CURIOUS CREATURES. 209 



preserved delineations in the temple of Belus, at 

 Babylon." 



But, undoubtedly, the earliest representation of the 

 real Merman half-man, half-fish comes to us from the 

 uncovered palace of Khorsabad. On a portion of its 

 sculptured walls is a representation of Sargon, the father 

 of Sennacherib, sailing on his expedition to Cyprus, 

 B.C. 720 on which occasion he had wooden images of 



the gods made and thrown overboard in order to ac- 

 company him on his voyage. Among these is Hea, or 

 Cannes, which I venture to assert is the first representa- 

 tion of a Merman. 



In Hindoo Mythology, one of the incarnations, or 

 avatars of Vishnu, represents him as issuing from the 

 mouth of a fish. The God Dagon (Dag in Hebrew, 

 signifying fish) was probably Cannes or Hea and Ater- 

 gatis was depicted as a Mermaid, half-woman, half-fish. 



