[N°. 134. ] REPORTS AND PAPERS. 321 
demonstrated its truth. — Grattan’s Civilized America, p. 39. — 
Mr. Newman, the editor of the Zoologist, ought to have men- 
tioned the writer of the article, the date of it and the locality where 
the appearance took place. It was most probably Nahant, the well 
known watering place near Lynn, Mass. I have had no opportunity 
to consult Grarran’s Civilized America, therefore I have placed the 
note of interrogation after the above-mentioned year. 
In this report only a few words are devoted to the description 
of the animal, yet the description itself is given as well as possible 
by the lady who saw it from the upper piazza of the hotel. 
135. — 1863, May 16th. — (Zoologist, 1863, p. 8727). 
“The following is a copy of a letter from an officer of the Afric- 
an mail steamer Af¢henian, addressed to a gentleman in this 
town: — “African Royal Mail Screw Steamer Athenian, Cape 
Palmas, May, 16, 1863.— My dear Sir, — All doubts may now 
be set at rest about the great sea-serpent. On the 6th. of May 
the African Royal Mail Steam Ship Athenian on her passage from 
Teneriffe to Bathurst, fell in with one. At about 7 a. m. John 
Chapple, quartermaster, at the wheel, saw something floating to- 
wards the ship. He called the attention of the Rev. Mr. Smith 
and another passenger, who were on deck at the time, to it. On 
nearing the steamer it was discovered to be a large snake about 
100 feet long, of a dark brown colour, head and tail out of water, 
the body slightly under. On its head was something like a mane 
or sea-weed. The body was about the size of our mainmast. You 
are at liberty to publish this.” 
The reader will observe that this too is a very insignificant de- 
scription, but it mentions one of the very few cases that the tail 
of the animal was visible above the surface of the water. 
The same report was published in the //ustrated London News 
of 1863, June, 13. — 
136. — 1871. — (G. Vurscnuur, Hene reis om de wereld in 
vier honderd tachtig dagen). — After an appearance of a would-be 
sea-serpent on board the Grenada, which caused a dispute between 
those who saw it and those who were not so fortunate , 
“the second officer, who joined in the quarrel, declared to have 
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