107.--1840, July?--Molde fjord, Norway.--Mr. HAMMER, Mr. KRAFT, and
some other persons.
107 A.--1840, August?--“Along the whole line of the American coast”, i.
e. of the east coast of the U. S.
108.--1841.--Christiansund fjord, Norway.--Several persons.
109.--1842?--Romsdal fjord, Norway.--A parish priest.
110.--1842?--Romsdal fjord, Norway.--A gentleman.
111.--1843, Summer.--Christiansund fjord, Norway.
111 A.--1843, October?--Near Ibbestad, not far from Christiansand,
Norway.--Some fishermen.
112.--1845?--Near Bergen? Norway.--Some fishermen.
113.--1845.--Between Bergen and Sogn, Norway.--Mr. J. D. MORRIES
STIRLING, and two other gentlemen.
114.--1845 or 1846, Summer.--Camp’s Bay, near Cape Town.--Mr. G. D.
BRUNETTE, Mr. CHARLES A. FAIRBRIDGE.
115.--1845, July 28.--Romsdale fjord, Norway.--Mr. J. C. LUND, Mr. G.
S. KROCH, CHRISTIAN FLANG and JOHN ELGENSES.
117.--1846, August 8.--Between the islands of Sartor Leer and Tös,
and in Bjornfjord, near Bergen, Norway.--Several persons, DANIEL
SALOMONSON, his wife INGEBORG, ABRAHAM ABRAHAMSEN HAGENOES.
118.--1848, August 6.--Lat. 24° 44′ S., long 9° 22′ E., between the
Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena.--Mr. SARTORIS, midshipman, Lieutenant
EDGAR DRUMMOND, Captain PETER M’QUHAE, Mr. WILLIAM BARRETT, master, and
most of the officers and crew of H. M. S. _Daedalus_.
119.--1848?--The Gulf of California.--Captain the Hon. GEORGE HOPE.
120.--1848, December 31.--Lat. 41° 13′ N., long. 12° 31′ W., west of
Oporto.--An officer of H. M. S. _Plumper_.
121.--1849, February 18.--Off the south point of Cumberland Island,
about twelve miles from the St. John’s bar, Florida.--Captain ADAMS, of
the schooner _Lucy and Nancy_, and the crew and passengers of it.
122.--1849, May 30.--South of Australia, between 40° and 45° S. lat.,
and 110° and 145° W. long.--Captain EDWARDS, of the _Alpha_, Mr.
THOMSON, Mr. GEORGE PARK.
123.--1849, September 15.--Indian Ocean, between lat. 10° and 20° S.,
and long. 50° and 70° E.--An officer of H. M. S. _Cleopatra_.
124.--1850?--Between Iceland and the Far Öer.--Captain CRISTMAS.
125.--1853?--Fjords of Norway.
126.--1854, September 4.--Lat. 38° S., long. 13° E.--The Brig _Albeona_.
127.--1855, August?--Off St. Helena.--A Captain.
128.--1856, March 30.--Lat 29° 11′ N., long. 34° 26′ W.--Mr. J. H.
STATHAM, Captain JAMES GUY, of the _Imogen_, Mr. JULIAN B. HARRIES, Mr.
D. J. WILLIAMSON.
129.--1856, July 8.--Lat. 34° 56′ S., long. 18° 41′ E.--Captain A.
K. W. Tremearne of the ship _Princess_, Captain MORGAN, of the ship
_Senator_.
130.--1857, February 16.--In Table Bay, Cape Town.--Dr. BICCARD, his
wife, daughter and two sons, Mr. MURRAY and Mr. HALL.
131.--1857, December 12.--North east end of St. Helena distant 10
miles.--Captain GEORGE HENRY HARRINGTON, of the ship _Castilian_,
WILLIAM DAVIES, chief officer, EDWARD WHEELER, second officer.
132.--1858, January 26.--Lat. 19° 10′ S., long. 10° 6′ W., between the
Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena.--Captain SUCKLING of the _Carnatic_,
Captain SHUTTLEWORTH.
133.--1861? August, on a Sunday.--Nahant?--Dr. AMOS BINNEY, and above a
hundred persons.
