NATURAL HISTORY of NO RTF AT. i§ f 



he lay upon the deck, he fpoke Danifh to them, and threatned* 

 if they did not give him his liberty, that the fhip fhould be caft 

 away, and every foul of the crew fhould perifh. This is as idle 

 as the other ftories. When fuch fi&ions are mixed with the 

 hiflory of the Mer-man, and when that creature is reprefented as 

 a prophet and an orator ; when they give the Mer-maid a melo- 

 dious voice, and tell us that {he is a fine finger ; one need not 

 wonder that fo few people of fenfe will give credit to fuch abfur- 

 dities ; or that they even doubt the exiflence of fuch a creature* 



SECT. III. 



However, while we have no ground to believe all thefe fables, The Xm ^ 

 yet, as to the exigence of the creature, we may fafely give our 

 affent to it; provided that it is not improbable, or impoffible in 

 the nature of things , and that there is no want of confirmation 

 from creditable witneffes, and fuch as are not to be rejeaed. 

 Both thefe propofitions I fhall fhew to be well grounded. But 

 before I proceed, I will venture to defcribe our Norvegian Mer- 

 man and Mer-maid, as likewife their young, called Marmsete, or 

 Marmsele. If we judge of this affair (a priori) and enquire 

 whether it be probable, that we fhould find in the ocean a Fifh, 

 or creature, which refembles the human fpecies more than any 

 other, it cannot be denied but we may anfwer in the affirma- 

 tive, from the analogy and refemblance that is obferved betwixt 

 various fpecies of land and fea-animals. It is well known there 

 are Sea horfes, Sea-cows, Sea- wolves, Sea-hogs, Sea-dogs, &c. * 

 which bear^a near refemblance to the land-animals of thofe 

 fpecies : tho' this fhould be allowed as reafbnable, yet fome may 

 make an objeaion, founded upon felf-love, and refpea to our own 



fpecies, which is Honoured ^rlth tQ> Imago of Gad, who made 



man lord of all creatures ; confequently we may fuppofe he is 

 entituled to fach a noble and heavenly form, which other crea- 

 tures muft not partake of 5 according to the wojrds of the poet. 



Pronaqne cum fpe&ent animalia csetera terram, 

 Os homini fublime dedit, ccelumque tueri, 



Juffit — — _ L: _ _ 



But the force of this argument vanifhes, when we confider 

 the form of Apes, and efpecially of the great Baboons of Africa f , 



and 



* Vera eft vulgi opinio quicqmd nafcatur in parte naturae ulla, & in mari efie 

 praterque multa, qua nufquam alibi. Rerum quidem non folum animalium fimula- 

 era, &c. Plinius, Lib. ix. c. ii. This is confirmed by our fifhermen, from their 

 own experience, who know nothing of Pliny's authority, 



t Si vera fatebor, qua hiftoricus naturalis, ex fcientise prindpii* nullum chara&erem 



hactenus 



