188G.] NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIEXCES. 1G7 



nearly abreast of him. He occasionally withdrew himself under 

 water. The time he kept under was, on an average, about eight 

 minutes. Mrs. Prince and the coachman, having better eyes 

 than myself, were of great assistance to me in marking the pro- 

 gress of the animal. They would say: 'He is now turning,' 

 aud by the aid of the glass I could distinctly see this movement. 

 I had seven distinct views of him from Long Beach, and at some 

 of them the animal was not more than a hundred yards distant. 



After we had been at the Beach about two hours, the animal 

 disappeared. 



On passing to the other Beach, called Little Nahant, homeward, 

 we were again gratified beyond even what we saw in the other 

 bay, which I conclude he had left in consequence of the number 

 of boats in the offing in pursuit of him. We had here more than 

 a dozen different views of him. Once he was so near as to cause 

 the exclamation: ' Oh, see his glistening eye ! ' 



One of the most trustworthy witnesses as to the proportions 

 and movements was Mr. John Marston, of Swampscott, near 

 Lynn and Nahant. He Judged the creature to be over eighty 

 feet long. He says: " I saw the whole body, not his wake." The 

 sea was calm, and the creature very near to spectators. 



One of the survivors of this remarkable period, Mr. N". D. 

 Chase, of Lynn, Mass., kindly gave the writer a written statement 

 of his view of the creature at this time, which was in August, 

 1819. He ' saw him repeatedly at a distance of not more than 

 one hundred yards.^ " 



"We have now to add another and most im]iortant element to 

 this history — the fact of the actual finding of a carcass on the 

 Atlantic shore, with proportions similar to those described in the 

 above statements. 



During the spring of 1885, the Eev. Mr. Grordon, President of 

 the United States Humane Society, while visiting the Florida 

 coast, chanced to be a passenger on a small sloop whose anchor 

 became " foul" by entanglement with some great carcass. After 

 considerable delay, the creature was disintangled, and towed in 

 shore. 



Mr. Gordon immediately proceeded to have the carcass hauled 

 upon the beach, aud placed beyond high-water mark. The more 

 important features were carefully noted by Mr. Gordon, and we 

 have to express acknowledgments for his very courteous com- 

 munication of the facts as he saw them. 



The entire length of the carcass was forty-two feet. Its diam- 

 eter or greatest depth through the thorax was less than two feet. 

 The whole was in the condition of maceration, the integuments 

 being entirely absent, the flesh tough, aud of a pinkish hue. 



The ribs were distinctly made out, and to the observer the en- 



