CHEATS AND HOAXES. AD 
having made a complete circuit. I frankly admit my hopes 
were feeble of ever really capturing him, and the gale made me 
hesitate about lowering; but the time arrived, the serpent was 
still, and we nearly half a mile to windward. I came to with the 
head yards aback to have a better control of all the ship, and 
told the ship-keeper to keep close to us, and by no means to 
lose sight of us for an instant. We lowered, myself taking the 
lead, and in a few strokes — the wind and sea carrying us to 
leeward — I told the boat-steerer, James Wittemore, of Vermont, 
to “stand up’. With calm and cool intrepidity he laid hold of his 
iron (harpoon), and, when I beckoned with a movement of my 
hand, quick as thought both of his weapons were buried to the 
socket in the repulsive body before us. I shouted ‘stern, but there 
was no visible motion of his snakeship. I shifted ends with the boat- 
steerer, and cleared away a lance as quickly as possible, beckoning 
them to pull up, that I might get a lance, when a movement of 
the body was visible, and the head and tail of the monster rushed 
as it were to “touch the wound’) The frightfulness of the head as 
it approached to boat, filled the crew with terror, and three of 
them jumped over board. I instinctively held out my lance, and 
its sharp point entered the eye. I was knocked over and felt adeep 
churning off the water around me. I rose to the surface and caught 
a glimpse of the writhing body, and was again struck and carried 
down. | partly lost my consciousness under water but recovered it; 
when I rose again in the bloody foam, the snake had disappeared , 
and I shouted, “pick up the line”. The third mate Mr. Benson, 
caught a bight at my line near the end, and bent on his, which 
in an instant began to be taken out rapidly. The mate picked me 
up as soon as I rose to the surface, and in a few minutes all were 
picked up — one was severely bruised and another insensible, but 
he recovered and both are now well. ‘The snake had taken my line, 
the third mate’s, and was taking the second mate’s, when I ordered 
the mate to bend on and give his line to the ship. ‘The snake was 
sounding, and I cautioned the officers not to hold on too hard, for 
fear of drawing the irons. At first the line went out rapidly, but 
decreased gradually , nevertheless I was obliged to get up a spare- 
lime out of the fore hold and bend on. For fear that the ship would 
by its weight on the line draw the irons, [I put on several drags 
and gave the line to the mate, when it became stationary. There 
were now out four boats’ lines, 225 fathoms in a boat, and two- 
thirds of another line, 100 fathoms more — in all 1,000 fathoms , 
