CHAPTER XXVIII.
The sea serpent. Attack and capture one of the species, thus putting the question of its existence forever at rest.
It was in my tenth year of captivity that the following adventureoccurred to me, which is of such importance to the scientific world,and settles forever such a disputed question, that I cannot forbearto relate it here in the interest of science, and to set at rest alldoubts upon this subject forever.
I had started upon one of my trips to the pearl oyster reef in thesubmarine boat, to obtain some of those bivalves, to convey to theshore for examination. The day was beautiful, and the sky clear andalmost without a cloud, with a light air moving from the northwest. Iwas standing out toward the reef from Perseverance Bay with the manholeopen, and all goat power on, when all at once, as I was gazing aboutthe horizon, I saw to leeward of me and off the eastern end of theisland, a strange commotion in the regular waves of the ocean. Someanimal or fish was evidently splashing the water about into the airin huge quantities. At one time it looked as if the disturbance wascaused by porpoises disporting themselves in their native element,and following their leader, in a long string; but I soon saw thiswas not the case. At another moment it seemed as if a whole fleet ofempty barrels had been suddenly left bobbing about in mid-ocean, andthen again as if detached quantities of dry seaweed had been floatedseaward by the tide, and showed itself as it rose and fell upon thesummits of different waves. Whilst the object was taking all thesedifferent shapes to my gazing eyes, I was steadily approaching it,having changed the course of the boat, and as I advanced I found thatit also was coming towards me, and when within perhaps one half mile,the creature (for it proved to be an animal), suddenly raised its headat least twenty feet above the waves of the ocean, and looked abouthim in every direction. At once the truth flashed upon me. Here was inverity the sea serpent of which so much has been written and so muchdoubted. There was no deception; all was too plain before me to deceivea child: but, to prove the matter beyond doubt, I stopped the boat andwaited for his near approach. He happened to be heading so that hewould naturally pass very near to me, and I got ready to clap down themanhole and descend into the ocean if he made any attack upon me. Justas he was coming along finely towards me, he suddenly plunged beneaththe surface and was lost to view. Here was a pretty ending to all mydesires to observe him. He had not as yet come near enough for me todescribe him, so as to be believed. What should I do? I hated to losehim in this manner, and I felt confident that he had sounded, not onaccount of perceiving my boat, which he could have scarcely noticed,but, because he was at that moment in the humor or was feeding. WhilstI was uttering useless regrets at having lost him, and making up mymind whether or not to descend myself and try to find him, I wasdisturbed by a loud splash astern of where I was looking, and, facingabout, I looked into the eyes of the horrible creature, not forty yardsdistant from me.
He did not, however, seem to notice me in the least, but to clap downthe manhole cover and descend was with me the work of a moment, forI knew too little of his habits to trust him. I have perhaps beforein this narrative stated that, when beneath the surface of the water,all fishes and animals seemed not to take the slightest notice of me;either taking my boat for a submarine rock, or else for a creaturelike themselves; why it was so, I, of course, cannot say, but thatsuch was the fact I can aver. I had often put my hand down into thewater upon the back of quite large fish, when beneath the surface,and it was not till they were touched that they seemed to know thatanything out of the ordinary was happening. I had been fully as nearthe sea serpent as I desired, and descended for safety; his horribleeyes and face haunting me as I fell slowly towards the bottom. Havingarrived to within ten or twelve feet, I checked the boat, intending towait a reasonable time for his lordship to depart, and then to rise tothe surface and go on my way rejoicing that he had not injured me;but I had not remained more than five minutes in my position before Isaw a sight that frightened me more than meeting this creature on thesurface; for, glancing about towards the bottom, my eyes fell uponthe serpent making his descent from above, and moving along slowly onthe bottom, evidently seeking for his prey. His horrible head passedwithin at least ten feet of the boat, of which he seemed to take notthe slightest notice. As it passed from my view it was followed bythe body, at least one hundred feet in length, and as large aroundas a common-sized flour barrel. I was too startled to move, but keptthe boat quietly in position till the whole body passed slowly out ofsight. As the tail went by me, my first impulse was to get out of theway, and ascend to the surface, and start for home; my next was toremain where I was and see what would happen. Sitting down, I thoughtthe whole matter over. My solitary existence had given me an inordinateappetite for excitement. I wanted something to stir my stagnant blood,something to call into action all my physical and mental powers. Youwho have never been cut off from the rest of mankind cannot creditthis thirst for something new, something moving, something strange.The daily conversation, the crowded streets, the incidents of life,feed this desire and keep it satisfied; but when there is nothing ofthis kind, the mind and body both ache to fill the void produced. Addto this such a temperament as mine, and it can be understood that,just saved from an attack from this unknown monster, I determined toattack him, and, if possible, capture him. I don't know why I shouldhave brought myself to this conclusion, or why I should risk my life,but such is man. From a state of fear I entered into one of fierceexcitement, and made every preparation to attack the danger I had justescaped.
