184 THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 



respect of its colour from the tongue of other snakes, -which is 

 generally black. The water-snakes, which are frequently 

 beautifully banded, and as thick as a man's leg, are said to be 

 highly venomous. Captain Cook, in one of his voyages, " saw 

 abundance of water-snakes, one of which was coming up the 

 side of our ship, and our men beat it off. The Spaniards 

 affirm there is no cure for such as are bit by them ; and one 

 of our blacks happened to fall under that misfortune, and died 

 notwithstanding the utmost care was taken by our surgeons to 

 recover him." 



Such are the real sea-snakes as they are met with by ordinary 

 travellers, while the great sea-serpent, which from time to time 

 dives up in the columns of the newspapers, must, until better 

 evidence be brought forward for its existence, be banished to 

 those dim regions peopled by unicorns, griffins, krakens, and 

 tailed men. 



Olaus Magnus, it is true, speaks of the great sea-snake as if 

 it made its daily appearance on the Norwegian coast. Accord- 

 ing to him, it inhabits the rocky caves near Bergen, and 

 wanders forth at night, particularly by moonshine, to commit its 

 depredations by sea and land ; as calves and pigs seem to suit 

 its appetite as well as fishes and lobsters. The body is covered 

 with scales, a long mane flows along the neck, and the head, 

 furnished with two glistening eyes, rises like a mast out of the 

 water. It often attacks ships, and picks up seamen from the 

 deck. This description may serve as an example of the bold- 

 ness with which authors have sometimes asserted the most 

 extravagant things. 



The Greenland missionary Egede tells us in his Journal, that 

 "on the 6th of July, 1734, there appeared a very large and 

 frightful sea-monster, which raised itself so high out of the 

 water that its head reached above our main-top. It had a 

 long sharp snout, very broad flappers, and spouted water like a 

 whale. The body seemed to be covered with scales, the skin 

 was uneven and wrinkled, and the lower part was formed like a 

 snake. After some time the creature plunged backwards into 

 the water, and then turned its tail up above the surface, a 

 whole ship-length from the head." 



It is hard to disbelieve so pious and excellent a man, whose 

 excited fancy no doubt gave extraordinary forms and dimensions 



