LECTURE 
139 
came to her assistance on seeing her fire signals of 
distress, was owing, not to the storm which ac- 
companied the disaster, but to a groupe of Colos- 
sal Cuttle-Fishes, which happened at that ver/ 
time to be prowling about the ocean beneath these 
unfortunate vessels ? 
These accounts, whether true or false, natu- 
rally recal to our recollection the far-famed mon- 
ster of the Northern seas, often mentioned in a 
vague manner under the name of Kraken or Kor- 
ven. The general tenor of these accounts is, that 
in some parts of the Northern seas, during the 
heat of summer, while the sea is perfectly calm, 
a vast mass, resembling a kind of floating island, 
about a quarter of a mile in diameter, is seen to 
rise above the surface : appearing to be covered 
with a profusion of sea-weeds, corals, and other 
marine substances. AVhen it is fully risen, it sel- 
dom fails to stretch up several enormous arms, of 
such a height as to equal that of the masts of a 
ship; and after having continued in this position 
for some time, it again slowly descends. From 
the general description thus given of its shape, it 
has been supposed that it is a species of Sepia or 
Cuttle-Fish. Linneeus, in the first edition of his 
