SEA-SERPENT 



SEA-SICKNESS 



283 



after the other with a report like that of a small 

 cannon. 



Of no less a ship than H.M. yacht Osborne 

 the captain and officers in June 1877 forwarded an 

 official report to the Admiralty containing au 

 account of a sea-serpent's ap|>earance oft' the coast 

 of Sicily on the 2d of that month. ' The time was 

 five o'clock in the afternoon. The sea was excep- 

 tionally smooth, and the officers were provided 

 with good telescopes. The monster had a smooth 

 skin, devoid of scales, a bullet-shaped head, and 

 a face like an alligator. It was of immense 

 length, and alonjj the back was a ridge of fins 

 aliout fifteen feet in length and sir. feet apart. It 

 7noved slowly, and was seen by all the ship's officers. ' 

 This account was further supplemented by a 

 sketch from the pencil of Lieutenant W. P. Hynes 

 of the Osborne, wno to the aliove description adds 

 that the fins were of irregular height, and alxmt 

 40 feet in extent ; but, ' as we were passing through 

 the water at lOi knots, I could only get a view of 

 it "end on."' It was about 15 or 20 feet broad at 

 the shoulders, with flappers or fins that seemed 

 to have a semi-revolving motion. ' From the 

 top of the bead to the part of the back where 

 it became immersed I should consider about 50 

 feet, and that seemed about a third of the whole 

 length. All this part was smooth, resembling a seal.' 

 These instances are but examples of the many 

 cases in which narratives of the most circum- 

 stantial character have been recorded regarding 

 the appearance of serpentine animals, usually in 

 tropical seas. 



As will readily be admitted, the chief point at 

 issue is that of the zoological determination of the 

 forms reported to have l>een seen. Gigantic cuttle- 

 fishes, now proved to have a veritable existence, 

 might in many cases imitate an elongated marine 

 form, swimming near the surface of the sea. It 

 is by far the most plausible theory of sea-serpent 

 existence to suppose that most of the animals 

 described are reallv giant cuttle-fishes of the Loligo 

 or squid type. These creatures may attain a 

 lengtn of 40 feet or more inclusive of their tentacles, 

 and as they swim along the surface of the sea buck- 

 wards the tail-fin mi^ht well be mistaken for a 

 serpentine bead and its fin or ridge, while the 

 tentacles and wash produced by the animal's move- 

 ments would impart an exaggerated length to the 

 body. Even the incident already described in the 

 case of the Pauline might be explicable on the 

 theory that giant cuttle-fishes attacked the whales, 

 and that the so-called serpents were really the arms 

 or tentacles of the squids. As regards the Pauline 

 case, it may Ix; remarked that the latitude in 

 which the incident occurred was one most unlikely 

 for any sea-snakes to lie found. Certain fishes. 

 too, such as the Basking Shark (Selacke maxima), 

 would also under certain circumstances appear as 

 unusual marine forms ; and, as the present writer 

 has pointed out, the well-known Tape-fishes (Gym- 

 nelrtu banksii) and other Ribbon-fishes would very 

 accurately reproduce the features of a marine 

 snake, especially when these fishes, as sometimes 

 happens, have grown to an immense size. The 

 marine snakes or Hydrophid.-e of the Indian Ocean 

 would also serve to personate the 'great unknown ' 

 if unusually large. It seems certain that in the 

 immense development of ordinary marine animals 

 may l>e found a probable clue to the sea-serpent 

 mystery. Mr P. H. Gosse entertained the notion that 

 it might be possible to explain certain sea-serpent 

 stories on the theory that some of the gigantic 

 marine reptiles with whose fossils we are well ac- 

 quainted might still be in existence in the Ma-depth*, 

 and occasionally make their appearance at the sur- 

 face of the ocean. Cases of mere serpentine appear- 

 ances assumed by certain animals are not to be 



confused with cases in which a single animal has 

 presented a serpentine aspect. Flocks of the birds 

 known as shags swimming close to the water's edge 

 might personate a sea-serpent swimming along the 

 top of the water ; but a Hock of birds would have 

 been readily detected by Captain M'Quhae, and 

 by many other observers who have beheld the 

 unknown form from a relatively near distance. 



Apsirt altogether from these historical or semi- 

 historical examples, the sea-serpent has had con- 

 tinuous existence in folklore everywhere, whether 

 among the Eskimo, Fijians, Japanese, Icelanders, 

 Basques, Red Indians, or Chinese. The notion is 

 natural and easy of belief, ami the human desire 

 for wonders is sufficient to account for any belief. 



See C. Gould, Mi/tlnml Monttcn (1886); F. S. Basgett, 

 Leijtndt and Suptritii ion* of the Sea (Chicago, 1880); 

 J. Gibson, Montteri of the Sea ( 1886) ; an article in the 

 present writer's Leiture-time Studies ( 1884 ) ; and Oude- 

 mans, The Great Sea-Serpent (1893). 



Seashore, or land bordering on the sea, 

 belongs partly to the crown, and the public have 

 certain rights in relation thereto. The soil or pro- 

 perty in the foreshore (land between high and low 

 water mark) is vested in the crown, and the limit 

 on the land side is defined to be the medium line 

 of high-water of all the tides in the course of the 

 year, or the height of the medium tides in each 

 quarter of a lunar revolution during the whole year. 

 But though the crown is priuul facie the owner of 

 the seashore, the owner of the adjoining manor 

 has sometimes a grant of it, and he may prove this 

 grant by ancient use such as gathering seaweed, 

 &c. The public have a right to walk on that part 

 of the shore vested in the crown, but they have 

 mi right to trespass on the adjacent lands in order 

 to get at the shore, so that it is only where a high- 

 way leads to the shore, or the public land from sea- 

 va'rd, that the right can be made available. Thus 

 it has been decided that the public have no legal 

 right to trespass on the adjoining lands in order 

 to get to the shore for tin; purpose of bathing. 

 The public have a right to fish on the seashore 

 if they get legal access to it, and may take all 

 floating fish, but not oysters or mussels which 

 adhere to the rock, if the soil Wongs to an in- 

 dividual. The public have no right to gather sea- 

 weed or shells, though, as regards the latter, it 

 is of so little consequence that nobody prevents 

 them. Nor have fishermen a right to go on that 

 part of the seashore which is private property to 

 dig sand for ballast, or to dry their nets, or similar 

 purposes, though in a few cases local customs per- 

 mitting a limited class of persons (e.g. the fisher- 

 men of a township) to exercise such rights have 

 been held valid, in Scotland the right to the sea- 

 shore is also vested in the crown ; when a crown 

 grant gives land bounded by the seashore, this 

 is held to give to the grantee the foreshore also. 

 See Stuart A. Moore, lln,tni-i/ and Law of the Fore- 

 shore (3d ed. 188H); and BEACHES (RAISED), DE- 

 NUDATION, DERELICT, DUIFT, SAND, UPHEAVAL. 



Sea-Sickness is a variety of vomiting deserving 

 of special notice. It is often preceded by premoni- 

 tory symptoms, which appear almost immediately 

 after a susceptible person is exposed to the motion 

 of rolling water in a vessel or boat, and are as 

 distressing as the vomiting itself. Amongst these 

 symptoms may be mentioned vertigo and headache, 

 with a peculiar feeling of sinking and distress about 

 the pit of the stomach. Vomiting, however, in 

 general, soon comes on, accompanied with convul- 

 sive heaving of the stomach, and such an inde- 

 scribable feeling of prostration as to render the 

 patient utterly regardless of what is going on 

 around him, and almost indifferent to life. More- 

 over, pallor and cold sweat are commonly present 



