The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-05 00:00:00

MURDER AND SUICIDE.

PARIS.—We have to record another of those too fre-
quent cases of murder, followed by the suicide of the
perpetrator. Rose Lamurie, the wife of a horsebreaker
at Chaillot, about twenty-five years of age, had lived
separate from her husband for about two years with
their mutual consert, and Las since lived in adultery
with a coachman at Vaugirard, named Leal. Leal, how-
ever, was jealous and brutal, and violent quarrels re-
peatedly arose between them. On Thursday night Leaf
returned home drunk, and the n( ighbours above their
apartment soon afterwards heard the usual sounds of
high dispute, but were so accustomed to them that they
did not interfere. At four o'clock on Friday morning,
Rose came down stairs and went out, telling the portress
that she should never return. The whole of Friday
passed without her re appearance, nor was Leal seen to
leave his lodgings. On Saturday morning the commis-
sary of police was informed of the mysterious circum-
stances, and had the door of the apartment forced open.
Leal was found dead on the floor, with his skull frac-
tured, and other wounds in different parts of his body,
inflicted with a crow-bar. The butt( m of the door had
been carefully stopped so as to prevent his blood from
flowing out beneath it on to the staircase. On endea-
vouring to trace Rose Lamurie, whose guilt could not
be doubted, it was ascertained that about eight en Fri-
day morning she went to her husband, whom, notwith-
standing their separation, she frequently visited, and
took her breakfast with him. During the meal she
talked of her miserable condition and her disgust of life,
and of the most easy means of self-destruction, expres-
sing her opinion that it was by strangulation. Ile re-
plied that he could not tell, fur he had never tried any
one of them. On leaving her house, Rose Lamurie went
to Montmartre, where one of her sisters lives, but did
not see her, going instead to one of her neighbours and
saying that she would be absent several days, as she was
obliged to travel forty leagues from Paris to get some
money, requested her to take charge of a little favourite
dog. In the evening of the same day Rose's sister went
into her friend's lodgings, saw the little dog, and re-
ceived an account of what had passed on its being left.
Astonished at Rose's not calling upon her, and sus-
picious that all was not right, she went to their father
and mother at Vauo irard, where she arrived at the
moment-the murder oaf Leal was discovered. As Rose
could nowhere be heard of, her father and sister went
to the Morgue, and there they found her lifeless corpse,
brought in under the name of Louise Rousseau, which
she had assumed on taking a small room in the Rue du
Rocher, where she had put an end to her life by suffo-
cation from the fumes of charcoal. She had left a note
taking leave of her family, asking pardon of her land-
lord for the trouble she would give him, and confessing
that she had murdered Leal, but protesting that it was
done unpremeditatedly in the madness of passion, ex-
cited by his brutal treatment of her. After having
lighted the brazier of charcoal, she hung herself on the
rod which supported the curtains of her bed, in order to
render assurance doubly sure.—Galignani.

THE SEA SERPENT.

