MARINE MONSTERS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 1 October 1880, Page 2

MARINE MONSTERS.

♦— Many interesting fads relating to tbe North American giant cuttle-fisii have been recently laid by Professor Verrill before the Connecticut Academy. The banks of the Newfoundland coast wiald seem to be the headquarters for these cephalopods. One was seen on the beach at Lance Cove, Trinity B=iy, still olive and struggling desperately to escape. It was being borne in by a ' spring tide ' and a high inshore wind. In its straggles to get off it ploughed up a trench or furrow about 30 feet long, and of a con* siderable depth, by the stream of water which it ejected with g eat force from i's syphon. When tbe tide receded it died. Its body wag nearly 11 feet long, its short arms were 13 feet in length and much, thicker than a man's thigh, and its tentacular arms were each 33 feet long. But this was scarcely more than half tbe size of a specimen taken at. a place called Thimble Tickle. A fisherman was out in a boat with two other men. Not far from 'he shore they observed some bulky object, and supposing it might be a part j of a wreck, they rowed towards it, and to their horror found themselv "8 close to a huge fish having large ela*sy eyes, which was making desperate efforts to escape, and churning the water into foam by the motion of its immense arms and tail. It was aground and tbe tide was ebbing. From the funnel at the back of the bead it was ejecting large Tolumes of water. At times the water thrown out was as black as ink. Finding tbe monster partly disabled the fishermen plucked up courage and ventured near enough to throw tbe grapnel of their boat, the sharp Sakes of which, having barbed points, sank into the soft body. £o the grapnel they bad attached a stout rope, which they carried ashore and tied to a free. As the cuttle fish found itself moored its struggles were terrific, and in a dying agony it flung its ten arms wildly about, and as the ttdere« ceded it became exhausted and died. It was a splended specimea, the largest yet actually measured, being 20 feet in length from its beak to its tail, and with arms upwards of 35 feet long.