24.4, } THE VARIOUS ACCOUNTS, [N°. 93. ] 
an article published in the Times of Nov. 11, 1848, wherein he 
expresses his opinion that it must have been a large seal. This 
article seems to have been reprinted in the Bombay Bi-monthly 
Timés. In the same journal for January, 1849, appeared the follow- 
ing statement and objections against Professor Owxrn’s suggestions. 
“I see, in your paper of the 380th December, a paragraph in 
which a doubt is expressed of the authenticity of the account given 
by Captain M’Quhae of the “great sea-serpent’”. When returning 
to India, in the year 1829, I was standing on the poop of the 
Royal Saxon, in conversation with Captain Petrie, the commander 
of that ship. We were at a considerable distance south-west of the 
Cape of Good Hope, in the usual track of vessels to this country, 
going rapidly along (seven or eight knots) in fine smooth water. 
ae 
It was in the middle of the day, and the other passengers were © 
at luncheon; the man at the wheel, a steerage passenger, and 
ourselves, beg the only persons on the poop. Captain Petrie and 
myself, at the same instant, were literally fixed in astonishment 
by the appearance, a short distance ahead, of an animal of which 
no more generally correct description could be given than that by 
Captain M’Quhae. It passed within thirty-five yards of the ship, 
without altering its course in the least; but as it came right ab- 
reast of us, it slowly turned its head towards us. Apparently about 
one third of the upper part of its body was above water, in nearly 
its whole length; and we could see the water curling up on its 
breast as it moved along, but by what means it moved we 
could not perceive. We watched it going astern with intense 
interest until it had nearly disappeared, when my companion, 
turning to me with a countenance expressive of the utmost aston- 
ishment, exclaimed, “Good heavens! what can that be?’ It was 
strange that we never thought of calling the party engaged at 
luncheon to witness the extraordinary sight we had seen; but the 
fact is, we were so absorbed in it ourselves, that we never spoke, 
and scarcely moved, until it had nearly disappeared. Captain Petrie, 
a superior and most intelligent man, has since perished in the 
exercise of his profession. Of the fate of the others then on deck 
I am ignorant; so the story rests on my own unsupported word, 
but I pledge that word to its correctness. Professor Owen's suppo- 
sition, that the animal seen by the officers of the Daedalus was a 
gigantic seal, I believe to be incorrect, because we saw this ap- 
parently similar creature in its whole length, with the exception 
of a small portion of the tail, which was under water; and, by 