After all the jokes and jeers at the expense of Ameri-
can skippers, it now appears that the Sea Serpent is to
take rank amongst the veritable marvels and monsters of
the great deep. The sober and serious Northmen have
again taken his case in hand, and come forward to vouch
for his character. The following is abridged from a cir-
cumstantial narrative of his visits to the fjords of Nor-
way, published in the Norwegian papers, and attested
by clergymen, lawyers, booksellers, printers, and others.
In the neighbourhood of Christiansand and Molde, in
the province of Romsdal, several persons, highly respec-
table and credible witnesses, have reported that they
have seen this animal. In general they state that it has
been seen in the larger Norwegian fjords, seldom in the
open sea. In the large bight of the sea at Christiansand,
it has been seen every year, though only in the warmest
season, in the dog-days, and then only when the weather
was perfectly calm and the surface of the water unruf •
fled. The following persons whose names are here
mentioned give the subjoined testimony :—Nils Roe,
workman at Mr. William Knudtzon's, relates : I saw
the serpent twice, once at noon, and two days afterwards
towards the evening, in the fjord at the back of Mr.
Knudtz m's garden. The first time it was about a hun-
dred feet distant. It swam first along the fjord, then
afterwards direct over to the spot %here I stood. I ob-
served it for above half an hour. Some strangers who
were on the opposite share fired at it, when it disap-
peared. The second time it was further from me. It
was small, perhaps twice as long is this room (ebout 44
feet) ; while swimming it made serpentine movements,
some to the side, others up and down. I cannot state
what thickness it was, but it appeared to be about as
thick as a common snake in proportion to its length. It
was thinner towards the tail. The head was several
times slightly elevated above the surface of the water.
The front of the head was rather pointed ; the eyes
Were sharp, and glistened like those of a cat. From the
back of the head a mane like that of a horse commenced,
which waved backwards and forwards in the water.
The colour of the animal was a blackish brown. John
Johnson (merchant, about 60 years of age) : I saw the
animal some years since in the fjord ; it was about a
thousand paces distant when nearest to me. It swam
Very swiftly ; in the same time that we rowed about a
quarter of a mile to the side from it, it had swam about
double the distance. I saw it most plainly when it swam
in a semicircular round a tolerably large rock that ob-
structed its passage ; in doing this it partly raised itself
above the surface of the water. Its colour was blackish
brown, and about the length of this house (55 feet).
With the exception of the head, I did not remark much
of the body, as that appeared but little above the surface.
Judging from what I observed, I should say the thick-
flees of the body was about that of a stout man. The
agitation it caused in the water was very strong. Its
movements were serpentine, up and down like a leech
swimming.—Lars Johnoen (fisherman at Stnoelen, about
50 years of age) : I have several times seen the sea
serpent, but some time since, twelve years ago, in the
dog-days, in the fjord not far from here, one afternoon
as I was fishing in my boat. I saw it twice in the course
of two hours, and for some time quite near me. It came
close to my boat, so that it was about six feet from me.
I became alarmed, recommended my soul to God, laid
down in the boat, and only held my head so far over it
that I could observe the serpent. It swam now past the
boat, that was agitated by the ripple caused b 3 its move-
ment in the water, which was previously smooth, and
afterwards removed itself. After it had swum a con-
siderable distance from me, I began again to fish. Not
long afterwards the serpent came close to the boat,
which now was strongly agitated by its movements in
the water. I laid down and remained quite still, and,
notwithstanding my fright, kept a watchful eye on the
animal ; it passed me, disappeared, and returned, though
not so close as previously, and disappeared entirely,
when a light wind arose and ruffled the water. Its
length was about five to six fathoms, and the body,
which was as round as a serpent's, was about two feet in
diameter. The tail seemed to be very round. The
head was about as long as a brandy anker (ten gallon
cask), and about the same thickness, it was not pointed
but round. The eyes were very large, round, ar.d
sparkling. There size was about the diameter of the
box here (five inches), and they were as red as my
neckerchief (crimson). Close behind the head a mane,
like a horse's, commeneed along the neck, and spread
itself on both sides, right and left, while swimming on
the water ; it was of tolerably long hair. The mane as
well as the head and the rest of the body, was brown
as this looking-glass frame (old mahogany). Spots,
stripes of other colours I did not observe, nor were
there any scales ; it seemed as if the body was quite
smooth. Its movements were occasionally fast and slow,
which latter was the case when it neared my boat ; I
could clearly observe it ; it was serpent-like, and moved
up and down. The few undulations which those parts
of the body and tail that were out of the water made,
were scarcely a fathom in length. These undulations
were not so high that I could see between them and the
water. When Lars Johnoen had given this explanation,
he was shown the drawing which Pontoppidan has given
of the animal. He looked at it with astonishment,
smiled, and said he found a great resemblance between
it and the animal he had seen. lie likewise said, that
some of the other sea-serpents he had seen were a great
deal longer than the one above described.
Mr. William Xnudtzon, and Candidatus Theologise
Bochlum, gave the following written account :—We to-
gether saw the sea-serpent in a narrow fjord. at the
distance of about one-sixteenth of a mile (half an Eng-
lish mile), for about a quarter of an hour ; afterwards
it dived, and came up so far from us that we could not
see it plainly. The water was smooth as a mirror, and
