Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-08-19
CAPTURED BY A CLAM.
A Naval ofic~r's Thrilling Adveatsre
with u Monstrous sheli-Pish.

A Naval on,crr's Thrilling Adveatsre
with u Monstrous sheli-Pish.
The following swimming story Is
told by Lieutenant in the navy: 'I
kept my eyes fixed on my companion,
Brown, who was acting in singular
manner. After every few seconds his
head would disappear beneath the
water in which he stood. then 1t would
appear again. He seemed to be strus-
Cling violently. As approached him,
he threw up his hands and cried out.
In accents that haunt me still: ''For
Heavens sake. Lieutenant quick. and
help mel ! dashed out to him.
through water mn to W, yrist. What
Is itP what has hold |of you7 lex
. claimed. IT'S u big oyster, or biz
clam he groancd. i was wading
here and stepped into II. expect. Its
she'll closed, gripped my ankle, and. to
save my life, l can't got away; and the
tide will soon bc over our heads here.
he added, with something almost like
n sob. He had been struggling here
for fifteen or twenty minutes. / had
heard OF the tridacna giga', or monster
clam, OF this coast. and instantly real
lied the danger Of his situation. 'Cour-
age, old fellow said, I'll stick by
YOU. Here. hold this paddle and the
hatchct' then ducked down under
The water. and with my hands felt
about his foot. The huge mollusk had
what might be termed death-grip on
him. The creatures shell was several
feet long, and of proportionate breadth.
and tho weight Of the shell-iish must
have been ut least three hundred
pounds. The creature was attached to
the coral rock by u grisly bysus as
thick as my arm. Raising myself !
got breath, then seizing the paddle.
thrust tho shaft of it between
the couvcrging edges OF the two
valves of tho shell, and, using
it rs lever, attempted to pry the shell
apart. But could not open it. Brown,
too, ducking down. seized hold with
his hands and pulled with all his
strength, but exerting all our power we
could not release the monsters hold.
Again and again 1 threw my whole
weight on the shaft of the paddle, and
at length broke 1t. by this time the
water was up to my shoulders when |
stood up. Fully realizing that whatcv-
cr did must be done in few minute,
more, else the poor fellow would
drown, snatchcd the hatchct from
Browns hand. and, diving, tried to cut
under the shcn. TO break the creature :
anchorage on the rock. With might
and main cut and hackcd--thcn rose
an instant for brcath-thcn down and
at il again. But it seemed rs though |
could not cut through the tough mus
Gle. Four times divcd, and with
frantic haste cut at those tough byssi.
1T stirs!' at length Brown cried,
bracing his weight upon his free foot
and lifting at 1t. Then, with a final
blow, the byssuS was severed. and the
buoyancy of the water aiding us, we
dragged the great mollusk-stll fast to
Browns anklc-back to higher ground
on the reef. Here the waterwas waist
deep, however, and l looked around
for Mac in the lakatoi. To my mex
prcsSiblc JOY he was close ut hand. and
between us we lifted Brown. with his
now captured captor. into the canoe.
Even then we could not-both Of us
togethcr-pry the valves of the shell
apart enough to release Browns foot,
till with knife we had reached in and
completely divided the tridacna-saw-
ing asundcr the hingc-muscles at the
base of the bivalve. IL was truly a
gigantic clam; and as poetic retrbu-
ton upon it for this attempt on the life
of one Of our party, we ate a portion
of its flesh for our supper, but found 1t
rather tough. Browns ankle was Sc
verely bruised and wrcnchcd, and he
suffered for many q day from the vice.
like grip of the huge mollusk. San
Francisco Argonaut.