The Sea Serpent.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume V, Issue 648, 18 August 1891, Page 2

The Sea Serpent.

TitK Marton Mercury lashes out roughly on Sir James:—"Sir James Hector doesn’t believe in the sea-serpent of which we have he -rd so much this week. Per contra, a good many people don’t believe much in Sir James Hector as a scientific authority. Unless the chief ofljoer and quartermaster of the Rotomahana are liars—a supposition we have no right to assume—or idiots—an equally untenable hypothesis—a certain beast, animal, serpent, fish, or whatever we mayoa’l it, was certainly seen by them which does not appear in ordinary manual of zoology, e‘o. Because Hector—Sir James of that ilk—has never seen a sea-serpent, such a thing does pqtexisj—a presumption, to our mind, utter'y absurd! Sir Humbug Hector, it may be remembered, once pooh poohed the existence of gold a'- the Thames. 1 Geologically impossible, my dear sir,’ said he, sod so on ; and yet a good tnanv cool thousands came from that vicinity. Hector's ‘ driftwood ’ theory about the alleged serpent is all nonsense, for driftwood does not raise i'eelf twenty feet out of tbe water, and has not a knack of travs'ling about 120 miles Jn loss than a day. Why Sir Humbug IJeotor’e opinion on tfie subject should be telegraphed ah over ths colony i» a mystery known only to ths Wa'Kngton press agents. It h tiut worth tqe paper it >'e written on,"