Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-05-27
The Fight With the Devil Fish

Prom Victor Hugo's "Toilers of the Sea-
Such was the creature in whose power Gillatt
had fallen for some minutes.
The monster was the inhabitant of the grotto-
the terrible genii of the place. A kind of sombre
demon of the water
All the splendors of the cavern existed for 1t
alone.
On the day of the previous month when Gill;
att had first penetrated into the grotto, the dark
outline, vaguely perceived by him in the rpples
of the secret waters, was this monster. 1t was
here in its home.
When, entering for the second time into the
cavern in pursuit of the crab, he had observed
tine crcvice in which he supposed thai the crab
nai taken refuge, the Iaeurfe was there lying in
II is possible to imagine that secret ambush?
No bird would brood. no egg would burst to
lie, no flower would dare to open, no breast to
give milk, no heart To love, no spirit to soar.
under the influence OF that appartion of evil
watching with sinister patience in the dusk
Gilliatt had thrust his arm deer into tiTe nnen
Ing; the monster had snapped Mt it. 1t held him
fast. a. the spider holds the fly.
lie was IN the water up to- his belt his naked
feet ciutching the slippery roundness Of the
huge stones at the bottom: his right arm bound
anu Iei ueTea poWeriess by the fiat coils of the
lonS tentacleS of the creature. and his body al
most hidden under the folds and cross folds of
this horrible bandage
Oi the eight arms of the devil-fiSh three adj
herGd 10 the rock. while five encircled Gilliatt.
In this way, clinging to the granite on the one
n,nd ana ON The other To its human prey. it en-
clialhci MIN 10 the rock. Two hundred and
MY suckers We're upon him. torInenting him
Win agony and lOathing. he was gra>ped by
gigantic hands. the fingers OF which were each
nearly yard long. ana furnished inside with
HNihS oiisterS eating into the flesh.
As we nave said. it is impossible to tear ones
sen from the folds of the devil-ti>h. The attempt
eilts only in a trIner grasp. The monster clings
WIZ more determined force. Its effort increases
WIN that of his victim; every struggle produces
tightening of his ligatures
G!iiiatt had but one resource, his knife.
LIS itlt .nind only was free, but the reader
"a l,n -
hands
lis open knife was in his hand.
The antenna of the devil-fish cannot be cut: il
Is a leathefy substance, impossible to- divide
with the knife; it slips under the edge its posi-
ton in attack also is such that to cut it would
bc 10 wound the victims own flesh
thh creature is formidable, but there Is n way
OF resisting 1t. The fishermen of Sark know this.
rs does amy one who has seen them execute
certain abrupt movements in the sea. The por-
posses know it also; they have way OF biting
thc cuttlefiSh which decapitates il. Hence the
ife'luent sight on the sea of pen fish, poulps and
cultlcfSh without heads.
The cephalOptera. in fact, is only vulnerable
through the head.
tiililatt was not ignorant of this fact.
lie mad never seen a devil-fish of this size.
His first encounter was with one of the largest
species. Another would have been powerleSs
with terror.
With the dcvil-fsh, as with furious bull.
there Is a certain moment i'm the conflict which
must be seized. 1t is the instant when the bull
lowers the neck; it is the instant when the
deNIl-nSh advances its head. The movement is
rapid. He who loses that moment is DESTROYED
Inc Things we have described occupied only
few moments. Gilliatt. however, felt the in
crt,asing power of its innumerable suckers
The monster is cunning it tries first To stupefy
It's prey 1t seizes. and then pauses awhile
Giliiatt grasped his knife; the sucking in
creased.
He looked at the monster, which seemed to
look AT him.
suddenly it loosened from the rock its sixth
antenna, and, darling it at him, seized him by
the left arm.
At the same moment it advanced its head
with violent movement. In one second
more its mouth would have fastened on his
breast. Bieeding in the sides, and with his two
arms ent;ingied, he would have been a dead
man.
But Gliiatt was watchfll. He avoided the
altenna, and at the moment when the mon
Sier darted forward to fasten on his breast he
struck II with the knife clenched in his left
directions-that of the devl-fish and thai of its
prey. The movement was rapid as "a double
flash of lightning.
He had plunged the blade OF his knife into
the nat, SHINY substance, and by Il rapid move
ment. Ike the flourish of IL whip in the air
describing q circle round the two eyes he
Wrenched the head off as a man would draw a
tooth.
The struggle was ended. The folds relaxed.
L ne monster dropped away like the slow de-
tachng of hands The four hundred suckers
deprived OF their sustaining power dropped at
once from the man and the rock. The mass
sank to the bottom of the water
GREATNESS with the struggle, Gilliatt could
perceive upon the stones at his feet two shane
less, SHINY heaps the head on one side the re-
Inllnder of the monster on the other.
rearing. nevertheless, some cOnyuIsiye re-
turn of his agony he recoiled to avoid the reach
OF the dreaded tentacieS.
But the monster was quite dead,
Gilliatt closed his knife