Part 65

“The second time it was farther from me. It was small, perhaps twice as long as this room (about forty-four feet); while swimming it made serpentine movements, some to left and right, others up and down. I cannot state its correct thickness, but it appeared to be about as a common snake in proportion to its length. It was much thinner towards the tail. Several times it raised its head wholly above the water, but so, that it was just above the surface; the neck, however, and the other part of the body were but partly visible above the surface. The front of the head was rather pointed: the eyes were very large and glistened like those of a cat. I did not see a tongue and did not observe that it opened its mouth. I cannot state that the neck just behind the head is much thinner than the head itself, for from the back of the head commenced a mane like that of a horse, which waved to and fro in the water. Just behind the head the mane was thickest and got thinner further backwards; in general it was not very long. The colour of the animal was a blackish brown.”

Again we meet with no character that is not known to us. All of them have already been stated.

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=92=.--1829?--The following is an evidence given before the same Mr. RATHKE, being at Christiansund, and published by him in the journal mentioned above.

“Lars Johnöen, a fisherman at Smölen, about 50 years of age. I have seen the sea-serpent several times, but for the longest time and nearest to me, twelve years ago in the dog-days in the fjord not far from here (Christiansund), when I was alone, one noon, angling in a boat. Then I saw it within two hours three times for a considerable time, quite near to me. It came close to my boat, so that it was only about six feet from me. (He placed himself in the room at a distance of nearly six feet from the wall, and said, this was about the distance between him and the serpent.) I became alarmed; recommended my soul to God, laid myself down in the boat, and only held my head so far over it, that I could observe the serpent. It swam now past the boat, that was vehemently agitated by the ripple caused by its movements in the water, which was previously smooth as a mirror, and afterwards took itself off. After it had swam a considerable distance from me, I wound my angling line round the little instrument commonly used (a frame, moving on an axis) and I began again to fish. Not long afterwards, however, the serpent came again quite close to the boat, which again was violently agitated by the movements made by it in the water. I lay down again, and remained quite still, keeping, however, a watchful eye on the animal. Again it passed me, disappeared far off, and returned, though not so close as before, and at last disappeared, when a light wind rose, and ruffled the water. Notwithstanding my fright I yet observed the animal very accurately. Its length was about five to six fathoms, and the body, which was as round as a snake’s, was about two feet in diameter. (Lars Johnöen measured on a table before him with his hands a space of about two feet). The tail too appeared to me to be round. The head was about as long and as thick as a brandy anker (a ten gallon cask), it was not pointed but bluntly round. The eyes were very large and glistening. Their size (or diameter) was about that of this box here (five inches), and they were as red as my neckerchief (crimson). The animal did not open its mouth, therefore I cannot give its size. It constantly held its head above the surface of the water in an acute angle; not so high, however, that the nose should come over the board of a boat. Close behind the head, a mane like a horse’s commenced, extending rather far down the neck, and spreading on both sides; floated on the water; it was of tolerably long hair. The mane as well as the head and the rest of the body was brown as this looking glass frame (dark brown of old mahogany). I could not observe spots, or stripes of other colours, nor were there any scales; it seemed as if the body was quite smooth. The movements of the serpent were by turns fast and slow; they were also slow when the animal approached my boat. At the moment in which I could observe it best, its movements were serpentine, up and down. The few undulations, made by those parts of the body and the tail that were out of the water, were scarcely a fathom in length. These undulations were not so high, that I could see between them and the water.--When Lars Johnöen had given this declaration, the drawing which Pontoppidan had given of the animal was shown to him. He looked at it with astonishment, smiled and said that he saw a great resemblance between it and the animal he had seen. He likewise said, that some of the other sea-serpents he had seen were a great deal longer than the one described above.”

This unvarnished account describes very well the animal’s general doings, and accurately pictures its curiosity and harmlessness.

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=93=.--1829, July.--We shall soon be acquainted with the appearance of the sea-serpent seen by Captain M’QUHAE of the Daedalus, on Aug. 6, 1848. Prof. RICHARD OWEN, questioned whether this animal could be a snake or not, gave his answer in an article published in the Times of Nov. 11, 1848, wherein he expresses his opinion that it must have been a large seal. This article seems to have been reprinted in the Bombay Bi-monthly Times. In the same journal for January, 1849, appeared the following statement and objections against Professor OWEN’S suggestions.

