Produced by Chris Curnow, Jennifer Linklater and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)






[Illustration: EX LIBRIS]




_PUBLISHER’S NOTE._

_Two hundred and ten copies of this Work printed on superfine Royal 8vo
paper. Each copy numbered. Type distributed._

_No. 175_




  CURIOUS
  CREATURES
  IN
  ZOOLOGY

  With 130 Illustrations
  throughout the Text

  JOHN ASHTON

  [Illustration]

  LONDON
  JOHN C. NIMMO
  14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND
  1890




[Illustration]

PREFACE.


“Travellers see strange things,” more especially when their writing
about, or delineation of, them is not put under the microscope of modern
scientific examination. Our ancestors were content with what was given
them, and being, as a rule, a stay-at-home race, they could not confute
the stories they read in books. That age of faith must have had its
comforts, for no man could deny the truth of what he was told. But now
that modern travel has subdued the globe, and inquisitive strangers have
poked their noses into every portion of the world, “the old order
changeth, giving place to new,” and, gradually, the old stories are
forgotten.

It is to rescue some of them from the oblivion into which they were fast
falling, that I have written, or compiled, this book. I say compiled it,
for I am fonder of letting old authors tell their stories in their
old-fashioned language, than to paraphrase it, and usurp the credit of
their writings, as is too much the mode now-a-days.

It is not given to every one to be able to consult the old Naturalists;
and, besides, most of them are written in Latin, and to read them
through is partly unprofitable work, as they copy so largely one from
another. But, for the general reader, selections can be made, and, if
assisted by accurate reproductions of the very quaint wood engravings, a
book may be produced which, I venture to think, will not prove tiring,
even to a superficial reader.

Perhaps the greatest wonders of the creation, and the strangest forms of
being, have been met with in the sea; and as people who only
occasionally saw them were not draughtsmen, but had to describe the
monsters they had seen on their return to land, their effigies came to
be exceedingly marvellous, and unlike the originals. The Northern Ocean,
especially, was their abode, and, among the Northern nations, tales of
Kraken, Sea-Serpents, Whirlpools, Mermen, &c., &c., lingered long after
they were received with doubt by other nations; but perhaps the most
credulous times were the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when no
travellers’ tales seem too gross for belief, as can well be seen in the
extreme popularity, throughout all Europe, of the “Voyages and Travels
of Sir John Maundeville,” who, though he may be a myth, and his
so-called writings a compilation, yet that compilation represented the
sum of knowledge, both of Geography, and Natural History, of countries
not European, that was attainable in the first half of the fourteenth
century.

All the old Naturalists copied from one another, and thus compiled
their writings. Pliny took from Aristotle, others quote Pliny, and so
on; but it was reserved for the age of printing to render their writings
available to the many, as well as to represent the creatures they
describe by pictures (“the books of the unlearned”), which add so much
piquancy to the text.

Mine is not a learned disquisition. It is simply a collection of
zoological curiosities, put together to suit the popular taste of
to-day, and as such only should it be critically judged.

    JOHN ASHTON.

[Illustration]




[Illustration]

CONTENTS.


                                                        PAGE

  INTRODUCTORY                                             1

  AMAZONS                                                 23

  PYGMIES                                                 26

  GIANTS                                                  32

  EARLY MEN                                               38

  WILD MEN                                                44

  HAIRY MEN                                               47

  THE OURAN OUTAN                                         51

  SATYRS                                                  55

  THE SPHYNX                                              61

  APES                                                    65

  ANIMAL LORE                                             67

  THE MANTICORA                                           71

  THE LAMIA                                               74

  THE CENTAUR                                             78

  THE GORGON                                              83

  THE UNICORN                                             87

  THE RHINOCEROS                                          97

  THE GULO                                               101

  THE BEAR                                               105

  THE FOX                                                125

  THE WOLF                                               134

  WERE-WOLVES                                            140

  THE ANTELOPE                                           145

  THE HORSE                                              146

  THE MIMICK DOG                                         150

  THE CAT                                                154

  THE LION                                               156

  THE LEONTOPHONUS--PEGASUS--CROCOTTA                    157

  THE LEUCROCOTTA--THE EALE--CATTLE FEEDING BACKWARDS    159

  ANIMAL MEDICINE                                        160

  THE SU                                                 163

  THE LAMB-TREE                                          165

  THE CHIMÆRA                                            170

  THE HARPY AND SIREN                                    171

  THE BARNACLE GOOSE                                     174

  REMARKABLE EGG                                         179

  MOON WOMAN                                             180

  THE GRIFFIN                                            180

  THE PHŒNIX                                             183

  THE SWALLOW                                            186

  THE MARTLET, AND FOOTLESS BIRDS                        189

  SNOW BIRDS                                             191

  THE SWAN                                               193

  THE ALLE, ALLE                                         194

  THE HOOPOE AND LAPWING                                 196

  THE OSTRICH                                            197

  THE HALCYON                                            199

  THE PELICAN                                            200

  THE TROCHILUS                                          201

  WOOLLY HENS                                            202

  TWO-HEADED WILD GEESE                                  203

  FOUR-FOOTED DUCK                                       203

  FISH                                                   206

  MERMEN                                                 206

  WHALES                                                 214

  THE SEA-MOUSE                                          234

  THE SEA-HARE                                           234

  THE SEA-PIG                                            235

  THE WALRUS                                             235

  THE ZIPHIUS                                            238

  THE SAW FISH                                           239

  THE ORCA                                               239

  THE DOLPHIN                                            242

  THE NARWHAL                                            244

  THE SWAMFISCK                                          245

  THE SAHAB                                              247

  THE CIRCHOS                                            247

  THE REMORA                                             253

  THE DOG-FISH AND RAY                                   255

  THE SEA DRAGON                                         256

  THE STING RAY                                          256

  SENSES OF FISHES                                       258

  ZOOPHYTES                                              259

  SPONGES                                                260

  THE KRAKEN                                             261

  CRAYFISH AND CRABS                                     267

  THE SEA-SERPENT                                        268

  SERPENTS                                               278

  WORMES AND DRAGONS                                     293

  THE CROCODILE                                          311

  THE BASILISK AND COCKATRICE                            317

  THE SALAMANDER                                         323

  THE TOAD                                               326

  THE LEECH                                              329

  THE SCORPION                                           330

  THE ANT                                                332

  THE BEE                                                332

  THE HORNET                                             333

  INDEX                                                  335

[Illustration]




CURIOUS CREATURES.


Let us commence our researches into curious Zoology with the noblest of
created beings, Man; and, if we may believe Darwin, he must have gone
through many phases, and gradual mutations, before he arrived at his
present proud position of Master and Conqueror of the World.

This philosopher does not assign a high place in the animal creation to
proud man’s protogenitor, and we ought almost to feel thankful to him
for not going further back. He begins with man as an Ascidian, which is
the lowest form of anything of a vertebrate character, with which we are
acquainted; and he says thus, in his “Descent of Man”:--

“The most ancient progenitors in the kingdom of the Vertebrata, at which
we are able to obtain an obscure glance, apparently consisted of a group
of marine animals, resembling the larvæ of existing Ascidians. These
animals probably gave rise to a group of fishes, as lowly organised as
the lancelet; and from these the Ganoids, and other fishes like the
Lepidosiren, must have been developed. From such fish a very small
advance would carry us on to the amphibians. We see that birds and
reptiles were once intimately connected together; and the Monotremata
now, in a slight degree, connect mammals with reptiles. But no one can,
at present, say by what line of descent the three higher, and related
classes--namely, mammals, birds, and reptiles, were derived from either
of the two lower vertebrate classes, namely, amphibians, and fishes. In
the class of mammals the steps are not difficult to conceive which led
from the ancient Monotremata to the ancient Marsupials; and from these
to the early progenitors of the placental mammals. We may thus ascend to
the Lemuridæ; and the interval is not wide from these to the Simiadæ.
The Simiadæ then branched off into two great stems, the New World, and
Old World monkeys; and from the latter, at a remote period, Man, the
wonder and glory of the Universe, proceeded.”

       *       *       *       *       *

“We have thus far endeavoured rudely to trace the genealogy of the
Vertebrata, by the aid of their mutual affinities. We will now look to
man as he exists; and we shall, I think, be able partially to restore
during successive periods, but not in order of time, the structure of
our early progenitors. This can be effected by means of the rudiments
which man still retains, by the characters which occasionally make their
appearance in him through reversion, and by the aid of morphology and
embryology. The various facts to which I shall here allude, have been
given in the previous chapters. The early progenitors of man were no
doubt once covered with hair, both sexes having beards; their ears were
pointed and capable of movement; and their bodies were provided with a
tail, having the proper muscles. Their limbs and bodies were also acted
on by many muscles, which now only occasionally reappear, but are
normally present in the Quadrumana.... The foot, judging from the great
toe in the fœtus, was then prehensile; and our progenitors, no doubt,
were arboreal in their habits, frequenting some warm, forest-clad land.
The males were provided with great canine teeth, which served them as
formidable weapons.”

In fact, as Mortimer Collins satirically, yet amusingly, wrote:--

    “There was an APE, in the days that were earlier;
    Centuries passed, and his hair became curlier,
    Centuries more gave a thumb to his wrist,--
    Then he was MAN, and a POSITIVIST.”

[Illustration]

The accompanying illustration, which seems to embody all the
requirements of Darwin, as representing our maternal progenitor, is from
an old book by Joannes Zahn, published in 1696--and there figures as
“Ourani Outains.”

[Illustration]

Darwin says that the men of the period wore tails, and if they were no
longer than that in this illustration (which is copied from the same
book), they can hardly be said to be unbecoming--still that is a matter
for taste--they are certainly more graceful than if they had been
rat-like, or like a greyhound, or toy terrier. Many old authors speak of
tailed men in Borneo and Java, and not only were men so adorned, but
women. Peter Martyr says that in a region called Inzaganin, there is a
tailed race--these laboured under the difficulty of being unable to move
them like animals--but as he observes, they were stiff like those of
fishes and crocodiles--so much so, that when they wanted to sit down,
they had to use seats with holes in them.

Ptolemy and Ctesias speak of them, and Pliny says there were men in
Ceylon who had long hairy tails, and were of remarkable swiftness of
foot. Marco Polo tells us: “Now you must know that in this kingdom of
Lambri[1] there are men with tails; these tails are of a palm in length,
and have no hair on them. These people live in the mountains, and are a
kind of wild men. Their tails are about the thickness of a dog’s.” Many
modern travellers have heard of hairy and tailed people in the Malay
Archipelago, and Mr. St. John, writing of Borneo, says that he met with
a trader who had seen and felt the tails of a race which inhabited the
north-east coast of the island. These tails were about four inches long,
and so stiff that they had to use perforated seats. The Chinese also
declare that in the mountains above Canton there is a race of tailed
men. M. de Couret wrote about the Niam Niams, tailed men, who, he says,
are living in Abyssinia or Nubia, having tails at least two inches long.
We all know the old Lord Monboddo’s theory that mankind had originally
tails--nay, he went further, and said that some were born with them
now--a fact which will be partially borne out by any military medical
inspecting officer, who in the course of his practice has met with men
whose “os coccygis” has been prolonged, so as to form a pseudo tail,
which would unfit the man for the cavalry, although he would still be
efficient as an infantry soldier.

Here is a very fine picture from a fresco at Pompeii representing tailed
men, or, maybe, æsthetic young Fauns, treading out the vintage.

[Illustration]

But tailed men are as nothing, compared to the wonderful beings that
peopled the earth in bygone times. It seems a pity that there are none
of them now living, and that, consequent upon never having seen them, we
are apt to imagine that they never existed, but were simply the
creatures of the writer’s brain. They were articles of belief until
comparatively recent times, and were familiar in Queen Elizabeth’s time,
as we learn from Othello’s defence of himself (Act i. sc. 3):--

    “And of the Cannibals that each other eat,
    The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads
    Do grow beneath their shoulders.”

They were thoroughly believed in, a century or two previously, in
connection with Geography, and, in the “Mappa Mundi” (one of the
earliest preserved English maps), now in Hereford Cathedral, which dates
from the very early part of the fourteenth century, nearly the whole of
the fanciful men hereafter mentioned are pourtrayed.

[Illustration]

Sluper, who wrote in 1572, gives us the accompanying picture of a
Cyclope, with the following remarks:--

    “De Polipheme & de Ciclopiens
    Tout mention Poetes anciens:
    On dit encor que ce lignage dure
    Auec vn oeil selon ceste figure.”

Pliny places the Cyclopes “in the very centre of the earth, in Italy
and Sicily;” and very likely there they might have existed, if we can
bring ourselves to believe the very plausible explanation that they were
miners, whose lanthorn, or candle, stuck in cap, was their one eye. At
all events we may consider Sluper’s picture as somewhat of a fancy
portrait.

Among the Scythians, inhabiting the country beyond the Palus Mæotis, was
a tribe which Herodotus (although he has been christened “The father of
lies”) did not believe in, nor indeed in any one-eyed men, but Pliny,
living some 500 years after him, tells afresh the old story respecting
these wonderful human beings. “In the vicinity also of those who dwell
in the northern regions, and not far from the spot from which the north
wind arises, and the place which is called its cave, and is known by the
name of Geskleithron,[2] the Arimaspi are said to exist, a nation
remarkable for having but one eye, and that placed in the middle of the
forehead. This race is said to carry on a perpetual warfare with the
Griffins,[3] a kind of monster, with wings, as they are commonly
represented, for the gold which they dig out of the mines, and which
these wild beasts retain, and keep watch over with a singular degree of
cupidity, while the Arimaspi are equally desirous to get possession of
it.”

Milton mentions this tribe in “Paradise Lost,” Book 2.

    “As when a Gryphon through the wilderness,
    With winged course, o’er hill, or mossy dale,
    Pursues the Arimaspian, who, by stealth,
    Had from his wakeful custody purloin’d
    The guarded gold.”

But there seems every probability that the story of the Gryphon was
invented by the goldfinders, in order to deter people from coming near
them, and interfering with their livelihood. There were, however,
smaller Arimaspians, which probably the Gryphons did not heed, for Pliny
tells us about the little thieves of mice. “In gold mines, too, their
stomachs are opened for this purpose, and some of the metal is always to
be found there, which they have pilfered, so great a delight do they
take in stealing!” Livy, also, twice mentions mice gnawing gold.

[Illustration]

There were Anthropophagi--cannibals--as there are now, but, of course,
they then lacked the luxury of cold missionary--and there were, besides,
many wonderful beings. “Beyond the other Scythian Anthropophagi, there
is a country called Abarimon, situate in a certain great valley of Mount
Imaus (_the Himalayas_), the inhabitants of which are a savage race,
whose feet are turned backwards, relatively to their legs; they possess
wonderful velocity, and wander about indiscriminately with the wild
beasts. We learn from Beeton, whose duty it was to take the measurements
of the routes of Alexander the Great, that this people cannot breathe in
any climate except their own, for which reason it is impossible to take
them before any of the neighbouring kings; nor could any of them be
brought before Alexander himself.

The Anthropophagi, whom we have previously mentioned as dwelling ten
days’ journey beyond the Borysthenes (_the Dneiper_), according to the
account of Isogonus of Nicæa, were in the habit of drinking out of human
skulls, and placing the scalps, with the hair attached, upon their
breasts, like so many napkins. The same author relates that there is, in
Albania, a certain race of men, whose eyes are of a sea-green colour,
and who have white hair from their earliest childhood (_Albinos_), and
that these people see better in the night than in the day. He states
also that the Sauromatæ, who dwell ten days’ journey beyond the
Borysthenes, only take food every other day.

Crates of Pergamus relates, that there formerly existed in the vicinity
of Parium, in the Hellespont (_Camanar, a town of Asia Minor_), a race
of men whom he calls Ophiogenes, and that by their touch they were able
to cure those who had been stung by serpents, extracting the poison by
the mere imposition of the hand. Varro tells us, that there are still a
few individuals in that district, whose saliva effectually cures the
stings of serpents. The same, too, was the case with the tribe of the
Psylli, in Africa, according to the account of Agatharcides; these
people received their name from Psyllus, one of their kings, whose tomb
is in existence, in the district of the Greater Syrtes (_Gulf of
Sidra_). In the bodies of these people, there was, by nature, a certain
kind of poison, which was fatal to serpents, and the odour of which
overpowered them with torpor; with them it was a custom to expose
children, immediately after their birth, to the fiercest serpents, and
in this manner to make proof of the fidelity of their wives; the
serpents not being repelled by such children as were the offspring of
adultery. This nation, however, was almost entirely extirpated by the
slaughter made of them, by the Nasamones, who now occupy their
territory. This race, however, still survives in a few persons, who are
descendants of those who either took to flight, or else were absent on
the occasion of the battle. The Marsi, in Italy, are still in possession
of the same power, for which, it is said, they are indebted to their
origin from the son of Circe, from whom they acquired it as a natural
quality. But the fact is, that all men possess, in their bodies, a
poison which acts upon serpents, and the human saliva, it is said, makes
them take to flight, as though they had been touched with boiling water.
The same substance, it is said, destroys them the moment it enters their
throat, and more particularly so, if it should be the saliva of a man
who is fasting.

Above the Nasamones (_living near the Gulf of Sidra_), and the Machlyæ,
who border upon them, are found, as we learn from Calliphanes, the
nation of the Androgyni, a people who unite the two sexes in the same
individual, and alternately perform the functions of each. Aristotle
also states, that their right breast is that of a male, the left that of
a female.

Isigonus and Nymphodorus inform us that there are, in Africa, certain
families of enchanters, who, by means of their charms, in form of
commendations, can cause cattle to perish, trees to wither, and infants
to die. Isigonus adds, that there are, among the Triballi, and the
Illyrii, some persons of this description, who, also, have the power of
fascination with the eyes, and can even kill those on whom they fix
their gaze for any length of time, more especially if their look denotes
anger: the age of puberty is said to be particularly obnoxious to the
malign influence of such persons.

A still more remarkable circumstance is, the fact that these persons
have two pupils in each eye. Apollonides says, that there are certain
females of this description in Scythia, who are known as Bythiæ, and
Phylarcus states that a tribe of the Thibii in Pontus, and many other
persons as well, have a double pupil in one eye, and in the other the
figure of a horse. He also remarks, that the bodies of these persons
will not sink in water, even though weighed down by their garments.
Damon gives an account of a race of people, not very much unlike them,
the Pharnaces of Æthiopia, whose perspiration is productive of
consumption to the body of every person that it touches. Cicero also,
one of our own writers, makes the remark, that the glance of all women
who have a double pupil is noxious.

To this extent, then, has nature, when she produced in man, in common
with the wild beasts, a taste for human flesh, thought fit to produce
poisons as well in every part of his body, and in the eyes of some
persons, taking care that there shall be no evil influence in existence,
which was not to be found in the human body. Not far from Rome, in the
territory of the Falisci, a few families are found, who are known by the
name of Hirpi. These people perform a yearly sacrifice to Apollo, on
Mount Soracte, on which occasion they walk over a burning pile of wood,
without being scorched even. On this account, by virtue of a decree of
the Senate, they are always exempted from military service, and from all
other public duties.

Some individuals, again, are born with certain parts of the body endowed
with properties of a marvellous nature. Such was the case with King
Pyrrhus, the great toe of whose right foot cured diseases of the spleen,
merely by touching the patient. We are informed that this toe could not
be reduced to ashes together with the other portions of his body; upon
which it was placed in a temple.

India and the region of Æthiopia, more especially, abounds in wonders.
In India the largest of animals are produced; their dogs, for instance,
are much bigger than those of any other country. The trees, too, are
said to be of such vast height that it is impossible to send an arrow
over them. This is the result of the singular fertility of the soil, the
equable temperature of the atmosphere, and the abundance of water;
which, if we are to believe what is said, are such, that a single fig
tree (_the banyan tree_) is capable of affording shelter to a whole
troop of horse. The reeds here (_bamboos_) are of such enormous length,
that each portion of them, between the joints, forms a tube, of which a
boat is made that is capable of holding three men. It is a well-known
fact, that many of the people here are more than five cubits in
height.[4] These people never expectorate, are subject to no pains,
either in the head, the teeth, and the eyes, and, rarely, in any other
parts of the body; so well is the heat of the sun calculated to
strengthen the constitution.... According to the account of Megasthenes,
dwelling upon a mountain called Nulo, there is a race of men who have
their feet turned backwards, with eight toes on each foot.

On many of the mountains again, there is a tribe of men who have the
heads of dogs, and clothe themselves with the skins of wild beasts.
Instead of speaking, they bark; and, furnished with claws, they live by
hunting, and catching birds. According to the story, as given by
Ctesias, the number of these people is more than a hundred and twenty
thousand; and the same author tells us that there is a certain race in
India, of which the females are pregnant once only in the course of
their lives, and that the hair of the children becomes white the instant
they are born. He speaks also of another race of men who are known as
Monocoli,[5] who have only one leg, but are able to leap with surprising
agility. The same people are also called Sciapodæ,[6] because they are
in the habit of lying on their backs, during the time of extreme heat,
and protect themselves from the sun by the shade of their feet. These
people, he says, dwell not very far from the Troglodytæ (_dwellers in
caves_); to the west of whom again there is a tribe who are without
necks, and have eyes in their shoulders.[7]

Among the mountainous districts of the eastern parts of India, in what
is called the country of the Catharcludi, we find the Satyr, an animal
of extraordinary swiftness. These go sometimes on four feet, and
sometimes walk erect; they have also the features of a human being. On
account of their swiftness, these creatures are never to be caught,
except that they are aged, or sickly. Tauron gives the name of
Choromandæ to a nation which dwells in the woods, and have no proper
voice. These people screech in a frightful manner; their bodies are
covered with hair, their eyes are of a sea-green colour, and their teeth
like those of a dog. Eudoxus tells us, that in the southern parts of
India, the men have feet a cubit in length, while the women are so
remarkably small that they are called Struthpodes.[8]

Megasthenes places among the Nomades of India, a people who are called
Scyritæ. These have merely holes in their faces instead of nostrils, and
flexible feet, like the body of the serpent. At the very extremity of
India, on the eastern side, near the source of the river Ganges, there
is the nation of the Astomi, a people who have no mouths; their bodies
are rough and hairy, and they cover themselves with a down[9] plucked
from the leaves of trees. These people subsist only by breathing, and by
the odours which they inhale through the nostrils. They support
themselves neither upon meat nor drink; when they go upon a long journey
they only carry with them various odoriferous roots and flowers, and
wild apples, that they may not be without something to smell at. But an
odour, which is a little more powerful than usual, easily destroys
them....

Isogonus informs us that the Cyrni, a people of India, live to their
four-hundredth year; and he is of opinion that the same is the case also
with the Æthiopian Macrobii,[10] the Seræ, and the inhabitants of Mount
Athos. In the case of these last, it is supposed to be owing to the
flesh of vipers, which they use as food; in consequence of which they
are free also from all noxious animals, both in their hair and their
garments.

