618 Fabulous Animals. 



which he styles Sirens ; but we do not find that he gives 

 any description of their shape ; however, it was soon as- 

 serted that the Sirens were, as Horace, in his "Art of 

 Poetry," describes them : 



11 Above, a lovely maid; a fish below." 



The Sirens were three sisters, whose voice was so de- 

 lightfully harmonious and enticing, that no resistance 

 could be made against its powerful charms ; but " 'twas 

 death to hear," for they led the navigators and their ships 

 to certain destruction among the rocks that bordered the 

 dangerous coasts which they inhabited, near the shoves 

 of Italy. 



The belief in the existence of Mermaids has been cur- 

 rent at different periods ; indeed, some years ago, several 

 persons made depositions before a magistrate, that they 

 had seen Mermaids come out of the sea and play on the 

 rocks, but that they sprang into their element before they 

 were able to secure them. 



A creature, said to be a dried Mermaid, was exhibited 

 in London about the year 1828 ; but it was afterwards 

 discovered to be the body of a monkey artfully attached 

 to the dried tail of a salmon. 



THE KRAKEN. 



THIS creature is another fabulous inhabitant of the sea. 

 It is said to be three or four miles in breadth, and to live 

 generally at the bottom of the sea, on the Norway coast. 

 When it moves the commotion of the sea is so violent that 

 it upsets boats and even small ships ; and when it comes 

 to the surface, it is generally mistaken for an island. 



