At times, when closely pursued,
he will disgorge what are supposed to be the detached arms of the squid;
some of them thus exhibited exceeding twenty and thirty feet in length.
They fancy that the monster to which these arms belonged ordinarily
clings by them to the bed of the ocean; and that the sperm whale,
unlike other species, is supplied with teeth in order to attack
and tear it.
There seems some ground to imagine that the great Kraken of
Bishop Pontoppodan may ultimately resolve itself into Squid. The manner
in which the Bishop describes it, as alternately rising and sinking,
with some other particulars he narrates, in all this the two correspond.
But much abatement is necessary with respect to the incredible bulk
he assigns it.
By some naturalists who have vaguely heard rumors of the mysterious
creature, here spoken of, it is included among the class of cuttle-fish,
to which, indeed, in certain external respects it would seem to belong,
but only as the Anak of the tribe.
CHAPTER 60
The Line
With reference to the whaling scene shortly to be described,
as well as for the better understanding of all similar scenes
elsewhere presented, I have here to speak of the magical,
sometimes horrible whale-line.
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