110 THE SEA-SERPENT. 



Beaufort River toward the town of that name, 

 when lo and behold ! what startling spectacle then 

 met the gaze ot the astonished commander ! What 

 but the veritable sea serpent ! that tired, we may 

 suppose, of the monotony of his eastern haunts, was 

 amusing himself with an excursion to the Soutn, 

 and had looked in (en passant) on the pleasant har- 

 bor of Port Royal ! Mars and Bellona ! what did 

 the captain do ? There lay alongside cf him this 

 leviathan of sea monsters, " long as his steamboat, 

 stout as his yawl." There he lay in his intermina- 

 ble length, his bunches all visible (as may be 

 seen 011 the frontispiece of many a veracious pamph- 

 let of the day), each several bunch of the series 

 set down by authority, and verified by a Gloucester 

 affidavit ! "What did the captain do ? Why, like a 

 prudent and considerate commander, he did not do 

 what you or I, in a dare-devil spirit might have 

 done Tie did not attack the monster ! He would 

 not risk owner's property, you see ! If he attacked 

 the strange craft, and came to damage thereby, he 

 might forfeit insurance, for this risk was not put 

 down in the policy, you know ! So, giving the 

 monster a wide berth, he turned tail, blew off three 

 terrific blasts at him from his steam whistle, and 

 drove away for the town of Beaufort, as if the devil 

 himself was in his rear ! 



