618 Fabulous Animals. 
which he styles Sirens ; but we do not find that he gives 
any description of their shape ; however, it was soon as- 
serted that the Sirens were, as Horace, in his "Art of 
Poetry," describes them : 
" Above, a lovely maid ; a fish below." 
The Sirens were three sisters, whose voice was so de- 
lightfully harmonious and enticing, that no resistance 
could be made against its powerful charms ; but " 'twas 
death to hear," for they led the navigators and their ships 
to certain destruction among the rocks that bordered the 
dangerous coasts which they inhabited, near the shores 
of Italy. 
The belief in the existence of Mermaids has been cur- 
rent at different periods ; indeed, some years ago, several 
persons made depositions before a magistrate, that they 
had seen Mermaids come out of the sea and play on the 
rocks, but that they sprang into their element before they 
were able to secure them. 
A creature, said to be a dried Mermaid, was exhibited 
in London about the year 1828 ; but it was afterwards 
discovered to be the body of a monkey artfully attached 
to the dried tail of a salmon. 
THE KKAKEN. 
This creature is another fabulous inhabitant of the sea. 
It is said to be three or four miles in breadth, and to live 
generally at the bottom of the sea, on the Norway coast. 
When it moves the commotion of the sea is so violent that 
it upsets boats and even small ships ; and when it comes 
to the surface, it is generally mistaken for an island. 
