24 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



printed in the " Proceedings " of that Society 

 (10th October, 1906, p. 721) : 



"At 10.15 a.m., on Thursday, 7th December, 

 1905, when in lat. 7 14' S., long. 34 25' W., in a 

 depth of from 322 to 1,340 fathoms, Meade- Waldo 

 and I saw a most extraordinary creature about 

 100 yards from the ship, and moving in the same 

 direction, but very much slower than we were 

 going. At first all that we could see was a dorsal 

 fin, about four feet long, sticking up about two feet 

 from the water ; this fin was of a brownish-black 

 colour, and much resembled a gigantic piece of 

 ribbon-seaweed. Below the water we could in- 

 distinctly see a very large brownish-black patch, 

 but could not make out the shape of the creature. 

 Every now and then the fin entirely disappeared 

 below the water. Suddenly an eel-like neck, 

 about six feet long and of the thickness of a man's 

 thigh, having a head shaped like that of a turtle, 

 appeared in front of the fin. This head and 

 neck, which were of the same colour above as the 

 fin, but of a silvery-white below, lashed up the 

 water with a curious wriggling movement. After 

 this it was so far astern of us that we could make 

 out nothing else. 



" During the next fourteen hours we went about 

 twice, and at about 2 a.m. the following day 

 (8th December), in lat. 7 19' S., long. 34 04' W., 

 the first and third mates, Mr. Simmonds and Mr. 

 Harley, who were on the bridge at the time, saw 



