Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1879-10-16
n. Y. Times.l
Sunk by . y e. Monster.
The Wonderful story Told by Capt.
u.aps~o.

The Woaaerfas STORY Tosd by Capt.
Laps~a.
The steamship =. Csland, which arrived
from Rotterdam Yesterday. had on board
Capt l.. G. Larsen aud the entire crew OF a
Norwegian bark which was lost In mid
ocean under remarkable circumstances.
capt. Larsen's story, which Is fully cor
roborated BY his men, goes to show that
the accounts which have been given to the
public from time to time Of dangerous sea
monsters inhabtiug the ocean are not who'll
ly false. Either the original sea serpent
or some powerful submarine creature OF the
same race, ran into the bark Columbia on
Sept. 1. In latitude AZ 32min., and Ion
gitude &30 5&min., and injured that vessel
so that she sank within a short time after
she had been struck. The bark Columbia
left London for Quebec, In ballast, on Au-
gust 8, and met with variable weather un-
Ill the rnorning of the 9Th inst. when she
WAS sailing at the rate OF from SIX tu seven
miles an hour before fair wind. The sea
was not very rough, and the bark was car
rying all sail aud heading westward. The
Captain was on deck at five bells IN the
morning OF the sih inst, when she was sail
ing at the rate OF from six 10 seven miles an
hour before fair wind. The sea was not
very rough. aud the bark was carrying all
sail and heading westward. The Captain
was on deck a. five bells in the morning
watch. wtcu q tremendous shock, which
shook the bark frorl stem TO stern, was
suddenly felt. The men who were asleep
In their hunks xere awakened and think
Ing that the foremast had been carried
away, sprang on deck Capt. Larsen and
three OF his men ran 10 the port side sndssaw
the water discolored with blood. while the
tail aud ins OF q huge monster were seen
a,,1. D., Ia, fk..a .t-kh hal H..
come violently agitaied on that side OF the
vessel At this moment one of the crew
cried out that a leak had been sprung and
Captain Larsen and the carpenter hurried
down into the hold 10 see II the bark had
suffered any i1jurics. In the port bow,
about three ieet below water mark they
found that four planks had been crushed 10
for space about four ieet long. large
hole had been made. through which the
daylight could be plainly seen. The water
was pouring rapidly into the vessel through
this hole. several attempts were made to
stop u up but the Captain soon found that
tt wnu,d bv useless TO remain below any
longer In the meantime the men on deck
had become terribly frightened. Some
cried bitterly. while others had become 50
fri. htcned by the unexpected encounter
with the sea monster that th.v were for
the time being snos, helpless When Capt.
Larsen reached the deck he directed his
men TO get the boats In readiness for abaI-
donng the vessel. The log book, instru-
ments, and few clothes, with some pro-
visions were bundled into two boats, which
were put over the side a. soon as the excit-
Ell sailors had placed little fresh water In
them. The water casks had been slowed
iu the hold into " Which the sea was pouring
so rapidly that not more than one days
fre-h water could be saved. Fortunately.
the sea was not rough and when the boats
had been launched the entire crew aban-
dDncd the bark. The larger boat was con-
manded by Capt Larsen. while Mr.. II.
Pericscr. the mate. took charge OF the smai-
ter one At i2 O'Clock, an hour and a half
after the vessel had received her death
wound from the sea monster. the boats
rowed away. Shortly after O'Clock the
bark sank out OF sight. When abandoned.
iac water In the hold was within two or
three feet OF the deck beams.
The prospects OF IA. crew seemed very
inn,'if9l tpcn "A thrr" was very little on
board the boats, and gaze mlgns -ptt",
up before night An anxious look on, was
Kept for passing vessels, and also for the
marine monster. Nothing was seen Of the
latter. bat between and 3 O'Clock the
smoke from steamer which was evidently
approaching them was observed. \ pole
To which = signal Of distress was fastened,
was hoi.ted by the Captain, and the joyful
Intelligence was seen passed from boat -
boat that the steamer was rapidly APP
proaching. By 3 O'Clock the l.. Caland.
Capt. Dcdnes, bound from Rotterdam 10
this port, hove to near by. aud the entire
crew OF the Columbia, II men IN all, were
taken on board. The two small boats By
means of which the shlpwreckcd seamen
had been preserved from watcry graves
were then cast adrifl and the Calani pro-
ceedci on her voyage.
Nh.n seen last evening on board the
steamship, Captain Larsen said that he was
monster which had sunk his vessel. Its
lin. and tail could be seen a. they splashed
in the water, but he got only slight
gsnp.e OF a portion Of the body. One OF
the sailors at first thought IL might be
whale, boz no whale had ever been known
10 ,ink vessel. \ whale could not pre-
sent such an array OF tail and fiu, reachlng
from the fore rigging TO the main rigging
OF a vessel OF 49, tons register, bat this
monster did What little was seen was
much too round Tor that OF a whale. II
would certainly require an animal OF euOr-
nous size and strength to make the hole in
the bow OF the Columbia. What became
OF the monster aites it had run into the
bark is not known. As the CT, " left the side
a. soon as 1t was known that the vessel
was sinking They then became so occu-
pied In getting things 10 readiness to aban-
don the bark 10 observe what course their
submarine enemy had pursued. No traces
OF IL were observed while they were iu the