for the purpose of borrowing a telescope, but we had scarcely walked ten yards when we observed the animal turn slowly round and then made off in a straight line to seawards, towards the N.W. It moved at a rapid rate; so much so that when we got to the house and procured the glass it had reached such a distance that we could not distinguish it better than we had done with our naked eyes while on the rocks. The motion while moving off was undulatory, the cask like substances submerging and emerging from time to time, and glittering in the sun till we lost sight of them altogether, which was about an hour after first seeing the animal. That this animal was a sea-serpent I never had the slightest doubt; yet, knowing the general incredulity on this subject, neither Mr. Brunette nor myself cared much to boast of what we had seen, so we said nothing about it; but as Dr. Biccard has obligingly, at my request, furnished me with particulars, for general information, of the animal seen by him under such favourable circumstances, I am induced to add my own poor testimony to the many facts now on record, proving conclusively the existence of a great marine saurian or some similar animal. I would point out that a gentleman as Dr. Biccard’s well known scientific attainments is not likely to mistake a seal for a serpent; and that the six or seven individuals who witnessed the evolutions of the animal at so short a distance as 200 yards could scarcely have been misled by a piece of seaweed, or by a seal.”

“The narrative of Dr. Biccard will be read with interest, and I beg to refer those who feel any interest in it to an article on the Great Sea-Serpent in the Westminster Review for January 1849.”

“Yours, &c.,” “Chas. A. Fairbridge.”

“Cape Town, 13th. March, 1857.”

The above mentioned letter will be inserted in its right place hereafter, (n°. 130). It is clear enough that we have here an unvarnished account of an appearance of a true sea-serpent. The appearance of a line of shining black objects, like a string of large casks is a common one. Its length, estimated at upwards of 150 feet, is surely not exaggerated, as we shall observe afterwards. As the animal raised itself at least three feet above the level of the sea, its diameter may have been some fifteen feet. The animal evidently lay with its nostrils just at water-level, so that in exhaling it caused “a foam or froth, as though blowing water in a lateral direction”. I think, that the observer was a little mistaken as to the direction, which cannot have been quite a lateral one.

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=115=.--1845, July 28.--(_Zoologist_, 1847, p. 1606).

“The Rev. Mr. P. W. Deinbolt, Archdeacon of Molde, gives the following account of one, which was seen last summer near Molde. The 28th. of July, 1845, J. C. Lund, bookseller and printer; G. S. Krogh, merchant; Christian Flang, Lund’s apprentice, and John Elgenses, labourer, were out on Romsdale-fjord, fishing. The sea was, after a warm, sunshiny day, quite calm. About seven o’clock in the afternoon, at a little distance from the shore, near the ballast place and Molde Hove, they saw a long marine animal, which slowly moved itself forward, as it appeared to them, with the help of two fins, on the fore-part of the body nearest the head, which they judged by the boiling of the water on both sides of it. The visible part of the body appeared to be between forty and fifty feet in length, and moved in undulations, like a snake. The body was round and of a dark colour, and seemed to be several ells (an ell two feet) in thickness. As they discerned a waving motion in the water behind the animal, they concluded that part of the body was concealed under water. That it was one connected animal they saw plainly from its movement. When the animal was about one hundred yards from the boat, they noticed tolerably correctly its fore-part, which ended in a sharp snout; its colossal head raised itself above the water in the form of a semi-circle; the lower part was not visible. The colour of the head was dark brown and the skin smooth; they did not notice the eyes, or any mane or bristles on the throat. When the serpent came about a musket-shot near, Lund fired at it, and was certain the shots hit it in the head. After the shot it dived, but came up immediately. It raised its neck in the air, like a snake preparing to dart on his prey. After he had turned and got his body in a straight line, which he appeared to do with great difficulty, he darted like an arrow against the boat. They reached the shore, and the animal, perceiving it had come into shallow water, dived immediately and disappeared in the deep. Such is the declaration of these four men, and no one has cause to question their veracity, or imagine that they were so seized with fear that they could not observe what took place so near them. There are not many here, or on other parts of the Norwegian coast, who longer doubt the existence of the sea-serpent. The writer of this narrative was a long time sceptical, as he had not been so fortunate as to see this monster of the deep; but after the many accounts he has read, and the relations he has received from credible witnesses, he does not dare longer to doubt the existence of the sea-serpent.”

“P. W. Deinbolt.”

“Molde, 29th. Nov. 1845.”

I need scarcely observe that the eye-witnesses of this appearance were deceived as to their opinion that the “boiling of the water on both sides of the head” was caused by “two fins on the forepart of the body, nearest the head”. The two fore-flappers of the sea-serpent are situated at rather a great distance from the head. The animal has a very long neck. This assertion is proved by their own words: “it raised its neck in the air”. If there were two fins near the head, large enough to cause any boiling of water, they would have been seen then by the persons, who would have mentioned them. The so-called boiling of the water was nothing but the commonly observed rushing caused by the animal’s motion through the water.

