The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-05-19

gent PersonS-Ducks Grown on Trees
and Hairs Changing to Worms-A South
American Monster
In casting a retrospective glance at the ad-
vance of science during comparatively recent
times it is interesting to note to what extent
the Imagination has been used by would-be
discoveries and explorers. This is especially
noticeable in the department of natural histo-
ry The most extraordinary tales and descrip-
tons have crept into history and volumes OF
good repute, fostered by the names of writers
of supposed veracity, who undoubtedly believed
in the creations born of their imaginations.
In natural history Of water animals, written
in, Latin by Peter Belloni published in Paris,
France, II years after the discovery of Ameri-
ca, the illustrations possess all the refreshing
abandon of later time when Denis de Mont
fort said "If my Kraken is believed in will
invent one that shall stretch across the Strait
of Gibraltar" Seals of wondrous makeup
are seen walking upon the water side by side
with impossible rhinoceroses A horse with
fish's tail is portrayed as Equas neptatni. The
hyena and a water rat are classed with the
fishes, while the sea-serpent (Drdco naarinas)
exceeds the widest dream of the American
seaside landlord of to-day. Grabs have almost
human faces; shells are shown whirling the
wrong way and all this is for the delectation
of the Parisians of the sixteenth century. In
an old-fashioned history it is narrated that on
the 18th of March, 592. an officer stationed at
the delta of the Nile, in lower Egypt, while
walking with some friends, came upon astrange
seaman and sea-woman. They swan along
the shore and, the learned soldier" says "the
man had fierce air and terrible aspect. His
hair was red and somewhat busby and his skin
was a brownish color. The wonanS face was
sweet and mild, her hair was black, and fioated
on her shoulders, her body white, and her
breasts quite prominent" These two mon
sters remained over two hours in sight of the
officer, and SO much attention was taken of it,
that Maurice, who then reigned, came to see the
strange beings.
Again, in work entitled "Agaub Ell NAL
klowkat," by Cafornia, celebrated writer, the
following statement is made:
"In 1914 fish was caught in the Caspian Sea
and opened in the presence of Prince Salem,
and within the fish was found sea-girl. =
s sss had msdg p gafn If 81 HsBoua
which came down to Der knees. She some
times held her hands to her face, and at others
over her hair. She drew heavy signs, and only
lived few moments.
Central Europe, it seems, was not exempt,
as in the "History of the Netherlands OF
1880, we find the following remarkable yarn:
nAfter a great inundation some women OF
the town of Edano, situated on the Sea OF Iea-
land, at the extremity of the little river Lye,
going in their boat from their town to Pomme-
ranae, where their COWS we're feeding, found on
their way a sea-girl, half-buried in the sand.
| They washed her and took her E3ano, where
| they clothed her"
| The history adds that they taught this girl to
| spin and to make the sign OF the cross but they
l 4 oh, hart nrNn
| though they took her to Haerlem, where some
| literati ATTEMPTED to make her speak. On the
| 31st of May, 1871, the following account was
| drawn up by P. Luce, Captain-C Commander o.
| the quarters of the Diamant, in Martinlco, II
| the presence of the notary OF the quarters, re
| fer de Beyllle and four other witnesses.
SIN returning from the Islands of the Ola
mant we saw near the shore sea-monster
human form from the middle upward, and ter
aminating below like fish. Ills tau was larg
| and split His head was the size of an ordlna
| nv MANS with straight hair, black and inter
| mixed with gray His face was large and full
His arms and hands we're like ours, and
seemed to wipe his face with them as he rose
His skin was moderately white and his lengt
seemed about five feet. His air Was herce an
he looked at us all with great attention
When we saw him first he was not above seve
PAGES off, but he dived and reappeared SO CLOS
that one of the men presented his hsh-llne, III
on which he disappeared"
l SuCn were SUIu6 u LILO StlduSO SUDiiOo "a oiAA
pie folks, who evidently believed all the
| swore to. In a comparatively late history {
| Portugal we find the following statement:
con the Indian coast Is men and wome
were captured and sent to Don Emanuel, br
| only two survived the voyage, woman an
her daughter They were very melanchol.
would eat but little, and were slowly dyins
| when the King, touched by their condition, O.
dered them to be chained and put in shsllo
water. On seeing the water they rushed to
eagerly. and having plunged themselve
showed by thousand tricks their joy and sa
| isfaction. They remained three hours undo
water In this manner they were kept ally
three years, but never learned to utter word.
Oliver NORM, Captain of the vessel Mary
Grace, leaves us the following as fact. II
says:
ION Thursday the 9Th of August, 1920, W
we're lying in % fathoms of water off the New
foundland Banks, when, at 10 o'clock, q SCI
man appeared under our 6gurehead. tof
the gaff to draw him aboard, but was afraid
would draw me over. For this reason IL
gave him blow on the back. When them
ster felt the blow ne turned his face to 1.-THE
| er like man in wrath. He swan arr laid
| ship, and when he was leaving beTwhlch
hold of the rudder with both haEh sides
obliged the crew O fix its handle n. Then
| of the ship. lest he should enhancing like
he repassed by the starboard, swne stopped
man. and when he was at the rs that OF a
| TO look at the figurehead, whls long cons1d-
Il beautiful woman. After hraised himself
cred it, he laid hold of ropso seize it. He
up with the seeming intepira OF ine snip
afterward swan to the wasting behind her
about cables length, aer. The Captain
again. laid hold of the struck at him, but
| then ordered harpoo' which he turned his
| only struck his back IS ne had before"
face mn to the captsasted until noon, the
, This entertainniat time been near the
monster bavino1 10 feet away, so that the
uessaI am dot men, had the pleasure
| $3.50 aposedf remarking the following
Iaqqfdicni nrehie9 his skin was brown and
ltanned hs: 3ut scales; that all the motions
of b;s out I'm head to foot were like those
of a pea D1Ouy that his eyes were well proper
TONED a - IHgis mouth was small, considering
the len,otT his body, which was supposed to
be- abeso feet. His tongue was thick, his
teeth re and white; in word, he was SINH
lar pt to man, except that his hands were Joined
witha pellicle, such as that found in the feet |
of lgcks and geese, Within week the writer
iistned to discussion between two persons
gon the different methods of producing worms
ane on other points. Even Shakespeare tells
s that
Which like the courser's hair, hath yet but life
And not serpents poison.'
The tears of the crocodile are facts to many
the present day, who, perhaps, relied upon
ir John Vaudeville, great traveller and G.
srver, and one of the earliest writer's of Eng
sh prose. In his "Voiage, published in 1856,
e says: "Contre and be all yonde, ben great
lenty of crokodilles, that is, manner of a
ing serpent as L have seyed before" He fur
Ter remarks that "these serpents slew men,
nd devoured them, weeping, and he tells us,
,o that "whan thei eaten thei meyen [move] |
le over jowe, upper jaw and nought the
ether [lower] iowe, and thei have no tonge
ougue1." Sir John thus states two popular
sliefs of his time and of days prior TO his age,
amely that crocodiles moved their upper
WIS, and that tongue was absent in these an
nals. One of the most curious and extended
sliefs of olden times was that ducks came
ON barnacles and dropped from trees Be-
geen 1854 and 1889 Giraldus Cambrenss, in
prk entitled Topographic Hiberni@,' writ
"a in Latin, remarks concerning "msny
tds which are called Berndcoe."
Against nature, nature produces them in a
lost extraordinary way. They are like marsh |