134.--1861? August, the following Monday.--Nahant? from the piazza of
the hôtel.
135.--1863, May 16.--Between the Isles of Canary and the Cape Verde
Isles.--Mr. JOHN CHAPPLE, Rev. Mr. SMITH, on board the Screw Steamer
_Athenian_.
136.--1871.--Near the coast of Australia.--A second officer.
137.--1872, August 20.--The Sound of Sleat between the Isle of Skye and
the west coast of Scotland, and between Eigg and the mainland.--Rev.
JOHN MACRAY, Minister of Glenelg, Rev. DAVID TWOPENY, Vicar of
Stockbury, two ladies, F. and K., a gentleman, G. B., and a Highland
lad, on board the cutter _Leda_; also a Lady at Duisdale, in Skye.
138.--1872, August 21.--On the north side of the opening of Loch Hourn,
west coast of Scotland, and in the same Strait of Kylerhea, dividing
Skye from the mainland.--The same witnesses as of n^o. 137; the
ferrymen on each side of Kylerhea, FINLAY MACRAE, and other people.
139.--1872, August 23.--In the entrance of Lochduich.--ALEXANDER
MACMILLAN and his brother FARQUHAR.
140.--1872, August 24.--In the same locality.--The same witnesses.
141.--1873, Nov. 16?--Near Dunrobin castle, east coast of Sutherland,
Scotland.--Lady FLORENCE LEVESON GOWER and the Hon. Mrs. COKE.
142.--1873, Nov. 17?--Near Golspie, east coast of Sutherland,
Scotland.--Dr. SOUTAR.
143.--1873, Nov. 18?--The same locality.--Mr. JAMES.
144.--1875, July 8.--Lat. 5° 13′ S., long. 35° W., twenty miles from
Cape San Roque.--Captain DREVAR, of the barque _Pauline_, HORATIO
THOMPSON, JOHN HENDERSON LANDELLS, WILLIAM LEWARN, OWEN BAKER.
145.--1875, July 13.--Lat. 5° S., long 34° 10′ W., eighty miles from
Cape San Roque.--The same witnesses.
146.--1876, September 11.--Fifteen miles north west of North Sand
Lighthouse, in the Malacca Straits.--JOHN K. WEBSTER, Captain of the
British s. s. _Nestor_, and Mr. JAMES ANDERSON.
147.--1877, May 21.--Lat. 2° N., long. 90° 53′ E., Indian Ocean.--The
master of the barque GEORGINA.
148.--1877, June 2.--Off Cape Vito, Sicily.--Commander PEARSON of H. M.
Yacht _Osborne_, Mr. DOUGLAS HAYNES, Mr. FORSYTH, and Mr. MOORE.
149.--1879, January 28.--Lat. 12° 28′ N., long 43° 52′ E., Gulf of
Aden.--Major H. W. J. SENIOR, Dr. C. HALL, Miss. GREENFIELD, on board
the s. s. _City of Baltimore_.
150.--1879, March 30.--In Geographe Bay, Australia, near Lockville and
Busselton.--Rev. H. W. BROWN, Mr. C. M’GUIRE and his wife, Mr. M’MULLAN.
151.--1879, April 5.--Cape Satano, the most southern point of Japan,
distant about nine miles.--Captain DAVISON, Mr. MC. KECHNIE, of the
_Kiushiu Maru_.
152.--1879, August 5.--100 miles west of Brest, France.--Captain J. F.
COX, of the _Privateer_.
152 A.--1881, Nov. 12?--Near Monillepoint, not far from Cape
Town.--Mr. C. M. HANSEN, his wife and children, and several of his
neighbours.
153.--1882, May 28.--About six miles W.N.W. of Butt of Lewis (the
northern point of the Hebrides or Western Islands).--Some fishermen.
154.--1882, May 31.--The same locality.--Mr. WEISZ of the Lloydsteamer
_Kätie_, Mr. ANDREW SCHULTZ.
