THE ROMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



breezes and cloudy, ship sailing about twelve 

 miles per hour. While myself and officers were 

 standing on the lee side of the poop, looking to- 

 wards the island, we were startled by the sight of 

 a huge marine animal, which reared its head out 

 of the water within twenty yards of the ship, 

 when it suddenly disappeared for about half a 

 minute, and then made its appearance in the same 

 manner again, shewing us distinctly its neck and 

 head about ten or twelve feet out of the water. 

 Its head was shaped like a long nun buoy, and I 

 suppose the diameter to have been seven or eight 

 feet in the largest part, with a kind of scroll, or 

 tuft of loose skin, encircling it about two feet 

 from the top ; the water was discoloured for sev- 

 eral hundred feet from its head, so much so, that, 

 on its first appearance, my impression was that 

 the ship was in broken water, produced, as I sup- 

 posed, by some volcanic agency since the last time 

 I passed the island, but the second appearance 

 completely dispelled those fears, and assured us 

 that it was a monster of extraordinary length, 

 which appeared to be moving slowly towards the 

 land. The ship was going too fast to enable us 

 to reach the mast-head in time to form a correct 

 estimate of its extreme length, but from what we 

 saw from the deck, we conclude that it must have 

 been over two hundred feet long. The boatswain 

 and several of the crew who observed it from the 

 top-gallant forecastle, state that it was more than 

 double the length of the ship, in which case it 

 must have been five hundred feet; be that as it 

 may, I am convinced that it belonged to the ser- 

 pent tribe; it was of a dark colour about the 

 head, and was covered with several white spots. 

 Having a press of canvas on the ship at the time, 

 I was unable to round to without risk, and there- 

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