THE MERMAID. 15 



the administration of Achaia and the duties of the annual 

 magistracy " (the mayor, in fact,) " being anxious to inves- 

 tigate the nature of this triton, put a portion of its skin 

 on the fire. It gave out a most horrible odour ; and those 

 standing by were unable to decide whether it belonged 

 t;o a terrestrial or marine animal. But the magistrate's 

 curiosity had an evil ending, for very soon afterwards, 

 whilst crossing a narrow creek in a boat, he fell overboard 

 and was drowned ; and the Tanagreans all regarded this as 

 a judgment upon him for his crime of impiety towards the 

 triton — an interpretation which was confirmed when his 

 decomposing body was cast ashore, for it emitted exactly 

 the same odour as had the burned skin of the triton. The 

 Tanagreans and Demostratus explain whence the triton 

 had strayed, and how it was stranded in this place. I 

 believe," continues ^Elian, " that tritons exist, and I reveren- 

 tially produce as my witness a most veracious god — namely, 

 Apollo Didymaeus, whom no man in his senses would 

 presume to regard as unworthy of credit. He sings thus 

 of the triton, which he calls the sheep of the sea : 



'• Diim -uocale fnaris vionstnan natat crquorc iriion, 

 Nepiuni pccHS, i7t fanes forte mcidit extra 

 Demissos navim'' j'''' 



which I venture to translate as follows : 



A triton, vocal monster of the deep, 



One of a flock of Neptune's scaly sheep, 



Was caught, whilst swimming o'er the watery plain, 



By lines which fishers from their boat had lain. 



" Therefore," ^lian concludes, "if he, the omniscient god, 

 pronounces that there are tritons, it does not behove us to 

 doubt their existence." 



Sir J. Emerson Tennent, in his 'Natural History of 

 Ceylon,' quoting from the Histoire de la Covipagnie de 



