The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-18
BIG GAME AT SEA.
ENCOUNTERS WITH THE sQUID AND
OCTOPUS.

Creatures Attain-Sometimes More
Than n Match for Several Men.
Attempts to Tame DeviIHsh-Per-
sonaI Experiences Of IL Fisher.
From the New York Commercial Ad-
vertiser.
The first man to hurl a spear into a
giant squid with a view to capture 1t
possessed more than ordinary pluck and
stamina, as of all the animals of the
sea this denizen of the greater depths,
the dark unfathomed caves" this
sprawing uncanny creature is most
terrifying, most appalling. Up to COM
paratively few years it was known
merely by rumor, and the tails of mon
sters sixty or seventy feet in length
were discredited and laid at the door
of fun-loving mariners. But one day a
fisherman was going into one of the deep
fjords of Newfoundland when he saw
a strange object floating on the sur
face. The men rowed nearer when sud-
denly into the air shot seven or eight
arms of livid white eight or ten feet
in length and a horrible animal of a
0dl n lGQOlSIl COIOI, WIFI eyes DldCh anu
staring, moved toward them. The men
We're familiar with small squids, and
recognized in this a giant of the tribe.
The average man would have fled be-
fore such an apparition, but these men
of nerve rowed ahead and hurled har-
pooh into the white and notified mass.
The effect was appalling. Long suck
erlined arms shot over the boat, one
winding about the leg of the harpoon-
err while the animal surged backward
and downward, pumping a volume of
black, inky fluid from it's siphon, its
eyes, as large as saucers. staring fix
eddy. With the Ratchet the men chop
ped away the arms which were fastcn-
ed to the boat, lodging others, and
finally hauled away from the animal,
which now attempted to escape. The
men rowed in shore as rapidly as pos
possible, and fastened the rope to a
tree, and at low tide had the satisfac-
tion of seeing the hideous creature,
high and dry. Even when stranded
it's struggles were described as re-
markable. The ten arms rose convul-
sively, like snakes, the body changed
color rapidly, while jet-black mass
of ink was elected from the siphon.
The squid was estimated to be nearly
sixty feet in length, and was undoubt-
edly injured, or it would not have
been captured so easily. That these
animals grow to a very large size is
well known from specimens taken from
whales. The largest individual seen
and measured by me was forty-five
feet in length. The body, about seven
feet long, was barrel shaped, terminal
ing in an arrow-like tail. The head
bore ten arms-eight short and two
long ones. The former were lined with
suckers their entire length, the latter
expanding at the tips, the suckers be-
ing confined to this portion. The eyes
were enormous, black and staring, and
the mouth provided with a pair of
beaks in color and shape very similar
to those of a parrot. Leading into
the siphon, or swimming organ, was
the ink bag, part of the defensive and
offensive armament, and at will the
fluid could be mixed with the water
the animal pumped, surrounding it.
self with a dense cloud.
Such an animal in good condition Is
more than match for several men,
and that they attain to a great length,
weighing possibly several tons. there
can be but little question. One has
been seen with its arms wound about
large whale, the latter leaping out of
the water to rid itself of the animal,
which it had attacked. and which as
the natural food of toothed whales. An
other giant was struck by harpooher,
but the captain of the vessel ordered
the men to cut away from 1t, fearing
for their lives. Another squid, estimat-
ed at seventy feet in length, was har-
pooned and killed, but fell apart when
being hoisted over the ships side
These animals undoubtedly inhabit the
deep sea, which explains the fact that
they are so rarely seen.
The smaller squids, ranging up to ten
feet in length, afford excellent sport
with the spear. In little bay on the
California coast / once secured six or
seven of about this size. They came
rushing in in a school, probably chased
by large tunas, and presented a re-
markable sight against the dark green
of the kelp-lined rocks When struck
they wound their arms about the spear
and chung to 1t, pressing IL to their
heaks. all the while filling the wa
ter for feet and yards about
with ink, which might we'll dismay an
enemy following in the water One of
these squids was caught uninjured and
placed in a large tank, where its
movements were watched. II alta ched
its hundreds of suckers to the glass.
holding on with a death grip, filling
the water with ink, while the body pre-
scented a marvellous appearance, a sue
cession of bushes passing over it-now
gray, now red, to deeper changes, H.
Illustrating the remarkable faculty this
animal possesses of adapting itself TO
the color of the bottom. On one of
the beaches of the Pacific coast a
school of large squids came flying in
skipping from wave to wave, and when
near shore they were caught by a
party of horsemen. who CHANGED to be
close by. The latter rode their horses