`` i suppose they might be showing a path to land , '' temeraire said , peering up vainly into the night sky , but then the instrument ceased ; in the sudden stillness , a low churning gurgle might be heard , traveling up the slope towards them from the bay , and the illuminated waters about the jetty shivered suddenly with many colors : gold and crimson and blue , rising up , and the great lamp-eyed head of a sea-serpent broke the surface and rose up and up , water streaming from its fins and in rivulets from the knotted brown seaweed which throttled its neck , like heaped strings of pearls .