NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY. 



curiofity to know the truth, and accordingly I wrote thither for 

 proper information, defiring the favour of a flip of it, by way 

 of fpecimen ; but it feems there was no fuch thing, at leaft not at 

 that time, befides, a man that came from the place told me he 

 had never heard any thing of it. This perfon however inform'd 

 me, that in the year 1720 a Sea-fnake had lain a whole week in 

 a creek near that place ; that it came there at high water, through 

 a narrow channel, about feven or eight feet broad, but went away, 

 after lying there a whole week, as mentioned above, and left be- 

 hind it a skin ? which this man, whofe name is Thorlack Thor- 

 lackfen, declares he faw and handled. This skin lay with one 

 end under water in the creek, and therefore, how long it was 

 no-body could tell. It feems the creek within that channel is fe- 

 veral fathoms deep, and it lay ftretched out a great way ; but 

 the other end of the flouth had been driven afhore by the tide, 

 where it lay a long time, for every body to examine. He faid it 

 did not feem fit to make a covering for a table, unlefs it had been 

 properly drefTed, or fome other way prepared for that purpofe; 

 for it was^not hard and compaft, like a skin, but rather of a foft 

 and flimy confidence, fomething like theMamete before-defcrib'd. 

 Even the body itfelf is faid to be of the fame nature, as I am 

 informed by thofe who, by accident, once caught a young one, 

 and laid it upon the deck of the fhip. It died inftantly, 

 though no-body dar'd to go near it even then, till they were ob- 

 liged to throw it overboard, by the infupportable ftink which 

 was caufed by the foft and vifcid flime, to which it was at length 

 diffolved by the a&ion of the wind* It feems the wind is fo 

 deftru&ive to this creature, that, as. has been obferved before, it 

 is never feen on the furface of the water, but in the greatefl 

 calm, and the leaft guft of wind drives it immediately to the bot- 

 tom again. One of thefe Sea-fnakes was feen at Amunds Vaagen, 

 in Nordfiord, fome years ago. It came in between the rocks, 

 probably at high water, and died there. It was obferved that 

 the car cafe occafioned an intolerable flench for a long time. It 



* We have the fame account from Pere Labat, of a fmall Sea-ferpent, about four feet 

 long, and as thick as a man's arm. His words are, "Nous l'attachames au mat apres 

 l ? avoir^affomme pour voir quelle figure il auroit le lendemain. Nous connumes com- 

 bien notre bonheur avoit ete grand, de n'avoir point touche a ce poiffon, qui fans doute 

 nous auroit tous empoifonnez. Car nous trouvames le matin qu'il s'etoit entierement 

 diffous en une eau verdatre & puante, qui avoit coule fur le pont, fans qu'il reflat pre- 

 fque autre chofe que la peau & la refte, quoi qu'il nous eut paru le foir fort ferme & 

 fort bon. Nous conclumes, ou que ce poiffon etoit empoifonne par accident, 011 que 

 de fa nature ce n'etoit qu'un compofe de venin. Je crois que c'etoit quelque vipere 

 marm. J'en ay parle a plufieurs pefcheurs & autres gens de mer, fans avoir jamais 

 pu etre bien eclairci de ce que je voulois fcavoir touchant ce poiffon. Nouveaux Voy- 

 ages aux Ifles Francoifes de l'Amerique, Tom. v. cap. xiv. p. 22$, 



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