155.--1882, September 3.--Near Orme’s Heads, northern coast of Wales,
Irish Sea.--Mr. W. BARFOOT, Mr. F. J. MARLOW, Mrs. MARLOW, and several
other ladies and gentlemen.
156.--1883, October 15.--Bristol Channel.
157.--1885, August 16.--Between Rödö and Melö Isles, Nordland, Norway,
at lat. 66° 35′ N., long. 13° 21′ E.--Some lads.
158.--1886, August.--Near Kingston Point on the Hudson, New Jersey, U.
S. A.--Two young men.
159.--1886, August.--Near the east coast of U. S. A.
160.--1886, August.--Near the east coast of U. S. A.--JONAH.
161.--1889, May.--In the common track from Liverpool to
Philadelphia.--A captain.
162.--1890, June.--Near Long Island, not far from the coast of
Connecticut.--Captain DAVID TUITS of the schooner _Anny Harper_.
* * * * *
In these reports nearly all is very probable from a zoological point of
view, and there is but little that must be looked upon as fabulous.
Some statements, which at first seem to us to be exaggerations, we
unhesitatingly accept as truths, when we have taken a review of all
the reports together; either because they are constantly repeated, or
because they are confirmed by highly respectable testimonies of recent
date.
What now follows is an abstract of the 166 reports, enumerated above.
The numbers in brackets correspond with those placed in the list given
above, consequently also with those in my 4th. Chapter. Let us first
speak of the improbable things.
A. Fables, Fictions, Exaggerations and Errors.
At present nobody believes that the appearance of a strange animal on
the coast is a bad sign! In the sixteenth and the seventeenth century,
however, this was not uncommon. So we read that an appearance of a
sea-serpent portended a change in Norway (1), and that the appearance
of one in 1522 was followed by the banishment of King Christiernus and
by a great persecution of the Bishops; it also foretold the destruction
of the country (1). The snatching away of a man from a ship did not
happen without a terrible event in the Kingdom, without a change being
at hand, either that the princes would die or be banished, or that a
war would soon break out (p. 105). The Norwegian fishermen looked upon
its coming as a bad sign, for the fish would leave the coast (61).
Curious are also the characters described to the animal. It lives in
rocks and holes, and it comes out of its caverns only in summernights
and fine weather, to devour calves, lambs and hogs (p. 105). The eating
of cuttles, lobsters and all kinds of sea-crabs (p. 105) may also be a
story, though this is not quite improbable. The fables, often told of
Kraken and Spermwhales, that when sleeping on the surface of the water
they are taken for an islet, are also related of sea-serpents: “and
when it is slumbering on the Norway foam, the seamen deeming it some
island, fixed their anchor in its scaly rind” (p. 111).
It is also said to enclose ships by laying itself round them in a
circle; and to upset the ship (p. 109) if the seamen do not try to
escape, which they can manage to do when they row over its body there
where a coil is visible, for that when they reach the coil, it sinks,
while on the contrary the invisible part rises (p. 134, p. 227).
AREND BERNDSEN tells us that sea-serpents, as well as spermwhales,
often run down whole ships with all aboard (p. 134), and some north
sailors know that it had occasionally thrown itself across a yacht
of several hundred tons and dragged it to the bottom (p. 134). Mr.
Lee has sufficiently shown in his _Sea Monsters Unmasked_, that large
calamaries really sometimes snatch a man from a rowing boat; for a
long time this was considered to be a fable; now, however, zoologists
unconditionally accept it as truth. Such incidents, if happened,
are generally, but falsely, attributed by the Northern fishermen to
sea-serpents (p. 105, p. 108, p. 134).
