A SEA-SERPENT STORY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 3374, 26 January 1884, Page 2

A SEA-SERPENT STORY.

Vice-Admiral Gore Jones relates the following story as showing some lighten the stories of sea-serpents —ln 1848 I was attached to Her Majesty’s ship St. Vincent, bearing the flag of Sir Charles Napier, and lying at Spithead. One summer evening, about 6 o’clock, just as the officers were sitting down to dinner, the midshipman of the watch ran into the ward-room and reported that a sea serpent was passing rapidly between the ship and the Isle, of Wight (this was after the reported appearance of the Dsedalus sea-serpent). We all got our glasses and went on deck, and there, sure enough, abon ta mile off, was a large monster, with a head and shaggy mane, about 100 feet long, and tapering towards the tail; it was going with the tide, and had a rapid undulating motion. Two or three boats were manned, and some officers got their guns and went in pursuit. Wo watched them from the ship, They gradually got close, and guns were raised and levelled at the creature’s head; but just as we thought the sport was about to begin bang went the guns, and from their gestures we saw something very laughable bad occurred. On their return we found that the supposed serpent was a long line of soot. Some steamer in the Southampton waters had evidently swept her dirty flue, and the soot from tubes or flues is always of a very sticky nature, and as it was pitched overboard it went away with the tide, sticking together and gradually forming into the shape of a long serpent, the wave motion giving it an undulating life-like appearance. In this case, if the boats had not gone we should have all believed we had seen the real sea serpent.”