

THE MERMAID. 211 



is called a merman lying dead on a point of land near the sea, which 

 had been cast ashore by the waves along with several sea-calves 

 (seals), and other dead fish. The length of this creature was much 

 greater than what has been mentioned of any before, namely, above 

 three fathoms. It was of a dark grey colour all over ; in the lower 

 part it was like a fish, and had a tail like that of a porpoise. The 

 face resembled that of a man, with a mouth, forehead, eyes, etc. 

 The nose was flat, and, as it were, pressed down to the face, in which 

 the nostrils were very visible. The breast was not far from the head ; 

 the arms seemed to hang to the side, to which they were joined by a 

 thin skin, or membrane. The hands were, to all appearance, like the 

 paws of a sea-calf. The back of this creature was very fat, and a 

 great part of it was cut off, which, with the liver, yielded a large 

 quantity of train-oil." 



The author then quotes a description by Luke Debes * 

 of a mermaid seen in 1670 at Faroe, westward of Qualboe 

 Eide, by many of the inhabitants, as also by others from 

 different parts of Suderoe. She was close to the shore, and 

 stood there for two hours and a half, and was up to her 

 waist in water. She had long hairs on her head, which 

 hung down to the surface of the water all round about her, 

 and she held a fish in her right hand. 



Pontoppidan mentions other instances of similar appear- 

 ances, and says that the latest he had heard of was of a 

 merman seen in Denmark on the 2Oth of September, 1723, 

 by three ferrymen who, at some distance from the land, 

 were towing a ship just arrived from the Baltic. Having 

 caught sight of something which looked like a dead body 

 floating on the water, they rowed towards it, and there, 

 resting on their oars, allowed it to drift close to them. It 

 sank, but immediately came to the surface again, and then 

 they saw that it had the appearance of an old man, strong- 

 limbed, and with broad shoulders, but his arms they could 

 not see. His head was small in proportion to his body, 



* Feroa Reserata^v Description of the Feroe Islands. 8vo. Copen- 

 hagen, 1673. 



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