SEA-SERPENTS 409 



on rocks and islands all round the North Pacific from 

 California to the Kuriles. A protected colony on the 

 " seal rocks " forms one of the sights of San Fran- 

 cisco. They are huge, sluggish animals, sprawling 

 with difficulty on the ground, and are generally seen 

 basking in shallow water, or lying motionless on the 

 sand. I once saw very large numbers of them on the 

 sandy beaches of Boguslov, the remarkable volcanic 

 island near Unalaska which appeared within the 

 memory of man, and which so continually changes its 

 shape and outline that no two successive visits bring 

 away identical views. While all these many species 

 are well known to naturalists and well represented in 

 museums, the traveller may still do good service by 

 taking notes of their habits, and by photographing 

 them under natural conditions. 



III. Sea-Serpents. 



No epitome, however short, of the creatures that 

 the mariner may hope to witness would be complete 

 without mention of the most famous and mysterious 

 ol them all, the great " sea-serpent "; but he is not the 

 only " sea-serpent/'* 



Sea-serpents, or sea-snakes, are common enough, 

 and constitute the family Hydrophidae. These snakes 

 live a purely aquatic life (with one exception), and 

 frequent the tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific 

 Oceans. A single species lives in a fresh-water lake 

 in the Philippines. When removed from the water 

 they appear to be blind, and soon die. They are all 



* See, in particular, Henry Lee, " Sea Monsters Unmasked," 

 in the " International Fisheries Exhibition Handbooks," 

 vol. iii., pp. 321-440, London, 1884 ; and A. C. Oudemans, 

 " The Great Sea Serpent," Leiden and London, 1892. 



