THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 147 



sailors, and foundered ships ; and it buries them all in its 

 lower hold, and keeps the sea sweet and clean." 



We applauded Ben's theory of the squid, and most of the 

 old hands vouched for the facts on which it was based. 

 Only one said he had seen a squid, but it was " Sighted from 

 the mast-head with the cry of breakers ahead ; and when the 

 men came closer it was like an island of white coral sand, 

 with white trunks of trees, shaped like corkscrews." The 

 sea was breaking heavily on the low beach ; and when the 

 ship came within two miles it went down out of sight, so 

 that we could run over the place without getting soundings. 

 Our new boat-steerer, Long Tom, next told us of an adven- 

 ture with the " reef squid." 



" Once I was ashore in Lee Bay, Galapagos, and carried 

 with me a seal club, as I wanted a lion for moccasins. I was 

 wading round a low rocky point not half-knee deep, but deep 

 just outside, when I saw a big ' reef squid ' cutting along 

 on top of water. He made considerable thrashing as he 

 come along, like a whirligig water-wheel ; his body part look- 

 ed bigger than I am, and his arms two or three times as 

 long. It headed into the little bay ahead of me, and when it 

 got into about three foot water it dropped anchor, and begun 

 to feel round with three or four of its arms. The upper side 

 of the arms were brown-colored, like the rocks, with wrinkles 

 and stiff bristlss along the edge ; the under side was white, 

 with suckers like saucers, in two rows. What I took to be 

 the head had something like eyes, though I couldn't make 

 'em out plain. I didn't think of any danger as I waded to 

 it, but it seemed to be watching me, for it squared around 

 head on. I hit it a clip with my iron-bound seal club, when, 

 quick as a thought, it took a turn around the stick and held 

 on. I pulled my blessedest, but the critter was too much 

 for me. Just then it showed its head ; it shot out from the 

 round knob in front — a brown and purple spotted head, and 



