were found in those seas; and the annalist of the exploits of the
Jesuits narrates that seven of these monsters, male and female, were
captured at Manaar in 1560, and carried to Goa, where they were
dissected by Demas Bosquez, physician to the Viceroy, and "their
internal structure found to be in all respects conformable to the
human." Making allowance for the very limited acquaintance which the
worthy physician was likely to have made with human anatomy by actual
autopsy, this statement goes for little:--the real resemblance, assuming
them to have been Dugongs, was about the same as that presented by the
hog, whose inwards are popularly believed by our own country people to
be in very close accordance with those of "Christians."
Sir E. Tennent has embellished his book with a very taking portrait of
the mermaid on the Dugong hypothesis; shewing two females, each holding
a baby [is it right to say _merbaby_?], emerging from the sea-wave; they
do look, to be sure, sufficiently human, but the well-known monogram of
our clever friend Wolf in the corner of the cut suggests shrewd doubts
that the portraits were not "_ad viv_."
It is, perhaps, among the Scandinavian races that the belief in the
merman has reached its culminating point. So many particulars are
inculcated concerning the mode and conditions of life of these submarine
beings, that the most intimate relations appear to have subsisted
between the terrestrial and the aquatic peoples. According to the creed
of the Norsemen, there exists, far beneath the depths of the ocean, an
atmosphere adapted to the breathing organs of beings resembling in form
the human race, endowed with surpassing beauty, with limited
supernatural powers, but liable to suffering, and even to death. Their
dwelling is in a vast region, situate far below the bottom of the sea,
which forms a canopy over them, like the sky over us, and there they
inhabit houses constructed of the pearly and coralline productions of
the ocean. Having lungs not adapted to a watery medium, but formed for
breathing atmospheric air, it would be impossible for them to pass
through the volume of waters that separates our world from theirs, if it
were not that they possess the power of entering the skin of some marine
animal, whose faculties they thus temporarily acquire, or of changing
their own form and structure so as to suit the altered condition through
which they are to travel. The most ordinary shape they assume is, as
everybody knows, that of man (that is, their own proper form) from the
waist upward, but below that of a fish. Whether they now breathe by
gills or lungs, the anatomists, it seems, have not yet determined; we
must presume the former alternative, since else it is not apparent what
they have gained by their piscine metamorphosis of tail; though where
the branchiae are situate we are a little at a loss to imagine. These,
however, are matters which doubtless the scientific world will one day
determine: it seems certain that they do thus acquire an amphibious
nature, so as not only to exist submerged in the waters, but to land on
the shores of our sunny world, where they frequently doff their fishy
half, resume their proper human form, and pass muster while they pursue
their investigations here.[90]
Unfortunately, but one of these resources can ever be availed of by any
individual mer-man or -maid, nor can any "son or daughter of the ocean
borrow more than one sea-dress of this kind for his own particular use;
therefore if the garb should be mislaid on the shores he never can
return to his submarine country and friends. A Shetlander, having once
found an empty seal-skin on the shore, took it home and kept it in his
possession. Soon after, he met the most lovely being who ever stepped on
the earth, wringing her hands with distress, and loudly lamenting, that,
having lost her sea-dress, she must remain for ever on the earth. The
Shetlander, having fallen in love at first sight, said not a syllable
about finding this precious treasure, but made his proposals, and
offered to take her for better or for worse, as his future wife! The
merlady, though not, as we know, much a woman of the world, very
prudently accepted the offer! I never heard what the settlements were,
but they lived very happily for some years, till one day, when the
green-haired bride unexpectedly discovered her long-lost seal-skin, and
instantly putting it on, she took a hasty farewell of everybody, and ran
towards the shore. Her husband flew out in pursuit of her, but in vain!
