MARINE MONSTERS. 275 



The most recent account of this monster, we have noticed, appeared in tlic 

 public newspapers of Drontlicim, in tlie autumn of 1837, an abridgment of 

 ■which we give below: "Tlie Adis of this city contains an account from 

 Tozen of the end of August, which it says was communicated to the editor 

 by a very enlightened and principled man, so that it merits attention, as 

 tending to remove the doubt respecting the existence of the sea serpent. 

 The account says, that since the beginning of the dog-days, the serpent has 

 been seen at various parts of the coast of that district. One of them seems 

 to have remained constantly during this summer near Storfosen, at the Kerg- 

 vang Islands. Several fishermen have been so dreadfully alarmed at the 

 sudden appearance of the serpent so near their boats, that they did not know 

 in what direction to escape. The serpent did not attack, but followed the 

 boat for some distance, and the men, in their haste, so over-excrtcd them- 

 selves, that two were confined to their beds. Very credible persons atKrm 

 that the length of the sea serpent may be taken at sLs hundred or eight hun- 

 dred ells, or perhaps more ; for when these people were near its head, they 

 could not discern its tail. Its greatest thickness is towards its head. These 

 observations were made very clearly within these few days, amongst others, 

 by a credible, sensible man, who, with his two sons, was on our island, 

 where they landed, and where the serpent, after following their boat, swam 

 slowly by." 



The Sea Serpent of the Scotch Coast. In the year 1800, an ex- 

 traordinary animal was stranded on the Island of Stromsa, one of the Orkneys, 

 which was supposed to belong to this class, and which excited the amazement 

 and wonder of the inhabitants. It was much mutilated when examined, and 

 the reports of those who observed it are quite contradictory. It was fifty-six 

 feet in length, and twelve in circumference; had three pairs of fins or paws, 

 a long, slender neck, and a small head. The shoulders were clothed with a 

 kind of bristly mane, and it Avas furnished with spiracles, like the whales. 

 It has been said tiiat the skull and vertebral bones, which were preserved, 

 prove it to have been some sjiccies of the basking shark. If this be so, the 

 descriptions given of its external appearance and form must have been 

 erroneous in many particulars. But not to dwell on this animtfl, we proceed 

 to give an account of another, still more remarkable, reported by the llcv. 

 Mr. Maclean, of Eigg, to Dr. Neill, the learned and worthy secretary of the 

 Wernerian Society. "I saw the animal of which you inquire, in June, 1808, 

 on the coast of Coll. Rowing along that coast, I observed, at about the 

 distance of half a mile, an object to windward, which gradually excited 

 astonishment. At first view it appeared like a small rock ; but, knowing 

 that there was no rock in that situation, I fixed my eyes closely upon it. 

 Then I saw it elevated considerably above the level of the sea, and, after a 



