Part 51

“On board the ship Ann Marie, at sea, lat. 46, long. 44, Oct. 13, 1820.”

“My dear sir,--When on shore I have little time to spare from business to devote to details which I am now to communicate.”

“During the past three years you will have seen accounts in the newspapers, or reports will have met you in another form of an immense sea-serpent having infested our shores in Boston Bay. The first appearance he made in the summer of 1817, in the harbour of Cape Ann. Wishing to satisfy myself on a subject on which there existed a great difference of opinion, I myself visited Gloucester with Mr. Lee. On our way down we met several persons returning, who had visited the place where he was said to have exhibited himself, and who reported to us that he had not been seen for two or three days past. We however, continued our route to Gloucester, though with fears that we should not be gratified with the sight of the monster which we sought. I satisfied myself, from conversation with several persons who had seen him, that the report in circulation was not a fable. All the town were, as you may suppose, on the alert; and almost every individual, both great and small, had been gratified, at a greater or less distance, with a sight of him. The weather was fine, the sea perfectly smooth, and Mr. Lee and myself were seated on a point of land which projects into the harbour, and about twenty feet above the level of the water, from which we were distant about fifty or sixty feet......

“Whilst thus seated, I observed an agitation in the water at the entrance of the harbour, like that which follows a small vessel going five or six miles an hour through the water. As we knew there was no shoal where the water was thus broken, I immediately said to Mr. Lee that I had no doubt that what I had seen was the sea serpent in pursuit of fish. Mr. Lee was not directing his attention to the spot which I speak of, and had not seen the foam of the water, the animal having immediately disappeared.”

“In a few moments after my exclamation, I saw on the opposite side of the harbour, at about two miles distance from where I had first seen, or thought I saw, the snake, the same object, moving with a rapid motion up the harbour, on the western shore. As he approached us, it was easy to see that his motion was not that of the common snake, either on the land or in the water, but evidently the vertical movement of the caterpillar. As nearly as I could judge, there was visible at a time about forty feet of his body. It was not, to be sure, a continuity of body, as the form from head to tail (except as the apparent bunches appeared as he moved through the water) was seen only at three or four feet asunder. It was very evident, however, that his length must be much greater than what appeared, as, in his movement, he left a considerable wake in his rear. I had a fine glass, and was within from one-third to half a mile of him. The head was flat in the water, and the animal was, as far as I could distinguish, of a chocolate colour. I was struck with an appearance in the front part of the head like a single horn, about nine inches to a foot in length, and of the form of a marlinespike. There were a great many people collected by this time, many of whom had before seen the same object, and the same appearance. From the time I first saw him until he passed by the place where I stood, and soon after disappeared, was not more than fifteen or twenty minutes.”

“I left the place fully satisfied that the reports in circulation, although differing in details, were essentially correct. I returned to Boston, and having made my report, I found Mrs. Perkins and my daughters disposed to make a visit to Gloucester with me when the return of the animal should be again announced. A few days after my return I went again to Cape Ann with the ladies; we had a pleasant ride, but returned ungratified in the object which carried us there.”

The reader knows already that I don’t agree with Col. T. H. PERKINS as to the generic difference of the sea-serpent.--It is the second time that the tongue of the animal is seen to be thrown out.

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All these reports of course greatly alarmed the people, and divided them into believers and unbelievers. Letters were written to Europe. As it is of interest to know the public opinion about the subject, it is perhaps not unnecessary to communicate here the letters which I found, especially those hitherto unpublished. On the 20th. of August of 1817 Mr. S. G. PERKINS wrote a letter to Mr. E. EVERETT, then at Paris; this letter is preserved in the Library of the Royal University of Göttingen. An extract from it, respecting the sea-serpent, here printed for the first time, runs as follows:

“You will except me to give you some account of the extraordinary monster, which is now the subject of universal conversation here. So far as we know anything of it, I will give it you, but we have yet to learn its Genus, species and character. About a fortnight since, two women, who live near the entrance of the Harbour of Cape Ann, reported that they saw a Sea-Monster come into the Harbour, that it had the appearance of a Snake, was of great length, &c. But little attention, however, was paid to this report, and it gained no public circulation. Within a week the Country has been agitated with reports of the existence of the monster, and men of reputation and character have made known, that they have distinctly seen the animal. Many have gone off in search of him in Boats, and muskets have been fired at him, without any other effect than alarming him and deterring him from suffering the approach of the boats. He is represented to be from 50 to 100 feet long, of the size of a barrel about the body, which is formed into parallel rings, which--when he is on the top of the water--are so prominent, that they resembled buoys attached to each other. Its motions, when in pursuit of its prey, are very rapid, and create a wake like a small vessel passing thro’ the water. My Brother--Colonel Perkins--went down to Cape Ann two days ago to see it. He says that he is satisfied that such an animal is there. As he stood on the shore, it came within the eighth of a mile of him, but as he did not see it so distinctly as to be able to state all its points, he has not said any thing to the public about it. Many persons--who are well known as men of character--have assured me they have seen 30 or 40 feet of it out of water at once. These reports have created various opinions and sensations, many disbelieving the whole story, and others not doubting it, in the least. My brother goes again to morrow morning to pass a week at Cape Ann. It comes into the harbour daily, in pursuit of the herrings, which resort here in great quantities. All these facts, however, were loose, and from the variety of Reports, people had gotten to doubt their foundation, and supposed it was only a number of porpuses following each other, in rapid succession. But on Saturday, the day before yesterday, a vessel arrived at Beverly from the banks of Newfoundland. The captain and crew report that, off Cape Ann Harbour, they saw a Sea-Monster of the Snake kind, lying on the water, of immense length. That the crew were so much alarmed, that they got away as soon as they could, and that they estimated it, at 100 feet long. Other particulars were stated, which I do not recollect. This had revived the belief, in its existence, and great efforts will be made to take it dead or alive. I heard to day that a subscription was on foot, and that an express has been sent to Nantucket for twenty whale men to come up with their boats and apparatus to destroy it. The Linnean Society have appointed a Committee to go down and investigate it, of which Judge Davis is Chairman.”

