s killed, which place is then carefully marked
by the erection of a stone tablet with the words "O-me-o-to-fat"
transcribed on it. The performance concludes with the cutting up and
selling of the horse's body for food. Amongst the numerous other creeks
that have witnessed this practice in recent years are those adjoining
the villages of Tsze-tow (near Whampoa) and Gna-zew (near Canton).

Various of the lakes, particularly the crater lakes of America, were
once thought to be haunted by spirits or devils of a fiery red who
raised storms and upset canoes.

_Sirens_

But by far the most fascinating of all the phantasms of the water are
the sirens that haunted (and still occasionally haunt) rivers and
waterfalls, particularly those of Germany and Austria. Not so very long
ago on my travels I came across an aged Hungarian who declared that he
had once seen a siren. I append the story he told me, as nearly as
possible in his own words.

"My brother Hans and I were wandering, early one morning, along the
banks of a tributary of the Drave, in search of birds' eggs. The shores
on either side the river were thickly wooded, and so rough and uneven in
places that we had to exercise the greatest care to avoid getting hurt.
Few people visited the neighbourhood, save in the warmest and brightest
time of the day, and, with the exception of a woodcutter, we had met no
one. Much, then, to our astonishment, on arriving at an open space on
the bank, we heard the sound of singing and music. 'Whoever can it be?'
we asked ourselves, and then, advancing close to the water's edge, we
strained our heads, and saw, perched high on a rock in midstream a few
feet to our left, a girl with long yellow hair and a face of the most
exquisite beauty. Though I was too young then to trouble my head about
girls, I could not help being struck with this one, whilst Hans, who was
several years older than I, was simply spellbound. 'My God! how lovely!'
he cried out, 'and what a voice--how exquisite! Isn't she divine? She is
altogether too beautiful for a human being; she must be an angel,' and
he fell on his knees and extended his hands towards her, as if in the
act of worship. Never having seen Hans behave in such a queer way
before, I touched him on the shoulder, and said: 'Get up! If you go on
like this the lady will think you mad. Besides, it is getting late, we
ought to be going on!' But Hans did not heed me. He still continued to
exclaim aloud, expres