The Skipper's Story

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 264, 6 November 1937, Page 11 (Supplement)

The Skipper's Story

(By K.H.)

MTE vera sitting by the fire the other YY erasing—the skipper and L He IMS in a reminiscent mood, spinning ytflH sat ef Ms long experience, most of which was gained ia the vanishing sailing craft. He has seen most civilised sauatriss, sad some uncivilised corners ef the earth. He baa been rouad 11m Horn tt times, and ha knows the tropins, the Doldrums and the Roaring Forties. Ha knows the ocean in all its moods. Ha talked about seals, sharks sad marina lifs generally—and squids were mentioned. Let the skipper apeak hie piece:— "We are told that the ehsp who goes dowa ia the sea in ships sees the woadsra of the de^p—and the horrors also. ons X recall—a nightmare experience. | "It was la November, 188f. I ■ was | second mate of the ship Westland, 1114 tons register, and we were bound from] Wellington for Portland, Oregon. We had a general cargo for that port and, aftsr discharging, we expected to land up at the salmon depots in British Columbia and thereabouts. The voysga was uneventful until we were becalmed about four degrees north of tho equator, the longitude being about 115 to 112 west. "About nine o'clock one morning we noticed a commotion in the sea far away to the south. It increased as it advanced, spreading east and west, snd waa accompanied by a rumbling noise. Devil fish! Presently they were around the ship in thousand*. . The general movement was northerly, but the lookout man in the tops reported that the ocean all around to the horizon was filled with the monsters. "And all day and all night the horde passed on, the stragglers, still in considerable numbers, passing out of sight the following forenoon.

ffirizM Fitted By Writhing Cremtores «Q»n too imagine It T The sea to the horizon filled with a mws of writhing forms —the most loathsome and sinister of all created marine life—tentacles waving in the air and bodies halfway out of the water, due, perhaps, to mass pressure, for the brutes appeared to be closely packed like sardine* in a tin. We were safe on the ship, of course, with plenty of free-board, but we carefully kept clear of the bulwarks as occasionally the tip of an extra long tentacle eould be seen above the rail. Some of the bodies were from 10ft to 15ft long, the heads as big as a. maris body, and the tentacles from 40ft to flOft in length. "Safe as we were, the general feeling was that of cold horror. Several miles to the north-east, also becalmed, wm a copra schooner of about 30 tone. There were two men in her tops, obviously foT safety; the rest of the crew. i ( alive, had gone below. I say if alive because, with her low freeboard no one would have been safe on the deck from tho*e searching tentacles. "The sudden appearance of a school of sperm whales out of the afforded a change from the sight all around us. The sperms charged the squids, which form their favourite food. Even with whalei it mustsometimes be a long time between meala and these made the most of this chancy They charged and tor® the squids ond were in turn attacked in mass, but.all to no purpose except In one <* B '- •perm F had»robably bitten off more than he could chew; he coiiM n cl^" r swallow nor disgorge, and next nay, when the sea was again calm and clear*] there he floated, deed. We lost si-,ht of the schooner, which seemingly ha«r no casualties "How do I account for all thisT Well, there's the migration theory: many classes of fish migrate at certain masons. Perhaps the scientists can say. Then again, a submarine disturbance in their

nsual haunts, thousands of fathoms deep, might have started the movement. It is said that there is a huge rift running north and south in the Pacific. This might be anything from 10,000 to 30,000 fathoms deep, but in the locality of the occurrence it is broken by a ridge running across it, the summit of which is estimated at about 2000 fathoms down. Hence, in crossing it, the ma«s of the migration might very well come to the surface. "However, whatever the cause, I can conjecture a marine hell with the lid off and millions of the vilest things that swim being spewed out of it. They say the Krnken, spoken of by the vikings, is a myth. lam not so sure. In the oea, especially, the fittest, if not the best, survive and the only enemy that can tackle the squid is the sperm whale. "What lie* In those great depths? Probabiy squids of a size far exceeding any yet seen. From time to time we hear of email craft, snch as the schooner mentioned, disappearing, leaving no trace. Perhaps the giant squid is. responsible in many cases. I wonder!" A period of silence followed the captain's story. The drama he had witnessed on that day in 1889 was vivid in his memory. "Touching that Kraken legend T" I asked. "Is it a legend T" was the skipper's retort. "There were no finer nor more daring seamen in any age than those vikings. Such men are keen and tru£hfnl observers—at any rate, reasonably truthful. And reputable naval and mercantile officers have reported seeing the sea-serpent." "Quite so," I said, "and there's the , story of Jonah and the whale." The captain broke into a gale of i laughter. "Thousands of folk who believe that ; yam would write me down as a credulous old shellbnck—or a liar. After ■ all, maybe Jonah did have a queer experience—so we will let it go at ! that." I ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