She sprang from point to point, and from rock to rock, till at length,
hastening into the ocean, she disappeared for ever, leaving the worthy
man, her husband, perfectly planet-struck and inconsolable on the
shore!"[91]
Nor are there lacking in the rocky cliffs of our own northern islands
fit lodgings for these sea kings and queens. The gifted pen of Sir
Walter Scott has sketched one of these from his own observation:
"Imagination can hardly conceive anything more beautiful than the
extraordinary grotto discovered not many years since upon the estate of
Alexander MacAllister, Esq. of Strathaird [in Skye]. The first entrance
to this celebrated cave is rude and unpromising: but the light of the
torches with which we were provided, was soon reflected from the roof,
floor, and walls, which seemed as if they were sheeted with marble,
partly smooth, partly rough with frostwork and rustic ornaments, and
partly seeming to be wrought into statuary. The floor forms a steep and
difficult ascent, and might be fancifully compared to a sheet of water,
which, while it rushed whitening and foaming down a declivity, had been
suddenly arrested and consolidated by the spell of an enchanter. Upon
attaining the summit of this ascent, the cave opens into a splendid
gallery, adorned with the most dazzling crystallizations, and finally
descends with rapidity to the brink of a pool, of the most limpid water,
about four or five yards broad. There opens beyond this pool a portal
arch, formed by two columns of white spar, with beautiful chasing upon
the sides, which promises a continuation of the cave. One of our sailors
swam across, for there is no other mode of passing, and informed us (as
indeed we partly saw by the light he carried) that the enchantment of
MacAllister's cave terminates with this portal, a little beyond which
there was only a rude cavern, speedily choked with stones and earth. But
the pool on the brink of which we stood, surrounded by the most fanciful
mouldings, in a substance resembling white marble, and distinguished by
the depth and purity of its waters, might have been the bathing grotto
of a naiad. The groups of combined figures projecting or embossed, by
which the pool is surrounded, are exquisitely elegant and fanciful. A
statuary might catch beautiful hints from the singular and romantic
disposition of those stalactites. There is scarce a form or group on
which active fancy may not trace figures or grotesque ornaments, which
have been gradually moulded in this cavern by the dropping of the
calcareous water hardening into petrifactions. Many of these fine groups
have been injured by the senseless rage for appropriation of recent
tourists; and the grotto has lost, (I am informed,) through the smoke of
torches, something of that vivid silver tint which was originally one of
its chief distinctions. But enough of beauty remains to compensate for
all that may be lost."[92]
But these tales are the _nugae canorae_ of the naturalist. Once more,--Is
there any substratum of truth underlying these fancies? or must they be
unhesitatingly dismissed to the region of fable? Certainly, if there
were not two or three narratives which have an air of veracity and
dependableness, bearing out the belief to some slight extent, I should
not have noticed it here.
How simple and circumstantial is this story told by old Hudson, the
renowned navigator! a man whose narrative is more than usually dry and
destitute of everything like, not only imagination, but even an
imaginative aspect of ordinary circumstances. On the 15th of June, when
in lat. 75 deg., trying to force a passage to the pole near Nova Zembla, he
records the following incident: "This morning one of our company
looking overboard saw a mermaid; and calling up some of the company to
see her, one more came up, and by that time she was come close to the
ship's side, looking earnestly on the men. A little after, a sea came
and overturned her. From the navel upward, her back and breasts were
like a woman's, as they say that saw her; her body as big as one of us;
her skin very white; and long hair hanging down behind, of colour black.
In her going down they saw her tail, which was like the tail of a
porpoise, and speckled like a mackerel. Their names that saw her were
Thomas Hilles and Robert Rayner."[93]
Whatever explanation be attempted of this apparition, the ordinary
resource of seal or walrus will not avail here. Seals and walruses must
have been as familiar to these Polar mariners as cows to a dairy-maid.
Unless the whole story was a concerted lie between the two men,
reasonless and objectless,--and the worthy old navigator doubtless knew
the character of his men,--they must have seen, in the black-haired,
white-skinned creature, some form of being as yet unrecognised.
