A MERMAN OF THE IRISH COAST.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 175, 30 December 1874, Page 3

A MERMAN OF THE IRISH COAST.

{From the Colcrainc Chronicle.) The inhabitants of Portrush have been thrown into a state of alarm during the past few weeks by the report that a curious and previously unheard of species of seamonster had been observed in the neighborhood of the "Blue Pool." It seems that Dr Snaggleton, a scientific and highly-gifted naturalist and a writer of some repute, was taking a p-all in a boat, accompanied by two ladies, when his attention was drawn to this singular and extraordinary creature. Dr Snaggleton thus describes him:—"ln form and color he has much the appearance of an ordinary man; the skin was perfectly white, with the exception of the lower part of the body, which appeared to be striped, and of a blue and white color; there was a quantity of black hair underneath the chin, and the nose appeared to be prominent and well developed. When I observed him he was standing composedly on the top of a small cliff, -with the arms pressed close down to the sides : and suddenly, to my astonishment, he took a sort of side leap into the sea, within twenty feet of our boat. Fearing for the safety of the occupants of our small craft I quickly pulled out into the open sea, and saw nothing more of him. Dr Snaggleton believes the creature to belong to a species termed " Submergis Japanarius, or Japanese sea-diver," a very common animal on the northern shores of Japan, and is borne out in this opinion by Professor Dobbs, P.R.S., who says that "these extraordinary creatures have been frequently mistaken for human beings, and are usually seen in small shoals near Yokaliama ;" and from the fact that a few of them have lately been seen proceeding in the direction of the Skerries, we are inclined to believe that these interesting specimens belong to the tribe mentioned by the learned professor, but how or by what means they have wandere 1 to our shores is a problem we are not able to solve. "We may add that Dr Snaggleton intends, if possible, to procure a specimen, and place it in the Belfast Museum.