224 PLEASANT WA YS 7N SCIENCE. 



together with Mr. Boyd, of Peterhead, near Aberdeen, one 

 of the passengers, who acted as steersman under the direction 

 of the captain, they approached the monster, Captain Herri- 

 man standing on the bow of the boat, armed with a harpoon 

 to commence the onslaught The combat, however, was 

 not attended with the danger which those on board appre- 

 hended ; for on coming close to the object it was found to 

 be nothing more than an immense piece of sea-weed, 

 evidently detached from a coral reef and drifting with the 

 current, which sets constantly to the westward in this latitude, 

 and which, together with the swell left by the subsidence 01 

 the gale, gave it the sinuous, snake-like motion." 



A statement was published by Captain Harrington in the 

 Times of February, 1858, to the effect that from his ship 

 Casttfian, then distant ten miles from the north-east end of 

 St. Helena, he and his officers had seen a huge marine 

 animal within 20 yards of the ship ; that it disappeared for 

 about half a minute, and then made its appearance in the 

 same manner again, showing distinctly its neck and head 

 about 10 or 12 feet out of the water. "Its head was shaped 

 like a long nun-buoy," proceeds Captain Harrington, "and 

 I suppose the diameter to have been 7 or 8 feet in the 

 largest part, with a kind of scroll, or tuft, of loose skin 

 encircling it about 2 feet from the top ; the water was dis- 

 coloured for several hundred feet from its head. . . . 

 From what we saw from the deck, we conclude that it must 

 have been over 200 feet long. The boatswain and several 

 of the crew who observed it from the top-gallant forecastle,* 

 (query, cross-trees ?) state that it was more than double the 

 length of the ship, in which case it must have been 500 feet 

 Be that as it may, I am convinced that it belonged to the 

 serpent tribe ; it was of a dark colour about the head, and 

 was covered with several white spots." 



This immediately called out a statement from Captain F 



* This nautical expression is new to me. Top-gallants fore, main, 

 rind miren I know, and forecastle I know, but the top-gallant fore, 

 castle I do not know. 



