Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1881-11-15
Fight Between Sea Monsters

Fight Between Sea Monsters.
Living Encounter Between a@.Whale
and Sword Fish and Thrasher. r
81. John Newfoundland correspondence Of the
Toronto Globe.
On lovely afternoon in July /
stood upon the bank OF a lofty cliff on
that part of the coast between Placen-
tia and St. Marys Bays. Everything
was still. Only the faintest murmur,
the angry tones Of the ocean roar up
on the surf, melted into delicious
music, stole up from the strand where
| stood The sea fowl, which inhabited
a small island in myriads to my left,
seemed, too, to have fallen under the
spell and gone to sleep. The ocean
heaved its breast in feeble billows,
rolling landward with drwsy motion,
and the fisherman in his small boat
rested upon his oars to listen to the
stiffness and calm which had fallen
over everything. A dozen or more of
fishing skiAs and boats, a little less
than sooner size, stood motionless
where the last breeze had tainted on
their sails and were photographed to
perfection in the smooth liquid deep,
and even the "unerripg tides" forgot
the moment, or seemed to forget, to
set either north or south. As | stood
like everything about me, mute under
the influence of the afternoon, sound
as of innumerable and gentle tap
pings came up from the still sea, and
looking | saw that myriads Of fishes,
cod and the lesser creatures on which
the former preyed, had risen to the
surface and were "breaching. The
tapping sound was made by beating
the water with their tails and almost
simultaneously with this | heard a
hollow, whistling sound, and saw a
column of spray rise like a geyser,
about fourteen feet from the water
saw then that a whale had risen
among the fishes, and with this mon
ster, gaping jaws, in a fourth Of the
time it takes to write it, had engulfed
several hundred of the Bleaching fish,
and was about to plunge under the
wave again to swallow his prey piece
meal, when two other creatures app
peared upon the scene. They were
the united and implacable foes Of the
vale, the sword-fsh and thrasher----
The sword fish, Xia6iaS Gha&'aS, is a
long, 1.-THE creature, armed with a
long, hard substance protruding lrolh
its snout, resembling a sword, from
which it derives It's name the thrash
ca is a species Of sea-shark or fox
shark, scientifically known as ChO-
cbayiqs aUlbes. II was evident that
they had come for the double purpose
of making war upon the whale and
and getting some of the feast for
themselves. In the space It takes the
eve to twinkle the offensive and de-
rensiye were assumed, The sword
fish attacked the whale under water,
the thrasher attacked him also AS
the whale made an effort to dive he
impeled himself the armed head OF
his 1.-the foe, and If he remained
where he was the thrasher brought its
ungainly body with the precision OF
machinery down upon The unlortu-
nate monsters back. Such "thrash-
ing" | had never conceived OF even
in my dreams, when ! used to 30 to
the hills and rob birds nests, and ]
saw the teacher, more terJible than a
wrathfl dragon, with a cowhide to
expiate my guilt The sounds were
dull thuds when the thrasher struck
his antagonist, and sharper and loud.
er when he missed Ms aim and struck
the water. The waves were beaten
about In foam and spray the whale
trying TO ply his tail upon his enc.
mics. but before he could get his uu'
painly body into position his enemies
were out of harms way and making
new attack upon an unexpected
quarter. The contest continuedI
broken only by short intervals, when
the whale went below the surface for
about ten minutes. Then the sword
6sh. as If satisfied with the part he
had played, diyed down into the clear
| blue water and the thrasher followed
| his example. The whale, too, sud
denly disappeared, and as he was the
only Of tho three that had to rise and
breathe at stated intervals, watched
with much eagerncss to see where he
woul rise and elbow or It he rose
at all. Beyond the point, a hallmile
distant, / saw the spout, and then a
yirorous plunge, and knew the whale
| had survived bis thrashing Numbers
of boatmen had rowed up to see the
afray, and gaaed at The contest be.
tween these monsters Of The unknown
deep with a pleasure deeply mingled