Captain Ingalls, of the schooner Chalcedony, has let slip an
opportunity to make a small fortune and at the same time settle the
long vexed question as to the reality of the elusive and possibly
mythical sea serpent. His story, as told in the _Argus_, of Portland,
Maine, June 8, runs as follows:
"Last Saturday, about one o'clock in the afternoon, we were slowly
sailing past Monhegan, there being very little wind, about twenty
miles southwest of the island, when we caught sight of what looked
like a large schooner floating bottom up. As the object lay almost
dead ahead, we made directly for it, but before we got very close a
Cape Ann schooner lay to and sent a boat's crew to inspect what now
plainly appeared to be a monstrous carcass of some species or other.
We finally hove to, about a ship's length off, and took a leisurely
survey of the thing. It was dead, and floated on the water, with its
belly, of a dirty brown color, up. It head was at least twenty feet
long, and about ten feet through at the thickest point. About midway
of the body, which was, I should guess, about forty feet long, were
two fins, of a clear white, each about twelve feet in length. The body
seemed to taper from the back of the head down to the size of a small
log, distinct from the whale tribe, as the end had nothing that looked
like a fluke. The shape of the creature's head was more like a tierce
than anything I can liken it to. I have seen almost all kinds of
shapes that can be found in these waters, but never saw the like of
this before.
Two years ago, off Seguin, I saw shooting through the water a thing
which, I think, resembled this creature considerably, but I didn't
get close enough to it to say for certain. The men from the Cape Ann
schooner got on this dead creature, and one of the boys cut a double
shuffle on its belly, which for all the world looked like the bottom
of a schooner covered with barnacles and seaweed by the weather. We
should have towed the thing to Portland had there been any wind,
but as there wasn't, we steered away and left it. What sort of a sea
monster this was I can't say for sure, but in my opinion it was the
original 'sea serpent,' which has been seen once in a while for years
past, and which, when alive, was too swift a swimmer for any sailing
vessel to get alongside of."
The report of the captain of the "Cape Ann schooner" will be in order
now.
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[Illustration: MAXIM'S NEW GAS MACHINE.]