Part 62

“In some very recent accounts I have received from Finmark, founded on respectable authority, the sea-serpent is stated to have appeared off Soröe this last summer (1822) and to have been seen by many of the inhabitants of that Island. The length of the animal is described as about a fourth of an English mile, its size that of a full grown ox; the colour of a greyish brown; and the weather when it made its appearance, calm and fine.”

Fear must have enlarged its length: the diameter, the colour, the calmness of the weather, however, are all correct.

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Mr. A. DE CAPELL BROOKE in his Travels through Sweden &c., 1823, at p. 403 tells us a remarkable fact, viz. the striking agreement of the fabulous tales of the sea-serpent of those days (1820) with those, related by PONTOPPIDAN. The passage runs as follows:

“The following information, however, which he” (the sexton of Maasöe) “gave me concerning this animal deserves a greater share of attention. It is the practise of the fishermen, he said, when at any time they found themselves suddenly surrounded by the folds of the serpent, and obliged to pass over a part of it, never to attempt making their way between the openings, caused by part of the body of the animal being concealed under water, for fear of its raising and upsetting the boat. On the contrary, they rowed with all their strength against one of the visible folds, as the serpent, as soon as he feels the touch of the boat, naturally sinks down and enables it thus to pass over in safety. It will appear perhaps as a striking circumstance, that looking afterward into Pontoppidan, I found the foregoing particulars the very substance of what is related in his work, which may be said to be unknown in Finmark, and even of his name my informant had never heard.”

Indeed, this is remarkable, but it is only a proof of the scrupulousness with which fables are told unchanged! The passages from PONTOPPIDAN referred to by our traveller have been discussed by me--p. 134.

For history’s sake, as well as to acquaint my readers with all that has been written for or against the subject, I am obliged to insert all that Mr. BROOKE further says about it. After having repeated nearly all what PONTOPPIDAN mentioned about it, he goes on:

“Taking upon the whole a fair view of the different accounts related in the foregoing pages respecting the sea-serpent, no reasonable person can doubt the fact of some marine animal of extraordinary dimensions, and in all probability of the serpent tribe, having been repeatedly seen by various persons along the Norway and Finmark coasts. These accounts, for the most part, have been given verbally from the mouths of the fishermen; an honest and artless class of men who, having no motive for misrepresentation, cannot be suspected of a wish to deceive. Could this idea, however, be entertained, the circumstance alone, of their assertions having been so fully confirmed by others in more distant parts, would be sufficient to free them from any imputation of this kind. The simple facts are these: In traversing a space of full 700 miles of coast, extending to the most northern point, accounts have been received from numerous persons respecting the appearance of an animal, called by them a sea-serpent. This of itself would induce some degree of credit to be given to it; but when these several relations as to the general appearance of the animal, its dimensions, the state of the weather, when it has been seen, and other particulars are so fully confirmed, one by the other, at such considerable intervening distances, every reasonable man will feel satisfied of the truth of the main fact. Many of the informants, besides, were of superior rank and education; and the opinions of such men as the Amtmann (Governor) of Finmark, Mr. Steen of Carlsöe, Prösten (Dean) Deinbolt of Vadsöe, and the Bishop of Nordland and Finmark, who was even an eye witness, ought not to be disregarded. There does not appear the least probability, or even possibility, that any other marine animal at present known on the northern coast, could have been confounded with the sea-serpent. The finners, a species of whale already mentioned, are too well known to occasion any mistake; and the total want of similarity in shape, appearance, and size, if they were even rare, would be sufficiently obvious.”

Remarkable is the fact that Mr. DE CAPELL BROOKE considers the animal to be “in all probability of the serpent tribe”, with which he of course means snakes.

“The strongest confirmation of the fact appears to be the account received at the island of Otersun. There it will be recollected, the serpent made its appearance in July, 1819, being visible a short distance from the shore, nearly every day, during the greater part of that month, and having been seen during that time by the whole of the population of the island. The information collected, indeed, is scantier than might have been expected, from its remaining so considerable a time; but the talent of observation in fishermen is far from considerable, and their curiosity is easily gratified. To these circumstances, and the general dread entertained of this animal, may be attributed the want of any attempt to take it. At the neighbouring island of Krogöen also, it will be remembered, that its having appeared was confirmed; and this would be sufficient at least to cause a wavering in the minds of those naturalists, who have treated former accounts as the mere offspring of imagination.”

