LIFE IN THE GREAT DEPTHS 115 



itself out of water its head reached as high 

 as a mast and the body was throughout as thick 

 as a ship, compared with which it was three 

 or four times as long." It had a long, pointed 

 muzzle and spouted like a whale. On the 

 front part of its body were two great, broad 

 feet or fins and the uneven skin appeared 

 armed with scales. Otherwise it had the form 

 of a snake, especially in regard to its posterior 

 part, and when it went under the water it 

 threw itself backwards and stuck its tail out 

 of the water at a height equal to a ship's 

 length. 



This same creature, or one like it, was the 

 serpent figured by Pontoppidan and it is prob- 

 able that the worthy bishop merely copied the 

 picture in Egede's book. Owing to the vari- 

 ous accounts he investigated, Pontoppidan de- 

 cided, as have modern investigators, that there 

 were various species of sea-serpents. In fact 

 if we believe in the existence of such mon- 

 sters at all we must be convinced that there 

 are a number of strange creatures which are 

 popularly called sea-serpents. Aside from 

 the variation in size, which is of practically 



