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Copies of the documents are duly printed, but
are too long for insertion here. Summing up the
different accounts, he says of the sea snake,
“Though one cannot have an opportunity of
taking the exact dimensions of this creature,
yet all that have seen it are unanimous in
affirming, as far as they can judge at a distance, it
appears to be of the length of a cable, i. e. one
hundred fathoms, or six hundred English feet;
that it lies on the surface of the water (when it
is very calm) in many folds, and that these are
in a line with the head, some small parts of the
back to he seen above the surface of the water
when it moves or bends. These at a distance
appear like so many casks or hogsheads floating
in a line, with a considerable distance between
each of them."
This is followed by a long account of the
poisonous properties of the creature, its aversion to
the smell of castor, the questions of change of
skin, structure of back-bone, &c., all treated
with much learning. He again tells us that
“it seems that the wind is so destructive to this
creature, that, as has been observed before, it is
never seen on the surface of the water but in the
greatest calm, and the least gust of wind drives
it to the bottom again.”
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