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=45=.--1817, August 22?--We have already seen that the Chairman of the Committee asked Judge NASH to give, if possible, an evidence of the fact that a woman saw the animal lying dormant very near the shore. In speaking of Mr. NASH’S answer we skipped this evidence to insert it here. It runs as follows:

“I have seen and conversed with the woman, who was said to have seen the serpent dormant on the rocks, near the water, to whom you refer in yours; but she can give no material evidence. She says that she saw something, resembling a large log of wood, on the rocks, on the extreme eastern point of Ten Pound Island, (a small island in our harbour), resting partly on the rocks, and partly in the water. The distance was about half a mile. She took a glass, looked at the object and saw it move. Her attention was for a short time arrested, by some domestic avocation, and when she looked for the object again, it had disappeared.”

The letter from the Hon. JOHN DAVIS, the Chairman of the Committee, was dated Sept. 2, 1817. The appearance, therefore, took place before this date. Fortunately we have another testimony of this position of the animal. In the letter from Col. T. H. PERKINS, dated Oct. 13, 1820, and published by him in the Boston Daily Advertiser of Nov. 25, 1848, we read that he visited the harbour of Gloucester. This must have been on the 18th. of August 1817 (see n^o. 44. p. 178.); after having described this visit the Colonel goes on:

“A few days after my return I went again to Cape Ann with the ladies; we had a pleasant ride, but returned ungratified in the object which carried us there.”

“Whilst at Cape Ann I talked with many persons who had seen the serpent, and among others with a person of the name of Mansfield, one of the most respectable inhabitants of the town. His account to me was, that a few days before, as he was taking a ride with his wife in a chair, the road taking them close to a bank which overlooks the harbour (and is nearly a perpendicular precipice), he saw an uncommon appearance, which induced him to descend from the carriage, when he saw the sea-serpent, in which until then he had been an unbeliever. The animal was stretched out, partly over the white sandy beach, which had four or five feet of water upon it, and lay partly over the channel. He desired his wife to get out of the chair, which she did. He said he had made up his mind as to the length of the snake, but wished the opinion of his wife on the same subject. He asked her what she should consider his length; she answered that she could not undertake to say how many feet in length he was, but that she thought him as long as the wharf behind their house, an object with which she had always been familiar. Mr. Mansfield said he was of the same opinion. The wharf is one hundred feet in length. It is to be observed that the person above spoken of had been such an unbeliever in the existence of this monster, that he had not given himself the trouble to go from his house to the harbour when the report was first made of such an animal being there.”

Consequently I may fix the appearance of the animal resting on a bank, or beach, or rock, on the 22th. of August, 1817. This is the only report I have found of this way of reposing of the animal, but I cannot believe that these reports are contrary to truth.

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=46=.--1817, August, 23.--(Report of a Committee, 1817). Mr. AMOS STORY after having made affidavit of his having seen the animal on the tenth of August, goes on:

“I likewise saw, what I believe to be the same animal this day, viz. the twenty third of August, A. D. 1817. This was in the morning, about seven o’clock. He then lay perfectly still, extended on the water, and I should judge that I saw fifty feet of him at least.”

“I should judge that I was forty rods from him this day. I had a good spy glass both days when I saw him. I continued looking at him about half an hour, and he remained still and in the same position, until I was called away. Neither his head nor tail were visible. His colour appeared to be a dark brown, and when the sun shone upon him, the reflection was very bright. I thought his body was about the size of a man’s body.”

“Amos Story.”

“Essex ss. Aug. 23, 1817. Personally appeared Amos Story, and made oath that the foregoing deposition by him subscribed is true, according to his best knowledge and belief.”

“Cor. Lonson Nash, Jus. Pacis.”

As we read that the animal lay perfectly still, and as Mr. STORY does not mention that bunches were visible, we may conclude that it lay with its body in a straight line. Fifty feet of its length at least were visible. Its head and tail were not visible, says Mr. STORY, and yet the animal remained about half an hour in this position, which I think may thus be accounted for: the animal’s head, neck and back were in a straight line just above the surface of the water, so that its nose was also above it, which enabled the animal to breathe and to remain motionless, but at the distance of forty rods, though with a good spy glass, these particulars cannot have been distinctly seen by one who was not acquainted with the animal’s external features, and so he believed its head was invisible. That its tail was under water, I will believe with him.

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=47=.--1817, August 24?--In the letter from Col. T. H. PERKINS to Mr. CUSHING, dated Oct. 13, 1820, Col. P. mentions the appearance of the sea-serpent as seen by Mr. and Mrs. MANSFIELD on the 22th. of Aug., 1817 (n^o. 45), and he continues:

“Subsequent to the period of which I have been speaking, the snake was seen by several of the crews of our coasting vessels, and in some instances within a few yards.”