CHAP. VIII.] NORWEGIAN SEA SERPENT. 109 



The body appeared also to move in long undulations, includ 

 ing many of the smaller humps. In consequence of this motion 

 the head and tail were sometimes both out of sight and some 

 times both above water, as represented in the annexed outline, 

 given from memory. 



Drawing from memory of a sea serpent seen at Arisaig, Nova Scotia, Oct. 1844. 



The head, a, was rounded and obtuse in front, and was never 

 elevated more than a foot above the surface. The tail was 

 pointed, appearing like half of a mackerel s tail. The color of 

 the part seen was black. 



It was suggested by Mr. Dawson that a swell in the sea 

 might give the deceptive appearance of an undulating movement, 

 as it is well known &quot; that a stick held horizontally at the surface 

 of water when there is a ripple seems to have an uneven outline.&quot; 

 But Mr. Barry replied that he observed the animal very atten 

 tively, having read accounts of the sea serpent, and feels confi 

 dent that the undulations were not those of the water. 



This reappearance of the monster, commonly called the sea 

 serpent, was not confined to the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; for, two 

 months after I left Boston, a letter from one Captain Lawson 

 went the round of the American papers, dated February, 1846, 

 giving a description of a marine creature seen by him from his 

 schooner, when off the coast of Virginia, between Capes Henry 

 and Charles body about 100 feet long, with pointed projections 

 (query, dorsal fins ?) on the back ; head small in proportion to 

 its length. 



Precisely in the same years, in July, 1845, and August, 1846, 

 contemporaneous, and evidently independent accounts were col 

 lected iii Norway, and published in their papers, of a marine 

 animal, of &quot; a rare and singular kind,&quot; seen by fishermen and 

 others, the evidence being taken down by clergymen, surgeons, 

 and lawyers, whose names are given, and some of whom de- 



