The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-08-26
ree pcvn ofthe Sen.

The following strange story mas
been told to us BY James Floyd, late
master of the schooner Pearl;
eve had left Colombo in the steam
er Strawthowen, had rounded Gale,
and were well 10 the bay, with our
course laid for Madras, steaming over
a calm and tranquil sea. About an
hour before sunset, on May 10th, we
saw on our starboard beam, and about
two miles of, a small schooner lying
becalmed there was nothing in her
appearance of position to excite re-
mark but as we came up with her l
noticed between US, but nearer ner, q
long, low swelling, lying on the sea,
which, from its color and shape, l
took to be q bank Of seaweed.
"As / watched, the mass hitherto
at rest on the quiet sea, was set IN
motion. It struck the schooner
which visably reeled and then right
ed Almost Immediately after the
collision the schooner's masts swayed
toward us. lower and lower; the yes
sci was on her beam end, lay there
a few seconds, and disappeared. A
crv of horror arose from the lockers
on: and. as if by instinct, our ships
head was at once turned towards
the scene, which was now marked by
the forms Of those battling for life
the sole survivors of the pretty little
schooner which only twenty minutes
before aoated on the smooth sea.
AS soon as the poor fellows were
able to tell their story they astound-
cd us with the assertion that their
vessel had been submerged by q gi-
gantic cutie fish of calamary, the
animal which, in a smaller form, at
tracts so much attention in the Brigh-
ton AQUARIUM as the Octopus. Each
narrator has his version of the story,
but in the main all the narratives
tailed so remarkably as to leave no
doubt of the fact.
"As soon as he was at leisure, 1
prevailed on the skipper to give me
bis written account Of the disaster,
and l now send you a copy OF his
narrative: I'VE were bound from
the Mauritius to Rangoon in ballast
TO return with paddy, and had put in
at Gale for water. Three days out
we fell beealmed in the bay (lat 80
So n, lon. so s. Ed on May 10,
about 5 P. NJ. eight bells / know bad
gone). As we- lay motionless, a
great mass rose slowly out Of the sea,
about a half q mile of, on the lar
board side, and remained spread out
as if it were stationary; t looked
like the back OF a huge whale, but it
sloped less, and was Of a brownish
color: even at that distance it seemed
much longer than U craft, and 1t
seemed to be basking in the sun.
Il went into the cabin for my rife,
and as l was preparing to FIRE, Bill
Darling, n Newfoundlander, came on
deck, and looking at the monster, ex-
claimed putting up his hand, "Have
a care, master; that ere is a squid,
ard viii capsize Us if you hurt him.
Smiling at the idea | let fly and hit
him, and with that he shook, and
there Was a great ripple all around
him, and he began to move. Out
with allyour axes and knives shout
ed Bill, and cut at any part that
comes aboard look alive, and Lord
help usr Not aware Of the danger,
and never having seen or heard of
such a monster, | gave no orders,
and it was no use touching the helm
or ropes to get out Of the way. BY
this time, three Of the crew, Bill in
Guided had found axes, and D q
rusty c%utlass, and oil were looking
over the ship side at the advancing
monster.
we could now see u huge oblong
mass moving by jerks just under the
surface Of the water, and an enorm-
Gus train following; the oblong body
was at least half the size of our YES
sci in length, and just IS thick, the
wake or train might have been one
hundred feet long. In the time that
| have taken to write this the brute
struck US, and the ship quivered I'M
der the thud; in another moment
monstrous arms like trees seized the
vessel, and she keeled over; in an
other second the monster was on
board, squeezed in between the two
masts, Bill screaming, Slash for
your lives but all our slqshing was
of no avail, for the brute, holding on
by his arms, slipped his vast body
overheard, and pulled the vessel
down with him on her beam ends.
We were thrown into the water OF
once; and just as / went over !
caught sight of one of the crew, either
Bill or Tom Fielding, squashed up
between the mast and one of those
awful arms. For a few seconds our
ship lay on her beam ends, then fill
ed and went down. Another Of the
crew must have been sucked down.
for you only picked up FIVE"