Part 130

“My impression was that, setting aside the quiescent low head, I did not see a solid substance at all,--except when the tail hummocks momentarily appeared--and that what I did see was water being thrown over laterally by the undulous lashings of a long back fin of a dark colour, which gave opacity”.

“I cannot set the “hummocks” down to surge waves of a rushing short fish; because I cannot so explain such surges being always the same both in number and in place: nor can I so explain the appearance of an apparently solid head--and an apparently continuous tail”.

“The above is all from memory”.

The following is the

“Relation regarding a Phenomenon seen by the crew and Owner and guests of the yacht Shiantelle on the W. coast of Scotland on 30th. July 1887 as told by J. A. HARVIE BROWN, and seen by him, and written in his Journals of that date”.

“At 10″ to 15″ to 10 am. I was called quickly on deck by Cowell, and I went up from breakfast. “What is that”? said Cowell. After some time I saw between me and the shore to the E., which shore was about one mile distant, undulations upon almost calm water (The ship was moving at the rate of about half a knot an hour) being similar in appearance, and having the motions of the (described and supposed) Sea-Serpent. I counted with the binoculars twelve or perhaps thirteen humps at almost perfectly regular distances the one from the others. The first of these humps appeared to be moving rapidly through the water across the line of vision, and to be breaking and spraying water, and the other eleven or twelve (I had only time to count them once) maintained all their relative positions with one another and collectively with the first, yet did not appear in themselves to me to move, though slight ripples of water were visible, nearly throughout the whole length. The whole disappeared and reappeared at least four times to me, apparently simultaneously or almost so throughout its length. When last it was seen, it was moving on a course almost parallel with the shore, which shore runs N. E. or thereby. The distance from the ship at which time I first saw it, and from that time to its final disappearance was estimated by me at about half a mile by eye (but this may have been an over-estimate of distance)”.

“John Campbell, seaman, and mate on board the yacht, standing at the helm, deposes in a seperate document--drawn up and written by R. L. Cowell, Steward, from his oral statement--which seperate statement, was at once closed, without being read by either Dr. Heddle or myself, and still remains so”.

“R. L. Cowell, Steward, who was on deck at the same time as John Campbell (having laid and served our breakfast) deposes in similar manner in a seperate statement, also closed and not read by Dr. Heddle and myself”.

“But John Campbell on being examined by us deposes on cross-examination that:--While we were at breakfast in the Saloon, he saw approaching from the direction of Corrie Chreachan a series of large undulations which passed “within 40 yards” then “within 30 yards” and again “within the length of the ship” (which is 56 feet) from the stern of the vessel, and travelling at a great pace; that he saw nothing above the surface of the water except broken water in front of the first or foremost undulation. That except this, he saw nothing but the perpendicular swellings (vertical swellings), as it were “skins of water” pushed up from beneath, and a long track or wake of slightly disturbed water, left for a long distance behind. It was seen approaching from the direction of the Sound between Scarba and Jura, or Corrie Chreacan, and passed the stern of the vessel. It was therefore heading at the time nearly E. The Ship’s head was lying about E. half N.”

“R. L. Cowell saw it almost or quite simultaneously with John Campbell on its first appearance.”

“N. B. The time between his calling me on deck and the time I first observed the appearance, I have described, I put down at about half a minute (as, before seeing it, after getting on deck, I asked one or two questions as to bearings, before I could get sight of it with my glasses). After my first look I called up Dr. Heddle. It was after calling up Dr. Heddle, that I made out the counting of the humps, and the other appearances described. I may have been 5 to 10 seconds between my being called up, and my reaching the deck, aft of the companion, and I then got the glasses and unscrewed them to focus, while I was asking the questions as to bearings. Roughly speaking, I calculate, that from the first appearance to Campbell and Cowell, till its final disappearance, it must have been, inclusive of disappearances and reappearances, about 15 minutes in sight or observation. When they saw it, it must have been travelling very rapidly; and not nearly so rapidly when we observed it at the greater distance. My estimate of distance when I saw it, may be an over-estimate put at half a mile.”