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=117=.--1846, August 8.--(_Zoologist_, 1847, p. 1608).

“Sunds Parsonage, August 31, 1846.”

“On Saturday, the 8th. inst., in the course between the islands of Sartor Leer and Tös, a sea-monster, supposed to be a sea-serpent, was seen by several persons. Early on this day as the steamer Biörgvin passed through Rognefjord towing a vessel to Bergen, Daniel Salomonson, a cotter, saw a sea-monster, whose like he declares he never met with although accustomed to the sea and its inhabitants from his earliest years. The animal came swimming from Rognefjord in a westerly direction towards his dwelling at Grönnevigskioeset, in the northern part of the parish of Sund. The head appeared like a Foering boat (about twenty feet long) keel uppermost, and from behind it raised itself forward in three, and sometimes four and five undulations, each apparently about twelve feet long: its rate appeared to be that of a light boat rowed by four active men. When it reached Grönnevigskioeset at a distance of two rifle-shots it turned with considerable noise and continued its course towards Lundenoes. Later about eleven o’clock on the same day his wife Ingeborg, in Daniel’s absence, heard a loud noise in the sea, and she and two little children saw a great sea monster, such as described above, take a northerly course, close by their place at such a rate that the waves were dashed on the shore in the same way as when a steamer is passing by. Neither of them say that they saw anything like eyes or fins, or indeed anything projecting from its round form, but they declare that the colour of the animal was dark brown, and that it often rose up with gentle undulations, sometimes, however, sinking below the surface so that merely a stripe indicated the rapid course of the gigantic body.--On the same morning a lad, by name Abraham Abrahamsen Hagenoes, was out fishing in the Rognefjord, not far from Lundenoes, and just ready to throw out his line, when he, as he asserts, became aware that on about one hundred fathoms a monster with a head as large as a Foering boat (about twenty feet long) and a long body lay upon the sea like large kegs and was nearing his boat: seized with a panic he exerted all his strength to reach the shore, and as the animal, apparently following him, was only about forty fathoms off, he leaped ashore, drew up the boat and ran up the bank, whence he viewed the monster which had by this time approached the shore within twenty fathoms. He says that that part of the body which was visible was about sixty feet in length, and that its undulating course was similar to the eel: that the colour of the back was blackish, shining strongly, and as far as he could distinguish there was a whitish stripe under the belly.”

“Report also says that the sea-serpent was seen by several persons in Biornfjord causing a great deal of dread, but of this our informants want authentic accounts. Our informant further says that he has no reason whatever to doubt the truth of the story of the man and his wife, or the truthworthiness of the lad Abraham, except as far as that his fears may have caused him to see several things through a magnifying glass.”

I am convinced that by a head as large as a Foering boat (about twenty feet long) must be meant the head and a great part of the neck. The other characters are mere repetitions of what we have so often observed. Very interesting again is the statement of the lad that the animal had a white stripe “under the belly”. As the lad cannot have seen the proper belly of the animal, it must have been the throat; the boy thought that he saw a snake, and I think that he, being questioned, would tell me that a snake has a head, a trunk and a tail, and hardly any neck and throat. I am also convinced, that the boy has not seen with a magnifying glass: the measurements, he gives, are not exaggerated.

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In 1847, Mr. EDWARD NEWMANN, the Editor of the _Zoologist_ had the courage to open the columns of his Journal to all kinds of reports and discussions about the great sea-serpent. He says (p. 1604):

“It has been the fashion for so many years to deride all records of this very celebrated monster, that it is not without hesitation I venture to quote the following paragraphs in his defence. A month only has elapsed since I had occasion to quote with approbation, a very marked passage from the pen of Sir J. W. Hershell (Zool. 1586): I may apply it with equal propriety to the enquiry of the era of the Irish deer, or of the existence of the Great Sea-Serpent. Naturalists, or rather those who choose thus to designate themselves, set up an authority above that of fact and observation, the gist of their enquiries is whether such things _ought to be_, and whether such things _ought not to be_; now fact-naturalists take a different road to knowledge, they enquire whether such things _are_ and whether such things _are not_. The _Zoologist_, if not in itself the fountain-head of this _fact_ movement, may at least claim to be the only public advocate of that movement; and it is therefore most desirable, that it should call the attention of its readers to the following remarkable paragraphs. They are quoted from one of our daily papers, which gives them as literal translations from the Norse papers, in which they originally appeared; the localities mentioned are intimately known to all travellers in Norway; and the witnesses are generally highly respectable and of unimpeachable veracity. The very discrepancies in the accounts prove the entire absence of any preconcerted scheme of deception. The only question therefore for the fact-naturalists to decide, is simply, whether all of the records now collected, can refer to whales, fishes, or any other marine animals with which we are at present acquainted.”