“I see, in your paper of the 30th December, a paragraph in which a doubt is expressed of the authenticity of the account given by Captain M’Quhae of the “great sea-serpent”. When returning to India, in the year 1829, I was standing on the poop of the Royal Saxon, in conversation with Captain Petrie, the commander of that ship. We were at a considerable distance south-west of the Cape of Good Hope, in the usual track of vessels to this country, going rapidly along (seven or eight knots) in fine smooth water. It was in the middle of the day, and the other passengers were at luncheon; the man at the wheel, a steerage passenger, and ourselves, being the only persons on the poop. Captain Petrie and myself, at the same instant, were literally fixed in astonishment by the appearance, a short distance ahead, of an animal of which no more generally correct description could be given than that by Captain M’Quhae. It passed within thirty-five yards of the ship, without altering its course in the least; but as it came right abreast of us, it slowly turned its head towards us. Apparently about one third of the upper part of its body was above water, in nearly its whole length; and we could see the water curling up on its breast as it moved along, but by what means it moved we could not perceive. We watched it going astern with intense interest until it had nearly disappeared, when my companion, turning to me with a countenance expressive of the utmost astonishment, exclaimed, “Good heavens! what can that be?” It was strange that we never thought of calling the party engaged at luncheon to witness the extraordinary sight we had seen; but the fact is, we were so absorbed in it ourselves, that we never spoke, and scarcely moved, until it had nearly disappeared. Captain Petrie, a superior and most intelligent man, has since perished in the exercise of his profession. Of the fate of the others then on deck I am ignorant; so the story rests on my own unsupported word, but I pledge that word to its correctness. Professor Owen’s supposition, that the animal seen by the officers of the Daedalus was a gigantic seal, I believe to be incorrect, because we saw this apparently similar creature in its whole length, with the exception of a small portion of the tail, which was under water; and, by comparing its length with that of the Royal Saxon (about six hundred feet), when exactly alongside in passing, we calculated it to be in that, as well as in its other dimensions, greater than the animal described by Captain M’Quhae. Should the foregoing account be of any interest to you, it is at your service; it is an old story, but a true one. I am not quite sure of our latitude and longitude at the time, nor do I exactly remember the date, but it was about the end of July.--R. DAVIDSON, Superintending Surgeon, Nagpore Subsidiary Force, Kamptee, 3d January 1849.”

At present we have only to fix our attention on the animal’s appearance, and not on Mr. DAVIDSON’S objections. As the reader will observe, the whole description agrees with other accounts already given. There is nothing in it that is new or unknown to us.

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=94=.--1830?--The well-known Mr. HEINRICH RATHKE, on his journey in Norway, being in Christiansund, noted down the following evidence, to publish it in the Archiv für Naturgeschichte of 1841.

“John Johnson, merchant, about 60 years of age, says in German: I saw the animal some years ago in the fjord” (of Christiansund); “it was about a thousand paces distant, when nearest to me; I observed it for more than half an hour. It swam very swiftly, for in the same time that we rowed about a quarter of a mile aside of it, it had swum about one half of a mile. I saw it best when it swam in a semicircle round a tolerable large rock that obstructed its passage, coming to that side of it which was turned towards me; in doing this it partly raised itself above the surface of the water. Its colour was blackish; its length was about that of this house (55 feet). Except the head, I did not observe much of its body, as it appeared but little above the surface. Judging from what I observed now and then, I think its thickness to be that of a stout man’s body. Its head was apparently as large as a hat. It was not pointed, but seemed rather blunt; in general, however, in comparison with its thickness, it was not very long. It was held but little above the surface of the water, making an acute angle with it; and it remained above the surface, as long as I saw it. Owing to the distance I could not discern the eyes. Also on account of the distance or because the neck was seldom elevated above the surface, I could observe nothing of a mane. The agitation which it caused in the water was very strong. The movements of the animal itself were serpentine, up and down, like those of a swimming leech. When the animal had reached a spot, where the water was ruffled by a rising gentle wind, it disappeared. Moreover, I believe, that the animal is not much to be feared and that it would not easily harm men.”

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=95=.--1831?--The same Mr. RATHKE also noted down the following declaration (published in the above mentioned journal.)

“Mr. William Knutszon and Candidatus Theologiae Booklune gave the following written account: We together saw the sea-serpent in a narrow fjord, at a distance of about one sixteenth of a mile” (about 515 yards) “for about a quarter of an hour; afterwards it dived, and came up so far from us, that we could not see it plainly. The water was as smooth as a mirror, and the animal had, as it moved on the surface, quite the appearance of a worm, or of a snake. Its motions were in undulations, and so strong, that white foam appeared before it, and waves were caused at its sides, which extended over several fathoms. It did not appear very high above the water, and it was principally its length, which was quite considerable. Once, however, it stretched its head quite erect in the air. The body was somewhat dark, and the head nearly black; the body had nearly the form of an eel or of a snake, a length of about fifty ells” (above one hundred feet) “and in proportion to it an inconsiderable thickness. The breadth diminished considerably from the head to the tail, so that the latter ended in a point. The head was long and narrow in proportion to the throat, as the latter appeared much greater than the former, which probably was the consequence of its being provided with a mane. The details of the head were not to be discerned, as the distance was too great.”

