A MONSTER OF THE DEEP.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6780, 12 February 1884, Page 4

A MONSTER OF THE DEEP.

Captain D. Seymour, of the American •whaling barque Hope On, which anchored in the bay at Panama on the 7th from a four months' cruise, with 400 barrels of humpback on board, reports having encountered a strange marine monster off St. Elmo. This is one of thej Pearl Island group, situated between forty and fifty miles off Panama. TheJ.boats were out waiting signals from the vessel as to the direction in which the whales were heading. Suddenly the water broke at a short distance from the boat. Captain Seymour waa steering, and he made ready to catch a whale. But to his surprise and that of the men in the boat, who ceased pulling and looked around when he shouted to them, an animal somewhat like a hor3e slowly rose out of the water and then dived, apparently alarmed at tbe sight of the boat. None of those present had ever seen an animal like it before, although they are all old sailors, and they agree in saying, as do another boat's crew who saw it the following day, that it is an animal which has never been previously encountered. The glance which Captain Seymour obtained enables him to describe it as about 20ft in length, with a handsome, horse-like head, with two unicorn - shaped boms protruding from it, with four legs or double-jointed fins, a brownish hide profusely speckled wi in large black sports, and a tail which appeared to be divided into two parts. The animal was Been on two different days, and an effort would have been made to catch it had it not been that whales were about at the time. Captain Seymour and his officers agree in believing the monster is peculiar to the locality, and that it could be easily killed with lances and bomb guns. Officers of the Pacific Mail Company state that they have seen this animal on several occasions, although they never had the opportunity for close observation which was obtained by the Hope On.