Page:A description of Greenland.djvu/123

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of Greenland.
87
upon the Surface of the Water in the Year 1734,A ſurpriſing Sea Monſter, ſeen in the 64th Degree. off our New Colony in 64 Degrees. This Monſter was of ſo huge a Size, that
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    the Mouth ſome Matter of a ſweet Scent, It draws all the Sea Animals and Fiſhes together with its Vomit.which perfumes the whole Sea; and by this Means it allures and draws all Sorts of Fiſhes and Animals, even the Whales to it, who in whole Droves flock thither, and run into the wide opened Swallow of this hideous Monſter, as into a Whirl-Pool, till its Belly be well Fiſhes and Animals, and then it ſhuts the Swallow, and has for the whole Year enough to digeſt and live upon; for it is ſaid to make but one large Meal a Year. This, though a very ſilly and abſurd Tale, is nevertheleſs matched by another Story, every whit as ridiculous, told by my own Countrymen, Fiſhermen in the Northern Part of Norway.A Norway Tale of Kracken, a pretended Phantom. They tell you, that a great gaftly Sea-Monſter now and then appears in the Main Sea, which they called Kracken, and is no doubt the ſame that the Inſlanders call Hafgufa, of which we have ſpoken above. They ſay, that its Body reaches ſeveral Miles in Length; and that it is moſt ſeen in a Calm; when it comes out of the Water, it ſeems to cover the whole Surface of the Sea, having many Heads and a Number of Claws, with which it ſeizes all that comes in its Way, as Fiſhing Boats with Men and all, Fiſhes and Animals, and lets nothing eſcape; all which it draws down to the Bottom of the Sea. The Fiſhes flock about it as upon a Sand-Bank.Moreover they tell you that all Sorts of Fiſhes flock together upon it, as upon a Bank of the Sea, and that many Fiſhing Boats come thither to ketch Fiſh, not ſuſpecting that they lie upon ſuch a

dreadful