The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-29

and other ''lank-cared phantoms of black
weeded pools" have been banished by in
telligent folk to the limbo Of the grizzly
sea-satyr' and the greedy ros-marine."
There remain, however, besides the ocean
itself, many wide-spreading sheets of
water, fresh and brackish, which have
not yet yielded up their possibilities to
the nets of the learned searchers. Pro
fessor Owen himself always believed in
greater and greater monsters, and never
admitted that we were within measure
Bile distance of the limits Of size. Once
only, as he said to the writer, had
he made the mistake of assuming
the ultimate, and the result was that,
having called an extinct bird "Maximus,"
he had later on TO find three adjectives to
describe as many birds of the same fam
lily, each of which was larger than the
"Maximus." Especially did he expect
great things from the sea, and from the
large fresh water lakes that Africa was
then discovering TO us.
In the mean time in Utah Territory Il
am not sure whether it is state now or
mott there are lakes Of no great size
which, If contemporary testimony is of
any value, contain animals of great bulk,
which have never been captured, and are
quite likely to be new TO science.
OF course, and very properly. natural
history does not admit the existence of
any animal until some portion of it has
been discovered, This was Prof. Owens
only reason for not accepting the sea SER
pent. 1--WE have never, said he, "seen a
bit of it' And no other reason was
needed. At the same time every discov-
cry of an animal, or portions Of It, has
been preceded by periods of testimony as
TO its existence-Prof. Owens own gigan-
tic birds. for instance, were known out
side of science for years before they were
acknowledged to be known by science
and at present the monsters of the Utah
lakes belong to the pre-scientific period Of
uDskilled testimony They are only
waiting for the day when private enter
prise or public zeal shall bring them
within the sacred pale of facts. AS to
their being there have myself no man
ner of doubt whatever
When was in Utah saw several men
whose word | would accept confidently
upon any subject-men of acknowledged
probity and holding their positions by the
public knowledge of their uprightpess-
who told me that they had themselves
seen, pursued and fired at the amphibious
monsters of the lakes. One of these men
was recently in London and, talking over
trip we had made together, he repeated
his description of "the beast''in my Office
in almost the same words as he had first
described 1t to me in our wagon in the
Sewer Valley. Driving along the shore
of the Bear lake one day, the party sur
prised an animal basking on the land.
Before they could reach it it fed to the
water, entering it with a great splash.
They ran into the shadows after it, one of
the party who happened to have a re-
yolver, firing at it repeatedly as ID swan
swiftly out towards the middle of the lake.
The trail on the weeds was carefully ex-
ahmed, and the evidence of the whole
party placed on record the same evening.
From their description / have no doubt
that they saw a seal or monster, and,
considering that no such animal is at
present known" to science existing in an
inland fresh water lake, the incident is
distinctly interesting. For 1t means this
that such an animal would be a survival
from the days when Utah was joined to
the Pacific by water. Which is not merely
interesting-iti is ''Prodigious"
Before leaving Salt Lake City col
lected all the information / could about
the beast. but in the lapse Of ten years my
manuscript has disappeared-lost stolen
or strayed Two letters, however, have
survived These were both written to the
president brigham Young one was
communicated 10 the local (Mornon) pa
pers in July, 1870, and appears something
as follows
1.-THE Monster Again.-Brother M
Pratt has Just reached this city from Rich
county. While travelling onlthe borders
Of Bear Lake TO the south OF Fish Haven,
on the evening Of last Tuesday week, with
Thomas. son Of Elder C. Rich, their atten-
tion was attracted by an unusual cOmmo-
ton in the waters of the lake, and they
presently saw the head and a portion OF
the body Of creature larger round than
the body Of a man, the head resembling
somewhat the pictures Of the walrus,
minus It's tusks. The portion Of the body
out Of the water was about ten feet long.
Several shots were fired az. but missed
the creature. u swan away Ia the direc-
tion Of the east side OF the lake, is track
being marked by wavy. serpeutine mo-
ton. They had a view Of this denizen Of