THE KRAKEN. 333 



twelve noon got abreast of it, distant about a mile 

 to leeward. On observation at this time it was 

 discovered to be the head and snout of a great fish 

 swimming to windward ; and though an attempt 

 was made to get closer, it could not be accomplished, 

 because the fish, without much apparent exertion, 

 kept swimming as fast as the vessel sailed. Im- 

 mediately above the water its eye was seen like a 

 large deep hole. That part of the head which wa^ 

 above the water measured about twelve feet, and its 

 breadth or width twenty-five feet. The snout or 

 trunk was about fifty feet long, and the sea occa- 

 sionally rippled over one part, leaving other parts 

 quite dry and uncovered. The colour of the parts 

 seen was green, with a light and dark shade ; and 

 the skin was ribbed, as ^presented in the sketch at 

 the close of this article. 



Somewhat more than fifty years ago, much won- 

 der was excited throughout Scotland, and more 

 especially on its Eastern coasts, by the alleged ap- 

 pearance of the Kraken at no great distance from 

 the shore. Connected with this, a notice will be 

 found in the second volume of the Transactions of 

 the Royal Society of Edinburgh, in form of a letter 

 read to that learned body from the late John R. 

 L'Amy, Esq., one of the justices of the peace for 

 the county of Forfar, and Mr John Guild, one of 

 the magistrates of Dundee, including an affidavit 

 made before them by the master and mate of a Nor- 

 wegian ship. According to these respectable indi- 

 viduals, the supposed Kraken was seen on Sunday, 



