[N°. 60 ] REPORTS AND PAPERS. 203 
uncommon appearance, upon the water; his head was about the 
length of the anchor stock above the surface of the water, viz. 
about seven feet. I looked at the anchor stock at the time, and 
formed my opinion by comparing the two objects. The weather 
was very clear and good and the water almost calm; and I had, 
I think, as good a view of the animal as if I had been within 
two rods of him. The colour of the animal throughout, as far as 
could be seen, was black, and the surface appeared to be smooth, 
without scales — his head was about as long as a horse’s and was 
a proper snake’s head — there was a degree of flatness, with a 
slight hollow on the top of his head — his eyes were prominent, 
and stood out considerably from the surface, resembling in that 
respect the eyes of a toad, and were nearer to the mouth of the 
animal than to the back of the head. I had a full view of him 
for seven or eight minutes. He was moving in the same direction 
with the sloop, and about as fast. The back was composed of 
bunches about the size of a flour barrel, which were apparently 
about three feet apart — they appeared to be fixed, but might 
be occasioned by the motion of the animal, and looked like a 
string of casks or barrels tied together — the tail was not visible, 
but the wake of his tail which he evidently moved under water, 
showed a horizontal or sweeping motion, producing a wake as large 
as the vessel made. He turned his head two or three times slowly 
round towards and from the vessel, as if taking a view of some 
object on board. I went up on the rigging, for the purpose of 
taking a view of him from above; but before I had reached my 
station, he sunk below the surface of the water, and did not 
appear again. Gersham Bennett.” 
“Hssex ss. June 9th. 1819. — 'Then Gersham Bennett personally 
appeared and made oath that the foregoing affidavit by him sub- 
scribed, contains the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth. Before me, 
“Theodore Eames, Justice of the Peace.” 
It is probable that Mr. Brennerr is right in considering the “wake 
as large as the vessel made” was produced by a horizontal or sweeping 
motion of the tail, but it is far more probable that it was caused 
by the motion of the hind-flappers, supposed the animal nearly 
touched the surface of the water with the hinder part of the body. 
New characters to us are these: that there is a slight hollow on 
the top of its head, that its eyes are prominent, and stand out 
considerably from the surface, resembling in that respect the eyes 
