184 THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 
respect of its colour from the tongue of other snakes, which is 
generally black. The water-snakes, which are frequently 
beautifully banded, and as thick as a man’s leg, are said to be 
highly venomous. Captain Cook, in one of his voyages, “ saw 
abundance of water-snakes, one of which was coming up the 
side of our ship, and our men beat it off. The Spaniards 
affirm there is no cure for such as are bit by them; and one 
of our blacks happened to fall under that misfortune, and died 
notwithstanding the utmost care was taken by our surgeons to 
recover him.” 
Such are the real sea-snakes as they are met with by ordinary 
travellers, while the great sea-serpent, which from time to time 
dives up in the columns of the newspapers, must, until better 
evidence be brought forward for its existence, be banished to 
those dim regions peopled by unicorns, griffins, krakens, and 
tailed men. 
Olaus Magnus, it is true, speaks of the great sea-snake as if 
it made its daily appearance on the Norwegian coast. Accord- 
ing to him, it inhabits the rocky caves near Bergen, and 
wanders forth at night, particularly by moonshine, to commit its 
depredations by sea and land; as calves and pigs seem to suit 
its appetite as well as fishes and lobsters. The body is covered 
with scales, a long mane flows along the neck, and the head, 
furnished with two glistening eyes, rises like a mast out of the 
water. It often attacks ships, and picks up seamen from the 
deck. This description may serve as an example of the bold- 
ness with which authors have sometimes asserted the most 
extravagant things. 
The Greenland missionary Egede tells us in his Journal, that 
“on the 6th of July, 1734, there appeared a very large and 
frightful sea-monster, which raised itself so high out of the 
water that its head reached above our main-top. It had a 
long sharp snout, very broad flappers, and spouted water like a 
whale. The body seemed to be covered with scales, the skin 
was uneven and wrinkled, and the lower part was formed like a 
snake. After some time the creature plunged backwards into 
the water, and then turned its tail up above the surface, a 
whole ship-length from the head.” 
It is hard to disbelieve so pious and excellent a man, whose 
excited fancy no doubt gave extraordinary forms and dimensions 
