The Nevada journal., 1852-04-08


Staid down long time but on rehe
tion considered that was his forte1
, he was at home. lG hours after he we /
down, the line began to slack: when n
had taken in 2 lines there come straI
again. This strain continuing told eI
cry body to bear hand and get breas
fast, and just before We were throug
the cook cried ont, Here he is.' In
time, all were on deck,a sure enous
he had risen but all that was visib
was bunch, apparently the blight :
the Snake, where he had been fastens
to. | lowered three boats, and we lancl
the body repeatedly without elicitii
any sign of life,
While we were at work, he grndufX
ly rose to the surface, and around hi
hoated, what took TO be pieces of h
lungs, which we had cut with our lat
ces. To make our work sure we contil
ued to lance, eagerly seeking for Il
life, when he drew himself up and "
pulled away, and then Witnessed I'll
terrific dying struggles of the monste
None Of the crew who witnessed tn,
terrible scene will ever forget it'll
evolutions of the body were rapid
lightning, seeming like the revolving
a thousand enormous black wheels
The tail and head would OCCASIONAL
appear in the surgihg bloody foam. ar
a sound was heard, so dead, unearth
and expressive of acute agony, that
thrill of horror ran through our veins.
The cOnvulsivc efforts lasted ten or I'D
teen minutes, when they suddenly sto
ped, the head was partly raised-i, fa
the body partly turned and lay stiff
| took off my hat and nine terrific chez
broke simultaneously from our throat 4
Our prey 1ruS dead.
Luckily he foated huovantly, and VI
took him alongs and while doing d
he turned over lying belly up. Ever
eye beamed with joy as we looked
him over the rail, and the crew agai
cheered vociferously, and | Joined then
We now held consultation rs to whf
we should do,and | re e1uested all hand
to offer their opinions. After sho
talk,all of us felt convinced that it woul
be impossible to get him into port, an
then we concluded to try and save h
skin, head. and bones, if possible. In IL
first place, requested Scotehmai
who could draw tolerably to take
sketch of him as he lay, and the mat
to measure him. IL was now quitN
smooth, and we could work to aavak
tage. As am preparing minute d{
scription of the Serpent, | will merel
give you few general points 1t wd
n male /; the length, 103 feet inches
10 feet I inch around the neck "a fed
6 inches around the shoulders and tn
largest part of the body, which appeared
somewhat distendcd, 40 feet | / inch es
The head was long and fat with ridges
the bones of the lower jaw separate ; the
tongue had its end like the head of q
heart. The tail ran nearly to q point,
on the end Of which was fat firm car
trillage. The back was black, turning
brown on the sides, then yellow, and on.
the centre of the belly a narrow white
streak, two-tbrds of it's length; there
was also scattered over the body dark
spots. On examining the skin we found,
to our surprise, that the body was GOV.
cred with blubber like that ON a whale,
but it was only four inches thick. The
oil was clear rs water, and burned near
ly ms fast as spirits of turpeniine.
We cut the snake in, but found great
difficulty, and had to flense him, the bo-
dy would not roll, and the blubber was
so very elastic that whom stretched 20
feet by the blocks, it would, when cut
of, shrink to five or six feet. We took
in the head, frightful object, and are
cndeavoring to preserve it with salt.
We have saved all the bones, which
the men are not done cleaning yet. In
cutting open the Serpent we fund pie
ces of squid and u large blackfsh, the
flesh of which dropped from the bones.
One of the Serpent's lungs was feet
longer than the other. | should have
observed that there were ninety-fo
teeth in the jaws, very sharp, all point
ing backward and as large as ones
thumb at the gum, but deeply and firm
ly set. We found it had two spout-holes,
or spiricles, so it must breathe like u
whale it also had four swimming paws,
or limitations OF ones for they were like
hard, loose flesh. The joints of the back
were loose, and it seemed as if when it
was swimming, that it moved two ribs
and joint at a time-almost like feet.
The muscular movement of the Serpent
after it was dead, made the body look
as if it was encircled by longitudinal
ridges. We were nearly three days in
getting the bones in, but they are now
nearly clean and are very porous and
dark colored.
The heart was enabled to preserve
in liquor and one Of the eyes, but the
head, notwithstanding it is cool, begins
to emit an offensive oder, but am so
near the coast now, that | shall bold on
to it ~ it is, unless it is really likely to
breed distemper. Every man in the
ship participates in my anxiety
2P. M. l have just spoken the YES
sci she proves to be the brig Gipsey,
Capt Sturges, eight days from Ponce,