66 WOULD-BE SEA-SERPENTS. 
mane came no further than the shoulder, and extended to the 
tail, part of which appeared to have been broken off: That the 
length of the neck, the situation of the spout-holes, and of the 
eye, the shape of the snout, the position and distance of the 
limbs from each other, appear to him to be exactly preserved in 
the drawing: That the lower jaw was awanting when he saw it: 
That the fish was of a greyish colour: That he observed no nipples 
or organs of generation, unless as above mentioned: That the part 
of the belly which was burst open, and from which the stomach 
had fallen out, was between the two limbs that are situated in the ~ 
middle of the animal. And all this he solemnly declares to bes 
truth. And declares he cannot write.” 
“Bodem de” 
“Compeared Mr. George Sherar, tacksman of Rothiesholm in the 
island of Stronsa; who being interrogated, solemnly declared , That 
on the 20th. of October, bemg in Rothiesholm-head he saw the 
crew of John Peace’s boat examining something on the water, which 
he took to be a dead whale: That about ten days afterwards, a 
gale of east wind having taken place he went to see if the whale 
was driven ashore, and found it in a creek, lymg on its back, 
about a foot under water; and from the view which he had of its 
figure, length and limbs, his curiosity induced him to return a 
day or two after the gale had abated, when he found it thrown 
upon the beach, a little below high water mark, and lying on its 
belly, as represented in the drawing: That he returned next 
morning, with a foot-rule, purposely to measure it, and found it 
to be exactly fifty-five feet in length, from the hole in the top of 
the skull (which he has brought to town with him), to the extrem- 
ity of the tail: That the length of the neck was exactly fifteen 
feet, from the same hole to the beginning of the mane: That he 
measured also the circumference of the animal as accurately as he 
could, which was about ten feet, more or less; and the whole 
body, where the limbs were attached to it, was about the same 
circumference: That the lower jaw or mouth was awanting; but 
there were some substances or bones of the jaw remaining; when 
he first examined it, which are now away: That it had two holes 
on each side of the neck, besides the one on the back of the 
skull: That the mane or bristles were about fourteen inches in 
length each, of a silvery colour, and particularly luminous in the 
dark, before they were dried: That the upper part of the limbs, 
which answers to the shoulder-blade, was joined to the body like 
