English, 'it's no
use talking no more about this. I know what's the matter; I've sailed
these seas afore, and I've been along the coast of this bay all the way
from Negapatam to Jellasore on the west coast, and from Chittagong to
Kraw on the other; and I have heard stories of the strange things that
are in this Bay of Bengal, and what they do, and the worst of them all
is the Water-devil--and he's got us!'

"When the old rascal said this, there wasn't a man on deck who didn't
look pale, in spite of his dirt and his sunburn. The chief officer
tried to keep his knees stiff, but I could see him shaking. 'What's a
Water-devil?' said he, trying to make believe he thought it all stuff
and nonsense. The Portuguese touched his forelock. 'Do you remember,
sir,' said he, 'what was the latitude and longitude when you took your
observation to-day?' 'Yes,' said the other, 'it was 15 deg. north and 90 deg.
east.' The Portuguese nodded his head. 'That's just about the spot,
sir, just about. I can't say exactly where the spot is, but it's just
about here, and we've struck it. There isn't a native seaman on any of
these coasts that would sail over that point if he knowed it and could
help it, for that's the spot where the Water-devil lives.'

"It made me jump to hear the grunt that went through that crowd when he
said this, but nobody asked any questions, and he went on. 'This here
Water-devil,' said he, 'is about as big as six whales, and in shape
very like an oyster without its shell, and he fastens himself to the
rocks at the bottom with a million claws. Right out of the middle of
him there grows up a long arm that reaches to the top of the water, and
at the end of this arm is a fist about the size of a yawl-boat, with
fifty-two fingers to it, with each one of them covered with little
suckers that will stick fast to anything--iron, wood, stone, or flesh.
All that this Water-devil gets to eat is what happens to come swimmin'
or sailin' along where he can reach it, and it doesn't matter to him
whether it's a shark, or a porpoise, or a shipful of people, and when
he takes a grab of anything, that thing never gets away.'

"About this time there were five or six men on their knees saying their
prayers, such as they were, and a good many others looked as if they
were just about to drop.

"'Now, when this Water-devil gets hold of a ship,' the old fellow went
on, 'he don't generally pull her straight down to the bottom, but holds
on t