The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1877-03-22
The Sea Thrasher, Sometimes
Called the Sea Villain.

|
was very much interested in Cap
tain Nemo's letter on the thrasher,
which appeared in a recent number of
the Sun. He IS doubtless right in say
. ing that the thrasher has been freqent-
ly mistaken for the sea serpent. As
few are perhaps aware, right whales
frequently find their way into the Bay
of Fundy, and are there captured. The
bay is also a favorite resort for the
thrasher and the sword6sh. have
heard old coasters say that they had
seen thrashers forty-6ve and fifty feet
long, moving with great velocity on the
surface of the water, their heads raised
ten, and twelve feet above. Bay of
Fundy fishermen, in speaking of them,
say they are the greatest OF seavillains.
Twenty-odd years ago one of these
monsters got caught on a sand bar,
where he was left by the rapid falling
of the tide in the Cumberland branch
of the Bay of Fundy, and was killed by
the people on shore after an exciting
struggle. He measured forty-six feet
in length. As Capt. Memo says, the
head is fiat and serpent-like, the eyes
almost red, with ugly white circles over
them. Indeed, nothing could be more
repulsive than the head of this sea
monster. The only other sea villain
they are known to fraternize with is the
swordfsh. Both are well known to old
coasters and fishermen as the deadly
enemy of the whale; and it is the COM
mon belief that they hunt in couples,
\ and on finding the whale make imme-
diate war, the swordfsh attacking be-
meath and the thrasher on top.
The common belief is that the thrash
er has huge weapon, very like a
sledge hammer, protruding from his
mouth, with which he administers on
the whales back those terrible blows
you can hear 10 or II miles distant. l
have myself stood on a bluff overlook
ing the Bay of Fundy, and witnessed
three of these terrible battles between
a whale and his enemies, the swordfsh
and the thrasher The swordfish did
his deadly work underneath, while, as
Capt. Memo says, the thrasher coiled
himself half over the whale, and APP
piled the blows with his ponderous tail.
In the distance, however, the thrasher
seems to raise and let his weapon fall
very much as a blacksmith's helper
handles his sledge. You could see the
weapon rise and fall; you could hear
the blows distinctly, although the dis
tance was believed to be not less than
10 miles from shore, and you could also
hear the whale below and see him
blow. On one of these occasions the
terrible contest lasted nearly three
hours, the water in the vicinity being
red with blood. About every Is or 20
minutes the whale would disappear in
an attempt to escape from his enemies,
but they would quickly pursue him and
force him to the surface, where the
combat would be renewed.
These two sea villains, the sword6sh
and thrasher, invariably kill the whale
when they get him into close quarters;
and as soon as the combat ceases,
which can be clearly seen by the whales
body floating motionless, the thrasher
will proceed to clear water, where,
raising his serpent-like head in tri-
umph, 10, y and 10 feet above the sur
face, he will continue for Is and some
times 20 minutes lashing the sea into q
| foam.-COr. Ne10 York Sun.