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148 THE VARIOUS ACCOUNTS, [N°. 29. | 
expresses himself cautiously; and to explain his hesitation I think 
it is here the right place to mention a singular property of the 
sea-serpent. It is observed in 1818 that some witnesses distinctly 
saw the animal moving up and down and progressing very rapidly , 
and that some others of them declared that they distinctly saw the 
animal with many bunches on its back, that it moved through the 
water, apparently not by undulating up and down, but they were 
astonished that the sea-serpent moved. The sea-serpent further has 
the property of keeping his bunches when lying quite still. Conse- 
quently it may show itself in the following ways: 1. Lying per- 
fectly still with the body in a straight line. 2. Lying perfectly still, 
but with many folds or bunches on its back. 3. Swimming with 
its body in a straight line, using its flappers. 4. Swimming with 
bunches on its back, propelling itself by its flappers, not by vert- 
ical undulations. 5. Swimming with vertical undulations, and not 
with its flappers. 6. Swimming with vertical undulations and with 
its flappers. 
I repeat here the words of Mr. Cummines: “Who ever saw fifty 
or sixty porpoises moving after each other in a right line, and in 
such a manner that those who formed the rear were no larger than 
haddock or macquerel, and none but the foremost shewed his head 
Who ever saw a serpent’s head upon a porpoise or whale? Now 
who ever saw a porpoise swim so great a distance without immerg- 
ing at all?’ And we may add: Who ever saw porpoises without 
backfins? (The white whale, Beluga leucas has no back fin, but 
it is of a white colour, while the sea-serpent is almost black.) 
I think it is here the right place to observe that the very differ- 
ent dimensions given to sea-serpents can be explained in two ways: 
1. The animals may have been more or less visible above the sur- 
face of the water, and the hind part hidden under water is not 
always estimated in proportion to the visible fore-part. 2. The ob- 
servers have not always seen the same individual, but of course 
young ones, middle-aged and old individuals, males and females. 
I will imsert here a letter from the Ruv. Aupen Braprorp to 
the Hon. Jonn Q. Apams, to show my readers how the former 
troubled himself about the question. , 
“Wiscasset, May 22, 1804.” 
“To the Honorable John Q. Adams, lore Secretary 2 
the American Academy of Aris and Cee 
