THE SPERM WHALE. 



81 



depths seeks and devours its animal food, is still tinged with mystery. In past 

 years it was commonly believed that the Cachalot's home was in the fathomless 

 depths of the ocean, and that only a few stragglers were occasionally met with 

 near coast waters of moderate depth. But we find abundant proof, and from our 

 own observations, too, that they are met with and have been captured in waters 



carniverous Onychoteuthis." This species of ceph- 

 alopocl is tlivis armed with those kind of teeth 

 at the termination of the tentacles, in order 

 to secure the "agile, slippery, and mucus -clad 

 fishes " on which it preys. And there is an in- 

 stance recorded in Sir Grenvillo Temple's Excur- 

 sions ill the Mediierranean, by which we perceive 

 that these terrible creatures sometimes prey upon 

 men! "In those shallow waters," says Sir Gren- 

 ville, "are caught great quantities of fish, by 

 forming curved lines or palisades some way out 

 to sea with palm branches, by which the fish 

 that come up with the high water arc detained 

 when it recedes. The horrid pol_ypus, which is, 

 however, greedily eaten, abounds, and some are 

 of enormous size. They prove at times highly 

 dangerous to bathers. An instance of this oc- 

 curred two years since. A Sardinian captain, 

 bathing at Jerbeh, felt one of his feet in the 

 grasp of one of these animals ; on this, with his 

 other foot ho tried to disengage himself, but this 

 limb was immediately seized by another of the 

 monster's arms; he then, with his hands, en- 

 deavored to free himself, but these, also, in siic- 

 cession, were firmly grasped by the pol^ypus, and 

 the poor man was shortly after found drowned, 

 with all his limbs strongly bound together by 

 the arms and legs of the fish; and it was extra- 

 ordinarj', that where this hapjsened, the water 

 was scarcely four feet in depth!" Other species 

 of these surprising animals, as the C'akimarics, 

 or "flying squid," as they are termed by the 

 whalers, have the power of jjropelling themselves 

 through the atmosphere. "There is good reason 

 for believing," says Mr. Owen, "that some of 

 the small, slender -bodied, subulate species of this 

 genus are enabled to strike the water with such 

 force as to raise themselves above the siu'face, 

 and dart, like the flying -fish, for a short dis- 

 tance through the air." I have myself seen, 

 very frecj^uently, while in the North and South 

 Pacific, tens of thousands of these animals dart 

 simultaneously out of the water, when pursued 



Marine MAMMAii3. — U. 



by the albicore, or dolphins, and propel them- 

 selves head first, in a horizontal direction, for 

 eighty or a hundred yards, assisting their j^ro- 

 gression, jorobably, by a rotatory or screwing 

 motion of their arms or tentacles, and which they 

 have the power of thus moving with a singTilar 

 velocity. This sjoecies, also, as well as the large 

 Onycholeuiliis, I am led to believe, often serves 

 the Sperm Whale with food. I have seen, on 

 several occasions, very large limbs of the latter 

 species of sc[uid floating on the surface of the 

 ocean, appearing as if bitten off bj' some ani- 

 mal — most i^robably by the Spenn Whale — for 

 when these remains have been seen, I have al- 

 ways looked most anxiously for these animals, 

 and have never been disappointed in seeing- them 

 within a few hours afterward. One day, being 

 on the coast of Peru, off Paita Head, as it is 

 called, which lies in about the latitude of five 

 degrees south, I was startled by seeing a remark- 

 able-looking animal raising itself quickly to the 

 surface of the sea by means of a number of very 

 long flexililc arms, which it threw about with 

 great precision, in a rotatory or screwing-like 

 motion, so that it appeared to move itself through 

 the water with the same kind of action that an 

 eight -jironged corkscrew would maintain in pass- 

 ing through any penetrable substance. This curi- 

 ous animal, however, quickly disappeared ; and it 

 was not until I explained its appearance to the 

 captain, that I knew it to bo a squid. On an- 

 other occasion, while upon the Bonin Islands, 

 searching for shells upon the rocks, which had 

 just been left Ijy the receding sea-tide, I was 

 much astonished at seeing at my feet a most ex- 

 traordinary looking animal, crawling toward the 

 surf, which had only just left it. I had never 

 seen one like it under such circumstances before; 

 it therefore appeared the more remarkable. It 

 was creeping on its eight legs, which, from their 

 soft and flexible nature, bent considerably under 

 the weight of its body, so that it was lifted by 

 the efibrts of its tentacula only, a small distance 



