Page:A description of Greenland.djvu/124

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88
The Natural Hiſtory
coming out of the Water, its Head reached as high as the Maſt-Head; its Body was as bulky as the Ship, and three or four
Times

    dreadful Monſter, which they at laſt underſtand by the intangling of their Hooks and Angels in its Body; which the Monſter feeling, riſes ſoftly from the Bottom to the Surface, and ſeizes them all; if in Time they do not perceive him and prevent their Deſtruction, which they may eaſily do, only calling it by its Name, which it no ſooner hears, but it ſinks down again as ſoftly as it did riſe. They tell you of another Sea Spectre,The Draw another pretended Sea Spectre. which they call the Draw, who keeps to no now in another. It appears and is heard before any Misfortunes, as Shipwrecks and the like, happen at Sea, which it forbodes with a moſt frightful and gaſtly howling; and they ſay it ſometimes utters Words like a Man. It haunts the Fiſhing Boats at Nights, putting all Things topſy turvy.It moſt commonly diverts itſelf, in putting all Things out of Order, after the Fiſhermen are gone at Nights to reſt; and then he leaves behind him a naſty Stench. The Fiſhermen will not ſuffer the Truth of this Tale to be queſtioned, but pretend it is confeſſed. But the moſt ſuperſtitious among them go yet a Step further, and will make you believe, that there appears out of the Water, in the Shape of a Child in ſwadling Cloaths, which they call Marmel, and ſometimes draw him out of the Sea with their Angling Hook, when he ſpeaks to them with a human Voice. They carry him to their home, and at Night they put him into one of their Boots, there to reſt. In the Morning, when they go a fiſhing

again,