Alexandria gazette & advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1822-1824, 1823-01-30
From the Boston Patriot Of January l8.
DRAGON AND A MERNtID.

EfOW NtS DOStob ] utTtot y eu"oo'S hS'
DRAGON Avn A MERMAIo.
IA letter from gentlemen in Cambridge to
one in Boston.
DEAR SIR,-ln answer to your
queries respecting the existence Of
animal uniting the form of man and
fish, hesitate not to say. that ] am
constrained to believe thar the thing
brought to London fran the Cape of
Good slope is not one natural body,
hat composition of twoif n Ut three.
1 here send for your inspection, a
drawing of it, made by the master of
British man Of war. The incon-
gruity of the thing is so striking that
wonder any anat omist, physiolo-
Sist or naturalist, could have hesita-
ted in his Judgment.
There seems every possible varie-
ty in the visible chain of beings but
the links in the chain are so nicely
adapted. that when detached you can
not tell whiChiS superior. or inferior.
The changes IN animated nature are
like a regular cone, so that we can
not distinguish the sections of it, un-
less when made at remnte distance.
But in THIS figure the gap is shO k
inS. 1t is an htstus valds horrsn
GaS. We have flying squirrels, fly
ing mice, aud rats, nying lizards,
and flying fish OF various sizes. We
have birds SO mach like beasts, and
some like ish, that they are incapa
bic OF dying; and fenr.tIoted AMI
mails that walk at the bottom of the
sea nut their intermediate natures
are so nicely tapered of. and their
ooloriug. like that of skilt@ pain.
ter. so nicely blended, that the eye
is deiightet l, instead ofbeiHg shocked
at their desredations. But with the
object in question, we see the ourang-
otang. or possibly, the human, join
cd to mere fish, the lower. or iCh-
thyocaI part, having no mark, trait,
or atfnity with the upper.
That imposihOns Of this sort are
now and then practised, | know, from
what happened to myself in London,
in 1899. A man had a small colleC
ton of live animals in a deep roart,
In tue Strand, as dark as some of the
CprnhlH shops. TIE most ConspiC-
uous, aaimal on his painted ''show
bnard," Was Dragon. This excl.
ted su much curiosity in the inquisi
tive mind of my friend, Mr.. B. who
inhabits the noble mansion of his
ancestors not far from the place Of
exhibition that h proposed to me to
gu with him TO see it.
We at once perceived that the ex-
bi6itUr of rare animals was a little
disconnected at his visitors, as we
told him We came te see the Ora.
ron. He was very ready aud nffi-
rious to show us his monkeys. mar
mousets,racoOns and parrots, but pre-
tended not to hear u when We in.
quired for the Dragon. At length
We got s'Sat of him and l confess
we stood minute or two in silent d
sober wonder; for we saw before us
an animal bctwe cen two and three feet
long. with cody. forded tail, tour legs
ana claws, formidable mouth, tongue
and teeth; and on his shoulders, il
pair of expanded wings, whose joints
aHd structure set all human art to
defiance; and had We then departed,
without closer examination, we had
seen enough to swear by. Or had
the man enclosed il within railing.
SO as to prevent near approach, the
deception might have passed of, with
most people, The man seeing that
we meant not to injure or ridicule
him, allowed US to inspect it narrow
Iy d; but observed, .sthat their thing
was not made for such as you to look
at"
We discovered its composition to
be, first, the body OF one of the lizard
tribe; but not the fgins lizard of
yaps /; probably a small Isnanha ; for