THE ROMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



be some oceanic species of the eel tribe, of gigantic 

 dimensions. Our own familiar conger is found 

 ten feet in length. Certainly, Captain M'Quhae's 

 figures remind me strongly of an eel; supposing 

 the pectorals to be either so small as to be incon- 

 spicuous at the distance at which the animal was 

 seen, or to be placed more than commonly far 

 back. 



To the Reptiles, however, popular opinion has 

 pretty uniformly assigned this denizen of the sea ; 

 and his accepted title of ''sea-serpent*' sufficiently 

 indicates his zoological affinities in the estimation 

 of the majority of those who believe in him. Let 

 us, then, test his claims to be a serpent. 



The marine habit presents no difficulty. For, in 

 the Indian and Pacific Oceans, there are numerous 

 species of true snakes (Hytlrophvlte), which are 

 exclusively inhabitants of the sea. They are re- 

 ported to remain much at the surface, and even to 

 sleep so soundly there that the passing of a ship 

 through a group sometimes fails to awaken 

 them. 



None of these are known to exceed a few feet in 

 length, and, so far as we know, none of them 

 have been found in the Atlantic. It is remarkable, 

 however, that a record exists of a serpent having 

 been seen in the very midst of the North Atlantic. 

 The Zoologist (p. 1911) has published a communi- 

 cation signed, "8. H. Saxby, Bonchurch, Isle of 

 Wight," containing an extract from the log-book 

 of a very near relative, dated August 1, 1786, on 

 board the ship General Coole, in latitude 42° 44' 

 N., and longitude 23° 10 W. ; that is, a little to 

 the northeast of the Azores. It is as follows :— 

 "A very large snake passed the ship; it appeared 

 to be about sixteen or eighteen feet in length, and 

 three or four feet in circumference ; the back of a 

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