The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-04-11
STRANGE-IF TRUE.
The Sea Serpent Outdone-A HIdeous

The Sea serpeP,s, o,s, 0stdone-A HIdeo"'
The Savannah Advertiser of a recent date
publishes the following startling narratve:--
party looming to this city from South
Carolina, through Wright river, in a small sail
boat, manned by three negro oarsmen, has fur
nished us with decidedly sensational account
OF bis adventures with one of the most unheard
of creatures that ever crawled or foated under
the armament of heaven, and assured us posi-
lively that he has not been deceived by any
freak of fancy or undue excitement of mind.
Our informant, on the morning of the 28th,
TOW ards noon, as he tells us, when about half
mile from Wright river, q stream merging into
the Savannah, two miles above Fort Pulaski,
with his negro men pulling quietly along near
the shore, the slight-built craft was suddenly
and without any premonitory sign lifted up, as
by some immense roller, throwing the crew out
OF their seats and completely soaring the life
out of them. The shock was so sudden that
danger existed for second of the boat turning
over, but luckily it righted again and sank back
into the water, which foamed like breakers
'But," says the hero of the adventure, Il did
not heed the danger around me in this respect
nor the grovelling fear of the men with me, for
[ could not. If life was at stake, have taken my
eyes away from the hideous creature that had
caused all the commotion, and was making its
way lazily out of the river into the long rushes
on the bank.
''Never before had anticipated such q mon
strosity, nor do l ever wish to see another. A
creature almost indescribabe, though its gene
raj appearance Is liked in my minds eye too
indelibly for pleasant afterthought. The beast
fish or reptile, whatever species of Gods crea-
tion it might be classed under, was of q tawny
greenish color, growing more definite towards
the head. The body of the creature was seal
shaped apparently twenty feet long and as
thick as the carcass of the largestsized elephant.
From this trunk sprung forth the most remark
able feature of the phenomen on, a long, curved,
swan-like neck, large enough apparently to
have taken a man in whole, terminated by a
head and jaws similar to that of an immense
boa constructor, the eyes fshy, yet possessing
feTociJy enough in their expression to make a
man tremble The back of the beast was
deeply ridged, the ridges running from the
base of the neck to the extreme end of the tail,
and several inches deep. An immense tail,
shaped something like an alligators and three
times longer, so it seemed, than the body COM
pleted the tout ensemble of this wonderful ano-
maly. The creature navigated by feet, resem-
bling the fore feet of an alligator, and its pro-
gress on land was slow" 'Wth all this COM
binatien of the terrible before me-" says our
friend 'it was not strange that trembled, but
before the frightened men had time to act, or
time to advise the cause of our terror drew itself
across the little island out of sight, into the
water beyond" sit did not take us long to
recover our senses and quickly leave the
scene. though the shock to our nerves, and,
indeed, to our belief in things possible and inn
possible, precluded anything like hard work"
The above statement we have from the lips OF
the gentleman himself, and, being duly vouched
for, we have every reason to believe in its
truth.