250 THE GREAT SEA-SERPENT. 



a little boat, an'd its eye as large as a plate. The mea 

 were much terrified, but the monster offered them no 

 molestation." Dr. Hibbert mentions that the Great Sea- 

 Serpent has occasionally been recognised in the Shetland 

 Seas ; and specifies one which was seen off the Isle Ston- 

 ness, Vaeley Island, and Dunvossness. 



We now turn to several instances of the appearance of 

 the Sea-Serpent which have been witnessed off the coast 

 of America ; and we do so by referring first to the Report 

 published by a Committee appointed by the Linnaean So- 

 ciety of New-England, to collect all the evidence they 

 could obtain on the subject. In the month of August, 1817, 

 it was generally reported that a very singular animal, of 

 prodigious size, had been frequently seen in the Harbor 

 of Gloucester, Cape Ann, about thirty miles from Boston. 

 In general appearance, it resembled a Serpent, and was 

 said to move with astonishing rapidity. It was visible only 

 in calm arid bright weather, and floated on the surface of 

 the water, like a number of buoys following each other in 

 a line. 



In the report to which we have referred, the affidavits 

 of a great many individuals of unblemished character are 

 collected, which leaves no room to apprehend any thing 

 like deceit. They do not agree in every minute particu- 

 lar, but in regard to its great length and Snake-like form, 

 they are harmonious. The first person who makes depo- 

 sition saw it for nearly half an hour, at the distance of 

 two hundred and fifty yards. At that distance he could 

 not take in the two extremities with his glass. The 

 second witness depones, that he observed a strange marine 

 animal, which he believed to be a Serpent : it continued 

 in sight for an hour and a half, and moved through the 

 water with great rapidity, at the rate of a mile in two, or, 

 at most, three minutes. On another occasion he saw it 

 lying perfectly still, extended on the water, and displaying 

 about fifty feet of its body. The third witness judged it 



