THE ROMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



narrative was a long time sceptical, as he had 

 not been so fortunate as to see this monster of 

 the deep; but after the many accounts he has 

 read, and the relations he has received from cred- 

 itable witnesses, he does not dare longer to doubt 

 the existence of the sea-serpent." 



That I may bring to a point the Norwegian 

 testimony on the subject, I add here a statement 

 made by an English gentleman, and published 

 under the signature of "Oxoniensis'' in The Times 

 for November 4, 1848, on the occasion of the 

 celebrated account of Captain M'Quhae, presently 

 to be given. 



"There does not appear," says this writer, "to 

 be a single well-authenticated instance of these 

 monsters having been seen in any southern lati- 

 tudes ; but in the north of Europe, notwithstand- 

 ing the fabulous character so long ascribed to 

 Pontoppidan's description, I am convinced that 

 they both exist and are frequently seen. During 

 three summers in Norway, I have repeatedly con- 

 versed with the natives on this subject. A par- 

 ish priest, residing on Romsdal-fjord, about two 

 days' journey south of Drontheim— an intelligent 

 person, whose veracity I have no reason to doubt 

 — gave me a circumstantial account of one which 

 he had himself seen. It rose within thirty yards 

 of the boat in which he was, and swam parallel 

 with it for a considerable time. Its head he de- 

 scribed as equalling a small cask in size, and its 

 mouth, which it repeatedly opened and shut, was 

 furnished with formidable teeth; its neck was 

 smaller, but its body— of which he supposed that 

 he saw about half on the surface of the water — 

 was not less in girth than that of a moderate- 

 sized horse. Another gentleman, in whose house I 

 stayed, had also seen one, and gave a similar 

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