Holiday enthusiastically suggested a close relationship 

 between Loch Ness Monster and Tullimonstriim. Richardson 

 replied that a time lag of 280 million years and a difference 

 in size of one foot (TM) versus 40 feet (LNM) made such 

 a relationship unlikely. 



The correspondence provided Gene Richardson with a 

 close view of the present state of the Loch Ness Monster. 

 Holiday clearly thinks it a worm. Professor Mackal of the 

 University of Chicago is inclined to the idea of a very large 

 . mollusc. There is still support for the sea snake, and other 

 vertebrate, explanations. The Adventurers' Club of Chi- 

 cago has provided support for some of the research on the 

 monster. Holiday himself says he has seen the thing four 

 times in a span of sixteen weeks at the Loch. He also men- 

 tions some strange creatures living in the Loughs of western 

 Ireland, being investigated by Captain Lionel Leslie, a 

 cousin of Sir W^inston Churchill. Holiday remains con- 

 vinced of a relationship between TM and LNM. 



In early September of 1 966, Mr. James Hooks delivered 

 the first of a series of letters which were to launch Gene 

 Richardson on the Quest for the Dancing Worm. It was 

 an airlettcr, postmarked Nairobi, Kenya, and it read: 



Dear Dr. Richards: 



1/9/66 



O. Box 30009 



Nairobi 



A recent issue of the East African Standard con- 

 tains an illustrated article describing a curious 

 prehistoric creature you discovered. This jogged 

 my memory, carrying me back some forty years, 

 of a tale I once heard that may be of some interest. 



In 1926 having been seconded to the Kings 

 (now Kenya) African Rifles from the Indian 

 Army, I was in northwestern Kenya dealing with 

 some border incidents. Passing through the 

 administrative centre of Lodwar on my return 

 journey, I took the opportunity of calling upon 

 Mr. A. M. Champion, then D. C. Turkana Dis- 

 trict. In addition to being a keen shikar. Champ- 

 ion was a naturalist of the first rank, and during 

 the two evenings I passed in his company he 

 regaled me with many a fascinating yarn about 

 the fauna of the area. Among these was one 

 about a remarkable worm reputed to live in the 

 swamp country to the southeast. The local tribes- 

 men told fantastic stories about its dancing and 

 and giving milk, if I remember correctly. Such 

 nonsense aside. Champion did give me a descrip- 

 tion of the creature which he had obtained from 

 various natives (he never succeeded in getting a 

 specimen) and this curiously enough has remained 

 in my memory when much else has been forgotten. 

 His account agreed remarkably well with the 

 illustration of your "Tully Monster," even to the 

 "paddles" and the long snout. Your mention of 

 sharp teeth, incidentally, does agree with a 



Turkana tale that the creature bites. On this 

 account they are deathly afraid of it, believing that 

 it is poisonous. But then nearly all natives believe 

 everything of the creeping or crawling kind to 

 be venomous. 



I hardly dare to suggest that a relation of your 

 extinct "Monster" still survives in one of the re- 

 motest parts of East Africa, but it might just be 

 worthwhile to pursue the matter. 



Yours faithfully 



R. G. L. Cloudesley 



(Lt.-Colonel, ret.) 



Artist's impression of Tullimonstrum in its natural habitat. (Draw- 

 ing was used as cover of the July, 1966, BI'LLETin. 



Richardson's original BuliIetin article had already been 

 picked up by a Boston newspaper for its Sunday Supple- 

 ment; now, it appeared, the story had also been used in the 

 East Africati Standard, perhaps the best known newspaper in 

 the countries of former British East Africa. We began to 

 hope it would make the Straits Times in Singapore, as well. 

 What world coverage ! As happens in many newspapers on 

 rare occasions, the facts were a little bit garbled, and the 

 author's name appeared as Dr. Richards, of Field's Mu- 

 seum. A forgivable mistake. 



Intrigued and flattered by the attention, Richardson 

 was penning a reply to Colonel Cloudesley (ret.) when a 

 second airletter arrived, postmarked Nakuru, Kenya. Na- 

 kuru is a town about a hundred miles northwest of Nairobi 

 on the Uganda Railway. Turkana District, Gene learned 

 from the Times Atlas, is more than 400 air miles north- 

 northwest of Nairobi on the Kenya-Sudan border. The 

 letter was written in an even, graceful hand suggestive of 

 the mysterious East. It read: 



P. O. Box 568 



Nakuru 



Honoured Sir: 13 September 1966 



I have now seen in an old copy of the Standard 



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