The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1895-04-06
SEA SERPENTS.
A Sea-Faring Man Tells OF Those
or tho Coast OF Brazil.

A sea-Farine Man Tells OF Those
or the Coast OF Brazil.
Brazil" said the bronzed seafaring
man. ''is regular marine Jungle.
Whn~the dense forests and inaccessible
Businesses of its vast area are to the
land of that interesting country the
submerged tangles of coral growth are
to the water Off the northeast coast
OF Brazil. If one might see them and
thread their unknown labyrinths such
wonders would confront Kim at every
turn as never existed In any wood or
swamp or jungle OH which the sun has
ever shone. Those submarine coral for
esta are the homes Of sea monsters be-
You'd belief. There the sea serpent
lives. There it brings forth and rears
its young. There, and there only.
When hear landsmen laugh and de-
rido the idea of there being such a
thing as sea serpent I pity them md
say:
How narrow is the limit of the things
you knovvl If you might only go to the
brazilian coast, off Cape San Rogue, in
latitude, say, five degrees, thirteen
minutes north, and longitude thirty
five degrees west! Delay me! But
what sights you'd see."
myself. ! don't know that should
pity those pent-up landsmen after all,
for If l had not shipped as able seaman
on the bark Pauline of London, Capt.
Drcwar, on that July of 1878. it is like
ly that would be just as pent-up and
ignorant now Us they nre
know you, there are no ports on
thct part of the brazilian coast off
Cape San Rogue; no place for a ship to
go in, even if there was any thing there
that 4 ship should have business in
going in to do But tho bark Pauline
went in there. Singular about that,
sir. We were looking for whales Incl
dentauy. If, in those days, after doing
our Legitimate. business, we might man
ago to overcome a whale, then we were
just SO much in, from the captain
down. So on this trip, having dis
charged what we had on board, and
taken on what we were to take on,
Capt. Drewar said to the first mate, aud
1 heard him:
'Mate,' said he, 'wo have three days
to spare. What do you think Of sailin'
up and lookin' over the mysteries?'
''Now. mind you, the mysteries is the
northeast coast of Brazil, where there
knows the sea serpent has its only
home.
hat, why not?'
'''Then it's u go?' says the cap'n.
The goen'est kind, sirr says the
mate.
And we sailed up along the coast.
through necessity, I may have been
more alert as to the things that might
occur on this recreation voyage than
was the ordinary seaman doing his
routine duty a-shipboard for his living.
Anyhow, one day, US we were off Cape
Nny e.
as commercial interests are concerned,
the lookout shouted:
'Waterspout!
''Now, s'pose it had been a water
spout2 What's a waterspout? There's
nothing in a waterspout to scare any
body: As far as I was concerned per-
sonally I didn't care whether it was q
waterspout or an earthquake. AS
matter of fact, think l would have
been glad If it had been an all-envel-
oping earthquake, so far as was per-
sonally concerned, for I was way down
in the dumps 1t was because of that
I went to sea. loved the girl so much
and she threw me overheard, and l.
but let that pass.
'Waterspoutr shouted the lookout.
Where away?' sung out the cap
tain.
"'Three points to the sta'boardr
shouted the lookout.
OuEc CAouS SlIS IucEc ~ was. <aV
least there was what the lookout said
was a waterspout. 1t wasn't n spout
though. 1t seemed to be q great foun-
tain squirting out of the sea. 1t shot
up as high as ships mast, undulated
there a moment like a huge watery
column swayed by wind, then dropped
back to the ocean level; instantly rose
again to its tremendous height, glis-
tened in the sun like a lofty white pin
nacled rock: swayed and fell; rose,
glistened, swayed, fell, all in quick
succession, each fall to the water being
followed by the upward splashing of
great spumes of foaming sea. Around
this eccentric fountain several big black
objects moved here and there, quickly,
and without apparent aim.
''Watcrspout be blowed!' the cap
tain said.
''Then he seized his glass and gazcd
through it at the strange affair. His
eyes had scarcely taken in the scene,
enlarged and made distinct by his
glass, when saw him turn pale. But
he couldn't cease looking.