THE LEWISTON EVENING TELLER — APRIL 28, 1904
IN CLUTCH OF A DEVILFISH ♢ Sailor Tore Out the Eye, of Dread
Monster With His Teeth
A daring fight between a man and an octopus occurred off Punaluu island [Punaluu, O’ahu] of Hawaii, a couple of weeks ago. Waha, a native sailor on the steamer Mauna Loa, was the victor of the fight.
He displayed an unusual amount of recklessness, for he attacked the creature without any knife or implement.
The purser of the vessel saw the octopus swimming near one of the small boats from the steamer and called attention to the peculiar looking fish. Waha, who wore only a pair of trousers, saw that the thing was an enormous squid, or octopus Without a word he sprang overboard to attack the creature. The sailor grabbed hold of two of the tentacles near the beak of the monster, and then ensued the most remarkable battle probably ever witnessed by any white man in that part of Hawaii.
The most vulnerable part of an octopus is its eyes, and it was at these spots that Waha made his onslaught. He fought with his teeth and hands. The instant that the octopus felt the man’s grip it lashed madly around and then dived below the surface of the water. Fortunately the water was only up to Waha’s shoulders, and the man succeeded in getting a foothold on the bottom and thus kept his head above the water. The arms of the octopus were seen wrapped around the body of Waha, but the man clung on. He realized that he