I may observe here that if these eye-witnesses declare that the head seemed to be narrower than the throat, this may probably also be the consequence of the animal’s contracting its neck. This may be often seen in seals and sea-lions. If a common seal has contracted its neck, it appears as if the animal has no neck, as if the head is immediately connected with the body. In reality the neck is shortened, and has become thicker than the head. If stretched, the neck on the contrary is very well visible, and narrower than the head. The same in sea-lions. If contracted, several rings of blubber surround the hind part of the head, which appears smaller than the neck; if stretched, the neck immediately gets much narrower and the head is broader than the neck. The expression “which probably was the consequence of its being provided with a mane” distinctly shows that the eye-witnesses, knowing that others at other times saw a mane, intended to explain the phenomenon they observed by the presence of this mane, which they could impossibly see, “as the distance was too great.”

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=96=.--1832, Summer.--(FRORIEP’S Notizen, XXXV, n^o. 756).

“There is again question in Norway of the sea-serpent. It is said to have appeared and remained rather a long time in the Rödö- and Södelöw fjords this summer, and to have been seen by many persons. Distinct traces of it are said to have been found in the fields (??).”

We observe that Mr. FRORIEP adds two notes of interrogation after the last words. Evidently he is unable to explain them. I am convinced of the truth that the sea-serpent appeared in the fjords above mentioned. As to the traces of it, I must tell my readers that the superstition of the Norwegian people has forged this fable ever since they first became aware that the sea-serpent frequented their fjords. We have already met with this tale in PONTOPPIDAN’S Natural History of Norway, and probably the Norwegians will tell it us again, if we ask them now!

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=97=.--1833, May, 15.--(Zoologist p. 1714, 1847).

“On the 15th. of May, 1833, a party, consisting of Captain Sullivan, Lieutenants Maclachlan and Malcolm of the Rifle Brigade, Lieutenant Lyster of the Artillery, and Mr. Ince of the Ordnance, started from Halifax in a small yacht for Mahone Bay, some forty miles eastward, on a fishing excursion. The morning was cloudy, and the wind at S. S. E., and apparently rising. By the time we reached Chebucto Head, as we had taken no pilot with us, we deliberated whether we should proceed or turn back; but, after a consultation, we determined on the former, having lots of ports on our lee. Previous to our leaving town, an old man-of-war’s-man we had along with us busied himself in inquiries as to our right course; he was told to take his departure from the Bull Rock, off Pennant Point, and that a W. N. W. course would bring us direct on Iron Bound Island, at the entrance of Mahone or Mecklenburgh Bay. He, however, unfortunately told us to steer W. S. W., nor corrected his error for five or six hours; consequently we had gone a long distance off the coast. We had run about half the distance, as we supposed, and were enjoying ourselves on deck, smoking our cigars, and getting our tackle ready for the approaching campaign against the salmon, when we were surprised by the sight of an immense shoal of grampuses, which appeared in an unusual state of excitement, and which in their gambols approached so close to our little craft, that some of the party amused themselves by firing at them with rifles. At this time we were jogging on at about five miles an hour, and must have been crossing Margaret’s Bay. I merely conjecture where we were, as we had not seen land since a short time after leaving Pennant Bay. Our attention was presently diverted from the whales and “such small deer”, by an exclamation from Dowling, our man-of-war’s-man, who was sitting to leeward, of, “Oh sirs, look here!” We were started into a ready compliance, and saw an object which banished all other thoughts, save wonder and surprise.”

“At the distance of from a hundred and fifty to two hundred yards on our starboard bow, we saw the head and neck of some denizen of the deep, precisely like those of a common snake, in the act of swimming, the head so far elevated and thrown forward by the curve of the neck, as to enable us to see the water under and beyond it. The creature rapidly passed, leaving a regular wake, from the commencement of which, to the fore part, which was out of water, we judged its length to be about eighty feet, and this within, rather than beyond the mark. We were, of course, all taken aback at the sight, and, with staring eyes and in speechless wonder, stood gazing at it for full half a minute. There could be no mistake, no delusion, and we were all perfectly satisfied that we had been favoured with a view of the “true and veritable sea-serpent”, which had been generally considered to have existed only in the brain of some Yankee skipper, and treated as a tale not much entitled to belief. Dowling’s exclamation is worthy of record. “Well, I’ve sailed in all parts of the world, and have seen rum sights too in my time, but this is the queerest thing I ever see!” and surely Jack Dowling was right. It is most difficult to give correctly the dimensions of any object in the water. The head of the creature we set down at about six feet in length, and that portion of the neck which we saw at the same; the extreme length, as before stated, at between eighty and one hundred feet. The neck in thickness equalled the bole of a moderate-sized tree. The head and neck of a dark brown or nearly black colour, streaked with white in irregular streaks. I do not recollect seeing any part of the body.”

“Such is the rough account of the sea-serpent, and all the party who saw it are still in the land of the living,--Lyster in England, Malcolm in New South Wales with his regiment, and the remainder still vegetating in Halifax.”

“W. SULLIVAN, Captain, Rifle Brigade, June 21, 1831.

“A. MACLACHLAN, Lieutenant, ditto, August 5, 1824.