346 THE VARIOUS ACCOUNTS , [ N°. 148. ] 
is the report of the Osborne. In Mr, Ler’s Sea Monsters Unmasked 
we read p. 93 the following about this occurrence: 
“In June, 1877 Commander Pearson reported to the Admiralty 
that on the 2nd. of that month, he and other officers of the Royal 
Yacht Osborne, had seen, off Cape Vito, Sicily, a large marine 
animal, of which the following account and sketches were furnished 
by Lieutenant Haynes, and were confirmed by Commander Pear- 
son, Mr. Douglas Haynes, Mr. Forsyth, and Mr. Moors, engineer.” 
“Lieutenant Haynes writes, under date, “Royal Yacht Osborne, 
Gibraltar, June 6”: On the evening of that day, the sea being 
perfectly smooth, my attention was first called by seeing a ridge 
of fins above the surface of the water, extending about thirty feet, 
and varying from five to six feet in height. On inspecting it by 
means of a telescope, at about one and a-half cables’ distance, I 
distinctly saw a head, two flappers, and about thirty feet of an 
animal's shoulder. The head, as nearly as I could judge, was about 
six feet thick, the neck narrower, about four to five feet, the 
shoulder about fifteen feet across, and the flappers each about fif- 
teen feet in length. The movements of the flappers were those of 
a turtle, and the animal resembled a huge seal, the resemblance 
being strongest about the back of the head. I could not see the 
length of the head, but from its crown or top to just below the 
shoulder (where it became immersed), I should reckon about fifty 
feet. The tail end I did not see, being under water, unless the 
ridge of fins to which my attention was first attracted, and which 
had disappeared by the time I got a telescope, were really the 
continuation of the shoulder to the end of the object’s body. The 
animal’s head was not always above water, but was thrown up- 
wards, remaining above for a few seconds at a time, and then 
disappearing; there was an entire absence of “blowing” or “spout- 
ing’. I herewith beg to enclose a rough sketch, showing the view 
of the “ridge of fins’, and also of the animal in the act of pro- 
pelling itself by its two fins.” 
Evidently Mr. Lez has not communicated the whole account as 
it was in the original periodical, nor did he mention the name of 
the periodical. 
The Zimes of June 14th., 1877 mentions: 
“The Osborne, 2, paddle royal yacht, Commander Hugh L. 
Pearson, which arrived at Portsmouth from the Mediterranean on 
Monday, and at once proceeded to her moorings in the harbour, 
has forwarded an official report to the Admiralty, through the 
