The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-03-13
TNO MONsTERs OF TaE SEA.
The MOat Gigantic Devu.FIahes Ever yet
Captured in Anne rIean Waters.
G. r.L..,. ~ i. !, e u. -.


The MOat Gigantic Devn.FIshea Ever yet
Captured in Anne rIean Waters.
st. JOha's IN. F. Cor. Toronto Globe.
have just received intelligence of the
capture of two more of the gigantic
cepnalopOds, or devilfsh, for which
Newfoundland of late years has become
celebrated and these are of such enor.
nous size as to throw into the shade all
the previous specimens of these monsters
Of the deep which have been taken. In
1873 ] described in your columns the
first perfect specimen of the giant cuttIes
ever obtained, and which it was nv good
fortune to secure. 1t was captured In 8
herring net in Logic Bay, three miles
! from st. Johns. The body was seven
feet IN length and FIVE and q half feet in
circumference. The long arms or ten
tseles were twenty-four feet, the eight
shorter six 1eet. Since 1873 several
other specimens have been cast ashore,
but all were destroyed by the fishermen,
who, of course, did not know that they
were OF any Importance. In September,
1877, fine specimen was taken at Gaia
lima, Trinity Bay, and brought in per-
feet condition to st. Johns, where it
was exhibited for several days, and then
I IL.
where it attracted thousands of visitors
Is was afterwards exhibited in the Lead
ing cities of the United States, and real
lied a large sum of money for it's proprie-
tors. Ne doubt, as it is the only perfect
specimen in existence, it will continue
to attract attention and be source of
revenue. The body of this specimen
was ten feet in length, the tentacles
thirty feet, and the shorter arms eleven
feet. The ten arms had on them not
less than 2, 1000 suckers.
That specimen is now eclipsed by two
which have been recently captured near
the head of Notre Dame bay but l am
sorry to say that both have been cut up
and destroyed by the fishermen who took
them. On the ID of last November a
fisherman named Stephen She ring was
in boat with two other men st place
called Thimble Tickle, not many miles
from the celebrated Little Bay Copper
Nine, which | described in the columns
OF the Globe. They observed not far
form the shore 8 shapeless mass, which
appeared to be in motion. On approach
ing nearer they saw it was an extra
ordinary fish of some kind, which had
been left aground by the ebbiDg tide
and WAS struggling hard to escape. In
It's frantic efforts it Aung its huge arms
about, lashi1g the water into foam, ana
from funnel behind the head it spouted
streams OF water, which was occasionally
darkeDed by being intermixed with an
inky fluid. Great CLASSY eyes struck
terror into the hearts of the fishermen,
snd tor a time they looked on in silent
horror at the contortion of the huge
monster. 1t was devil-fish, which had
been driven by heavy gale of wind into
the shallOWer water. and, the tide having
receded, 1t was pOwerless to escape The
spOuts Of water were rom the syphon,
which is its chief organ of locomOtion.
1t draws in the water, then elects it
through this tube with immense force,
and the reaction of the surrounding
medium drives it backwa' ID with great
rspidity. Through the same tube it
elects an inky fluid, when attacked or
alarmed, and darkens the water all
around. The fishermen at length
plucked up courage, as they saw it GET
ting exhausted, and approached near
enough to throw the small grapnel of
their boat, whose fukes, having barbed
points, sunk into its soft Aesh A sto 1T
rope had been attached to the grapnel,
which they now carried ashore and
A1lSLCAC0 W bAO q Tree
The Powerful devil-fsh was thus made
prisoner, and when the tide receded
completely he was left dry on the strand
and soon expired. Had the poor men
known what an interest now attaches to
these marine monsters, they could have
preserved it in brine and brought it to
St. Johns, where they could have sold it
for $500 or $500. But they only knew
of oa hin a i
dogs meat. The body was twenty feet
in length, and the long arms thirty. five
feet. The body was thus exactly double
the size of the specimen now in New
York, SO that it is considerably the
largest devil-fsh yet captured
A second devil-fish was taken at the
south arm of Green Bay, Notre Dame
Bay, on the I'd of last December. by 8
fisherman named William Budget, resi-
dent In Three Arms, at no great distance
from the scene of the former occurrence.
He found it on shore quite dead, and no
doubt it had been forced in en- the shore,
on high tide, by storm, and so strand
ed. As ! the former case, it was cut up
and sailed as food for dogs, or for bait
My IN ormant, however, was able to
make actual measurements by putting
the pieces together, and he found the
body, from the beak to the extremity of
the tail, to be fifteen feet in length, and
twelve feet in circumference at the thick
est part. Only one of the shorter arms
was found perfect, and this measured
sixteen feet, and was thicker than mans
thigh. The longer tentacles were cut up,
but these are usually three times the
length of the shorter arms, and so must
have been over forty>fve feet. Had the
tentacies, therefore, been stretched out,
the monster would have measured sixty
five feet from the extremity of the ten
tacles tC the tip of the tail, the body
being twenty feet in length The beak
and portions Of the mead and skin have
been preserved in salt.
Judging by the size of the Thimble
Tickle specimen, compared with the pro-
portions of the one in New York, which
had 1000 suckers, great and small, I
should say that the former must have had
2 500 or 5000 suckers, and g very power,
Jul horny beak. in shape like that of 8
parrot, proportionately larger than that
of the latter. 4 hug in those huge
clammy arms, with their thousands of
suckers acting Ike cupping> glasses, and
sinking into the flesh, to say nothing of
the powerful beak rending the victim,
you'd produce very uncomfortable
sensation.