[Illustration]

According to Onesicritus, in those parts of India where there is no
shadow, the men attain the height of five cubits and two palms,[11] and
their life is prolonged to one hundred and thirty years; they die
without any symptoms of old age, and just as if they were in the middle
period of life. Pergannes calls the Indians, whose age exceeds one
hundred years, by the name of Gymnetæ;[12] but not a few authors style
them Macrobii. Ctesias mentions a tribe of them, known by the name of
Pandore, whose locality is in the valleys, and who live to their
two-hundredth year; their hair is white in youth, and becomes black in
old age. On the other hand, there are some people joining up to the
country of the Macrobii, who never live beyond their fortieth year, and
their females have children once only during their lives. This
circumstance is also mentioned by Agatharchides, who states, in
addition, that they live on locusts, and are very swift of foot.
Clitarchus and Megasthenes give these people the name of Mandi, and
enumerate as many as three hundred villages which belong to them. Their
women are capable of bearing children in the seventh year of their age,
and become old at forty.

Artemidorus states that in the island of Taprobane (_Ceylon_) life is
prolonged to an extreme length, while at the same time, the body is
exempt from weakness. Among the Calingæ, a nation also of India, the
women conceive at five years of age, and do not live beyond their eighth
year. In other places again, there are men born with long hairy tails,
and of remarkable swiftness of foot; while there are others that have
ears so large as to cover the whole body.

Crates of Pergamus states, that the Troglodytæ, who dwell beyond
Æthiopia, are able to outrun the horse; and that a tribe of the
Æthiopians, who are known as the Syrbotæ, exceed eight cubits in height
(_twelve feet_). There is a tribe of Æthiopian Nomades dwelling on the
banks of the river Astragus, towards the north, and about twenty days’
journey from the ocean. These people are called Menismini; they live on
the milk of the animal which we call cynocephalus (_baboon_), and rear
large flocks of these creatures, taking care to kill the males, except
such as they may preserve for the purposes of breeding. In the deserts
of Africa, men are frequently seen to all appearance, and then vanish in
an instant.”[13]

It may be said that these descriptions of men are only the belief about
the time of the Christian era, when Pliny lived--but it was the faith of
centuries, and we find, 1200 years after Pliny died, Sir John Mandeville
confirming his statements, and, as before stated, these wondrous
creatures were given in illustrations, both in the Mappa Mundi, and in
early printed books. Mandeville writes: “Many divers countreys &
kingdoms are in Inde, and it is called Inde, of a river that runneth
through it, which is called Inde also, and there are many precious
stones in that river Inde. And in that ryver men finde Eles of xxx foote
long, & men y^t dwell nere that river are of evill colour, yelowe &
grene....

“Then there is another yle that men call Dodyn, & it is a great yle. In
this yle are maner diverse of men y^t have evyll maners, for the father
eateth the son, & the son the father, the husband his wyfe, and the wyfe
hir husbande. And if it so be that the father be sicke, or the mother,
or any frend, the sonne goeth soone to the priest of the law & prayeth
him that he will aske of the ydoll if his father shall dye of that
sicknesse, or not. And then the priest and the son kneele down before
the ydole devoutly, & asketh him, and he answereth to them, and if he
say that he shall lyve, then they kepe him wel, and if he say that he
shall dye, then commeth the priest with the son, or with the wyfe, or
what frende that it be unto him y^t is sicke, and they lay their hands
over his mouth to stop his breath, & so they sley him, & then they smite
all the body into peces, & praieth all his frendes for to come and eate
of him that is dead, and they make a great feste thereof, and have many
minstrels there, and eate him with great melody. And so when they have
eaten al y^e flesh, then they take the bones, and bury them all singing
with great worship, and all those that are of his frendes that were not
at the eating of him, have great shame and vylany, so that they shall
never more be taken as frends.

“And the king of this yle is a great lord and mightie, & he hath under
him liii greate Yles, and eche of them hath a king; and in one of these
yles are men that have but one eye, and that is in the middest of theyr
front, and they eat flesh & fishe all rawe. And in another yle dwell
men that have no heads, & theyr eyen are in theyr shoulders & theyr
mouth is on theyr breste. In another yle are men that have no head ne
eyen, and their mouth is in theyr shoulders. And in another yle are men
that have flatte faces, without nose, and without eyen, but they have
two small round holes in stede of eyen, and they have a flatte mouth
without lippes. And in that yle are men that have their faces all flat
without eyen, without mouth & without nose, but they have their eyen,
and their mouth, behinde on their shoulders.

“And in another yle are foule men that have the lippes about the mouth
so greate, that when they sleepe in the sonne they cover theyr face with
the lippe. And in another yle are little men, as dwarfes, and have no
mouth, but a lyttle rounde hole & through that hole they eate their
meate with a pipe, & they have no tongue, & they speake not, but they
blow & whistle, and so make signes one to another. And in another yle
are wild men with hanging eares unto their shoulders. And in another yle
are wild men, with hanging eares & have feete lyke an hors & they run
faste, & they take wild beastes, and eate them. And in another yle are
men that go on theyr handes & feete lyke beasts & are all rough, and
will leape upon a tree like cattes or apes. And in another yle are men
that go ever uppon theyr knees marvaylosly, and have on every foote viii
Toes....

“There is another yle that men call Pitan, men of this lande till no
lande, for they eate nought, and they are smal, but not so smal as
Pigmes. These men live with smell of wild aples, & when they go far out
of the countrey, they beare apples with them, for anon, as they lose
the savour of apples they dye--they are not reasonable, but as wyld
beastes. And there is another yle where the people are all fethers,[14]
but the face and the palmes of theyr handes, these men go as well about
the sea, as on the lande, and they eate flesh and fish all raw.... In
Ethiope are such men that have but one foote, and they go so fast y^t it
is a great marvaill, & that is a large fote, that the shadow thereof
covereth y^e body from son or rayne, when they lye upon their backes;
and when their children be first borne they loke like russet, and when
they waxe olde then they be all black.”

There were also elephant-headed men.

[Illustration]

In the olden times were men who did not build themselves houses--but
sheltered themselves in caves, fissures of rocks, &c., and many are the
remains we find of their flint implements, and the bones, which they
used to split in order to extract the marrow of the animals they had
slain with their rude flint arrows and spears. These, in classical
times, were called Troglodytes (from the Greek τρωγλοδὺται, _dwellers in
caves_). It was a generic term, although particularly applied to
uncivilised races on the banks of the Danube--those who dwelt on the
western coasts of the Red Sea--and Ethiopia. These latter could not have
led a particularly happy life, for Herodotus tells us that the
“Garamantes hunt the Ethiopian Troglodytes in four horse chariots; for
the Ethiopian Troglodytes are the swiftest of foot of all men of whom we
have heard any account given. The Troglodytes feed upon serpents and
lizards, and such kind of reptiles; they speak a language like no other,
but screech like bats.”

Pliny, as we have seen, speaks of an adder eating people, whose food
enables them to achieve extraordinary longevity, and Mandeville tells us
that “From this yle, men go to an yle that is called Tracota, where all
men are as beastes, & not reasonable, they dwell in caves, for they have
not wyt to make them houses--they eate adders, and they speake not, but
they make such a noyse as adders doe one to another, and they make no
force of ryches, but of a stone that hath forty colours, and it is
called Traconyt after that yle, they know not the vertue thereof, but
they covete it for the great fayreness.”

This stone was probably some kind of agate. It could not possibly have
been a topaz, as some have thought, as the context from Pliny will show.
“Topazos is a stone that is still held in very high estimation for its
green tints; indeed, when first it was discovered, it was preferred to
every other kind of precious stone. It so happened that some Troglodytic
pirates, suffering from tempest and hunger, having landed upon an island
off the coast of Arabia, known as Cytis, when digging there for roots
and grass, discovered this precious stone; such, at least, is the
opinion expressed by Archelaüs. Juba says that there is an island in
the Red Sea called _Topazos_, at a distance of three hundred stadia
from the mainland; that it is surrounded by fogs, and is often sought by
navigators in consequence; and that, to this, it received its present
name, the word _Topazin_[15] meaning “to seek” in the language of the
Troglodytæ.... At a later period a statue, four cubits in height, was
made of this stone.... Topazos is the largest of all the precious
stones.”

This shows that the Troglodytæ of Ethiopia had some commercial energy,
and they did a good trade in myrrh and other condiments. Pliny says that
the Troglodytæ traded among other things in cinnamon. They “after buying
it of their neighbours, carry it over vast tracts of sea, upon rafts,
which are neither steered by rudder nor drawn or impelled by oars or
sails. Nor yet are they aided by any of the resources of art, man alone,
and his daring boldness, standing in the place of all these; in addition
to which, they choose the winter season, about the time of the equinox,
for their voyage, for then a south-easterly wind is blowing; these winds
guide them in a straight course from gulf to gulf, and after they have
doubled the promontory of Arabia, the north-east wind carries them to a
port of the Gebanitæ, known by the name of Ocilia. Hence it is that they
steer for this port in preference, and they say that it is almost five
years before the merchants are able to effect their return, while many
perish on the voyage. In return for their wares, they bring back
articles of glass and copper, cloths, buckles, bracelets, and necklaces;
hence it is that this traffic depends more particularly upon the
capricious tastes and inclinations of the female sex.”

This shows that some, at least, of the Troglodytes had a commercial
spirit, and were in a comparative state of civilisation; in fact the
latter is thoroughly proved, when, a little later on, Pliny speaks of
Myrobalanum, “Among these various kinds, that which is sent from the
country of the Troglodytæ is the worst of all,” thus showing that they
had reached the civilised pitch of adulteration! There are also several
notices of peculiarities connected with this people, which deserve a
passing glance. They had turtles with horns (or more probably fore-feet)
which resembled the branches of a lyre; with these they swam. These were
in all likelihood the tortoise-shell turtles, for they called them
_Chelyon_. The Troglodytæ worshipped them. Their cattle were not like
other oxen, for their horns pointed downwards to the ground, so that
they were obliged to feed with their heads on one side. These oxen
should have been crossed with those of Phrygia, whose horns were as
mobile as their ears. And they were the happy possessors of a lake,
called the _Unhealthy Lake_, which thrice a day became salt and bitter,
and then again fresh, and this went on both day and night. We can hardly
wonder that this _Lacus Insanus_ was full of white serpents thirty feet
long.




AMAZONS.


The race of Amazons or fighting women, is not yet extinct, as the
chronicles of every police court can tell, and as an organised body of
warlike soldiers--the King of Dahomey still keeps them up, or did until
very recently. According to Herodotus, the Greeks, after having routed
the Amazons, sailed away in three ships, taking with them as many
Amazons, as they had been able to capture alive--but, when fairly out at
sea, the ladies arose, stood up for women’s rights, and cut all the
Greeks in pieces. But they had not reckoned on one little thing, and
that was, that none among them had the slightest idea of navigation;
they couldn’t even steer or row--so they had to drift about, until they
came to Cremni (supposed to be near _Taganrog_), which was Scythian
territory. They signalised their landing by horse-stealing, and the
Scythians, not appreciating the joke, gave them battle, thinking they
were men; but an examination of the dead proved them to be of the other
sex. On learning this, the Scythians were far too gentlemanly to
continue the strife, and, little by little, they established the most
friendly relations with the Amazons. These ladies, however, objected to
go to the Scythians’ homes, for, as they pertinently put it, “We never
could live with the women of your county, because we have not the same
customs with them. We shoot with the bow, throw the javelin, and ride on
horseback, and have never learnt the employments of women. But your
women do none of the things we have mentioned, but are engaged in
women’s work, remaining in their wagons, and do not go out to hunt, or
anywhere else; we could not therefore consort with them. If, then, you
desire to have us for your wives, and to prove yourselves honest men, go
to your parents, claim your share of their property, then return, and
let us live by ourselves.”

This the young Scythians did, but, when they returned, the Amazons said
they were afraid to stop where they were, for they had deprived parents
of their sons, and besides, had committed depredations in the country,
so that they thought it but prudent to leave, and suggested that they
should cross the Tanais, or _Don_, and found a colony on the other side.
This their husbands acceded to, and when they were settled, their wives
returned to their old way of living--hunting, going to war with their
husbands, and wearing the same clothes--in fact they enjoyed an actual
existence, of which many women nowadays, fondly, but vainly dream. There
was a little drawback however--the qualification for a young lady’s
presentation at court, consisted of killing a man, and, until that was
effected, she could not marry.

Sir John Mandeville of course knew all about them, although he does not
pretend to have seen them, and this is what he tells us. “After the land
of Caldee, is the land of Amazony, that is a land where there is no man
but all women, as men say, for they wil suffer no man to lyve among
them, nor to have lordeshippe over them. For sometyme was a kinge in
that lande, and men were dwelling there as did in other countreys, and
had wives, & it befell that the kynge had great warre with them of
Sychy, he was called Colopius, and he was slaine in bataill and all the
good bloude of his lande. And this Queene, when she herd that, & other
ladies of that land, that the king and the lordes were slaine, they
gathered them togither and killed all the men that were lefte in their
lande among them, and sithen that time dwelled no man among them.

“And when they will have any man, they sende for them in a countrey that
is nere theyr lande, and the men come, and are ther viii dayes, or as
the woman lyketh, & then they go againe, and if they have men children
they send them to theyr fathers, when they can eate & go, and if they
have maide chyldren they kepe them, and if they bee of gentill bloud
they brene[16] the left pappe[17] away, for bearing of a shielde, and,
if they be of little bloud, they brene the ryght pappe away for shoting.
For those women of that countrey are good warriours, and are often in
soudy[18] with other lordes, and the queene of that lande governeth well
that lande; this lande is all environed with water.”




PYGMIES.


The antitheses of men--Dwarfs, and Giants--must not be overlooked, as
they are abnormal, and yet have existed in all ages. Dwarfs are
mentioned in the Bible, _Leviticus_ xxi. 20, where following the
injunction of “Let him not approach to offer the bread of his God”--are
mentioned the “crookbackt or dwarf.” Dwarfs in all ages have been made
the sport of Royalty, and the wealthy; but it is not of them I write,
but of a race called the Pygmies, very small men who were descended from
Pygmæus. They are noted in the earliest classics, for even Homer
mentions them in his Iliad (B. 3, l. 3-6), which Pope translates:--

    “So, when inclement winter vex the plain
    With piercing frosts, or thick descending rain,
    To warmer seas, the Cranes embody’d fly,
    With noise, and order, through the mid-way sky;
    To pigmy nations, wounds and death they bring,
    And all the war descends upon the wing.”

Homer also wrote a poem, “Pygmæogeranomachia,” about the Pygmies and
Cranes. The accompanying illustration is from a fresco at Pompeii.

[Illustration]

Aristotle says that they lived in holes under the earth, and came out in
the harvest time with hatchets, to cut down the corn, as if to fell a
forest, and went on goats and lambs of proportionable stature to
themselves to make war against certain birds, called Cranes by some,
which came there yearly from Scythia to plunder them. Pliny mentions
them several times, but especially in B. 7, c. 2. “Beyond these people,
and at the very extremity of the mountains, the Trispithami,[19] and
the Pygmies are said to exist; two races, which are but three spans in
height, that is to say, twenty-seven inches only. They enjoy a
salubrious atmosphere, and a perpetual spring, being sheltered by the
mountains from the northern blasts; it is these people that Homer has
mentioned as being waged war upon by Cranes. It is said that they are in
the habit of going down every spring to the sea-shore, in a large body,
seated on the backs of rams and goats, and armed with arrows, and there
destroy the eggs and the young of those birds; that this expedition
occupies them for the space of three months, and that otherwise it would
be impossible for them to withstand the increasing multitudes of the
Cranes. Their cabins, it is said, are built of mud, mixed with feathers
and egg shells.”

[Illustration]

Mandeville thus describes them. “When men passe from that citie of
Chibens, they passe over a great river of freshe water, and it is nere
iiii mile brode, & then men enter into the lande of the great Caan. This
river goeth through the land of Pigmeens, and there men are of little
stature, for they are but three span long, and they are right fayre,
both men and women, though they bee little, and they live but viii[20]
yeare, and he that liveth viii yeare is holden right olde, and these
small men are the best workemen in sylke, and of cotton, in all maner of
thing that are in the worlde; and these smal men travail not, nor tyl
land, but they have amonge them great men, as we are, to travaill for
them, & they have great scorne of those great men, as we would have of
giaunts, or, of them, if they were among us.”

Ser Marco Polo warns his readers against _pseudo_ Pygmies. Says he: “I
may tell you moreover that when people bring over pygmies which they
allege to come from India, ’tis all a lie and a cheat. For those little
men, as they call them, are manufactured on this Island (_Sumatra_), and
I will tell you how. You see there is on the Island a kind of monkey
which is very small, and has a face just like a man’s. They take these,
and pluck out all the hair, except the hair of the beard, and on the
breast, and then dry them, and stuff them, and daub them with saffron,
and other things, until they look like men. But you see it is all a
cheat; for nowhere in India, nor anywhere else in the world, were there
ever men seen so small as these pretended pygmies.”

But there are much more modern mention of these small folk. Olaus Magnus
not only reproduces the classical story, but tells of the Pygmies of
Greenland--the modern Esquimaux. These are also mentioned in Purchas his
Pilgrimage, as living in Iceland, “pigmies represent the most perfect
shape of man; that they are hairy to the uttermost joynts of the
fingers, and that the males have beards downe to the knees; but,
although they have the shape of men, yet they have little sense or
understanding, nor distinct speech, but make shew of a kinde of hissing,
after the manner of geese.”

But to bring the history of pygmies down to modern times--I quote from
“Giants and Dwarfs,” by E. J. Wood, 1868, and I am thus particular in
giving my authority, as the news comes from America, whence, sometimes,
fact is mixed with fiction (pp. 246, 247, 248). “It is alleged by
contemporary newspapers, that in 1828 several burying-grounds, from half
an acre to an acre and a half in extent, were discovered in the county
of White, state of Tennessee, near the town of Sparta, wherein very
small people had been deposited in tombs or coffins of stone. The
greatest length of the skeletons was nineteen inches. The bones were
strong and well set, and the whole frames were well formed. Some of the
people appeared to have lived to a great age, their teeth being worn
smooth and short, while others were full and long. The graves were about
two feet deep; the coffins were of stone, and made by laying a flat
stone at the bottom, one at each side, or each end, and one over the
corpse. The dead were all buried with their heads toward the east, and
in regular order, laid on their backs, and with their hands on their
breasts. In the bend of the left arm was found a cruse, or vessel, that
would hold nearly a pint, made of ground stone, or shell, of a grey
colour, in which were found two or three shells. One of these skeletons
had about its neck ninety-four pearl beads. Near one of these
burying-places was the appearance of the site of an ancient town.

Webber, in his ‘Romance of Natural History,’ refers to the diminutive
sarcophagi found in Kentucky and Tennessee; and he describes these
receptacles to be about three feet in length, by eighteen inches deep,
and constructed, bottom, sides, and top, of flat, unhewn stones. These
he conjectures to be the places of sepulture of a pigmy race, that
became extinct at a period beyond reach even of the tradition of the
so-called Indian aborigines.

Newspapers for 1866 tell us that General Milroy, who had been spending
much time in Smith County, Tennessee, attending to some mining business,
discovered near Watertown in that county some remarkable graves, which
were disclosed by the washing of a small creek in its passage through a
low bottom. The graves were from eighteen inches to two feet in length,
most of them being of the smaller size, and were formed by an excavation
of about fifteen inches below the surface, in which were placed four
undressed slabs of rock--one in the bottom of the pit, one on each side,
and one on the top. Human skeletons, some with nearly an entire skull,
and many with well-defined bones, were found in them. The teeth were
very diminutive, but evidently those of adults. Earthen crocks were also
found with the skeletons. General Milroy could not gain any satisfactory
information respecting these pigmy graves. The oldest inhabitants of the
vicinity knew nothing of their origin or history, except that there was
a large number of similar graves near Statesville in the same county,
and also a little burial-ground at the mouth of Stone River, near the
city of Nashville. General Milroy deposited the bones found by him in
the State Library at Nashville.”

That a race of dwarfs live in Central Africa, is now well known. Ronzo
de Leo, who travelled in Africa, for many years with Dr. Livingstone, at
one time almost stood alone in his assertion of this fact. But he was
supported in his statement by G. Eugene Wolff, who had been in Central
Africa with Stanley, and he maintained that, on the southern branches of
the Congo, he had seen whole villages of Lilliputians, of whom the men
were not over four and a half feet high, whilst the women were a great
deal smaller. He described them as being both brave and cunning, expert
with bow and arrow, with which they readily bring down the African
bison, antelope, and even elephants. As trappers of small animals they
are unsurpassed. In a close pinch they use the lance with astonishing
dexterity, and an ordinary sling, in their hands, is wielded with
wonderful skill.

These dwarfs collect the sap of the palm, with which they make soap. The
men are smooth-faced, and of a rich mahogany colour, while the hair is
short, and as black as night. Tens of thousands of them live on the
south branch of the Congo.

Mr. Stanley in his expedition for the relief of Emin Pacha,[21]
encountered some tribes of these pigmies, but he does not agree with the
account which Mr. Wolff gives of them, who describes them as an affable,
kind-hearted people, of simple ways, and devoid of vicious tendencies to
a greater degree than most semi-barbaric races. The women are
industrious and amiable.

Stanley, on the contrary, found them very annoying, and had a lively
recollection of their poisoned arrows--but, at the present writing, he
not having returned, and we, having no record but his letters, had
better suspend our judgment as to the habits and tempers of these small
people.

Wolff says they stand in awe of their bigger neighbours, but are so
brave and cunning that, with all the odds of physique against them, the
pigmies are masters of the situation.




GIANTS.


This last sentence seems almost a compendium of _The History of Tom
Thumb_, for his wit enabled him to overcome the lubber-headed giants, in
every conflict he was engaged in with them--they were no match for him.
Take the Romances of Chivalry. Pacolet, and all the dwarfs, were endowed
with acute wits, and there was very little they could not compass--but
the giants! their ultimate fate was always to be slain by some knight,
and their imprisoned knights and damsels set free. A dwarf was a cleanly
liver, but a giant was turbulent, quarrelsome, lustful, and occasionally
cannibal. Fe Fi Fo Fum was the type of colossal man, and, as it is quite
a pleasure to whitewash their characters in these respects, I hasten to
do so before further discoursing on the subject of these great men.

It is Olaus Magnus who thus tells us

    “Of the sobriety of Giants and Champions.”

[Illustration]

“That most famous Writer of the _Danish_ affairs, _Saxo_, alleged
before, and who shall be often alleged hereafter, saith, that amongst
other mighty strong men in the _North_, who were as great as Giants,
there was one _Starchaterus Thavestus_, whose admirable and heroick
Vertues are so worthily extolled by him, that there were scarce any
like him in those dayes in all _Europe_, or in the whole World, or
hardly are now, or ever shall be. And amongst other Vertues he ascribes
to that high-spirited man, he mentions his sobriety, which is
principally necessary for valiant men: and I thought fit to annex that
peculiarly to this relation, that we may, as in a glass, see more
cleerly the luxury of this lustful age. For, as the same _Saxo_
testifies, that valiant _Starchaterus_ loved frugality, and loved not
immoderate dainties. Alwayes neglecting pleasure, he respected Vertue,
imitating the antient manner of Continency, and he desired a homely
provision of his Diet; he hated costly suppers; wherefore hating
profusion in Diet, and feeding on smoaked and rank meat, he drove away
Hunger, with the greater appetite, as his meat was but of one kind, lest
he should remit and abate the force of his true Vertue, by the contagion
of outward Delights, as by some adulterate sweetness, or should abrogate
the Rule of antient Frugality, by unusual Superstitions for Gluttony.
Moreover, he could not endure to spend rost and boyled meat all at one
Meal; holding that to be a monstrous Food, that Cookery had tampered
with divers things together: Wherefore, that he might turn away the
Luxury of the _Danes_, that they borrowed from the _Germans_, that made
them so effeminate, amongst the rest he made Verses in his Country
Language.” Omitting many of them, he sang thus:

    “_Starchaterus_ his Verses on _Frugality_.

