LECTURE X, 139 



came to her assistance on seeing her fire signals of 

 distress, was owing, not to the storm which ac- 

 companied the disaster, but to a groupe of Colos- 

 sal Cuttle-Fishes, which happened at that very 

 time to be prowling about the ocean beneath these 

 unfortunate vessels ? 



These accounts, whether true or false, natu- 

 rally recal to our recollection the far-famed mon- 

 ster of the Northern seas, often mentioned in a 

 vague manner under the name of Kraken or Kor- 

 ven. The general tenor of these accounts is, that 

 in some parts of the Northern seas, during the 

 heat of summer, while the sea is perfectly calm, 

 a vast mass, resembling a kind of floating island, 

 about a quarter of a mile in diameter, is seen to 

 rise above the surface : appearing to be covered 

 with a profusion of sea-weeds, corals, and other 

 marine substances. When it is fully risen, it sel- 

 dom fails to stretch up several enormous arms, of 

 such a height as to equal that of the masts of a 

 ship; and after having continued in this position 

 for some time, it again slowly descends. From 

 the general description thus given of its shape, it 

 has been supposed that it is a species of Sepia or 

 Cuttle-Fish. Linnaeus, in the first edition of his 



