124 . THE VARIOUS ACCOUNTS , | Nene 
“Bergen, 21st. February 1751. 
“After this the above-named witnesses gave their corporal oaths, 
and, with their finger held up according to law, testified and de- 
clared the aforesaid letter or declaration, and every particular set 
forth therein to be strictly true. A copy of the said attestation 
was made out for the said Procurator Reurz, and granted by the 
Recorder. That this was transacted in our court of justice we con- 
firm with our hand and seals.” 
“Actum Bergis, Anno, Die et Loco ut supra.” 
“A.C. Dass.” “H. C. GArrner.” 
“J. Ciies.” “<Q. SIMENSEN.”’ 
“Q. BrincHMAND’ ce KMonnies 
“M. Gram.” “C. NATLER.”’ 
cy ForcE. J, WiHueErs. ” 
As to Mr. von Frrry’s declaration that the head of the sea-serpent 
resembled that of a horse, we cannot give another explanation than 
that it evidently was held at nearly right angles with the neck, 
that the nostrils were wide opened and large, and that the mane 
on the animal’s neck altogether must have led him to think so. 
The statement that the colour of the head was greyish , apparently 
contradictory to what had as yet been said about the animal’s 
colour, viz., that it is a dark brown one, may be explained, I 
think, as follows: the sea-serpent has a skin as woolly as seals and 
sea-lions have; it had swum a long time with its head two feet 
above the water, and the weather being very hot, its skin was 
dried up, and had got a colour quite different from that when 
bemg wet. When wet the common seal has a greenish or brownish 
black colour, but when dry a greyish yellow one, with a somewhat 
dark greenish hue; and the spots become less visible. So we see 
that sea-lions are dark brown when wet, but. when lying on the 
stone border of their basin in our Zoological Gardens they very 
soon become dry in the sunbeams and show a greyish yellow 
colour. But returning to Mr. von Frry’s sea-serpent, the mouth, 
however, was black and very large. The eyes were black, the mane 
long and white (being dry) hanging down to the surface of the 
water. The coils, seven or eight in number, were very thick and 
the distance between them was a fathom. The colour of the coils 
is not mentioned; we may suppose that they were dark brown. 
Prof. W. D. Prcx (Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts. Sc. IV, 1, 1818) 
calls this account a rational and credible one. “The figure which 
he” (Pontorripan) “gives seems to have been made from the de- 
