148 NIMEOD OF THE SEA; OR, 



in a minute I felt its ai-ms thrown around^ me ; one 

 touched my bai'e leg, and another my neck, and the su 

 took hold like doctor's cups. It began to heave and h£ 

 me. You may guess I pulled and hollered. I got ou 

 knife and hacked at it, but I guess it would have mas 

 me if -Captain Dagget hadn't come up in time and fired 

 barrels of his gun in its head. Then it let go, and slid 

 ward into deep water. As good fortune, or something 

 ter, happened it, I was in shallow water, and so far ofl 

 only the ends of the arms reached me, or I am sure I \ 

 have been only as a little fly in the claws of a Selango s] 

 I fight shy of reef-squid ever since, and I wouldn't go 

 swim in Selango Bay for the best sperm - whale afloi 

 shouldn't wonder a bit if many men went under wit! 

 fish, when it has been thought they were attacked wit 

 cramp." 



I suggested shai-ks as a cause of supposed drowning 

 Tom replied that the shark usually showed his back fii 

 that " this cussed thing would just anchor on the bo 

 and throw up one or two arms, and curl around you 

 and yank you right out of sight." 



One of the men shipped in Payta was a Sandwich I 

 Kanaka, named a new name, as is the custom on 1 

 whalers. His latest name was Chock-a-hlockj bi 

 would answer to either, and sometimes to Slock 

 However, he was not so called from any deficiency, i 

 was shrewd enough, and had done good service in our 

 As he showed signs of knowing something about sc 

 we encouraged him to "loose his j a wing-tackle and ] 

 ahead." 



Squid began : " Ouri mi ti petre " (bad fish) ; and in bi 

 English, interpreted by Hinton, he went on to tell us th 

 lowing story, from which I inferred that he had a polyp 

 his head rather than a squid or cuttle-fish. He describe 