I had always with me in the boat, two strong, sharp harpoons with long,seasoned, wooden staffs, in complete order, and also a lance and knife.To the harpoons was attached a raw-hide rope, some fifty fathoms inlength, and with this I made up my mind to strike the serpent if Icould get the chance. To the end of the raw-hide rope, I attached awooden buoy, and, thus armed, I started the goats, and headed the boatin the direction the monster had taken but a few moments before, andin such a leisurely manner. I had not gone far before I saw the end ofhis tail coming in view, as he lay stretched upon the sandy bottom.I lowered the boat till I floated about eight feet above the hiddenform, and, plucking up my courage, steered forward over him, with hishuge body for a guide. As I arrived near his head I stopped the goats,and let the boat drift, the tide luckily being in the direction that Idesired to go, that is, what there was of it, which was very little.As the head came slowly into view, I saw that the monster was engagedin quietly crunching in his horrible jaws a fish of some size, that hehad evidently just caught, and, upon which his attention seemed tobe fixed. The moment was propitious, and, as the boat slowly drifted,not eight feet over the head of the terrible creature, I stood withthe harpoon in my hand, and deliberately drove it downward with all mymight through his head, just abaft the eyes.
I did not stop to see the effect of my blow, but immediately tumbledinto the water, as fast as possible, several of the large stones thatI used on the shelves for ballast, so as to ascend at once towards thesurface, casting overboard at the same time the line attached to theharpoon, with the buoy at the end. Relieved of the ballast, the boatcommenced to ascend instantly and rapidly, but none too soon, for, asit was rushing towards the surface, just below me came the sweep of thecreature's terrible tail in its death agony. If I had been struck withit, it would inevitably have capsized my boat, and perhaps have killedme, or, at least, left me to swim ashore to the island, distant somemiles, or else be drowned; but, luckily, the blow missed me; the ascentof the boat was so rapid, the very moment I kicked and threw over someof the ballast. Having risen as near the surface as possible, I riggedmy pump and ascended still further, and then, setting up my tripod andshipping my air-boat, I soon had air enough to rise completely abovethe surface, and to open the manhole and look about me. Of course, myfirst glance was to discover my buoy. Yes; there it lay, not fiftyyards from me, without any motion, except what it received from thewaves upon which it floated. I could hardly credit that at the otherend lay the sea monster, transfixed thro
ugh the brain with my trustyharpoon; but such, I felt sure, was the case. The mark had been toonear and quiet for me to fail, and I had with my own eyes seen the irondriven in up to the staff through the centre of its head. I longedto find out the state of affairs, but did not dare to descend forfear of being caught in the folds of the dying monster. I steered forthe floating buoy, and, getting hold of it, by means of a boat-hookthrust out of the manhole, I pulled it towards me, and gathered inall the slack line, till I could feel that I was pulling direct uponthe harpoon. No vibration came to me through it, and I could slightlyraise the weight evidently attached to the other end, but I was afraidof possibly drawing out the harpoon, so I did not attempt much in thisdirection; but, being assured that the creature was dead, I finallymustered up courage to descend and look at him. As I came near thebottom, I stopped the boat and advanced in the direction that the linefrom the buoy trended in. Yes, there he was, dead as a door-nail; buthis whole body, that had so lately been stretched along the bottom, wascoiled up and around the staff of the harpoon, which had pinned thehead to the ocean's bed. I came near enough to see that the creaturewas really dead, and then, rising to the surface, I made all haste forStillwater Cove. Arriving, I got up steam on the yacht, and made allhaste back to the buoy, towing the submarine boat behind me. When Igot upon the ground, I descended in the submarine boat, and, by meansof