96 NATUliE STUDIES. 



gigantic frog. The head, of a pale yellowish colour, 

 was about twelve feet in length, and six feet of the 

 crown was above the water. I tried in vain to make 

 out the eyes and mouth; the mouth may, however, 

 have been below water. The head was immediately 

 connected with the body, without any indication of a 

 neck. The body was about forty-five or fifty feet 

 long, and of an oval shape, perfectly smooth, but 

 there may have been a slight ridge along the spine. 

 The back rose some five feet above the surface. An 

 immense tail, fully one hundred and fifty feet in 

 length, rose a few inches above the water. This tail I 

 saw distinctly from its junction with the body to its ex- 

 tremity; it seemed cylindrical, with a very slight taper, 

 and I estimate its diameter at four feet. The body 

 .and tail were marked with alternate bands of stripes, 

 black and pale yellow in colour. The stripes were 

 distinct to the very extremity of the tail. I cannot 

 say whether the tail terminated in a fin or not. The 

 -creature possessed no fins or paddles so far as we 

 could perceive. I cannot say if it had legs. It ap- 

 peared to progress by means of an undulatory motion 

 of the tail in a vertical plane (that is, up and down)." 

 The amiable instincts which characterise the human 

 race suggested to the captain " the idea of running 

 .the creature down/' but the risk of breaking tho 

 screw-blades prevented him from thus welcoming 

 our new acquaintance. Mr. Anderson, the surgeon, 

 confirmed the captain's account in all essential re- 

 spects. He regarded the creature as an enormous 