    “Strong men do love raw meat; nor do they need,
    Or love, on dainty Cates and Feasts to feed,
    War is the thing they most delight to breed,
    You may sooner bite off their beards that are
    Full hard, and stiff with bristled, rugged, hair,
    Than their wide mouths leave Milk their daily fare:
    We fly from dainty Kitchins, and do fill
    Our Bellies with rank Meats, and Countray swill,
    Of old, men fed on boyl’d Meats, ’gainst their will.
    A dish of Grass, that had no smack, did hold
    Hog’s and sheep’s flesh together, hot or cold,
    Nor to pollute their meats with mingling were they bold;
    He that eats Cream we bid him for to be
    Strong, and to have a mind that’s bold and free.

           *       *       *       *       *

    Eleven Lords of elder time we were,
    That waited on King Hachon, and at fare
    _Helgo Begachus_ sat first in order there.
    First dish he eat was a dry’d Gammon, and
    A Crust as hard as Flint he took in hand,
    This made his hungry, yawning stomach stand:
    No man at Table fed on stinking meat,
    But what was good and common, each man eat,
    Content with simple fare, though nere so great;
    The greatest were not Gluttons, nor yet fine,
    The King himself full sparingly would dine.
    No Drinks were used that did of Honey bost,
    Beer was their common Liquor, _Ceres_ owest,
    They fed on Meats were little boyl’d, no rost.
    Each Table was with Meats but meanly drest,
    Few Dishes on’t, Antiquity thought best;
    And in plain Fare each held himself most blest.
    There were no Flagons, nor broad Bowls in use,
    Nor painted Dishes grown to great abuse,
    Each, at the Tap, did fill his wooden cruze.
    No man, admirer of the former days,
    Did use Tankards or Oxeys;[22] for their ways
    Were sparing, almost empty Dishes this bewrays.
    No Silver Basons, or guilt Cups were thought
    Fit by the Host, and to the table brought,
    To garnish, or by Ghests were vainly sought.”

By precept, and example, he induced many to Temperance and
Sobriety--but, in spite of his moderation in food and drink, he was a
most outrageous pirate, and Berserker.

At last, however, old, and weary of life, he sought death, and meeting
Hatherus, son of a noble whom he had killed, begged him as a favour to
cut his head off--and the young man, obligingly consenting, his head was
severed from his body, and literally bit the ground. There are records
of many more Northern giants, but none of so edifying a life as
Starchaterus.

Giants are plentiful in the Bible, the Emins, Anakims, and the
Zamzummims: there was Og, King of Bashan, whose iron bedstead was 9
cubits long by 4 broad--_i.e._, 13 ft. 6 in. by 6 ft. That redoubtable
champion of the Philistines, Goliath of Gath, was six cubits and a span
high--_i.e._, 9 ft. 9 in. In 2 Samuel xxi. 15-22, we find mention made
of many giants.

“15 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David
went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the
Philistines; and David waxed faint.

“16 And Ishbi-benob, which was of the sons of the giants, the weight of
whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being
girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.

“17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the
Philistine, and killed him....

“18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with
the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which
was of the sons of the giant.

“19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where
Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of
Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

“20 And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great
stature, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he
also was born to the giant.

“21 And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah, the brother
of David, slew him.

“22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of
David, and by the hand of his servants.”

But these were mere pigmies if we can believe M. Henrion, who in 1718
calculated out the heights of divers notable persons--thus he found Adam
was 121 ft. 9 in. high, Eve 118 ft. 9 in., Noah 27 ft., Abraham 20 ft.,
and Moses 13 ft.

Putting aside the mythical classical giants, Pliny says: “The tallest
man that has been seen in our times, was one Gabbaras by name, who was
brought from Arabia by the Emperor Claudius; his height was nine feet
and as many inches. In the reign of Augustus, there were two persons,
Posio and Secundilla, by name, who were half a foot taller than him;
their bodies have been preserved as objects of curiosity in the Museum
of the Sallustian family.”

But it is reserved to Sir John Mandeville to have found the tallest
giants of, comparatively speaking, modern times. “And beyond that valey
is a great yle, where people as great as giaunts of xxviii fote long,
and they have no clothinge but beasts skyns that hang on them, and they
eate no bread, but flesh raw, and drink milke, and they have no houses,
& they ate gladlyer fleshe of men, than other, & men saye to us that
beyonde that yle is an yle where are greater giaunts as xlv or l fote
long, & some said l cubits long (_75 feet_) but I saw them not, and
among those giaunts are great shepe, and they beare great wolle, these
shepe have I sene many times.”




EARLY MEN.


On the antiquity of man it is impossible to speculate, because we have
no data to go upon. We know that his earliest existence, of which we
have any cognisance, must have been at a period when the climate and
fauna of the Western continent was totally different to their present
state. Then roamed over the land, the elephant, rhinoceros,
hippopotamus, the Bos-primigenius, the reindeer, the cave bear, the
brown and the Arctic bears, the cave hyæna, and many other animals now
quite extinct. We know that man then existed, because we find his
handiwork in the shape of manufactured flint implements, mixed with the
bones of these animals--and, occasionally, with them human remains have
been found, but, as yet, no perfect skull has been found. There were two
types of man, the Dolicho Cephalous, or long-headed, and the Brachy
Cephalous, or round-headed--and, of these, the long-headed were of far
greater antiquity.

All we can do is to classify man’s habitation of this earth, as well as
we can, under certain well-defined, and known conditions. Thus, that
called the Stone Age, must be divided into two parts, that of the
roughly chipped flint implements--which is designated the _Palæolithic_
period--and that of the polished and carefully finished stone arms and
implements, which necessarily show a later time, and a higher state of
civilisation--which is called the _Neolithic_ period. The next age is
that of bronze, when man had learned to smelt metals, and make moulds,
showing a great advance--and, finally, the Iron Age, in which man had
subdued the sterner metal to his will--and this age immediately precedes
History.

The cave men were of undoubted antiquity--and were hunters of the wild
beasts that then overran Western Europe, and who split the bones of
those animals which they slew in order to obtain the marrow. Although
strictly belonging to the Palæolithic period, they manufactured out of
that stubborn material, flint, spear-heads, knives, scrapers--and, when
the bow had been invented, arrow-heads. Nor were they deficient in the
rudiments of art, as some tracings and carvings on pieces of the horns
of slaughtered animals, clearly show. Mr. Christie in digging in the
Dordogne caves found, at La Madelaine, engraved and carved pictures of
reindeer, an ibex, a mammoth, &c., all of them recognisable, and the
mammoth, a very good likeness. This was incised on a piece of mammoth
tusk.

The lake men, judging by the remains found near their dwellings,
occupied their houses during the Stone and Bronze periods. Herodotus
mentions these curious dwellings. “But those around Mount Pangæus and
near the Doberes, the Agrianæ, Odomanti, and those who inhabit Lake
Prasias[23] itself, were not at all subdued by Megabazus. Yet he
attempted to conquer those who live upon the lake, in dwellings
contrived after this manner: planks, fitted on lofty piles, are placed
in the middle of the lake, with a narrow entrance from the mainland by
a single bridge. These piles that support the planks, all the citizens
anciently placed there at the common charge; but, afterwards, they
established a law to the following effect; whenever a man marries, for
each wife he sinks three piles, bringing wood from a mountain called
Orbelus; but every man has several wives. They live in the following
manner; every man has a hut on the planks, in which he dwells, with a
trap door closely fitted in the planks, and leading down to the lake.
They tie the young children with a cord round the foot, fearing lest
they should fall into the lake beneath. To their horses and beasts of
burden they give fish for fodder; of which there is such an abundance,
that, when a man has opened his trap-door, he lets down an empty basket
by a cord into the lake, and, after waiting a short time, draws it up
full of fish.”[24]

Here, then, we have a valuable record of the lake dwellings, and similar
ones have been found in the lake of Zurich. In 1854, owing to the
dryness and cold of the preceding winter, the water fell a foot below
any previous record: and, in a small bay between Ober Meilen and
Dollikon, the inhabitants took advantage to reclaim the soil thus left,
and add it to their gardens, by building a wall as far out as they
could--and they raised the level of the land thus gained, by dredging
the mud out of the lake. In the course of dredging they found deer
horns, tiles and various implements, and, the attention of an antiquary
having been directed to this find, he concluded that it was the site of
an ancient lake village. The lakes of Geneva, Constance, and
Neufchatel, have also yielded much that throws light on the habits and
intelligence of these lake men. They wove, they made pottery, they grew
and parched corn--nay they ground it, and made biscuits, they ate
apples, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, hazel and beech nuts,
and peas. They evidently fed on cereals, fruit, fish, and the flesh of
wild animals, for bones of the following animals have been found. Brown
bear, badger, marten, pine marten, polecat, wolf, fox, wild cat, beaver,
elk, urus, bison, stag, roe-deer, wild boar, marsh boar--whilst their
domestic animals were the boar, horse, ox, goat, sheep, and dog. These,
it must be remembered, range over a wide period, including the stone and
bronze ages. They wore ornaments, too, for pins, and bracelets have been
found. Lake dwellings have been found in Scotland, England, Italy,
Germany and France--so that this practice seems to have obtained very
widely. In Ireland they made artificial islands in the lakes, called
Crannoges, on which they erected their dwellings. Pile dwellings now
exist, and are inhabited in many parts of the world.

We have other traces of prehistoric man in the shell mounds,
kjökkenmöddings, or kitchen middens, which still exist in Denmark, and
have been found in Scotland on the shores of the Moray Firth and Loch
Spynie; in Cornwall, and Devon, at St. Valéry at the mouth of the Somme,
in Australia, Tierra del Fuego, the Malay Peninsula, the Andaman
Islands, and North and South America, showing a very wide range. The
Danish kjökkenmöddings, when first thoroughly noticed, (of course, in
this century), were taken to be raised beaches--but when they were
examined, it was found that the shells were of four species of molluscs
or shell-fish,[25] that did not live together, and that they were
either full-grown, or nearly so. A stricter examination was made, and
the result was the finding of some flint implements, and bones marked by
knives, conclusively showing that man had had a hand in this collection
of shells--and the conclusion was come to that these were the sites of
villages of a prehistoric man, a hypothesis which was fully borne out by
the discovery, in some of them, of hearths bearing traces of having
borne fire. Thus, then, these refuse heaps were clearly the work of a
very ancient race, so poor, and backward, as to be obliged to live on
shell-fish--and these mounds were made by the shells which they threw
away.

We can find a very great analogy between them and the Tierra del
Fuegans, when Darwin visited them, while with the surveying ships
_Adventure_ and _Beagle_, a voyage which took from 1832 to 1836; and,
when we read the following extracts from Darwin’s account of the
expedition, we can fancy we have before us a vivid picture of the makers
of the kitchen middens. “The inhabitants, living chiefly upon
shell-fish, are obliged constantly to change their place of residence;
but they return at intervals to the same spots, as is evident from the
pile of old shells, which must often amount to some tons in weight.
These heaps can be distinguished at a long distance by the bright green
colour of certain plants which invariably grow on them.... The Fuegian
wigwam resembles, in size and dimensions, a haycock. It merely consists
of a few broken branches stuck in the ground, and very imperfectly
thatched on one side, with a few tufts of grass and rushes. The whole
cannot be so much as the work of an hour, and it is only used for a few
days.... At a subsequent period, the _Beagle_ anchored for a couple of
days under Wollaston Island, which is a short way to the northward.
While going on shore, we pulled alongside a canoe with six Fuegians.
These were the most abject and miserable creatures I anywhere beheld. On
the east coast, the natives, as we have seen, have guanaco cloaks, and,
on the west, they possess sealskins. Amongst the central tribes the men
generally possess an otter skin, or some small scrap about as large as a
pocket handkerchief, which is barely sufficient to cover their backs as
low down as their loins. It is laced across the breast by strings, and,
according as the wind blows, it is shifted from side to side. But these
Fuegians in the canoe were quite naked, and even one full-grown woman
was absolutely so. It was raining heavily, and the fresh water, together
with the spray, trickled down her body.... These poor wretches were
stunted in their growth, their hideous faces bedaubed with white paint,
their skins filthy and greasy, their hair entangled, their voices
discordant, their gestures violent and without dignity. Viewing such
men, one can hardly make oneself believe they are fellow-creatures and
inhabitants of the same world.... At night, five or six human beings,
naked, and scarcely protected from the wind and rain of this tempestuous
climate, sleep on the wet ground, coiled up like animals. Whenever it is
low water, they must rise to pick shell-fish from the rocks; and the
women, winter and summer, either dive and collect sea eggs, or sit
patiently in their canoes, and, with a baited hair line, jerk out small
fish. If a seal is killed, or the floating carcase of a putrid whale
discovered, it is a feast: such miserable food is assisted by a few
tasteless berries, and fungi. Nor are they exempt from famine, and, as a
consequence, cannibalism accompanied by parricide.”

This I believe to be as faithful a picture as can be drawn of the makers
of the shell mounds.

But in Denmark, although shells formed by far the major part of these
middens, yet they ate other fish, the herring, dorse, dab, and eel.
Birds also were not despised by them, bones of swallows, the sparrow,
stork, capercailzie, ducks, geese, wild swans, and even of the great auk
(now extinct) have been found. Then of beasts they ate the stag,
roe-deer, wild boar, urus, dog, fox, wolf, marten, otter, lynx, wild
cat, hedgehog, bear, and mouse; beside which they lived on the seal,
porpoise, and water rat.

Owing to the almost total absence of polished implements--and yet the
fact being that portions of one or two have been found--the makers of
these kjökkenmöddings, are classed as belonging to the later Palæolithic
period.

Of the Bronze and Iron Ages there is no necessity to write, men were
emerging from their primæval barbarity--and all the gentle arts, though
undeveloped, were nascent. Men who could smelt metals, and mould, and
forge them, cannot be considered as utter barbarians, such as were the
long-headed men, with their chipped flint implements and weapons.




WILD MEN.


Sometimes a specimen of humanity has got astray in infancy, and has been
dragged up somehow in the woods, like Caspar Hauser, and Peter the Wild
Boy, and fiction supplies other instances, such as Romulus and Remus,
Orson, &c. Some of them were credited with being hairy as are the
accompanying wild man and woman, as they are portrayed in John Sluper’s
book, where they are thus described:--

[Illustration]

“L’HOMME SAUVAGE.

    “Combien que Dieu le createur seul sage,
    A fait user les hommes de raison:
    Icy voyez un vray homme sauvage,
    Son corps vela est en toute saison.”

[Illustration]

“LA FEMME SAUVAGE.

    “Femme sauvage a l’œil humain, non sainte,
    Ainsi qu’elle est sur le naturel lieu,
    Au naturel vous est icy depeinte,
    Comme voyez qu’il appert a votre vue.”

When Cæsar came to Britain for the second time, he found the Britons,
although to a great extent civilised, having cavalry and charioteers (so
many of the latter, that Cassivelaunus left about 4000 to watch the
Romans), and knowing the art of fortification, yet in themselves, only
just emerging from utter barbarism--the colouring and shaving of
themselves showed that they had vanity, and were making, after their
fashion, the most of their personal charms. Cæsar (Book v. 14) writes:
“Of all these _tribes_, by far the most civilised are those who inhabit
Kent, which district is altogether maritime; nor do they differ much
from the Gallic customs. Most of those in the interior do not sow corn,
but live on flesh and milk, and are clad in skins. All the Britons, in
truth, dye themselves with woad, which produces a bluish colour, and on
this account they are of a more frightful aspect in battle. They have
flowing hair, and every part of the body shaved, except the head and the
upper lip. Ten, and _even_ twelve of them have wives in common between
them, and chiefly brothers with brothers, and fathers with sons; but, if
there is any offspring, they are considered to be the children of those
by whom each virgin was first espoused.”




HAIRY MEN.


If, as we may conjecture from the above, the ancient Briton was “a
rugged man, o’ergrown with hair,” his full-dress toilette must have
occupied some time. But extreme hairiness in human beings is by no means
singular, and very many cases are recorded in medical books. Many of us
may remember the Spanish dancer, Julia Pastrana, whose whole body was
hairy, and who had a fine beard. She had a child on whom the hair began
to grow, like its mother; and, but a few years back, there was a hairy
family exhibited in London--their faces being covered with hair, as is
the case of the _Puella pilosa_, or Hairy Girl--given by Aldrovandus in
his _Monstrorum Historia_.

[Illustration]

She was aged twelve years, and came from the Canary Isles, together with
her father (aged 40), her brother (20), and her sister (8), all as
hairy one as the other. They were brought over by Marius Casalius, and
first shown at Bologna, so that this is no doubt a faithful likeness, as
Aldrovandus lived and died in that city. He gives other examples, but
not so well authenticated as this.

There were two wonderful hairy people at Ava, in Burmah, who are
described by two most trustworthy eye-witnesses, John Crawford, in his
“Journal of an Embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court
of Ava”--and in 1855, by Captain Henry Youle, in his “Narrative of the
Mission sent by the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava.” They
were father and daughter, respectively named Shu-Maon, and Maphoon. The
father may strictly be said to have had neither eyelashes, eyebrows, nor
beard, because the whole of his face, including the interior and
exterior of his ears, were covered with long silky silvery grey hair.
His whole body, except his hands and feet, was covered with hair of the
same texture and colour as that now described, but generally less
abundant; it was most plentiful over the spine and shoulders, where it
was five inches long; over the breast, about four inches, and was most
scanty on the arms, legs, thighs, and abdomen.

Of the daughter, Captain Youle writes: “The whole of Maphoon’s face was
more or less covered with hair. On a part of the cheek, and between the
nose and mouth, this was confined to a short down, but over all the rest
of the face was a thick silky hair of a brown colour, paleing about the
nose and chin, four or five inches long. At the alæ of the nose, under
the eye, and on the cheek bone this was very fully developed; but it was
in, and on, the ear, that it was most extraordinary. Except the upper
tip, no part of the ear was visible. All the rest was filled and veiled
with a large mass of silky hair, growing apparently out of every part of
the external organ, and hanging a pendant lock to a length of eight or
ten inches. The hair over her forehead was brushed so as to blend with
the hair of the head, the latter being dressed (as usual with her
countrywomen) _à la Chinoise_; it was not so thick as to conceal her
forehead.

“The nose, densely covered with hair, as no animal’s is, that I know of,
and with long locks curving out, and pendant like the wisps of a fine
Skye-terrier’s coat, had a most strange appearance. The beard was pale
in colour, and about four inches in length, seemingly very soft and
silky.”

Maphoon, when Captain Youle saw her, had two children, one, the eldest,
perfectly normal, the other, who was very young, was evidently taking
after its mother.

The Aïnos, an aboriginal tribe in the north of Japan, who are looked
down upon by the Japanese as dogs, have always been reputed as being
covered with hair. Mr. W. Martin Wood read a paper before the
Ethnological Society of London[26] respecting them, and he said, “Esau
himself could not have been a more hairy man than are these Aïnos. The
hair forms an enormous bush, and it is thick and matted. Their beards
are very thick and long, and the greater part of their face is covered
with hair which is generally dark in colour; they have prominent
foreheads, and mild, dark eyes, which somewhat relieve the savage aspect
of their visage. Their hands and arms, and, indeed, the greater part of
their bodies, are covered with an abnormal profusion of hair.”

This, however, has been questioned, notably by Mr. Barnard Davis, whose
paper may be read in the 3rd vol. of the “Memoirs of the Anthropological
Society of London”--and he quotes from several travellers, to prove that
the hairyness of the Aïnos had been exaggerated. However, Miss Bird in
her “Unbeaten Tracks in Japan” may fairly be said to have put the
subject at rest, for she visited, and travelled in the Aïno country.
She, certainly, disproves the theory that, as a race, they were hairy,
although she confesses that some were--as, for instance (p. 232), “They
wore no clothing, but only one was hairy,” and, writing from Biratori,
Yezo (p. 255), she says, “The men are about the middle height,
broad-chested, broad-shouldered, thick set, very strongly built, the
arms and legs short, thick, and muscular, the hands and feet large. The
bodies, and especially the limbs of many, are covered with short,
bristly hair. I have seen two boys whose backs are covered with fur as
fine, and soft, as that of a cat.” Again (p. 283), “The profusion of
black hair, and a curious intensity about their eyes, coupled with the
hairy limbs and singularly vigorous _physique_, give them a formidably
savage appearance; but the smile, full of ‘sweetness and light,’ in
which both eyes and mouth bear part, and the low, musical voice, softer
and sweeter than anything I have previously heard, make me, at times,
forget that they are savages at all.”




THE OURAN OUTAN.


Transition from hirsute humanity to the apes, is easy, and natural--and
we need only deal with the Simiinæ, which includes the Orang, the
Chimpanzee, and the Gorilla. These are the largest apes, and nearest
approach to man--but, although they may be tailless, yet there is that
short great toe which prevents any acceptation of their humanity. The
orang is exclusively an inhabitant of Borneo and Sumatra, and in those
two islands it may be found in the swampy forests near the coast. It
grows to a large size, for an ape, about four feet four inches high, but
is neither so large, nor so strong, as the Gorilla. Compared with man,
its arms seem to be as extravagantly long, as its legs are ridiculously
short. When wild, it feeds entirely on vegetable diet, and makes a kind
of house, or nest, in trees, interweaving the branches, so as to obtain
shelter. They do not stand confinement well, being languid and
miserable--but, in their native wildness, they can, if necessity arises,
fight well in their own defence. A. R. Wallace, in his “Malay
Archipelago; the Land of the Orang Utan and the Bird of Paradise,” tells
the following story of its combativeness.

“A few miles down the river there is a Dyak house, and the inhabitants
saw a large orang feeding on the young shoots of a palm by the river
side. On being alarmed, he retreated towards the jungle, which was close
by, and a number of the men, armed with spears and choppers, ran out to
intercept him. The man who was in front, tried to run his spear through
the animal’s body, but the orang seized it in his hands, and in an
instant got hold of the man’s arm, which he seized in his mouth, making
his teeth meet in the flesh above the elbow, which he tore and lacerated
in a dreadful manner. Had not the others been close behind, the man
would have been seriously injured, if not killed, as he was quite
powerless; but they soon destroyed the creature with their spears and
choppers. The man remained ill for a long time, and never fully
recovered the use of his arm.”

It is called the Simia Satyrus; probably on its presumed lustfulness,
certainly not on account of its resemblance to the satyr of antiquity.

