THE GREAT SEA-SERPENT. 223 



He did not credit the various tales of its speed, its 

 ferocity, and its horrific aspect which occasionally ap- 

 peared in the periodical press. But he did believe that 

 all these different stories, emanating from so many 

 different sources, must have some basis in fact, and that 

 they could not be entirely due to the imaginative power 

 of a number of independent writers. And soon after 

 arriving in America, he happened to meet with informa- 

 tion which greatly confirmed him in this view. First 

 of all he saw a skeleton, which was reported to be that 

 of the monster in question, and speaks of it as follows : 



Yesterday I saw the sea serpent ! At least, I saw his skeleton, 

 65 feet long. It has been so knocked about that only the vertebrae 

 remain, and they are in a dilapidated condition. One of them 

 was better off than the rest, and just in sufficiently good preservation 

 to prove that the beast was an eel-shaped cetacean, the spine being 

 flexible up and down, and not sideways. This accounts for the 

 appearance which has been noticed by everyone who lays claim to 



having seen the creature. Dr. W. F. L , who sailed alongside 



one of these creatures, and made a sketch of it, lives near Boston, 

 and I am going to appoint a meeting with him. 



November 23rd. Dr. L called on the 20th and showed 



me the original sketch of the sea serpent. He is going to copy it 

 for me. . . . 



November 25th. Yesterday I called on Messrs. Houghton and 

 Mifflin, the chief Boston publishers. Saw Mr. Houghton, who 

 asked me to write a paper for The Atlantic Monthly. I shall take 

 the sea serpent as the subject. 



Further information was soon forthcoming, and 

 the promised article entitled " The Trail of the Sea 

 Serpent" in due course appeared, my father stating 

 his belief that the so-called fabulous monster is in 



