The Great Sea SerpentMysterious and strange are the ocean depths, but pioneering cyptozoologist ANTOON CORNELIS OUDEMANS (1858-1943) attempted to bring some order to the realm with this 1892 survey of the reports of monsters of the sea, the first of its kind. Gathering sightings from around the globe and across the centuries, Oudemans eliminates the obvious hoaxes or honest mistakes and then, from dozens of legitimate sighting, draws conclusions about sea-serpent physiology, geographic distribution, and more. This astonishing book "still influences thoughts and theories about the great unknowns in the oceans," says cryptozoologist Loren Coleman in his new introduction in this edition, part of Cosimo's Loren Coleman Presents series. |
From inside the book
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Page 24
... remained five hours near us , only going backward and forward . " " The fears with which he at first inspired us having subsided , we were able to examine him attentively . I estimate that his length is at least twice that of my ...
... remained five hours near us , only going backward and forward . " " The fears with which he at first inspired us having subsided , we were able to examine him attentively . I estimate that his length is at least twice that of my ...
Page 26
... remained five hours near the ship , allowing itself to be minutely examined , but yet no further attempt to kill the beast ! And what is almost equally strange , though even the position of the ear - holes is mentioned , -such minute ...
... remained five hours near the ship , allowing itself to be minutely examined , but yet no further attempt to kill the beast ! And what is almost equally strange , though even the position of the ear - holes is mentioned , -such minute ...
Page 43
... remained within a comparatively short distance of the land . At about 11 o'clock A. M. , when off Dunwordy - head , one of my crew on the look out sang out : The sea - serpent on starboard bow ' and on looking in the direction indicated ...
... remained within a comparatively short distance of the land . At about 11 o'clock A. M. , when off Dunwordy - head , one of my crew on the look out sang out : The sea - serpent on starboard bow ' and on looking in the direction indicated ...
Page 63
... remained entire : That he endeavoured to convey an idea of the animal to Mr. Petrie , by drawing the figure of it as accu- rately as he could , with chalk , on the table , exactly as it lay on the shore , after which Mr. Petrie made six ...
... remained entire : That he endeavoured to convey an idea of the animal to Mr. Petrie , by drawing the figure of it as accu- rately as he could , with chalk , on the table , exactly as it lay on the shore , after which Mr. Petrie made six ...
Page 65
... putrification ; and when we consider that the liver and the other viscera were all destroyed , except the valvular intestine , which was taken away by the observers , the size of the body that remained Would - be Sea - Serpents 65.
... putrification ; and when we consider that the liver and the other viscera were all destroyed , except the valvular intestine , which was taken away by the observers , the size of the body that remained Would - be Sea - Serpents 65.
Other editions - View all
The Great Sea-serpent: An Historical and Critical Treatise Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
afterwards animal animal of Stronsa animal seen animal's appeared August Basilosaurus basking shark believe boat body Boston bunches calamary Cape Cape Ann Capt Captain M'Quhae cetacean coast coils colour creature crew Daedalus dark declared described diameter distance distinctly dorsal fin doubt Egede evidently existence eyes feet in length feet long figure fins fish fjord flappers foreflappers gigantic Gloucester Hans Egede harbour hoax Hydrophidae Illustrated London inches Island Journal Kraken letter long neck mane Megophias mentioned miles monster motion moved Natural History naturalists nearly Norway Notizen observed ocean Olaus Magnus pectoral fins persons Pinnipeds Plesiosaurus Pontoppidan porpoises probably Prof readers remarkable resembling says sea-lions sea-monster sea-serpent Sea-Serpent.-The sea-snake sea-weed seal seems serpent ship shore sixty feet skin snake species statement supposed surface swimming tail thick trunk vertebrae vertical undulations vessel visible whale yards Zeuglodon Zoologist
Popular passages
Page 96 - Created hugest that swim the ocean stream : Him haply slumbering on the Norway foam, The pilot of some small night-foundered skiff Deeming some island, oft, as seamen tell, With fixed anchor in his scaly rind, Moors by his side under the lee, while night Invests the sea, and wished morn delays...
Page 96 - Thus Satan, talking to his nearest mate, With head uplift above the wave, and eyes That sparkling blazed; his other parts besides Prone on the flood, extended long and large, Lay floating many a rood...
Page 218 - Thus Satan talking to his nearest mate With head uplift above the wave, and eyes That sparkling blazed; his other parts besides Prone on the flood, extended long and large, Lay floating many a rood ; in bulk as huge As whom the fables name of monstrous size, Titanian, or Earth-born, that warr'd on Jove ; Briareos or Typhon, whom the den By ancient Tarsus held ; or that seabeast Leviathan, which God of all his works Created hugest that swim the ocean stream...
Page 210 - I have the honour to acquaint you, for the information of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that at 5 o'clock PM on the 6th of August last, in latitude 24° 44...
Page 15 - The Journal of Science • and the Arts, edited at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, published quarterly, Bd.
Page 221 - I had never seen his account, or even heard of his sea-serpent, until my arrival in London. Some other solution must therefore be found for the very remarkable coincidence between us in that particular, in order to unravel the mystery. " Finally, I deny the existence of excitement or the possibility of optical illusion. I adhere to the statements, as to form, colour, and dimensions, contained in my official report to the Admiralty, and I leave them as data whereupon the learned and scientific may...
Page 252 - S., long. 35° W., we observed three large sperm - whales, and one of them was gripped round the body with two turns of what appeared to be a huge serpent. The head and tail appeared to have a length beyond the coils of about thirty feet, and its girth eight or nine feet.