CHRONICLE. 



335 



I beg leave to state to you the fol- 

 lowing accounts, after premising 

 that my cousin, whose name is 

 affixed along with mine, was one of 

 the four witnesses who beheld with 

 me this uncommon spectacle. 



While she and I were walking by 

 the sea shore, on the 12th of Ja- 

 nuary, about noon, our attention 

 was attracted by seeing three people 

 who were on a rock at some dis- 

 tance, showing signs of terror and 

 astonishment at something they saw 

 in the water : on approaching them, 

 we distinguished that the object of 

 their wonder was a face resembling 

 the human countenance, which ap- 

 peared floating on the waves ; at 

 that time nothing but the face was 

 visible; it may not be improper to 

 observe, before I proceed farther, 

 that the face, throat, and arms, are 

 all I can attempt to describe, all 

 our endeavours to discover the 

 appearance and position of the 

 body being unavailing. The sea at 

 that time ran very high, and as 

 the waves advanced, the mermaid 

 gently sunk under them, and after- 

 wards reappeared. 



The face seemed plump and 

 round, the eyes and nose were 

 small, the former were of a light 

 grey colour, and the mouth was 

 large, and from the shape of the jaw 

 bone, which seemed straight, the 

 face looked short ; as to theinsideof 

 the mouth, I can say nothing, not 

 having attended to it, though some- 

 times open. The head was exceed- 

 ingly round, the hair thick and long, 

 of a green oily cast, and appeared 

 troublesome to it, the waves gene- 

 rally throwing it down over the 

 face ; it seemed to feel the annoy- 

 ance, and as the waves retreated, 

 with both its hands frequentlythrew 

 back the hair, and rubbed its throat, 

 as if to remove any soiling it might 



have received from it. The throat 

 was slender, smooth, and white ; we 

 did not think to observe whether it 

 bad elbows, but from the manner in 

 which it used its arms, 1 must con- 

 clude that it had. The arras were 

 very long and slender, as were the 

 hands and fingers, the latter were 

 not webbed. The arms, one of 

 them at least, was frequently ex- 

 tended over its head, as if to fright- 

 en a bird that hovered over it, and 

 seemed to distress it much ; when 

 that had no effect, it sometimes 

 turned quite round several times 

 successively. At a little distance 

 we observed a seal. It sometimes 

 laid its right hand under its cheek, 

 and in this position floated for some 

 time. We saw nothing like hair or 

 scales on any part of it ; indeed the 

 smoothness of the skin particularly 

 caught our attention. The time it 

 was discernible to us was about an 

 hour. The sun was shining clearly 

 at the time ; it was distant from us 

 a few yards only. These are the 

 few observations made by us dur- 

 ing the appearance of this strange 

 phenomenon. 



If rhey afford you any satisfac- 

 tion, I shall be particularly happy; 

 I have stated nothing but what I 

 clearly recollect ; as my cousin and 

 I had frequently, previous to this 

 period, combated an assertion which 

 is very common among the lower 

 class here, that mermaids had been 

 frequently seen on this coast, our 

 evidence cannot be thought biassed 

 by any former prejudice in favour 

 of the existence of this wonderful 

 creature. 



To contribute in any degree to 

 your pleasure or amusement, will 

 add to the happiness of. 



Madam, your greatly obliged, 

 (Signed) Eliz. Mackay, 

 C. Mackenzie. 

 [Extract 