Steller, a zoologist of some repute, who examined the natural history of
the Siberian seas, reports having seen, near Behring's Straits, a
strange animal, which he calls a Sea-ape. "It was about five feet long,
with a head like a dog's; the ears sharp and erect, and the eyes large;
on both lips it had a kind of beard; the form of the body was thick and
round, but tapering to the tail, which was bifurcated, with the upper
lobe longest; the body was covered with thick hair, grey on the back,
and red on the belly. Steller could not discover any feet or paws. It
was full of frolic, and sported in the manner of a monkey, swimming
sometimes on one side of the ship and sometimes on the other, and
looking at it with seeming surprise. It would come so near the ship that
it might be touched with a pole; but if any one stirred, it would
immediately retire. It often raised one third of its body above the
water, and stood upright for a considerable time; then suddenly darted
under the ship, and appeared in the same attitude on the other side;
this it would repeat for thirty times together. It would frequently
bring up a sea plant, not unlike a bottle-gourd, which it would toss
about and catch again in its mouth, playing numberless fantastic tricks
with it."
There is nothing in this description which would exclude it from
well-recognised zoological classification. It is highly probable that it
was one of the seal tribe, but of a species, perhaps a genus, not yet
identified. All analogy would suggest that fore-paws must have been
present in an animal with a dog-like head, and clothed with hair; but
they were perhaps small,--smaller even than in other _Phocadae_, and may
have been so concealed in the long hair, or held so closely pressed to
the body, as not to be visible. The only other difficulty is in the
posterior extremity. This is described by Steller in terms that imply a
true piscine tail, expanded in a direction vertical to the plane of the
body, and of that peculiar form called _heterocercal_, which
distinguishes the cartilaginous families of Fishes, the Sharks and Rays.
But the animal was indubitably a Mammal; and therefore we may almost
with certainty assume that, if the body terminated in a natatory
expansion, it would be, as in the whales, and manatees, a horizontal
expansion, and not a vertical one. But if the strange creature was
indeed, as I conclude, of the Phocine type, we have only to suppose the
tail, which is usually very small in this family, to have been so
greatly developed, as to exceed the united hind feet, which may have
been small, and the appearance, seen momentarily, and in the wash of the
waves, might well seem that of a heterocercal tail.
Captain Weddell, well known for his geographical discoveries in the
extreme south of the globe, relates the following story: "A boat's crew
were employed on Hall's Island, when one of the crew, left to take care
of some produce, saw an animal whose voice was even musical. The sailor
had lain down, and about ten o'clock he heard a noise resembling human
cries; and as daylight in these latitudes never disappears at this
season, he rose and looked around; but, on seeing no person, returned to
bed; presently he heard the noise again; rose a second time, but still
saw nothing. Conceiving, however, the possibility of a boat being upset,
and that some of the crew might be clinging to some detached rocks, he
walked along the beach a few steps, and heard the noise more distinctly,
but in a musical strain. Upon searching round he saw an object lying on
a rock a dozen yards from the shore, at which he was somewhat
frightened. The face and shoulders appeared of human form, and of a
reddish colour; over the shoulders hung long green hair; the tail
resembled that of the seal, but the extremities of the arms he could not
see distinctly. The creature continued to make a musical noise while he
gazed about two minutes, and on perceiving him it disappeared in an
instant. Immediately when the man saw his officer, he told this wild
tale, and to add weight to his testimony, (being a Romanist,) he made a
cross on the sand which he kissed, as making oath to the truth of his
statement. When I saw him, he told the story in so clear and positive a
manner, making oath to its truth, that I concluded he must really have
seen the animal he described, or that it must have been the effects of a
disturbed imagination."[94]
The _green_ hair in this description is the most suspicious element; it
is so exactly that attributed to the poetical mermaids, and so entirely
without precedent in the whole range of known zoology,--that, if taken
literally, I fear it would condemn the narrative. But among the
Antarctic seals, both golden yellow fur, and black fur, are found; and
if hairs of these two colours were about equally intermingled, the
result would be an olive-green, as we see in some of the monkeys; and
then some allowance must doubtless be made for imagination, in one
little accustomed to precise observation, and "somewhat frightened"
withal. I should say, with little hesitation, that this creature was of
the seal family, only that the seaman's daily habits brought him into
the most familiar contact with various kinds of seals; and, unless the
animal in question had differed notably from such as he was acquainted
with, he would not have been so affected by the phenomenon. In such
stories, the sorts of creatures familiar to the observation of the
narrator, and the amount of surprise produced in his mind by the
stranger,--must always be carefully estimated, as important elements in
the formation of our judgment.
