The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1895-03-01
SEA SERPENTS.
A Sea-Faring Man Tells of Those
OF the Coast Of Brazil.

Oh the COAST OF Brazil.
soThe ocean off the northeast coast o,
Brazil" said the bronzed seafaring
man, sis regular marine jungle
Whatthe dense forests and inaccessible
businesses of it's vast area are to the
land of that interesting country the
submerged tangles of coral growth are
70 the water off the northeast coast
Of Brazil. If one might see them and
thread their unknown labyrinths such
wonders would confront him at every
turn as never existed in any wood or
swamp or jungle on which the sun has
ever shone. Those submarine coral for
ests are the homes of sea monsters be-
yond belief. There the sea serpent
lives. There it brings forth and rears
Its young. There, and there only.
When / hear landsmen laugh and de-
ride the idea of there being such a
thing as a sea serpent I pity them and
say:
"'Alas, what pent-up lives you live!
you know! If you might only so 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 sce."
A.N0 sea serpent? l thought SO once
myself. l don't know that should
pity those pent-up landsmen after all,
for If had not shipped as able seaman
on the bark Pauline of London, Capt.
Drewar, on that July of 1875, it is like
ly that would be just as pent-up and
ignorant now as they are.
"Know you, there are no ports on
that part of the Brazilian coast off
Cape San Rogue; no place for ship to
go in, even if there was anything there
that ship should have business in
going in to do. But the bark Pauline
went in there. Singular about that,
sir. We were looking for whales Incl
dentally. If. in those days, after doing
our legitimate business, we might man
age to overcome whale, then we were
Just SO much in, from the captain
down So on this trip, having dis
what we had on board, and
taken on what we were to take on,
Capt. Drewar said to the first mate, and
] heard him:
. % Mate said he, we have three days
10 spare. What do you think of sailin'
mp and lookin' over the mysteries%
Nov, mind you, the mysteries is the
northeast coast of Brazil, where there
are no ports, and where every sailor
KNOWS the sea serpent has its only
home.
"-Cap'n,' says the mate, touching his
hat, why not"
:" Then it's go% says the cap'n.
The goenest kind, sir? says the
mate.
"And we sailed up along the coast.
Being a man who was not sailor
necessity, l may have been
uo<c 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
one day, as we were off Cape
San Rogue, in an unknown sea so far
MS commercial interests are concerned,
the lookout shouted:
-Waterspout!'
wow. s'pose it had been water
spout? What's waterspout? There's
nothing in waterspout to scare any
body. As far as / was concerned per-
sonaIly didn't care whether it was
waterspout or an earthquake. AS
matter of fact, 1 think 1 would have
been glad II it had been an all-envei-
o2ing earthquake, so far as L was per
,onally concerned, for 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
bat Let that pass.
sWaterspoutr shouted the lookout
Where away? sung out the cap
tain
"a Three points to the sta'boardP
shouted the lookout.
-Sure enough, sir; there il was AT
hast there was what the lookout said
was = waterspout 1t wasn't spout
though. It seemed to be great foun-
tain squirting out of the sea- 1t shot
up as high as q ship's mast, undulated
there a moment Like a huge watery
column swayed by wind. then dropped
back TO the ocean level; instantly rose