DEEP SEA BATTLE.

Grey River Argus, 12 February 1929, Page 6

DEEP SEA BATTLE.

TO THE DEATH. OCTOPUS VERSUS WHALE. On e of the most remarkable stories of adventure afloat published for many years is 11 Deep-sea Bubbles,” by Mr Henry H. Bootes, a resident of Auckland. For reasons which will be apparent to the reader Mr Bootes disguises the name of the ship in which he sailed as the Anna Lombard, and leaves the date of his adventures somewhat definitely in the ’eighties. The cruise of the Anna Lomlxard was unusual for many reasons. The ship was owned by a syndicate of wealthy scientists, who carried out the cruise with the object of obtaining a special product of the sperm whale for medical purposes. The ship was fitted out at an immense cost, and her speciallypicked crew was housed and fed in lavish comfort. Forward there were some extraordinary characters. The sail-maker was a philosopher, and a Maltese sailor, who because of his wild appearance was known as “the pirate”, turned out to be a finished and. enthusiastic classical scholar. The saloon steward was a Chinese prince in exile, and the first mate was the morganatic son of a German prince.

Mr Bootes, the New Zealander, has some stirring tales of whaling to tell, one of which is an adventure with a giant octopus. He was in charge of one of the boats which had killed a large sperm whale. The Anna Lombard was five miles to windward, and they wore standing by waiting for a tow. “Here we were,” he writes, “mounting guard over a sperm, the most dainty morsel —except the cuttle fish—of all fish life. In those still waters we were in a position calculat- .

ed to cause the student of marine natural history to turn green with envy. Presently I saw a rorqual (a whale with a dorsal fin) which I estimated to be about 35ft long. It corded round us many times as if uncertain where to attack. It was the strange formation of its extended dorsal fin —if .it can be called a fin — thas claimed my bttjenftion. and its massive head and jaws. This fin is a hard, very sharp bone formation, with which the whale disembowels its victim, so said Casey, who had spent years in an American whaler in waters where these creatures are plentiful.

‘ ‘ Every fish vanished at the coming of this razor back. Even the nimble pilot fish cleared off. Casey remarked sorrowfully as he followed the movements of the stranger: ‘Sure, sir, we’ll lose our catch, as sure as Father Peter landed in Quid Ireland! ’ His remark passed unnoticed for we were all puzzled to know the reason for the of all the other* fish. Presently the reason became apparent. One particular spot of the impenetrable depths assumed a silver whitish appearance, which at times became quite luminous, and very gradually we made out the waving arm of a giant cuttie fish. It gathered speed as it rose, and I saw the awful eyes which seemed fo fix their gaze on me, holding me speechless and perfectly spellbound. .1 was unable to take my eyes off it. The waving tentacles and long snake-like arms, each with its rows of suckers, claimed my attention. As they waved upward I could see them opening and shutting in anticipation of a feast. The body would be about 30 feet across the middle, bur great portions of heaving flesh seemed to encase the joints, or sockets of the arms, or tentacles, giving it greater massiveness. For ugliness nothing that the morbid imagination of man has ever invented could compare with

this pulsating horror. I speculated i*my mind which would fall a victim to the tentacles —our whale boat, the floating carcass, or the razor back; and although these thoughts flashed through my brain I made no attempt to order my men to pull out of the I danger zone. We were all more or less hypnotised and helpless. “We had made several attempts to beat off the razor back, and each time it dived under the carcass, tearing off large mouthfuls of blubber from the stomach, and avoiding our harpoon 4Q if accustomed to the sport. But as the cuttla fish came closer it too came un-

der the spell of the waving arms, or was it the fixed gaze of the eyes and the rows of teeth that protruded from the strange looking jaws, resembling in appearance a collection of parrots* beaks or crabs’ claws. Presently with' one mighty spring the cuttie fish seized the razor back, not anywhere near the dorsal formation, but round the smah of the neck and tail. The water became impregnated with the sepia which this vile thing ejects, and the rorqual w as carried to the depths below. When the water cleared all sign .of tae tragedy had vanished, but we «till gazed into the silence until the toot of the Pinnace broke the spell.