Gesner gives us his idea of the orang, presenting us with the
accompanying figure of the Cercopithecus, and quotes Cardanus as saying
that the Cercopithecus or Wild-man, is singularly made, having the
height and form of a man, with legs like man’s--and is covered all over
with hair. No animal can withstand it, with the exception of man, to
whom, when in its own regions, it is not inferior. It loves boys and
women.

[Illustration]

Pliny speaks of the Satyr Ape thus: “Among the mountainous districts of
the eastern parts of India, in what is called the country of the
Catharcludi, we find the Satyr, an animal of extraordinary swiftness.
They go sometimes on four feet, and sometimes walk erect; they have,
also, the features of a human being. On account of their swiftness,
these creatures are never to be caught, except when they are aged, or
sickly,” and, in another place, he says, “The Sphyngium and the Satyr
stow away food in the pouches of their cheeks, after which they will
take out piece by piece in their hands, and eat it.”

Topsell has mixed up the Simia Satyrus with the classical satyr, having
legs and horns like goats; but he evidently alludes to the former in
this passage. “The _Satyres_ are in the Islands _Satiridæ_, which are
three in number, right over against India on the farther side of the
_Ganges_; of which _Euphemus Car_ rehearseth this history: that when he
sailed unto _Italy_, by the rage of winde and evill weather, they were
driven to a coast unnavigable, where were many desart Islandes,
inhabited of wild men, and the marriners refused to land upon some
Islands, having heretofore had triall of the inhumaine and uncivill
behaviour of the inhabitants, so that they brought us to the _Satyrian
Islands_, where we saw the inhabitants red, and had tayles joyned to
their backs, not much lesse than horsses. These, being perceived by the
marriners to run to the shippes, and lay hold on the women that were in
them, the shipmen, for feare, took one of the Barbarian women, and set
her on the land among them, whom in most odious and filthy manner, they
abused, whereby they found them to be very bruit beasts.”

[Illustration]

He gives us his idea of the Simia Satyrus, which must have been an
accomplished animal, for not only could it, apparently, play upon the
pipe, but it had a handy pouch for the reception of the fruit (in lieu
of coppers) which it doubtless would receive as guerdon for its
performance.




SATYRS.


He also mentions and delineates a curious Ape which closely resembles
the classical Satyr: “Under the _Equinoctiall_, toward the East and
South, there is a kind of Ape called _Ægopithecus_, an Ape like a Goate.
For there are Apes like Beares, called _Arctopitheci_, and some like
Lyons, called _Leontopitheci_, and some like Dogs, called _Cynocephali_,
as is before expressed; and many other which have a mixt resemblance of
other creatures in their members.

[Illustration]

“Amongst the rest there is a beast called PAN; who in his head, face,
horns, legs, and from the loynes downward resembleth a Goat, but in his
belly, breast, and armes, an Ape: such a one was sent by the King of
_Indians_ to Constantine, which, being shut up in a cave or close place,
by reason of the wildnesse thereof, lived there but a season, and when
it was dead and bowelled, they pouldred it with spices, and carried it
to be seene at Constantinople: the which beast having beene seene of the
ancient Græcians, were so amazed at the strangenesse thereof, that they
received it for a God, as they did a Satyre, and other strange beasts.”

I have said that Topsell has mixed the Ape and the Satyr,
inextricably--but as his version has the charm of description and
anecdote, I give it with little curtailment.

“As the _Cynocephali_, or _Baboun_ Apes have given occasion to some to
imagine (though falsly) there were such men, so the _Satyre_, a most
rare and seldom seene beast, hath occasioned other to thinke it was a
Devil; and the Poets with their Apes, the Painters, Limners, and
Carvers, to encrease that superstition, have therefore described him
with hornes on his head, and feet like Goates, whereas Satires have
neither of both. And it may be that Devils have at some time appeared to
men in this likenes, as they have done in the likeness of the
_Onocentaure_ and wild Asse, and other shapes; it being also probable
that Devils take not any dænomination or shape from Satyres, but rather
the Apes themselves, from Devils whom they resemble, for there are many
things common to the Satyre Apes, and devilish Satyres, as their human
shape, their abode in solitary places, their rough hayre, and lust to
women, wherewith all other Apes are naturally infected; but especially
Satyres....

“Peradventure the name of Satyre is more fitly derived from the Hebrew,
_Sair, Esa._ 34, whereof the plural is _Seirim, Esa._ 13, which is
interpreted monsters of the Desart, or rough hairy Fawnes; and when
Iisim is put to _Seir_, it signifieth Goats.

“The _Chaldæans_, for _Seirim_, render _Schedin_; that is, evill
devills; and the _Arabians_, _lesejathin_, that is _Satanas_: the
_Persyans_, _Devan_, the _Illyrians_, _Devadai_, and _Dewas_: the
_Germans_, _Teufel_. They which passed through the world, and exercised
dauncing and other sports for _Dionisius_, were called Satyres, and
sometimes _Tytiri_, because of their wanton songes; sometimes _Sileni_
(although the difference is, that the smaller and younger beasts are
called _Satiri_, the elder, and greater, _Sileni_;) Also _Bacchæ_ and
_Nymphæ_, wherefore _Bacchus_ is pictured riding in a chariot of vine
branches, _Silenus_ ridinge beside him on an Asse, and the _Bacchæ_ or
_Satyres_ shaking togetheer their staulkie Javelines and Paulmers.[27]
By reason of their leaping they are called _Scirti_, and the anticke or
satyrical dauncing, _Sicinnis_, and they also sometimes _Sicinnistæ_;
sometimes _Ægipanæ_; wherefore _Pliny_ reporteth, that among the
westerne _Ethiopians_, there are certain little hilles full of the
_Satirique Ægipanæ_, and that, in the night-time they use great fires,
piping and dansing, with a wonderful noise of Tymbrels and Cymbals; and
so also in _Atlas_ amongest the Moores, whereof there was no footing,
remnant, or appearance, to be found in the daytime.

“... There are also _Satires_ in the Eastern mountaines of _India_, in
the country of the _Cartaduli_, and in the province of the _Comari_ and
_Corudæ_, but the _Cebi_ spoken of before, bred in _Ethiopia_, are not
_Satyres_ (though faced like them:) nor the _Prasyan_ Apes, which
resemble _Satyres_ in short beards. There are many kindes of these
_Satyres_ better distinguished by names than any properties naturall
known unto us. Such are the _Ægipanæ_, before declared, _Nymphes_ of the
Poets, _Fawnes_, _Pan_ and _Sileni_, which, in time of the Gentiles were
worshipped for Gods; and it was one part of their religion to set up the
picture of a Satyre at their dores and gates, for a remedy against the
bewitching of envious persons.

“... Satyres have no humaine conditions in them, nor any other
resemblance of men besides their outward shape; though _Solinus_ speakes
of them like as of men. They carry their meate under their chin as in a
store house, and from thence being hungry, they take it forth to eat,
making it ordinary with them every day, which is but annuall in the
_Formicæ_ lions; being of very unquiet motions above other Apes. They
are hardly taken, except sicke, great with yong, old or asleepe; for
_Sylla_ had a _Satyre_ brought him, which was taken asleepe neare
_Apollonia_, in the holy place _Nymphæum_, of whom he (by divers
interpreters) demanded many questions, but received no answer, save only
a voice very much like the neighing of a horse, wherof he being afraid,
sent him away alive.

“_Philostratus_ telleth another history, how that _Apollonius_ and his
colleagues, supping in a village of _Ethiopia_, beyond the fall of
_Nilus_, they heard a sudden outcry of women calling to one another;
some saying, _Take him_, others, _Follow him_; likewise provoking their
husbands to helpe them: the men presently tooke clubs, stones, or what
came first to hand, complaining of an injury done unto their wives. Now
some ten moneths before, there had appeared a fearfull shew of a Satyre,
raging upon their women, and had slain two of them, with whom he was in
love: the companions of _Apollonius_ quaked at the hearing hereof, and
_Nilus_, one of them, swore (by _Jove_) that they being naked and
unarmed, could not be able to resist him in his outragious lust, but
that he would accomplish his wantonnes as before: yet, said
_Apollonius_, there is a remedy to quaile these wanton-leaping beasts,
which men say _Midas_ used (for _Midas_ was of kindred to _Satyres_, as
appeared by his eares). This _Midas_ heard his mother say, that
_Satyres_ loved to be drunke with wine, and then sleep soundly, and
after that, be so moderate, mild and gentle, that a man might thinke
they had lost their first nature.

“Whereupon he put wine into a fountain neere the highway, whereof, when
the _Satyre_ had tasted, he waxed meeke suddenly, and was overcome. Now
that we thinke not this a fable (saith _Apollonius_) let us go to the
Governor of the Towne, and inquire of him whether there be any wine to
be had that we may offer it to the _Satyre_, wherunto all consented, and
they filled foure great _Egyptian_ earthen vessels with wine, and put it
in the fountain where their cattel were watred: this done, _Apollonius_
called the _Satyre_, secretly thretning him, and the _Satire_, inraged
with the savour of the wine came; after he had drunke thereof, Now, said
_Apollonius_, let us sacrifice to the _Satyre_, for he sleepeth, and so
led the inhabitants to the dens of the _Nymphs_, distant a furlong from
the towne, and shewed them the _Satyre_ saying; Neither beat, cursse, or
provoke him henceforth, and he shall never harme you.

“It is certaine, that the devills do many waies delude men in the
likeness of _Satyres_; for, when the drunken feasts of _Bacchus_ were
yearely celebrated in _Parnassus_, there were many sightes of _Satyres_,
and voyces, and sounding of cymbals heard: yet it is likely that there
are men also like Satyres, inhabiting in some desart places; for _S.
Ierom_, in the life of _Paul the Eremite_, reporteth that there appeared
to _S. Anthony_, an _Hippocentaure_ such as the Poets describe, and
presently he saw, in a rocky valley adjoining, a little man having
croked nostrils, hornes growing out of his forhed, and the neather part
of his body had Goat’s feet; the holy man, not dismayed, taking the
shield of faith, and the breastplate of righteousnesse, like a good
souldior of Christ, pressed toward him, which brought him some fruites
of palmes as pledges of his peace, upon which he fed in the journey;
which Saint _Anthony_ perceiving, he asked him who he was, and received
this answere; I am a mortall creature, one of the inhabitants of this
Desart, whom the Gentiles (deceived with error) doe worship, and call
_Fauni_, _Satyres_, and _Incubi_: I am come in ambassage from our
flocke, intreating that thou would’st pray for us unto the common GOD,
who came to save the world; the which words were no sooner ended, but he
ran away as fast as any foule could fly. And least this should seeme
false, under _Constantine_ at _Alexandria_ there was such a man to be
seene alive, and was a publick spectacle to all the World; the carcasse
thereof, after his death, was kept from corruption by heat, through
salt, and was carried to _Antiocha_ that the Emperor himself might see
it.

[Illustration]

“_Satyres_ are very sildom seene, and taken with great difficulty, as is
before saide: for there were two of these founde in the woods of
_Saxony_ towards _Dacia_, in a desart, the female was killed by the
darts of the hunters, and the biting of Dogs, but the male was taken
alive, being in the upper parts like a man, and in the neather partes
like a Goat, but all hairy throughout: he was brought to be tame, and
learned to go upright, and also to speake some wordes, but with a voice
like a Goat, and without all reason.

[Illustration]

“The famous learned man _George Fabricius_, shewed me this shape of a
monstrous beast that is fit to be joyned to the story of _Satyres_.
There was, (saide he,) in the territory of the Bishop of _Salceburgh_,
in a forrest called _Fannesbergh_, a certaine foure-footed beast, of a
yellowish carnation colour, but so wilde that he would never be drawne
to looke upon any man, hiding himselfe in the darkest places, and beeing
watched diligently, would not be provoked to come forth so much as to
eate his meate--so that in a very short time it was famished. The hinder
legs were much unlike the former, and also much longer. It was taken
about the year of the Lord, one thousand five hundred, thirty, whose
image being here so lively described, may save us further labour in
discoursing of his maine and different parts and proportion.”




THE SPHYNX.


“The SPHYNGA or _Sphinx_, is of the kind of Apes, but his breast up
to his necke, pilde and smooth without hayre: the face is very round,
yet sharp and piked, having the breasts of women, and their favor, or
visage, much like them: In that part of the body which is bare with out
haire, there is a certaine red thing rising in a round circle, like
millet seed, which giveth great grace & comeliness to their coulour,
which in the middle part is humaine: Their voice is very like a man’s,
but not articulate, sounding as if one did speake hastily, with
indignation or sorrow. Their haire browne, or swarthy coulour. They
are bred in _India_, and _Ethiopia_. In the promontory of the farthest
_Arabia_ neere _Dira_, are _Sphinges_, and certaine _Lyons_, called
_Formicæ_, so, likewise, they are to be found amongest the _Trogloditæ_.

[Illustration]

“As the _Babouns_ and _Cynocephali_ are more wilde than other Apes, so
the _Satyres_ and _Sphynges_ are more meeke and gentle, for they are not
so wilde that they will not bee tamed, nor yet so tame, but they will
revenge their own harmes; as appeared by that which was slayne in a
publike spectacle among the _Thebanes_. They carrye their meat in the
store houses of their own chaps or cheeks, taking it forth when they are
hungry, and so eat it.

[Illustration]

“The name of this _Sphynx_ is taken from ‘binding,’ as appeareth by the
Greek notation, or else of delicacie and dainty nice loosnesse,
(wherefore there were certain common strumpets called _Sphinctæ_, and
the _Megarian Sphingas_ was a very popular phrase for notorious
harlots), hath given occasion to the poets to faigne a certaine monster
called _Sphynx_, which they say was thus derived. _Hydra_ brought
foorth the _Chimæra_, _Chimæra_ by _Orthus_, the _Sphynx_, and the
_Nemæan_ Lyon: now, this _Orthus_ was one of _Geryon’s_ dogges. This
_Sphynx_ they make a treble formed monster, a Mayden’s face, a Lyon’s
legs, and the wings of a fowle; or, as _Ansonius_ and _Varinus_ say, the
face and head of a mayde, the body of a dogge, the winges of a byrd, the
voice of a man, the clawes of a Lyon, and the tayle of a dragon: and
that she kept continually in the _Sphincian_ mountaine; propounding to
all travailers that came that way an _Ænigma_, or Riddle, which was
this: _What was the creature that first of all goeth on foure legges;
afterwards on two, and, lastly, on three_: and all of them that could
not dissolve that Riddle, she presently slew, by taking them, and
throwing them downe headlong, from the top of a Rocke. At last _Œdipus_
came that way, and declared the secret, that it _was a man, who in his
infancy creepeth on all foure_, afterward, _in youth, goeth upon two
legs_, and last of all, _in olde age taketh unto him a staffe which
maketh him to goe, as it were, on three legs_; which the monster
hearing, she presently threwe down herselfe from the former rocke, and
so she ended. Whereupon Œdipus is taken for a subtill and wise opener of
mysteries.

“But the truth is, that when _Cadmus_ had married an _Amazonian_ woman,
called _Sphynx_, and, with her, came to _Thebes_, and there slew _Draco_
their king, and possessed his kingdom, afterwards there was a sister
unto _Draco_ called _Harmona_, whom _Cadmus_ married, _Sphynx_ being yet
alive. She, in revenge, (being assisted by many followers,) departed
with great store of wealth into the mountaine _Sphincius_, taking with
her a great Dogge, which _Cadmus_ held in great account, and there made
daily incursions or spoiles upon his people. Now, _ænigma_, in the
_Theban_ language, signifieth an inrode, or warlike incursion, wherfore
the people complained in this sort. _This GRECIAN SPHINX robbeth us, in
setting up with an ÆNIGMA, but no man knoweth after what manner she
maketh this ÆNIGMA._

“_Cadmus_ hereupon made proclamation, that he would give a very
bountifull reward unto him that would kill _Sphinx_, upon which occasion
the Corinthian _Œdipus_ came unto her, being mounted on a swift courser,
and accompanied with some _Thebans_ in the night season, slue her. Other
say that _Œdipus_ by counterfaiting friendshippe, slue her, making shew
to be of her faction; and _Pausanius_ saith, that the former Riddle, was
not a Riddle, but an Oracle of _Apollo_, which _Cadmus_ had received,
whereby his posterity should be inheritors of the _Theban_ kingdome; and
whereas _Œdipus_, being the son of _Laius_, a former king of that
countrey, was taught the Oracle in his sleepe, he recouvered the
kingdome usurped by _Sphinx_ his sister, and, afterwards, unknown,
married his mother Jocasta.

“But the true morall of this poetical fiction is by that learned
_Alciatus_, in one of his emblems, deciphered; that her monstrous treble
formed shape signified her lustfull pleasure under a Virgin’s face, her
cruell pride, under the Lyon’s clawes, her winde-driven leuitye, under
the Eagles, or birdes feathers, and I will conclude with the wordes of
_Suidas_ concerning such monsters, that the _Tritons_, _Sphinges_, and
_Centaures_, are the images of those things, which are not to be founde
within the compasse of the whole world.”




APES.


Sluper, who could soar to the height of delineating a Cyclops, is equal
to the occasion when he has to deal with Apes, and here he gives us an
Ape which, unfortunately, does not seem to have survived to modern
times--namely, one which wove for itself coarse cloth, probably of
rushes; had a cloak of skin, and walked upright, with the aid of a
walking-stick, and was so genteel, that, having no boots, he seems to
have blacked his feet. And thus he sings of it:

    “Pres le Peru par effect le voit on,
      Dieu a donné au Singe telle forme.
    Vestu dejonc, s’appuyant d’un baston,
      Estãt debout, chose aux hõmes cõforme.”

[Illustration]

Before quitting the subject of Apes, I cannot refrain from noticing
another of this genus mentioned by Topsell, and that is the
Arctopithecus or Bear Ape:--“There is in America a very deformed beast,
which the inhabitants call _Haut_ or _Hauti_, and the Frenchmen
_Guenon_, as big as a great Affrican Monkey. His belly hangeth very low,
his head and face like unto a childes, and being taken, it will sigh
like a young childe. His skin is of an ashe-colour, and hairie like a
Beare: he hath but three clawes on a foote, as longe as foure fingers,
and like the thornes of Privet, whereby he climbeth up into the highest
trees, and for the most part liveth of the leaves of a certain tree,
beeing of an exceeding heighth, which the _Americans_ call _Amahut_, and
thereof this beast is called _Haut_. Their tayle is about three fingers
long, having very little haire thereon; it hath beene often tried, that
though it suffer any famine, it will not eate the fleshe of a living
man, and one of them was given me by a French-man, which I kept alive
sixe and twenty daies, and at the last it was killed by Dogges, and in
that time when I had set it abroad in the open ayre, I observed that,
_although it often rained, yet was that beast never wet_.[28] When it is
tame, it is very loving to a man, and desirous to climbe uppe to his
shoulders, which those naked _Amerycans_ cannot endure, by reason of the
sharpnesse of his Clawes.”




ANIMAL LORE.


We are indebted to Pliny for much strange animal lore--which, however,
will scarcely bear the fierce light of modern investigation. Thus, he
tells us of places in which certain animals are not to be found, and
narrates some very curious zoological anecdotes thereon. “It is a
remarkable fact, that nature has not only assigned different countries
to different animals, but that even in the same country it has denied
certain species to certain localities. In Italy, the dormouse is found
in one part only, the Messian forest. In Lycia, the gazelle never passes
beyond the mountains which border upon Syria; nor does the wild ass in
that vicinity pass over those which divide Cappadocia from Cilicia. On
the banks of the Hellespont, the stags never pass into a strange
territory, and, about Arginussa, they never go beyond Mount Elaphus;
those upon the mountains, too, have cloven ears. In the island of
Poroselene, the weasels will not so much as cross a certain road. In
Bœotia, the moles, which were introduced at Lebadea, fly from the very
soil of that country, while in the neighbourhood, at Orchomenus, the
very same animals tear up all the fields. We have seen coverlets for
beds made of the skin of these creatures, so that our sense of religion
does not prevent us from employing these ominous animals for the
purposes of luxury.

“When hares have been brought to Ithaca, they die as soon as ever they
touch the shore, and the same is the case with rabbits, on the shores of
the island of Ebusus; while they abound in the vicinity, Spain namely,
and the Balearic isles. In Cyrene, the frogs were formerly dumb, and
this species still exists, although croaking ones were carried over
there from the Continent. At the present day, even, the frogs of the
island of Seriphos are dumb; but when they are carried to other places,
they croak; the same thing is also said to have taken place at
Sicandrus, a lake of Thessaly. In Italy, the bite of a shrew-mouse is
venomous; an animal which is not to be found in any region beyond the
Apennines. In whatever country it exists, it always dies immediately if
it goes across the rut made by a wheel. Upon Olympus, a mountain of
Macedonia, there are no wolves, nor yet in the isle of Crete. In this
island there are neither foxes nor bears, nor, indeed, any kind of
baneful animal, with the exception of the phalangium, a species of
spider. It is a thing still more remarkable, that in this island there
are no stags, except in the district of Cydon; the same is the case with
the wild boar, the woodcock, and the hedgehog.”

He further tells us of animals which will injure strangers only, as also
animals which injure the natives only.

“There are certain animals which are harmless to the natives of the
country, but destroy strangers; such as the little serpents at
Tirynthus, which are said to spring out of the earth. In Syria, also,
and especially on the banks of the Euphrates, the serpents never attack
the Syrians when they are asleep, and even if they happen to bite a
native who treads upon them, their venom is not felt; but to persons of
any other country they are extremely hostile, and fiercely attack them,
causing a death attended with great torture. On this account the Syrians
never kill them. On the contrary, on Latmos, a mountain of Caria, as
Aristotle tells us, strangers are not injured by the scorpions, while
the natives are killed by them.”

He also throws some curious light, unknown to modern zoologists, on the
antipathies of animals one to another. He says:--“There will be no
difficulty in perceiving that animals are possessed of other instincts
besides those previously mentioned. In fact, there are certain
antipathies, and sympathies among them, which give rise to various
affections, besides those which we have mentioned in relation to each
species, in its appropriate place. The Swan and the Eagle are always at
variance, and the Raven and the Chloreus seek each other’s eggs by
night. In a similar manner, also, the Raven and the Kite are perpetually
at war with one another, the one carrying off the other’s food. So,
too, there are antipathies between the Crow and the Owl, the Eagle and
the Trochilus; between the last two, if we are to believe the story,
because the latter has received the title of ‘the king of birds;’ the
same, again, with the Owlet and all the smaller birds.

“Again, in relation to the terrestrial animals, the Weasel is at enmity
with the Crow, the Turtle-dove with the Pyrallis, the Ichneumon with the
Wasp, and the Phalangium with other Spiders. Among aquatic animals,
there is enmity between the Duck and the Seamew, the Falcon known as the
‘Harpe,’ and the Hawk called the ‘Triorchis.’ In a similar manner, too,
the Shrew-mouse and the Heron are ever on the watch for each other’s
young; and the Ægithus, so small a bird as it is, has an antipathy for
the Ass; for the latter, when scratching itself, rubs its body against
the brambles, and so crushes the bird’s nest; a thing of which it stands
in such dread, that, if it only hears the voice of the Ass when it
brays, it will throw its eggs out of the nest, and the young ones,
themselves, will, sometimes, fall to the ground in their fright; hence
it is that it will fly at the Ass, and peck at its sores with its beak.

