The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1896-09-25

tude 109 degrees and minutes east
l noticed that the water on the port
side Of the ship looked very muddy,
while that on the starboard or oil
shore side was quite blue. On pulling
up q bucket uf water from either side
Of the ship we found that the blue wa.
ter was, as we expected, quite salt,
while the muddy water on the port
side was as nearly fresh as water could
be under such conditions.
''rhc fresh water had, without
doubt, been driven far of shore by one
OF the many estuaries OF the Penti-
MAX river, the tides OF which are very
strong, especially on the ebb, when
the fresh water forces its way
for fully five miles of shore and,
for some unexplained reason to me,
refusing TO amalgamate with the salt
water.
Large numbers OF sharks, all sorts
OF other fishes, and snakes, were seen
on the blue water side. Some of the
snakes were OF immense size, while
the smallest, which came very close
to the ship, were not less than three
feet long. They were OF all lmagina-
BILE colors, some OF the long ones being
very prcttily stripped and Others
spotted.
son the port or fresh water side a
number OF alligatOrs and huge cat
fish, such as we catcn in the southern
rivers, were to be seen swimming close
to the dividing line OF fresh and salt
water, and every once In awhile one
could be seen to make a dash at dol.
phin or b0neta, and seize the fish in
its jaws, swim back to fresh water
and eat its unfortunate victim at
leisure.
But the alligators were not always
SO fast in their excursions, tor we saw
one which had to pay dearly for its
temerity in trying to seize Il beautiful
dolphin that was at the moment be.
ing hotly pursued by an immense
shark. Alligator and shark both selz-
ed the dolphin at the same moment,
and in an instant we beheld u most
terrific conflict. The shark in the
melee managed to seize the alligator's
right hind leg in its mouth, and,
keeping itself well under water to
avoid the frightful lashngs of the
gators terrible tail, 1t simply stcercd
the unfortunate saurian out into the
blue or salt water. This appeared to
be more than the alligator could
stand, for he saw lie rapidly grew
weaker, and the shark also appeared
to realize that he had his antagonist
out OF his element, for he suddenly
let 90 the bulldog hold On the leg,'
and, making most terrific dash ut
the gators stomach, literally tore its
cntrailS out.
"The blood from the combatants at
tracted every one Of the fresh and salt
water denizcns in the vicinity to the
scene Of combat, and the utmost con.
fusion appeared to prevail, but at the
same time we could see from our deck
that the larger and more powerful of
the fishes had formed pools or syndl-
Gates, and, as a result, the small fishes
on both sides disappeared in very
short order.
However, much as VIC had been
surprised, it was ordered that we were
to be more surprised yet, for just as
we thought the turmoil in the water
was growing less our attention was
called to the other side OF the shiy
we there saw sight such as We had
never seen before and never believed
any man could have seen. Marco
Polo and Baron Munchauscn, in tllciI
widest flights OF imagination, never
attempted to describe such monster
as We saw dancing with easy undula
tions toward the bloody spot Of water
Without doubt it was the vcritabli
sea serpent and Il sea serpent among
sea serpents ut that. Every writer
who las seen 1t gives a different de
scripti0n OF the sea serpent. In fact
it appears to be like Proteus, who's,
distinguishing characteristic was th'
faeelty Of transforming himself int
different shapes.
sour snake was like any ordinar
everyday spake, except, mind you
In size. Its head was shicld.shape'
and only very little wider than 1t
body; its Jaws were enormous an'
armed with four immense fangs
They were placed well In front AM
must have been fully ten or twelv
/. inches longers than the other teeth
with which its jaws were thlckl.
, studded. Its nostrils appeared to b
9 placed somewhat on top OF the head
9 as every time 1t raised its head abOv
! water IL blew or "spouttcd," as we Sc
whales do, only with much more vigo
5 than any whale we have ever seen.
4 "The tail was vertically hattcne
and compressed, and thus well adapt
] ed for swimming. Tho diameter q
I its body ut the thIckest part, whic
}. was almost the middle, must hay
5 been fully ten feet, tapering TO abou
!, six feet diameter ut head and tai
I and, judging from the length Of 0u
ship, IT must have been fully 100 fee
t long. Its skin appeared to be cove
r ed with large and very thick scalc'
or shields, and from head to tail