Sea Monsters Unmasked, and Sea Fables ExplainedLee, Henry
History
Sea Monsters Unmasked, and Sea Fables Explained
Lee, Henry
Cephalopoda; Marine animals
"J. C. Lund, bookseller and printer; G. S. Krogh, merchant;
Christian Flang, Lund's apprentice, and John Elgenses, labourer,
were out on Romsdal-fjord, fishing. The sea was, after a warm,
sunshiny day, quite calm. About seven o'clock in the afternoon, at
a little distance from the shore, near the ballast place and Molde
Hooe, they saw a long marine animal, which slowly moved itself
forward, as it appeared to them, with the help of two fins, on the
fore-part of the body nearest the head, which they judged by the
boiling of the water on both sides of it. The visible part of the
body appeared to be between forty and fifty feet in length, and
moved in undulations, like a snake. The body was round and of a
dark colour, and seemed to be several ells in thickness. As they
discerned a waving motion in the water behind the animal, they
concluded that part of the body was concealed under water. That it
was one continuous animal they saw plainly from its movement. When
the animal was about one hundred yards from the boat, they noticed
tolerably correctly its fore parts, which ended in a sharp snout;
its colossal head raised itself above the water in the form of a
semi-circle; the lower part was not visible. The colour of the head
was dark-brown and the skin smooth; they did not notice the eyes,
or any mane or bristles on the throat. When the serpent came about
a musket-shot near, Lund fired at it, and was certain the shots hit
it in the head. After the shot it dived, but came up immediately.
It raised its neck in the air, like a snake preparing to dart on
his prey. After he had turned and got his body in a straight line,
which he appeared to do with great difficulty, he darted like an
arrow against the boat. They reached the shore, and the animal,
perceiving it had come into shallow water, dived immediately and
disappeared in the deep. Such is the declaration of these four men,
and no one has cause to question their veracity, or imagine that
they were so seized with fear that they could not observe what took
place so near them. There are not many here, or on other parts of
the Norwegian coast, who longer doubt the existence of the
sea-serpent. The writer of this narrative was a long time
sceptical, as he had not been so fortunate as to see this monster
of the deep; but after the many accounts he has read, and the
relations he has received from credible witnesses, he does not dare
longer to doubt the existence of the sea-serpent.
"P. W. DEINBOLT.
"Molde, 29th Nov., 1845."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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