“A sensation of horror pervaded my whole frame, when I found this monstrous animal――for it was about four feet long――fixed so firmly on my arm. Its cold, slimy grasp was extremely sickening, and I immediately called aloud to the captain, who was also searching for shells at some distance, to come and release me from my disgusting assailant. He quickly arrived, and taking me down to the boat, during which time I was employed in keeping the beak away from my hand, quickly released me by destroying my tormentor with the boat knife, when I disengaged it by portions at a time. This animal was that species of Sepia which is called by whalers ‘rock squid.’ Thus are these remarkable creatures, from the different adaptation of their tentacles and slight modifications of their bodies, capable of sailing, flying, swimming, and creeping on the shore, while their senses, if we may judge from the elaborate mechanism of their organs, must possess corresponding acuteness and perfection.” The Sperm Whale. The Sperm Whale is much less known than the common whale, which is usually taken by our whalers. The following account of it, furnished by Thomas Beale, is interesting. “The sperm whale is a gregarious animal, and the herds formed by it are of two kinds――the one consisting of females, the other of young whales not fully grown. “These herds are called by whalers, ‘schools,’ and occasionally consist of great numbers; I have seen in one school as many as five or six hundred. With each herd or school of females, are always from one to three large bulls, the lords of the herd, or, as they are called, the ‘school-masters.’ The full-grown whales, or ‘large whales,’ almost always go alone in search of food; and when they are seen in company, they are supposed to be making passages, or migrating from one ‘feeding ground’ to another. The large whale is generally very incautious, and if alone, he is without difficulty attacked, and by expert whalers generally very easily killed; as frequently, after receiving the first blow or plunge of the harpoon, he appears hardly to feel it, but continues lying like a ‘log of wood’ in the water, before he rallies or makes any attempt to escape from his enemies. [Illustration (whales)] “Large whales are, however, sometimes, but rarely, met with, remarkably cunning and full of courage, when they will commit dreadful havoc with their jaws and tail; the jaw and head, however, appear to be their principal offensive weapons.