STRANGE SEA CREATURES. 207 



those of a monkey ; the arms, which were small, were kept 

 folded across the breast ; the fingers were distinct, not 

 webbed ; a few stiff long bristles were on the top of the head, 

 extending down to the shoulders, and these it could erect 

 and depress at pleasure, something like a crest The inferior 

 part of the body was like a fish. The skin was smooth and 

 of a grey colour. It offered no resistance, nor attempted to 

 bite, but uttered a low, plaintive sound. The crew, six in 

 number, took it within their boat ; but superstition getting 

 the better of curiosity, they carefully disentangled it from the 

 lines and a hook which had accidentally fastened in the 

 body, and returned it to its native element. It instantly 

 dived, descending in a perpendicular direction." " They 

 had the animal for three hours within the boat ; the body 

 was without scales or hair ; of a silvery grey colour above, 

 and white below, like the human skin ; no gills were ob- 

 served, nor fins on the back or belly. The tail was like 

 that of the dog-fish ; the mammae were about as large as those 

 of a woman ; the mouth and lips were very distinct, and 

 resembled the human." 



This account, if accepted in all its details, would certainly 

 indicate that an animal of some species before unknown had 

 been captured. But it is doubtful how much reliance can 

 be placed on the description of the animal. Mr. Gosse, 

 commenting upon the case, says that the fishermen cannot 

 have been affected by fear in such sort that their imagina- 

 tion exaggerated the resemblance of the creature to the 

 human form. " For the mermaid," he says, " is not an 

 object of terror to the fishermen; it is rather a welcome 

 guest, and danger is to be apprehended only from its ex- 

 periencing bad treatment" But then this creature had not 

 been treated as a specially welcome guest. The crew had cap- 

 tured it ; and probably not without some degree of violence ; 

 for though it offered no resistance it uttered a plaintive cry. 

 And that hook which "had accidentally fastened in the 

 body " has a very suspicious look. If the animal could have 

 given its own account of the capture, probably the hook 