We may add: not only their curiosity is easily gratified, but their fear to approach the animal too closely withholds them from investigating it nearer, or from observing it, as a naturalist or more curious person would do!

Further he discusses the subject historically, first comparing the Leviathan in the Book of Job with it, to which idea evidently MILTON’S Paradise Lost led him. I am far from admitting any relation between the story in Holy Writ and the sea-serpents. He further quotes KNUD LEEMS (p. 138), OLAUS MAGNUS (n°. 1, p. 105, 109), HANS EGEDE (n°. 5), ERIC PONTOPPIDAN, and speaks of the letters written to and preserved in the library of Sir JOSEPH BANKS, then president of the Royal Society, by General HAWKINS and General HUMPHREYS.

I am also obliged to repeat here in extenso his plea for the sea-serpent (p. 415-419):

“In the belief of the possibility of events, men are too generally guided by the limited knowledge of things they may possess; and there are doubtless many among the more uninformed classes, who, if told of the existence of an animal attaining the height of eighteen feet, such as the giraffe or camelopard, or that the ocean produced one like the whale, more than 100 feet in length, would not only stare with astonishment, but would as much doubt the truth of these assertions, as if informed of the sea-serpent. This is but natural; their knowledge of the world and its productions, deprived as they are of other means of attaining it, must be confined to the narrow sphere they live in; and the ideas they possess of life must necessarily be contracted.”

“The naturalist, however, whose views of creation are bounded by no country, and whose field of inquiry is the globe itself, sees with admiration though without surprise the rich kingdom of nature gradually unfolding itself to the researches of science, and finds his imperfect catalogue almost daily swelled by proofs of the existence of some new and extraordinary animal, which before was unknown to the world, or considered as living in the imagination alone. By the exertions of the present age, he has become acquainted with many creatures, in their forms and habits the most singular and strange; and thus he is taught never to deny the existence of any thing rashly; assured, as he is, by whatever he beholds, of the unlimited power of the great Creator; and conscious, that all which the utmost zeal of man can attain is a knowledge of but a very small portion of his works. When he considers the various discoveries of modern times, and the astonishing effects produced by the ingenuity of man in the united application of chemistry and mechanism, it gives him but a more exalted idea of that great superior force, which not only sets in motion this master machine, and indues it with powers of sense and reflection, but causes it to act in so extraordinary a manner in the creation and reproduction of matter. In fine the philosopher, whether his researches regard the minuteness or magnitude of creation, is equally prepared for the wonders that are displayed to his eye. The aid of the mikroscoop makes known to him the existence of myriads of living creatures, some of such incredible smallness, that the utmost powers of the magnifier can with difficulty render them visible; and of which thousands if put together, would not equal a grain of sand in bulk. He finds even, that the human body itself is filled with them; and that the structure of their own internal parts is equally complex and curious. When, however, he reflects, that each of these beings, diminutive as they are, may perhaps contain a countless number of other, visible but to the minuter tecture of their eyes, he is lost and bewildered, and can only look forward to the period, when his purer existence will be permitted to comprehend the great secrets of nature, and the mysteries of the universe. If, on the other hand, he directs his steps to the deep gnoom of the African forests, tenanted by their various wild inhabitants, he sees, on a sublimely enlarged scale the works of the Creator; whether he meets with the elephant supporting its enormous bulk with peaceful and dignified steps, or views the huge trunk of the stupendous boa serpent, extended to the length of fifty feet, and viing in size with the stately trees, between which it glides, the terror of all, and the sovereign of the forest. The secrets of the great deep alone are veiled from his inquiring eyes; and he regrets, that his structure prevents him from cleaving, like the finny tribe, the watery fluid, and gazing on the wonders below. Phenomena the most extraordinary, nay even a new world, would there be opened to his inspection, did not the grosser materials of his composition obstruct his pursuit. From the marine animal productions, notwithstanding, that come under his observation, he finds, on comparing them with those of the land, that they are larger, proportionably to the vast space allotted them; and he reasonably concludes, that in the existence of unknown regions of the ocean, compared with which the land we inhabit may be deemed but as a spot, and the depth of which is not merely that of some miles, but extends, for any thing that is known to the contrary, even from pole to pole; there may be a variety of animals, greatly exceeding in size even those which, on this account alone, have been deemed fabulous: yet that their bulk may, nevertheless, be fairly proportioned to the space they inhabit; and that living midway in this world of waters, without ever rising even to the surface, or seeing the light of heaven, they may be made, by the hand that fashioned them, and in ways unknown to us, subservient to the use and benefit of man.”

