The Grenada gazette., 1886-07-31
CAPTURED BY A CLAM,
A Naval onicsr's Thrilling Adventure
with n Moastrous SheII-Fish,

Inc Ioilowfhg swimming story is |
told by Lieutenant in the navy: 81
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 it would
appear again. He seemed to be strug-
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 me-! | dashed out to him.
through water up to my waist. What
Is itP what has hold OF youP lex
claimed. It's big oyster, or big
clam he groaned. 4 was wadng
here and stepped into it. expect. Its
shell closed, gripped my ankle, and, to
save my life, 1 can't get away; and the
tide will soon be over our heads here,
he added, with something almost like
sob. He had been struggling here
for fifteen or twenty minutes. had
heard of the tridacna gigas, or monster
clam, of this coast. and instantly real
lied the danger of his situation. .Cour-
age, old fellow, I said, I'll stick hv
you. Here, hold this paddle and the
Ratchet. | then ducked down under
the water, and with my hands felt
about his foot. The huge mollusk had
what might be termed a death-grip on
him. The creatures shell was several
feet long and of proportionato breadth,
and the weight of the shell-tsh must
have been at least three hundred
pounds. The creature was attached to
the coral rock by grisly bysus as
thick as my arm. Raising myself |
got breath, then seizing the paddle,
thrust the shaft Of it between
the converging edges OF the two
valves of the shell, and. using
it as Il lever, attempted to pry the she'll
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 I threw my whole
weight on the shaft of the paddle, and
at length broke it. By this time the
water was up to my shoulders when |
stood up. Fully realizing that whatcv-
or did must be done in a few minutes
more, else the poor fellow would
drown, l snatchcd the hatchct from
Browns hand, and. diving, tried to cut
under the shell. to break the creatures
anchorage on the rock. With might
and main | cut and hacked-then rose
an instant for breath--then down and
at it again. But it seemed as though I
could not cut through the tough mus
Gle. Four times [ Owed, 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 it. Then, with a final
blow, the byssus was severed, and the
buoyancy of the water aiding US, we
dragged the great mollusk-still fast to
Browns ankle-back to higher ground
on the reef. Here the water was waist
deep, however, and / looked around
for Mac in the lakatoi TO my ineN-
pressible JOY he was close at hand. and
between us we lifted Brown, with his
now captured captor, into the canoe.
Even then we could not-both OF us
together-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 asunder the hinge-muscles at the
base of the bivalve. 1t was truly a
gigantic clam; and as a poetic retribu-
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 it
rather tough. Browns ankle was Sc
verely bruised and wrenched, and he
suffered for many day from the vices
like grip of the huge mollusk. San
Francisco lArqOnaut.