THE KRAKEN. 35 
captain's narrative of the incident to be true ; the dimensions 
given by De Montfort are wilfully and deliberately false. 
The belief in the power of the cuttle to sink a ship and 
devour her crew is as widely spread over the surface of the 
globe, as it is ancient in point of time. I have been told 
by a friend that he saw in a shop in China a picture of a 
cuttle embracing a junk, apparently of about 300 tons 
burthen, and helping itself to the sailors, as one picks 
gooseberries off a bush. 
Traditions of a monstrous cuttle attacking and destroying 
ships are current also at the present day in the Polynesian 
Islands. Mr. Gill, the missionary previously quoted, tells 
us * that the natives of Aitutaki, in the Hervey group, have 
a legend of a famous explorer, named Rata, who built a 
double canoe, decked and rigged it, and then started off in 
quest of adventures. At the prow was stationed the daunt- 
less Nganaoa, armed with a long spear and ready to slay 
all monsters. One day when speeding pleasantly over the 
ocean, the voice of the ever vigilant Nganaoa was heard : 
" O Rata ! yonder is a terrible enemy starting up from 
ocean depths." It proved to be an octopus (query, squid ?) 
of extraordinary dimensions. Its huge tentacles encircled 
the vessel in their embrace, threatening its instant destruc- 
tion. At this critical moment Nganaoa seized his spear, and 
fearlessly drove it through the head of the creature. The 
tentacles slowly relaxed, and the dead monster floated off 
on the surface of the ocean. 
Passing from the early records of the appearance of 
cuttles of unusual size, and the current as well as 
the traditional belief in their existence by the inhabitants 
of many countries, let us take the testimony of travellers 
and naturalists who have a right to be regarded as com- 
* Leisure Hour, October, 1875, p. 636. 
D 2 
