The Sea Serpent

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6147, 20 August 1891, Page 4

The Sea Serpent

Thb .following is from the Wellington Post :— Captain Robb, who is now in charge of the Signal Station at the Heads, was at one time master of the barque Alexa, and on one of his voyages in that , vessel from Dunodin to Hongkong a monster believed to be a sea serpent was distinctly seen. The following extract from . the log has been placed at our disposal : — " 26th May, 1880. Lat. 20.16, long. 175.38; course, N. by W., >} W. ; cast wind ; baromoter, 30.09 ; thermometer, ?7 ; distance run, 130 miles ; moderuto breeze ; unsteady passing showers. At noon a great monster presented itself on the lee beam about if mile distant, rising itself 30 to 40 feet above water. This was done four times, when it disappeared. Colour, very dark, blueblack, with cream color belly. Captain Robb informs us that the whole of the officers and crew of the barque saw the monster. It was nocn when the creature was seen, and tho captain and the mate were engaged taking observations. The mat© was the first to see it, and called out. Hearing a loud splash, the captain turned round and saw the monster, which rose with the side of the head to the ship. It had a sharp, bluffy head, similar to a snake's, with two arm-like fins near its [ JreaxiT — -IChaJbody was about the thickness o£ a large steamer's funnel, and quite round. It rose four times, each time f arthßrHE*»m^iJiii__jahix> I __jnapt ai n Robb states that he wrote out aTclescr'iption, purposing to post it to the editor of the livening Post upon reaching Hong Kong, but on arriving there he read that a report of a shipmaster ' detailing the appearance of a similar animal oif the coast of Brazil had been treated with derision, and ho (Captain Robb) thereupon tore up his letter, being unwilling to become the subject of newspaper criticism. A correspondent writes to the sumo journal as follows : -People seem just now to be sorely exercised in their minds on account of the reported appearance of the great sea serpent in our waters. Now, tho explanation is very simple. I have not; tlie slightest doubt the animal recently seen was nothing more than one of the gigantic squids, or ten-armed cuttlefishes. The cuttles are fond of swimming on tho surface of the water, trailing their arms behind them. All the cephalopoclo swim backwards, with the posterior end raised above water, and the arms, to some 50 or 60ft. following, and looking very much like the undulations of a serpent's body. They also frequently leap out of the water to a height of many feet. You may remember that three of these monsters have at various times been stranded on the shores of Cook strait, and were fully described and figured in the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute.