round him, attempting to break his bones, but in vain, now let go his hold, and twisting his tail round the tyger's neck, who was now in no condition either to resist or escape, he made towards the tree, dragging with some pains the tyger after him.

Nature, it seems, informs this animal, that though it can conquer such large creatures as these, it can by no means devour them as they are, since their bodies are too thick for his swallow, and he must therefore break their bones, and reduce them to a soft mass, before he can manage them. This he usually does, as we saw him attempt it on the tyger, by getting his body very firmly and hard round them, by this means crushing them to pieces; but when this method will not do, he has recourse to the tree, as we now had an opportunity to observe. He dragged the tyger by degrees after him to the tree, and the creature being almost dead, unable to stand, he seized him lightly a second time by the back, and set him on his legs against the trunk of the tree, then immediately winding his body round both the tyger and the tree several times, he girted both with all his violence, till the ribs and other bones began to give way, and by repeated attempts of this kind, he broke all the ribs and legs in four or five different places; this took up several hours, and the poor creature all this while was living, and at every crack of the bones gave a howl, though not loud, yet piteous enough to pierce the cruelest heart, and make even man forget his natural hatred to its species, and pity its misery.

After the legs and ribs, the snake attacked the skull in the same manner, but this proved so difficult a task, that the monster, tired with fatigue, and seeing his prey in no condition of escaping, left him for the night at the foot of the tree, and retired into it himselfto rest; upon which we went home, and I must assure you, I could not sleep for the poor tyger, who was naturally so strong, that we left him still alive, though mangled in this miserable

manner.

In the morning I returned with several others to the thicket; but as we rode up, we saw a strange change; the body of the tyger, which we now saw no longer to be known as such, but looked like a red lump of shapeless matter, was dragged to some distance from the tree, and shone all over as covered with glue or jelly; when we arrived, we saw plainly the meaning of this, the snake was yet busied about it. He had laid his legs one by one close to the body, and was now placing the head straight before and licking the body (which had no remaining shape of one) and covering it with its slaver, which was what gave it that shiny look, coating it over like a jelly, and rendering it fit for swallowing; and having prepared it to his mind, seized the head, and began to suck that, and afterwards the body into his throat. This was a work of so much time, that I left him struggling at the shoulders,

This animal has hitherto been supposed to be peculiar to the Norwegian and Greenland seas; but as it is now proved that it may be met with in other latitudes also, we may hope, that in this age of improvements, we shall not long be without a specimen of the animal itself, by some providential or enterprising achievement, to enrich the department of Natural History.

At a meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society, in the year 1808, Mr. P. Neill read an account of a great Sea Snake, lately cast ashore in Orkney. This curious animal, it appears, was stranded in Rotsholm Bay, in the island of Stronsa, North Scotland. Malcolm Laing, Esq, M. P. being in Orkney at this time communicated the circumstance to his brother Gilbert Laing, Esq. Advocate at Edinburgh. Through this authentic channel Mr. Neill received his information.

mane.

The body measured fifty-five feet in length, and the circumference of the thickest part might be equal to the girth of an Orkney poney. The head was not larger than that of a seal, and was furnished with two blow-holes, such as whales have. From the back, a number of filaments (resembling in texture the fishing tackle, known by the name of the silk-worm-gut) hung down like a, On each side of the body were three large fins shaped like paws and jointed. The body was knocked in pieces by a tempest, but the fragments have been collected by Mr., Laing, and are to be transmitted to the Museum at Edinburgh. Mr. Neill concluded with remarking, that no doubt could be entertained that this was the very animal described by Ramus, Egede and Pontoppedam, but which scientific and systematic naturalists had been induced hitherto to reject as spurious and ideal. Such was the account then laid before the public, and it was added, "We confidently hope that the particulars of this event will appear at full in the transactions of the Wernerian Society, when published." In the mean time, we add that another letter has appeared in print, in confirmation of the above account, and containing some additional information, viz. that as its tail seemed to have been broken by dashing against the rocks, it is calculated to have been sixty feet in the whole. The first pair of its fins were five feet and a half long, with a joint at the distance of four feet from the body. As the tempest had beat the carcase to picces before men and ropes could be collected, only a fragment, about five feet of the back bone, and a whole paw are preserved.

These accounts are completely in conformity to what had been already communicated by writers on Natural History; and they happily vindicate the veracity of such writers, who because they have related instances of rare occurrence, have been treated as persons incapable of just discernment, if not as immoral men, attempting to impose on their readers fiction instead of truth. What was then published on this subject is supported by the following

testimony, which was inserted in a periodical publication of great celibrity, a short time afterwards, and that in consequence of diligent inquiry being made.

