_Tara, Diddlebury_.
DEAR SIR,--When I was an undergraduate at Cambridge in the
'sixties a "Limerick" was current which began as follows:--
"There was an adventurous sole
Which swallowed an albatross whole."
Unfortunately I cannot remember the conclusion of the stanza, nor
am I able to state whether it was founded on fact or was merely an
ebullition of lyrical fancy. In the latter case the lines are
a striking instance of the prophetic power of minstrelsy, and
justify the use of the word "_vates_," or seer, as applied to
poets by the ancient Romans.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Yours faithfully,
SEPTIMUS BOWLONG.
_Rougemont Villa, Crookhaven._
DEAR SIR,--The halibut-cormorant episode has attracted undue
attention, since many similar but far more extraordinary incidents
have occurred during the War, but have passed unrecorded owing
to the claims of Bellona. I will confine myself to one which was
witnessed by my daughter Anna in course of bathing at Sheringham
in August, 1917. While swimming underwater she collided with a
middle-sized sea-serpent, which was evidently in difficulties and
made its way to the beach, where it expired. The post-mortem,
which was conducted by Professor Darcy Johnson, F.R.S., revealed
that the serpent had been choked by a gigantic gooseberry, which
had formed part of the cargo of a Greenland tramp torpedoed by an
enemy submarine.
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