78 THE CRUISE OF THE " CACEALOTr 



slicking the boat-hook into the lump, drew it alongside. 

 It was at once evident that it was a massive fragment 

 of cuttle-fish — tentacle or arm — as thick as a stout 

 man's body, and with six or seven sucking-discs or 

 acetabula on it. These were about as large as a saucer, 

 and on their inner edge were thickly set with hooks or 

 claws all round the rim, sharp as needles, and almost 

 the shape and size of a tiger's. 



To what manner of awful monster this portion of 

 limb belonged, I could only faintly imagine ; but of 

 course I remembered, as any sailor would, that from 

 my earliest sea-going I had been told that the cuttle- 

 fish was the biggest in the sea, although I never even 

 began to think it might be true until now. I asked 

 the mate if he had ever seen such creatures as this 

 piece belonged to alive and kicking. He answered, 

 languidly, " Wall, I guess so ; but I don't take any 

 stock in fish, 'cept for provisions er ile — en thet's a 

 fact." It will be readily believed that I vividly recalled 

 this conversation when, many years after, I read an 

 account by the Prince of Monaco of his discovery of a 

 gigantic squid, to which his naturalist gave the name of 

 Lepidoteuthis Grimaldiif Truly the indifference and 

 apathy manifested by whalers generally to everything 

 except commercial matters is wonderful — hardly to be 

 credited. However, this was a mighty revelation to me. 

 For the first time, it was possible to understand that, 

 contrary to the usual notion of a whale's being unable to 

 swallow a herring, here was a kind of whale that could 

 swallow — well, a block four or five feet square apparently; 

 who lived upon creatures as large as himself, if one 

 might judge of their bulk by the sample to hand ; but 

 being unable, from only possessing teeth in one jaw, to 