"The particulars recorded concerning the great Sea Serpent are perfectly correct, and I beg leave to complete the account by the addition of the following particulars :-The specimen was examined by Mr. George Shearer, tenant of Rothsholm, who actually measured the parts and found the length of them fifty-five feet, and judged it might be, when perfect, sixty feet. The tapering towards the tail was gradual, the distance in length between the paws was about twelve feet; the paws appeared well adapted to the purpose of enabling the creature to fix itself strongly to the rocks; the mane from the head down the back was silver-coloured eighteen inches in length, and, when dry, of the appearance of cat-gut; the spoutholes were in the back part of the head, or in the neck; the vertebrae of the back-bone were numerous. Some of these have now been received in Edinburgh, and laid before the Wernerian Society. Their structure is extremely curious and uncommon, evidently intended to accommodate a mode of life, of which we have little knowledge. It is understood that the head is saved, as well as one of the fins or paws. The whole has been presented to the Museum of the University of Edinburgh, by Gilbert Meason, Esq. on whose estate it came ashore. The Literati of Edinburgh have named it Halsydrus Pontoppidani, (from the Greek hals, sea, and hydros, water-snake.) This creature has been the subject of poetical description. Mr. Scott's "Minstrelsy of the Scottish border," vol. iii. contains the following reference to it in the Mermaid, a poem by J. Leyden.

"Shun, O Shun, the gulph profound,
Where Corriunckin's surges roar,

If from that unbottom'd deep,

With wrinkled form and writhed train,

O'er the verge of Scarba's steep,

The Sea snake heaves his snowy mane,

Unwarp, unwind his oozy coils,

Sea green sisters of the main!

And in the gulph where ocean boils,

Th' unwielding wallowing monster chain."

It is possible that the poet might have seen the creature alive, which may account for the bold language he uses.-The authorities referred to certainly place the existence of this animal beyond all doubt. In Egede's journal of the Greenland mission, we find, that on the 6th day of July, 1734, a large and frightful sea monster raised itself so high out of the water, that its head reached above the main-top-mast of the ship; that it had a long sharp snout, broad paws, and spouted water like a whale; that the

body seemed to be covered with scales, the skin was uneven and wrinkled, and the lower part was formed like a snake. It plunged itself backwards in the water, and then raised its tail above the surface a whole ship's length from the head. Its skin is smooth, without wrinkle, of a dark-brown colour, speckled or variegated like tortoise-shell, and it is said to shed it annually, as others of the serpent tribe. That its sense of smelling is very acute, the fishermen conjecture from the circumstance of its avoiding the scent of castor; a quantity of which they, therefore, are said to provide themselves with, when they go out to fish in the summer; and when they meet with the sea-snake they throw a small portion of it overboard. This huge animal is said to have sunk, or over-turned, many large vessels, and even to have raised itself up and snatched men out of boats. The fishermen practise different methods of avoiding this calamity, besides the experiment of castor: they sometimes row full against those volumes of it that appear above water, or throw a light piece of wood upon it; in that case it dives immediately. Sometimes they tack about in order to gain the sun, whose beams the eyes of this creature cannot bear; but if they are near the shore they row into creeks where they cannot be pursued. The excrement, or spawn, of this animal which floats upon the surface, like a viscid slime, is so corrosive, that if it should touch the hands of the fishermen they will be instantly blistered and inflamed. The particulars related of this animal would be incredible, were they not attes ted upon oath, and confirmed by many witnesses.

Egede informs us, that it had been seen by many hundreds of persons, mariners, fishermen, and others. In the year 1746, Captain Lawrence de Ferry, of Bergen, shot at a sea-snake, which immediately disappeared; and when the boat was rowed near the place, the water appeared tinged with blood. The head of this animal, which it held at least two feet above the surface of the water, was of a greyish colour, and resembled the head of a horse. The mouth was very large and black, the eyes were of the same colour, and a long white mane hung down from its neck, and floated on the sea. Besides the head, they saw seven or eight coils of this snake, about the distance of a fathom one from another.

In 1756, it is upon record, that another was shot at and wounded also, which is described as being of an enormous length from one hundred to two hundred yards, by the different beholders.

This Sea Serpent does not seem to be a creature prepared for carnage and devastation, and whether it may possess venom of any kind, probably was not examined by those who discovered it. We rather think it to be slow, languid, and quiet, like the whale, which it also resembles in its power of ejecting waters through its blow-holes.