Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1852-03-04

I
ga capital one," and we cannot resis
the temptation to publish it. 1t il
well worth reading, true OF false, bu
we have no good reason for discar
ding it:
Capture of the sea serpent.
TWe give the following letter as i
came TO our hands, without expires
sing any opinion as 10 the truth OF
fiction of its statements:7- Y
Tribune.
SnIP MoNoNGAHELA, at Sea, Feb. G, 80.
To hts Editors Of The N Y. Tribune.
A small vessel has just been repor,
Ted from my masthead, and as she i,
apparently bound into some of the
Northern ports. | intend TO speak
her, purposely 10 accquaint through
your widely diffused journal, the peo-
pie OF the United States, with the
fact of the existence and capture Of
the Sea Serpent monster deemed
fabulous by many--but the truth Of
whose existence is forever settled,
and trust | will be excused in say
ing by Yankee intrepidity.
On the morning OF Jan. Is, when
in latitude 3 deg. 10 min. South, and
longitude l3I deg. so min. West,
the man on the lookout, seated on
the lore-top mast cross trees, sang
out "W'hite WATER" and in reply to
my "Where away7" said "Two points
on the lee bow" Supposing it TO be
made by sperm whales, and very aHx-
ious to obtain oil, ! ordered the ship
TO be kept off and Immediately went
aloft with my spy-glass. | will OBJ
serve that for several days we had
been struggling along with very light
and battling winds, but at daylight
Of the morning OF the 18th the wind
had drawn 10 the southwest, become
steady, and threatened 10 become a
gale. | was aloit nearly half an hour
before | observed anything like
",chite ,oater," and then | presumed
it TO be made by "a school or rather
ShOal of porpoises, but wishing TO be
certain, ordered the mate, as it was
seven bells, 10 turn all hands, square
in the wards and send out the port
sudden sails. 1t being my breakfast
hour, urged the men 10 keep both
eyes open, and came down, hut be-
fore | reached the deck, my attention
was called TO the sudden and vehe-
ment cry of Qnnetn Xaaiaa. = Mar
quesan Islander. "O! LookI' Look
Me see! Too muchl Too muchl''
All eyes were instantly directed to
the savage, TO ascertain where he
was looking, and then all eyes turn
ed 10 the lee quarter. | just had
time TO see "6lack skin" when it dis
appeared. The native was excited.
and in reply to my questions, said
"No whale--too much-too big--too
iong-me no see all same dat feIler-
me fraid." Not being able 10 tell
which way the animal or fish was
bound, | luffed and came back, order
ing the lines in the boats and the
crews TO "stand BY" The horizon
was scanned in every direction for
nearly an hour, when giving up all
hopes | braced forward and went
below. The native continued TO
look with eagerness, pushed on by
the observations OF the crew who as
serted that he had seen nothing. but
he proved the truth of his sight in a
lew minutes by uttering another cry,
and with more vehemence than the
first. | rushed on deck, and the
first look, not a mile to leeward, res
ted on the strangest creature | had
ever seen in the ocean. II was ap-
parently still, but "Sobbing" up and
down, as we say Of sperm whales.
| knew it was not a whale. The
head | could not see, but the body
had n motion like the waving OF
rope, when shaken and held in the
hand. Every eye in the ship regar-
ded t~attentively, and not a word
was spoken or sound uttered. In a
few minutes the whole length of the
body rose and lay on the water, it
was of an enormous length. Pre-
sently the extremity or tail, moved
or vibraied, agitating the water, and
then the head rose entirely above
the water, and moved sideways
slowly as if the monster was in agony
or suffocating. "ltis a Sea Serpent,r
| exclaimed, "siand by the boats.n
There was hesilancy and the mate
sajG-"Of what use is there lower
ing for himl we only lose time and
gain nothing, BESIDES" / abruptly
checked him and ordered all hands
aft. When they had mustered /
told them | wished to "try" that fel-
loD--I urged them with all the elo-
quence | possessed. telling them there
was but few who believed in the
existence of the sea serpent, and
that a wish had been expressed that
whale-ship might fall in with one
of them-that il we did not attack
him, aud should tell of seeing him