A Real Merman.

Manawatu Herald, 9 January 1897, Page 3

A Real Merman.

What appears a very Yankee atory Mines by way of America. j What appears, to be a genuine OMgman was brought into the port ff Taooma on 24th October, by a ■arty of Englishmen. They had Itta porpoise fishing in the Pacific and were more than confounded at the extraordinary creature they •aptured. They came in with their prize fully convinced that the old ■toriea about mermen and mermaids were all true, in spite of the scoffers. The man who deserves credit of this wonderful discovery is Major W. E. Thorncliff, of the British Army. Thia is the story of the Major'd adventure, in his own words : — " Oar party, which consisted of Mvsral English noblemen, a French statesman, and a Russian Prince, left Hokondaoh, Japan, on a fishing and Hunting expedition to this coast, ! on board of Prince Gerenoffs steam ' yaoht Anedamoff, on June 20, and Wt eruittd along the shores of the AJtutUn Ptnlai ula, calling iuto many I

very fine bays and harbours along the coast. We ahot on shore and fished in the waters of both Behring sea and Pacific Ocean, and have, as trophies of our skill, a fine collection of pelts, as well as skeletons of many rare creatures. But on" the 26th, wheu off the Island of Watmoff, our men sighted a school of porpoises, among which could be seen eeveral white ones. Our hunting boat was lowered, and Lord Devonshire, the Earl and I, with the boat's crew, pat off from the yacht, determined to capture some of the rare sea pigs. After pulling about four miles we found ourselves in the centre of the school. Lord Devonshire got a shot at one of the white boys with ft large express rifle, which quickly ended its career. As we were putting oar guns away the Earl called out, * See that I' pointing to a most startling looking beast, not more than a cable's length away. Picking up his express he fired point blank at it, striking the creature. between the eyes. .The shot, though it did not kill it, so stunned it that it lay perfectly still on the surface of the sea. As -our boat hauled alongside we saw the most hideous and uncanny looking monster probably that human eyes ever looked upon. Although at a distance it might perhaps be mistaken for a porpoise, as we came near we saw that it could truly be described by no other name than, that of ' merman.' Aa. we reached -over the aide of the boat to haul tha .creature in it regained some of iti vitality. | It caught the boit by the gun whale amidships, and had it' not been for the fact that when the arms came up out of the sea we naturally shrank to the other side of the boat it would, ! without doubt, have capsized us. I One of the men picked up an axe and quickly despatched the monster. The better way now would be for you to come with me and I will show you the strange creature which I am now taking to England to present to the British Museum. After seeing it you will, 1 am sure, be inclined to the opinion that onca it is placed there it will easily outrank all of the many strange things to be found in that great repository of the world's rarities." Then the Major led the way to a store-r oom on the Pacifio Avenue, where, in the middle of the floor, was a large, coffin-shaped box. It was ten feet long, three feet wide and three feet deep. Taking the screwdriver the Major unfastened the top. AH that could be seen was some ice, covered with a white woollen blanket. Taking the blanket by the end be quickly removed is, and aa he did so the sight of the contents of the box almost froze my blood, for right before ray eye* was apparently. the naked body of a large man. ; The Major then removed the cloth whioh covered the lower part of the body. This is exaotly thVsame as that of an ordinary porpoise. The monster is one of the most remarkable freaks of nature ever put to* gether. The strange monstrosity measured ten feet from its nose to the end of its fluke shaped tail, and the girth of iti human-shaped body was just six feet. It would weigh, it is estimated, close to five hundred pounds. From about the breastbone to. a point about where the base of the stomach would be, were it human, it looked exaotly like a man. Its arms, quite human in shape and form, are very long, and covered completely with coarse darkreddish hair, as is the whole body. It had, or did have at one time, four fingers and a thumb on each hand, almost human in shape, except that in place of finger nails there were long slender claws. But in days probably long since gone by it had evidently fought some monster that had got the best of it, for the fore* finger of the right hand, the little finger of the left, and the left thumb are missing entirely. Immediately under the right breast is a broad, ugly- looking scar, which looked as if some time in the past it had been inflicted by a swordfUh. On the sides and body of the monster are numerous other evidences that its life in the ocaan had been far from a plaoid one. There is hardly a space the size of one's hand that does not show evidence of having at ~ ictue time or other received wound?*