The Hawaiian gazette., 1874-09-02
rn1e or,he srhoener PenrI.
A DeviI-FIsh sinks Schooner with one Of the
Crew.
From the india HOmeward Mall


From the India Homeward Mall
The following strange story has been eommuni-
Gated 10 us by james Floyd, the master oil the
schooner Pearl:
w. had lett Colombo in the steamer s,raihowen'
had rounded GalIr, and were well in the bay, With
our course laid for Madras, s;eaming over calm
and ina, quill sea. About an hour before sunset on
May IOth, we saw on our starboard beam, aud about
TWO miles of. small schooner lying becalrned;
there was nothing in her appearance or position 10
cyclic remark. but, as We came up with her, sziy
examined her with my biuocular, aud then noticed
between Us. aud nearer her. long, low swelling y-
ing ON tue sea, which, irUm its shape iook TO be
bank Of sawed.
As watched, the mass hitherto at rest in the
Quiet sea was set in motion 1t struck the schooner
which yisibly reeled aud then righted; Immediately
afterwards tile masts swayed Sideways and win my
glass Icould clearly discern the enormous masis aud
the hull Of the schooner eoalescing-l can ihiA Oh
no other fern Judging from the EXPLANATIONS, the
other gazers must have witnessed the same appear
ance. Almost Immediately after the collision aud
coalescenre the schouners masts swayed toward US,
lower and lower; the vessel was ON her end, lay
there a few seconds aud disappeared, tue masis
ri citing as she sank and the main exhlOlIlhg re-
versed ensign struggling towards its peak. cry
of horror arose from the LOCKERS on ano, US II oy III
stlnct, our ships head was turned toward The scene
which was marked by the forms of those battling Tor
lfe-ihe sole survivors Of the pretty little schooner
which only twenty minutes before hoaled 0raSeyon
tue smooth sea.
As som AS the poor fellows were able TO tell their
story, they astounded us With the assertion lha'
their vessel had been submerged by gigantic cuiue
/ bf-h in Her
form. attracts SO much attention in the Brighton
Aquarium us the Octopus. Each narrator had MS
version of the story but in the main all the narra-
tiyes tailed So remarkably as to leave no doubt oil
/ the fact.
As soon as lie at leisure, 1 prevailed on
the skipper to give me his written account OF tue
disaster, and l have now much pleasure In send
ing YOU copy of his narrative: IL was lately
"a ski per of the schooner Pearl, $50 tons,
as tight mile craft as ever sailed the seas, With
crew Of six men. We were bound from Maurilius
to Rluguon in ballast return with pa Idly, and had
mt in AT Gale for water Three daysOui We we've
bccalmed in the bay (at deg. so min. N, long. "a
deg 5 miu E.); ON May 10Th, about5 P NJ, know
eight bells had gomez, sguled two mastrd
screw ON our port quarter about five or Fix miles
IF; very soon utter, US we lay motiunless, great
| ''--'
off ON our arbolrd side and remained spread out as
il were and stationary; it looked like the back "i u
huge whale, but it sloped less, and was of brown
ish color; even ut that distance it seemed much
longer than our craft aud 1t seemed 10 be busking
in the
"'wtat's that p I sung out to the mate. Blest
if knows; barring It's size, colur and shape, 1t
might be whale replied Tom Scott. And it amt
] I'D ~ tlt.p rt.w M
round Tor that ere critur.' went ntu the cabin
for my rifle and preparing 10 fire, Bill OAR
ling. Ncwfuumdlander, came ou deck, aud looking
at the monster, exclaimed, putting up his hand
Have Il care, mister; that eres a squid, and viii
cnpsize Us If you hurt hm.' Smiling AT the idea
let ty aud hit him, and with that he shook, and
there was great ripple all round him and he oesai
TO move Out with all your axes aud kniy S,
shouted Bill, and cut al any part o him thai GOMEZ
; aboard; look alive, aud the Lord help uS NO
aware of the danger, aud never having seen %
heard of such monster, l gave no orders, and
was no use touching the helm ur ropes 10 get out oi
the way. By this time three "i the crew, Bill III
= cIuded had found axes and one rusty cutass, ant
all were looking over the shIps side al the advanc
, ing monster.
We could now see the huge oblong mass moving
by Jerks just under the surface OF the waller, ana
enormous train following; the oblong body was u
least half the size of vessel il length and just
: thick; tue wake or train might have been 100 fee
long In the time | have taken to write this ID
-, brute struck III, and the ship quiverrd under th
thud in another moment, mOmstruus arms like tree
seized the vessel aud she heeled OVER in anothe
second the monster aboard, squeezed IN betwee
:, the two musts, Bill screaming, Slash for you
lives but all our slashing was of no avail for III
brute, holding ON by his aims, spt his vast bod
, overheard, and pulled the vessel down with him q
- her beam ends. We were thrown into the water
once; aud, just went over caught sight OF OF
of the crew, either Bill or Tom Fielding, squashe
r. up bet Ween the mast aud one OF those awful arm
:. Fur few seconds our ship lay on her beam end
, then filled and went down. Another of the ere
. must have been sucked down, for you only picke
up FIVE. The rest you know. 1 can't tell who ~
. up the ensign"