It is not astonishing that by such people the sea-serpent is called
dangerous to seamen (p. 108, p. 134) and that they are very much
afraid of it (7, 14, p. 134, 61, 64, 65, 67, 92, 103, p. 259, 139,
157), and will never forget to take with them asa foetida or castoreum,
the smell of which the animal cannot bear (p. 130, p. 134, p. 259)
Moreover the fishermen advise to be very quiet when a sea-serpent
approaches, and to avoid rowing, because the least noise attracts the
animal (p. 259). Some believe that it casts its skin, as common snakes
do (p. 132), and that it is born on land, and lives in forests and
mountains till it can no longer hide its enormous body in it; then it
seeks some river and floats down to the sea (p. 133). When swimming,
sea-serpents don’t show their tail above the surface. Fishermen, in
their fear, would say: if one was near the head, the other end of the
animal could not be seen (103). I am convinced that this is one of
the reasons that the animal is sometimes said to be at least a cable
in length. The animal leaves behind itself a considerable wake, which
may be another reason that the witnesses exaggerated its length. So we
find: it is three hundred feet long (p. 107, 21), about 320 feet (106
A), six hundred and seventy feet (p. 130, 61), about a fourth of an
English mile (79), about 750 feet (85), from six hundred to 800 ells,
i. e. from 1340 to 1780 feet (103), more than 500 feet (130) or half a
mile long (156).
The thickness too is sometimes exaggerated (twenty feet, p. 105); the
head is described in some instances to be as large as a foering boat,
i. e. about twenty feet long (117, 146), or twelve feet long (126), or
perhaps ten feet long (118), and the tail fully a hundred and fifty
feet in length (146). The jaws are said to be of such an enormous size
that, if extended, they seemed sufficiently capacious to admit of a
tall man standing upright in them (118). It may be that the alleged
serpentine shape of the animal caused some writers to give scales to
the sea-serpent (p. 105), or that the distance was too large for a
closer examination, so that the observers thought it might have a hard
skin (5), or a rough coating (41, 51), or even a scaly one (39), or it
was the fear which made them see scales (157) which in reality did not
exist. Scales are also occasionally delineated (fig. 26) though the
eye-witness does not mention them, and even believed it belonged to the
eel-tribe (63). No wonder that such a terrible animal is often called
Leviathan (p. 111), an animal which raises its coils so high above
the water, that a ship can go through one of them (p. 109). Norwegian
fishermen really believe that the animal sometimes comes on land as
OLAUS MAGNUS (p. 105) and PONTOPPIDAN (p. 133) tell us, and as is
stated afterwards, when even distinct traces of it were said to have
been found in the fields (96).
In my opinion it is an error to believe that there are _two_ species
of sea-serpents (p. 107) or that there are several species of them all
belonging to the same genus (112). And also that the animal ever takes
a boat for one of the other sex, which induces it to follow the boat
(p. 133). This is a habit of the animal; but as it is a quite harmless
one, it is an error to believe that it grows furious when the pursued
are so fortunate as to escape (158), or that it may ever destroy them,
even after being struck with a boat-hook (112). That the shores of
Norway are the only in Europe, which are frequented by this monster (p.
135) is a positive error, since the animal is known to appear also on
the coasts of Great Britain, France, and even in the Mediterranean.
From what we now know of the division of the colours of the animal’s
body, I don’t hesitate to say that they are wrongly represented in
one of the drawings (fig. 31). The cetacean tail delineated in fig.
49 is explained in n^o. 151, the fish tail of fig. 26 in n^o. 63. The
definition that the eyes were of a greenish hue and looked devilish
(158) is certainly the result of an observation made in great fright.
I am sure that in cases wherein the colour of the head and neck are
described as a bluish green (29), or of a blue colour (29), or as blue
as possible (29), and that of the back of a dark green (30), these
definitions are the result of optical illusion, or the observers may
have been colour-blind.
The twelve fins (129, fig. 36) of which six are drawn on the left side
and six on the right side of the body emerging from the water, are
undoubtedly the result of an optical deception, as I have explained in
n^o. 129.--In the same way I have explained why the animal has a head
connected with the body without any indication of a neck, so that it
resembled a gigantic salamander (146), and that it seemed to be of a
gelatinous, that is flabby, substance (146), and that the motion of it
was apparently cork-screw-like (155).
In no case the antenna, ending in a crescent (106 A) or the ridge of
fins (148), or the discolouring of the water (131) observed, have
anything to do with the animal or with its appearance.
But let us now pass to the _facts_ which may be inferred from what is
reported of the animal.
B. Facts.
These are so numerous that I am obliged to bring them together under
several heads.