“The Fox, too, is at war with the Nisus, and Serpents with Weasels and
Swine. Æsalon is the name given to a small bird that breaks the eggs of
the Raven, and the young of which are anxiously sought by the Fox;
while, in its turn, it will peck at the young of the Fox, and even the
parent itself. As soon as the Ravens espy this, they come to its
assistance, as though against a common enemy. The Acanthis, too, lives
among the brambles; hence it is that it also has an antipathy to the
Ass, because it devours the bramble blossoms. The Ægithus and the
Anthus, too, are at such mortal enmity with each other, that it is the
common belief that their blood will not mingle; and it is for this
reason that they have the bad repute of being employed in many magical
incantations. The Thos and the Lion are at war with each other; and,
indeed, the smallest objects and the greatest, just as much.
Caterpillars will avoid a tree that is infested with Ants. The Spider,
poised in its web, will throw itself on the head of a Serpent, as it
lies stretched beneath the shade of the tree where it has built, and,
with its bite, pierce its brain; such is the shock, that the creature
will hiss from time to time, and then, seized with vertigo, coil round
and round, while it finds itself unable to take to flight, or so much as
to break the web of the spider, as it hangs suspended above; this scene
only ends with its death.”




THE MANTICORA.


Of curious animals, other than Apes, depicted as having some approach to
the human countenance, perhaps the most curious is the Manticora. It is
not a _parvenu_; it is of ancient date, for Aristotle mentions it.
Speaking of the dentition of animals, he says:--“None of these genera
have a double row of teeth. But, if we may believe Ctesias, there are
some which have this peculiarity, for he mentions an Indian animal
called Martichora, which had three rows of teeth in each jaw; it is as
large and rough as a lion, and has similar feet, but its ears and face
are like those of a man; its eye is grey, and its body red; it has a
tail like a land Scorpion, in which there is a sting; it darts forth the
spines with which it is covered, instead of hair, and it utters a noise
resembling the united sound of a pipe and a trumpet; it is not less
swift of foot than a stag, and is wild, and devours men.”

Pliny also quotes Ctesias, but he slightly diverges, for he says it has
azure eyes, and is of the colour of blood; he also affirms it can
imitate the human speech. _Par parenthèse_ he mentions, in conjunction
with the Manticora, another animal similarly gifted:--“By the union of
the hyæna with the Æthiopian lioness, the Corocotta is produced, which
has the same faculty of imitating the voices of men and cattle. Its gaze
is always fixed and immoveable; it has no gums in either of its jaws,
and the teeth are one continuous piece of bone; they are enclosed in a
sort of box, as it were, that they may not be blunted by rubbing against
each other.”

_Mais, revenons à nos moutons_, or rather Mantichora. Topsell, in making
mention of this beast, recapitulates all that Ctesias has said on the
subject, and adds:--“And I take it to be the same Beast which _Avicen_
calleth _Marion_, and _Maricomorion_, with her taile she woundeth her
Hunters, whether they come before her or behinde her, and, presently,
when the quils are cast forth, new ones grow up in their roome,
wherewithal she overcometh all the hunters; and, although India be full
of divers ravening beastes, yet none of them are stiled with a title of
_Andropophagi_, that is to say, Men-eaters; except onely this
_Mantichora_. When the Indians take a Whelp of this beast, they fall to
and bruise the buttockes and taile thereof, so that it may never be fit
to bring (_forth_) sharp quils, afterwards it is tamed without peril.
This, also, is the same beast which is called _Leucrocuta_, about the
bignesse of a wilde Asse, being in legs and hoofes like a Hart, having
his mouth reaching on both sides to his eares, and the head and face
of a female like unto a Badgers. It is also called _Martiora_, which in
the Parsian tongue, signifieth a devourer of men.”

[Illustration]

Du Bartas, in “His First Week, or the Birth of the World,” mentions our
friend as being created:--

    “Then th’ _Vnicorn_, th’ _Hyæna_ tearing tombs,
    Swift _Mantichor’_, and _Nubian Cephus_ comes;
    Of which last three, each hath, (as heer they stand)
    Man’s voice, Man’s visage, Man like foot and hand.”

It is mentioned by other writers--but I have a theory of my own about
it, and that is, that it is only an idealised laughing hyæna.




THE LAMIA.


The Lamiæ are mythological--and were monsters of Africa, with the face
and breast of a woman, the rest of the body like that of a serpent; they
allured strangers, that they might devour them; and though not endowed
with the faculty of speech, their hissings were pleasing. Some believed
them to be evil spirits, who, in the form of beautiful women, enticed
young children, and devoured them; according to some, the fable of the
Lamiæ is derived from the amours of Jupiter with a beautiful woman,
Lamia, whom Juno rendered deformed, and whose children she destroyed;
Lamia became insane, and so desperate, that she ate up all the children
which came in her way.

Topsell, before entering upon the natural history of the Lamia, as an
animal, tells the following story of it as a mythological being:--“It is
reported of _Menippus_ the Lycian, that he fell in love with a strange
woman, who at that time seemed both beautifull, tender, and rich, but,
in truth, there was no such thing, and all was but a fantastical
ostentation; she was said to insinuate her selfe, into his familiaritie
after this manner: as he went upon a day alone from _Corinth_ to
_Senchræa_, hee met with a certaine phantasme, or spectre like a
beautifull woman, who tooke him by the hand, and told him she was a
_Phœnician_ woman, and of long time had loved him dearely, having sought
many occasions to manifest the same, but could never finde opportunitie
untill that day, wherefore she entreated him to take knowledge of her
house, which was in the Suburbes of _Corinth_, therewithall pointing
unto it with her finger, and so desired his presence. The young man
seeing himselfe thus wooed by a beautiful woman, was easily overcome by
her allurements, and did oftimes frequent her company.

“There was a certaine wise man, and a Philosopher, which espied the
same, and spake unto _Menippus_ in this manner, ‘O formose, et a
formorsis, expetitie mulieribus, ophin thalpies, cai se ophis,’ that is
to say, ‘O fair _Menippus_, beloved of beautiful women, art thou a
serpent, and dost nourish a serpent?’ by which words he gave him his
first admonition, or incling of a mischiefe; but not prevayling,
_Menippus_ proposed to marry with this spectre, her house to the outward
shew, being richly furnished with all manner of houshold goods; then
said the wise man againe unto _Menippus_, ‘This gold, silver, and
ornaments of house, are like to _Tantalus_ Apples, who are said by
_Homer_ to make a faire shew, but to containe in them no substance at
all; even so, whatsoever you conceave of this riches, there is no matter
or substance in the things which you see, for they are onely inchaunted
images, and shadowes, which that you may beleeve, this your neate bride
is one of the _Empusæ_, called _Lamia_, or _Mormolicæ_, wonderfull
desirous of commerce with men, and loving their flesh above measure; but
those whom they doe entice, afterwards they devoure without love or
pittie, feeding upon their flesh.’ At which words the wise man caused
the gold and silver plate, and household stuffe, cookes, and servants to
vanish all away. Then did the spectre like unto one that wept, entreate
the wise man that he would not torment her, nor yet cause her to
confesse what manner of person she was; but he on the other side being
inexorable, compelled her to declare the whole truth, which was, that
she was a Phairy, and that she purposed to use the companie of
_Menippus_, and feede him fat with all manner of pleasures, to the
extent that, afterward, she might eate up and devour his body, for all
their kinde love was only to feed upon beautiful yong men....

“To leave therefore these fables, and come to the true description of
the _Lamia_, we have in hand. In the foure and thirty chapter of Esay,
we do find this called a beast _Lilith_ in the Hæbrew, and translated by
the auncients _Lamia_, which is threatened to possesse _Babell_.
Likewise in the fourth chapter of the Lamentations, where it is said in
our English translation, that the Dragons lay forth their brests, in
Hæbrew they are called _Ehannum_, which, by the confession of the best
interpreters, cannot signifie Dragons, but rather Sea calves, being a
generall word for strange wilde beasts. How be it the matter being wel
examined, it shall appeare that it must needes be this Lamia, because of
her great breastes, which are not competible either to the Dragon, or
Sea calves; so then, we wil take it for graunted, by the testimony of
holy Scripture, that there is such a beast as this _Cristostinius_.
_Dion_ also writeth that there are such beasts in some parts of _Libia_,
having a Woman’s face, and very beautifull, also very large and comely
shapes on their breasts, such as cannot be counterfeited by the art of
any painter, having a very excellent colour in their fore parts, without
wings, and no other voice but hissing like Dragons: they are the
swiftest of foote of all earthly beasts, so as none can escape them by
running, for, by their celerity, they compasse their prey of beastes,
and by their fraud they overthrow men. For when they see a man, they lay
open their breastes, and by the beauty thereof, entice them to come
neare to conference, and so, having them within their compasse, they
devoure and kill them.

[Illustration]

“Unto the same things subscribe _Cælius_ and _Giraldus_, adding also,
that there is a certaine crooked place in _Libia_ neare the Sea-shore,
full of sand like to a sandy Sea, and all the neighbor places thereunto
are deserts. If it fortune at any time, that through shipwrack, men come
there on shore, these beasts watch uppon them, devouring them all, which
either endevour to travell on the land, or else to returne backe againe
to Sea, adding also, that when they see a man they stand stone still,
and stir not til he come unto them, looking down upon their breasts or
to the ground, whereupon some have thought, that seeing them, at their
first sight have such a desire to come neare them, that they are drawne
into their compasse, by a certaine naturall magicall witchcraft.... The
hinderparts of the beast are like unto a Goate, his fore legs like a
Beares, his upper parts to a woman, the body scaled all over like a
Dragon, as some have affirmed by the observation of their bodies, when
_Probus_, the Emperor, brought them forth unto publike spectacle; also
it is reported of them, that they devoure their own young ones, and
therefore they derive their name _Lamia_, of _Lamiando_; and thus much
for this beast.”




THE CENTAUR.


This extraordinary combination of man and animal is very ancient--and
the first I can find is Assyrian. Mr. W. St. Chad Boscawen, in one of
his British Museum Lectures (afterwards published under the title of
_From under the Dust of Ages_), speaking of the seasons and the zodiacal
signs, in his lecture on _The Legend of Gizdhubar_, says:--“Gizdhubar
has a dream that the stars of heaven are falling upon him, and, like
Nebuchadnezzar, he can find no one to explain the hidden meaning to
him. He is, however, told by his huntsman, Zaidu, of a very wise
creature who dwells in the marshes, three days’ journey from Erech....
The strange being, whom this companion of the hero is despatched to
bring to the Court, is one of the most interesting in the Epic. He is
called Hea-bani--‘he whom Hea has made.’ This mysterious creature is
represented on the gems, as half a man, and half a bull. He has the
body, face, and arms of a man, and the horns, legs, hoofs, and tail of a
bull. Though in form rather resembling the satyrs, and in fondness for,
and in association with the cattle, the rustic deity Pan, yet in his
companionship with Gizdhubar, and his strange death, he approaches
nearer the Centaur Chiron, who was the companion of Heracles.

“By his name he was the son of Hea, whom Berosus identifies as Cronos,
as Chiron was the son of Cronos. Like Chiron, he was celebrated for his
wisdom, and acted as the counsellor of the hero, interpreting his
dreams, and enabling him to overcome the enemies who attacked him.
Chiron met his death at the hand of Heracles, one of whose poisoned
arrows struck him, and, though immortal, he would not live any longer,
and gave his immortality to Prometheus.... Zeus made Chiron among the
stars a Sagittarius. Here again we have a striking echo of the Chaldæan
legend, in the Erech story. According to the arrangement of tablets, the
death of Hea-bani takes place under the sign of Sagittarius, and is the
result of some fatal accident during the combat between Gizdhubar and
Khumbaba. Like the Centaurs, before his call to the Court of Gizdhubar,
Hea-bani led a wild and savage life. It is said on the tablets ‘that he
consorted with the wild beasts. With the gazelles he took his food by
night, and consorted with the cattle by day, and rejoiced his heart
with the creeping things of the waters.’

“Hea-Bani was true and loyal to Gizdhubar, and when Istar (the Assyrian
Venus), foiled in her love for Gizdhubar, flew to heaven to see her
father Anu (the Chaldæan Zeus), and to seek redress for the slight put
upon her, the latter created a winged bull, called ‘The Bull of Heaven,’
which was sent to earth. Hea-Bani, however, helps his lord, the bull is
slain, and the two companions enter Erech in triumph. Hea-Bani met with
his death when Gizdhubar fought Khumbaba, and ‘Gizdhubar for Hea-Bani
his friend wept bitterly and lay on the ground.’”

[Illustration]

Thus, centuries before the Romans had emerged from barbarism, we have
the prototype of the classical Centaur, the man-horse. The fabled
Centaurs were a people of Thessaly--half-men, half-horses--and their
existence is very cloudy. Still, they were often depicted, and the two
examples of a male and female Centaur, from a fresco at Pompeii, are
charmingly drawn. It will be seen that both are attended by Bacchantes
bearing thyrses--a delicate allusion to their love of wine; for it was
owing to this weakness that their famous battle with the Lapithæ took
place. The Centaurs were invited to the marriage of Hippodamia with
Pirithous, and, after the manner of cow-boys “up town,” they got
intoxicated, were very rude, and even offered violence to the women
present. That, the good knights, Sir Hercules and Sir Theseus, could not
stand, and with the Lapithæ, gave the Centaurs a thrashing, and made
them retire to Arcadia. They had a second fight over the matter of wine,
for the Centaur Pholus gave Hercules to drink of wine meant for him, but
in the keeping of the Centaurs, and these ill-conditioned animals
resented it, and attacked Hercules with fury. They were fearfully
punished, and but few survived.

[Illustration]

Pliny pooh-poohs the mythical origin of the Centaurs, and says they were
Thessalians, who dwelt along Mount Pelion, and were the first to fight
on horseback. Aldrovandus writes that, according to Licosthenes, there
were formerly found, in the regions of the Great Tamberlane, Centaurs of
such a form as its upper part was that of a man, with two arms
resembling those of a toad, and he gives a drawing from that author,
so that the reader might diligently meditate whether such an animal was
possible in a natural state of things; but the artist seems to have
forgotten the fore-legs.

[Illustration]

    “The Onocentaur is a monstrous beast;
    Supposed halfe a man, and halfe an Asse,
    That never shuts his eyes in quiet rest,
    Till he his foes deare life hath round encompast.
          Such were the Centaures in their tyrannie,
          That liv’d by Humane flesh and villanie.”

    --CHESTER.




THE GORGON.


In the title-page of one edition of “The Historie of Foure-footed
Beastes” (1607) Topsell gives this picture of the Gorgon; and he says,
respecting this curious animal, the following:--“Among the manifold and
divers sorts of Beasts which are bred in Affricke, it is thought that
the _Gorgon_ is brought foorth in that countrey. It is a feareful and
terrible beast to behold: it hath high and thicke eie-lids, eies not
very great, but much like an Oxes or Bugils, but all fiery bloudy, which
neyther looke directly forwarde, nor yet upwards, but continuallye downe
to the earth, and therefore are called in Greeke _Catobleponta_. From
the crowne of their head downe to their nose, they have a long hanging
mane, which makes them to look fearefully. It eateth deadly and
poysonfull hearbs, and if at any time he see a Bull, or other creature
whereof he is afraid, he presently causeth his mane to stand upright,
and, being so lifted up, opening his lips, and gaping wide, sendeth
forth of his throat a certaine sharpe and horrible breath, which
infecteth, and poysoneth the air above his head, so that all living
creatures which draw the breath of that aire are greevously afflicted
thereby, loosing both voyce and sight, they fall into leathall and
deadly convulsions. It is bred in _Hesperia_ and _Lybia_.

[Illustration]

“The Poets have a fiction that the _Gorgones_ were the Daughters of
_Medusa_ and _Phorcynis_, and are called _Steingo_, and by _Hesiodus_,
_Stheno_, and _Eyryale_ inhabiting the _Gorgadion_ Ilands in the
_Æthiopick Ocean_, over against the gardens of _Hesperia_. _Medusa_ is
said to have the haires of his head to be living Serpentes, against whom
_Perseus_ fought, and cut off his hed, for which cause he was placed in
heaven on the North side of the _Zodiacke_ above the Waggon, and on the
left hand holding the _Gorgons_ head. The truth is that there were
certaine _Amazonian_ women in _Affricke_ divers from the _Scythians_,
against whom _Perseus_ made warre, and the captaine of those women was
called _Medusa_, whom _Perseus_ overthrew, and cut off her head, and
from thence came the Poet’s fiction describing Snakes growing out of it
as is aforesaid. These _Gorgons_ are bred in that countrey, and have
such haire about their heads, as not onely exceedeth all other beastes,
but also poysoneth, when he standeth upright. Pliny calleth this beast
_Catablepon_,[29] because it continually looketh downwards, and saith
all the parts of it are but smal excepting the head, which is very
heavy, and exceedeth the proportion of his body, which is never lifted
up, but all living creatures die that see his eies.

“By which there ariseth a question whether the poison which he sendeth
foorth, proceede from his breath, or from his eyes. Whereupon it is more
probable, that like the Cockatrice, he killeth by seeing, than by the
breath of his mouth, which is not competible to any other beasts in the
world. Besides, when the Souldiers of _Marius_ followed _Iugurtha_,
they saw one of these _Gorgons_, and, supposing it was some sheepe,
bending the head continually to the earth, and moving slowly, they set
upon him with their swords, whereat the Beast, disdaining, suddenly
discovered his eies, setting his haire upright, at the sight whereof the
Souldiers fel downe dead.

“_Marius_, hearing thereof, sent other souldiers to kill the beaste, but
they likewise died, as the former. At last the inhabitantes of the
countrey, tolde the Captaine the poyson of this beast’s nature, and that
if he were not killed upon a Sodayne, with onely the sight of his eies
he sent death into his hunters: then did the Captaine lay an ambush of
souldiers for him, who slew him sodainely with their speares, and
brought him to the Emperour, whereupon _Marius_ sent his skinne to Rome,
which was hung up in the Temple of _Hercules_, wherein the people were
feasted after the triumphes; by which it is apparent that they kill with
their eies, and not with their breath....

“But to omit these fables, it is certaine that sharp poisoned sightes
are called _Gorgon Blepen_, and therefore we will followe the Authoritie
of _Pliny_ and _Athenæus_. It is a beast set all over with scales like a
Dragon, having no haire except on his head, great teeth like Swine,
having wings to flie, and hands to handle, in stature betwixt a Bull and
a Calfe.

“There be Ilandes called _Gorgonies_, wherein these monster-_Gorgons_
were bredde, and unto the daies of _Pliny_, the people of that countrey
retained some part of their prodigious nature. It is reported by
_Xenophon_, that _Hanno_, King of _Carthage_, ranged with his armie in
that region, and founde there, certaine women of incredible swiftenesse
and perniscitie of foote. Whereof he tooke two onely of all that
appeared in sight, which had such roughe and sharp bodies, as never
before were seene. Wherefore, when they were dead, he hung up their
skinnes in the Temple of _Juno_, for a monument of their straunge
natures, which remained there untill the destruction of _Carthage_. By
the consideration of this beast, there appeareth one manifest argument
of the Creator’s devine wisdome and providence, who hath turned the eies
of this beaste downeward to the earth, as it were thereby burying his
poyson from the hurt of man; and shaddowing them with rough, long and
strong haire, that their poysoned beames should not reflect upwards,
untill the beast were provoked by feare or danger, the heavines of his
head being like a clogge to restraine the liberty of his poysonfull
nature, but what other partes, vertues or vices, are contained in the
compasse of this monster, God onely knoweth, who, peradventure, hath
permitted it to live uppon the face of the earth, for no other cause but
to be a punishment and scourge unto mankind; and an evident example of
his owne wrathfull power to everlasting destruction. And this much may
serve for a description of this beast, untill by God’s providence, more
can be known thereof.”




THE UNICORN.


What a curious belief was that of the Unicorn! Yet what mythical animal
is more familiar to Englishmen? In its present form it was not known to
the ancients, not even to Pliny, whose idea of the Monoceros or Unicorn
is peculiar. He describes this animal as having “the head of a stag, the
feet of an elephant, the tail of the boar, while the rest of the body
is like that of the horse: it makes a deep lowing noise, and has a
single black horn, which projects from the middle of its forehead, two
cubits in length. This animal, it is said, cannot be taken alive.”

Until James VI. of Scotland ascended the English throne as James I., the
Unicorn, as it is now heraldically portrayed (which was a supporter to
the arms of James IV.) was almost unknown--vide _Tempest_, iii. 3. 20:--

    “_Alonzo._ Give us kind keepers, heavens: what were these?

    _Sebastian._ A living drollery. Now I will believe that there are
    unicorns.”

Spenser, who died before the accession of James I., and therefore did
not write about the supporters of the Royal Arms, alludes (in his
_Faerie Queene_) to the antagonism between the Lion and the Unicorne.

    “Likë as the lyon, whose imperial poure
    A proud rebellious unicorn defyes,
    T’avoide the rash assault, and wrathful stoure
    Of his fiers foe, him to a tree applyes,
    And when him rouning in full course he spyes,
    He slips aside: the whiles that furious beast,
    His precious horne, sought of his enimyes,
    Strikes in the stroke, ne thence can be released,
    But to the victor yields a bounteous feast.”

Pliny makes no mention of the Unicorn as we have it heraldically
represented, but speaks of the Indian Ass, which, he says, is only a
one-horned animal. Other old naturalists, with the exception of Ælian,
do not mention it as our Unicorn--and his description of it hardly
coincides. He says that the Brahmins tell of the wonderful beasts in the
inaccessible regions of the interior of India, among them being the
Unicorn, “which they call _Cartazonon_, and say that it reaches the
size of a horse of mature age, possesses a mane and reddish-yellow hair,
and that it excels in swiftness through the excellence of its feet and
of its whole body. Like the elephant it has inarticulate feet, and it
has a boar’s tail; one black horn projects between the eyebrows, not
awkwardly, but with a certain natural twist, and terminating in a sharp
point.”

[Illustration]

Guillim, who wrote on heraldry in 1610, gives, in his Illustrations,
indifferently the tail of this animal, as horse or ass; and, as might be
expected from one of his craft, magnifies the Unicorn exceedingly:--“The
Unicorn hath his Name of his one Horn on his Forehead. There is another
Beast of a huge Strength and Greatness, which hath but one Horn, but
that is growing on his Snout, whence he is called _Rinoceros_, and both
are named _Monoceros_, or _One horned_. It hath been much questioned
among Naturalists, which it is that is properly called the Unicorn: And
some hath made Doubt whether there be any such Beast as this, or no.
But the great esteem of his Horn (in many places to be seen) may take
away that needless scruple....

