been
rendered incapable of effecting their escape, the seine was again
carried out; and though it might have been supposed that the fish would
have avoided the spot, as many as at the first haul were speedily drawn
to land, when a similar scene was enacted, and, all hands being
thoroughly wet, everyone not required for tailing on at the
hauling-lines plunged in as before. Among the most adventurous was the
carpenter, who in his eagerness rushed forward till the water was up to
his armpits; when, fancying he saw a fish of unusual size, and desirous
of gaining the honour of bringing it to shore, he plunged down his hand.
Scarcely had he done so, when, with a shout which might have reached
almost to the ship, he drew it up again, exclaiming, "Bear a hand,
mates, and help me to get rid of this imp of Satan. I'm blessed if I
thought such creatures lived in the ocean."

He uttered this as he staggered towards the shore, when it was seen that
his whole arm, which he held at full length, was grasped by the dark
slimy tentacles of a monster which, with a beak resembling that of a
bird, was attempting to strike him in the face; had the creature got
hold of a smaller person, it might have succeeded in doing so. Desmond
and Billy Blueblazes were at first inclined to laugh, till they got
closer to the hideous creature. Several of the men with their knives
open hurried forward to the assistance of the carpenter, who bravely
kept his arms stretched out till they succeeded in cutting off its head;
but even then those powerful tentacles retained so much vitality that it
was necessary to remove them one by one. The carpenter's arm was almost
paralysed, and he complained of considerable pain and irritation.

His adventure, however, did not prevent the rest of the party from
continuing their chase of the larger fish, though they kept a bright
look-out not to be caught by crabs, or to avoid catching hold of a
squid. Though, as before, some escaped, the second haul was almost as
productive as the first. The boats, being loaded with the fish,
returned to the ship.

The shore party then set to work to prepare for their Robinson Crusoe
life, while the _Opal_ stood away to the northward. Tents were set up,
a hut for the blacksmith's forge, and another for the carpenter close to
the beach, before which a coral reef made a secure harbour for the
boats. A third hut was built near the camp for the cook--not that any
skilled one belonged