The Sea-Serpent 103 



which was presented by the distance from land. Sir Charles 

 Lyell remarked that, when visiting America in 1845, he had 

 heard of an appearance of the sea-serpent, and Mr. Dawson, 1 

 at his request, had collected the evidence of several witnesses. 2 

 In the same year an unusual monster, according to a 

 published account, had terrified some Norwegian fishermen. 

 These stories accorded so well with Pontoppidan's 3 account 

 of the sea-serpent that it and they must refer to the same 

 creature as that which visited the coast of New England be- 

 tween the years 1815 and 1825, chasing shoals of herring and 

 mackerel into the harbours of New England and sometimes 

 coming very near to the beach. A good view was obtained 

 of it from the shore, its length being estimated as from 

 60 to 90 feet, and its appearance described. It raised 

 its head occasionally several feet out of the water, had a 

 mane, swam very rapidly, and when shot at dived and 

 re-appeared at a long distance. 4 He thought the same 

 creature had terrified the crews of fishing boats in the 

 Hebrides in 1808, which was afterwards cast ashore on the 

 Island of Stronsa (Orkneys), and the damaged skeleton 

 was said to have measured 60 feet. The head was sent to 

 Dr. Barclay in Edinburgh, but after his death it unfortunately 

 disappeared. The College of Surgeons possessed some of 

 the vertebrae, which, however, were said to belong to some 

 kind of shark. 



1 Afterwards Sir W. Dawson. 



* One group had seen a snake-like animal in August, 1845, at Merigomish 

 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, swimming, nearly aground, within 200 feet 

 of the beach, and estimated its length as 100 feet. It was slender in 

 proportion to its length. A similar creature had frightened fishermen in 

 that gulf in the course of the summer, and in October, 1844, had swum 

 slowly past Arisaig, near the east end of Nova Scotia. An observer, who 

 said he was within 40 yards of it, estimated its length as 60 feet. In 

 February, 1846, a snake-like animal was seen from the deck of a steamer 

 off the coast of Virginia. Lyell also mentions an earlier occurrence in 

 August, 1817, and for several successive years. In the harbour of Glou- 

 cester, Mass., some observers were only 10 yards from it, and one even 

 fired a shot at its head ; on which it dived and rose about 100 yards away. 

 Its estimated length was 80 to 90 feet. 



3 Born 1698, died 1764. The account was published in 1750. 



* See Second Visit to the United States, ch. viii. vol. i. pages 131-157. 1849. 



