A Sea Monster.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 34, 10 January 1885, Page 4

A Sea Monster.

Mr Alfred Morris writes the following to Nature^ from Sydney, New South Wales, under date Aug. 4: — A friend of mine, Captain W.Hopkins, of the schooner Mary Qgilvie,. who has just returned from a voyage ail round Australia, has given, me the following information, which I forward you for publication, not. so much because of its interesting, cliaracter, but m order that other travellers may throw some light upon the character of the animal, which, if an octupus, ; must be of much larger dimensions than those usually met with; Oiv June "'ls,'wheh hiS: hit. Sldeg. 375ec,.: and E. 'long; ■■= 1 ISdeg. 49-sec, about five miles off Ex-mouth Gulf, on the Wesferft Goast of: the continent, he saw ara ; immense creature which he took' to be a species 'df ocr topus. His attention was drawn to it by a perfect cloud of sea-birds* and at first he riattirally thought it must be a dead carcase. On approaching it[ however, he found it was'ailve^and sluggishly disporting itself.' In 'shape it was like a violin, "bunif iftilfiense size, with some' six feelers about the greater diameters of-jihie violin; „It j lay almost flat \ipbri ttie water, ! a"nd was of a dark grey above and lighter grey below; and was? continually elevating oneiojE" its feelers, apparently twice the thickness of a man's arm, to" a height of from six to Vight feet. It appeared to be vomiting, : and as the birds were, evidently, feeding, that ' accounted for' their presence 1 m sucfr numbers: lits size was so great that, had it grasped the vessel it could easily' hSve capsized it. The- captain, therefore* got out of the way as quickly as possible, and without rilaking definite measurements ; but, a large whale m: the vidinity looked quite diminutive. It is' d pity that something iiibre i exact as to size is hot availably but I 'think the descriptioii is sufficient to convey ah idea of the nature of the monster. All along the northern and western cpasts.^of the continent vast shoals of pumice, m portions, varying m .size from ordinary gravel to about a foot m diameter, and,;. completely covered with barnacles, were gassed through. .■;•.:■■.■■*