THE GREAT SEA-SERPENT 25 



a great commotion in the water. At first they 

 thought it was a rock a-wash about 100 to 150 

 yards away on the port side, just aft of the bridge, 

 but they soon made out that it was something 

 moving and going slightly faster than the ship, 

 which at that time was doing about 8J knots. 

 Mr. Simmonds hailed the deck, and one of the crew, 

 who was on the look-out, saw it too. Although 

 there was a bright moon at the time, they could 

 not make out anything of the creature itself, 

 owing to the amount of wash it was making, but 

 they say that from the commotion in the water 

 it looked as if a submarine was going along just 

 below the surface. They both say most em- 

 phatically that it was not a whale, and that it was 

 not blowing, nor have they ever seen anything 

 like it before. After they had watched it for several 

 minutes, it ' sounded ' off the port bow, and they 

 saw no more of it." 



This creature was an example, I consider, of 

 what has been so often reported, for want of a 

 better name, as the " great sea-serpent." I feel 

 sure, however, that it was not a reptile that we 

 saw, but a mammal. It is, of course, impossible 

 to be certain of this, but the general appearance of 

 the creature, especially the soft, almost rubber- 

 like fin, gave one this impression. It is often 

 said that, if there were such a monster, remains of 

 it would have been found long ago, but this is not 

 necessarily so. Supposing the " sea-serpent " 