the animal had, as it moved on the surface, the appear
ante of a serpent. Its motions were in undulations,
and so strong that white foam appeared before it, and
at the side, which stretched out several fathoms. It
did not appear very high above the water, and its
length was quite discernible. Once it stretched its
head quite erect in the air. The body was somewhat
dark, and the head nearly black ; it had nearly the form
of an eel, or snake, and a length of about 100 feet, and,
in proportion to it, an inconsiderable thickness. The
breadth diminished remarkably from the head, so much
so that the tail ended in a point. The head was long,
and small in proportion to the throat, as the latter ap-
peered much greater than the former, probably as it was
furnished with a mane. Foged (Sheriff) Gottsche made
the following remarks :—" I saw the sea- serpent for
some time in a small fjord, first from a boat, afterwards
from the beach, several minutes, at a distance of from
thirty to thirty- six feet. In the beginning it sewn rouno
the fjord at Torviee afterwards it went in the deeps. I
saw its head stretched considerably out of the water. I
remarked as well two or three undulations of the fore
part of the body. Its motion was not like that of an
eel, but consisted of waving undulations, up and down.
They were excessively strong, and caused tolerable large
waves ; they were largest at the fore part of the animal,
and towards the back gradually lessened. The traces
of them I discerned in a length of eight to ten
fathoms, and a breadth of two to three fathoms
The head seemed blunted, and had the size and
form of a ten-gallon cask, the undulations of the body
were round and about the dimensions of a good timber
stock (12 to 14 inches square). The entire length of the
animal I could not judge, as it was not possible to observe
the extremity. Its colour appeared to be dark grey. At
the back of the head there was a mane, which was the
same colour as the rest of the body.
The writer of this article received letters from Mr.
Soren Knudtzon, stating that a sea-serpent had been
seen in the neighbourhood of Christiansand by several
people, and from Dr. Hoffmann a respectable surgeon in
Molde, lying on a considerable:fjord to the south of Chris-
tiansand, Rector of Hammer, Mr. Kraft, curate, and
several persons, very clearly saw, while on a journey, a
sea-serpent of considerable size.
The Rev. Mr. Deinboll, Archdeacon of Molde, gives
the following account of one which was seen last summer
near Molde. The 28th of July, 1845, J. C. Lund, book-
seller and printer ; G. S. Krogh, merchant ; Christian
Fleng, Lund's apprentice; and John Eleenses, labour, r,
were out on Romsdale-f jord, fishing. The sea
was, afti r a warm sunshiny day, quite calm. About 7
o'cl ick in the afternoon, a little distance from shore, near
the ballast place and Molde llouee, they sew a long ma-
rine animal, which slowly moved itself forward, as it ap-
peared to them, with the help of two fins, on the fore-
part of the body nearest the head, which they. judged
from the boiling of the water on both sides of it. The
visible part of the body appeared to be between 40 and
BCI feet in length, and moved in undulations like a snake.
The body was round, and of a dark colour, and seemed
to be several ells (an ell two feet) in thickness. As they
discerned a waving motion in the water behind the
animal, they concluded that part of the body was con-
cealed under water. That it was one connected animal
they saw plainly from its movement. When the animal
was about 100 yards from the boat, they noticed tole-
rably correctly its fore-part, which ended in a sharp
snout ; its colossal head raised itself above the water
in the form of a semi-circle ; the lower part was not
visible. The colour of the head was dark brown and
the skin smooth. They did not notice the eyes or any
mane or bristles on the throat. When the serpent came
about a musket-shot near, Lund fired at it, and was
certain the shots hit it in the head. After the shot hit
he dived, but came up immediately. He raised his head
in the air like a snake preparing to dart on its prey.
After he had turned and got his body in a straight lino,
which he appeared to do with great difficuty, he darted
like an arrow against the boat. They reached the shore,
and the animal perceiving it had come into shallow
water, dived immediately, and disappeared in the deep.
Such is the declaration of these four melt, and no one
has any cause to question their veracity. or imagine that
they were so seized with fear, that they could not ob-
serve what took place so near them. There are not
many here, 'or on other parts of the Norwegian coast,
who longer doubt the existence of the sea-serpent. The
writer of this article was a long time sceptical, as he had
not been so fortunate as to see this monster of the deep,
but after the many accounts he has read, and the rela-
tions he has received from creditable witnesses, he does
not dare longer to doubt the existence of the sea-serpent.
P. W. DEINBOLL.

Molde, the 20th Nov.,
The following gives some later particulars :

V " Sunds Parsonage, Aug. 31, 1846.
" On Saturday, the Bth instant, in the course between
the islands of Sartor Leer and TO3, a sea-monster, sup •
posed to be a sea-serpent, was seen by several persons.
Early on this day, just as the steamer Biorgvin passed
through Rognefiord towing a vessel to Bergen, Daniel
Salomonaon, a cotter, saw a sea-monster whose like he
declares he never met with althongh accustomed to the
sea and its inhabitants from his earliest years. The
animal came swimming from Rognefiorcl in a westerly
direction towards his dwelling at Gronnevigskiceset, in
the northern part of the parish of Sund. The head ap-
peared like a Fearing boat (about twenty feet long) keel
uppermost, and from behind it raised itself forward in
three and sometimes four and five undulations, each ap-
parently about twelve feet long : its rate appeared
to be that of a light boat rowed by four active
men. When it reached Gronnevigskiceset at a,
distance of two rifle shots, it turned with considerable
noise sad continued its course towards Lindeman. Later