I have no reason to doubt Mr. NEWMAN’s veracity, and so I am willing to believe that the five reports which follow this introduction “are quoted from one of” the British “daily papers, which gives them as literal translations from the Norse papers, in which they originally appeared”. I only ask why Mr. NEWMANN did not mention the daily paper? For the assertion of this daily paper that they are “literal translations from _Norse_ papers in which they originally appeared” is at all events a fabrication, as the reports which Mr. NEWMAN published here are the evidences which Mr. HEINRICH RATHKE took, when on a journey in Norway, near Christiansund, apparently in the year 1840, and which he published in the _Archiv für Naturgeschichte_ of 1841, six years later! I have inserted them above (n°. 90, 91, 92, 94, 95, 102). As to the “discrepancies in the accounts” I have already showed that there are, in fact, hardly any discrepancies, but that the accounts complete one another. I must also observe here that the accounts are not translated _literally_. Many, and among them very interesting passages, are omitted. The reader, who will convince himself of the truth of my assertion, has only to compare the accounts, as they are inserted in the _Zoologist_ with my translations of the German originals, or with the originals themselves.

Mr. GOSSE, too, in his _Romance of Natural History_, 1860, writes: “The public papers of Norway, during the summer of 1846, were occupied with statements of the following effect”, and he too publishes extracts from the evidences printed in the _Archiv für Naturgeschichte_ of 1841!

Also Mr. LEE, in his _Sea-Monsters Unmasked_, 1883, says: “In 1847 there appeared in a London daily paper a long account translated from the Norse journals of fresh appearances of the sea-serpent.”

And Mr. JOHN ASHTON in his _Curious Creatures in Zoology_, 1889, asserts: “In 1847 a sea-serpent was seen frequently in the neighbourhood of Christiansund and Molde, by many persons, and by one Lars Johnöen, fisherman at Smölen, especially.”

All these writers have copied Mr. NEWMAN, and have therefore quite overlooked the fact that the originals were in the _Archiv für Naturgeschichte_ of 1841, and that the appearances took place long before the year 1847!

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The last number of the _Zoologist_ for 1847 appeared in October of that year. The reader must know that the matter of this journal is arranged according to the class of the animals, treated of in each article. This I must mention for the better understanding of the following passage which Mr. NEWMAN wrote in his preface to the above mentioned volume of the _Zoologist_.

“In Reptiles, the communications and quotations about “the Sea-Serpent” are well worthy of attentive perusal: it is impossible to suppose all the records bearing this title to be fabricated for the purpose of deception. A natural phenomenon of some kind has been witnessed: let us seek a satisfactory solution rather than terminate enquiry by the shafts of ridicule. The grave and learned have often avowed a belief that toads can exist some thousands of years without food, light or air, and immured in solid stone: surely it is not requiring too much to solicit a suspension of judgment on the question whether a monster may exist in the sea which does not adorn our collections.”

Mr. NEWMAN, viz. believed that the sea-serpent belonged to the class of Reptiles. The “communications and quotations” spoken of here, have already been inserted above (n°. 25, 90, 91, 92, 94, 95, 97, 102, 106 A, 115, 116, 117.).

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=118=.--1848, August 6.--No report of the sea-serpent has ever more shaken the incredulity of hundreds and thousands than that generally known as the account of the _Daedalus_, after the frigate from which the sea-serpent was seen.

The _Times_ newspaper of October, 9, 1848, published the following paragraph:

“Intelligence from Plymouth, dated 7 Oct.”

“When the _Daedalus_ frigate, Captain M’Quhae, which arrived at Plymouth on the 4th. instant, was on her passage home from the East Indies, between the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena, her captain, and most of her officers and crew, at four o’clock one afternoon, saw a sea-serpent. The creature was twenty minutes in sight of the frigate, and passed under her quarter. Its head appeared to be about four feet out of the water, and there was about sixty feet of its body in a straight line on the surface. It is calculated that there must have been under water a length of thirty-three or forty feet more, by which it propelled itself at the rate of fifteen miles an hour. The diameter of the exposed part of the body was about sixteen inches; and when it extended its jaws, which were full of large jagged teeth, they seemed sufficiently capacious to admit of a tall man standing upright between them”.

The Admiralty instantly inquired into the truth of the statement, and in the _Times_ of the 13th. the gallant captain’s official reply was published in the following terms:

“Her Majesty’s Ship Daedalus,

Hamoaze, _Oct. 11_.”

“Sir,--In reply to your letter of this date, requiring information as to the truth of a statement published in _The Times_ newspaper, of a sea-serpent of extraordinary dimensions having been seen from Her Majesty’s ship _Daedalus_, under my command, on her passage from the East Indies, I have the honour to acquaint you, for the information of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that at five o’clock P. M., on the 6th. of August last, in latitude 24° 44′ S., and longitude 9° 22′ E., the weather dark and cloudy, wind fresh from the N. W., with a long ocean swell from the S. W., the ship on the port tack heading N. E. by N., something very unusual was seen by Mr. Sartoris, midshipman, rapidly approaching the ship from before the beam. The circumstance was immediately reported by him to the officer of the watch, Lieutenant Edgar Drummond, with whom and Mr. William Barrett, the master, I was at the time walking the quarterdeck. The ship’s company were at supper.”