SUMMARY OF BRITISH TESTIMONY. 345 



officers under the crown, I have adduced the following 

 testimonies : — 



1. That of five British oflBcers, who saw the animal at 

 Halifax, N.S., in 1833. 



2. That of Captain M'Quhse and his officers, who saw 

 it from the Dcedalus in 1848. 



3. That of Captain Beechey, who saw something similar 

 from the Blossom. 



4. That of Mr Morries Stirling, who saw it in a Nor- 

 wegian fjord. 



5. That of Mr Davidson, who saw it from the Royal 

 Saxon, in 1829. 



6. That of. Captain Steele and others, who saw it from 

 the Barham, in 1852. 



7. That of Captain Harrington and his officers, who 

 saw it from the Castilian, in 1857. 



Carefully comparing these independent narratives, we 

 have a creature possessing the following characteristics : 



1. The general form of a serpent (1, 2, 3,* 4, 5, 6, 7). 



2. Great length, say above sixty feet, (1, 2, 5, 6, 7i*). 

 S. Head considered to resemble that of a serpent, (1, 2, 



5, 6, 7 1). 



4. Neck from twelve to sixteen inches in diameter, 

 (1, § 2, 4, 5). 



* Captain Beecliey's view was too momentary to be of mucTi value; 

 the object lie saw he compares to the trunk of a tree, which, so far as 

 it goes, agrees with the serpent shape. 



+ From two hundred to five hundred feet (7). 



X " Like a long nun-buoy" (7). 



§ " That of a moderate-sized tree" (1). 



