252 THE WORLD OF THE SEA. 
was wounded either by the harpoons or the shot, it dived beneath 
the surface, but always came up again after a few minutes. The 
boat was kept continually at its side, and the chase lasted for 
three hours. The lieutenant was very anxious to capture the 
monster, but was unwilling to lower the boat, and so secure his 
prize, fearing, with some reason, that the creature. might upset 
the boat, and so endanger the lives of the crew. To take the 
animal was no easy task, for the harpoons entered its flabby body, 
and came out as they went in, without biting; the shot passed 
completely through it, and seemingly left it unharmed. However, 
at last one ball struck a vital part, for the creature vomited blood 
and froth, with a glutinous matter which exhaled a strong smell 
of musk. They were fortunate enough to cast a noose over it; 
the rope slipped down its body until arrested by the caudal fins; 
and when they endeavoured to hoist it on board, the rope cut into 
the flesh, and separated the body into two parts; the head, with 
the tentacles, dropped heavily into the sea, and made off; and 
the posterior parts were brought on deck, and weighed about forty 
pounds. It is probable that this colossal. mollusk was sick, or 
exhausted by some recent struggle with a monster of the deep, 
which would account for its having quitted its native rocks in the 
depths of the ocean; otherwise, it would have been more active 
in its movements, or would have obscured the waves with its inky 
liquid, of which, judging from its size, it ought to have possessed 
at least a barrel full, unless it had exhausted its store in a recent 
conflict. M. Berthelot questioned many of the fishers of the 
Canary Islands, who assured him that they had often seen huge 
red cephalopods out at sea, but they had never dared attempt 
to secure any of them. The circumstance is remembered by 
the crew of the corvette with dread, for there may be, and 
most probably are, many others of the same kind as that which 
the Alecton encountered. Was this cephalopod a calmar, or a 
member of a species allied to the calmars? If we are to judge 
from the figure given by M. Berthelot, the animal possessed 
two fins at the extremity of the body, like the calmars; but then 
its eight equal arms would ally it with the poulpes—the calmars, 
like the cuttle-fish, have ten arms, two of which are much longer 
than the others. Does it belong, then, to a species intermediate 
