THE MERMAID. 



191 



in which the ancestor of the new race of men is called 

 Nana-Bus/i* 



The Chinese, in their early legends, connected their origin 

 with a people who were destroyed by water in a tremendous 

 convulsion of the earth. Associated with this event was 

 a divine personage called Nin-va. In another account 

 the name of Nai Hoang-ti, or 

 Nai Korti y is given to the 

 founder of Chinese civilization. 

 In all these instances there is 

 a remarkable resemblance be- 

 tween the names therein of 

 the hero of the deluge and the 

 Hebrew Noah. 



Dagon, also sometimes 

 called Odacon the great fish- 

 god of the Philistines and 

 Babylonians, was another 

 phase of Oannes. " Dag," in 

 Hebrew, signifies "a male 

 fish," and " Aun " and " Oan " 

 were two of the names of 

 Noah. " Dag-aun " or " Dag- 

 oan" therefore means "the 

 fish Noah." He was por- 

 trayed in two ways. The 

 more ancient image of him 

 was that of a man issuing 



from a fish, as described of Oannes by Berosus ; but 

 in later times it was varied to that of a man whose 

 upper half was human, and the lower parts those of 



FIG. 3. DAGON. From a bas- 

 relief. Nimroud. 



The American Nations.' C. S. Rafmesque, Philadelphia, 1836. 



