IN LOCH NESS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 12140, 30 December 1933, Page 12

IN LOCH NESS

BLACK BEAST WITH TFT. NECK-, • I- , 1 NIGHTMARE SHABE. EYES LIKE if(>TOR-GAR LAMPS. LOCII NESS (.Inverness), Oit'^2L A Vila r is the fearsome monster -30 ft. long and “witli eyes like motor-car lamps” which, according to people in. the neighbourhood, lurks in tho depths of Loch Ness —that loch which is paid never to give up its dead? asks a writer in the “Daily Alaii.” Score-s of watchers during ihe last few weeks declare that they have- -e?u ihe monster completely or partly—a ftiintastically huge, black mass careering at high speed and threshing tho placid waters of ihs lock to foam.* Once it w r as seen on land, when 'the observer, vaguely likened it to a dragon, but usually it remains ■ iu the water and is seen only on bright, sunny days ■ The evidence has now become so reputable and so widespread that at last the voices of the .scoffers and the incredulous are silent. In Inverness, the Highland capital, there is one topic of conversation, “the beast’’—ap hv one accord everybody dubs the uncanny denizen of tko loch by this sinister title. FISH OR ANIMAL? A . Nobody can decide whether •' mo'n'stef'is'fish,' animal,'""or reptils. Some think the loch harbour® a surti\ al of some prehistoric , creature which may have been released ’ from tha earths recesses by the • great blasting operations required tho making of the new Iriverness-Glasgow mot-or road. Others believe “thi?. beast to be some strange, occupant'of the deep which, by mysterious means, has strayed from "the North Sea and is unable to regain its .freedom.

In any capo. there i s disquiet, although the Highlanders draw, comfort from the fact that “the beast” shows no desire to molest humanity, and; on. the contrary seems of-a timid disposition, diving as sooiv as ft is seen.

lb swims at a terrific speed, and oul F its black back with two pronounced, humps is.generally visible A minister told me solemnly that science niight- consider whether* it was not possible for a prehistoric typo to survive in favourable circumstances; Therc aro People who tell of a .similar creature seen 50 years ago— a camel-lilt© monster which emerged from, the loch and frightened schoolchildren ~ ■ A “QUEER. LOGIT. s*' 5 *' - ;• I have talked to educated-men who have said in a hushed way that ‘Loch N°ss lias always been queer.’/ ' ■ * tell you that although ' tiio greatest sounded depth is 754 ft. tber 0 a*re deqps which have nevef ' been plumbed. , . - ;- i ■ D.vers whohave. explored' 200ftbclow the surface, have.com© up awm oy their experience. . . : ' :

They bars reported that “stretching down tq‘ apparent infinity.‘ there are g poniy caverns like great' caihW drals. .

Some people believe that in ono these watery grottos the monster has !; s ,a - lr ’ sa:i y in g forth' from time to tunc in search of food, To the cohstcinution of tne Highland croftersA combination of Loclv Nes s and a monster is enough for-even the most hardened imagination. .