Anon. "A Sea Monster: Remarkable Serpent Fish About Thirty Feet in Length Seen in San Diego Bay," The San Diego Union (22 October 1873)

A party consisting of Messrs. E.A. Veazie, J.M. Spencer and Dr. Squills went out sailing on the yacht Cygnet (formerly Pilot boat No. 2), Captain George Charlesworth yesterday morning and returned about one o'clock P.M. From them our reporter has obtained the following particulars of a remarkable sea monster which was seen by Capt. Charlesworth in a cove on the Peninsula almost opposite this city. After sailing up to the end of the Peninsula and back as far as this cove, the yacht was brought to an anchor and the parting, taking their three shot guns, when off to the sore in the skiff. It was agreed upon that Messrs. Veazie and Spencer should remain concealed at that point until Capt. Charlesworth and Dr. Spills should go up and around the cove in search of curlews. These birds, which are considered very choice game, have been shot in considerable quantities at this place, and by keeping them flying back and forth across the cove the party expected to bag several messes.
At the upper end of the cove a fine flock of curlew was seen digging around in the mud on a point, and Captain Charlesworth crawled through the thicket to get beyond them, so that when they rose and passed Dr. Squills he could get a shot too. He had been gone but a few minutes when Dr. Squills heard him call loudly for him. He ran forward as rapidly as he could through cactus and Spanish bayonet, and met the captain coming back in a very excited state.
In a few words Capt. Charlesworth told the doctor that he had seen a frightful monster, fully thirty feet in length, shaped like a snake, with three sets of fins, a tail like an eel's and a head like an alligator's. The head was a little wider than the neck, but very thick at the base, and had small eyes, which appeared to be covered with a film. The body was covered with a dark skin which assumed a yellowish cast on the belly. The three pair of fins were shaped like those of the sea lion, were each between three and four feet in length, the forward pair being much the heaviest, and situated about two feet back of the neck. Capt. Charlesworth thinks the monster was at least two feet in thickness from the head back to within twelve feet of the end of the tail from which point it tapered, and assumed the shape of an eel's tail. He said the terrible thing had drawn itself nearly out of the water, and was lying motionless on the sand when he first saw it. At his approach the serpent-fish raised its head and swung it directly towards him, and as he was not more than a couple of rods off, his only thought was to increase the distance.
The Captain says he obtained a full view of it and that he could not believe his sight until the monster moved its head towards him. Together he and the Doctor approached the spot cautiously with their guns in readiness to give the terrible creature the four shots. They reached the bank just in time to see the serpent-fish swimming into deep water with still a portion of his body in view. Both guns, which were charged with fine bird shot, were fired at him, and they think that several of the shot took effect. Messrs. Veazie and Spencer were signaled for, and when they came up they were shown the marks left in the mud by the monster. A careful watch was kept by the party for nearly an hour, but nothing was seen of the remarkable serpent-fish, and they think that he is still in the cove, which is about half a mile long by little over a quarter of a mile in width.

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