160 Bigelow on the Sea Serpent. 
water, and he depressed it gradually, to within six or eight 
inches as he moved along. I could always see under his 
chin, which appeared to hollow underneath, or to curve 
downward. His motion was at that time very slow along 
the Beach, inclining towards the shore ; he at first moved 
his head from side to side as if to look about him. I did 
not see his eyes, though I have no doubt I could have seen 
them if I had thought to attend to this. His bunches ap- 
peared to me not altogether uniform in size, and as he mov- 
ed along some appeared to be depressed, and others brought 
above the surface, though I could not perceive any motion 
in them. My next object was to ascertain his length. For 
this purpose I directed my eye to several whale boats at 
about the same distance, one of which was beyond him, and 
by comparing the relative length, I calculated that the dis- 
tance from the animal’s head to the last protuberance I had 
noticed, would be equal to about five of those boats. I felt 
persuaded by this examination that he could not be less than 
eighty feet long ; as he approached the shore and came be- 
tween me and a point of land which projects from the eas- 
tern end of the beach, I had another means of satisfying my- 
selfon this point. . 
After I had viewed him thus attentively for about four or 
five minutes, he sunk gradually into the water and disap- 
eared ; he afterwards again made his appearance for a mo- 
ment at a short distance. 
‘My first reflection after the animal was gone, was, that 
the idea I had received from the description you gave of 
the animal you saw at Gloucester, in 1817, was perfectly 
realized in this instance ; and that I had discovered nothing 
which you had not before described. The most authentic 
testimony given of his first appearance there seemed to me 
remarkably correct ; and I felt as if the appearance of this 
monster had been already familiar to me. 
After remaining some two or three hours on the beach, 
without again seeing him, I returned towards Nahant ; and 
in crossing the small beach had another good view of him, 
for a longer time, but at a greater distance. At this time 
he moved more rapidly, causing a white foam under the 
chin, and a long wake, and his protuberances had a more 
uniform appearance. At this time he must have been see" 
