The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-16 00:00:00

THE SEA SrIiPENT.

The following. letters nave been addressed to the
Edit-,r of the Tunes:—
Sir,—Observing in your paper of yesterday's date a letter
from a correspondent relative to the marine animal com-
monly calle,l the sea serpent, in the concluding paragraph
I of which he mention+ that he has no doubt the object seen
from Her Majesty's shioDmdalus in the month of August,
IS4S, when on the passage from the Cape of Good Hope to
S. Helena, was a piece of the same seaweed observel by
himself, I beg to state that the object seen franc Her Ma-
jesty's ship on that occasion was, beyond all questioo, a
living animal, moving rapidly through the water against a
cress sea, and within five points of a fresh breeze, with
such velocity that the water was sur,ging under its chest as
it passed along at a rate probably of not less than 10 miles
per Lour. Captain :11.1`Qnhae's first impulse was to tack in
pursuit, ourselves being on a wind on the larboard tack,
when he reflected that we neither could lay up for it or
overhaul it in speed. There was nothing to be done, there-
fore, but to observe it as accurately as we could with our
glasses as it came up under our lee quarter and passed
away to windward, at its nearest position being not more
than 200 yards from us ; the eye, the mouth, the nostiil,
the colour, and form all being most distinctly visitsla to
us. We all felt greatly astonishel at what we saw,
though there were sailors among us of 30 and 4') years'
standing, who had traversed most seas an,l seen many
marvels in their day. The captain was the first to exclaim,
" This must be that animal called the sea serpent," a
conclusion which, after sundry guesses, we all at
last settled down to. My impression was that it was rather
of a lizard than serpentine character, as its movement was
steady and uniform, as if propelled by fins, not by any undulatory power. It was in sight from our first observ-
ing it about ten minutes, as we were fast leaving one ano-
ther on opposite tacks, with a freshening breeze and a sea
getting up.
I feel, Sir, I have already occupied more of your time
and space than is justifiable, and have the honour to re-
main your obedient serg,nt,
AN OFFICER OF H.M.S. D.EDALUS.

Feb. 13.

Sir,-1 letter appears in the Times of to-day, signed
"Frederick Smith," on the subject of the sea serpent.
The writer has this advantage over others who have re-
ported the occaFionol appearance of what he fairly calls
" this queer fish"—that he has handled as well as seen it.
Still there would seem to be a considerable variety in the
genus, for, while the specimen obtained by the Pc in in
1848 was 4 inches in diameter and 20 feet in length, that
seen from the Circassian is described, if I remember
rightly, in your paper of the 4th inst., as 10 feet or 11 feet
in diameter, and upwards of 200 feet in length.
In this latter instance it was seeing only, and but a pass-
ing sight; and testimony of this kind is just that which
naturalists may be slow to receive as evidence of any new
fact; nevertheless, the practised vision of the Circassian's
commander should go for something, and as it would ap-
pear from the following letter that Captain Harrington is
to be in town next week and ready to answer any ques-
tions, it might be worth the while of some of our philo-
sophers to examine a little into the question of what
Captain Harrington and his officers really did see.
I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
W. A. 13. HAMILTON.

Blackheath, Feb. 12.

"14, South Castle-street, Liverpool, Feb. 8.
"Dear Sir,—l am in receipt of your favour of the 6th
of February, and should be glad if my communication to
the Times might be instrumental iu dispelling many doubts
respecting the existence of such a monster as that described
by myself and officers.
"1 communicated it to Captain Schoenberg, R.N., of
this place, in the course of conversation, who advised me
by all means to send a copy of it to the Times.
" Notwithstanding the as,ertions of men of science to
the contrary lam now sure that such animals exist. I
could no more be deceived than (as a seaman) I could
mistake a porpoise for a whale. If it had been at a
great distance it would have been different ; but it was
not above 20 yards from the ship.
" I am of opinion that this animal makes its appearance
at the surface at long intervals only. I am informed by
Messrs. Lamport and Holt, shipowners of this place, that
one of their captains reported a similar thing about two
years ago, off the Island of St. Helena; but they took no
further notice of it, supposing, as your friends seem to do,
that he might have been deceived
" Twenty people, including Mrs. Harrington and my
two officers, saw it as distinctly as I now see the gas light
which lam writing by. lam well known in London,
having commanded a steam transport during the Russian
war belonging to the North of Europe Steam Navigation
Company.
"Captain Claxton, R.N., of the Priory, Battersea, is a
personal friend of mine. I am also well known to Sir
Cohn Campbell, who is now in the East. My present ship
is 1,001 toes new measurement, and a new ship, of which
I own a good part myself. There are therefore many rea-
sons (in addition to my holding a first-class certificate in
the mercantile marine) to hinder mo from propagating a
report which can do me no good, and, if untrue, do injury
to science in the room of assisting it to elicit the truth in
so important a matter as the discovery of the inhabitants
of the deep.
"I shall be in town for three or four days in the early
part of next week. A letter addressed to me at the Jeru-
salem Coffee-house will meet with attention, and, if my
limited time permit, I should be glad to have an interview
with yourself, or any of your friends who might wish to
have a verbal explanation in this matter.
" I have the honour to remain, sir,
" Your obedient servant,
" To Rear-Admiral W. A. B. Ham ilton." `!G. H. riAItRINGTOY