The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1877-01-04
A Wonder Of the Deep-A Marine Frog
Fifty Feet Long.

In the month of October last the British
Nestor arrived at Shanghai
from the Straits of Malacca. Shortly aft
or the anchoring of the vessel at Shaghai,
John X. Webster, the master, and James
Anderson, the ships surgeon, appeared
before Mr.. Donald Spence, acting law Sec
rotary in her Britannia Majesty's Supreme
Court, and made affidavit to the following
marvellous statement of facts:
We, John Keller Webster, of Liverpool,
and James Anderson, surgeon, of Liver
pool, do solemnly and sincerely declare
as follows And, first, l, the said John
Keller Webster, in command of the steam
ship NestOr, do declare that on Monday,
the nth day of September, at 1880 a. M,
fifteen miles northwest of North Sand
light house, in the Malacca Straits, the
weather being fine and the sea smooth,
the air also perfectly clear, saw little
forward of the beam, on the starboard
side, about 200 yards distant from the
ship. an object first pointed out to me by
my third officer, who remarked. "There
is y shoal." Surprised at finding shoal
in such well-known track, l watched
the object and found it was in move.
ment, keeping up the same speed with
the ship and retaining about the same
distance as first seen. The speed of the
ship was nine aud three.quarters knots,
and the object was moving parallel with
us during six minutes. Just after OBJ
served it the Chinese deck passengers dis
covered it, and raised great outcry, and
about the same moment it was deserted
by three saloon passengers and the sur.
geon The shape of the creature, for that
It was alive there is NO doubt, would
compare to that of a gigantic frog. Re-
ferring to the head and body, as far rs
they were apparent above the water, the
head, of pale. yellOwish color, was about
twelve feet in length, and six feet of the
crown was above the water; occasionally
the head subsidized until only q foot or a
foot and half remained above the water.
l tried in vain to make out the eyes and
mouth: the mouth, however, may have
been below water. The head was imme-
diately connected with the body, without
any indication of neck. The body was
about forty five or fifty feet in length, and
of IN oval shape, perfectly smooth, but
there may have been q slight ridge along
the spine. The back rose some five feet
above the surface. An immense tail,
fully $50 feet in length, rose u few inches
above the water. This tail / saw dis
tinctly from its junction with the body to
its extremity; it seemed cylindrical, with
very slight taper, and l estimated its
diameter ut four feet. The body and tail
were marked with alternate bands of
stripes, black and pale yellow in color.
The stripes were distinct to the very ex-
trcmity Of the tail. l cannot say whether
the tail terminated in lin or not. l
examined it carefully at the abOve-men-
toned distance, but could not satisfy my
self how the tail terminated. Thecreaturc
possessed no fins or paddles as far as We
could perceive, never having seen any
part of its belly. l cannot say if it had
legs. 1t is very possible that the creature
was much broader and more massive than
the dimensions above given, for the great.
er part of it was evidently under water,
and we never caught glimpse of any but
the extreme upper parts. 1t appeared to
me to progress by means OF an undulatOry
motion of the tail in vertical place. The
tail seemed to have an independent mo-
don; that is to say, a quicker and diff.
ferent one from the body. The head
would rise slowly and the body become
simultaneously lower, and cice cerso.
The undulations of the tail were
brisker and very distinct, and l
closely watched them through good
glasses. l had for some moments
the idea of running the creature down,
hut shortly dismissed the intention on
account Of the danger of breaking the
screw blades. The creature showed no
sign of fear. l cannot even say il it was
conscious of our presence. 1t finally
dropped under our stern and passed over
to the port side, somewhat slacke1ing lis
speed. Some time afterward, however,
it increased its pace, and when last seen
was ON our port beam, at about one and
one-half to two miles distance. The
creature formed distinct wake, and
seemed to exude an oily matter as he
moved. And, secondly, I, the said james
Anderson, do solemnly and sincerely de-
clare as follows, namely: That the shape
and color of as much as was distinguish
able of the creature bore an almost exact
resemblance to the upper part of sala-
mander; the stripes, however, were rather
more definite, yellow (the peculiar yell
low of . salamander) alternating with
deep black. There were eight to ten
stripes on the back. I almost immedi-
ately said, ut is an enormous salaman.
der" and the more l examined 1t the
more was satisfied of the resemblance.
The back was much higher, some eight
or ten feet at times, than the head and
tail. I was standing on the deck, and
from my position I could not form any
opinion Of its mode Of progression. Il
was apparently of gelatinous Il. e.,
flabby) substance. Though keeping uu
with us, its movements seemed lethaTpic,
saw no eyes or fins, and am certain that
the creature did not blow or spout in the
manner of a whale. / should not for q
moment compare 1t to a snake. The only
creatures 1t could be compared with art
the newt or frog t11be.