232 ALLEGED SEA APE. 



the following quotation from Steller is adduced : 

 Mr Steller saw on the coast of America a very 

 singular animal, which he calls a Sea- Ape. It was 

 five feet long ; the head was like a dog's ; the ears 

 were sharp and erect, and the eyes large ; there was 

 on both lips a sort of beard. The form of its body 

 was thick and round, being thickest near the head 

 and tapering to the tail, which was bifurcated, and 

 the upper lobe was the longest; the body was 

 covered with thick hair, grey on the back, and red 

 on the belly. Steller could discover neither paw nor 

 foot. It was full of frolic, and played a thousand 

 monkey tricks ; sometimes swimming on one side, 

 sometimes on the other, of the ship, looking at it with 

 great amazement. It would come so near the ship, 

 that it might be touched with a pole ; but if any one 

 stirred, it would immediately retire. It often raised 

 one-third of its body out of the water, and stood 

 erect for a considerable time ; it then suddenly darted 

 under the ship, and appeared in the same attitude on 

 the other side ; and it would repeat this manoeuvre 

 thirty times together. It would frequently bring up 

 a sea plant, not unlike a bottle gourd, which it 

 would toss about and catch again in its mouth, 

 playing numberless fantastic tricks with it."* This 

 is not the place to trace the history of this alleged 

 animal, which was more familiarly, we do not say 

 more accurately, known in the days of Steller than 

 at the present time. ^Elian gires a description of 



Pennant's Quad. TO!, ii. p. 301. 



