334 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



broken rocks, stones and trees, hurl- 

 ed down upon us. All of us were 

 petrified. Every one fled that could ; 

 but a shower of balls from the Ty- 

 rolese, who now rushed from the 

 surrounding mountains in immense 

 numbers, and among them boys and 

 girls often and twelve years of age, 

 killed or wounded a great many of 

 us. It was not till we had got these 

 fatal mountains six leagues behind 

 us, thatwe were reassembled by the 

 duke and formed into six columns. 

 Soon after the Tyrolese appeared, 

 headed by Hofer the innkeeper. — 

 After a short address from him, 

 they gave a general fire, flung their 

 rifles aside, and rushed upon our 

 bayonets with only their clenched 

 fists. Nothingcould withstand their 

 impetuosity. They darted at our 

 feet, threw or pulled us down, 

 strangled us, wrenched the arms 

 from our hands; and, like, enraged 

 lions,killedail— French, Bavarians, 

 and Saxons, that did not cry foi 

 quarter. By doing so, I, with 300 

 men, was spared and set at liberty. 

 When all lay dead around, and the 

 victory wascompleted,the Tyrolese, 

 as if moved by one impulse, fell 

 upon their knees, and poured forth 

 the emotions of their hearts in 

 prater under the canopy of heaven; 

 a scene so awfully solemn, that it 

 will ever be present to my remem- 

 brance. I joined in the devotion, 

 and never in my life did I pray 

 more fervently.'' 



16. Extraordinary Phenome- 

 non. — At Sandside, in the parish of 

 Reay, in the county of Caithness, 

 there was seen, about two months 

 ago, an animal supposed to be the 

 mermaid. The head and the chest, 

 being all that was visible, exactly 

 resembled those of a full grown 

 young woman. The mammae were 



perfectly formed ; the arms longer 

 than in the human body, and the 

 eyes somewhat smaller. When the 

 waves dashed the hair, which was 

 of a sea green shade, over the face, 

 the hands were immediately em- 

 ployed to replace it. The skin was 

 of a pink colour. Though observed 

 by several persons within the dis- 

 tance of twenty yards, for about an 

 hour and a half, it discovered no 

 symptoms of alarm. It was seen by 

 four or five individuals, of unques- 

 tionable veracity, at the same time. 

 Something of the same kind was 

 observed in the same neighbour- 

 hood, about seven or eight years 

 ago, by a gentleman then residing 

 near the s^ot.— Edinburgh Weekly 

 Journal. 



We give the following letter, 

 leaving our readers to attach what 

 credit to it they please : — 

 The Mermaid seen on the coast of 



Cait/mess. — Letter from Miss 



Machay, daughter of the Rev. 



David Mackay, Minister of 



Reay, to Miss Innes Doxvager, 



of Sandside. 



Reay Manse, May 25, 1809. 



Madam, — Toestablish the truth 

 of what has hitherto been considered 

 improbable and fabulous must be at 

 all times a difficult task, and I have 

 not the vanity to think that my tes- 

 timony alone would be sufficient for 

 this purpose, but when to this is 

 added that of four others, I hope it 

 will have some effect in removing 

 the doubts of those, who may sup- 

 pose that the wonderful appear- 

 ance I reported having seen in the 

 sea on the 12th of January, was not 

 a mermaid, but some other uncom- 

 mon, though less remarkable inha- 

 bitant of the deep. ' As I would 

 willingly contribute to remove the 

 doubt of the sceptical on this subject, 



1 bee 



