STRANGE SEA CREATURES, 213 



appearance which I have described of a horn on the front of 

 the head. This was doubtless what was observed by Captain 

 Tappan to be the tongue, thrown in an upright position 

 from the mouth, and having the appearance which I have 

 given to it One of the revenue cutters, whilst in the 

 neighbourhood of Cape Ann, had an excellent view of him 

 at a few yards' distance ; he moved slowly, and upon the 

 appearance of the vessel sank and was seen no more." 



Fifteen years later, in May 1833, five British officers 

 Captain Sullivan, Lieutenants Maclachlan and Malcolm of 

 the Rifle Brigade, Lieutenant Lyster of the Artillery, and 

 Mr. Snee of the Ordnance when cruising in a small yacht 

 off Margaret's Bay, not far from Halifax, " saw the head and 

 neck of some denizen of the deep, precisely like those of a 

 common snake, in the act of swimming, the head so elevated 

 and thrown forward by the curve of the neck as to enable us 

 to see the water under and beyond it." They judged its 

 length to exceed 80 feet " There could be no mistake nor 

 delusion, and we were all perfectly satisfied that we had 

 been favoured with a view of the ' true and veritable sea- 

 serpent,' which had been generally considered to have 

 existed only in the brain of some Yankee skipper, and 

 treated as a tale not entitled to belief." Bowling, a man-of- 

 war's man they had along with them, made the following 

 unscientific but noteworthy comment : " Well, I've sailed in 

 all parts of the world, and have seen rum sights too in my 

 time, but this is the queerest thing I ever see." "And 

 surely," adds Captain Sullivan, "Jack Bowling was right" 

 The description of the animal agrees in all essential respects 

 with previous accounts, but the head was estimated at about 

 six feet in length considerably larger, therefore, than a 

 horse's head. 



But unquestionably the account of the sea-serpent which 

 has commanded most attention was that given by the captain, 

 officers, and crew of the British frigate Dcedalus, Captain 

 M'Quhae, in 1848. The Times published on October 9, 

 1848, a paragraph stating that the sea-serpent had been seen 



