96 WOULD-BE SEA-SERPENTS. 
the surface they are dying or already dead. ‘hey never “swim 
with their head above the surface’! Moreover the green colour 
does not agree with the common silvery hue of these animals. A 
riband fish is delineated in fig. 13. p. 93. | 
But wonderful it may seem that after having uttered this opinion, 
a few pages further on Mr. Goss uses this report amongst others 
to fix the class of living creatures to which the sea-serpent belongs. 
And what is the conclusion he arrives at? — that it belongs to the 
group of Plesiosaurz, or at least is related to it! 
1858, July 9. — Another _ Sea-Serpent. — (Zoologist, 1859, p. 
6492.) — “The Amsterdamsche Courant of October 6, 1858, inserts 
the following letter from Captain L. Bil, of the Dutch bark 
“Hendrik Ido Ambacht’’, to the “Jorn-Bode’: — “Sailing in the 
South Atlantic, in 27° 27° N. lat, and 14° 51’ EH. Jonge we 
perceived on July the 9th., between twelve and one o'clock in the 
afternoon, a dangerous sea monster, which during nine days con- 
stantly kept alongside of us to 37° 55’ S. lat., and 42° 9’ H. long. 
This animal was about 90 feet long and 25 to 30 feet broad, and, 
most of the time, it struck the ship with such a force as to make 
it vibrate. ‘The monster blew much water, which spread an un- 
pleasant stench over the deck. The captain, fearing lest the animal 
might disable the rudder, did his utmost to get rid of his fearful 
antagonist, but without success. After it had received more than 
a hundred musket-balls, a harpoon and a long iron bar, blood 
was seen to flow from various wounds, so that at last from loss 
of strength, the monster could swim. behind our vessel no longer, 
and we were delivered of it. By its violent blows against the 
copper the animal’s skin had been damaged in several places.” — 
J. H. van Lennep, Zeist.” *) | 
As to the animal, seen from the Hendrik Ido Ambacht, I think 
it must have been a sick spermwhale, which was out of temper; 
why else should it have been so angry that it followed the bark 
nine days, cuffing it “most of the time’? Moreover the nature 
of spermwhales is well enough known as angry and_ war-like. 
1) Jorn Bode is most probably a misprint for Java-Bode. Zeist is the well- known 
charming village, east of Utrecht, the fourth town of the Netherlands. 
