Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 April 1873 — Capture of a Strange Beast in the Middle Pacific. [ARTICLE]

Capture of a Strange Beast in the Middle Pacific.

While the steamship Nevada was about eighty miles off' one of the minor isles of Micronasia, on its way up from Australia to this port, at about six o’clock in the morning, a strange animal of a dark figure was observed to light on the highest peak of the forward mast. tracted by its peculiar appearance, the officer of the deck, Mr. Burnt, the second mate, offered one" of the sailors a small bonus to secure it. The man clambered up the mast with a heavy cloth in his hand, and, after a slight struggle in which he was severely bitten on the hand, it was secured. Bringing it to the deck, on examination the beast proved to be a fine specimen of a species of the vampire tribe. This animal closely resembles the terrodactyl of the antediluvian ages. In appearance it is like a huge bat, on hasty examination. It is in the t head of the animal, however, that the main distinction is found. That of the present one is a perfect counterpart of the black and tan terrier dog. Its teeth are over half an inch in length, and are called in constant requisition to discountenance all attempts at familiarity. When flying, the wings of this illomened beast stretch, from tip to tip, at least five times the diameter of the body. It is of a deep jet black color, tho body being covered with a heavy fur. It is' very savage, being constantly on the alert to attack any person approaching it. Whether this animal is a full and perfect vampire, whose feats of lulling man to sleep with the waving, fan motions of its wing, while sucking in the victim’s very, heart blood, is yet a question, for, as yet, it has not been examined by any scientific man. Its appearance is, however enough to suggest the truth of such a horrible surmise. Be it as it may, the little Micronasian island has always borne a weird and frightful reputation among the native inhabitants of the adjoining ones. Strange stories of cannibalism, tales of savage idolatrous practices, poison valleys, etc., are constantly connected in their minds with its name, and in the small patter of being possessed of blood-imbibingWamplres in addition to all the other horrors, few of them would think the matter extraordinary or the least doubtful. —Frnncheo AUa. —The l\ii Set Shimium is the name of a spicy little Japanese paper started in London. It isstrictly a family journal.