The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-08-11
THE SEA SERPENT AGAIN.
nix REPUTABLE PERSONS REPORT HAVING SEEN
HIM NEAR swAMPsCoT.

The Boston Advertiser publishes the follow
ing letter, with this preface: 1t is from
perfectly Trustworthy source, and describes
an incident which has excited q lively specu
ation along the north shore since last Friday
The truthfulness of the statement may be re.
lied upon; the party, consisting of four per.
sons, besides the two sailors, agree in making
their statements. They all have good eye
sight, and the gentlemen are accustomed to
the sea along this coast and elsewhere;
SwAMpsooT, July 81, 1875.
On our way over to Nahant to call on you
yesterday we met with an adventure which
caused us to postpone that pleasure, and
which has created quite an excitement in our
usually quiet household. Our party con.
sisted of my reverend brother, Miss Mary
E, l., and myself with two sailors
We were sailing in my yacht about half way
between Swampscot and Egg Rock, the sea
being quite rough, owing to the strong south
easterly wind of the previous night, when we
espied school of blacklist or small whales,
between Egg Rock and Little Nahant. While
we were watching their movements through
our glasses, the head of an immense fish or
sea monster suddenly emerged from among
them, remained above water for some seconds,
and fell again, causing the water to boil for
some distance around it, and this performance
it repeated at intervals of perhaps two
minutes.
This being something none Of us had ever
seen before, we at once headed the yacht tor
the creature. When first seen it was at
distance of about two miles from US and head
ing toward u.s. / had on board small breech-
loading Ballard rife, calibre "a, conical ball,
and as soon as we were within 800 yards /
fred at it, but without effect as the motion
OF the vessel was SO great that it was almost
impossible to get steady aim. We chased it
about the bay for two hours, and during that
time / fired at it about twenty times, at
distances varying from 100to 300 yards. Once
we distinctly heard the ball strike it, but with
no perceptible effect. Finally it started out
TO sea, and when last seen it was heading in a
south-easterly direction, some four or five
miles out
During all this time it was accompanied by
the blackfish some fifteen or twenty in num-
Der, one of which seemed to keep alongside of
1t. Its description, as nearly as / can give it
TO you, is as follows: The head reminded me
of lizards head, long. fiat on top, from two
TO two and half feet across, with eyes large
and prominent, set well back on the upper
part; large mouth, which we could see open
occasionally. This head it raised about eight
feet from the surface of the water, bringing it
ap slowly, and keeping it up five to ten Sec
onds, when it would plunge back with
quick motion like dive, and showing small
portion of the back, where we could see
pointed fin about one and half or two feet
long, standing straight up, and in front we
could see the upper part Of what looked like
short legs, or the flippers of seal, but it
never raised the extremities from the water.
1t color was smooth, glossy black, except
ahe under part of the lower jaw, and as much
OF the breast as we could see, which was
white, with distinct line of demarcation be-
sween the two colors. / could see nothing
that looked like scales. We could, of course,
tell nothing about the length of his body, but
shere must have been an immense power
somewhere to enable it to raise such head
and neck, slowly, to such distance above the
surface, and to hold it there for 80 long
time. 1t was distinctly seen by one of our
fishermen, who passed within a few hundred
yards while we were chasing it. No one in
this neighborhood ever saw nything like it |
before, and if it was not the original sea SER
pent, should like to know what it was.