Armoured Myriads and Monsters 



conflict between a large sperm whale and, surely, 

 the monarch of the squids, ''almost as large as 

 himself, whose interminable tentacles seemed to 

 embrace the whole of his great body." The 

 whale's head "seemed a perfect network of 

 writhing arms," and by its side "appeared the 

 head of the great squid, as awful an object as 

 one could well imagine even in a fevered dream, 

 with immense black eyes, at least a foot in 

 diameter." As the "titanic struggle went on," 

 the whale, "in a business-like methodical way," 

 munched at his huge enemy, gradually overcom- 

 ing its resistance. 



Such a battle-royal as this is perhaps very 

 seldom to be seen, even by those who spend their 

 lives upon the sea. It may be that these terrible 

 creatures rarely come to the surface, unless com- 

 pelled to do so by a hungry whale. 



What they must be to the denizens of the 

 deep, ever watching for prey, or pursuing it with 

 swift determination in the darkness — " every cup- 

 shaped disc of the hundreds with which the 

 restless tentacles are furnished ready at the 

 slightest touch to grip whatever is near, not only 

 by suction, but by the great claws set all round 

 within its circle — and in the centre of this net- 

 work of living traps ... the chasm-like mouth, 



217 