To come nearer home, Pontoppidan records the appearance of a merman,
which was deposed to on oath by the observers: "About a mile from the
coast of Denmark, near Landscrona, three sailors, observing something
like a dead body floating in the water, rowed towards it. When they came
within seven or eight fathoms, it still appeared as at first, for it had
not stirred; but at that instant it sunk, and came up almost immediately
in the same place. Upon this, out of fear, they lay still, and then let
the boat float, that they might the better examine the monster, which,
by the help of the current, came nearer and nearer to them. He turned
his face and stared at them, which gave them a good opportunity of
examining him narrowly. He stood in the same place for seven or eight
minutes, and was seen above the water breast high. At last they grew
apprehensive of some danger, and began to retire; upon which the monster
blew up his cheeks, and made a kind of lowing noise, and then dived from
their view. In regard to his form, they declare in their affidavits,
which were regularly taken and recorded, that he appeared like an old
man, strong-limbed, with broad shoulders, but his arms they could not
see. His head was small in proportion to his body, and had short curled
black hair, which did not reach below his ears; his eyes lay deep in his
head, and he had a meagre face, with a black beard; about the body
downwards this merman was quite pointed like a fish."[95]
But the most remarkable story that I know of in recent times, is that
adduced by Dr Robert Hamilton, in his able History of the Whales and
Seals, in the _Naturalist's Library_, he himself vouching for its
general truth, from personal knowledge of some of the parties: "It was
reported that a fishing-boat, off the island of Yell, one of the
Shetland group, had captured a mermaid by its getting entangled in the
lines!! The statement is, that the animal was about three feet long, the
upper part of the body resembling the human, with protuberant mammae like
a woman; the face, the forehead, and neck, were short and resembling
those of a monkey; the arms, which were small, were kept folded across
the breast; the fingers were distinct, not webbed; a few stiff long
bristles were on the top of the head, extending down to the shoulders,
and these it could erect and depress at pleasure, something like a
crest. The inferior part of the body was like a fish. The skin was
smooth, and of a grey colour. It offered no resistance, nor attempted to
bite, but uttered a low plaintive sound. The crew, six in number, took
it within their boat, but superstition getting the better of curiosity,
they carefully disentangled it from the lines, and a hook which had
accidentally fastened in its body, and returned it to its native
element. It instantly dived, descending in a perpendicular direction.
"After writing the above, (we are informed) the narrator had an
interview with the skipper of the boat and one of the crew, from whom he
learned the following additional particulars. They had the animal for
three hours within the boat; the body was without scales or hair; was of
a silvery grey colour above, and white below, like the human skin; no
gills were observed; nor fins on the back or belly. The tail was like
that of the dog-fish: the mammae were about as large as those of a woman;
the mouth and lips were very distinct, and resembled the human.
"This communication was from Mr Edmonston, a well-known and intelligent
observer, to the distinguished Professor of Natural History in the
Edinburgh University, and Mr E. adds a few reflections, which are so
pertinent, that we shall avail ourselves of them. That a very peculiar
animal has been taken, no one can doubt. It was seen and handled by six
men, on one occasion, and for some time, not one of whom dreams of a
doubt of its being a mermaid. If it were supposed that their fears
magnified its supposed resemblance to the human form, it must at all
events be admitted that there was some ground for exciting these fears.
But no such fears were likely to be entertained; for the mermaid is not
an object of terror to the fisherman; it is rather a welcome guest, and
danger is to be apprehended only from its experiencing bad treatment.
The usual resources of scepticism, that the seals and other sea-animals,
appearing under certain circumstances, operating on an excited
imagination, and so producing ocular illusion, cannot avail here. It is
quite impossible that, under the circumstances, six Shetland fishermen
could commit such a mistake."[96]
There is, no doubt, much in this account which signally distinguishes it
from all other statements with which it can be compared, except that of
Hudson's sailors, with which it well coincides. The protuberant mammae,
resembling those of a woman; the human, or at least simian face,
forehead, and neck, and especially the mouth and lips; the distinct
unwebbed fingers; the erectile crest of bristles; the nature of the
surface,--without scales or hair; the colour; and the tail,--like that
of a fish;--are all very remarkable points; and unless we conclude the
entire story to be a lie, a mere barefaced hoax,--must necessarily
indicate a creature of which scientific zoology knows absolutely
nothing.
