The Planters' banner. [volume] (Franklin, Attakapas Co., Lou.) 1849-1872, 1852-04-03

vi the lTOH uE6WlUS. 1 mau0 the EN-
of the line fast. and took in all sail bu
| enough to keep her steady, and waiteC
in alarm the snakes rising. the parting
of the line, or the irons drawing. A
A, P. NJ, the wind began to shift, which
favored Us little; aud at S, P. M, it, tt
our great Joy, began to abate.
8. p MA sudden Iull; line taut.-
The night was beautiful, the sky clear
wind scarcely breath, and sea rapidly
falling.
No eye was closed in the ship-we
were specializing OH our prey. 1t was
evident he was on the bottom. He
staid down long time but on refec-
ton considered that was his forte
that he was at home there. At 4, P. M,
of the 14th, sixteen hours after he went
down, the line began TO slack. had
it taken TO the windlass, when we got
nearly two lines "ha1d over -hand. y
then there came strain again. This
strain continuing. | told everybody to
bear hand and get breakfast, and
just before we were through, the cook
cried out, "Here he is p In no time
we were all on deck, and sure enough
he had risen but all that was visible
was bunch, apparently the blight of
the snake. where he had been fastened
to. | lowered three boats, and we
lanced the body repeatedly, without
eliciting any sign of life.
While we were at work he gradually
rose to the surface, and around him
foated what took to be pieces of his
lungs. which we had cut with our
lances. To make our work sure we
continued TO lance, eagerly seeking for
his life, when he drew himself up and
we pulled away, and then witnessed
the terrific dying struggles of the mon.
ster None of the crew who witnessed
that terrible scene will ever forget it.
The evolutions of the body were rapid
as lightning, seeming like the revolving
of a thousand enormous black wheels
The tail and head would occasionally
appear in the surging bloody foam, and
a sound was heard, so dead, unearthly
and expressive of acute agony, that a
thrill of horror ran through our veins
The convulsive efforts lasted ten or
fifteen minutes, when they suddenly
stopped, the head was partly raised-it
tell-the body partly turned and lay
still. took off my hat, and uine terrific
cheers broke simultaneously from our
throats. Our prey was dead
Luckily he floated buoyantly, and we
took him alongside, and while doing
so, he turned over, lying belly up
Every eye beamed with joy as we
looked al him over Ae rail, and the
crew again cheered Soeiferously, and |
joined them. We now held consulta-
ton asto what we should do. and | had |
all hands to offer their opini-
ons. After a short talk, allof us felt
10 gel hin fhto III i jboPHie oPHealAd aalAd Rpassjble
cluded to try and save his skin, head
and bones, if possible. In the first
place | requested Scotchman, who
could draw tolerably, 10 take sketch
Of him as he lay, and the mate TO
measafe him. 1t was now quite smooth,
and We conId work to advantage. As
am preparing minute description of
The serpent, will merely give you
few general points 1t was male !:
The length, 103 feet 7 inches 19 feet
/ inch around the neck; "a feet 6
inches around the shoulders and the |
largest part of the body, which ap-
peared somewhat distended, measured |
49 feet 4 inches. The head was long |
ard fiat, with ridges the bones of the
lower jaw separate; the tongue had |
lis end like the head of heart. The |
Iail ran nearly to point, on the end of
which was fat firm cartilage. The
back was black, turning brown on the
sides, then yellow, and on the centre of
The belly narrow white streak two
thirds of its length. There was also
scattered over the body dark spots. On
examining the skin we found, to our
surprise, that the body was covered |
with blubber, like that on the whale, /
but it was only four inches thick. The
oil was clear as water, and burned
nearly as fast as spirits of turpentine.
We cut the snake in. but found great /
and had to flense him. The
body would not roll, and the blubber
was SO very elastic that when stretched
twenty feet by the blocks il would,
when cut off, shrink to FIVE or six feet.
We took in the head, a fearful object,
md are endeavoring to preserve it with |
,alt.
We have saved all the bones, which I
he men are not done cleaning yet
IN cutting open the serpent we found
pieces of squid and a large blackfish.
he flesh of which dropped from the
bones. One of the serpents lungs was
hree feet longer than the other.
Ihonld have observed that there were
linety-four teeth in the jaws, very
harp, all pointing backward, and as
arge as ones thumb at the gum, but
ieeply and firmly set. We found it
lad two spout holes or spiracles, SO it
must breathe like whale. 1t also had
our swimming paws, or imitation ones,
or they were Ike hard, loose flesh
rhe joints of the back we're loose, and
/ seemed as if when it was swimming
hat ii moved two ribs and joint al a
ime-almost like feet. The muscular
of the serpent after it was
lead made the body look as if it was
,ncircled By longitudinal ridges. We
,a.s, y,<,a rIxy fbroo d1x-c IN rrottiuu the