The Zoologist — August, 1874. 4109 



(lat. 8° 50' N., long. 84° 5' E.). On the 10th of May, about 5 p. m.,— eight 

 bells I know had gone, — we sighted a two-masted screw on our port quarter, 

 about five op six miles off; very soon after, as we lay motionless, a great 

 mass rose slowly out of the sea about half a mile off on our larboard side, 

 and remained spread out, as it were, and stationary ; it looked like the back 

 of a huge whale, but it sloped less, and was of a brownish colour ; even at 

 that distance it seemed much longer than our ci'aft, and it seemed to be 

 basking in the sun. " What's that? " I suug'out to the mate. " Blest if 

 I knows; barring its size, colour and shape, it might be a whale," replied 

 Tom Scott ; " And it ain't the sea sarpent," said one of the crew, " for he's 

 too round for that ere crittur." I went into the cabin for my rifle, and as 

 I was prepai'ing to fire, Bill Darling, a Newfoundlander, came on deck, 

 and, looking at the monster, exclaimed, putting up his hand, " Have a care, 

 master ; that ere is a squid, and will capsize us if you hurt him." Smiling 

 at the idea, I let fly and hit him, and with that he shook ; there was a 

 great ripple all round him, and he began to move. " Out with all your 

 axes and knives," shouted Bill, " and cut at any part of him that comes 

 aboard ; look alive, and Lord help us ! " Not aware of the danger, and 

 never having seen or heard of such a monster, I gave no orders, and it was 

 no use touching the helm or ropes to get out of the way. By this time 

 three of the crew, Bill included, had found axes, and one a rusty cutlass, and 

 all were looking over the ship's side at the advancing monster. We could 

 now see a huge oblong mass moving by jerks just under the surface of the 

 water, and an enormous train following ; the oblong body was at least half 

 the size of oar vessel in length and just as thick ; the wake or train might 

 have been one hundred feet long. In the time that I have taken to write 

 this, the brute struck us, and the ship quivered under the thud ; in another 

 moment, monstrous arms like trees seized the vessel and she heeled over ; 

 in another second the monster was aboard, squeezed in between the two 

 masts, Bill screaming " Slash for your lives ; " but all our slashing was of 

 no avail, for the brute, holding on by his arms, slipped his vast body over- 

 board, and pulled the vessel down with him on her beam-ends ; we were 

 thrown into the water at once, and just as I went over I caught sight of one 

 of the crew, either Bill or Tom Fielding, squashed up between the masts 

 and one of those awful arms ; for a few seconds our ship lay on her beam- 

 ends, then filled and went down ; another of the crew must have been 

 sucked down, for you only picked up five ; the rest you know. I can't tell 

 who ran up the ensign. — James Floyd, late master, schooner Pearl' " — 

 'Homeward Mail,' as rejmnted in the ' Times' of July 4. 



SECOND SERIES — VOL. IX. 2 R 



