THE SPERM WHALE. 
81 
depths seeks and devours its animal food, is still tinged with mystery. In past 
years it was commonly believed that the Cachalot's home was in the fathomless 
depths of the ocean, and that only a few stragglers were occasionally met with 
near coast waters of moderate depth. But we find abundant proof, and from our 
own observations, too, that they are met with and have been captured in waters 
carniverous Onychoteulhis." This species of ceph- 
alopod is thus armed with those kind of teeth 
at the termination of the tentacles, in order 
to secure the "agile, slippery, and mucus -clad 
fishes " on which it preys. And there is an in- 
stance recorded in Sir Grenville Temple's Excur- 
sions in the Mediterranean, by which we perceive 
that these terrible creatures sometimes prey ujjon 
men! "In those shallow waters," says Sir Gren- 
ville, "are caught great quantities of fish, by 
forming curved lines or palisades some way out 
to sea with palm branches, by which the fish 
that come up with the high water are detained 
when it recedes. The horrid polypus, which is, 
however, greedily eaten, abounds, and some are 
of enormous size. They prove at times highly 
dangerous to bathers. An instance of this oc- 
curred two years since. A Sardinian caj)tain, 
bathing at Jerbeh, felt one of his feet in the 
grasp of one of these animals ; on this, with his 
other foot he tried to disengage himself, but this 
limb was immediately seized by another of the 
monster's arms; he then, with his hands, en- 
deavored to free himself, but these, also, in suc- 
cession, were firmly grasped by the polypus, and 
the poor man was shortly after found drowned, 
with all his limbs strongly bound together by 
the arms and legs of the fish; and it was extra- 
ordinary, that where this happened, the water 
was scarcely four feet in depth!" Other species 
of these surprising animals, as the Calamaries, 
or "flying squid," as they are termed by the 
whalers, have the power of jiropelling themselves 
through the atmosphere. "There is good reason 
for believing," says Mr. Owen, "that some of 
the small, slender -bodied, subulate species of this 
genus are enabled to strike the water with such 
force as to raise themselves above the surface, 
and dart, like the flying- fish, for a short dis- 
tance through the air." I have myself seen, 
very frequently, while in the North and South 
Pacific, tens of thousands of these animals dart 
simultaneously out of the water, when pursued 
Marine Mammals. — 11. 
by the albicore, or dolphins, and propel them- 
selves head first, in a horizontal direction, for 
eighty or a hundred yards, assisting their pro- 
gression, probably, by a rotatory or screwing 
motion of their arms or tentacles, and which they 
have the power of thus moving with a singular 
velocity. This species, also, as well as the large 
Onychoteidhis, I am led to believe, often serves 
the Sperm "Whale with food. I have seen, on 
several occasions, very large limbs of the latter 
species of squid floating on the surface of the 
ocean, appearing as if bitten off by some ani- 
mal — most probably by the Sperm Whale — for 
when these remains have been seen, I have al- 
ways looked most anxiously for these animals, 
and have never been disappointed in seeing them 
within a few hours afterward. One day, being 
on the coast of Peru, off Paita Head, as it is 
called, which lies in about the latitude of five 
degrees south, I was startled by seeing a remark- 
able-looking animal raising itself quickly to the 
surface of the sea by means of a number of very 
long flexible arms, which it threw about with 
great precision, in a rotatory or screwing -like 
motion, so that it appeared to move itself through 
the water with the same kind of action that an 
eight -pronged corkscrew would maintain in pass- 
ing through any penetrable substance. This curi- 
ous animal, however, quickly disappeared ; and it 
was not until I explained its appearance to the 
captain, that I knew it to be a squid. On an- 
other occasion, while upon the Bonin Islands, 
searching for shells upon the rocks, which had 
just been left by the receding sea -tide, I was 
much astonished at seeing at my feet a most ex- 
traordinary looking animal, crawling toward the 
surf, which had only just left it. I had never 
seen one like it under such circumstances before; 
it therefore appeared the more remarkable. It 
was creeping on its eight legs, which, from their 
soft and flexible nature, bent considerably under 
the weight of its body, so that it was lifted by 
the efforts of its tentacula only, a small distance 
