Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-10-07
n,rs OF THE PRESENT DAY
- GRAY Offers an Explanation
CaP'' of the Sea Serpent.
FROM thS NotO "
.hat any statement IT ON

II
..,,ng men in regard TO sea SCI Pen.s
isli n,sad with such incredulity cannot
recsi,andv said Capt. Samuel Gray OF
nhaeIu es.er. "The common sense OF the
tOs . W. at large should teach them that
PUN or he oyergrown serpents as well
tnei rrown bears, lions, tigers, or eie-
sso'e when an explorer or traveller In
ip.Onical countries tells OF meeting anu
n s%;nr . serpent 30or 40 feet long ana as
kinD s a mans body, the statement Is
Iadse oo,emn truth. When a sea cap
taken 40 of seeing q serpent OF the same
tam 'e an the waters OF tne same
sl1e neople try to make OUT tnaC ne rs
coss. . knaye or a liar. Tnat serpenCsol
eiGn r;1ss take TO the water IN tne warm
81 dns and often voyage rom ls,an 49, ~
;sIaudls tact no lntellIget ~ p9 Saot tbata
i slanI Why, then, should the Iact tnsIa
disputes, ,ght sight of one OF these ser
ssi sans an route be disputed!
pen5sotweutv years ago made voy-
on English ship called the Lord
age III trnm liverpool to the Sunda
Gray, which are situated in the Indian
Islanu';. 20 the west of Australia. we
Oeeaa ~ aayeral of the smaller Islands
S Sst.@ reaching Java. and 1t was Wniie
, Ue,Oa in roadstead between Ihe lsIanos
~ Rsly and Lombok that saw sign. 70
=. nan Inc eyes of even sailor. IL nso
Ssen a terrible dry season amons .ns
peen and some OF them had suffered
Islam sla Somspe from forest fires. AS we
gred. o ~ Mn to the passage from the south
WI nv omoka hung in the heavens, Kill
o@ the hreeze and turning MONDAY
ins " IwiIi0ht. twas easy TO see from the
INV =, tho smoke cloud that there was an
s;ve FIRE raging on the lslano OF
80 Onr Captain at first suspected that
xoIcano was at work, but when we came
toavemiae the ashes which lell on our
5ocks we concluded that 1t was push
Ire We had TO come to ancnor III tne
massage. which is not over u "a niies 'ue,
- ofter the first twenty-fOur hours tne
anu anu, az Sroya down upon 80 heavily that
o,,r +broats and eyes were greatly lrrl-
t..od while the heat was so great that the
80 s,rinned of most OF their clothing.
- there had been a breath OF wind we
sbould have got out Of The uncomiortaoie
sitnation by running BACK TO the souIn,
Int as il was not, a breath OF air came TO
Give ms moments relief. At night there
Tas such A glare on the western SKY as
made us conclude that the whole lslanu Oh
BsIv was ablaze and being destroyed.
"After the first day We noticed that the
They iumped up all around aS II sunoat-
ING and some Of them drove about on the
surface as If theV were wounded and In
nam. A big bull whale nearly as long as
the shin drove through the passage one
forenoon from the north, spoutng ike
fire engine and smashing his hukes ABOUT
as If to strike pursuing enemy; ana ne
ran sonearus that the swell ne kicked up
made the Lord Gray dance jig long AFTER
he had passed. The sharks were the only
inhabitants of the deep not affected. Ihey
came about us as thick as flies. and could
be seen rushing in every direction after
of the third day, while all the crew. eX-
cept what might be called an anchor
watch. were below to seek relief from the
smoke there was a sudden row raised by
the men on deck. We heard them shout
ing and Gathering across The deck, and
directly one of them came down into the
forecastle, while the other made for the
cabin. We in the forecastle had sprung
up, believing the ship to have been at
tackled by pirates, but our mate soon gave
US to understsnd that we had different
enemy to deal with. We had been board
ed by serpents. He explained that the
first be knew of their presence was "a
great cOmmOtiOn in the waters around,
evidently made by the sharks attacking
the serpents. The latter had been driven
OFF Baly by the fire, and we're crossing TO
LOmbck, which was still safe. They had
boarded the ship at every point, and more
than dozen were on deck when the men
rushed for shelter.
The carpenter assembled the ladder and
raised the scuttle few inches to take a
good look, and he yelled ri2ht out in his
fright. He said the decks seemed alive
will ,xyhf tab a
down and across with great swiftness.
You will admit that it was a singular po-
sition to be placed IN. We hadn't fire.
arm, harpo0n, or any other trustworthy
weapon amongus, and as for trusting our.
selves on deck with iron bolts, Delaying
pins or weapons of that sort, was q mat
ter not to be thought of. After we had
counted noses we found that the Captain,
TWO mates, cook, steward, and tive fore
mast hands must be att. The ship had a
few musEets and cutlasses, and the Off
GERS had revolyers. If the serpents were
TO be driven off the first move must be
made by the officers. We took turns GO
Ing up the ladder TO get view of the
deck, and the sight was one to affect
every man. There were serpents from
lnree 10 twenty feet long, racing about the
uech, ana there was one with a body fully
as large as common nail keg. None of
tnem was still for a moment, and the
noise OF their movements was plainly
heard in the forecastle.
II was fully an hour before the men aft
maze move, and then we heard the re-
port OF firearms. This was followed. as
tne man on the ladder reported, hy the
ulscnarge OF half dozen skyrockets,
wnlch had been aimed to fly along the
decks. Soon after that we heard men
Estir on the decks, and we opened the
scuttle and rushed up. The serpents had
sspPalehtiy disappeared, being frightened
w the noise and flames, and as we looked
v'er the starboard side we saw a score OF
mem making of. The monster of whom
toid you had been hit by bullet from
;ne captains revolver, and he was swim
nk ABOUT IN circle, head held four or
i've ieet from the surface, and making a
@rEiOle splashing. He did not seek TO
Sohe ABOARD. nor did be swim away. We
nSu watched him for three or four min.
uses, When a shark dashed in upon him
snu seized him about midway OF his
n.nsn. The row which followed was the
,"nueSt thlng YOU ever saw. The snake
sMsleu himself about the shark, and
ou ucR al MIN again and again, and the
sm aeeI was churned up until the foam
tLuletnes hid both from our sight think
one shark got tue better OF the big snake,
20 20 "lter awhile they worked astern and
tsa VI sight. We were still looking after
d .eiu When a shout from one OF the men
ea oo" our attention inboard. He had dis
tOaereu a snake ten feet long curled away
Cue OF the small boats. The officers be-
oil uTlnH at him and ha ran thu 40 ho IN