200 SEA FABLES EXPLAINED. 



Before endeavouring to identify the object of his de- 

 lusion, it may be well to mention a few instances of the 

 supposed appearance of mermen and mermaidens in various 

 localities. 



Pliny writes : * 



" When Tiberius was emperor, an embassy was sent to him from 

 Olysippo (Lisbon) expressly to inform him that a Triton, which was 

 recognised as such by its form, had shown itself in a certain cave, and 

 had been heard to produce loud sounds on a conch-shell. The 

 Nereid, also, is not imaginary : its body is rough and covered with 

 scales,_but it has the appearance of a human being. For one was 

 seen upon the same coast ; and when it was dying those dwelling near 

 at hand heard it moaning sadly for a long time. And the Governor 

 of Gaul wrote to the divine Augustus that several Nereids had been 

 found dead upon the shore. I have many informants illustrious 

 persons in high positions who have assured me that they saw in the 

 Sea of Cadiz a merman whose whole body was exactly like that of a 

 man, that these mermen mount on board ships by night, and weigh 

 down that end of the vessel on which they rest, and that if they are 

 allowed to remain there long they will sink the ship." 



^Elian in one of his short, jerky, disconnected chapters, t 

 which rarely exceed a page in length, and some of which 

 only contain two lines, writes : 



"It is reported that the great sea which surrounds the island of 

 Taprobana (Ceylon) contains an immense multitude of fishes and 

 whales, and some of them have the heads of lions, panthers, rams, and 

 other animals ; and (which is more wonderful still) some of the ceta- 

 ceans have the form of satyrs. There are others which have the face 

 of a woman, but prickles instead of hair. In addition to these, it is 

 said there are other creatures of so strange and monstrous a kind that 

 it would be impossible exactly to explain their appearance without the 

 aid of a skilfully drawn picture : these have elongated and coiled tails, 

 and, for feet, have clawsj or fins. And I hear that in the same sea 

 there are great amphibious beasts which are gregarious, and live on 



* Naturalis Historia, lib. ix. cap. v. 

 t De Naturd Animalium, lib. xvi. cap. xviii. 



t " Forfices? literally " shears," or " nippers," like the claws of a 

 lobster. 



