SEA-SERPENT, the name given to gigantic animals, presumedly of serpentine form, which are believed by many naturalists to exist in the sea-depths, especially in tropical Oceans. The question of the existence of a sea-serpent has long formed one of the knotty problems of zoological science. But it seems reasonable to conclude that there exists a certain basis for the supposition that midescribed marine forms do exist in the sea-depths, and that the most reliable talcs of sea-serpents take origin from appearances of such aid. mals. Of such tales, possessing a warrantable basis of fact, and emanating from author• tative sources, that of capt. M'Quliae is one of the best known. This accmant was published in 1S48. Capt. 3.1:Quhae commanded H.M.S. Dwdalus, and encountered the ser pentine form in let. 24° 44 s., and long. 9° 20' e., and therefore iu the s. Atlantic ocean, near the tropic of Capricorn, and not very far from the coast of Africa. It was not, as in other cases, in bright and fine weather, but in dark and cloudy weather, and with a ling ocean swell. The animal was swimming rapidly, and with its head and neck above water. Capt. .1I'Quhae, in his report to the admiralty, describes it with confidence as " an enormous serpent, with head and shoulders kept about 4 ft. constantly above the surface of the sea;" and he adds: " As nearly as we could approximate by comparing it with the length of what our maintopsail-yard would show in the water, there was at the very least 60 ft. of the animal d jleur deau, no portion of which was, to.our percep. tion, used in propelling it through the water, either by vertical or horizontal undulation. It passed rapidly, but so close under our lee-quarter, that had it been a man of my acquaintance, I should have easily recognized his features with the naked eye; and it did not, either in approaching the ship or after it had passed our wake, deviate in the slightest degree from its course to the s.w.,which it held on at the pace of from 12 to 15 m. per hoar, apparently on some determined purpose. The diameter of the serpent was about 15 or 16 in. behind the head, which was, without any doubt, that of a snake; and it was never, during the 20 minutes that it continued in sight of our glasses, once below the surface of the water; its color a dark-brown, with yellowish-white about the throat.
It had no fins, but something like the mane of a horse, or rather a bunch of sea-weed, washed about its back." Regret has been very naturally expressed that capt. 3PQnhae did not bestow a on it. 'Figures prepared from a sketch by him were pub. lisped in the Illustrated Londog News, Oct. 28, 1848. About the same time, the testimony of another witness, lieut. Drummond, appeared, and was found to differ in some impor taut points from the account of the animal given by capt. M'Quhae, and the figures pub fished with his approbation, particularly in ascribing a more elongated form to the head, in the mention of a hack fin, whereas capt. 31'Quhac expressly says that no fins were seen, and in a lower estimate of tie length of‘the portion of the animal visible. Lieut. Drum mand'savo•ds are: " The appearance of its head, which, with the back flu, was the only portion of the animal visible, was long, pointed, and flattened at the top, perhaps 10 ft. in length; the upper j:iw projecting considerably; the fin was, perhaps, 20 ft. in the rear of the head, and visible occasionally; the capt. also asserted that he saw thin tail, or another fin about the same distance behind it; the upper part of the head and shoulders appeared of a dark-brown color, and beneath the under jaw a brownish-white. It pursued it sfeady and undeviating course, keeping its head horizontal with the water, and in rather a raised position, disappearing occasionally beneath a wave for 'a very brief interval, and not apparently for the purposes of respiration. It was going at tho rate of perhaps from 12 to 14 in. an hour, and when nearest was perhaps 100 yards dis tant. In fact, it gave one quite the idea of a large snake or eel." Lieut. Drummoud's account is the more worthy of regard, as it is derived from his log-book, and so gives the exact impressions of the hour, while capt. M'Quhae's was written from memory after his arrival in England. Into the discussion which arose concerning this case, it is out of our power to enter.