CHEATS AND HOAXES. 4.7 
over the rail, and the crew again cheered vociferously, and I joined 
them. We now held a consultation as to what we should do, and 
I had requested all hands to offer their opinions. After a short talk, 
all of us felt convinced that it would be impossible to get him 
into port, and then we concluded to try and save his skin, head, 
and bones, if possible. In the first place I requested a Scotchman , 
who could draw tolerably, to take a sketch of bim as he lay, and 
the mate to measure him. It was now quite calm, and we could 
work to advantage. As I am preparing a minute description of the 
serpent, I will merely give you a few general points. It was a male; 
the length 103 feet 7 inches; 19 feet 1 inch around the neck; 24 
feet 6 inches around the shoulders; and the largest part of the 
body, which appeared somewhat distended, 49 feet 4 inches. The 
head was long and flat, with ridges; the bones of the lower jaw 
are seperate; the tongue had its end like the head of a heart. The 
tail ran nearly to a point, on the end of which was a flat firm 
cartilage. The back was black, turning brown on the sides; then 
yellow, and on the centre of the belly a narrow white streak two- 
thirds of its length; there were also scattered over the body dark 
spots. On examining the skin we found, to our surprise, that the 
body was covered with blubber, like that of a whale, but it was 
only four inches thick. The oil was clear as water, and burnt nearly 
as fast as spirits of turpentine. We cut the snake up, but found 
great difficulty, and had to “flense” him, the body would not roll, 
and the blubber was so very elastic, that when stretched 20 feet 
by the blocks, it would, when cut off, shrink to 5 or 6 feet. We 
took in the head, a frightful object, and are endeavouring to pre- 
serve it with salt. We have saved all the bones, which the men 
are not done clearing yet. In cutting open the serpent we found 
pieces of squid and a large blackfish, the flesh of which dropped 
from the bones. One of the serpent’s lungs was three feet longer 
than the other. I should have observed that there were 94 teeth 
in the jaws, very sharp, all pointing backward and as large as one’s 
thumb at the gum, but deeply and firmly set. We found it had 
two spoutholes or spiracles, so it must breathe like a whale; it 
also had four swimming paws, or imitations of paws, for they were 
like hard, loose flesh. The joints of the back were loose, and it 
seemed as if, when it was swimming that it moved two ribs and 
a joint at a time, almost like feet. The muscular movement of the 
serpent after it was dead made the body look as if it were en- 
circled by longitudinal ridges. We were nearly three days in getting 
