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Article ON THE EXISTENCE OF MERMAIDS. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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On The Existence Of Mermaids.
Another instance of the like kind I shall produce , said to be taken from an old record , the words of which .- \ re these : ' In the sixt yeare of king John ' s raigne at Oreford in Suffolke afishe was taken b y fishers in theyre nettes , as they were at sea , resembling in shape a wiide or sauage man , whom they presented vnto Sir Bartholemew de Glanuilleknt . that had then the keeping of the
, castell of Oreford in Suffolk . Naked he was , and in al ! his limmes and members resembling the right proportion of a man . Hee had heares also in the vsval partes of his bodie , albeit that on the crowne of his head hee was balde : his beard was side and fugged , and his breast uerie hearie . The kni ght caused him to be kept certaine dayes and nightes from the sea ; meat set afore him he greedily deuoured ;
and eate fishe both rawe and sodde . Those that were rawe hee pressed in his hande tyll he had thrust out all the moysture , and so then hee did eate them . Hee woulde not or coulde not utter any speeche , although to trye him they hung him vppe by the heeles , and myserably tormented him . He woulde gette him . to his couche at the setting of the sunrieand ryse agayne when it rose .
, ' One day they brought him to the haven , and suffered liim to go . into the sea ; but , to be sure he shoulde not escape from them , they sette three ranks of mi ghtie strong nettes before him , so as to catche him agayne at their pleasure , ( as they ymagined ) but hee streyght wayes dyuing downe to the bottome of the water , gotte past all the nettes , and coming vppe shewed himself to them agayne , that stood
wayting for him , and dowking dyuerse tymes vnder water , and comming uppe agayne , he behelde them on the shore that stoode still looking at him , who seemed as it were to mocke them , for that he had deceiued them , and gotte past theyr nettes . At length , after hee had thus played him a great while in the water , and that there was no hope of his returne , hee came to them agayne of his owne accorde , swimming through the waterand remaj'ned wyth them two monthes
, after . But finallie , when he was thus negligently looked to , and nowe seemed not to be regarded , hee fiedde secretly to the sea , and was neuer after seene nor hearde of . ' As I am no naturalist , I neither pretend to affirm or deny the truth of these things ; but this much I can aver for certain , that about 40 years ago , I myself saw what was called a sea monster abroad , the
upper parts of which , quite down to the navel , resembled those of a child , excepting that the fingers of both hands were webbed , and the hair of the head rather coarser and more weedy than that of an infant . Beneath the navel it terminated into a fish . The account given of it was , that it was taken on the coast of Manilla in New Spain , where it was discovered sporting in the waterin company with its dam .
, The mariners who caught it , preserved it alive in sea water for a few days , but still pining after the dam , it soon expired . When I saw it , it was in a glass vase , filled with spirits , about two feet long , and had all the appearance of being no imposture . I have been further told , as a proof of its reality , that it was examined by the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris , who , on opening the body , found part of the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Existence Of Mermaids.
Another instance of the like kind I shall produce , said to be taken from an old record , the words of which .- \ re these : ' In the sixt yeare of king John ' s raigne at Oreford in Suffolke afishe was taken b y fishers in theyre nettes , as they were at sea , resembling in shape a wiide or sauage man , whom they presented vnto Sir Bartholemew de Glanuilleknt . that had then the keeping of the
, castell of Oreford in Suffolk . Naked he was , and in al ! his limmes and members resembling the right proportion of a man . Hee had heares also in the vsval partes of his bodie , albeit that on the crowne of his head hee was balde : his beard was side and fugged , and his breast uerie hearie . The kni ght caused him to be kept certaine dayes and nightes from the sea ; meat set afore him he greedily deuoured ;
and eate fishe both rawe and sodde . Those that were rawe hee pressed in his hande tyll he had thrust out all the moysture , and so then hee did eate them . Hee woulde not or coulde not utter any speeche , although to trye him they hung him vppe by the heeles , and myserably tormented him . He woulde gette him . to his couche at the setting of the sunrieand ryse agayne when it rose .
, ' One day they brought him to the haven , and suffered liim to go . into the sea ; but , to be sure he shoulde not escape from them , they sette three ranks of mi ghtie strong nettes before him , so as to catche him agayne at their pleasure , ( as they ymagined ) but hee streyght wayes dyuing downe to the bottome of the water , gotte past all the nettes , and coming vppe shewed himself to them agayne , that stood
wayting for him , and dowking dyuerse tymes vnder water , and comming uppe agayne , he behelde them on the shore that stoode still looking at him , who seemed as it were to mocke them , for that he had deceiued them , and gotte past theyr nettes . At length , after hee had thus played him a great while in the water , and that there was no hope of his returne , hee came to them agayne of his owne accorde , swimming through the waterand remaj'ned wyth them two monthes
, after . But finallie , when he was thus negligently looked to , and nowe seemed not to be regarded , hee fiedde secretly to the sea , and was neuer after seene nor hearde of . ' As I am no naturalist , I neither pretend to affirm or deny the truth of these things ; but this much I can aver for certain , that about 40 years ago , I myself saw what was called a sea monster abroad , the
upper parts of which , quite down to the navel , resembled those of a child , excepting that the fingers of both hands were webbed , and the hair of the head rather coarser and more weedy than that of an infant . Beneath the navel it terminated into a fish . The account given of it was , that it was taken on the coast of Manilla in New Spain , where it was discovered sporting in the waterin company with its dam .
, The mariners who caught it , preserved it alive in sea water for a few days , but still pining after the dam , it soon expired . When I saw it , it was in a glass vase , filled with spirits , about two feet long , and had all the appearance of being no imposture . I have been further told , as a proof of its reality , that it was examined by the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris , who , on opening the body , found part of the