The Washington herald., 1915-03-28
By
H. G. Wells

turned shorcward, stumbling and
wading toward his two companions
He looked back again, and there
were now two boats floating, and the
one farthest out at sea pitched cIum-
silly, bottom upward
So it was Haploteuthis ferox mad.
its appearance upon the Devonshirc
coast. So far, this has been its most
serious aggression. Mr.. Fison's ac-
count, taken together with the wave
OF boating and bathing casualties 10
which have already alluded. and the
absence of fish from the Cornish coast
that year, points clearly to shoal Of
these voracious dccp-sca monsters
prowling slowly along the subtidtl
coastlinc. Hunger migration has.
know, been suggested as the force
that drove them hithcr: but, for my
own part, | prefer to believe the al
Tentative theory OF Hcmslcy Hens
ley holds that pack or shoal OF these
creatures may have become cnamorcd
of human flesh BY the accident OF A
toundercd ship sinking among them.
and have wandered in search of it out
OF their accustomed zone: first way
laying and following ships, and so
coming to our shores in the wake OF
Atlantic traffic. But 10 discuss Hens
lcy'S cogcnt and admirably staged ar
gumcnt> would be out OF place here.
1t would seem that the appetitcs of
the ShOal were satisfied by the catch
OF eleven pcoplc-for so far as can be
ascCrtaincd. there were ten people in
the second boat, and certainly these
creatures gave no further signs OF
their presence off Sidmouth that dav.
The coast between Scaton and Bud
leigh Salterton was ratrolled all that
evening and night by four Preventive
Service boats, the men in which were
armed with harpoons and cutlasses.
and as the evening advanced. a num-
Der OF more or less similarly equipped
expeditions. organized by private in
dividualS, joined them Mr.. Fisou
took no part in any OF these expedi-
lions.
About midnight excited halls were
heard from boat about a couple OF
miles out at sea to the southeast OF
Sidmouth. and a lantern was seen
waving in a strange manner to and
fro and up and down. The nearer
boats at once hurried toward the
alarm. The vcnturcsomc occupants
of the boat. a seaman, a curatc. and
two schoolboys. had actually seen the
monsters passing under their boat.
The creatures, it seems, like most
dccp-Sca organisms. were phOsphor-
csccnt, and they had been floating, FIVE
fathoms deep or so, like creatures OF
moonShinc through the blackncsS OF
the water, their tentaclcs retractcd
and as ii asleep, rolling over and over.
and moving slowly in a wcdgelkc
formation towards the southeast.
These people told their story in
gesticulatcd fragments, as first one
boat drew alongside and then another.
At last there was a little fleet OF eight
or nine boats collected together. and
from them a tumult, like the chatter
OF marketplaCc. rose into the still
ness OF the night. There was little or
no disposition to pursue the shoal, the
people had neither weapons nor cN-
pericncc for such dubious chase,
and prcScntly-cvcn with certain re-
liei. 1t may bc-thc boats turned
shorcward.
And now to tell what is perhaps the
most astonishing fact in this whole
astonishing raid. VIC have not the
slightest knowledge OF the subsequent
of the Shoal. although the
whole southwest coast was now alert
for it. But it may. perhaps, be sig
nificant that a cachalot was stranded
off Sark on Tunc \. Two weeks and
three DAYS after this Sidmouth affair.
a living Haplotcuthis came ashore on
Calais sands. 1t was alive. because
several witnesses saw its tcntdclcN
moving in cOnvulSivc way. But IT is
probablc that it was dying. \ gentle
man named Pouchct obtained rife
and shot il
That was the last appearance of
living Haploteuthis. No others were
seen on the French coast. On the 18th
OF juno a dead body. almost complete.
was washed ashore near Torquay.
and few days later boat from the
marine biological station. engaged in
dredging off Plymouth. picked M a :
rotting specimen. slaShed deeply with
A cutlasS wound. How the former
specimen had como by its death it is
to say. And on the last
day OF June, Mr. Egbcrt Cainc, an ar
list, bathing near Newlyn, threw up
his arms, shricked. and was drawn
under A friend bathing with him
made no attempt to save him, but
swan at once for the shore. This Is
the last fact to tell OF this cxtraordi-
nary raid from the deeper sea