ow. The animal came to the ship, and rearing its body
more than half way out of the water, so that if our masts had been
standing, his head would have been as high as our topsail-yards, looked
down on deck. He then lowered his great diamond-shaped head, and
thrusting it down the hatchway, seized one of the men in his teeth,
plunged into the sea and disappeared.

We were all horror-struck, for we expected his re-appearance, and had no
means of securing ourselves below, every grating and sky-light having
been washed overboard in the hurricane. The old gentleman was more
alarmed than the rest. He sent for me, and said--

"I did look forward to once more seeing my relations in France, but that
hope is now abandoned. My name is Fonseca, I am a younger brother of a
noble family of that name, and I intended, if not to enrich my brother,
at least to endow his daughter with the wealth I have brought with me.
Should my fears be verified, I trust to your honour for the performance
of my request. It is, to deliver this casket, which is of great value,
into the hand of either one or the other. Here is a letter with their
address, and here is the key; the remainder of my property on board, if
saved, in case of my death, is yours; and here is a voucher for you to
show in case of necessity."

I took the casket, but did not tell him that I was the husband of his
niece--as he might have disinherited her for having married so much
below her rank in life. The old gentleman was right in his supposition,
the serpent returned in the afternoon, and seizing him as he had the
sailor, in the morning, again plunged into the sea; and so he continued
bearing two or three off every day, until I was the only one left. On
the eighth day he had taken off the last but me, and I knew that my fate
must be decided in the evening; for large as he was, he could penetrate
every part of the ship, and could draw you to him, when you were many
feet distant, by sucking in his breath.

There happened to be two casks, of a material lately invented in
England, which we were taking to France on trial; during the hurricane,
one had burst, and the stench proceeding from it was intolerable.
Although it had gradually evaporated, I perceived that whenever the
serpent approached any thing that had been defiled with it, he
immediately turned away, as if the smell was as unbearable to him as it
was to us. I don't know what it was composed of, but the English call