“Here let me pause; for though the subject appears the more interesting and inexhaustible the more it is pursued, yet I feel insensible, that I have wandered very far, and that the thoughts, to which the sea-serpent gave rise, have already comprised the whole globe.”

The most remarkable accounts mentioned by Mr. A. DE CAPELL BROOKE are translated in FRORIEP’S Notizen, 1823, IV, 84, p. 273.

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=80=.--1824 January.--In the American Journal of Science and Arts conducted by Prof. BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, Vol. 28, July, 1835, we read:

“The following statement having been made by a gentleman of great intelligence and candor, a cool and judicious observer, who has travelled very extensively and traversed the seas in many climates, the editor desired a written notice of the facts which he is permitted to publish without the name of the author; with him he is, however, well-acquainted and reposes full confidence in his integrity and in his freedom from any influence of imagination.”

“Boston, April, 5th., 1835.”

“To Prof. Silliman,--Dear Sir,--On my passage from the River La Plata to this country in January, 1824, latitude 34¹⁄₂° South, and 48° West longitude, I saw what was first supposed to be a fish called an Albicore; but, on further examination it was discovered to be a serpent of which I cannot give a clearer description than to say that a common dark coloured land snake is, in miniature, a perfect representation. A light breeze prevailed at the time and the sea was quite smooth. It first appeared within ten feet of the vessel, its head was, perhaps, two feet above the water and appeared as large as a ten gallons keg; the eye was distinctly seen. The whole length of the serpent was about half the length of the vessel, say 40 feet. The size and circumference of the body, was nearly as large as a barrel; nothing like a fin was seen. I could not make out the distinct appearance of the tail. The serpent remained almost motionless while in sight, the head above water and eyes directed towards the vessel.”

Prof. BENJAMIN SILLIMAN adds to it a

“Remark of the Editor.--The distance of the place of observation being several hundred miles from the nearest coast, this serpent must have been a denizen of the ocean; for the huge land snake of South America could not navigate so far out to sea if indeed they ever take to the ocean at all. The snake was perfectly quiet, and appeared quite comfortable and at home on the waves. We must therefore consider this case as settling the question of the real existence of a Sea-Serpent. The absence of paddles or arms forbids us from supposing that this was a swimming saurian.”

We may observe here that all the characters of the sea-serpent of Prof. SILLIMAN’S acquaintance agree with those which are already known to us, and that the supposition or negative explanation of Prof. SILLIMAN, that this sea-serpent was not a swimming saurian is at least premature, for the assertion of the eye-witness that “nothing like a fin was seen” does not prove an “absence of paddles or arms”, which of course remained hidden under water!

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=81=.--1824, Summer.--In FRORIEP’S Notizen of Oct. 1824, Vol. VIII, n°. 168, p. 218, we read:

“The American Sea-Serpent is said to have appeared again this summer. A Mr. Ruggles in Bristol County, has, as is mentioned by the Newburyport Journal, seen it off Plum-Island and in Shad Cove at a distance of about 100 feet. The head was two feet long and of a brown colour. Mr. R. could distinctly observe the teeth in the mouth when opened. He could not discern the tail, but several times, about thirty feet behind the head, he observed parts of the animal in an undulating motion”.