“Before J. Campbell saw it he heard a heavy splash, and saw the marks of the same, near the vessel--about half an hour before he saw what he describes--but no importance is attached to this, as a heavy fish some time after the disappearance, was seen shortly after to splash near the vessel; and Pellocks were also seen in the vicinity. The Pellocks however did not splash but rolled in their usual way. Not for one moment can their motion be compared by any of us, with the other appearances observed.” (Here Mr. BROWN has drawn a bunch, then a gap, larger than the bunch, and then eleven smaller bunches, separated one from the other by a gap as large as the half of one of these smaller bunches, the whole drawing representing exactly the animal swimming with vertical undulations and seen at a considerable distance.)

“Without actually fixing the position of the ship we consulted the chart and as nearly as we could arrived at it by bearings. It will be seen that the deepest water runs from the E. extremity of Corrie Chreacan very much along the line which the object or objects seen, was seen to follow; and that where its appearance was last noted the soundings show a very rapid shoaling from 30 fathoms to 17 about the position of our ship, being in from 15 to 17 fathoms.--”

“I think it right to add to the above account as written down on the spot, that after the statements which were kept sealed for a long time after, were consulted and every consideration given to the whole tale and phenomenon personally I came to the conclusion, and feel very certain still, that it was simply a Tide-rip or Tidal wave coming from the direction of Corrievreachan between Scarba and Jura running Easterly and then N. Easterly along the smooth water where soundings showed the meeting of the shallow of the deep. I have questioned Light-house-keepers since who have the most continuous chances of observation, within often, calm seas, and they have assured me such a phenomenon is not at all rare or unusual “under certain conditions of tides in certain localities”. Sailors have less chance to witness these phenomena perhaps than light-house-keepers, as they are seldom and long stationary at all states of tides.”

Notwithstanding this conclusion of Mr. BROWN, I feel persuaded that he, Prof. HEDDLE and others really saw the same appearance as did the Rev. J. MACRAE and others (see n^o 137 and 138). The long back fin of a dark colour, which gave opacity and threw water over laterally by its lashings, of course was one of the animal’s fore-flappers.

1889, August 15.--A good little paper on the subject, and partly a plea for the existence of the creature is in the Standard of that date.--(R. P. G.)

1891, July 24.--East coast of North Island, New-Zealand.--The Standard, 1891, September 22.--(R. P. G.):--

“Mr. ALFRED FORD MATHEWS, a surveyor, living at Gisborne, on the east coast of the North Island, wrote to the papers to the effect that while on board the Manopouri, another of the Union Company’s steamers, on the voyage from Auckland to Gisborne, on Friday, July 24th., he and several others distinctly saw a sea-serpent resembling the one seen from the Rotomahana off Portland Island. This time it appeared north of the East Cape, which is some distance to the north of where it was seen by the Rotomahana a week later. The time, Mr. MATHEWS states, was between eight and nine in the morning. The “monster” was also seen by the ship’s officer in charge. It would from time to time lift its head and part of its body to a great height perpendicularly, and when in that position would turn its body round in a most peculiar manner, displaying a black back, white belly, and two armlet appendages of great length, which appeared to dangle about like a broken limb on a human being. It would then suddenly drop back into the water, scattering it in all directions. It had a flat head, and was about half a mile distant from the ship. The reason, Mr. MATHEWS added, that he had not mentioned the matter before was that people were likely to treat it with derision.”

1891, August 1.--Off the East-coast of North Island, New Zealand, on board the Rotomahana, a steamer of the Union Steam-Shipping Company.--Standard of 22th. September, 1891; Newcastle Evening Chronicle of September 23, 1891.--(R. P. G. and GILBERT BOGLE.)

“The Chief Officer, Mr. ALEXANDER LINDSAY KERR, on being interviewed by a newspaper reporter said:--

