Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

teeth on its upper jaw. It grows to 6 feet in
length and is olive-brown above and white
below. It is currently found in Lake
Champlain.
(2) The Alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula)
has a double row of teeth, but it is currently
found no farther north than the Ohio River.
(3) The Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens)
is olive-gray above and white below, with
scutes along the back and the sides.
Source: Samuel de Champlain, Les voyages
faits au Grand Fleuve Sainct Laurens [1613], in
The Works of Samuel de Champlain, Henry
Percival Biggar, ed. (Toronto, Canada:
Champlain Society, 1925), vol. 2, p. 91.
Chemisit
Unknown animal of East Africa that the British
call the Nandi Bear.
Etymology: Kalenjin (Nilo-Saharan) word
meaning “devil”; however, at one level of meaning,
it is regarded as an animal, not a spirit.
Variant names: Chemoiset, Chemosit,
Chimisit, Gononet.
Physical description: Tawny or reddish color.
Sometimes striped. Face like an ape’s.
Behavior: Nocturnal. Stands on its hind legs
sometimes. Makes a peculiar moaning cry or
blood-curdling roar. Said to break into native
huts at night, kill the occupants, and eat their
brains. Used as a threat by mothers to make
their children obey.
Tracks: Round and bearlike.
Distribution: Western Kenya.
Significant sighting: In the 1960s, engineer
Angus McDonald was sleeping in a hut near
Kipkabus, Kenya, when he was awakened by a
shriek as a large animal jumped in the window
and chased him around the hut for about five
minutes. It seemed to be about 7 feet tall with
an ape’s face, and it was able to run on both two
feet and all fours, leaving round tracks. The Elgeyo
tribesmen identified it as a Chemosit.
Sources: Alfred C. Hollis, The Nandi: Their
Language and Folk-Lore (Oxford: Clarendon,
1909), p. 41; Geoffrey Williams, “An
Unknown Animal on the Uasingishu,” Journal
of the East Africa and Uganda Natural History
Society, no. 4 (1912): 123–125; I. Q.
Orchardson (letter), Journal of the East Africa
and Uganda Natural History Society, no. 28
(1927): 19, 23; Charles R. S. Pitman, A Game
Warden among His Charges (London: Nisbet,
1931), p. 291; Odette Tchernine, The Yeti
(London: Neville Spearman, 1970), pp. 69–72;
Martin Pickford, “Another African
Chalicothere,” Nature 253 (1975): 85.
Chessie
Sea Monster that frequents the Chesapeake
Bay, Maryland.
Etymology: After the bay. First named in July
1977 by a reporter for the Richmond (Va.)
Times-Dispatch.
Variant names: Chesapeake Chessie, Potomac
Patty.
Physical description: Serpentine or eel-like in
general shape. Length, 12–35 feet. Smooth. Diameter,
8–10 inches. Dark gray to black. Three
or four humps. Turtlelike head and neck held 3
feet above the surface. No fins.
Behavior: Sometimes reported swimming
with horizontal undulations; at other times, it is
seen swimming with vertical undulations, while
the head and neck are kept steady. Passive toward
observers.
Tracks: Described as reptilian or snakelike.
Distribution: Chesapeake Bay, Potomac
River, and Rappahannock River in Maryland
and Virginia. Favored spots are Love Point on
Kent Island, Eastern Bay, and the mouth of the
Potomac River.
Significant sightings: An animal suspiciously
like a large turtle, 12 feet long with a large shell
and four fins, was seen by the crews of two
schooners on July 26, 1840, near North Point,
Maryland.
An engineer performing helicopter test flights
out of Aberdeen Proving Grounds saw an enormous,
eel-like animal in the Bush River in 1963.
In 1965, Pam Peters saw a serpentine animal
in the South River off Hillsmere Shores, Maryland.
In July 1977, Gregg Hupka took a fuzzy photograph
of an animal at the mouth of the Potomac
River.
CHESSIE 99