The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1888-05-17

u was during al this time. until about 1870,
considered from the same standpoint that the
sea-serDent now is. i viii say. however, that
many eminent naturalists are active supporters
Of the sea serpent theory. jules Verne. in his
wonderful work Of the Imagination. Twenty
Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" gives very
good account Of the octopus, exaggerated, Of
course, but yet true enough for his purpose.
That other great French writer, Victor Hugo,
IN '-IOilers Of the Sea" also describes the
monster IN a very graphic manner. But in the
course Of his descri PtiOn he becomes very much
confused. He describes creature part fish,
part sea animal and part cuttlc-fsh. The
auemoue Is called a polyp and the deyil-fsh
pOulP; 50 Hugo confused the two. He also
mikes mp tie gigantic skate, or roe also called
devIi-fsh. with the octopus on account Of the
resemblance between their scientific names. the
former being CephalopteTa the latter Cepbalo-
poda. The cgttle-fsh has 10 arms, while the
octopus has bot eight. The octopus grows
TO A GIGANTIC SIZE
In the Pacific, where it furnishes food to the
tootbed sperm whale. Rushing through the
water the whale bites out piece Of the body
Or one Of the arms OF the creature, obtaining
BY one bite very good meal.
The small cutiic-fshes have many deadly
enemies ia their briuy home. Their fnny
enemies chase them necessarily, and as I have
been leaning over the rail Of the vessel watch
ing the petty. graceful creatures gaInb0l about
in the clear, blue water. ] have frequently seen
some huge fish dart into their midst and ssal-
low up tUo or three Of the uHsuspeCting fish.
] particularly remember an attack made by
swOrd-lsh upon large school Of these odd
looking beings They were dartiug hithcr and
thlthcr iH playful mood near the side Of the
vessel q few feet beneath the surface Their
large, coi0rcc, g8gEic eyes constantly On the
alert for danger did not see their deadly enemy
HraH-I ~ O. ]. ....a a..
first forward, then backward. constantly clrang-
ing color One had just seized tiny fish and
was guawing % 70 pieces with its horny beak
when Up from the depths darted the powerful
fish with its nose armed with a sword. So swift
was lbs course that il was Ia their midst
before thCy knew i was coming. From limo
cent play they changed 10 fight fun Of terror.
The water became suddenly black but IN a few
seconds dozens Of cutlle-GsA sFrang out Of their
native element tail foremost and leapiug sew
era feet out Of The water dropped back again
and swan away. The sword fish was going
with such terrific speed that before il could
stop itself it had lesped half ont Of water. Bur
il had done IFS work, aud before the cloud OF
Xxx had ob5cured my view I saw the gbaru
sword strike down three cutlle-dsh. But the
swoTd-fsh which had killed its last prey was
about 70
EXPIATE ITS BLOODY DEEDS;
for 8 sailor seeing it leap out Of water FASTENED
70 tie spot with q hsrp0On and while the fish
was gathering mp its prey, the sharp-pointed
iron pierced its flesh, and ID WAS soon on board
the vessel. Ia its stomach were found 30 eyes
and u beaEs, besides a few partly digested IN
dIvlcuas. The QlIyeTug bodies Of those re.
Gently killed were also there, cut nearly IN two
by the powerful weapon Of the sword fish
The CONSERVATION that the sudden appear.
snce Of a sword-fsh or a horse mackcrel vii
cause iu a school Of mcuhsdeu cannot be dc
scribed They dart c0nlusedly away. Will,
the swOrd-ish rushCs ia among them, striking
night and LETT until the school Is dispersed thel
returning 60 cat its moal iu quiet Sometime.
II kills hundreds and leaves them floating dead
on the surface. A sword FISH is a dangeFou
enemy 10 encounter, for, when spcared !
dashcs madly about. and often tbrBsts its swor,
through the bottom Of the vessel. sending j
into port leaking badly, if not sinking it
SWOrc-Lsl and sharks often have deadly en-
counters, IN which the former Is nearly AWAY
victorious: aud sailors viii tell Of the dcadl-
war which they carry on against whales
The dolphin, which is also an enemy Of th
cuttle-fsh, often kept Us company for DAYS at
tracted by the scraps Of food thrown oyerboar,
aud by the cuttle-fshcs which remained nea
the vessel. They usually stayed many feet be
low Tie surface, and, viewed through the dee
azure b.rc water Of the Gulf Stream, the differ
ent coiors Of their body, reflected in the sun
hight aua again Ia the electric-light were beau
tiiul 10 an extreme degree. Finally. one comm
too near the surface, received its fatal wounl
and was brought on deck. had often hear
Of the changing color Of the dying dolphin, an