ii6 THE OCEAN 



no importance, sea-serpents of various colours 

 have been reported ; some had shaggy manes, 

 others long, bare necks, some had back fins, 

 some were smooth and slimy, others rough and 

 scaly, and one at least resembled a huge turtle 

 with an enormously-attenuated snake-like 

 neck. In nearly every case, however, the ob- 

 servers state that the monsters move with their 

 heads projecting from the sea, but while some 

 declare that the serpents "glide," others say 

 that they progress by "loops," or "convolu- 

 tions," by which "they draw themselves 

 through the water." 



Of course a great many of the accounts 

 may have been based on inanimate objects and 

 a vivid imagination, and in two instances 

 at least, this is known to have been the 

 case. 



The captains of the ships Brazil and Pekin 

 both reported that they met what they sup- 

 posed was a terrible sea-monster and in each 

 case they launched boats to attack the crea- 

 ture with harpoons and guns, only to discover 

 that the supposed sea-serpent was merely a 

 huge mass of seaweed, torn from its ocean bed 