“Touching the invincible Nature of this Beast, _Job_ saith, ‘_Wilt thou
trust him because his Strength is great, and cast thy Labour unto him?
Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it
into thy Barn?_’ And his Vertue is no less famous than his Strength, in
that his Horn is supposed to be the most powerful Antidote against
Poison: Insomuch as the general Conceit is, that the wild Beasts of the
Wilderness use not to drink of the Pools, for fear of the venemous
Serpents there breeding, before the Unicorn hath stirred it with his
Horn. Howsoever it be, this Charge may very well be a Representation
both of Strength or Courage, and also of vertuous Dispositions and
Ability to do Good; for to have Strength of Body, without the Gifts and
good Qualities of the Mind, is but the Property of an Ox, but where both
concur, that may truly be called Manliness. And that these two should
consort together, the Ancients did signify, when they made this one
Word, _Virtus_, to imply both the Strength of Body, and Vertue of the
Mind....

“It seemeth, by a Question moved by _Farnesius_, That the Unicorn is
never taken alive; and the Reason being demanded, it is answered ‘That
the greatness of his Mind is such, that he chuseth rather to die than to
be taken alive: Wherein (saith he) the Unicorn and the valiant-minded
Souldier are alike, which both contemn Death, and rather than they will
be compelled to undergo any base Servitude or Bondage, they will lose
their Lives.’...

“The Unicorn is an untameable Beast by Nature, as may be gathered from
the Words of _Job, chap. 39_, ‘_Will the Unicorn serve thee, or will he
tarry by thy Crib? Can’st thou bind the Unicorn with his Band to labour
in the Furrow, or will he plough the Valleys after thee?’_”

Topsell dilates at great length on the Unicorn. He agrees with Spenser
and Guillim, and says:--“These Beasts are very swift, and their legges
have no Articles (_joints_). They keep for the most part in the desarts,
and live solitary in the tops of the Mountaines. There was nothing more
horrible than the voice or braying of it, for the voice is strain’d
above measure. It fighteth both with the mouth and with the heeles, with
the mouth biting like a Lyon, and with the heeles kicking like a
Horse.... He feereth not Iron nor any yron Instrument (as _Isodorus_
writeth) and that which is most strange of all other, it fighteth with
his owne kind, yea even with the females unto death, except when it
burneth in lust for procreation: but unto straunger Beasts, with whome
he hath no affinity in nature, he is more sotiable and familiar,
delighting in their company when they come willing unto him, never
rising against them; but, proud of their dependence and retinue, keepeth
with them all quarters of league and truce; but with his female, when
once his flesh is tickled with lust, he groweth tame, gregall, and
loving, and so continueth till she is filled and great with young, and
then returneth to his former hostility.”

There was a curious legend of the Unicorn, that it would, by its keen
scent, find out a maiden, and run to her, laying its head in her lap.
This is often used as an emblem of the Virgin Mary, to denote her
purity. The following is from the Bestiary of Philip de Thaun, and, as
its old French is easily read, I have not translated it:--

    “Monoceros est Beste, un corne ad en la teste,
    Purceo ad si a nun, de buc ad façun;
    Par Pucele est prise; or vez en quel guize.
      Quant hom le volt cacer et prendre et enginner,
    Si vent hom al forest ù sis riparis est;
    Là met une Pucele hors de sein sa mamele,
    Et par odurement Monosceros la sent;
    Dunc vent à la Pucele, et si baiset la mamele,
    En sein devant se dort, issi veut à sa mort;
    Li hom suivent atant ki l’ocit en dormant
    U trestont vif le prent, si fais puis sun talent.
      Grant chose signifie.”...

Topsell, of course, tells the story:--“It is sayd that Unicorns above
all other creatures, doe reverence Virgines and young Maides, and that
many times at the sight of them they grow tame, and come and sleepe
beside them, for there is in their nature a certaine savor, wherewithall
the Unicornes are allured and delighted; for which occasion the _Indian_
and _Ethiopian_ hunters use this stratagem to take the beast. They take
a goodly, strong, and beautifull young man, whom they dresse in the
Apparell of a woman, besetting him with divers odoriferous flowers and
spices.

“The man so adorned they set in the Mountaines or Woods, where the
Unicorne hunteth, so as the wind may carrie the savor to the beast, and
in the meane season the other hunters hide themselves: the Unicorne
deceaved with the outward shape of a woman, and sweete smells, cometh to
the young man without feare, and so suffereth his head to bee covered
and wrapped within his large sleeves, never stirring, but lying still
and asleepe, as in his most acceptable repose. Then, when the hunters,
by the signe of the young man, perceave him fast and secure, they come
uppon him, and, by force, cut off his horne, and send him away alive:
but, concerning this opinion wee have no elder authoritie than
_Tzetzes_, who did not live above five hundred yeares agoe, and
therefore I leave the reader to the freedome of his owne judgment, to
believe or refuse this relation; neither is it fit that I should omit
it, seeing that all writers, since the time of _Tzetzes_, doe most
constantly beleeve it.

“It is sayd by _Ælianus_ and _Albertus_, that, except they bee taken
before they bee two yeares old they will never bee tamed; and that the
Thrasians doe yeerely take some of their Colts, and bring them to their
King, which he keepeth for combat, and to fight with one another; for
when they are old, they differ nothing at all from the most barbarous,
bloodie, and ravenous beasts. Their flesh is not good for meate, but is
bitter and unnourishable.”

It is hardly worth while to go into all the authorities treating of the
Unicorn; suffice it to say, that it was an universal belief that there
were such animals in existence, for were not their horns in proof
thereof? and were they not royal presents fit for the mightiest of
potentates to send as loving pledges one to another? for it was one of
the most potent of medicines, and a sure antidote to poison. And they
were very valuable, too, for Paul Hentzner--who wrote in the time of
Queen Elizabeth--says that, at Windsor Castle, he was shown, among other
things, the horn of an Unicorn of above eight spans and a half in
length, _i.e._, about 6½ feet, valued at £10,000. Considering that money
was worth then about three times what it is now, an Unicorn’s horn was a
right royal gift.

Topsell, from whom I have quoted so much, is especially voluminous and
erudite on Unicorns; indeed, in no other old or new author whom I have
consulted are there so many facts (?) respecting this fabled beast to be
found. Here is his history of those horns then to be found in Europe:--

“There are two of these at _Venice_ in the Treasurie of S. _Marke’s_
Church, as _Brasavolus_ writeth, one at _Argentoratum_, which is
wreathed about with divers sphires.[30] There are also two in the
Treasurie of the King of _Polonia_, all of them as long as a man in his
stature. In the yeare 1520, there was found the horne of a _Unicorne_ in
the river _Arrula_, neare _Bruga_ in Helvetia, the upper face or out
side whereof was a darke yellow; it was two cubites (_3 feet_) in
length, but had upon it no plights[31] or wreathing versuus. It was very
odoriferous (especially when any part of it was set on fire), so that it
smelt like muske: as soone as it was found, it was carried to a Nunnery
called _Campus regius_, but, afterwards by the Governor of _Helvetia_,
it was recovered back againe, because it was found within his
teritorie....

“Another certaine friend of mine, being a man worthy to be beleeved,
declared unto me that he saw at _Paris_, with the Chancellor, being Lord
of _Pratus_, a peece of a Unicorn’s horn, to the quantity of a cubit,
wreathed in tops or spires, about the thicknesse of an indifferent
staffe (the compasse therof extending to the quantity of six fingers)
being within, and without, of a muddy colour, with a solide substance,
the fragments whereof would boile in the Wine although they were never
burned, having very little or no smell at all therein.

“When _Joannes Ferrerius_ of _Piemont_ had read these thinges, he wrote
unto me, that, in the Temple of _Dennis_, neare unto _Paris_, that there
was a Unicorne’s horne six foot long, ... but that in bignesse, it
exceeded the horne at the Citty of _Argentorate_, being also holow
almost a foot from that part which sticketh unto the forehead of the
Beast, this he saw himselfe in the Temple of S. _Dennis_, and handled
the horne with his handes as long as he would. I heare that in the
former yeare (which was from the yeare of our Lord), 1553, when
_Vercella_ was overthrown by the French, there was broght from that
treasure unto the King of France, a very great Unicorn’s horne, the
price wherof was valued at fourscore thousand Duckets.[32]

“_Paulus Poæius_ describeth an Unicorne in this manner; That he is a
beast, in shape much like a young Horse, of a dusty colour, with a maned
necke, a hayry beard, and a forehead armed with a Horne of the quantity
of two Cubits, being seperated with pale tops or spires, which is
reported by the smoothnes and yvorie whitenesse thereof, to have the
wonderfull power of dissolving and speedy expelling of all venome or
poison whatsoever.

“For his horne being put into the water, driveth away the poison, that
he may drinke without harme, if any venemous beast shall drinke therein
before him. This cannot be taken from the Beast, being alive, for as
much as he cannot possible be taken by any deceit: yet it is usually
seene that the horne is found in the desarts, as it happeneth in Harts,
who cast off their olde horne thorough the inconveniences of old age,
which they leave unto the Hunters, Nature renewing an other unto them.

“The horne of this beast being put upon the Table of Kinges, and set
amongest their junkets and bankets, doeth bewray the venome, if there be
any suche therein, by a certaine sweat which commeth over it. Concerning
these hornes, there were two seene, which were two cubits in length, of
the thicknesse of a man’s Arme, the first at _Venice_, which the Senate
afterwards sent for a gift unto _Solyman_ the Turkish Emperor: the other
being almost of the same quantity, and placed in a Sylver piller, with a
shorte or cutted[33] point, which _Clement_ the Pope or Bishop of
_Rome_, being come unto _Marssels_ brought unto _Francis_ the King, for
an excellent gift.”... They adulterated the real article, for sale.
“_Petrus Bellonius_ writeth, that he knewe the tooth of some certaine
Beast, in time past, sold for the horne of a Unicorne (what beast may be
signified by this speech I know not, neither any of the French men which
do live amongst us) and so smal a peece of the same, being adulterated,
sold ‘sometimes for 300 Duckets.’ But, if the horne shall be true and
not counterfait, it doth, notwithstanding, seeme to be of that creature
which the Auncientes called by the name of an Unicorne, especially
_Ælianus_, who only ascribeth to the same this wonderfull force against
poyson and most grievous diseases, for he maketh not this horne white as
ours doth seeme, but outwardly red, inwardly white, and in the Middest
or secretest part only blacke.”

Having dilated so long upon the Unicorn, it would be a pity not to give
some idea of the curative properties of its horn--always supposing that
it could be obtained genuine, for there were horrid suspicions abroad
that it might be “the horne of some other beast brent in the fire, some
certaine sweet odors being thereunto added, and also imbrued in some
delicious and aromaticall perfume. Peradventure also, Bay by this means,
first burned, and afterwards quenched, or put out with certaine sweet
smelling liquors.” To be of the proper efficacy it should be taken new,
but its power was best shown in testing poisons, when it sweated, as did
also a stone called “the Serpent’s tongue.” And the proper way to try
whether it was genuine or not, was to give Red Arsenic or Orpiment to
two pigeons, and then to let them drink of two samples; if genuine, no
harm would result--if adulterated, or false, the pigeons would die.

It was also considered a cure for Epilepsy, the Pestilent Fever or
Plague, Hydrophobia, Worms in the intestines, Drunkenness, &c.,
&c.,--and it also made the teeth clean and white;--in fact, it had so
many virtues that “no home should be without it.”

And all this about a Narwhal’s horn!




THE RHINOCEROS.


The true Unicorn is, of course, the Rhinoceros, and this picture of it
is as early an one as I can find, being taken from Aldrovandus de Quad,
A.D. 1521. Gesner and Topsell both reproduce it, at later dates, but
_reversed_. The latter says that Gesner drew it from the life at
Lisbon--but having Aldrovandus and the others before me, I am bound to
give the palm to the former, and confess the others to be piracies. It
is certain, however, that whoever drew this picture of a Rhinoceros must
have seen one, either living or stuffed, for it is not too bizarre.

[Illustration]

Topsell approaches this animal with an awe and reverence, such as he
never shows towards any other beast; indeed, he gets quite solemn over
it, and he thus commences his _Apologia_:--“But for my part, which write
the English story, I acknowledge that no man must looke for that at my
hands, which I have not received from some other: for I would bee
unwilling to write anything untrue, or uncertaine out of mine owne
invention; and truth on every part is so deare unto mee, that I will not
lie to bring any man in love and admiration with God and his works, for
God needeth not the lies of men: To conclude, therefore, this Præface,
as the beast is strange, and never seene in our countrey, so my eyesight
cannot adde anything to the description; therefore harken unto that
which I have observed out of other writers.”

They were very rare beasts, among the early Roman Emperors, but in the
later Empire they were introduced into the Circus, but many centuries
rolled on before we, in England, were favoured with a sight of this
great animal. Topsell had not seen one, and he wrote in 1607, so we
accept his _Apologia_ with all his errors:--“_Oppianus_ saith that there
was never yet any distinction of sexes in these _Rhinocerotes_; for all
that ever have been found were males, and not females, but from hence
let no body gather that there are no females, for it were impossible
that the breede should continue without females.

“When they are to fight they whet their horne upon a stone, and there
is not only a discord between these beasts and Elephants for their food,
but a natural description and enmity: for it is confidently affirmed,
that when the Rhinoceros which was at _Lisborne_, was brought into the
presence of an Elephant, the Elephant ran away from him. How and what
place he overcometh the Elephant, we have shewed already in his story,
namely, how he fastneth his horne in the soft part of the Elephantes
belly. He is taken by the same meanes that the _Unicorne_ is taken, for
it is said by _Albertus_, _Isodorus_, and _Alumnus_, that above all
other creatures they love Virgins, and that unto them they will come be
they never so wilde, and fall a sleepe before them, so being asleepe
they are easily taken, and carried away. All the later Physitians do
attribute the vertue of the _Unicorn’s_ horne to the _Rhinocereos_
horn.”

Ser Marco Polo, speaking of Sumatra, or, as he called it, Java the Less,
says in that island there are numerous unicorns. “They have hair like
that of a buffalo, feet like those of an elephant, and a horn in the
middle of the forehead, which is black and very thick. They do no
mischief, however, with the horn, but with the tongue alone; for this is
covered all over with long and strong prickles, (and when savage with
any one they crush him under their knees, and then rasp him with their
tongue). The head resembles that of a wild boar, and they carry it ever
bent towards the ground. They delight much to abide in mire and mud.
’Tis a passing ugly beast to look upon, and is not in the least like
that which our stories tell us of as being caught in the lap of a
virgin; in fact, ’tis altogether different from what we fancied.”




THE GULO.


[Illustration]

Olaus Magnus thus describes the Gulo or Gulon:--“Amongst all creatures
that are thought to be insatiable in the Northern parts of _Sweden_, the
_Gulo_ hath his name to be the principall; and in the vulgar tongue they
call him _Jerff_, but in the _German_ language _Vielfras_; in the
Sclavonish speech _Rossamaka_, from his much eating, and the Latin name
is _Gulo_, for he is so called from his gluttony. He is as great as a
great Dog, and his ears and face are like a Cat’s: his feet and nails
are very sharp; his body is hairy, with long brown hair, his tail is
like the Foxes, but somewhat shorter, but his hair is thicker, and of
this they make brave Winter Caps. Wherefore this Creature is the most
voracious; for, when he finds a carcasse, he devours so much, that his
body, by over-much meat, is stretched like a Drum, and finding a
streight (_narrow_) passage between Trees, he presseth between them,
that he may discharge his body by violence; and being thus emptied, he
returns to the carcasse, and fills himself top full; and then he
presseth again through the same narrow passage, and goes back to the
carkasse, till he hath devoured it all; and then he hunts eagerly for
another. It is supposed he was created by nature to make men blush, who
eat and drink till they spew, and then feed again, eating day and night,
as _Mechovita_ thinks in his _Sarmatia_. The flesh of this Creature is
altogether uselesse for man’s food; but his skin is very commodious and
pretious. For it is of a white brown black colour, like a damask cloth
wrought with many figures; and it shews the more beautiful, as by the
Industry of the Artist it is joyn’d with other garments in the likenesse
or colour. Princes and great men use this habit in Winter, made like
Coats; because it quickly breeds heat, and holds it long; and that not
onely in _Swethland_, and _Gothland_, but in _Germany_, where the rarity
of these skins makes them to be more esteemed, when it is prised in
ships among other Merchandise.

“The Inhabitants are not content to let these skins be transported into
other Countries, because, in Winter, they use to entertain their more
noble guests in these skins; which is a sufficient argument that they
think nothing more comely and glorious, than to magnifie at all times,
and in all orders their good guests, and that in the most vehement cold,
when amongst other good turns they cover their beds with these skins.

“And I do not think fit to overpasse, that when men sleep under these
skins, they have dreams that agree with the nature of that Creature, and
have an insatiable stomach, and lay snares for other Creatures, and
prevent them themselves. It may be that it is as they that eat hot
Spices, Ginger or Pepper seem to be inflamed; and they that eat Sugar
seem to be choked in water. There seems to be another secret of Nature
in it, that those who are clothed in those Skins, seem never to be
satisfied.

“The guts of this Creatures are made into strings for Musicians, and
give a harsh sound, which the Natives take pleasure in; but these,
tempered with sweet sounding strings, will make very good Musick. Their
hoofs made like Circles, and set upon heads subject to the Vertigo, and
ringing ears, soon cure them. The Hunters drink the blood of this beast
mingled with hot water; also seasoned with the best Honey, it is drunk
at Marriages. The fat, or tallow of it, smeered on putrid Ulcers for an
ointment is a sudden cure. Charmers use the teeth of it. The hoofs,
newly taken off, will drive away Cats and Dogs, if they do but see it,
as birds fly away, if they spy but the Vultur or the Bustard.

“By the Hunter’s various Art, this Creature is taken onely in regard of
his pretious skin; and the way is this;--They carry into the wood a
fresh Carkasse; where these beasts are wont to be most commonly;
especially in the deep snows (for in Summer their skins are nothing
worth) when he smels this he falls upon it, and eats till he is forced
to crush his belly close between narrow trees, which is not without
pain; the Hunter, in the mean time, shoots, and kills him with an arrow.

“There is another way to catch this Beast, for they set Trees, bound
asunder with small cords, and these fly up when they eat the Carkasse,
and strangle them; or else he is taken, falling into pits dug upon one
side, if the Carkasse be cast in, and he is compelled by hunger to feed
upon it. And there is hardly any other way to catch him with dogs, since
his claws are so sharp, that dogs dare not encounter with him, that
fear not to set upon the most fierce Wolves.”

Of this animal Topsell says:--“This beast was not known by the ancients,
but hath bin since discovered in the Northern parts of the world, and
because of the great voracity thereof, it is called _Gulo_, that is, a
devourer; in imitation of the Germans, who call such devouring Creatures
_Vilsruff_, and the Swedians _Cerff_, and in _Lituania_ and _Muscovia_
it is called _Rossomokal_. It is thought to be engendered by a _Hyæna_
and a _Lionesse_, for in quality it resembleth a _Hyæna_, and it is the
same which is called _Crocuta_: it is a devouring and unprofitable
creature having sharper teeth than other creatures. Some thinke it is
derived from a wolf and a dog, for it is about the bignesse of a dog. It
hath the face of a Cat, the body and taile of a Foxe; being black of
colour; his feet and nailes be most sharp, his skin rusty, the haire
very sharp, and it feedeth upon dead carkases.”

He then describes its manner of feeding, evidently almost literally
copying Olaus Magnus, and thus continues:--“There are of these beastes
two kindes, distinguished by coulour, one blacke, and the other like a
Wolfe: they seldom kill a man or any live beastes, but feede upon
carrion and dead carkasses, as is before saide, yet, sometimes, when
they are hungry, they prey upon beastes, as horses and such like, and
then they subtlely ascend up into a tree, and when they see a beast
under the same, they leape downe upon him and destroy him. A Beare is
afraide to meete them, and unable to match them, by reason of their
sharpe teeth.

“This beast is tamed, and nourished, in the courts of Princes, for no
other cause than for an example of incredible voracitie. When he hath
filled his belly, if he can find no trees growing so neare another, as
by sliding betwixte them, hee may expell his excrements, then taketh he
an Alder-tree, and with his forefeete rendeth the same asunder, and
passeth through the middest of it, for the cause aforesaid. When they
are wilde, men kill them with bowes and guns, for no other cause than
for their skins, which are pretious and profitable, for they are white
spotted, changeably interlined like divers flowers, for which cause the
greatest princes, and richest nobles use them in garments in the Winter
time; such are the Kings of _Polonia_, _Swede-land_, _Goat-land_, and
the princes of _Germany_. Neither is there any skinne which will sooner
take a colour, or more constantly retaine it. The outward appearance of
the saide skinne is like to a damaskt garment, and besides this outward
parte there is no other memorable thing woorthy observation in this
ravenous beast, and therefore, in _Germany_, it is called a foure-footed
Vulture.”

As a matter of fact, the Glutton or Wolverine, which is not unlike a
small bear, can consume (while in confinement) thirteen pounds of meat
in a day. In its wild state, if the animal it has killed is too large
for present consumption, it carries away the surplus, and stores it up
in a secure hiding-place, for future eating.




THE BEAR.


As Pliny not only uses all Aristotle’s matter anent Bears, but puts it
in a consecutive, and more readable form, it is better to transcribe his
version than that of the older author.

“Bears couple in the beginning of winter. The female then retires by
herself to a separate den, and then brings forth, on the thirtieth day,
mostly five young ones. When first born, they are shapeless masses of
white flesh, a little larger than mice; their claws alone being
prominent. The mother then licks them into proper shape.[34] The male
remains in his retreat for forty days, the female four months. If they
happen to have no den, they construct a retreat with branches and
shrubs, which is made impenetrable to the rain, and is lined with soft
leaves. During the first fourteen days they are overcome by so deep a
sleep, that they cannot be aroused by wounds even. They become
wonderfully fat, too, while in this lethargic state. This fat is much
used in medicine, and it is very useful in preventing the hair from
falling off.[35] At the end of these fourteen days they sit up, and find
nourishment by sucking their fore paws. They warm their cubs, when cold,
by pressing them to the breast, not unlike the way in which birds brood
over their eggs. It is a very astonishing thing, but Theophrastus
believes it, that if we preserve the flesh of the bear, the animal being
killed in its dormant state, it will increase in bulk, even though it
may have been cooked. During this period no signs of food are to be
found in the stomach of the animal, and only a very slight quantity of
liquid; there are a few drops of blood only, near the heart, but none
whatever in any other part of the body. They leave their retreat in the
spring, the males being remarkably fat; of this circumstance, however,
we cannot give any satisfactory explanation, for the sleep, during which
they increase so much in bulk, lasts, as we have already stated, only
fourteen days. When they come out, they eat a certain plant, which is
known as _Aros_, in order to relax the bowels, which would otherwise
become in a state of constipation; and they sharpen the edges of their
teeth against the young shoots of the trees.

