The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1874-02-19

Mr. Charles B. Brsinard Of Boston de-
scribes an attack upon q Fisherman on
the Foorlda reef by q marine nouster
which he calls devil fish," The Great
nre, from the description, seems TO have
been gigantic cutie fish, much larger
than any oneeVer before seen on our coast.
! The fisherman is said to have been a man
Of immense sezs, weighing three hundred
pounds, and of strength in proportion to
his colossal d. d.menslonR;s and yet he was
poRerless when elasPed by the long arms
of the monster, and his lils was only saw
ed by the prompt assistance of his com
pAnions' ra -ai ,i % Co .-t
In the Norway seas the cutie fish
grows to 9 great size, and IT'S long srms.
Of which Il has ten, two of them being
longer than the rest are of sHch strength
and tenacity that Wheu a man or an or
binary fsh is enfolded within them. there
Is no power Of extraction. These arms are
furnished with suchDg cups, BY means
Of which it attaches itself 10 otEer b ,dies
with extraordinary hrmness.. Naturahsts
suppose that it wasa creature of this de-
scription that Victor. Hugo had in his
mind in his account Of the fFightful strug-
gle Of the seaman Withhis assailant in the
British Channel.
The waters on Our southern coast, and
specially IN the Gull, are freqnented by
q huge creatuse belonging TO The ray ge-
mis-, known as the devil fsh: but although
ofgreat size and strength, and capebls Of
mischief If &c disposed, it u not regarded
as dangerous or inclined to aggressive op-
erations under any circumstances. II il
shaped something like skate or stine ray.
barring the tail, and Is furnished with two
strong muscular ieelers or fippers that ex-
tend IN 3 semi-eircular form on each side
of the head to the length of two or more
feet, according to the size. They are the
instruments for seiziBg and holdinR the
food. The habit Of the fsh is 70 uproot
and carry away poles stakes or other OBJ
iects with which it comes in contact. Il
Is said that they have been knWon TO
lift from the bottom q kedge AZ anchor Of
considerable siSo, with boats or shalIeps
Of moderate dimenaion lying in harbor,
/ and sWim ont to sea with them. There is
nothing in this. for they are ofteneighteen
feet IN length by fifteen in width, and
sometimes lal ger, with strength TO CORES
Bond. Ths weight Of one Of these Great
ures could not be less than half dozen
tons. -f. .,-.
Butler King, who was a long time in
/ Congress, lived on the bank Of the Savan-
ahsrivsr, where he owned . plantation
His negroes were accustomed to fsh in
the river, near its mouth, with g cast net.
They would 60 down TO the right place,
two in q dugout and if the tide would
not serve they wonld go to sleep in the
/ bottom of the canoe, making the craft fast
to a pole thrust into the mud. On one
occasion beng too early for the tide, they
/ tied mp IN this way, and eo0n slept hard
and fast. Presently along came 3 well
grown devil 6sh, that grubbed mp the pole
with his hippers, and made OF with the
canoe, negroes included, and when they
awoke, hall an hour AfteTWard, they found
themselves proceeding 70 sea at the rate
of some miles an hour, moved BY an IN
visible agency, and terrified bsyond de-
scriptiOn. They cut the rope immedlatly
and FASTENED ashore without delay, and
. never afterWsrd were known to make
thsir craft fast to q pole IN the Savannah
river. "a 1E! 5sx.go1.Ie gn1 2a