; t 
286 THE VARIOUS ACCOUNTS , [N° ey 
conclusion quite contrary to the fact. It was not until after the 
great length was developed by its nearest approach to the ship, 
and until after that most important point had been duly considered 
and debated, as well as such could be in the brief space of time 
allowed for so doing, that it was pronounced to be a serpent by 
all who saw it, and who are too well accustomed to judge of 
lengths and breadths of objects in the sea to mistake a real sub- 
stance and an actual living body, coolly and dispassionately con- 
templated, at so short a distance too, for the “eddy caused by 
the action of the deeper immersed fins and tail of a rapidly mov- 
ing gigantic seal raising its head above the water,” as Professor 
Owen imagines, in quest of its lost iceberg.” 
“The creative powers of the human mind may be very limited. 
On this occasion they were not called into requisition; my purpose 
and desire being, throughout, to furnish eminent naturalists, such 
as the learned Professor, with acurate facts, and not with exagger- 
ated representations , nor with what could by any possibility proceed 
from optical illusion; and I beg to assure him that old Pontoppi- 
dan’s having clothed his sea-serpent with a mane could not have 
suggested the idea of ornamenting the creature seen from the 
Daedalus with a similar appendage, for the simple reason that I 
had never seen his account, or even heard of his sea-serpent, 
until my arrival in London. Some other solution must therefore 
be found for the very remarkable coincidence between us in that 
particular, in order to unravel the mystery.” 
“Finally, I deny the existence of excitement, or the possibility _ 
of optical illusion. I adhere to the statement, as to form, colour, 
and dimensions, contained in my official report to the Admiralty; 
and I leave them as data whereupon the learned and scientific 
may exercise the “pleasures of imagination” until some more — 
fortunate opportunity shall occur of making a closer acquaintance 
with the “great unknown’, — in the present instance assuredly 
no ghost.” 
It also appeared in the J/lustrated London News of Nov. 25, 
1848. 
And a gentleman, who signed his letter with the initials J. C., 
wrote a letter to the Editor of the /llustrated London News (see. 
this Journal of Nov. 25, 1848) to rectify another statement of the 
learned Professor : 
“The very interesting account of the sea-serpent seen by Captain 
M’Quhae, and the drawing in your paper, are to my mind quite satis- 
