moderated to a calm, a number of ripples appeared upon the sea, which
at first we took to be a breeze, but on drifting among them we found
the phenomenon to be caused by a number of water snakes, varying in
size from a few inches to many feet in length. Some of them appeared to
be asleep, whilst others reared their heads at us, although they made
no attempt to attack us. Suddenly they disappeared, as though scared
by the approach of a common enemy.

We had now been for some days becalmed, and at length we began to fear
we had drifted into a dead sea, where the wind never rose, and the
currents ran in a circle. The sun by day blistered the decks so that
the tar bubbled in the seams. The nights were more tolerable, but the
air below had become so foul that the cabins were deserted for the
open. A musty smell rose out of the water, and made it hard to breathe
the oppressive atmosphere. We lay about the deck exhausted, like a
company of sick men.

One night the watch came aft to where Hartog and I were trying to
obtain some rest, with the report that a monstrous shape had been
noticed passing under the vessel, and on looking to leeward we could
see that the water was agitated by some large body. Hartog inclined to
the belief that the disturbance was caused by a number of whales, the
one following the other, but the men declared the shape they had seen
was a monster of amazing proportions. Both Hartog and the men were
equally resolved upon their respective theories; but while they were
arguing the matter, and the dawn being now come, all doubts were set
at rest by the appearance of a prodigy so incredible that I scarce
dare set down, in this plain tale, a description of it. Within fifty
yards from the vessel a serpent's head, not unlike those we had seen,
but infinitely larger, rose above the surface of the water, and