“Their eyesight is dull, for which reason in especial, they seek the
combs of bees, in order that from the bees stinging them in the throat,
and drawing blood, the oppression in the head may be relieved. The head
of the bear is extremely weak, whereas, in the lion, it is remarkable
for its strength: on which account it is, that when the bear, impelled
by any alarm, is about to precipitate itself from a rock, it covers its
head with its paws. In the arena of the Circus they are often to be seen
killed by a blow on the head with the fist. The people of Spain have a
belief, that there is some kind of magical poison in the brain of the
bear, and therefore burn the heads of those that have keen killed in
their public games; for it is averred, that the brain, when mixed with
drink, produces, in man, the rage of the bear.

“These animals walk on two feet, and climb trees backwards. They can
overcome the bull, by suspending themselves, by all four legs, from his
muzzle and horns, thus wearing out its powers by their weight. In no
other animal is stupidity found more adroit in devising mischief.”

Olaus Magnus, in writing about bears, gives precedence to the white, or
Arctic bear, and gives an insight into the religious life of the old
Norsemen, who, when converted, thought their most precious things none
too good for the “Church.” If we consider the risk run in obtaining a
white bear’s skin, and the privations and cold endured in getting it, we
may look upon it as a Norse treasure. “Silver and Gold have I none; but
such as I have, give I unto thee.” He gives a short, but truthful
account of their habits, and winds up his all too brief narration
thus:--“These white Bear Skins are wont to be offered by the Hunters,
for the high Altars of Cathedrals, or Parochial Churches, that the
Priest celebrating Mass standing, may not take cold of his feet, when
the Weather is extream cold. In the Church at _Nidrosum_, which is the
Metropolis of the Kingdom of _Norway_, every year such white Skins are
found, that are faithfully offered by the Hunters Devotion, whensoever
they take them, and Wolves-Skins to buy Wax-Lights, and to burn them in
honour of the Saints.”

Olaus Magnus is very veracious in his dealings with White Bears, but he
morally retrogrades when he touches upon the Black and Brown Bears. The
illustrations of this portion of Olaus Magnus are exceedingly graphic.
In treating of the cunning used in killing bears, he says:--“In killing
black and cruel Bears in the Northern Kingdoms, they use this way,
namely, that when, in Autumn the Bear feeds on certain red ripe Fruit
(_Query Cranberries_) on trees that grow in Clusters like Grapes, either
going up into the Trees, or standing on the ground, and pulling down the
Trees, the cunning Hunter, with broad Arrows from a Crosse-bow shoots
at him, and these pierce deep; and he is so suddenly moved with this
fright, and wound received, that he presently voids backward all the
Fruit he ate, as Hailstones; and presently runs upon an Image of a man
made of wood, that is set purposely before him, and rends and tears
that, till another Arrow hit him, that gives him his death’s wound, shot
by the Hunter that hides himself behind some Stone or Tree. For when he
hath a wound, he runs furiously, at the sight of his blood, against all
things in his way, and especially the Shee-Bear, when she suckleth her
Whelps.

[Illustration]

“The Bears watch diligently for the passing of Deer; and chiefly, the
Shee-Bear when she hath brought forth her Whelps; who not so much for
Hunger, as for fearing of losing her Whelps, is wont to fall cruelly
upon all she meets. For, she being provoked by any violence, far exceeds
the force of the He-Bear, and Craft, that she may revenge the loss of
her Young. For she lyes hid amongst the thick boughs of Trees, and
young Shoots; and if a Deer, trusting to the glory of his horns, or
quick smell, or swift running, come too neare that place unawares, she
suddenly falls out upon him to kill him; and if he first defend himself
with his horns, yet he is so tired with the knots and weight of them,
being driven by the rage of the Bear, that he is beaten to the ground,
that losing force and life, he falls down a prey to be devoured. Then
she will set upon the Bull with his horns, using the same subtilty, and
casts herself upon his back; and when the Bull strives with his horns to
cast off the Bear, and to defend himself, she fasteneth on his horns and
shoulders with her paws, till, weary of the weight he falls down dead.
Then laying the Bull on his back like a Wallet, she goes on two feet
into the secret places of the Woods to feed upon him. But when, in
Winter she is hunted, she is betrayed by Dogs, or by the prints of her
feet in the Snow, and can hardly escape from the Hunters that run about
her from all sides.”

[Illustration]

Magnus then retails the usual fables about bears licking their young
into shape, their building houses, &c., &c., after which he discourses
about the bear and hedgehog, a story which has nothing to do with the
picture. It is described as “the Battail between the Hedge-Hog, and the
Bear.”

[Illustration]

“Though the _Urchin_ have sharp pointed prickles, whereby he gathereth
Apples to feed on, and these he hides in hollow Trees, molesting the
_Bear_ in his Den: yet is he oppressed by the cunning and weight of the
_Bear_: namely when the Urchin roles himself up round as a ball, that
there is nothing but his prickles to come at: yet with this means he
cannot prevail against the _Bear_, which opens him, to revenge the wrong
he did her in violating her Lodging. Nor can the _Bear_ eat the
_Hedge-Hog_, it is such miserable poor and prickly meat. Wherefore
returning again into his Cave, he sleeps, and grows fat, living by
sucking his paw.

“The _Bears_ also fight against the _Bores_, but seldome get the
victory, because they can better defend themselves with their Tusks,
than the _Bull_ or the _Deer_ can by their Horns, or running swiftly.
The strong _Horses_ keep off the _Bears_ with their biting and kicking,
from the _Mares_ that are great with _Foals_. Young _Colts_ save
themselves by running, but they will always hold this fear, and so
become unprofitable for the Wars. Wherefore they use this stratagem:
some Souldier puts on a Bear’s skin, and meets them, by reason that they
are horses that the Bears have hunted.”

[Illustration]

The Northern Bears seem to have been wonderful creatures, for they used
to go mad after eating Mandragora, and then they were in the habit of
making a meal off ants, by way of recovering their sanity. They were
then, as now, noted for their love of honey, and this illustration
depicts them as coming out of, and going into the ground after bees and
honey; nay, it would seem as if they even invaded the barrels put up in
the trees to serve as hives. But man was more cunning than they, and a
good bear-skin in those cold regions, had a value far exceeding honey.

“Since that in the Northern Countries, especially _Podolia_, _Russia_,
and places adjacent, because of the great multitude of Bees, the Hives
at home will not contain them, the Inhabitants willingly let them fly
unto hollow Trees, made so by Nature, or by Art, that they may increase
there. Wherefore mortal stratagems are thus prepared for Bears, that use
to steal honey (for they having a most weak head, as a Lion hath the
strongest, for sometimes they will be killed with a blow under their
ear); namely a Woodden Club set round with Iron points is hung over the
hole the Bees come forth of, from some high bough, or otherwise; and
this, being cast upon the head of the greedy Bear that is going to steal
the honey, kills him striving against it; so he loseth his life, flesh,
and skin to the Master, for a little honey. Their flesh is salted up
like Hog’s flesh, Stag’s flesh, Elk’s, or Ranged deer’s flesh, to eat in
Camps, and the Tallow of them is good to cure any wounds.”

[Illustration]

Every one of my readers, who is not a Scotsman, will appreciate the
delicate musical taste of the bear, in the matter of bagpipes--Bruin
cannot stand the skirling, and, in the illustration, seems to be
remonstrating with the piper.

“It is well enough known that Bears, Dolphins, Stags, Sheep, Calves and
Lambs, are much delighted with Musick: and, again, they are to be driven
from their Heards by some harsh sounding Pipes, or Horns, that when they
hear the sound they will be gone into the Woods, a great way off. Now
the Shepheards of the Cattel know this well enough: they will play upon
their two horned Pipes continually, which sometimes are taken away by
Bears, until such time as the Bear is forced by Hunger to go away to get
his food. Wherefore they take a Goat’s Horn, and sometimes a Cow’s Horn,
and make such a horrid noise, that they scare the wild beasts, and so
return safe to their dispersed flocks. This two horned Pipe, which in
their tongue they call _Seec-Pipe_, they carry to the fields with them,
for they have learned by use, that their Flocks and Heards will feed the
better and closer together.

[Illustration]

“The _Russians_ and _Lithuanians_ are more near to the Swedes and Goths
on the Eastern parts: and these hold it a singular delight, to have
always the most cruel Beasts bred up tame with them, and made obedient
to their commands in all things. Wherefore to do this the Sooner, they
keep them in Caves, or tyed with Chains, chiefly Bears newly taken in
the Woods, and half starve them; and they appoint one or two Masters,
cloathed one like the other, to carry Victuals to them, that they may be
accustomed to play with them, and handle them when they are loose. Also
they play on Pipes sweetly, and with this they are much taken: and thus
they use them to sport and dance, and then, when the Pipes sound
differently, they are taught to lift up their legs, as by a more sharp
sign, to end the Dance with, that they may go on their hinder feet, with
a Cap in their fore feet, held out to the Women and Maids, and others
that saw them dance, and ask a reward for their dancing; and, if it is
not given freely, they will murmure, as they are directed by their
Master, and will nod their heads, as desiring them to give more money:
So the Master of these Bears, that cannot speak the language of other
countries, will get a good gain by his dumb Beast. Nor doth this seem to
be done onely because that these should live by this small gain; for the
Bearherds that lead these Bears, are, at least, ten or twelve lusty men;
and in their company, sometimes, there go Noblemen’s sons, that they may
learn the manners, fashions, and distances of places, the Military Arts,
and Concord of Princes, by these merry Pastimes. But since they were
found, in _Germany_, to spoil Travellers, and to cast them to their
Bears to eat, most strict Laws are made against them, that they may
never come there again.

“There is another Sport, when Bears taken, are put into a Ship, and shew
merry pastimes in going up and down the Ropes, and sometimes are
profitable for some unexpected accident. For Histories of the
Provincials mention, that it hapned, that one was thus freed from a
Pirate that was like to set upon him; for the Pirate coming on, was
frighted at it, when he saw afar off, men, as he supposed, going up and
down the Ropes, from the Top Mast, as the manner is to defend the Ship.
Whereas they were but young Bears, playing on the Ropes. But the most
pleasant sight of all is, that when the Bears look out of the Ship into
the Waters, a great number of Sea Calves will come and gaze upon them,
that you would think an innumerable Company of Hogs swam about the Ship,
and they are caught by the Sea men with long Spears, with Hooks, and a
Cord tyed to them; and so are also the other Beasts, that come to help
the Sea Calves, taken, and crying like to Hogs. Also the Bears are let
down to swim, that they may catch these wandering Sea-Calves, or else,
when it thunders, and the weather is tempestuous, they be taken above
Water.

[Illustration]

“But that tame Bears may not onely be kept unprofitably to feed, and
make sport, they are set to the Wheels in the Courts of great men, that
they may draw up Water out of deep Wells; and that in huge Vessels made
for this purpose, and they do not help alone this Way, but they are set
to draw great Waggons, for they are very strong in their Legs, Claws,
and Loins; nor is it unfit to make them go upright, and carry burdens of
Wood, and such like, to the place appointed, or they stand at great
men’s doors, to keep out other hurtful Creatures. When they are young,
they will play wonderfully with Boys, and do them no hurt.”

Topsell goes through the usual stories of bears licking their cubs into
shape, and subsisting by sucking their claws--but he also affords us
much information about bears, which we do not find in modern Natural
Histories:--“At what time they come abroad, being in the beginning of
May, which is the third moneth from the Spring. The old ones being
almost dazled with long darknes, comming into light againe, seeme to
stagger and reele too and fro, and then for the straightnesse of their
guts, by reason of their long fasting, doe eat the herbe _Arum_, called
in English _Wake-Robbin_, or _Calves-foot_, being of very sharpe and
tart taste, which enlargeth their guts, and so, being recovered, they
remaine all the time their young are with them, more fierce, and cruell
than at other times. And concerning the same _Arum_, called also
_Dracunculus_, and _Oryx_, there is a pleasant vulgar tale, whereby some
have conceived that Beares eat this herbe before their lying secret, and
by vertue thereof (without meat, or sence of cold) they passe away the
whole winter in sleepe.

“There was a certaine cow-heard, in the Mountains of _Helvetia_, which,
comming downe a hill, with a great caldron on his backe, he saw a beare
eating a root which he had pulled up with his feet; the cowheard stood
still till the beare was gone, and afterward came to the place where the
beast had eaten the same, and, finding more of the same roote, did
likewise eat it; he had no sooner tasted thereof, but he had such a
desire to sleepe, that hee could not containe himselfe, but he must
needs lie down in the way, and there fell a sleep, having covered his
heade with the caldron, to keep himself from the vehemency of the colde,
and there slept all the Winter time without harme, and never rose againe
till the spring time; which fable if a man will beleeve, then,
doubtlesse, this hearbe may cause the Beares to be sleepers, not for
fourteene dayes, but for fourscore dayes together.

“The ordinary food of Beares is fish; for the Water beare, and others
will eate fruites, Apples, Grapes, Leaves, and Pease, and will breake
into bee hives sucking out the honey; likewise Bees, Snayles and Emmets,
and flesh, if it bee leane, or ready to putrifie; but, if a Beare doe
chance to kill a swine, or a Bull, or Sheepe, he eateth them presentlie,
whereas other beasts eate not hearbes, if they eate flesh: likewise they
drinke water, but not like other beastes, neither sucking it, or lapping
it, but as it were, even bitinge at it.

“They are exceeding full of fat or Larde-greace, which some use
superstitiouslie beaten with oile, wherewith they anoint their
grape-sickles when they go to vintage, perswading themselves that if no
bodie knows thereof, their tender vine braunches shall never be consumed
by catterpillers.

“Others attribute this to the vertue of Beare’s blood, and
_Theophrastus_ affirmeth, that if beare’s grease be kept in a vessell,
at such time as the beares lie secret, it will either fill it up, or
cause it to runne over. The flesh of beares is unfit for meate, yet some
use to eate it, after it hath been twice sodden; other eat it baked in
pasties, but the truth is, it is better for medicine than food.
_Theophrastus_ likewise affirmeth, that at the time when beares lie
secret, their dead flesh encreaseth, which is kept in houses, but
beare’s fore feet are held for a verie delicate and well tasted foode,
full of sweetnes, and much used by the German Princes.

“And because of the fiercenesse of this beast, they are seldome taken
alive, except they be very young, so that some are killed in the
Mountaines by Poyson, the Country being so steepe and rocky that hunters
cannot followe them; some taken in ditches of the earth and other
ginnes. _Oppianus_ relateth that neare _Tygris_ and _Armenia_, the
inhabitauntes use this Stratigem to take Beares.

“The people go often to the Wooddes to find the Denne of the Beare,
following a leam hound, whose nature is, so soone as he windeth the
beast, to barke, whereby his leader discovereth the prey, and so draweth
off the hounde with the leame; then come the people in great multitude,
and compasse him about with long nets, placing certaine men at each end:
then tie they a long rope to one side of the net, as high from the
ground, as the small of a Man’s belly; whereunto are fastned divers
plumes and feathers of vultures, swannes, and other resplendant coloured
birdes, which, with the wind make a noise or hissing, turning over and
glistering; on the other side of the net they build foure little hovels
of greene boughes, wherein they lay foure men covered all over with
greene leaves; then, all being prepared, they sound their Trumpets, and
wind their horns; at the noise whereof the beare ariseth, and in his
fearefull rage runneth too and fro as if he sawe fire: the young men,
armed, make unto him, the beare, looking round about, taketh the
plainest way toward the rope hung full of feathers, which, being
stirred, and haled by those that holde it, maketh the beare much affraid
with the ratling and hissing thereof, and so flying from that side halfe
mad, runneth into the nets, where the keepers entrap him so cunningly,
that he seldome escapeth.

“When a Beare is set upon by an armed man, he standeth upright, and
taketh the man betwixt his forefeet, but he, being covered all over with
yron plates can receive no harm, and then may easily, with a sharpe
knife or dagger pierce thorough the heart of the beast.

“If a shee beare having young ones be hunted, shee driveth her Whelpes
before her, untill they be wearied, and then, if she be not prevented,
she climbeth uppon a tree, carrying one of her young in her mouth, and
the other on her backe. A Beare will not willingly fight with a man,
but, being hurt by a man, he gnasheth his teeth, and licketh his
forefeete, and it is reported by an Ambassador of _Poland_, that when
the _Sarmatians_ finde a beare, they inclose the whole Wood by a
multitude of people standing not above a cubit one from another; then
cut they downe the outmost trees, so that they raise a Wall of wood to
hemme in the Beares; this being effected, they raise the Beare, having
certaine forkes in their hands, made for that purpose, and, when the
Beare approacheth, they, (with those forkes) fall upon him, one keeping
his head, another one leg, other his body, and so, with force, muzzle
him and tie his legges, leading him away. The Rhætians use this policy
to take Wolves and Beares; they raise up great posts, and crosse them
with a long beame laded with heavy weightes, unto the which beame they
fasten a corde with meat therein, whereunto the beast comming, and
biting at the meat, pulleth downe the beame upon her owne pate.

“The inhabitants of _Helvetia_ hunt them with mastiffe Dogges, because
they should not kill their cattell left at large in the fielde in the
day time; They likewise shoote them with gunnes, giving a good summe of
money to them that can bring them a slaine beare. The _Sarmatians_ use
to take Beares by this sleight; under those trees wherein bees breed,
they plant a great many of sharpe pointed stakes, putting one hard into
the hole wherein the bees go in and out, whereunto the Beare climbing,
and comming to pull it forth, to the end that she may come to the hony,
and being angry that the stake sticketh so fast in the hole, with
violence plucketh it foorth with both her fore feet, whereby she looseth
her holde, and falleth downe upon the picked stakes, whereupon she
dieth, if they that watch for her come not to take her off. There was
reported by _Demetrius_, Ambassador at _Rome_, from the King of _Musco_,
that a neighbor of his, going to seek hony, fell into a hollow tree, up
to the brest in hony, where he lay two days, being not heard by any man
to complain; at length came a great Beare to this hony, and, putting his
head into the tree, the poore man tooke hold thereof, whereat, the
Beare, suddenly affrighted, drew the man out of that deadly danger, and
so ranne away for feare of a worse creature.

“But, if there be no tree wherein Bees doe breed neere to the place
where the Beare abideth, then they use to annoint some hollow place of a
tree with hony, whereinto Bees will enter and make hony combes, and when
the Beare findeth them, she is killed as aforesaide. In _Norway_ they
use to saw the tree almost asunder, so that when the beast climbeth it,
she falleth downe upon piked stakes laid underneath to kill her; and
some make a hollow place in a tree, wherein they put a great pot of
water, having annointed it with hony, at the bottome wherof are fastened
certaine hookes bending downeward, leaving an easie passage for the
beare to thrust in her head to get the honie, but impossible to pull it
foorth againe alone, because the hookes take holde on her skinne; this
pot they binde fast to a tree, whereby the Beare is taken alive and
blinde folded, and though her strength breake the corde or chaine
wherewith the pot is fastened, yet can shee not escape or hurt any bodie
in the taking, by reason her head is fastened in the pot.

“To conclude, other make ditches or pits under Apple trees, laying upon
their mouth rotten stickes, which they cover with earth, and strawe
uppon it herbes, and when the beare commeth to the Apple tree, she
falleth into the pit and is taken.

“The herbe _Wolfebaine_ or _Liberdine_ is poison to Foxes, Wolves, Dogs,
and Beares, and to all beasts that are littered blind, as the _Alpine
Rhætians_ affirme. There is one kinde of this called _Cyclamine_, which
the _Valdensians_ call _Tora_, and with the juice thereof they poison
their darts, whereof I have credibly received this story; That a certain
_Valdensian_, seeing a wilde beare, having a dart poysond heerewith, did
cast it at the beare, being farre from him, and lightly wounded her, it
being no sooner done, but the beare ran to and fro in a wonderful
perplexitie through the woods, unto a verie sharpe cliffe of a rocke,
where the man saw her draw her last breath, as soon as the poison
entered to her hart, as he afterward found by opening of her bodie. The
like is reported of henbane, another herb. But there is a certaine
blacke fish in _Armenia_ full of poison, with the pouder whereof they
poison figs, and cast them in those places where wilde beastes are most
plentifull, which they eat, and so are killed.

“Concerning the industrie or naturall disposition of a beare, it is
certaine that they are very hardlie tamed, and not to be trusted though
they seeme never so tame; for which cause there is a storie of _Diana_
in _Lysias_, that there was a certaine beare made so tame, that it went
uppe and downe among men, and woulde feede with them, taking meat at
their handes, giving no occasion to feare or mistrust her cruelty; on a
daye, a young mayde playing with the Beare, lasciviously did so provoke
it, that he tore her in pieces; the Virgin’s brethren seeing the
murther, with their Dartes slew the Beare, whereupon followed a great
pestilence through all that region: and when they consulted with the
Oracle, the paynim God gave answeare, that the plague could not cease
untill they dedicated some virginnes unto _Diana_ for the Beare’s sake
that was slaine; which, some interpreting that they should sacrifice
them, _Embarus_, upon condition the priesthoode might remaine in his
family, slewe his onely daughter to end the pestilence, and for this
cause the virgins were after dedicated to _Diana_ before their marriage,
when they were betwixt ten and fifteene yeare olde, which was performed
in the moneth of _January_, otherwise they could not be married: yet
beares are tamed for labours, and especially for sports among the
_Roxalani_ and _Libians_, being taught to draw water with wheeles out of
the deepest wels; likewise stones upon sleds, to the building of wals.

“A prince of _Lituania_ nourished a Beare very tenderly, feeding her
from his table with his owne hand, for he had used her to be familiar in
his court, and to come into his owne chamber, when he listed, so that
she would goe abroad into the fields and woods, returning home againe of
her owne accord, and with her hand or foote rub the Kinge’s chamber
doore to have it opened, when she was hungry, it being locked. It
happened that certaine young Noble men conspired the death of this
Prince, and came to his chamber doore, rubbing it after the custome of
the beare, the King not doubting any evill, and supposing it had bene
his beare, opened the doore, and they presently slewe him....

“There are many naturall operations in Beares. _Pliny_ reporteth, that,
if a woman bee in sore travaile of child-birth, let a stone, or arrow,
which hath killed a man, a beare, or a bore, be throwne over the house
wherein the Woman is, and she shall be eased of her paine. There is a
small worme called _Volvox_, which eateth the vine branches when they
are young, but if the vine-sickles be annointed with Beare’s blood, that
worme will never hurt them. If the blood or greace of a Beare be set
under a bed, it will draw unto it all the fleas, and so kill them by
cleaving thereunto. But the vertues medicinall are very many; and first
of all, the blood cureth all manner of bunches and apostems in the
flesh, and bringeth haire upon the eyelids if the bare place be
annointed therewith.

“The fat of a Lyon is most hot and dry, and next to a Lyon’s a
Leopard’s; next to a Leopard’s a Beare’s; and next to a Beare’s, a
Bul’s. The later Physitians use it to cure convulsed and distracted
parts, spots, and tumors in the body. It also helpeth the paine of the
loins, if the sicke part be annointed therewith, and all ulcers in the
legges or shinnes, when a plaister is made thereof with bole armoricke.
Also the ulcers of the feet, mingled with allome. It is soveraigne
against the falling of the haire, compounded with wilde roses. The
Spaniards burne the braines of beares, when they die in any publicke
sports, holding them venemous; because, being drunke, they drive a man
to be as mad as a beare; and the like is reported of the heart of a
Lyon, and the braine of a Cat. The right eie of a beare dried to pouder,
and hung about children’s neckes in a little bag, driveth away the
terrour of dreames, and both the eyes whole, bound to a man’s left arme,
easeth a quartan ague.

