The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1874-07-29
tFrom the HoDeward MALL

!e io.lowi ng strange story has been COM
III nlcated TO the Indian papers:
we had left Colombo in the steamer
f5trathowen, had rounded Gale, and were
Well III the bay, with our course laid for Ma
alas, steaning over calm and tranquil sea.
ebout an honT before sunset on the 10th of
May We saw on our starboard beam, and
,Aooua two miles Off, small schooner living
pecalfed. There was nothing in her ap-
pearance or position to excite remark, but as
wecame up with her | laZily examined her
Nsth my blnocular, and then noticed between
as, but nearer her, long, low, swelling OBJ
Ject lying OF the sea, which from its color
and shape took to be bank of seaweed
AS watched, the mass, hitherto at rest on
the quiet sea, was set in motion. 1t struck
the schooner, which visbly reeIed and then
rlghted. Immediately afterwards the masts
sWayed sideways, and with my glass | could
clearly discern the enormous mass and the
null Of the schooner coalescine-I can think
OF no other term. judging from their exela-
nations, the other gazers must have witnessed
the same appearance. Almost Immediately
after the collision and coalescence the schoon-
er's masts swayed toward u.s. lower aud low
er; the vessel was on her beam-ends, Law
there few seconds, and disappeared, The
masts righting as she sank. and the main ex-
nibltlng reversed ensign struggling toward
ers-on, and as ifby instinct, our ships head
was at once turned towards the scene, which
was now marked by the forms of those bat
Ting Tor llie-the sole survivors OF the pretty
little schooner which only twenty minutes be-
fore fioated bravey on the smooth sea. As
soon as the poor fellows were able to tell their
story, they astounded us with the assertion
that their vessel had been submerged by
gigantic cuttle-fsh, or calamary, the animal
which smaller form Of a
tention in the Brighton aquarium as the oc-
topus. Each narrator had his version of the
story, but, in the main, all the narratives tai
lied so remarkably as 10 leave no doubt of the
fact. AS soon as he was at leisure, pre-
vailed on the skipper to give me his written
account OF the disaster, and l have now much
pleasure in sending you copy of the narra-
tive:
II was lately the skipper of the Pearl
schooner, $50 tons, as tight little craft as
ever sailed the seas, with a crew of six men.
We were bound from the Mauritius for Ran
goon in ballast to return with paddy, and had
put in at Gale forl water. Three days out
we fell becalmed in the bay latitude de-
grees so seconds north, longitude 84 degrees
5 seconds eastl. On the 10th of May, about
p. NJ, eight bells / know had gone-we
sighted two-masted screw on our port quar-
ter, about four or five miles off. Very soon
dllCls do VIC lay LuOllOulCsS, d great uldSS TOSc
slowly out Of the sea about half mile off on
our larboard side, and remained spread out,
as it We're, and stationary; it looked like the
back of huge whale, out it sloped less, and
was of a brownish color; even at that distance
it seemed much longer than our craft, and it
seemed to be basking in the sun.
"'Whats that? | sung out to the mate.
'Blest ifI know; barring its size, color
land shape, it might be a whale replied Tom
Scot.
'''It amt the sea serpent said one of the
craw, for he's too round for that ere crittur.
81 went into the cabin for my rife, and as
| was preparing to fire, Bill Darling, New
foundlander, came on deck, and looking at
the monster, exclaimed, putting up his hand,
Have care, master; that ere is squid, and
will capsize us if you hurt him.
'sSmilng at the idea, let fly and hit him,
and with that he shook; there was a great
ripple all around him, and he began to move.
'''Out with ell your axes and knives
shouted Bill. and cut at any part of him
that comes aboard; look alive, and Lord help
usp'
'sNot aware of the danger, and never hav-
ing seen or heard of such monster, gave
no orders, and it was no use tonching the
helm or the ropes to get out Of the way. BY
this time three of the crew, Bill included, had
found axes, and one rusty cutlass, and all
Wetc iOOhlLS ONtI JH0 sup ) SIue dJ tuc du-
vancng monster. We could now see huge
oblong mass moving by jerks just under the
surface OF the water, and an enormous train
following; the oblong body was at least half
the size of our vessel in length and just as
thick; the wake OF train might have been one
hundred feet long.
''In the time that have taken to write
this the brute strdck Us, and the ship quiver-
ed under the thud; in another moment
monstrous arms like trees seized the vessel,
and she heeled over; in another second the
monster was aboard, squeezed in between the
two masts, Bill screaming. Slash for your
lives but all our slashng 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 at once, and just as l
went over l caught sight of one Of tie crew,
either Bill or Tom Fielding, squashed up be-
tween the masts and one of those awful arms;
for few seconds our ship lay en- her beam
ends, then filled and went down; another of
the crew must have been sucked down, for
you only picked up five; the rest you know.
l can't tell who ran up the ensign.
JAMES FLOYD,
HL3te Master schooner PesrlD