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Show A BIO DSIVIL FISH. ARMS THIRTY-PERT L0N3 A.ND JJYK8 GLARING FROM BIGHT-INCH SOCKETS, The one which I hove', bow tq, describe, des-cribe, is . a. larger , mid, much finer specimen, being forty (eet irom the extremity of tbe long arms to the point of the tail. On the 22J instant a heavy equinoctial gale Bwept these snores, and tins wanderer ol the deep was . driven , ashore in aq exhausted condition atrCatalina, on the northern shoreofTriuily Bay. When stranded it was still alive, but died soon after tbe abb of the tide, which left it high and dry on ths bisacb. Two fishermen fisher-men took possession of tbe "treasure trove," and tbe whole settlement gathered to gaze in astonishment at tbe monster. Formerly this "big squid," as the fishermen call it, would have been converted into manure by the fisherman, or cut up as food for dogs; but now thanks to tbe diffusion of intelligence, there were some in Oauliua who knew .the importance of preserving such a rarity, and who ; advised the fishermen to take it at once to Si, John's. Tuo twi men loaded their little craft with the body of the gigantic cuttle, and arrived with it here on the 26'.b in a perfectly fresh condition. As soon as the news spread an eager desire to view tbe monster Was awakened, and tbe fiiber-men fiiber-men were advised to exhibit it before the public. , The government granted tbe use of the drill shed for the purpose, pur-pose, and on tbe floor, supported, by boards, the creature was laid out in all its. gigantic proportions. The lucky fishermen reaped the golden harvest and ftutid the big squid by far the beat .catch they had ever made. The scene was very curious. There lay the outtle with its ten arms stretched out, two of them 30 feet in length, having rows of powerful suckers an inch in diameter at the broadened extremities. The other arms, eujbt in number, were entirely covered with suokers on tbe under wide and were 11 feet in length. The body is 10 feet in length and nearly 7 feet in circumference, and terminates in a caudal fin two feet nine inches across. When taken from the water tbe squid was a dusky red, but (hat has disappeared, and the body and arms are now perfectly white Xbere is the usual homy beak, the parrot-like mandibles of which project from a membraneous bag in the centre of tbe mass which constitutes the head, and from which the ten arms red i ate. Certainly the .idea of being clutched in those terrible escape when once they had closed, and then torn and rent by tbe formidable for-midable beak, is snougb to send a shuddering shud-dering thrill through the stoutest heart. Looking at this creature, one can understand un-derstand that the wild tales told of Krakeni and other great' cuttles i the Indian snas, though greatly exaggerated, exag-gerated, had a very substantial foundation found-ation In fact.' Posterior to the bead were a parr of huge staring eyes, the sockets being eight inches in diameter. diame-ter. Iheir expression when the creature crea-ture was alive on the beacb, is said by , the fishermen to have been peculiarly I ferocious. - Tho governor. Sir John Glover, visited it, and declared that iu ail 'bis lengthened experience in Africa, be bad seen nothing half so wonderful. - It is very perishable, and in a short time decomposition sets in and it can only be preserved in the strongest alcohol. Our showmen could only continue the exhibition two days and a half. I managed to secure it at the close, and had packed it for transtaission'to Professors Baird and Verril, who were fortunately in Halilux, being in - hope, ce of which I used ball a too io packing it would preserve it till it reached Halitax, finally to be placed either in the Peabody or Smithsonian Museum, but at the last moment the owner violated his contract and- sold it to a later and higher bidder. I have carefully taken the measure ment mi the monster, and the following follow-ing are the dimensions: Tbe long tnnt&clc are each 30 feet: the body 10 feet in length, making the total : length from the termination of the outstretched long arms to extremity . of the tail 40 feeV Tbe lone tentacles are thin and tough as leather, being only 5 inches in circumference, except ex-cept at the extremities, where tbey broaden out and. are 8 inches in circumference. cir-cumference. .The body at iU thickest thick-est part is-nearly 7 feet in circumference. circumfer-ence. There, are eight short arms, which at the point of junction with th central mass are 17 inches in circumference cir-cumference bqt at their extremities taper down to- fine tongue-like points, having rows o suckers along one aide.,;.- I f -tried to count these puckers on f one arm, which is il feet, in length,, and made out 2,00, large and small; so that tbe eivhtarms must contain 2,000 suckers; suck-ers; tbe long arms perhaps 250 more. The head or central mass, from which the arms radiate, is 4 feet in circumference. circum-ference. Unfortunately the delicate eyeB bail been destroyed on the voyage or in putting il. on board; but the pocket ol one measured S inches in diameter. The appearance of the animal when io the water is described by tbe fishermen as extraordinary. The tail had got fast on a rock as it was swimming backward, and it was ren dared powerless. In its desperate efiorta to escape the ten arms darted about in all directions, lashiDg the water into foim, the thirty-foot tentacles tenta-cles in particular making lively play as it shot them Out and endeavored to pet a "pin-chase" with their powerful power-ful suckers, so as to drag itself into deep water, it was only when it l-oame l-oame exhausted and the tide receded that the fishermen ventured to ap- proach it, St. Johns N. F. Cor. of the N. Y. World. I |