ORDER V. THE CARXIVORA. 233 



Lk'w up liis checks, made a kiiul of roaring;' noise, and then dived into the 

 sea. The sailors furtlier described their merman as resembling an old man, 

 strong-limbed, with broad shoulders, but his arms they could not see. His 

 head was small in proportion to his body, and had short, curled, black hair, 

 which did not reach below his ears; his ejes lay deep in his head, and he 

 had a meagre face, black beard ; about the body and downwards he was 

 pointed quite like a fish. 



It is a notable fact that in both of the instances which we have mentioned, 

 nothing like arms or legs were discovered on the monsters ; in the first, short 

 ap[iendagcs, folded on the breast, are spoken of, evidently flippers, whilst in 

 the second, nothing of the kind was observed at all. The latter animal, 

 standing in the wave, and looking curiously about, cannot but recall the 

 I'emark of Captain Scoresby, heretofore referred to. " I have myself seen 

 a sea horse under such circumstances that it required l)iit little stretch of 

 imagination to mistake it for a human being, and the surgeon actually re- 

 ported to me that he had seen a man with his head above the water.'' To 

 this we may add that the walrus, before the appearance of its tusks, presents 

 a countenance which does actually bear some resemblance to the human, and 

 when these animals raise their heads out of the water and gaze attentively, 

 as is their habit, on ships or other passing oljjeets, it is not strange that they 

 should be mistaken for men, and thus give origin to the fables of mermaids 

 and mermen. 



The southern hemisphere, also, has its mermaid, if we can credit a state- 

 ment of Captain Weddell. It is to the following etiect : A boat's crew being 

 employed on Hall's Island, one of them, left to take care of some produce, 

 was surprised by the apjiearance of an animal which had a nuisical voice. 

 The sailor had lain down, and about ten o'clock he heard a noise that re- 

 sembled human cries ; and as daylight in these latitudes never disappears at 

 that season of the year when this incident took plai'C, he rose and looked 

 round; but, on seeing no jierson, he returned to bed. Presently he heard 

 the noise again, rose a second time, l)Ut still saw nothing. Concci\ing, 

 however, the possibility of a boat lieing upset, and that some of the crew 

 might be clinging to the rocks, he walked along the beach a i'uw steps, and 

 heard the sound more distinctly, but in a nuisical strain. Upon searching- 

 round, he saw an object lying on a rock a dozen yards from the shore, at 

 which he was somewhat frightened. The face and shoulders appeared to be 

 of human form, and of a reddish color; over the shoulders hang long, 

 green hair; tlie tail resembled that of a seal, but the extremities of the 

 arms he could not see distinctly. The creature contituied its musical exer- 

 cise about two minutes, when it perceived him and disappeai-ed in the water. 

 The sailor told his story in so positi\e and earnest a manner, that he must 

 Ko. VI. 30 



