[ N°. 118. ] REPORTS AND PAPERS. 287 
factory as to the existence of the animal, and I have no doubt 
we shall hear of his being again seen sooner or later. But my 
object in writing to you is to remark on the conclusions come to 
by Mr. Owen, in his letter to the Editor of the Zimes, of No- 
vember 9th., that it was zo¢ of the serpent species, because “they 
failed to detect any undulations of the body’, whereas the fact of 
there being “no vertical or horizontal undulations perceptible’ 
stamps the character of the animal; for it is well known by all 
observers of snakes in India, that when the animal is in chase of 
game, small or great, or when scared away, and moving at a 
rapid pace, he is propelled entirely by the tail, or the smaller 
half of the body, while the other portion, with a curve of the 
head, is kept quite s¢f — and this exactly corresponds with the 
Captain’s account, that it held on at the pace of twelve to fifteen 
miles an hour, apparently on some determined purpose.” 
In May, 1854, Dr. T. S. Tratun read a paper before the Royal 
Society of Edinburgh, comparing the animal of the Daedalus , with 
the Animal of Stronsa. The part of his dissertation concerning the 
present occurrence runs as follows: 
“In their statements there are no suspicious affectations of minute 
detail. Their simple narrative appears to deserve more attention 
than it has yet received from naturalists; and I strongly incline 
to the belief, that the animal seen by the crew of the Daedalus 
was an analogue of, if not the very same species, as the animal 
cast ashore in Orkney in 1808.” 
“Considering the derision with which, in this country, the sub- 
ject of the sea-serpent has been treated, and the ridicule attempted 
to be thrown on all who were bold enough to assert that they had 
seen such an animal, nothing but a consciousness of his unimpeach- 
able veracity could have tempted the gallant Captain M’QuaHar 
to encounter the sneers of his incredulous countrymen. From all 
I have heard of his character for sagacity and veracity, from those 
who intimately knew him, I have not the smallest doubt that he 
has faithfully described what he and his crew saw distinctly, and 
at a short distance from the ship.” 
“It was seen rapidly approaching before the beam.” Captain M’Quhae 
says: 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. The diameter of 
the serpent was about fifteen or sixteen inches behind the head; 
its colour of a dark brown, with yellowish-white about the throat.” 
