CHAP. VIII.] AMERICAN DESCRIPTIONS. Ill 



most of the contradictions of those who have attempted to describe 

 what they saw of the color, form, and motion of the animal. At 

 each of these periods the creature was seen by some persons who 

 were on the shore, and who could take a leisurely survey of it, 

 without their imaginations being disturbed by apprehensions of 

 personal danger. On the other hand, the consternation of the 

 fishermen in Norway, the Hebrides, and America, who have 

 encountered this monster, is such, that we are entitled to ask the 

 question Is it possible they can have seen nothing more than 

 an ordinary whale or shark, or a shoal of porpoises, or some other 

 known cetacean or fish ? 



So great a sensation was created by the appearance of a huge 

 animal, in August, 1817, and for several successive years in the 

 harbor of Gloucester, Massachusetts, near Cape Ann, that the 

 Linnsean Society of Boston appointed a committee to collect 

 evidence on the subject. T am well acquainted with two of the 

 three gentlemen, Dr. Bigelow and Mr. F. C. Gray, who drew up 

 the report, which gives in detail the depositions of numerous wit 

 nesses who saw the creature on shore or at sea, some of them 

 from a distance of only ten yards. &quot; The monster,&quot; they say, 

 &quot; was from eighty to ninety feet long, his head usually carried 

 about two feet above water ; of a dark brown color ; the body 

 with thirty or more protuberances, compared by some to four- 

 gallon kegs, by others to a string of buoys, and called by several 

 persons bunches on the back ; motion very rapid, faster than 

 those of a whale, swimming a mile in three minutes, and some 

 times more, leaving a wake behind him ; chasing mackerel, her 

 rings, and other fish, which were seen jumping out of the water, 

 fifty at a time, as he approached. He only came to the surface 

 of the sea in calm and bright weather. A skillful gunner fired 

 at him from a boat, and, having taken good aim, felt sure he 

 must have hit him on the head ; the creature turned toward him, 

 then dived under the boat, and reappeared a hundred yards on 

 the other side.&quot; 



Just as they were concluding their report, an unlucky accident 

 raised a laugh at the expense of the Linnsean Committee, and 

 enabled the incredulous to turn the whole matter into ridicule. 



