human
I couldn't help it, uncle, he said,
gpt
Yes, my lad; they saw it too, replied the skipper;
human
Well, yes, said Uncle Paul,
gpt
I am beginning to believe more and more that we who follow out natural history have a great deal to learn.
human
Take my word for it, sir, you have. But I dare say you will be disposed to laugh at me and think that I am making up a bit of gammon, when I ask you if you remember what a frigate looks like when she has got all her ports open and her lanterns lit.
gpt
I don't see why I should, said Uncle Paul quietly.
human
But of course I have seen a man-of-war like that by night; and a very beautiful object she is.
gpt
Very, sir. But what should you say if I was to ask you if you had seen a fish looking like a little frigate with her ports all open and her lights shining in a couple of rows along her sides--lights that don't burn, sir, but shine brightly as if they did?
human
Well, I am not a man to laugh at anything new in science, Chubb, said the doctor quietly,
gpt
Not a bit, sir.
human
I have seen, continued the doctor,
gpt
Well, sir, I could take you right away to the eastward into the Indian seas--and I am not romancing, mind, but talking honest truth--I could take you and squire here, where you could drag up fishermen sort of fish, big-mouthed fellows ready to swallow what they catches, fish that guide themselves down in the dark deeps of the sea amongst the seaweed at the bottom, and there they hang out from the tops of their heads long barbels that look like worms, and fish with them for other fishes, to catch them to eat.
human
Oh yes, that's right enough, captain, replied the doctor.
gpt
You know, Rodd, that great frog fish, the Father Lasher, as the fishermen call him. Why, captain, we have got them at home off the Devon coast.
human
I know, said the skipper.
gpt
I have seen them; but those are not what I mean. He didn't give me time to finish, squire, continued the skipper, facing round to Rodd.
human
My ones out yonder in the Eastern seas always live down below where it's deep and dark, and where the fishes couldn't see their baits. So what do you think they do?
gpt
Swim up to where it's lighter, said Rodd.
human
Not they, sir. They grows a little bait as might be a little bit of meat at the end of their barbel-like fishing-lines, and wave it about in the water for the fish they want to catch to see.
gpt
You said it was all black darkness deep down there,
human
So it is, my lad, and so that the fish may see it those little baits of theirs all glow with light, and shine out in the dark black water. Now, doctor, what do you think of that for a bit of nature?
gpt
Extraordinary! cried the doctor.
human
But who told you that?
gpt
Nobody, sir. I have seen them with my own eyes.
human
Yes, but what about the men-of-war with their ports lit up?
gpt
Of course I didn't mean men-of-war, sir. I thought I made you understand I meant fish. Fish about two foot long, with a row of lights down each side like lamps to see their way in the darkness. There, gentlemen, that's no story to tell to the marines, but a fact that I have seen with my own eyes; and if there's things like that deep down in the seas, I don't see anything wonderful in there being what some people calls sea-sarpints that might be as big as a great sparmacetti whale; and if you put some of them beside a cable a hundred foot long there isn't much rope to spare. I knew of a ninety-footer once, though they don't often get so long as that.
human
You see, Captain Chubb, he said at last,
gpt
Oh, uncle! cried Rodd indignantly.
human
I am sure I never did!
gpt
Well, well, perhaps not, said Uncle Paul shortly.
human
Don't say `perhaps not,' uncle. That isn't fair. You know I always try to tell the truth.
gpt
Well, well; yes, yes, yes, yes, said Uncle Paul testily.
human
I am not accusing you, Rodney. I am only alluding to what people who tell stories do.
gpt
Why, of course, uncle, they say what isn't true if they tell stories.
human
Will you oblige me, Rodney, by letting me continue what I was about to say?
gpt
I beg pardon, uncle.
human
Yes, Captain Chubb, continued Uncle Paul,
gpt
Yes, sir, I know, grunted the skipper.
human
People will stretch.
gpt
Exactly, said Uncle Paul--
human
Quite right, sir. I did just now about that sparm whale. I don't believe after all that they get to a hundred foot.
gpt
Still, said the doctor,
human
Oh, uncle!
gpt
Well, sir, I didn't see much doubt about that thing.
human
H'm! no, replied the doctor thoughtfully;
gpt
Nat'ral, sir? said the skipper gruffly.
human
Well, to my mind it is a very unnatural sort of thing.
gpt
I think I could sketch it, uncle, if I were clever with my pencil, which I am not, for I can seem to see it quite plainly now, as it raised its neck out of the water when it swam by.
human
You think you could, my boy; but a great deal of it must have been under water, and your representation would be open to doubt.
gpt
Humph! What was it like, youngster?
human
Just the same shape as a swan, said Rodd, with something like a shudder,
gpt
That's right, grunted the skipper;
human
Well, said the doctor gravely,
gpt
I for a long time have been of opinion that the reports that reach us from time to time about the sea-serpent must have some truth in them, though they have doubtless been greatly exaggerated.
human
Don't hear of many reports now, sir, said Captain Chubb.
gpt
We sea-going people have been laughed at too much.
human
Yes, I know, said the doctor,
gpt
This warn't a fish,
human
Reptiles, then, grunted Uncle Paul,
gpt
Forced up, uncle? What could force up a great thing like that?
human
You ask that, Rodd? Why, what forces a fish up sometimes, to float upside down on the surface?
gpt
Oh yes, I know, replied Rodd;
human
Exactly; and I should say such a creature as you saw would in its natural state be always living deep down in the ocean.
gpt
growled Captain Chubb.
human
This 'ere one was hard at work in that shoal of fish.
gpt
I don't see that that interferes with my argument, Captain Chubb, said the doctor;
human
How long ago?
gpt
Ah, that's more than any one of us can say; but I have seen their remains turned to stone, laid bare in a stone quarry--that is to say, their skeletons, which show pretty well what must have been their shape; and if they existed once there is no reason why some of their descendants, though very rarely seen, may not still survive, though I am half afraid that my nephew here must have some half-forgotten lingering memories of one of these creatures that he has seen in some geological work, and upon seeing that fish or reptile let his imagination run riot and finished it off by memory.
human
I saw it plainly enough, uncle.
gpt
What were you going to say, Captain Chubb?
human
Only this 'ere, sir. I have 'eard more argufying and quarrelling about sea-sarpints than about almost anything else. I say sarpints, but I mean these things, and I say this. It will never be settled properly till one of 'em is caught--which aren't likely--or one of them is cast ashore so as everybody can see fair and square. I believe in 'em, and I've good reason to.
gpt
So do I, uncle,
human
Well, said Uncle Paul,
gpt
I have for a long time had my doubts, and now I am no longer a sceptic.