ew York in the fall of 1817, under the
title of "Letters from the Hon. David Humphreys, F.R.S., to the Rt. Hon.
Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, London, containing
some account of the Serpent of the Ocean frequently seen in Gloucester
Bay."

Mr. Humphreys, a citizen of Connecticut apparently, visited Gloucester
repeatedly in August, and, though he did not succeed in getting a look
at the great snake, had many interviews with those who did, and was
present when the depositions were taken.

The narrative of his experience at Gloucester, with some letters from
Mr. Nash, a detailed account of efforts to catch the serpent, and some
statements in regard to its visit to Long Island Sound later in the
year, make eighty-six pages of pleasant reading, which those curious to
know about the matter will find well worth their attention.

His version of the depositions is also interesting, varying somewhat as
it does from that published by the Linnaean Society, and he goes at
length into the reasons for believing the small captured serpent to have
been the offspring of the large one.

It is easy to account for the variations in the evidence taken before
Mr. Nash, when we find from the statements of the parties that the
distance at which the serpent was seen varied from thirty feet to one
hundred and fifty yards. But there is agreement in the important points
which clearly separate the animal described from all well-known fishes.
The undulating vertical motion producing the appearance of humps upon
the back, the small size of the body compared with its length, the sharp
turns when the head and tail moved in opposite directions, the elevated
head, and the protruding tongue, are more or less recognized in every
description.

Let us now return to our friends, whom we have left at the old mill. It
was the curiosity of Col. Perkins, who was already familiar with the
water-snakes of the Indian Ocean, and strongly inclined to believe in
the existence of the monster serpent, which led him, at the first
reports from Gloucester, to plan this visit to the scene of the
excitement. And in good truth he had planned it well, and had selected
his time with that rare good luck which attended most of his mercantile
operations. It had been a "field-day," so to speak, in Gloucester
Harbor, the serpent having been visible, more or less, all the morning.

Looking out over the water, where boats were moving cautiously about,
Rocky Nec