JQq NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY, 



centrum, hlnc atque hinc paulo latius quam pro corpore, in 

 mammas extuberans, neque eas ut foeminis pendulas, fed quales 

 virgimbus globofas, plenas ia£Hs candidiffimi- Brachia non lonea 

 led lata ad natandum apta 3 nullis tamen ipfa cubitis, ulnis, ml 

 mbus arUculifque diftinfta. In adminiftris fobolis procreandx 

 membris m utroque fexu nulla ab humanis diftinftio. Poft h^c 

 m pilcem cauda definite" 



SECT. V. 



confirmed. Upon thefe authorities I may fay, that if the exiftence of the 

 European Mer-men be called in queflion, it muft proceed en- 

 tirely from the fabulous (lories ufually mix'd with the truth * 

 Here, in the diocefe of Bergen, as well as in the manor of 

 Nordland, are feveral hundreds of perfons of credit and reputa- 

 tion, who affirm, with the ftrongeft affurances, that they have 

 ieen this kind of creature fometimes at a diftance, and at other 

 times quite clofe to their boats, (landing upright, and formed 

 like a human creature down to the middle • the reft they could 

 not fee. I have fpoken with many of thefe people, all eye-wit- 

 nefles to the exiftence of the creature ; and I have taken all pof- 

 lible precautions m examining them ftridly on the fubjea. The 

 refult was, that I found them all agree in every particular of their 

 accounts, which anfwers to a defcription lately publifhed by Jab- 

 lonsky and Kircher, fo far as they could judge by the fight of 

 them only, at a fmall diftance. But of thofe who had feen them 

 out of the water, and handled them, I have not been able to find 

 more than one perfon of credit who could vouch it for truth. As I 

 may fafely give credit to this perfon, namely, the reverend Mr. 

 Peter Angel, who is (till living, and minifter of the parifh of 

 Vand-Elvens Gield, on Sundmoer, I mall relate what he affured 

 me of laft year, when I was on my vifitation-journey. He* fays., 

 that in the year 1719, he (being then about 20 years old) along 

 with feveral other inhabitants of Alftahoug in Nordland, faw 

 what is called a Mer-man, lying dead on a point of land near the 

 fea, which had been caft afhore by the waves, along with feveral 

 Sea-calves, and other dead Fifh. 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 Fifh, and had a tail like that 

 of a Porpeffe. The face refembled that of a man, with a mouth, 

 forehead, eyes, &c. The nofe was flat, and, as it were, prefled 



* In Everh. Happelius's Mundus Mirabilis are to be read many ftories, mixed with 

 fables, concerning the Mer-man, Tom, iii. Lib. i. cap. 18. 



down 



