River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1873-12-16
A MONSTER OF THE DEEP.

+ the Gigantic Devil Fish which At
tackled "a Boats Crew on the Coast OF
New foundI and-A VeritabIe sea Ser
pent sixty Feet In Length.
We take from tho st. Johns New
foundland) correspondence of the To.
ronto Globe the following additional
particulars OF the deyil-fsh seen off the
coast of Newfoundland, short account
OF which unpublished few weeks ago
All readers of Victor Hugo's "Toilers
of the Sea" will have "A vivid recollec
ton of his thrilling description Of
Gillett's combat with the devil fish, or
kraken of the ancient legends. A ma
iority OF readers of that romance regard
tins fish as pure creation of the
eminent writer's imagination, and never
suspect that it has "A counterpart In
nature OF course, all who have a
slight acquaintance with natural histo.
ry are aware that there are such things
as cuttle-tish, or, as scientific men call
them, cephalopods, Of considerable
dimensions, and possessed Of formida-
BILE weapons. Most naturalists, however.
doubt or deny the existence of gigan-
tic species of cuttle-fs having a body
thirty or forty feet III length, and arms
OF corresponding size, regarding which
rumors are occasionally prevalent, as
In the case of the sea-serpent. Stories
are told OF such creatures having been
seen IN tropical seas, and of their hav.
ing dragged ships under water by their
huge tenacles; but no one believes
that they are TO be found in these
colder ATTITUDES. The appearance a
few days since of one of them, possess
ed of gigantic proportions, in one OF
our bays, about nine miles from
st. Johns will, therefore, awaken
general interest, especially among
naturalists. l must premise that |
have been specially careful to verify
every statement / am about to make,
and the fortunate circumstances of OBJ
tanning possession of an arm OF this
monster furnishes proof incontToverti-
b1e, not only of the reality of its ap.
pearance, but also of its vast bulk.
Now for our story of the devil-fsh.
STRUGGLE WITH THE MoNsTER--NARRew
ESCAPE.
On the t1 of October last. two
fishermen were out in a small punt, of
Portugal Cove, in Conception Bay
When near the eastern end of Belle
Isle they observed some object floating
on the surface of the water, which thew
at first took to be large sail or a por-
ton OF a wreck. Having rowed close
to it, one of the men struck il with a
boat-hook, when suddenly the mass
became animated and put Itself in
motion From amid the folds a huge
parrOt-like beak, "as large, they say.
] 10 l.. II
and pair of CHASTITY green eyes, star.
ing and prominent, glared on the
terror-stricken men with 40 expression
OF the most intense ferocity. The beak
struck the bottom of the boat violent
ly and suddenly, from around the
head, two arms of corpse like fieshi.
ness darted out and began winding
themselves round the boat, encircling
1t in their livid folds. A moment
more and the boat would have
been dragged beneath the waves,
and the unfortunate men would have
been brought within reach Of the terri.
bile beak and torn to pieces But be
: fore the suckers with which the arms
are furnished had closed with their
2 deadly grip, ore of the men seized
I tomahawk, which was fortunately at
hand, and severed both arms as thew
! lay over the gunwale of the boat. This
=, unexpected surgical operation seems
7 TO have struck terror into the monster.
4 for 1t Immediately elected an immense
/, quantity of inky fluid, which darkened
= the water for 300 or 800 yards, and
! moved of from the boat The men
Z saw 1t for few minutes alter, with its
tall out of the water, which they de-
. clare to have been ter feet across. The
+, body they estimate TO have been sixty
feet III length and five feet in diameter
4; As the occurrence took place in broad
daylight and the men were close to
: the creature, and observed il before
n they were alarmed, | am inclined TO
3, believe their statement, more especial
{. ly as their estimate of its enormous di-
u mansions Is fully corroborated by the
size of the arms which they brought
: ashore as trophies IN their boat
: SIZE AND APPEARANCE OF THE ANIPUTATED
: ARM.
The men were ignorant of the i'm.
I portanee of their prize, and regret 20
say that one of the arms was DESTROYED
or lost. am assured, however, by the
clergyman of the settlement, that it was
ten inches in diameter, and that the
. portion cut of was about six feet in
length. The other longer arm they
brought TO st. Johns, but not before
six feet of IL were destroyed. This
portion has been careiulley examined
by myself and Mr.. Alexander hurry,
+. q. s., our able geographical
surveyor, and after getting II photo
graphed We placed in our museum. Ii
measures nineteen feet, and is but
three inches in circumference. Its
color Is pale pink. II is entirely
cartllaglnous, pliable and tough as
leather, and almost as strong as steel
Toward the extremity II broadens out
like an oar, and is there upwards Of six
inches in circumference, then it taper,
TO a pretty fine point This EXTERN
for about two feet, is thickly covered
with suckers which diminish in sige