Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1894-02-03
EVIL NAUTICAL OMENS.
Things That Sailors Dread-Mermaids, Sc,
Serpents, SHARKS and PhantOms.

serpents, Sharks and PhantOms.
About Vineyard sound there are mum.
erous legends Of q famous Indian giant.
1t is said that the rocks at Seaconnet
are the remains of his wife, whom he
threw into the sea there. He turned
his children into fishes, and, emptying
out his pipe n day, formed Nantucket
out of its ashes. This latter story Of
Nantucket's source must account like
wise for the well-known story of that
old Nantucket captain who was accus-
toned to make his reckonings by tast-
ing the earth brought up IN sounding.
One day the lead was dipped in some
earth brought on board ship from the
island, and the captain, after tasting,
leaped from his berth in great excite.
ment, exclaiming: "Nantucket's sunk,
and here we are tight over old Marin
ilackett's garden" Naturally he would
recognize the taste of tobacco ashes.
Mermaids work dire mischief, whether
in the shape of the famous Lorelei Of
the Rhine, or as frequently seen by
sailors, and are sometimes regarded as
the sign of coming disaster. Naturally,
many terrible accidents have followed
the discovery of one Of these beautiful
creatures, and as people are always
waiting to put cause and effect to-
gether the result has been this belief
Tales about the sea serpent are grow
ing too common, but together with
everything else of a kindred nature the
appearance of this monster is asso-
ciated with impending disaster in the
mind of a sailor.
sailor always regards the presence
of a shark about a ship a most fatal
omen to the sick on board. The high
est eXultation ever witnessed on a man.
of-war was occasioned by happening
a shark that was hanging about while
a favorite was sick; but the appearance
of a shark is often fatal to the life of
o bather in the ocean AS well as Il sail
or upon it, and is quite as much to be
dreaded.
Ghosts OF all sorts and kinds prefer
travelling by water to almost any other
mode, and our own Cotton Mather tells
us Of a specter that visited a colonial
ship, carrying off in a ghostly
seven of the crew at u time, lie also
says: Many persons who h.se died at
sea have been seen, within Il day of
their death, by friends at home" As
late as the seventeenth century they
tell a story of a ship about to sail for
England that had as passengers a
strange man and a girl of great beauty.
So mysterious were their actions that
they were supposed to be demons, and
many feared to sail in the ship. The
vessel sailed on Friday and never
reached her destination, but appeared
as narrated after a storm that lasted
three days.
Near and more near the ship came on
With all her broad sal $ spread;
The night grew thick, but o phantom ligh.
Around her path was shed,
And the waters shuddered as on they came,
For against the wind she sped,
Longfellow also tells a similar story
in his phantom Ship" while all lovers
of good music will remember the story
OF the opera "The Flying Dutchman."
There is a superstition that a ship no
longer seaworthy, just before breaking
up between the strains of wind and
wave, has been known to give forth
wailing sounds like moaning. The
sailors can not account for this, but he
knows too well its import, and loses
heart at the melancholy sound. This
is also noticed by Cooper in his Red
Rover" where one of the characters is
made to say: "A ship which is about
TO sink makes her lamentations just
like any other human being."-Boston
Transcript.