The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1881-12-15
A Battle Of the Deep. !

A letter from st. Johns, n. +. ,lsays:
OnAa lovely afternoon in July | stood
upon the bank Of a lofty cliff 9on that
part OF the coast between Placentia and
st. Mary's Bays. Everything was still.
Only the faintest murmur the angry
tonesof the ocean roar upon the surf,
melted into delicious music, stole up
from the strand to where stood. The
sea fowl, which Einhabited small ISL
and in myriads to my left, seemed, too,
to have fallen under the spell and gone
to sleep. The ocean heaved its breast
in feeble pillows. rolling landwafd With
drowsy motion, and the fisherman in
his small boat trested upon his eoarseto
listen to the stiffness and calm which
had fallen over everything. A dozen
or more of fishing skiffs and boats. a
little less than schooner size, stood
motionless where the. last breeze had
tainted on their sails, and were photo
graphed to- perfection in the smooth
liquid deep, and even the ssunerring
tides'' forgot for the Inoment. Or seemed
to forget, to, set either north or south.
As STOOD like verything about me,
mute under the influence of; the afters
noon, a sound as of innumerable and
gentle tappings came up from the still
sea, ands looking Isaw. that myriads
OF fishes, cod and the lesser fishes on
which the former preyed, had risen to
/ the surface and were .breaching. -
The tapping sound was made by beat
ing the waters with their, tails and fins
Such a1scene Is not uncommon: but al
most sifnultan eously with this heard a
hollow, WhistlIng sound, and saw a col
umn ofspray rise like a. geyser, about
fourteen feet from the water saw
then that a whale had risen among the
fishes, and with his monster, gaping
Jaws, lin a fourth Of the time it takes to
write it, had engulfed several
hundreds of the breaching fishes, and
was about to plunge, under the waves
again to- swallow his prey pieccmeal,
when two other creatures appeared
upon the scene. They were the united
and implacable foes of the whale, the
sword-fish, and thresher.s The sword
fish, frtplias 4gladtassl is a long, 1.-the
creature, armed with a long, hard sub
stance, protrnding from its snorit, re-
senlbling q sword. from which. it de-
'riyes its name; the thresher is a. species
of sea-shark or fox.shark, ascientitically
known as earclberias vu,pes..e 1t was
evident they had come for the double
purpose OF making war upon the whale
and getting some of the feast for them
selves. Ins the spsees it, takes the eye
to twinkle the, offensive and defensive
were assumed. The sword, fish at once
iattack ked the whale underwater, the
thresher attacked him above. AS the
whale made an effort to dive he inn
PEELED himself against the armed head
OF its 1.-the foe, and If he remained
where he was the thresher brought its
ungainly body with the precision of
machinery down upon the unfortunate
monsters back. Such a s.threshing'
1 had never conceived of even in nav.
dreams, when used to go to the hills
and rob birds nests, and saw the
teacher. more terrible than wrathful
dragon. with a cowhide to expiate my
guilt. The sounds were dull thuds
when the thresher struck his .ar1taeo-
mist, and sharper and louder when he
missed his aim and struck the water.
Ihe- waves were beaten about,in foam
and spray. the whale trying to ply his
tail upon his enemies, but before he
could get his ungainIy body into posi-
tfon his enemies were out 7of- harms
way. and making new attack upon an
unsuspected quarter The contest con-
tinued, broken only by short intervals,
when the whale went beloythe surface
for about ten minutes. Then the sword
fish, as if satisfied with the part he had
played, dove down into the clear, blue
water andEthe tfresher followed f1isgexzg
simple. The whale, too, suddenly dis
and as he was the only one of
the three that had to rise and breathe
at stated intervals, / watched with much
eagerness to see where he would rise
and fblow,n'' or if !. he rose at all. Be-
yondI the point, a haf-mile distant,
saw the, spout and then vigorous.
plunge, and knew the whale had sur
vlved his thrashing.a Numbers of boats
had rowed ~up to see the affray. and
gazed at. the contest between these
monsters of the unknown deep with a
pleasure deeply mingled with. awe.