Evening journal., 1904-06-09
THE OCEAN VAMPIRE.

n NluuNNtF NnNAnit n
Vessel From Its Moorings.
With the possible exception Of the
basking shark. the sen devil. or ocean
vampire is the largest Of an the mon
sters of the deep. An unborn ocean
vampire. taken from the mother. Pre-
served at the British museum, is Ave
feet broad and before mounting
weighed twenty pounds. The mother
measured some fifteen feet in length
and quite as much in breadth.
II is at an times dangerous under
taking TO attempt TO capture one Of
these monsters. says the Sunday Maga-
zinc. but particularly so in the case OF
a mother accompanied by her of.
spring. She is quite capable of revcrs-
ing the role Of hunter and hunted. at
tacking and capsizing the boat contain
ing her would be captors and of seeing
that none Of them escapes alive
Imagine" writes the Hon. William
Elliot. in describing the exciting sport
he had Ia hunting ocean vampires, "a
monster from sixteen TO twenty feet
across the back. full three feet in
depth. possessed Of powerful yet feX-
ible flaps or wings, with which he
drives himself furously in the water
or vaults high i'm the air through
which he skins like some enormous
bird. his fccers commonly called
hornsl projecting several feet beyond
his mouth and padding all the small
fry that constitute his food into that
capacious receptacle, and you viii have
an idea. though an imperfect one Of
this extraordinary fish,
The so called 'horns" TO which nllu-
sion is made are q singular feature In
this animal The pectoral or breast
fms. much elongated pointed. arched in
front. concave behind. stop shWt at the
head. 70 reappear as frontal append
ages projected on each side Of the
head. These appendages take the form
and character of limbs. being flexible
and capable of grasping prey and car
rying II TO the mouth. The "feelcrs, -
as they are called. are sometimes three
feet or more in length and are curious
ly articuated az the ends so as TO re-.
semble the fingers Of the human hand
when clinched.
In this way fishing boats and vessels
Of a much larger size have becn drag
ged from their moorings and In some
eases capsized by the ocean vampire
having laid hold OF the anchor An In.
stance of this kind occurred in the har.
Dor Of Charleston. A schooner lying
at anchor, suddenly and seemingly OF
its own yolition. TO the amazement and
alarm of those on board. started at q
furious rate across the harbor. Upon
nearing the opposite shore its course
changed so abruptly as almost to cap
size the vessel. pnd It recrossed III,
harbor to its former moorings
These mysterious flights across tn,
harbor were repeated a number Of
times in the presence Of hundreds OF
nstonishcd spectators. who were utter
~ at loss 10 account for the phenom
enon. The migrations ceased as sud
denly as they began. Not till then die
the back and unduatlng fukes OF an
immense ocean vampire appearing
above the water Of the harbor. disclosl
the motive power that caused il all.
One Of the curious habits Of the fisl
is TO throw somersaults. sometimes a
a considerable distance beneath th
surface, sometimes at the surface ant
sometimes I'm the air above the surface
The reason for this peculiar practice
which is kept mp for hours. has. so IN
MS the writer knows. never been con
Jectured. at times the great fish vii
throw himself bodily as much as te
OF twelve feet into the air.