The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-07-18
SEA MONSTERS.
DENIZENs OF THE DEEP WHO
TERRIFY MARINES.
Some Strange Creatures Sighted by
Veracious Seamen - The Inn
mense Ribbon Fish-In the
Grasp of an Octopus

It should be remembered, says the San
Francisco Examiner, that there has scarce
ly been discovery relative to anything
at all wonderful VIII ch has not been
haw. hawed by the foolish.
1t was so in most striking degree OF
the cuttle-fsh, a sea monster long re-
iected as impossible. One writer on
natural history, who should have known
better, maintained that no cuttle-fish
ever existed whose tentacles exceeded
twenty feet in length. But now it is
known that not only are there cutie
fse having tentacles more than twice
this length, but there are several varie-
ties in which these enormous dimensions
are attained.
Let us examine some of the accounts
of sea monsters which, despite the mis-.
chievous influence of press buffoonery,
have been reported by sea captains.
On September 11th at 1880 A. NJ, the
third officer of the British steamship
Nestor, then in the Malacca Straits, an
nounced shoal. Surprised to find a
shoal in such we'll known track Cap
tain Webster watched the object and
found that it was in motion, keeping up
the same speed as the ship and retaining
about the same distance as when first
seen. "The shape of the creature" said
the Captain lin an affidavit before Don.
aid Spence, Acting Law Secretary to the
Danish Supreme Court at Shanghai,
China) II would compare to that of a
gigantic frog. The head, of pale, yell
lowish color, was about twelve feet in
length, and six feet of the crown was
above water. tried in vain to make out
the mouth" he proceeds, ''but the mouth
may have been below water. The head
was Immediately connected with the
body without any indication of a neck.
The body was about forty-fve or fifty
feet long and of an oval shape, perfectly
smooth, but there may have been a
slight ridge along the spine. The back
rose some five feet above the surfa Q.
An immense tail, fully $50 feet in length,
rose few inches above the water. This
tail saw distinctly from its junction
with the body to its extremity it seemed
cylindrical, with very slight taper, and
I estimate its diameter at four feet. The
body and tail were marked with alter
nate bands or stripes, black and pale
yellow in color. The stripes were dis
tinct to the very extremity of the tail. /
cannot say whether the tail terminated
in a fin or not. The creature possessed
no fins or paddles so far as we could per-
ceive. I Icannot say if it had legs. 1t
appeared to progress by means of an
undulatory motion of the tail in vertical
plane" -.
1t may be remembered that in 1878 a
monstrous cuttle-fish was encountered by
two fishermen in Conception Bay, New
foundland. When attacked, the creature
threw its long arms across the fisher
mems boat, which it appeared to regard
as a verltable object of prey; but one Of
the fisherman cut off the tehtacle with
an ak, on which the cephalopod with
drew, apparently regarding the mans
action as unfair. This tentacle was
twenty-five feet in length; and as the
fishermen considered that it was cut of
fully ten feet from the body, the entire
length of the tentacle must have been
about thirty-fve feet. They estimated
the body at sixty feet in length and i've
feet in diameter. ..
In 1861 the French war steamer Alec
tor encountered monster cutie at sea
about 12O miles northeast of Teneritfe.
The crew got moose around the body,
but unfortunately it slipped to the tail,
which it pulled off. The weight of this
little bit of the creature was found to be
over forty pounds. 1t was estimated that
the body was fifty feet long, and the
weight not less than forty thousand
pounds. ..-e.,
The most remarkable account of sea
monster of this kind was that given by
the captain and officers of the Pauline.
It was sworn to on oath by George
Drevar, the captain; Horatio Thompson,
chief mate; John Landells, second mate,
and by the steward and seaman. 1t
runs somewhat abridge as follows:
On July 9Th We observed three large
sperm whales, one of which was grippsd
round the body by two turns OF what
appeared to be huge serpent. The head
and tail appeared to have length be-.
yond the coils of about thirty feet, and
girth of eight or nine feet. The
creature whiried the whale round and
round for about fifteen minutes and then
suddenly dragged it to,the bottom head
first.
Five days later the same creature, or
aim;1ar one was seeu about two hun
dred yards from the ship, darting along
the surface, head and neck being olt. of
the water. Only Captain Drevar and an
ordinary seaman saw this. But few
minutes later the Captain, first mate and
two seamen saw the monster raise its
neck and head above the water to a
height which they estimated at sixty feet.
It is certain that neither Drevor nor
Thompson had any reason for inventing
such a story as they and the rest swore
to on the occasion.
Now, it is obvious from this descrip.
ton that the monster belonged to the
ray tribe.
These creatures attain great size,
though until Captain Webster saw his
"shoal" no devil fish two hundred yards
in length had ever been heard of. Tho
largest ever captured weighed 1850
pounds. In the British Museum there is
q specimen five feet broad and weighing
twenty pounds, which tells something
of the enormous dimensions whit b full
grown devil-tish may attain, since this
young devil-fish was yet unborn, having
been taken from the body of the mother.
Some ten years ago Commandant
Villeneuve and the officers of the French
man-of-war the Lendre saw creature
corresponding in appearance with the
'sea serpent" travelling rapidly along,
4 L Il b{1p ;eal ohovo tho Uotpr