498 
MOLLUSCA. 
MR. BISALE AND THE POULPE. 
each other with mutual surprise ; after a time the officer advanced a little, when, quiet as thought, 
the poulpe discharged a spray of iuk, and taking good aim at the snowy pants, spattered them 
with indelible stains, which rendered them, ever after, unpresentable. 
This species seems to be widely distributed in almost all seas. In the North Atlantic 
it is usually of small size, but in the JNIcditerranean it is sometimes so large as to weigh a hundred 
pounds; the body of one has been seen of the size of a barrel, and with arms as thick as 
those of a man. In the tropical seas they are said to be much l/irger, and so fierce as sometimes 
to attack boats and drag them under water. We are told that in the Indian waters, such things 
have actually happened, and in certain localities the boatmen always keep themselves supplied 
with axes to cut off the arms of these monsters, in case of an attack. Their remarkable spirit, 
as well as their strength, is evinced b}^ an adventure which Mr. Beale, an Englishman, had 
with one of tbera among the rocks of the Benin Islands, where he had gone ashore to seek for 
shells. As he was moving about, he was suddenly arrested by seeing at his feet a most extra- 
ordinaiy looking animal, crawling toward the surf, which it had only just left. 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 efforts of its tentacula only a small distance from the 
rocks. It appeai-ed much alarmed at seeing him, and made every effort to escape. Mr. Beale 
endeavored to stop it by pressing on one of its legs with his foot; but, although he used con- 
siderable force for that purj)ose, its strength was so great that it several times liberated its mem- 
ber in spite of all the efforts he could employ on the wet and slippery rocks. He then laid hold 
on one of the tentacles with his hand and held it firmly, so that it appeared as if the limb would 
Be torn asunder by the united efforts of hiuiself and the creature. He then gave it a powerful 
jerk, wishing to disengage it from the rocks to which it clung so forcibly by its suckers. This 
effort it efl'ectually resisted; but the moment after, the apparently enraged animal lifted its head 
with its large projecting eyes, and loosing its hold of the rocks, suddenly sprang upon Mr. Beale's 
