Note: Translated by Lewis Mercier and edited by Walter James Miller. This translation begins: "The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten. Not to mention rumors which agitated the maritime population, and excited the public mind, even in the interior of continents, seafaring men were particularly excited." The first change by Miller breaks the third paragraph and adds a separate paragraph with "Neither Cuvier nor Lacépède, neither Duméril nor Quatrefages would have admitted that such a monster could exist unless they had seen it with their own eyes: the trained eyes of the scientist."