A GREAT SEA- WEED. 839 



captain ^Yas surveying the calm, heavy, rippleless swell of 

 the sea through his telescope, the ship at the same tiine 

 heading N.N.W., he perceived something right abeam, 

 about half a mile to the westward, stretched alono- the 

 water to the length of about twenty-five or thirty feet, and 

 perceptibly moving from the ship with a steady, sinuous 

 motion. The head, which seemed to be lifted several feet 

 above the waters, had something resembling a mane, run- 

 ning down to the floating portion, and within about six 

 feet of  the tail it forked out into a sort of double fin. 

 Having read at Colombo the account of the monster said 

 to have been seen by Captain M'Quhae in nearly the same 

 latitude, Mr Herriman was led to suppose that he had 

 fallen in w^ith the same animal, or one of the genus ; he 

 immediately called his chief officer, Mr Long, with seve- 

 ral of the passengers, who, after surveying the object for 

 some time, came to the unanimous conclusion that it 

 must be the sea-serpent seen by Captain M'Quhse. As 

 the Brazilian was making no headway, Mr Herriman, 

 determining to bring all doubts to an issue, had a boat 

 lowered down, and taking two hands on board, together 

 with Mr Boyd of Peterhead, near Aberdeen, one of the 

 passengers, who acted as steersman under the direction of 

 the captain, they approached the monster. Captain Herri- 

 man standing on the bow of the boat armed with a har- 

 poon, to commence the onslaught. The combat, however, 

 was not attended with the danger which those on board 

 apprehended, for on coming close to the object it was 

 found to be nothing more than an immense piece of sea- 



