7(50 
THE MERMAID. 
mable to those of men. Another mermaid was caught in the Baltic 
in 1531, and sent as a present to Sigismund king of Poland, with whom 
it lived three days, and was seen by all the court. Another very young 
one was taken near Rocca de Sinbra, as related by Damian Goes. In 
Pontopidan’s Natural History of Norway, also, we have an account of 
mermaids, but not more remarkable, or better attested, than the 
above. 
So late as the year 1822, something, said to be a mermaid, of 
which the following representation is a tolerable likeness, was exhi- 
bited in London. 
The history of this strange creature is briefly as follows. It was 
caught on the north of China by a fisherman, who sold it for a trifle. 
From China it was brought to Batavia, where it was purchased by a 
captain Fades of Boston, in America, for five thousand Spanish dollars. 
From Batavia it was carried to the Cape of Good Hope, and from 
thence it found its way to London, where it was seen by many thou- 
sands during a period of several months. 
As the creature actually appeared on its arrival in London, the 
features of the human countenance were exhibited in frightful dis- 
tortion ; and how disgusting soever the figure which accompanies 
these observations may appear, the artist has availed himself of the 
privilege of his profession, and given a flattering likeness. * 
The head is disproportionably large, resembling that of a baboon ; 