ropes, and pulling and hauling in each direction, I got the bodyof the serpent somewhat straightened out and the head clear. Aroundthe neck I fastened a good, strong, rawhide rope and attached the buoyrope to it. I then, at a distance of some thirty or forty feet fromthe head, lashed to the back of the creature my air-boat, to sustainthat part somewhat, so that it would not drag upon the bottom. I thenarose to the surface and went on board of the yacht, and took the buoyrope to the balance-wheel in the engine-room, and hove the head ofthe monster nearly to the surface; the water sustaining it, so thatit was not very heavy. I trusted to my air-boat to help sustain theremainder of the body, and, thus accoutred, with the submarine boattowing far astern out of the way, I headed slowly for Stillwater Cove,towing my prey behind me. When I arrived at the opening of the coveI drew the carcase as far as possible, by means of the steam yacht,on to the sandy seashore, where the tide would leave it out of waterwhen it receded. I then liberated my goats, and moored the boat inthe harbor near by, and, taking my pets on board, after anchoring theserpent safely, steamed towards the Hermitage, where I landed them, andtook on board some empty barrels and knives, hatchets, and saws, todissect my sea monster. When I arrived back the sea had already fallenso as to leave the head and at least twenty feet of the body high anddry. After the tide had wholly gone down, I measured the monster, andthese were the dimensions. Taking my measure of a fathom as a standard,the creature was twenty-two and one-half fathoms long, and, at itslargest girth--about two fathoms below the neck--over one fathom and aquarter in circumference. It is difficult to describe the monster, butI will try. The head was at least eight feet long, and the extent towhich the mouth could be opened over six feet; the gullet was small;the teeth numerous, but small; the nostrils large and prominent; theeyes fully six inches in diameter, and with an expression that, evennow that the creature was dead, I could not stand when I looked intothem. In the stomach I found only small pieces of different kind offishes, and, by the smallness of the teeth and gullet, I am inclinedto believe that the creature is naturally quite harmless, like most ofthe mighty animals of the earth,--as the sperm whale, elephant, etc.,which never attack anyone unless disturbed. Beyond the head, and, fora distance of some ten feet, grew a sort of mane, formed of pendanttissues of flesh some five or six feet in length, exactly like thoseto be found on the sides of the mouth of the Mississippi cat-fish orsmaller horn-pout. Towards the tail, and some distance from it, wasan adipose fin, that was at least a foot high and fifteen feet long.The skin of the creature was of a mottled greenish hue, rough, anddiscolored, something the color of the shell of a very young crab, andat least a good quarter of an inch in thickness. Having taken all thedimensions of the monster, I went to work and cut off his head, andleft it purposely where the fishes, lobsters, etc., would feed uponit at high water, so as to in time preserve its skeleton when all thebones were completely articulated. The remainder of the body I skinnedin sections, at different times, and was glad to roll the rest of thebody into the current of Stillwater Cove, to be carried out to sea.
THE SEA SERPENT.--PAGE 347.]
I have enough on hand, at the time of writing this, to prove to anyone that I have both seen and captured the veritable sea serpent; for,as I sit in the Hermitage, the whole skull, with jaws, teeth, and partof the vertebrae attached, is hung up near me, and below it a circularpiece, nearly four feet long, of the hide of the animal at its greatestgirth. The frontal bone of the skull, which is not very thick, isbroken where the harpoon iron entered and caused immediate death. Withthis exception the whole specimen is in complete order; and I have alsoa sketch of the animal drawn upon parchment, from actual life, taken bymyself before he was at all mutilated or cut up.
I hope that this truthful, consistent, and convincing recital willclose forever this mooted question; for there is a sea serpent, and Ihave been able to capture and preserve one of his species.