148 NIMROD OF THE SEA; OR, 



in a minute I felt its arms thrown around me; one arm 

 touched my bare leg, and another my neck, and the suckers 

 took hold like doctor's cups. It began to heave and haul on 

 me. You may guess I pulled and hollered. I got out my 

 knife and hacked at it, but I guess it would have mastered 

 me if Captain Dagget hadn't come up in time and fired both 

 barrels of his gun in its head. Then it let go, and slid back- 

 ward into deep water. As good fortune, or something bet- 

 ter, happened it, I was in shallow water, and so far off that 

 only the ends of the arms reached me, or I am sure I would 

 have been only as a little fly in the claws of a Selango spider. 

 I fight shy of reef-squid ever since, and I wouldn't go in to 

 swim in Selango Bay for the best sperm - whale afloat. I 

 shouldn't wonder ,a bit if many men went under with this 

 fish, when it has been thought they were attacked with the 

 cramp." 



I suggested sharks as a cause of supposed drowning also ; 

 Tom replied that the shark usually showed his back fin, but 

 that "this cussed thing would just anchor on the bottom, 

 and throw up one or two arms, and curl around your leg 

 and yank you right out of sight." 



One of the men shipped in Payta was a Sandwich Island 

 Kanaka, named a new name, as is the custom on board 

 whalers. His latest name was Chock -a -block ; but he 

 would answer to either, and sometimes to Blockhead. 

 However, he was not so called from any deficiency, as he 

 was shrewd enough, and had done good service in our boat. 

 As he showed signs of knowing something about squids, 

 we encouraged him to "loose his jawing-tackle and heave 

 ahead." 



Squid began : " Ouri mi ti petre " (bad fish) ; and in broken 

 English, interpreted by Hinton,he went on to tell us the fol- 

 lowing story, from which I inferred that he had a polypus in 

 his head rather than a squid or cuttle-fish. He described his 