It is observable that, here again, the tail is said to have been piscine
and heterocercal, "like that of the dog-fish:" while the naked skin, and
the colour--silvery grey above and white below,--will well agree with
the characteristics common to the smaller _Squalidae_.
It is a pity that an account like this, avouched by six witnesses, was
not thoroughly sifted. I have no doubt that, if a person tolerably
conversant with zoology, and accustomed to the habit of
cross-examination, had examined these six eye-witnesses _separately_,
making full notes of what each could remember to have observed, and had
then checked each deposition by all the others, a mass of testimony
would have been accumulated that would in an instant have convinced any
candid inquirer what measure of truth lay in the story. Points in which
the whole six, or even three or four, agreed, might unhesitatingly have
been set down as correct: suggestive questions, (not, however,
suggesting the sort of answer,) as, "Had the creature so and so, or so
and so?" could not have received the same reply from all the deponents,
without being worthy of credence: even the points on which they would
have differed might themselves have been instructive to an intelligent
inquirer. I do not know that any such precautionary measures were
resorted to in this case, and the tale must remain as we get it; but I
make these observations for the purpose of suggesting, in the event of
any similar occurrence, the advantage of _separate_ examination in
getting at the truth. On a review of the whole evidence, I do not judge
that this single story is a sufficient foundation for believing in the
existence of mermaids; but, taken into combination with other
statements, it induces a strong suspicion that the northern seas may
hold forms of life as yet uncatalogued by science.
[87] _Geog. and Classif. of Animals_, 249.
[88] _Egypt and Mehemet Ali_, ii. p. 322.
[89] _Japan and her People_, p. 193.
[90] See Hibbert's _Shetland Islands_, p. 566.
[91] Miss Sinclair's _Shetland_.
[92] Notes to _The Lord of the Isles_.
[93] _Hudson the Navigator_, by Asher, Voy. ii.
[94] _Voyage towards the South Pole_, p. 143.
[95] Pontoppidan's _Nat. Hist. of Norway_, p. 154.
[96] _Edinburgh Magazine_, vol. xiii.
IV.
THE SELF-IMMURED.
Turning from reputed beings of which the very existence is the subject
of doubt, let us consider one or two well-known and homely creatures,
about which a certain degree of romantic interest hovers, because
conditions of life are attributed to them by popular faith, which the
general verdict of science denies.
One of the most remarkable examples in this category of _dubitanda_, is
the oft-repeated case of Toads and similar animals found inclosed within
the solid wood of living trees, or even within blocks of stone, with no
discernible communication with the external air, or at least no aperture
by which they could have entered their prison, yet, in every instance,
alive. That insuperable difficulties stand _a priori_ in the way of our
believing in such conditions, no one familiar with animal physiology can
deny; for, as Mr Bell observes, to believe that a Toad inclosed within a
mass of clay, or other similar substance, shall exist wholly without air
or food, for hundreds of years, and at length be liberated alive and
capable of crawling, on the breaking up of the matrix,--now become a
solid rock,--is certainly a demand upon our credulity which few will be
ready to answer.
Yet, after all, it is a question that must not be decided _a priori_: it
must rest upon evidence. It may be that here, too, fact is stranger than
fiction; and we must not shut our eyes and ears to concurrent credible
testimony, if it happen to bear witness to facts which we cannot account
for. Truth will certainly be upon us, even though, ostrich-like, we
thrust our head into a bush, and maintain that we cannot see it.
The learned historian of British Reptiles speaks with his characteristic
candour upon the point. He admits that the many concurrent assertions of
credible persons, who declare themselves to have been witnesses of the
emancipation of imprisoned Toads, forbid us hastily to refuse our
assent, or at least to deny the possibility of such a circumstance;
while he demands better and more cautious evidence to authorise our
implicit faith in these asserted facts.[97]