428 SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED. 



about a quarter of a mile from the shore, I saw what I at first thought 

 was a very long galley, very low in the water ; but as it came towards 

 and passed in front of us I saw it was that which the boys had pro- 

 nounced it to be a veritable sea monster. It was swimming on the 

 surface, against the tide, at the rate of from twenty-five to thirty miles 

 an hour, and had exactly the appearance represented in one of the 

 illustrated newspapers a few months since. I should say that about forty 

 or fifty feet of it was visible, and I counted seven dorsal fins, if such they 

 were, standing up from its back. It continued in view for six or seven 

 minutes, and by the end of that time had got so far on its course to the 

 eastward that the eye could no longer follow it. A small boat was 

 about a mile and a half outside of it, and those on board may have 

 seen it also, for I observed that shortly after it had passed the boat's 

 head was turned towards the shore. I hope that although it was rather 

 early in the morning my account of it may be confirmed ; but whether 

 it be or not, the fact remains the same. There was no possibility of 

 mistake. The sun was shining brilliantly, the sea was smooth, and the 

 creature was, as I have before said, not more than a quarter of a mile 

 from the beach. I took the address of the boy who first saw it, which 

 with my card I enclose ; but I decline to allow my name to be pub- 

 lished, for if the assertions of the officers and crew of one of Her 

 Majesty's frigates were considered unworthy of credit, or at any rate 

 explained away, I can hardly expect that mine will meet with greater 

 respect." 



The above description, written twenty-seven years ago, 

 conveys clearly enough the impression made upon my mind 

 at the time, but it is characterised by an unwise impetuosity 

 of assertion, and an unwarranted assurance of infallibility. 

 I hope that, with greater experience, I should write with 

 less positiveness and more caution now. For, by the irony 

 of fate, I, who was so indignant by anticipation at the very 

 thought of a suggestion of inaccuracy, or of the reasonable- 

 ness of explanation, have had to condemn my own observa- 

 tion as erroneous, and to perceive that others, with equal 

 sincerity of intention, may have been similarly mistaken. 

 " No possibility of mistake," forsooth ! I now know that 

 the erect dorsal fins that I saw belonged to " long-nosed 



