Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1851-07-03
Capture of a Young Sea Serpent.

Inc following deiails> in tesard 10 this
Questionable dwellef NJ lie. mighty deep,
were ce.o@"n,ra,cd by Cut R,churd Burr.
formerly Of the brig Long 'I.lana 10 one .,
more pf,he Marine Surveyors e he nor, Of
New York, and are thus sts,ed ii IN. No,
York Jcsynai u Cosomeroe -
=. Capt. Burr sraies that when in Ia, a.
North, and long. ~ or % West, on his nas
sage iIo,n ihs Isle NJ Sal, Cape de Xss.ls.-,a
RIO Grande, there bring u dead calm n
s..osi VI SINGULAR booking fish approached h,s
vessel A very nrge one, which he took 10
be the mother OF the small ones, appeared TO
be about 100 feet long, and ITS body as large
as the lower mast OF a ship of 500 tons.-
Moving towards the brig she came at one
,,,,ss -wssl,ia sb"ut 20 tret,- Sne would raise
her head 10 or IL feet out OF the wafer, look
around on the objects presented, then settle
her head and body under the water, and
move on. or the snail ones, there were
100 10 $50. They were about The brig 90
minutes or more. They were steering 10
the Eastward. Some Of the small ones
came quite along the s,de of the brig.
Captain Burr having pair Of five prong
cranes on board, seized II aud struck IL iuIo
the neck Of one OF the smallest. But IN At,
tempting TO bau! The prize on board, the body
parted IRON The head (the cranes having cut
off The back bone) and fell overheard. The
head was saved aud put IN sal, tor preserva-
ton. II is now in the possession OF the
Marine Surveyors; and 4 queer concern IL
is. The head proper, back 10 the gls, is -
inches long. The mouth or muzzle is u
COMPROMISE between that OF a sucker and a
common snake. II has no teeth, and if il
ever had tongue, that unruly me Der is
now missing. Its sills are very large and
powerful, and its mode of securing its prey
was evidently by suction. The eyes are
large, one on each side, and ten inrl,es back
from the muzzle. From the muzze hack
to within an inch or TWO Of the eyes, the
size of The prubocis, or whatever may be
called, is nearly uniform, say an inch and d
quarter, in ITS present diminished condition
but where the ewes are Inserted, the diane
ter is about NO inches, aud Increases bacs
10 the extremity OF the gills. jus. benin,
the gills are two fms, one ON each side, anl
al that point commences what may be call
ed the body. Or Inis uuly about Tour inches
are preserved, enlarging TO the point where
The grams broke il asunder. The entIrt
length oil the head, including this small sec
tlon OF the OouN, IS IL ihGheS.
Capt.. Burr ihiuks the portion OF the body
which tell of. was Is or 10 feet long, n
least; and its largest diameter or SIX inch
es. There was no back In. The Lii wa
not seen. The entire casing OF this strange
fish or serpent. as the case may be, IS mucl
har1er than common bone and we can cas-
! lily imagine that ~ iull grown subject, i
would he bullet proof. Ii is, however, muel
harder al top and on the sizes Than beneath
The capacity Ut the gullet, well as the alb
| >ence of teeth, shows that this animal, hk
the land sake, IS in the habit OF swallowIu;
ITS food IN the gross, without mast,cat,on.
| OF The mother snake, about 40 ieel wer
| seen above the water nj once.
| These, gentle reader, are the facts as the
are given to us. Mr.. Burr is said TO be
man OF excellent Character. Whether VIVA
he saw was family ot sea- serpents, OF moi
tie reader can Judge as well AS we. Ih'
part above DESCRIBED, is before our eyes, an
can he seen by any one who pleaSrs, al III
office Of The Marine SURVEYORS. 1t it Is no
part of young sea-serpeut, what is IT ?
| Will the naturalIsts tell US 1t Is evidenIl
a water annual !; else what is the Use of gall
| and fins We have never seen the like q
| II before; aud we understand the old sail
are equally at fault in regard TO il. Ah1u
The eyes, we are Told, il resembles CEREAL
species Of alligator. But the mouth is en-
! tIrely unlike that OF the alligator the Ion
/ prohocis Or snout does not belong 20 the ALI
gator; and on the whole, il clearly belong
| to different fImIly.