A6 - ATTEMPTS TO DISCREDIT THE SEA-SERPENT., 
six feet in a fathom, 6,000 feet — better than one mile and an 
eighth, an enormous depth, and the pressure at that distance is 
inconceivable. It was now blowing furiously, and I scarcely dared 
to carry sail enough to keep the ship up, the boat was in peril, 
and I was obliged to take the line to the ship again, and run the 
risk of the irons drawing. | made the end of the line fast and tuok 
in all sail but enough to keep her steady, and waited in alarm 
the snake’s rising, the parting of the line, or the irons drawing. 
At 4 p.m. the wind began to shift, which favoured us a little; at 
5 p.m. it, to our great joy, began to abate. At 8 p.m. a sudden 
lull; line taut. The night was beautiful, sky clear, wind scarcely 
abreath and sea rapidly falling, no eye was closed in the ship — 
we were speculating on our prey. It was evident he was on the 
bottom. He stayed down a long time; but on reflection I considered 
that was his forte — that he was at home there. At 4 a. m. of 
the 14th., 16 hours after he went down, the line began to slack, 
1 had it taken to the windlass, when we got nearly two lines “hand 
over hand”, then there came a strain again. This strain continuing , 
I told every body to bear a hand and get breakfast, and just before 
we were through, the cook cried out, “Here he is’. In no time 
all were on deck, and sure enough he had risen; but all that was 
visible was a bunch, apparently the bight of the snake, where he 
had been fastened toy I lowered three boats, and we lanced the 
body repeatedly without eliciting any sign of life. While we were 
at work he gradually rose to the surface, and around him floated 
what I took to be pieces of his lungs which we cut with our lances. 
To make our work sure we continued to lance, eagerly seeking for his 
life, when he drew himself up and we pulled away, and then 
witnessed the terrific dyimg struggles of the monster. None of the 
crew who witnessed that terrible scene will ever forget it; the evo- 
lutions of the body were rapid as lightning, seeming like the re- 
‘volving of a thousand enormous black wheels. The tail and head 
would occasionally appear in the surging bloody foam, and a sound 
was heard, so dead, unearthy, and expressive of acute agony, that 
a shrill of horror ran through our veins. ‘The convulsive efforts lasted 
10 or 15 minutes, when they suddenly stopped, the head was 
partially raised — it fell — the body partly turned, and lay still. 
I took off my hat, and nine terrific cheers broke simultaneously 
from our throats. Our prey was dead. Luckily he floated buoyantly, 
and we took -him alongside, and while doing so he turned over, 
lying belly up. Every eye beamed with joy as we looked at him 
