70 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1894. 



gave up the line and took myself out of the way. A harpoou was 

 brought from forward and the shark was soon floundering upon the 

 deck, snapping and biting at everything that was thrown at him in the 

 most ferocious manner. After a while he was dispatched, and I kept 

 a piece of the skin for a souvenir. The color is pale ash ; it would 

 answer for sand-paper. His presence accounted for my not catching 

 any fish. He was contemplating my bait and it is very probable that 

 the fish did not care for his company. 



It has never been my good fortune to get a view of the sea serpent, 

 although there are many instances on record of his appearance. In 

 the museums are shown skeletons of gigantic animals which have not 

 been known to exist since the time of history. It is possible that 

 monsters may have previously existed in the sea as well as on the land. 

 It is well known that the great species of the whale are not as numer- 

 ous as in former times. It is said that there are serpents in the sea, 

 but they are six feet in length. Eels are frequently seen of enormous 

 size, sometimes weighing 100 pounds and ten feet in length. 



In 1878 I saw a devil fish exhibited at a travelling show which came 

 to Worcester. I read of a little boy playing on the beach in the "West 

 Indies when a devil fish reached out one of its long arms and carried 

 the child into the sea. Fabulous stories are told of these sea monsters. 

 Victor Hugo, in "The Toilers of the Sea," gives a vivid picture of an 

 encounter with oue of them beneath the sea. 



Porpoise are often hai'pooued by the sailors. The meat is dark and 

 one must be quite hungry to eat it. The liver and heart taste like 

 those of a hog. They weigh about 2.50 pounds and in color are of a 

 bluish black. Multitudes of them are seen leaping from the water at 

 a height of five or six feet. Their presence is a sign that a storm is 

 near at hand. 



The Stormy Petrel or, as the sailors call them, Mother Carey's 

 Chickens, are also noticed in stormy weather. They fly close to the 

 water and have the appearance of walking on the waves, when in 

 reality they are searching for food which is thrown up by the agitation 

 of the ocean or that which may be thrown overboard. They fly very 

 rapidly and many suppose they come around a ship for shelter. They 

 are found hundreds of miles from the shore. 



" Up and down ! Up and down ! 

 From the base of the wave to the biUow's crown, 

 And amidst the flashing and feathery foam 

 The Stormy Petrel finds a home ; 

 A home if such a place there be 



