'THE GREAT SEA SERPENT: 257 



anything about the sea serpent has hitherto been received ; and to show the 

 genuine character of the story, it has been placed judicially on record. The 

 following is a copy of the declaration, which wll be regarded as unprecedented 

 in its way : — 



' ^^ Borough of Liverpool, in the County Palatine of Lancaster, to wit. 



' "We, the undersigned, captain, officers, and crew of the barque Pauline (of 

 London), of Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, in the United Kingdom of 

 Great Britain and Ireland, do solemnly and sincerely declare that, on July 8, 

 1875, in lat. 5° 13' S., long. 35° W., we observed three large sperm whales, 

 and one of them was gripped round the body with two turns of what appeared 

 to be a huge serpent. The head and tail appeared to have a length beyond the 

 coils of about thirty feet, and its girth eight or nine feet. The serpent whirled 

 its victim round and round for about fifteen minutes, and then suddenly dragged 

 the whale to the bottom, head first. 



* ** George Drevar, Master. 



* " Horatio Thompson. 



* "John Henderson Landells. 



* "OwExN Baker. 



' '* William Lewarn. 



* "Again, on July 13, a similar serpent was seen about two hundred yards off, 

 shooting itself along the surface, head and neck being out of the water several 

 feet. This was seen only by the captain and one ordinary seaman, whose 

 signatures are affixed. 



' "George Drevar, Master. 



' "A few moments after, it was seen elevated some sixty feet perpendicularly in 



the air, by the chief officer and the following able seamen, whose signatures 



are also affixed : — 



' " Horatio Thompson. 



* "William Lewarn. 



' " And we make this solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the same to 

 be true, and by virtue of the provisions of an Act made and passed in the 

 sixth year of the reign of his late Majesty, intituled an Act to repeal an Act 

 of the present session of Parliament, intituled an Act for the more effectual 

 abolition of oaths and affirmations, taken and made in various departments 

 of the State, and to substitute declarations in lieu thereof, and for the more 

 entire suppression of voluntary and extra-judicial oaths and affidavits, and to 

 make other provisions for the abolition of unnecessary oaths. 



' "George Drevar, Master. 



* "William Lewarn, Stezvard. 



* "Horatio Thompson, Chief Officer. 



' "John Henderson Landells, Second Officer. 



* "Owen Baker. 



R 



