Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-06
MONSTERS OF THE OCEAN
TALES TOLD BY OLD SAILORS
ABOUT SEA SERPENTS.
Evidence That Great Snakes Abide
In Salt Depths. Vision
From the Osborne.

From the London Globe.
The announcement that the old paddle
wheel yacht Osborne is after her long
years Of royal service. to be broken UP
recalls the interesting fact that it was
from her quarterback. just over forty
years ago that the public received one
of the most circumstantial and credible
reports Of the existence OF the sea ser
pent that congener of the giant goose
berry and laughing stock OF the skeptic
1t was off the coast of Sicily. on the
afternoon OF June =, 1877. that the COM
mander and officers OF the yacht deserted
the great unknown" Not only a de-
tailed description. but a pencil sketch
taken by one of the officers, was for
warded to the admiralty. Tie weather
a the time was fair. the sea calm. and
the creature was studied by those on
board through powerful glasses. The
total length of head and back visible
on the surface OF the water was esti-
mated at some fifty feet with a breadth
at the shoulders of fifteen feet. The skin
was smooth and scaleless. like that Of a
seal while the head resembled an alli-
gators. \ ridge of fins stood up from
the back. while other fins seemed to propel
It through the water.
Off Cape San Rogue.
Two years previously somewhat SIM
liar creature had been sighted off Cape
San Rogue from the deck of the collier
Pauline of London. 1t rose suddenly
from the depths OF the sea and attacked
one Of a school of sperm whales. coiling
itself round the victims body after the
manner Of boa constructor. The crack
ing OF the whales ribs it struggled
and beloved was distinctly heard In
ls4S the commander OF her majesty g
ship Daedalus encountered "a sea serpent
differed materially. however. from that
seen ny The officers Of the Osborne. AL
though some sixty feet OF its body was
visible. no fins We're observed by the
captain. but a fringe OF something re-
sembling seaweed chung about its back
1t held its head and neck four feet above
the water. and pursued a steady and
undertaking course, passing close to the
ship at rate Of fifteen or sixteen miles
an hour.
1t is Impossible to treat these and other
similar reports, given as they are by men
OF education and of long experience of
the common objects of the sea as sailors
yarns, or to believe that the objects which
they saw were nothing but seals. a flock
OF sea birds A mass of floating saawesd.
The utmost explanation that can be SuG-
Sested other than the admission Of the
sea Serpents existence-is that the crea-
tGfe seen IN COMBAT Wltii tiiS whale vas
that most tremendous and horrible of
brutes, the giant squd. whose tenta cles,
wound about the whale would have a ser
pentine appearance The squd. again. is
known to attain some forty feet i'm length
and as it possesses the power of swim
ming backward, its tail fin. raised above
the water. might not impossibly he taken
for serpent's head: while It's tentacles
and the commotion raised by its passd se
in calm sea might give undue impress
bered, however. that so eminent Scien-
fist the late Philip Henry GoSsa
thought that a species of plesosaurus.
generally believed extinct, might still sur
vve in remote ocean depths. though he
cautiously suggested twelve fife en-
feet as the limit of its length. Darwin
was also inclined to take this view.
though Owen asserted that an unusually
large seal was the true foundation of all
sea serpent stories.