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APPENDIX. 257 



to Jamaica was surrounded in the North Atlantic, for seventeen con- 

 tinuous hours, by a troop of whales of large size, of an undescribed 

 species, which on no other occasion has fallen under scientific 

 observation. Unique specimens of other Cetaceans are also recorded* 



" We have evidence, to which attention has been directed by Mr. 

 A. D. Bartlett, that 'even on land there exists at least one of the 

 largest mammals, probably in thousands, of which only one indi- 

 vidual has been brought to notice, namely, the hairy-eared, two- 

 horned rhinoceros (R. Lasiotis], now in the Zoological Gardens, 

 London. It was captured in 1868, at Chittagong, in India, where for 

 years collectors and naturalists have worked and published lists of the 

 animals met with, and yet no knowledge of this great beast was ever 

 before obtained, nor is there any portion of one in any museum. It 

 remains unique. 



" I have arrived at the following conclusions : I. That without strain- 

 ing resemblances, or casting a doubt upon narratives not proved to be 

 erroneous, the various appearances of the supposed ' great sea" 

 serpent ' may now be nearly all accounted for by the forms and habits 

 of known animals ; especially if we admit, as proposed by Dr. 

 Andrew Wilson, that some of them, including the marine snakes, may, 

 like the cuttles, attain to extraordinary size. 2. That to assume that 

 naturalists have perfect cognisance of every existing marine animal of 

 large size, would be quite unwarrantable. It appears to me more 

 than probable that many marine animals, unknown to science, and 

 some of them of gigantic size, may have their ordinary habitat in the 

 sea, and only occasionally come to the surface ; and I think it not 

 impossible that amongst them may be marine snakes of greater 

 dimensions than we are aware of, and even a creature having close 

 affinities with the old sea-reptiles whose fossil skeletons tell of their 

 magnitude and abundance in past ages. 



" It is most desirable that every supposed appearance of ' the Great 

 Sea- Serpent' shall be faithfully noted and described; and I hope 

 that no truthful observer will be deterred from reporting such an 

 occurrence by fear of the disbelief of naturalists or the ridicule of 

 witlings." 