“On Saturday morning last, August 1st., about 6.30 o’clock, we were off Portland Light, between Gisborne and Napier. I was on deck looking over the weather side, to see if I could see the land, when I saw the object, whatever it was, rise out of the water to the height of about 30ft. Its shape was for all the world like a huge conger eel, with the exception that it had two large fins that appeared to be about 10 feet long. The creature was not more than 100 yards away at the outside, and I should estimate its girth at between ten and twelve feet. I could not see its back as it was coming straight towards the steamer, but its belly and fins were pure white. The creature’s head did not appear to be particularly definite, the neck running right up to the head the same as that of a large eel. It was broad daylight at the time, and the sun was shining clearly. When it went beneath the water it did not fall forward like a fish that is jumping, but drew itself back as if with a contortion. I only saw it the once which was the last time it rose. I looked out for it, thinking it might pass under the ship and reappear on the other side, but I did not see it again. Had the weather not been so rough the steamer might have gone alongside and ascertained its dimensions. One of the Quartermasters Peter Nelson, was watching the thing, and it so startled him that he took upon himself to rush on to the bridge and ask me if I had seen it, a thing a sea-man never does unless something very exceptional occurs. A landsman might do so, but a sea-man never, unless under exceptional circumstances, such as these. I have been to sea for twenty seven years, and have been engaged in nearly every known trade from whaling in Greenland to the slave trade, and have been in almost every part of the world, but I never saw any object at sea like the one that rivetted my attention on Saturday morning last. I have always been sceptical with regard to the sea-serpent stories, I have heard and read, and a smile has always come across my face at them, but I have been too long at sea, and have seen too many remarkable things, to deny positively that there was such a thing, had a landsman or a lady told me about the creature on Saturday, while I should have given them credit for being quite sincere, I should have taken no notice of it, as they are so apt to make mistakes at sea. I am too much accustomed at sea, however, to have made any mistake. When we got to Napier, I mentioned the circumstance there, when they pointed out that there had been a shock of earthquake shortly before the time we saw the creature, which may have been the cause of sending it to the surface. As to its length I could give no opinion, but as the creature rose some 30ft. out of the water I should imagine there were still two-thirds of it in the water, but that is only my supposition.”

“PETER NELSON, the Quartermaster, referred to gave his story as follows:--

“It was about 6.30 on Saturday morning last, August 1st. It was a bright clear morning with the sun shining brightly. The weather, however, was rough, with a heavy sea. I had just come from the wheel at six o’clock, and was standing on the lee-side looking out, and all at once I saw this thing appear rising out of the water about 30ft. It went down again. It did not go forward like a fish jumping, but seemed to draw itself right back under water as if it contracted itself. It came up and went down again in the same way about four times. The first time I saw it was about a mile off the ship to leeward; the last time I saw it was about 100 yards from the ship. The time occupied in traveling the distance seemed to be about two minutes. It looked like a huge conger-eel or snake, except that it had two large fins. The fins seemed to be about 10ft. long, and were situated about 20ft. from the head. The tips of the fins were about touching the water. Where the fins joined the body the latter seemed to bulge out. I did not see the fins the first time it rose, but I saw them each time afterwards. The belly and the fins were pure white. I saw the back part. It was the colour of an eel. The head and neck were like those of an eel. It was nothing like a whale. Had it been at all like a whale I should have taken no notice of it, as it is such a common thing to see whales at sea. It was not more than one hundred yards away the last time I saw it. The thing was glistening in the sun. I could not see its eyes. Had the sun not been shining, or had it been night, I might have been able to see its eyes. Every time it went down there was a distinct splash that could be heard quite plainly. The time being so early in the morning and the sea being so rough, there were no people about except the watch on deck, who were aft scraping the decks. The Chief Officer was on the bridge. I spoke to him about it. He said he had seen it. I have often heard of a sea-serpent before, but never saw one, nor have I ever seen any one who had seen one, but have spoken to men who have seen other men who professed to have seen the creatures. I have always laughed at the sea-serpent story but never denied it. Call it what you like, but after my experience of Saturday morning I am decidedly of opinion that what I saw is a fish or creature that is never hardly seen. I never saw any thing like it before, although I have been at sea twenty five years and have seen a great many queer things.” In reply to a question, Nelson said, “I am not a very frightened sort exactly, but I suppose I should have been frightened if it had come much closer.”

I have reprinted here these three reports of two different appearances, because they so completely corroborate the hitherto so wonderful-seeming report of EGEDE (5), and figure of BING (fig. 19). As to the remark of Prof. HUTTON, of Canterbury College (N. Zeal.) “that if the animal had great fins or flappers, as reported, they would no doubt be used for swimming, and it is improbable that the creature would wave them about in the air like wings”, I only remark in my turn, that Prof. HUTTON seems never to have observed the movements of seals, and sea-lions, for these animals really “wave the flappers about in the air like wings”.

LAST WORD.

In Mr. WARBURTON’S account (83) we read:--

“I immediately called to the passengers, who were all down below, but only five or six came up..... The remainder refused to come up, saying there had been too many hoaxes of that kind already.”

Dr. ANDREW WILSON mentions in his Leisure Time Studies, p. 101:--