Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-09
PEOPLE OF THE OCEAN.
Curious Beiiefs Which Are Held About Mer-
men and Mermaida.

/ SoKhOuD beuefn W ttch Arc Held AOOut Aer-
men and Mermaida
| STORIES TOLD OF THEM ALI. OVER THE WORLD
SEEN By EARLY SsvIoAroRs-soNE Which
HAVE BEEN cAPrrRED-NARRIAGEs BETWEEN
SEA PEOPLE AND HUMAN BEINGS - WATER
sPRrrEs.
In THE HEBRIDES SEA BEANS ARE
= supposed to be fairies' eggs Whether
| this is q correct belief or not IL is GER
tain that all peoples OF the world living
near the ocean have entertained faith tina.
its waters were inhabited by human-like
creatures more or less supernatural. Nor
men and mermaids have figured in song and
story from the most ancient times. Many Of
the accounts given respecting them are highly
circumstantial. On one occasion . Shetland
| fisherman saw group Of mermaids dancing
on the strand. He ran and picked mp the seal
skin belonging to one Of them before she could
secure it. Then she was at mis- mercy and was
| obliged to marry him. One Of her children
found the sealskin subsequently and showed it
to her. She immediately pnt it on and escaped
into the water. being afterward seen by her
| husband in the form of . seal
MERMAIDs A. Scala
| Mermaids have been said to commonly ap-
pear In the form Of seals while in the water.
divesting themselves Of the skins when they
| come on shore and assuming the aspect of
beautiful girls: Sometim they are Of an amiable
| disposition, while on other occasions they are
| extremely mischievous In Russia they are
| disposed to tickle bathers to death. Water
| sprites in that country are imagined to be the
ghosts of still-born and unbaptised children or
OF drowned persons. They light the mysteri
GUS JACKIE lantern Sometimes they raise
| storms, and ordinarily they have much infiu-
ence upon the luck Of fishermen.
| Columbus described three mermaids which
he himself saw floating the waves. Many
| other early navigators give similar accounts
| In the writings of Hendrix Hudson that bold
| mariner says: "One of our company looking
| overheard saw q mermaid She came close to
the ships side, looking earnestly at the men.
| soon after sea came and overturned her
| From the navel up her back and breasts were
/ IKE womans, her body as big as one of
us, and long black hair hanging down behind.
| When she Owed We saw her tail which was like
that OF porpoise, speckled like a mackerel."
| Undoubtedly these mermaids beheld by old
| time voyagers were dugongs and manatees
| Seals and walrus seen by persons unfamiliar
with those animals have given rise to many
! such tales
Scoresby says that the front view Of young
| walrus without tusks resembles q human face
| 30 remarkably that sit required very little
| stretch OF the imagination to mistake the head
reared above the water for that of o human be-
Ing. The French call the manatee ''sea woman"
and the dugong is named by the Dutch little
man. Stories Of mermaids singing or talking
may have arisen from hearing the cries of SEALS
| which resemble those OF children somewhat
| MERMAID ON SHORE.
In learned report respecting q mermaid
caught in Denmark, who was taught to knit
Dr.. Kerschur describes the creature As having
| pretty face, mild eyes, a small nose, fingers
| Joined by cartilage like q gooses foot and
| breasts round and hard He asserted that
| mermalds and mermen constitute submarine
population, which, partaking of the skill OF the
ape and the beaver, build grottoes of stone in
places inaccessible to divers. In 1911 a sea
| woman was taken alive near the island of Boro
She was five feet long. After surviving four
DAYS she died. not having eaten anything. Her
| head was like that of a woman the ewes light
| blue and the hair sea green. The upper parts
OF her body were almost white as a woman g.
out the lower part was like the tail OF fish.
| IN CAPTIVITY.
1t is related that in 1893 q mermaid SWIM
ming in the Zuyder Zee during q period Of
tempest and very high tides was carried through
a hole in broken dyke and could not find her
way out again. She was captured and taken to
the town OF Edam. where she was washed and
| cleansed from the sea moss which had grown
about her She then appeared like any woman
Of the land. adopting proper dress ard par
| taking OF ordinary food. She tried often to
| escape and to make her way to the water,
| but was closely guarded. People came
| from great distances to see her. Sup
posing this story to be true, the woman was
either a fraud or demented outcast In the
Farce Islands it is believed that on every ninth
night the seals cast off their skins. assume hu-
man forms and dance on the beach. But if
they lose their sealskins in any way they cannot
| resume the shapes of seals.
| cARRYING OFF HUMAN BEINGS
Numerous instances are related Of these
people Of the sea having carried off human
| beings, conveying them to their pearl-lined
grottoes in the depths. Mermeu have in this
| manner often obtained human girls for brides.
while mermaids not infrequently seek to secure
| for husbands good-lookinG youths from dry
| land. Sometimes the individuals who are en-
I trapped or seduced into taking up a submarine
manner of life have found it much more epioy-
| able than their former terrestrial existence.
but in a majority OF the cases on record
| they have sought to escape sooner or
later. In Denmark one day a norman
| entlced a maiden to the bottom of the ocean
She became his wife and bore him several
| children, but she always felt a longing 10 go
| up when she heard the bells in the steeples of
her native village. Finally her husband per-
mltted her to go, on promise that she
| would return, but she never did come back.
and his walls from the depths are often heard.
AN ARAB BELIEF.
| The Arabs believe that certain fishmen live
on islands in the Indian ocean and eat drowned
people. In a japanese story a boy has his fish
hook carried off by large fish norman
appears and sets him afioat in a basket in
| which he sinks to the palace of the sea dragon.
whose daughter he falls in love with and
/ marries.
In the tale of the Lord Of Dunkerron he en-
/ counters mermaid
| For a beautiful spirit of ocean, tits said
The Lord of Dunkerron would win to his bed.
When 10y noonllxnt tue waters were huseed to repose
That beautiful spirit of ocean arose.
Her naIr ,ull o, ulster Just ioaled and fell
Der her BOSOM that heavec win biliowy swell"
SOME EXTRAORDINARY TALES
| 1t is said that mermaid asked a Scotchmsn
who was reading the Bible if there was any COM
| fort in the book for her. He replied that there
was mercy for the sons and daughters of Adam
| whereuIon she screamed and disappeared. In
the year 1919 two councillors OF Christian Nv of
Denmark, while sailing between Norway and
Sweden, discovered a norman swimming about
with bunch of grass on his head. They threw
out a hook and line. baited with q slice of
bacon, which the norman seized. Being
caught, he threatened vengeance so loudly thai
he was thrown back into the sea. One extraor-
| binary tale relates to a maiden who while on a
voyage is seen and beloved by norman
He bores hole in the ship and transforms her
into serpent, thus enabling her to escape
through the hole. after which he changes her
into mermaid and makes her his wife. In
Sicilian story maiden treacherously thrown
into the sea is carried Oh by norman and
chained to his tail On one occasion peasant