The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-11-29
I 40 A TREMEED0Us fIsH0
or . rrene.aous IsssrS reks 1t Or
LeAte 10. II

Or . TfemenoOue 0VoEy-AeAe H OF
LsAteis. / II ! I'll
In 1888 a whaler assured DR.. .Swedi- |
aur that he had found Ia the mouth of
1 Sshsle q entacle twenty-seven feet |
Ienkth., The report was inserted In . |
Journal of the day, and there |
read by Deny Montfort, who at once |
to obtain more ample in
formation on the subject. 1T so hap
pened that Inst then the French gov
eminent had sent for q number of
American whalers~,in order to consult
with them as to the best means by
which the French fisheries could be
revived.
These men were. staying at Dun.
Kirk ;sand here Montfort questioned
them, and upon inquiry it was found
that two of them had found feelers, or
horns, of such monstrous animals.
Ben johnson saw one in the mouth OF
a whale, from which it hung to the
length of thirty-five feet; and Rey-
nold's another, floating on the surface
OF the sea, forty five feet long, and of
reddish brown color. But of all the
reports which be heard, the following
was the most minute, and yet also the
most extraordinary:
Captain John Magnus Deus, Dam
ish sailor of high character and estab-
lished uprightne.s, depOsed that, after
having made several voyages to Chiba
in the service of the Gutenberg Com
pany, he had once found himself be-
claimed in the fifteenth degree of south
latitude, at some distance from the
coast of Africa, abreast Of ST. Helena
and Cape Nigra. Taking advantage
of his forced inactivity, he had deter
mined to have his ship scrubbed
thoroughly, and for that purpose a few
planks were suspended on the, side of
the vessel, on which the sailors could
stand while scrubbing and chalking
the ship.
They were busy with their work,
when suddenly an anchor rol.-so the
Danes call the animal-rose from the
sea, threw one of his arms around two
of the men, tore them with jerk from
the scoffolding, and sank out of sight
in moment Another feeler appear
ed, however, and tried to grasp sailor
who was in the act Of ascending the
mast. Fortunately, the man could
hold on to the rigging, and as the long
| feeler became entaDgled in. the ropes
he was enabled to escape, though not
| without uttering most fearful cries.
These brought the whole crew to his
assistance. They quickly snatched up
harpoons, cutlasses, and whatever they
could lay their hands on, and threw
them at the body of the animal, while
others set to work cutting the gigantic
feeler to pieces and carrying the poor
man to his berth. who had swoOned
from intense fright. The monster,
with five harpOons thrust deep into
his quivering flesh, and holding the
! two men stiff in its huge arms, en-
deavored to sink; but the crew, en-
couraged by the captain, did their
utmost 10 hold on to the lines to which
the harpoons were fastened. ~
Their strength was, however, not
sufficient to struggle with the marine
giant, and all they could do was to
make fast lines to the ship, and to
wait until the force of the enemy
! should be exhausted. Four of tine
ropes snapped, one after the other, like
mere threads, and then the harpoOn OF
the fifth tore out of the body of the
monster with such violence that the
ship was shaken from end to end. Thus
| shC uhILiol SoSopSuj WNh Ato wv VIZ
tins. The whole crew remained over
come with Amusement; they had
heard of these monsters, but never be.
lieved in their existence; and here
before their own eyes, two OF. Their
comrades had been torn from theil
side, and the third, overcome with
fright, died the same night in de-
lirium.
The feeler which had been separated
from the body, remained on board as
all evidence that the whole had moi
been frightful dream; it measured al
the baseas many inches as their miz.
zen=mast, was still twenty-five feet
Rng, sanG at the end provided with q
numb of suckers, each as large as q
spoon. Its full size must have been
far greater, however, as only one par;
of it mad been cut off, the animal never
even rising its head above the surface
The captain, who had witnessed the
whole scene, and had himself thrown
one OF the harpoons, ever afterwarG
i considered this encounter the mos,
remarkable event of his checkereC
life, and calmly asserted the existence
of the kraken. A "a