Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1883-09-05
FIGHT WITH A CUTTLE FISH.
An Old Grand Banks FisherIaan's
Tough Yarn.


"Yo see shipped for cruise on
the colder Laughin' Dolly, for no pay
and share O the proceeds. We sail
ed from Gloucester and had tOlerable
luck; then gettin' aOut O bait, we put
intew Hare Bay-that's on the coast o.
Newfoundland-and | reckon we jest
got in in time, for it let on teW blow
from the BASTARD and banged and ham
mered for like O three days AT the
end o that time we got the water butt
intew the dory and me and my mate,
Long Tom Sigstree, pulled in for lit
tie cove to lu'ard, where it was smooth
water and good landn'. In we went
hoopin, when jest as we were goin'
through the gut O the cove it kinder
shOaled like and we come to with o
rush, and we were broadside Onter the
worst lookin' creetur yer ever see or
heard on
First l thought it was spider; its
arms was a-hyin' in the air over us and
some a-hangin' on tew the boat, and
the cretur seemed to be actually a'try-.
in tew come aboard. We see, it had
grounded on the shoal and we'd plump
ed right intew it, and I'm a master
hand at sight seein', but was took all
a-back, and the first | knew one OF It's
arms was around the oar. WhiSh! came
another, takin' Long Tom around the
the boot and yankin' him clean off his
feet. He whipped aout his knife aud
cut it off, and it fell in the boat, d
twistin' jest like snake. Another
came a-hyin' along, and took me IN the
neck, cuttin' Jest like a knife, and ali
this time we wur a-whackin' and Jam
min at the creetur to keep him aout OF
the beat. But its legs was kiyered
with suckers and it kinder came on.
Right between the legs we saw pair
o bills a-workin' up and daown jest
lks these are, while the creetur was Il
pumpin' ink and water from a sort o
spout lest like a steam engine, so't we
was black from head to foot and the
water all araound. l got my oar up
like a harpoon, and was jest goin' to
jam it in the head, when a wave took
the dory, gave her lift, and over she
went, chuckin' me right intew the Gre
tur, and I'll swan to life | never was
so near meetin' Davy Jones before or
sence. tried to jump clear, but the
boat knocked me daoun, and the first
knew | felt a grip on my boot and
see the animal had me by the leg; bit
clean through leather, leg and all, and
for a minute l was all wound up,
and / reckon if it warn't for Tom
I'd been cleaned aout sure. The
water wasn't over two feet, and he
Jumped clear o the cretur, and then
shown the boat clear he jammed the
squid in the head with an oar four
or five times and hauled me aout,
and yaou can bet yer port money l
was a physical wreck so far as looks
goes-all scratched up.
"Wall, we righted the boat, and then
| was bound tew see the creetur; so
we dragged it in shore and spread
her aout, and how long do you reck-
on it was? Forty-eight feet tew an
inch and the worst lookin' thing |
ever clapped my eyes on. The body
was Jest like big bag, about twelve
foot long and soft like jelly. The tail
looked like the fluke of an anchor, but
the head was what took me- The eyes
on it were black and as big as saucers,
and from around 'em branched off ten
legs, kivered on one side with suckers,
with edges of 'em jest like razors and
saws, and every time one struck ye a
kind of air-pump pisten arrangement
sucked the air aout and pressed the
sucker right intew ye. Two of the
arms was the longest reckon abaout
thirty foot-and it was them the cree
tur was hangin' by when we ran afoul
O him-kinder swingin' by 'em like
hawsers. Wall, tew make a long story
short, l was laid up for a couple o
weeks with the bite on my leg, and |
reckon / can show some O the scratch
in yet. We cut the animal up for bait
and it filled abaout ten good cod tubs.
| snd must have weighed 1900 pounds"
! '-Phaadelphta Times,
...r.,: