Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1854-10-06
Sensible News Of a sea.snnkc.

Sensible News Of a sea.snakc.
|, /, comfortable 10 gc, some accoun, from
4 trustworthy na,ural,, ol a ,ca.ssrpcn, That
{, neither a bunch ofssa.wccl nor bunch Of
lies. Mr.. Peach, gentleman whose name
i, familiar to all working men Of science, as
possessing the property of an accurate and
intelligent observer, tells US that few weeks
aro a specimen Of 4 singular and rare ser.
pcninc fslr va, cast on shore in Sinclair's
Bay, irw miles from the town of Wick in
Scotland. This water monster certainly !, a
very fine sca.snake, though no, perhaps tho
wcllkrown sca-scrpcni NJ fiction.
When !, was brought in i, had been much
manclsd ,nl cu, about by tho fishermen who
stylsd it = Ciel.lonin--a name very ap, TO be
corrupted into Sea Lion by those who have
caught. from tiuc to time, only climp'cs Of
tho head, which displays a sort of name.
Only = few specimens of the animal hayo
hitherto bo,n described a, having been found
on the BRUSH shores Those which have
bccn described were an of considerable size /:
hot tho las, raurh, is tho monster among
monsters. Iii, lcngrh is fifteen feet six
inches. from the cyc, only. 10 not quito the
tip of the tail. Tic two ends of him are i'm
measurable, because ihc toll has been much
injured lis zip broken oiT, while tie whole
n tho head up TO the eye has been knocked
to pieces, partly hy the fishermen anl partly
by the creature itself in lis death struggles.
Another foot might therefore he added To the
measurable length. Tho creates, depth NJ
his body il one foot two inches. anl it would
require 4 sgcwcr three and half inches long
10 ,rarsfx him hread'h.wise IN tho ihickcsI
part. His eyes sra perfect, an inch anil =
half across, having the pupil dark and hi.
hilvot~ these cyes are sn placcd, near the
tor OF the head, that they sould bc cunsple.
uous objects while the creature swan upon
the surface " the water The head, rs be-
fprc .lid, is muiilitcd 50 much that little can
he said about H. There arc. visible upon Il,
siumrs NJ 4 cluster Of spinc.like fns, well
adapted Tor the support ofa long crest, which
probably existed until a boa,.hook dealt about
the snake. head ils destructive blows. lp,
on the ridge oi his hack. extending along the
whole length, is the dorsal in but the lor
par, m 7, +, nearly MI rubbed or The 'kir
{, of beautiful silycry color, with fnc dark
hands that pas, down from head to tail. The
ycrtcbrll Columns No, Of hone At all,
bu, rristly. md no, three quarters Of an inch
across. Wien cut through it shows merely
as flon fllcd with jelly.like substance.
A. to III, actual natuie ofthis rare visitor,
an competent authorities agree tia, 1t is a
largo example Of tho fymncirus, visitor
known better by tho name Of riblnd.iaih or
dcal.f,h.
We do no, intend 10 enter into debate
abou, the ssa.ssrpent. Thn, would be cruel
10 our readers. let Us, however, say, that
against tho possibility Of its existence one oi
the nronscs, arguments used was, iha, II
such animals were in being, some portion Of
their sk,lc,on, especially hits of the hack''onc
would have been thrown ashore. Now here
we have \ creature Of a snakr-like form, six.
teen feet in length ,ha, is to say, two feet
longer than any similar scl.mouSicr Of the
snake kind, before found. lis crowned with
a long rtndulous iufI on the bl"k of tho head,
which would well represent the manc which
sca.ssrpcnt sccrs have always described -
Swimming as thc fish docs on i'- edge, and
MOI, fiat like \ sole or halibu,, the cNuemO
rhinncss compared with tho depth would
give it great rapidity Of nation, and the n'xi'
biiiy NJ the extremely delicate ca',ilasinou-
spinal column--nowhcrc an inch thck,wonld
cause It's manner Of progression to be vert
like that Of serpent.
The greatest wonders Of The deep are al
mos, hidden from the eye Of man. These
me,eoric silycr.coaici fishes appear TO reside
in the depths, and it is only at long intervals
and after a succession ofiempests. that soli'
,afy individual is sometimes cast upon the
shore where II, delicate body ia found torn
and mu,ilaied by the elements, and on tho
rocks.
Mr. Peach's fish Of sixteen feet long, seer
at dslance-swimminr rs 1t would sSitf,
when at the surface Of the water with ii'
crest and dorsa al fn exposed, its silyery 'hi
ming sides, aud the loLg wake lcfI by its Pc
cuiiar mo,ion-might, at distance, be con-
sidered, by surprised eyes, thirty feet il
length, or even more Bot. when We re-
member ,ha, tho samples taken on the Drl''
ish shores have been found in comparatively
narrow. shallow, and cold seas, and wei'
probably but small aud sickly specimens car
ried arains, their viii on, Of the depths o