ATTACKED BY AN OCTOPUS. A Divers Struggle in the Hold of a Sunken Vessel.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 40, 8 March 1884, Page 5

ATTACKED BY AN OCTOPUS. A Diver s Struggle in the Hold of a Sunken Vessel.

"That's an odd charm," said a '•NewYork Sun " reporter to a travelling companion on the New York Central Railroad. " So it is," was the reply, " and it has a story," holding up a curious oval object in which was set a compass. It formed a bowl about two inches in diameter, and was of a substance resembling fish scales, but of a rich opal hue. The edges were serrated, and within them had been placed a compass. "If you didn't know what it was," continued the owner, "you would never guess, but not to keep you in suspense. It's the sucker of an octopus that attacked me once. It you remember, about four years ago there was a rumour to the effect that valuable pearl fisheries had been discovered on the Alaskan coast ; in fact, a large jewellery house in New York displaj 7 ed some large pearl? that it was claimed came from that locality. It fooled a good many, as it turned out to be a dodge to start immigration, and it caught me for one. I secured five men, good divers, and started across the continent, and got there to find it was all a swindle. There wasn't a pearl within two thousand miles, and to get my money back I went into the regular diving business, and after raising several vessels we squared up and left. It was during one of these trips that I got my charm. We generally went down in pairs, but this day we were working at a small that had sunk, and I took the first spell down alone, to see what was the matter w ith her. She was lying in about 40 feet of water, some of her running gear afloat showing where she was. We anchored our sloop to it, put out our mooiing, and in a few moments I wasgoingslowly down. I suppose you can't imagine the sensation, but I never saw a diver, young or old, that liked his business. To feel that you are strapped to weights and going down to a depth where if a blow should cut your pipe you would be anchored for good isn't pleasant, to say the least. In about five minutes I reached the deck, and as I wanted first to find out what had hit her, I walked forward, swinging myself round the shrouds and ropes. I swung off, and I found that two of her planks had burst right out. She was loaded with pig iron, and I reckoned the seaway had jerked the bottom out of her. Having settled this, I walked around her to the lee side, the bottom being a hard clean sand, and there I easily stepped aboard and walked toward the hatch. It was w ide open, and as I stepped near it I saw something that I took for a rope hanging over the coamings. Taking my boat hook I gave it a punch, and it seemed to fall off into the hatch. One of the main halliards was hanging clear, and taking it I swung off and lowered myself f nto the hold to see if the iron had been covered with sand. '' Down I went, my hook in one hand and the halliard in the other, and when near the bottom 1 let go. In a second I landed on a soft yielding mass that, bound as I was, gave me a sickening sensation. It moved from under me, and in a moment I seemed to be surrounded by the flying arms of some hideous creature. They clasped my legs, wound around my body, and fastened about my helmet, gradually drawing me down and horrifying me so that for a moment I was utterly powerless. But at the first alarm I had given the signal to draw me up, and having a large knife fastened at my waist, 1 attacked the monster, cutting it anywhere that I could strike. In a moment the animal had lifted itself so that its body rested against my chest, and it seemed to be about as large as a flour barrel, with legs extending out from it like the legs of a spider. I hacked at it with the knife, my armour preventing it from biting or cutting me, and soon had the satisfaction" jof cutting it fairly in two, so that it partly dropped off, and I toie the remaining arms away. I was dragged to the surface with part of it, however, clinging to me. I was about exhausted with the w ork and nervous prostration, and if they hadn't unscrewed my helmet immediately I should have dropped, but a few minutes in fresh air revived me, and in that time I closed my career as a diver. I don't think a million would have tempted me to go down again." " And the charm ?" "This charm, as I said, was one of the suckers that lined the arms, and had so cut into the rubber part of the sleeve that it had been torn from the animal in the struggle, and as it was rich in colour I kept it as a curiosity. When I reached the surface the men hauled up half the octopus with a boat hook. I tell you it was a fearful sight. The arms, when stretched out on opposite sides of the body, measured exactly 27 feet from tip to tip. On their under sides were these suckers, each one a shelly cup with a saw-like edge. When the arm is wound about a fish or other animal, each of the suckers is pressed against the flesh, the saw edge cutting and holding it firmly, while a pistonlike arrangement exhausts the air, and thus you are held by hundreds of air pumps, while the body of the animal is drawn toward you and the mputh applied. The latter was between the arms. There were no teeth proper, their place being taken by a pair of hard black bills, that were almost fac similies of a parrot's bill, except that the lower jaw received the upper. The tongue was armed with teeth for the grinding up of prey. " You may be surprised to learn that in San Francisco the Italians and Chinese eat octopi, and the octopi fisheries are quite important. In all the fish markets they may be found hanging up. They attain a length of fourteen feet." "Is yours an isolated case?" we asked. By no means, was the reply. Some years ago a Flathead Indian woman was bathing with a party of companions, who finally left her in the water alone. All at once she disappeared. A boat was sent out and search made, and after a long time one of the men saw the body at the bottom lying on some rocks. A man dived down, but came up, saying that an octopus had the woman, and so it proved. The monster had seized and pulled her down before she could utter a cry.^ A long spear being secured, both the animal and its prey were brought to the surface together. The creature was almost as large as the one that attacked me. The largest authentic specimen from Alaska was seen by Mr Dall, of the Smithsonian. It had a length of sixteen feet, and a radial spread of twenty-eight feet. The body was extremely small, however, in pro portion. I believe they attain ne?rly the same size in the Mediterranean Sea."