214 PLEASANT WA YS IN SCIENCE. 



by the captain and most of the officers and crew of this ship, 

 on her passage home from the East Indies. The Admiralty 

 inquired at once into the truth of the statement, and the 

 following is abridged from Captain M'Quhae's official reply, 

 addressed to Admiral Sir W. H. Gage. 



" Sir, In reply to your letter, requiring information as to 

 the truth of a statement published in the Times newspaper, 

 of a sea-serpent of extraordinary dimensions having been 

 seen from the Dcedalus, I have the honour to inform you 

 that at 5 p.m., August 6 last, in latitude 24 44' S., longitude 

 9 22' E., the weather dark and cloudy, wind fresh from 

 N.W., with long ocean swell from S.W., the ship on the 

 port tack, heading N.E. by N., Mr. Sartoris, midshipman, 

 reported to Lieutenant E. Drummond (with whom, and Mr. 

 W. Barrett, the master, I was walking the quarter-deck) 

 something very unusual rapidly approaching the ship from 

 before the beam. The object was seen to be an enormous 

 serpent, with head and shoulders kept about four feet 

 constantly above the surface of the sea, as nearly as we 

 could judge; at least 60 feet of the animal was on the 

 surface, no part of which length was used, so far as we 

 could see, in propelling the animal either by vertical or 

 homontal undulation. It passed quietly, but so closely 

 under our lee quarter that, had it been a man of my ac- 

 quaintance, I should easily have recognized his features with 

 the naked eye. It did not, while visible, deviate from its 

 course to the S.W., which it held on at the pace of from 12 

 to 15 miles per hour, as if on some determined purpose. 

 The diameter of the serpent was from 15 to 16 inches 

 behind the head, which was, without any doubt, that of a 

 snake. Its colour was a dark brown, with yellowish white 

 about the throat It did not once, while within the range 

 of view from our glasses, sink below the surface. It had no 

 fins, but something like the mane of a horse, or rather a 

 bunch of sea-weed, washed about its back. It was seen by 

 the quarter-master, the boatswain's mate, and the man at 

 the wheel, in addition to myself and the officers above- 



