180 THE VARIOUS ACCOUNTS , [ N°. 44.] 
exhibited himself, and who reported to us that he had not been 
seen for two or three days past. We however, continued our route 
to Gloucester, though with fears that we should not be gratified 
with the sight of the monster which we sought. I satisfied myself, 
from conversation with several persons who had seen him, that the 
report in circulation was not a fable. All the town were, as you 
may suppose, on the alert; and almost every individual, both great 
and small, had been gratified, at a greater or less distance, with 
a sight of him. The weather was fine, the sea perfectly smooth, 
and Mr. Lee and myself were seated on a point of land which 
projects into the harbour, and about twenty feet above the level 
of the water, from which we were distant about fifty or sixty 
“Whilst thus seated, I observed an agitation in the water at 
the entrance of the harbour, like that which follows a small vessel 
going five or six miles an hour through the water. As we knew 
there was no shoal where the water was thus broken, I immed- 
iately said to Mr. Lee that I had no doubt that what I had 
seen was the sea serpent in pursuit of fish. Mr. Lee was not di- 
recting his attention to the spot which I speak of, and had not 
seen the foam of the water, the animal having immediately dis- 
appeared.” 
“In a few moments after my exclamation, I saw on the opposite 
side of the harbour, at about two miles distance from where I had 
first seen, or thought I saw, the snake, the same object, moving 
with a rapid motion up the harbour, on the western shore. As he 
approached us, it was easy to see that his motion was not that of 
the common snake, either on the land or in the water, but evi- 
dently the vertical movement of the caterpillar. As nearly as I 
could judge, there was visible at a time about forty feet of his 
body. It was not, to be sure, a continuity of body, as the form 
from head to tail (except as the apparent bunches appeared as he 
moved through the water) was seen only at three or four feet 
asunder. It was very evident, however, that his length must be 
much greater than what appeared, as, in his movement, he left 
a considerable wake in his rear. I had a fine glass, and was within 
from one-third to half a mile of him. The head was flat in the 
water, and the animal was, as far as I could distinguish, of a 
chocolate colour. I was struck with an appearance in the front 
part of the head like a single horn, about nine inches to a foot 
in length, and of the form of a marlinespike. There were a great 
