Thanks all. Charley, I'm glad Serena arrived safely. I was hoping she'd survive in that envelope. She is rather solid looking.

For those who don't know, Guam claims to be the birthplace of the first mermaid. Guam legend has it that Serena was a daughter who'd rather swim than do her chores. One day her mother, exasperated to find her in the water rather than working, proclaimed she wished her daughter were a fish instead of a person. The child's godmother was nearby and immediately realized that the mother had cursed her child. She interfered declaring herself as much a relative of the child as the mother and tried to revoke the curse. Unfortunately it only half worked and Serena's lower half was turned into a fish.

There are lots of stories here about the old days on Guam. One is the story of a jealous chief who declared himself the strongest man on the island. His son, though, was growing strong and fast. One day he saw the son doing things that he himself couldn't do. He was so enraged that he chased affter the boy intent to kill him. The boy ran and when he got to the northern end of the island leaped from the cliff top all the way to Rota, 40 miles away and thus escaped from his father. The father was content for he was once more the strongets man on the island. The boy never returned to Guam.

There are books that compile these stories. I need to get hold of them.