In 1875 a battle between a sea-serpent and a whale was viewed from the deck of the good ship Pauline of London, capt. Dreyer, when proceeding with a cargo of coals Shields to Zanzibar, destined for her majesty's ship London. When the Pauline reached the region of the trade- winds and equatorial currents, she was carried out of her course, and after a severe starlit, found herself pff cape Roque, where several sperm-whales were seen playing about her. While the crew were watching them, they suddenly beheld a sight that filled every man on board with terror. Starting straight from the bosom of the, deep, a gigantic serpent rose and wound itself twice in two mighty coils round the largest of the %vhales, which it proceeded to crush in genuine boa-constrictor fashion. In vain did the hapless whale struggle, lash the water into foam, and even bellow, for all its efforts were as nothing against the supernatural powers of its dreadful adversary. whose strength may be further imagined, from the fact that the ribs of the ill-fated fish were distinctly heard cracking one after the other with a report like that of a small cannon.
Of no less a ship than her majesty's yacht the Osborne, the capt. and officers, in June, 1877, forwarded an official report to the admiralty containing an account of a sea-ser pent's appearance off the coast of Sicily on the 2d of that month. " The time was five. in the afternoon. The sea was exceptionally smooth, and the officers were pro vided with good telescopes. The monster had a smooth skin, devoid of scales, a bullet shaped head, and a face like an alligator. 'It was of immense length, and along the back was a ridge of fins abort ft. in length and six ft. apart. It moved slowly, and was seen by all the ship's officers." This account was further supplemented by a sketch, from the pencil of lieut. W. P. lIynes of the Osborne, who to the above description adds, that the fins were of irregular height, and about 40 ft. in extent, and " as we were passing through the water at ten and a half knots, I could only get a view of it ' end on.'" It was about 15 or 20 ft. broad at the shoulders, with flappers or fins that seemed to have a semi-revolving motion. "From
the top of the head to the part of the back where it became immersed, I should consider about 50 ft., and that seemed about a third of the whole length. All this part was smooth, resembling a seal." These instances are but examples of the many cases, in which narratives of the most circumstantial character have been recorded, regarding the appearance of serpentine ani mals, usually in tropical seas.
As will readily be admitted, the chief point at issue is that of the zoological determi nation of the forms reported to have been seen. Gigantic cuttlefishes, now proved to have a veritable existence, might in mat:1y cases imitate an elongated marine form swim ming near the surface of the sea. Certain fishes, such as the basking shark (selache maxima) would also under certain circumstances appear as unusual marine forms; and as Dr. Andrew Wilson, of the Edinbugh medical school, has pointed out, the well-known tape fishes (gyametrus Banksii) would very accurately reproduce the features of a marine Snake, especially NI hen these fishes, as is well known, are developed to an immense size. The marine snakes or hydrophidce of the Indian ocean would. also serve to-personate the "great unknown," if largely developed; and indeed, as Dr. Wilson has pointecilhout, in the idea of the immense development of ordinary marine animals may be found a proba ble clue to the sea-serpent mystery. Cases of mere serpentine appearances assumed by certain animals are not to be confused with cases in which a single animal has presented a serpentine aspect. Flocks of shags swimming close to the water's edge might personate a sea-serpent swimming along the top of the water (see .Nature, Sept., 1878); but a flock of birds would have been readily detected by rapt. M'Quhae, and by many other observ ers who have beheld the unknown form from a near distance. The reader who wishes for a full discussion of the scientific aspects of this question may consult a paper entitled " The Sea-Serpents Of Science," in D. Andrew Wilson's volume, Leisure Time Studies (Chatto & Windus, London, 1878).