Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1852-03-11
LGG&CG
From the n Y. Daily Tribune
HESEl SERPENT!!

We give the following letter as it came
to our bands without expressing any opIn-
ion as to the truth or fiction Of its state
ments
SHIP MoyoNGAHELA, AT SEA,
February 6, 1852
To the Editors Q The = Y Tribune:
A small vessel has Just been reported
from my masthead, and as she is appar-
emily bound into some of the Northern
ports, [ intend to speak her, purposeIy
to acquaint through your widely dltiused
journal, the people of the United States
with tie fact Of the existence aud capture
Of the Serpent monster deemed
fabulous by mauy-but the truth of whose
existence is forever settled. aud / trust |
will be excused III saying, by Yankee in
trepidity.
On the morning of Jan. IS, when III
lat 5 deg 10 min South, aud long I3I
deg 80 min West, the man on the look
out, seated on the fore-tOp-mast cross
trees, sang out White water" and in
reply to M Where away ?" said . Two
points on the lee bow" Supposing it to
be made by sperm whales, aud very aux-
ious to obtain oil, | ordered the ship to
with my spy-glass. [ VIII observe 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 to the south south
west, become steady, and Threatened TO
become gale. | was aioft nearly half
an hour before l observed anything like
tclitc 1Cater.' and then | presumed it to
be made bv a school or rather SkOQI Of
porpoises, but wishing TO be certain, | or
dered the mate, as it was seven bells, TO
turn all hands, square IN the yards. and
send out the port Sudden sails. 1t being
my breakfast hour, | urged the man to
keep both eyes open, and came down, but
before | reached the deck my attention
was called to the sudden and vehement
cry of Onnetu Fanjan, Marquesan Is
lander. 80 Look Look Me see ! Too
much Too much I" All ewes were in
stantly directed to the savage to ascer-
tain where he was looking, and then all
eyes turned to the lee quarter. | just
appeared The native was excited. and
IN reply to my questions, said, No whale
too much-too big-too long-me no
see all same dat felier-me fraid." Not
being able to tell which way the animal
or fish was bound [ lufTed and came
abacB, ordering the lines in the boats aud
the crews to stand by The horizon
was scanned in every direction for nearly
an hour. when giving up all hopes l brac-
ed 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 III few min
utes by uttering another cry, and with
more yehemcnce than the first | rushed
on deck, and the first look, not a mile to
leeward, rested on the strangest creature
| had ever seen IN the ocean. 1t was APP
pareutly still, but 'So55ilg' up and down,
as we say of sperm whales l knew 1t
was not a whale The head | could not
see, but the body had a motion like the
waving Of a rope, when shaken and held
in the hand Every eye in the ship re
garded it atteBtively, and not word was
spoken or sound uttered In a few min
utes the whole length OF the body rose and
lay on the water. 1t was Of an enormous
length. Presently the extremity or tail,
moved or yibratcd. 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,
1t Is a SEA SERPENT" | exclaimed
&" stand by the boats" There was a hes
itaucy, and the mate said, " OF what use
is there lowering for him we only lose
time and gain nothing besides | alb
ruptly checked him, and ordered all hands
called aft. When they had mustered,
told them I wished to try' that feLLolc-
I urged them with all the eloguence l
possessed telling them there was but few
who believed in the existence Of the sea
serpent, aud that wish had been ex-
pressed that whale-sbip might fall in
with one Of tbem-that if we did not at
tack him, and should tell of seeing him
when We got home, we would be laughed
at and derided-and the very first ques
tion would be. Why didn't you try himE'
| told them cur courage was at stake
our manhood, and even the credit of the
whole American Fishery. and concluded
By appealing to their cupidIty-holding
out that we might possibly get him into
some southern port.
&" do not order one of you TO 60 in the
boats" l said, but, who Will volunteer E'
Let me say TO their credit, every Ameri-
can in the ship stepped out at once, fol-
lowed by all but one native and two Eng
Iishmen. [ ordered the boats-teerers and
officers to examine and see that every
thing IN and about the boats was In per
feet order l had already jumped into
my boat, when the Serpent began to move
quite rapidly, and it was necessary to
stand after him The wind was piping
up strongly, but as we gained l continu-
ed to carry all sail, hoping to be able to
lower before the gale rendered it impossi-
BILE The Serpent worked to windward,
which compelled me to haul on the wind,
and soon after | carried away my fore
top-gallant-mast; this was most unlucky
for Us, and what was still worse, we lost
sight of the monster. We repaired dam
ages with all possible dispatch, and still
kept on the wind, hoping to see his snake
ship. In less that an hour We saw him
again, but some ways to windward soon
ascertaining that he partly turned and