THE DUGONG 
of mythical physiology may be traced to the Arab sea- 
men and the Greeks, who had watched the movements 
of the dugong in the waters of Manaar. 
Megasthenes records the existence of a creature in the 
ocean, near Taprobane, with the aspect of a woman 1 ; 
and iElian, adopting and enlarging on his information, 
peoples the seas of Ceylon with fishes having the heads 
of lions, panthers, and rams, and, stranger still, cetaceans 
in the form of satyrs. Statements such as these must 
have had their origin in the hairs, which are set round 
the mouth of the dugong, somewhat resembling a beard, 
which iElian and Megasthenes both particularise, from 
their resemblance to the hair of a woman ; " /ecu yvvcu- 
KWV OTTCnV S'XOVGLV CUGITZp CLVTL TrXoKClfZCOV aKCwQcil TTpOCTrjp- 
The Portuguese cherished the belief in the mermaid, 
1 Megasthenes, Indica, fragm. 2 JElian, Nat. Hist., lib. xvi. eh. 
lix. 34. xviii. 
P 3 
