A MONSTER OF THE DEEP.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1156, 25 March 1884, Page 3

A MONSTER OF THE DEEP.

Captain D. Seymour, of the American whaling barque Hope On, which anchored in the bay at Panama on the 7th from a four months’ cruise, with 400 barrels of humpback on board, reports having encountered a strange marine monster off St, Elmo. This is one of the Pearl Island group situated between forty and fifty miles off Panama. The boats were out waiting for signals from the vessel as to the direction in which the whales were heading. Suddenly the water broke a short distance from the boat. Captain Seymour was steering, and he made ready to catch a whale. But to his surprise and that of the men in the boat, who ceased pulling and looked around when he shouted to them, an animal somewhat like a horse slowly rose out of the water and then dived, apparently alarmed at the sight of the boat. None of those present had ever seen an animal like it before, although they are all old sailors, and they agree in saying, as do another boat’s crew who saw it the following day, that it is an animal which has never been previously encountered. The glance which Captain Seymour obtained enables him to describe it as about 20ft in length, with a handsome horse-like head, with two unicorn-shaped horns protruding from it, with four legs or double-jointed fins, a brownish hide profusely speckled with large black spots, and a tail which appeared to be divided into two parts. The animal was seen on two different days, and an effort would have been to catch it had it not been that whales were about at the time. Captain Seymour and his officers agree in believing the monster is peculiar to the locality, and that it could be easily killed with , lances and bomb guns. Officers of the Pacific Mail Company state that they have seen this animal on several occasions, although they never had the opportunity for close observation, which was obtained by the Hope On.