o f the water (when it 'is very calm) in many folds, and that
there »re in a line with the head, fome fmall parts o f the hack
to be feen above the furface of the water when it moves or bends.
Thefe at a diftance appear like foimany casks .or hqgfheads floating
in a line, with a confiderable drftance between each o f them.
Mr. Tuchfen of. Herroe, whom I mentioned above, is ^be paly’
perfon, o f the many çorrefpondents I have, that informs me he
has obferved the difference between the, body and the tail o f this;
creature as to thicknefs.
It appears that this .creature does not, like the Eel or Land--
fhake, taper gradually to a point, but the body, whichi looks <tp-
be as big as two hogfheads, grows remarkably {mall at once juft
where the tad begins. The bead is: 'all the kinds has. a. high
and broad forehead, bût in fonde a pointed fnout, though in
Others that is flat, like that of a cow or ahorfe, with k r g en oM ls |
and federal fiiff hairs flan cling out on eadh fide like; whiskers.
It is fuppofedthat the Sea-fnakes base a very .quick fmell, which
we may conclude from this, that they are oMerved to ifly from
the fmell o f caftor. Upon this account thofe that go out pn
StorÆggen to fifh in the Summer, always provide themfelves
with thefe animals. Tftey add, that the eyfes o f this creature are
very large, and o f a blue colour, and lodMsfsc aiépu^Ie ë f Bright
pewter plates. The whole animal is o f a dark-djrown colottri
but it is fpeckled and variegated with light ftreaks or fpots, that
(hine like tortoife-fhell. R ts o f a darker Hue about the eye»
and mouth than elfewhere, and appmrs in that’part ar good deal
like thofe horfes, which we call Moors-heads. If
I do not find by any o f my GorrefpondentS, that they fpout
the water out o f their noftrils like the Whale, only in that one
inftance related by Mr. Egede,. as mentioned above : but when it
approaches, it pats the water in great, agitation,' and makes it run
like the current at a mill. Thofe on our coaft differ likewife from
the Greenland Sea-fnakes, with regard to the skin, which is as
Smooth as glafs, and has not the leaft wrinkle, but about the
neck, where there is a kind o f a mane, which looks like, a parcel
o f fea-weeds hanging down to the water. Some fay ft annually
fheds its skin like the Land-fnake ] and it is affirmed, that a few
years fince there was to be feen at Kopperwiig, a coyer for a
table made of the skin o f one of thefe fnakes. This raifed my
OluF Trygvinfen, called his matchlefs fhip of war Ormen Lange, that is, Long-'
fnake. This extraordinary ve-fiel carried 1000 armed men, Who, with their gilded
ihields hanging, oyer on each lide of the lhip, gave this inanimate 'Sea-fiiakc an appearance
not inferior to the living one,
curiofity
curiofity to know thé truth, and accordingly I wrote thither for
proper.information,, defiring, the favour o f a flip o f it, by way
•qf- fpecimen ; btjf it-Teems tb|re was no fuch thing, at lëaft not at
^hat-timë. beftete*, -a*iman thaft came from the place told me he
had neyer heard anything o f it. This perfon however inform’d
me, that in the year 1^720'a Sèa-fnake had lain a whole week in
a creek nefar, thafr-pace ; that if came thereat high water, thrdugh
a qarrpw channel, aljout feven or eight feet, broad, but went away,
after lyifig. there a whole week^as mentioned above, t o d left bef-
hind it a* sjtin, -which thfe- man, whofe iname is Thorlaek Thor-
|ackfen^ declares he faw and handled. This skin lay with one
end un^er water in, the crëek, and therefore, how long it was
no-body cquld tell. It feems the creek within that channel is fe-
yeraLfathoms deép, and it lay ftretched ©ut a gréât way"; bût
-the other end o f thp flouth had been driven afhore by the^ide,
where.it Mpa lMg ltîmêYïoFëfè,l^'htirdy to exarniiae. He faid it
did, n©t-feem fit to make a covering for a table, unlefs it had been
properly drelfed, or fome other way prepared for that purpofe ;
lor i t was not hard and* compa&, Kkpa skin, but rather, o f a foft
tod flimy confidence, fomething like the Manæte before-defcrib’d.
-Even1 the body; itfelf is faid to be o f the fame nature, às‘ I am
informed by thofe who, by accident, once caught, a young onê,
and laid.,it upon the deck o f the fhip. It died inftantly,
though nq-bo% dar’d to go near it even then, till they were ob-
lig e d .to throw it overboard, by the infupportable ftink which
/was. caufed by the foft and vifcidIflime, to which it was at length
dilTolved by the a&ion o f the wind *. It feems the wind is fo
deftru£tive to this creature, that, as has been obferved before, it
is never feen on the furface o f the water, but in the greateft
calm, and the leaft guft o f wind drives it immediately to the bottom
again. One o f thefe Sea-fnakes was feen at Amunds Yaagen,
in Nordfiord, fome years ago. It came in -between the rocks,
probably at high water, and died there. It was obferved that
the cârcafe occafioned an intolerable ftetich for- a long time. It
* We Lave.the fame account from Pere Labat, of a linalî Séà-ferpent, about Four Feet
long, and as thick as a man’s arm. His words are, “ Nous' Pattachames au mât après
l’avoir affomiïlé pour voirquelle .figure daujqitle lendemain Nous connûmes combien
nôtre lionheur avoit été grand, de n’avoir point touché a ce poificm,‘qui fans doute
nous’ auroit tous empoifonnez. Car nous trouvâmes le matin qu’il s’étoit entièrement
difîbus en une eau verdâtre & puante, qui avoit coulé fur le pont, fans qu’il reftatpre-
fque autre cnofeque la peau & la telle, quoi qu’il noys eut paru le loir fort fermç &
fort bon. NOUS conclûmes, ou que ce poifibn' étôit empoifonné par accident, ou que
de fa nature ce n’étoit qu’un compole de venin. Je crois que c’etoit quelque vipère
marin. J’eq ay parle ,|,ÿlufieurs: pefcheurs & autres gens de mer, Ans ayoir jamais
pu être bien eelaij-ci de fce que je vqulois fçàvoir touchahiçe poifibn. Nouveaux Voyages
aux Ifles Fràncoifes de l’ÂmeriqUe, Tom, v. cap, xiv. p. 335,
Part II. F f f is