Part 49

* * * * *

=43=.--1817, August 17.--(Report of a Committee, 1817.) The second part of the affidavit of Mr. WILLIAM H. FOSTER runs as follows:

“On the seventeenth of August instant, I again saw him. He came into the harbour, occasionally exhibiting parts of his body, which appeared like rings or bunches. As he drew near, and when opposite to me, there rose from his head or the most forward part of him, a prong or spear about twelve inches in height, and six inches in circumference at the bottom, and running to a small point.”

“Q. Might not the prong or spear that you saw, have been the tongue of the serpent?”

“A. I thought not; as I saw the prong before I saw his head; but it might have been.”

“Q. At what distance were you, when you saw the spear of the serpent?”

“A. I should judge forty rods; I had a spyglass when I saw the prong or spear.”

“Q. Did the animal appear round?”

“A. He did.”

“Q. Did he appear jointed, or only serpentine?”

“A. He appeared jointed.”

“Q. Were its sinuosities vertical or horizontal?”

“A. Vertical.”

“Q. What was its colour?”

“A. It appeared brown.”

“Q. Did it appear smooth or rough?”

“A. It appeared smooth.”

“Q. What was the size and shape of his head?”

“A. At the distance where I was, his head appeared as large as a man’s head; but I cannot describe its shape.”

“Q. Did it appear to pursue, avoid or notice objects?”

“A. I thought it appeared to notice objects.”

“Q. How fast did it move?”

“A. At the rate of a mile in a minute, at times, I have no doubt.”

“William H. Foster.”

“Essex ss. August 27, 1817. Personally appeared William H. Foster, and made oath that the foregoing deposition, by him subscribed, is true, according to his best knowledge and belief.”

“Before Lonson Nash, Jus. of Peace.”

The first statement that strikes us is the prong or spear, seen by Mr. FOSTER. I am convinced that this instrument, seen by him at a distance of forty rods, and with a spy-glass, rising from the foremost part of the head, about 12 inches, or a foot, in length, pointed at its end, and having six inches in circumference, or two in diameter, at the bottom, was nothing else but the animal’s tongue.

* * * * *