The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1876-05-24


membership has increased TO such al
textent that the hall of the school-house
has been engaged for future meetings.
--ssS.
The Sea Serpent Again. Thrilling
| Description.
That monster OF the deep, known al
the Sea Serpent, has been again eneoun
tered, this time in the Indian Ocean. A
letter in the Bombay Gazette by pas
lsenger describes 1t. The writer, after
detailing its manner Of approach to-
wards the vessel, steamship, says:
/ Within hundred feet OF the stern Of
our vessel, not now approaching US, but
simply following steadily in our wake,
Twas this hideeus thing. A great mass
fof what looked like tangled seaweed, on
| which futile attempt at combing had
been made, rose out of the water. This
mass must have been twenty or thirty
leet in length and ten feet in width, and
as it came on it caused wide ripple in
the water that showed there must be a
still greater part below the surface.
| From the center of this mass, raised
Ijust clear above it and facing the vessel,
was a great black head. The top was
quite flat, in shape not unlike that of a
monstrous toad. A thick fringe of coarse
reddish hair hung over the mouth, quite
concealing 1t. But the eyes were the
| most awful part of this fearful thing.
They were placed far apart, at either ex-
tremlty OF the fat head, distant from
each other at least three feet. I must
here state that all the passengers and all
| the crew, except the captain himself,
saw the thing aflerward, but that there
were scarcely two who could agree as to
the color and nature of these eyes.
can only, therefore, write as they ap-
peared to me. The eyeballs were enoy-
nous; they must have been four Oh five
inches in diameter.
They scintillated constantly. Every
one knows the extraordinary appear
| ance OF surface covered with small
alternate squares Of bright red and
bright blue, the quivering, uncertain,
unfxed look such a surface has, the diff
fictilty, the impOssiDility experienced by
the looker-on to fix the color OF any par
ocular square. The eyeballs Of this
thing had such a quivering, uncertain
look; but they were not red, not blue,
not red and blue; they were of bright,
bufningly bright, copper hue; they
pained our eyes-and in this we all
agreed--as we looked at them. In the
center of each eyeball, mere speck, but
visible from its extreme brightness, was
point of light, OF white light. II was
impossible to tell whether these points
were or were not material points Of the
eye or merely caused by reflection, but
they were clearly defined, and seemed
to remain In the same place. The mo-
tion, however, of the thing was 80 steady
that no deduction could fairly be drawn
from their not changing their position.
l had been SO absorbed in the pleasing
pain of looking at the thing, that had
quite forgotten the other people on
board, ana was first reused by hearing
Captain Davidson step up on the stern
by me, give one look below at the water,
and then hurriedly go back. In few
minutes every passenger was erowding
ON to the stern, even the ladies appear
Ing, though in unfinished costume. Ex-
clamations OF the EXTREMIST astonlsh-
ment broke from all, and then silence
fell, as the crowd stared at the hideous
creature. The children, at1he first sight,
ran back below screaming, and some re-
fused to come again ON deck, though
their nurses and ayahs-desirous OF
looking on hemselves-used all possible
means to make them. Up TO this time
the thing had kept steadily in our wake,
it's movement continuing absolutely
smooth and constant, and the specks OF
light in the glaring eyes never changing
d hairs breadth from their position.
When we went on deck again-we
were only a few minutes at breakfast
we found the thing still following stead
lily in our wake. The children mad in
great measure got over their fear, and
mad made a long line BY joining hands,
and the whole lot Of them would now
crouch down and then suddenly rise up,
open their mouths at the thing. and cry
oiit at It. Suddenly the hide0us crea-
ture seemed reused by these cries, it
raised its head in the air, uttered a
strange below, and came forward at q
great pace toward the ship. None OF us
could at first move from fear; The thing
seemed to have grown In size, its eye-
balls were more burningly brighti the
children fell on the deck crying, dnd
some OF the women tainted.
But we who remained standing, suffer-
inc though we were under intense ter
ror, stiil could not, when we at last were
able to move, retreat, or even take our
eyes off the thing. IL came swiftly up
to the ship, always uttering the same
peculiar cry or below. When but few
feet from the stern it suddenly turned
and came up close on the port side.
noTo WIG nluC uWhluBo hNu pSOh Puv uP
to keep OF the sun, but three OF us
rushed up to the awning and quickly got
it down that we might the better watch
the thing. For myself I must say that
while doing this was still suffering
from extreme tear, but my curiosity was
SO Intense, 80 irresistible, that could
only act as did.
No sooner was the thing level with us
than it raised itself with q sudden move
ment high out of the water, till its head
was thirty or forty feet above us. III
suili uttered the same peculiar cry orr
below. Under our intense curiosity we
stood out on the bulwarks TO follow its
movements. 1t opened a great mouth,
cried more loudly than before, and made
three blows at the mainmast. The last
OF these touched it, and caused the snip
to sway violently, so that we were nearly
cast on into The water. When we again
looked for the thing II had gone. There
was no ripple, no disturbance OF any