inous families of Fishes, the Sharks and Rays.
But the animal was indubitably a Mammal; and therefore we may almost
with certainty assume that, if the body terminated in a natatory
expansion, it would be, as in the whales, and manatees, a horizontal
expansion, and not a vertical one. But if the strange creature was
indeed, as I conclude, of the Phocine type, we have only to suppose the
tail, which is usually very small in this family, to have been so
greatly developed, as to exceed the united hind feet, which may have
been small, and the appearance, seen momentarily, and in the wash of the
waves, might well seem that of a heterocercal tail.

Captain Weddell, well known for his geographical discoveries in the
extreme south of the globe, relates the following story: "A boat's crew
were employed on Hall's Island, when one of the crew, left to take care
of some produce, saw an animal whose voice was even musical. The sailor
had lain down, and about ten o'clock he heard a noise resembling human
cries; and as daylight in these latitudes never disappears at this
season, he rose and looked around; but, on seeing no person, returned to
bed; presently he heard the noise again; rose a second time, but still
saw nothing. Conceiving, however, the possibility of a boat being upset,
and that some of the crew might be clinging to some detached rocks, he
walked along the beach a few steps, and heard the noise more distinctly,
but in a musical strain. Upon searching round he saw an object lying on
a rock a dozen yards from the shore, at which he was somewhat
frightened. The face and shoulders appeared of human form, and of a
reddish colour; over the shoulders hung long green hair; the tail
resembled that of the seal, but the extremities of the arms he could not
see distinctly. The creature continued to make a musical noise while he
gazed about two minutes, and on perceiving him it disappeared in an
instant. Immediately when the man saw his officer, he told this wild
tale, and to add weight to his testimony, (being a Romanist,) he made a
cross on the sand which he kissed, as making oath to the truth of his
statement. When I saw him, he told the story in so clear and positive a
manner, making oath to its truth, that I concluded he must really have
seen the animal he described, or that it must have been the effects of a
disturbed imagination."[94]

The _green_ hair in this description is the most suspicious element; it
is so exactly that a