979 THE VARIOUS ACCOUNTS, [N°. 118.] 
tion as to the truth of a statement published m The Times news- 
paper, of a sea-serpent of extraordinary dimensions having been 
seen from Her Majesty’s ship Daedalus, under my command, on 
her passage from the East Indies, I have the honour to acquaint 
you, for the information of my Lords Commissioners of the Ad- 
miralty, that at five o’clock P. M., on the 6th. of August last, 
in latitude 24° 44’ S., and Jongitude 9° 22’ E., the weather dark 
and cloudy, wind fresh from the N. W., with a long ocean swell 
from the S. W., the ship on the port tack heading N. EH. by N., 
something very unusual was seen by Mr. Sartoris, midshipman, 
rapidly approaching the ship from before the beam. The circum- 
stance was immediately reported by him to the officer of the watch, 
Lieutenant Edgar Drummond, with whom and Mr. William Bar- 
rett, the master, I was at the time walking the quarterdeck. The 
ship’s company were at supper.” 
“On our attention being called to the object, it was discovered 
to be an enormous serpent, with head and. shoulders kept about 
four feet constantly above the surface of the sea, and, as nearly 
as we could approximate, by comparing it with the length of what 
our main-topsail yard would show in the water, there was at the 
very least sixty feet of the animal @ fleur d’eau, no portion of 
which was, to our perception, used in propelling it through the 
water, either by vertical or horizontal undulation. It passed rapidly, 
but so close under our lee quarter, that had it been a man of 
my acquaintance, I should easily have recognized his features with 
the naked eye; and it did not, either in approaching the ship or 
after it had passed our wake, deviate in the slightest degree from 
its course to the S. W., which it held on at the pace of from 
twelve to fifteen miles per hour, apparently on some determined 
purpose.” 
“The diameter of the serpent was about fifteen or sixteen inches 
behind the head, which was, without any doubt, that of a snake; 
and it was never, during the twenty minutes that it continued in 
sight of our glasses, once below the surface of the water ; its colour 
a dark brown, with yellowish white about the throat. It had no 
fins, but something like a mane of a horse, or rather a bunch of 
seaweed , washed about its back. It was seen by the quartermaster, 
the boatswain’s mate, and the man at the wheel, in addition to 
myself and officers above-mentioned.” | 
I am having a drawing of the serpent made from a sketch taken 
immediately after it was seen, which I hope to have ready for 