“The liver of a sow, a lamb, and a bear put togither, and trod to pouder
under one’s shoos, easeth and defendeth cripples from inflamation: the
gall being preserved and warmed in water, delivereth the bodie from
Colde, when all other medicine faileth. Some give it, mixt with Water,
to them that are bitten with a mad Dogge, holding it for a singular
remedie, if the party can fast three daies before. It is also given
against the palsie, the king’s evill, the falling sickenesse, an old
cough, the inflamation of the eies, the running of the eares, delevery
in child birth, the Hæmorrhods, the weaknes of the backe, and the
palsie: and that women may go their full time, they make ammulets of
Bear’s nails, and cause them to weare them all the time they are with
Child.”




THE FOX.


By Englishmen, the Fox has been raised to the height of at least a
demigod--and his cult is a serious matter attended with great minutiæ of
ritual. Englishmen and Foxes cannot live together, but they live for one
another, the man to hunt the fox, the fox to be hunted. If there be a
fox anywhere, even in the Campagna at Rome, and there are sufficient
Englishmen to get up a scratch pack of hounds, there must “bold Reynard”
be tortured with fear and exertion, only, in all probability, to die a
cruel death in the end. In the Peninsular War, a pack of foxhounds
accompanied the army; in India, failing foxes, they take the nearest
substitute, the jackal; and in Australia, _faute de mieux_, they hunt
the Dingo, or native dog. No properly constituted Englishman could ever
compass the death of a poor fox, otherwise than by hunting. The
Vulpecide--in any other manner--is, in an English county, a social
leper--he is a thing _anathema_. Running away with a neighbour’s wife
may be condoned by county society, at least, among the men, but with
them the man that shoots foxes is a very pariah, and it were good for
that man had he never been born.

Every other nation, even from historic antiquity, has reckoned the Fox
as among the ordinary _feræ naturæ_, to be killed, when met with, for
the sake only of his skin, for his flesh is not toothsome: and when he
arrives at the dignity of a silver or a black fox, his fur enwraps royal
personages, as being of extreme value.

The Fox is noted everywhere for its “_craftiness_,” and was so famed
long before the epic of Reineke Fuchs was evolved, and, indeed, this may
be said to be its principal attribute. Many are the stories told by
country firesides of his stratagems, both in plundering and in his
endeavours to escape from his enemies. Indeed, no country ought to be
able to compare in Fox lore with our own. Its sagacity, cunning, or call
it what you like, dates far back. Pliny tells us that “in Thrace, when
all parts are covered with ice, the foxes are consulted, an animal,
which, in other respects, is baneful from its Craftiness. It has been
observed, that this animal applies its ear to the ice, for the purpose
of testing its thickness; hence it is, that the inhabitants will never
cross frozen rivers and lakes, until the foxes have passed over them and
returned.”

The Fox is most abundant in the northern parts of Europe, and therefore
we hear more about him from the pages of Olaus Magnus, Gessner, and
Topsell.

[Illustration]

The former says:--“When the fox is pressed with hunger, Cold and Snow,
and he comes near men’s houses, he will bark like a dog, that house
creatures may come nearer to him with more confidence. Also, he will
faign himself dead, and lie on his back, drawing in his breath, and
lolling out his tongue. The birds coming down, unawares, to feed on the
carkasse, are snapt up by him, with open mouth. Moreover, when he is
hungry, and finds nothing to eat, he rolls himself in red earth, that he
may appear bloody; and, casting himself on the earth, he holds his
breath, and when the birds see that he breaths not, and that his tongue
hangs forth of his mouth, they think he is dead; but so soon as they
descend, he draws them to him and devours them.

“Again, when he sees that he cannot conquer the Urchin, for his
prickles, he lays him on his back, and so rends the soft part of his
body. Sometimes fearing the multitude of wasps, he counterfeits and
hides himself, his tail hanging out: and when he sees that they are all
busie, and entangled in his thick tail, he comes forth, and rubs them
against a stone or Tree, and kills them and eats them. The same trick,
almost, he useth, when he lyes in wait for crabs and small fish, running
about the bank, and he lets down his tail into the water, they admire at
it, and run to it, and are taken in his fur, and pull’d out. Moreover,
when he hath fleas, he makes a little bundle of soft hay wrapt in hair,
and holds it in his mouth; then he goes by degrees into the water,
beginning with his tail, that the fleas fearing the water, will run up
all his body till they come at his head: then he dips in his head, that
they may leap into the hay; when this is done, he leaves the hay in the
water, and swims forth.

“But when he is hungry, he will counterfeit to play with the Hare, which
he presently catcheth and devoureth, unlesse the Hare escape by flight,
as he often doth. Sometimes he also escapes from the dogs by barking,
faigning himself to be a dog, but more surely when he hangs by a bough,
and makes the dogs hunt in vain to find his footing. He is also wont to
deceive the Hunter and his dogs, when he runs among a herd of Goats, and
goes for one of them, leaping upon the Goat’s back, that he may sooner
escape by the running of the Goat, by reason of the hatefull Rider on
his back. The other Goats follow, which the Hunter fearing to molest,
calls off his Dogs that many be not killed.

“If he be taken in a string, he will sometime bite off his own foot, and
so get away. But, if there be no way open he will faign himself dead,
that being taken out of the snare, he may run away. Moreover, when a dog
runs after him, and overtakes him, and would bite him, he draws his
bristly tail through the dog’s mouth, and so he deludes the dog till he
can get into the lurking places of the Woods. I saw also in the Rocks of
_Norway_ a Fox with a huge tail, who brought many Crabs out of the
water, and then he ate them. And that is no rare sight, when as no fish
like Crabs will stick to a bristly thing let down into the water, and to
dry fish, laid on the rocks to dry. They that are troubled with the
Gowt, are cured by laying the warm skin of this beast about the part,
and binding it on. The fat, also, of the same creature, laid smeered
upon the ears or lims of a gowty person, heals him; his fat is good for
all torments of the guts, and for all pains, his brain often given to a
child will preserve it ever from the Falling-sicknesse. These and
such-like simple medicaments the North Country people observe.”

A portion of the above receives a curious corroboration from Mr. P.
Robinson in his book, _The Poets’ Beasts_. Speaking of the Lynx, he
says:--“But it is not, as is supposed, ‘untamable.’ The Gækwar of Baroda
has a regular pack of trained lynxes, for stalking and hunting pea-fowl,
and other kinds of birds. I have, myself, seen a tame lynx that had been
taught to catch crows--no simple feat--and its strategy was as diverting
as its agility amazing. It would lie down with the end of a string in
its mouth, the other end being fast to a stake, and pretend to be
asleep, dead asleep, drunk, chloroformed, anything you like that means
profound and gross slumber. A foot or so off would be lying a piece of
meat, or a bone.

“The crows would very soon discover the bone, and collecting round in a
circle, would discuss the probabilities of the lynx only shamming, and
the chances of stealing his dinner. The animal would take no notice
whatever, but lie there looking so limp and dead, that at last one crow
would make so bold as to come forward. The others let it do so alone,
knowing that afterwards there would be a free fight for the plunder, and
the thief, probably, not enjoy it, after all. So the delegate would
advance with all the caution of a crow--and nothing exceeds it--until
within seizing distance. There it would stop, flirt its wings nervously,
stoop, take a last long look at the lynx to make sure that it really
_was_ asleep, and then dart like lightning at the bone. But, if the crow
was as quick as lightning, the lynx was as swift as thought, and lo! the
next instant there was the beast sitting up with the bird in its
mouth!...

“Next time it had to practise a completely different manœuvre. The same
crows are not to be ‘humbugged’ a second time by a repetition of the
being-dead trick. So the lynx, when a sufficient number of the birds had
assembled, would take the string in its mouth, and run round and round
the stake, at the extreme limit of its tether, as if it were tied. The
crows, after their impudent fashion, would close in. They thought they
knew the exact circumference of the animal’s circle, and getting as
close to the dangerous line as possible, without actually transgressing
it, would mock and abuse the supposed betethered brute. But all of a
sudden, the circling lynx would fly out at a tangent, right into the
thick of his black tormentors, and, as a rule, bag a brace, right and
left.”

Topsell gives some curious particulars of the Fox, and, speaking of
their earths, he says:--“These dens have many caves in them, and
passages in and out, that when the Terrars shall set upon him in the
earth, he may go forth some other way, and forasmuch as the Wolfe is an
enemy to the Foxe, he layeth in the mouth of his den, an Herbe (called
Sea-onyon) which is so contrary to the nature of a Wolfe, and he so
greatly terrified therewith, that hee will never come neere the place
where it groweth, or lyeth; the same is affirmed of the Turtle to save
her young ones, but I have not read that Wolves will prey upon Turtles,
and therefore we reject that as a fable.... If a Foxe eat any meat
wherein are bitter Almondes, they die thereof, if they drinke not
presently: and the same thing do Aloes in their meate worke uppon them,
as _Scaliger_ affirmeth upon his owne sighte or knowledge. _Apocynon_ or
Bear-foot given to dogs, wolves, Foxes, and all other beasts which are
littered blind, in fat, or any other meat, killeth them, if vomit helpe
them not, which falleth out very seldome, and the seeds of this hearbe
have the same operation. It is reported by _Democritus_, that, if wilde
rue be secretly hunge under a Hen’s wing, no Fox will meddle with her,
and the same writer also declareth for approoved, that, if you mingle
the gal of a Fox, or a Cat, with their ordinary foode, they shall
remaine free from the danger of these beasts.

“The medicinall uses of this beast are these: first, (as _Pliny_, and
_Marcellus_ affirme) a Fox sod in water until nothing of the Foxe be
left whole except the bones, and the Legges, or other parts of a gouty
body, washed, and daily bathed therein, it shall drive away all paine
and griefe strengthening the defective and weake members; so also it
cureth all the shrinking up and paines in the sinnewes: and _Galen_
attributeth the same vertue to an _Hyæna_ sod in Oyle, and the lame
person bathed therein, for it hath such power to evacuate and draw forth
whatsoever evill humour aboundeth in the body of man, that it leaveth
nothing hurtfull behinde.

“Neverthelesse, such bodies are soon againe replenished through evill
dyet, and relapsed into the same disease againe. The Fox may be boyled
in fresh or salt water with annise and time, and with his skin on whole,
and not slit, or else his head cut off, there being added to the
decoction two pintes of oyle.

“The flesh of a Foxe sod and layed to afore bitten by a Sea hare, it
cureth and healeth the same. The Foxe’s skinne is profitable against all
moyste fluxes in the skinne of the body, and also the gowt, and cold in
the sinnewes. The ashes of Foxe’s flesh burnt and drunk in wine, is
profitable against the shortnesse of breath and stoppings of the liver.

“The blood of a Foxe dissected, and taken forth of his urine alive, and
so drunk, breaketh the stone in the bladder, or else (as _Myrepsus_
saieth) kill the Foxe, and take the blood, and drink a Cupfull thereof,
and afterward with the same wash the parts, and, within an houre the
stone shall be voyded: the same vertue is in it being dryed and drunke
in wine with sugar.

“_Oxycraton_ and Foxes blood infused into the Nostrils of a lethargick
Horsse, cureth him. The fat is next to a Bul’s and a Swine’s, so that
the fat or larde of Swine may be used for the fat of Foxes, and the fat
of Foxes for the Swines grease in medicine. Some do herewith annoynte
the places which have the Crampe, and all trembling and shaking
members. The fatte of a Foxe and a Drake enclosed in the belly of a
Goose, and so rosted, with the dripping that commeth from it, they
annoynt paralyticke members.

“The same, with powder of Vine twigs mollified and sod in lye,
attenuateth, and bringeth downe, all swelling tumours of the flesh. The
fat alone healeth the _Alopecias_ and looseness of the haire; it is
commended in the cure of all sores and ulcers of the head, but the gall,
and time, with Mustard-seede is more approved. The fat is also respected
for the cure of paine in the eares, if it be warmed and melt at the
fire, and so instilled; and this is used against tingling in the eares.
If the Haires rot away on a Horse’s taile, they recover them againe, by
washing the place with urine and branne, with Wyne and Oyle, and
afterward annoynt it with foxe’s grease. When sores or ulcers have
procured the haire to fall off from the heade, take the head of a young
foxe burned with the leaves of blacke _Orchanes_ and _Alcyonium_, and
the powder cast upon the head recovereth againe the haire.

“If the braine be often given to infants and sucking children, it maketh
them that they shall remaine free from the falling evill. _Pliny_
prescribeth a man which twinkleth with his eies, and cannot looke
stedfastly, to weare in a chaine, the tongue of a foxe; and _Marcellus_
biddeth to cut out the tongue of a live foxe, and to turne him away, and
hang uppe that tongue to dry in purple thred, and, afterward put it
about his necke that is troubled with the whitenesse of the eies, and it
shall cure him.

“But it is more certainely affirmed, that the tongue, either dryed, or
greene, layed to the flesh wherein is any Dart or other sharpe head, it
draweth them forth violently, and rendeth not the flesh, but, only where
it is entred. The liver dryed, and drunke cureth often sighing. The
same, or the lights drunke in blacke Wine, openeth the passages of
breathing. The same washed in Wyne, and dryed in an earthen pot in an
Oven, and, afterward, seasoned with Sugar, is the best medicine in the
world for an old cough, for it hath bin approved to cure it, although it
hath continued twenty years, drinking every day two sponfuls in Wine.

“The lightes of foxes drunke in Water after they have beene dryed into
powder, helpeth the Melt, and _Myrepsus_ affirmeth, that when he gave
the same powder to one almost suffocated in a pleurisie it prevailed for
a remedy. _Archigene_ prescribeth the dried liver of a Fox for the
Spleneticke with Oxymell: and _Marcellinus_ for the Melt, drunke after
the same manner; and _Sextus_ adviseth to drinke it simply without
composition of Oxymell. The gall of a Foxe instilled into the eares with
Oyle, cureth the paine in them, and, mixed with Hony Atticke, and
annointed upon the eies, taketh away al dimnes from them, after an
admirable manner. The melt, bound upon the tumors, and bunches of the
brest, cureth the Melt in man’s body. The reynes dried and mingled with
Honie, being anointed uppon Kernels, take them away. For the swelling of
the Chaps, rub the reines of a Fox within the mouth. The dung, pounded
with Vineger, by annointment cureth the Leprosie speedily. These and
such other vertues medicinal, both the elder and later Phisitians have
observed in a Fox,--wherewithal we wil conclude this discourse.”




THE WOLF.


The Wolf, as a beast of prey, is invested with a terror peculiarly its
own; when solitary, it is not much dreaded by, and generally shrinks
from, man, but, united by hunger into packs, they are truly to be
dreaded, for they spare not man nor beast. They lie, too, under the
imputation of magic, and have done so from a very early age. Their
cunning, instinct, or reasoning powers, are almost as well developed as
in the fox, and, of all the authorities I have consulted, the one best
fitted to discourse upon the Wolf and his peculiarities is Topsell, and
here is one of their idiosyncrasies:--

“It is said that Wolves doe also eate a kind of earth called _Argilla_,
which they doe not for hunger, but to make their bellies waigh heavy, to
the intent, that when they set upon a Horsse, an Oxe, a Hart, an Elke,
or some such strong beast, they may waigh the heavier, and hang fast at
their throates till they have pulled them downe, for by vertue of that
tenacious earth, their teeth are sharpened, and the waight of their
bodies encreased; but, when they have killed the beast that they set
upon, before they touch any part of his flesh, by a kind of natural
vomit, they disgorge themselves, and empty their bellies of the earth,
as unprofitable food....

“They also devoure Goates and Swyne of all sortes, except Bores, who doe
not easily yeald unto Wolves. It is said that a Sow, hath resisted a
Wolfe, and when he fighteth with her, hee is forced to use his greatest
craft and suttelty, leaping to and from her with his best activity,
least she should lay her teeth upon him, and so at one time deceive him
of his prey, and deprive him of his life. It is reported of one that saw
a Wolfe in a Wood, take in his mouth a peece of Timber of some thirty or
forty pound waight, and with that he did practise to leape over the
trunke of a tree that lay upon the earth; at length, when he perceived
his own ability and dexterity in leaping with that waight in his mouth,
he did there make his cave, and lodged behinde that tree; at last, it
fortuned there came a wild Sow to seeke for meat along by that tree,
with divers of her pigs following her, of different age, some a yeare
olde, some halfe a yeare, and some lesse. When he saw them neare him, he
suddenly set upon one of them, which he conjectured was about the waite
of Wood which he carried in his mouth, and when he had taken him,
whilest the old Sow came to deliver her pig at his first crying, he
suddenly leaped over the tree with the pig in his mouth, and so was the
poore Sow beguiled of her young one, for she could not leape after him,
and yet might stand and see the Wolfe to eate the pigge, which hee had
taken from her. It is also sayd, that when they will deceive Goates,
they come unto them with the greene leaves and small boughes of Osiers
in their mouthes, wherewithall they know Goats are delighted, that so
they may draw them therewith, as to a baite, to devour them.

“Their maner is, when they fal upon a Goat or a Hog, or some such other
beast of smal stature, not to kil them, but to lead them by the eare
with al the speed they can drive them, to their fellow Wolves, and, if
the beast be stubborne, and wil not runne with him, then he beateth his
hinder parts with his taile, in the mean time holding his ear fast in
his mouth, whereby he causeth the poore beast to run as fast, or faster
than himselfe unto the place of his owne execution, where he findeth a
crew of ravening Wolves to entertaine him, who, at his first appearance
seize upon him, and, like Divels teare him in peeces in a moment,
leaving nothing uneaten but onely his bowels....

“Now although there be a great difference betwixt him and a Bul, both in
strength and stature, yet he is not affraid to adventure combat,
trusting in his policy more than his vigor, for when he setteth upon a
Bul, he commeth not upon the front for feare of his hornes, nor yet
behind him for feare of his heeles, but first of al standeth a loofe
from him, with his glaring eyes, daring and provoking the Bul, making
often profers to come neere unto him, yet is wise enough to keepe a
loofe till he spy his advauntage, and then he leapeth suddenly upon the
backe of the Bul at the one side, and being so ascended, taketh such
hold, that he killeth the beast, before he loosen his teeth. It is also
worth the observation, how he draweth unto him a Calfe that wandereth
from the dam, for by singular treacherie he taketh him by the nose,
first drawing him forwarde, and then the poore beast striveth and
draweth backward, and thus they struggle togither, one pulling one way,
and the other another, till at last the Wolfe perceiving advantage, and
feeling when the Calfe pulleth heavyest, suddenly he letteth go his
hold, whereby the poore beast falleth backe upon his buttocks, and so
downe right upon his backe; then flyeth the Wolfe to his belly which is
then his upper part, and easily teareth out his bowels, so satisfieng
his hunger and greedy appetite.

“But, if they chance to see a Beast in the water, or in the marsh,
encombred with mire, they come round about him, stopping up al the
passages where he shold come out, baying at him, and threatning him, so
as the poore distressed Oxe plungeth himselfe many times over head and
eares, or at the least wise they so vex him in the mire, that they never
suffer him to come out alive. At last, when they perceive him to be
dead, and cleane without life by suffocation, it is notable to observe
their singular subtilty to drawe him out of the mire, whereby they may
eat him; for one of them goeth in, and taketh the beast by the taile,
who draweth with al the power he can, for wit without strength may
better kill a live Beast, than remove a dead one out of the mire;
therefore, he looketh behind him, and calleth for more helpe; then,
presently another of the wolves taketh that first wolve’s tail in his
mouth, and a third wolf the second’s, a fourth the third’s, a fift the
fourth, and so forward, encreasing theyr strength, until they have
pulled the beast out into the dry lande. _Sextus_ saith that, in case a
Wolf do see a man first, if he have about him the tip of a Wolf’s taile,
he shal not neede to feare anie harme. All domestical Foure footed
beasts, which see the eie of a wolfe in the hand of a man, will
presently feare and runne away.

“If the taile of a wolfe be hung in the cratch of Oxen, they can never
eat their meate. If a horse tread upon the foote steps of a Wolfe, which
is under a Horse-man or Rider, hee breaketh in peeces, or else standeth
amazed. If a wolfe treadeth in the footsteps of a horse which draweth a
waggon, he cleaveth fast in the rode, as if he were frozen.

“If a Mare with foale, tread upon the footsteps of a wolfe, she casteth
her foal, and therefore the Egyptians, when they signifie abortment doe
picture a mare treading upon a wolf’s foot. These and such other things
are reported, (but I cannot tell how true) as supernaturall accidents in
wolves. The wolfe also laboureth to overcome the Leoparde, and followeth
him from place to place, but, for as much as they dare not adventure
upon him single, or hand to hand, they gather multitudes, and so
devoure them. When wolves set upon wilde Bores, although they bee at
variance amonge themselves, yet they give over their mutual combats, and
joyne together against the Wolfe their common adversarie.

“And this is the nature of this beast, that he feareth no kind of weapon
except a stone, for, if a stone be cast at him, he presently falleth
downe to avoide the stroke, for it is saide that in that place of his
body where he is wounded by a stone, there are bred certaine wormes
which doe kill and destroie him.... As the Lyon is afraide of a white
Cocke and a Mouse, so is the wolfe of a Sea crab, or shrimp. It is said
that the pipe of _Pithocaris_ did represse the violence of wolves when
they set upon him, for he sounded the same unperfectly, and
indistinctly, at the noise whereof the raging wolfe ran away; and it
hath bin beleeved that the voice of a singing man or woman worketh the
same effect.

“Concerning the enimies of wolves, there is no doubt but that such a
ravening beast hath fewe friends, ... for this cause, in some of the
inferiour beasts their hatred lasteth after death, as many Authors have
observed; for, if a sheepe skinne be hanged up with a wolves’s skin, the
wool falleth off from it, and, if an instrument be stringed with
stringes made of both these beasts the one will give no sounde in the
presence of the other.”

Here we have had all the bad qualities of the Wolf depicted in glowing
colours; but, as a faithful historian, I must show him also under his
most favourable aspect--notably in two instances--one the she-wolf that
suckled Romulus and Remus, and the other who watched so tenderly over
the head of the Saxon Edmund, King and Martyr, after it had been severed
from his body by the Danes, and contemptuously thrown by them into a
thicket. His mourning followers found the body, but searched for some
time for the head, without success; although they made the woods resound
with their cries of “Where artow, Edward?” After a few days’ search, a
voice answered their inquiries, with “Here, here, here.” And, guided by
the supernatural voice, they came upon the King’s head, surrounded by a
glory, and watched over, so as to protect it from all harm--by a _WOLF_!
The head was applied deftly to the body, which it joined naturally;
indeed, so good a job was it, that the junction could only be perceived
by a thin red, or purple, line.

It must be said of this wolf, that he was _thorough_, for not content
with having preserved the head of the Saintly King from harm, he meekly
followed the body to St. Edmund’s Bury, and waited there until the
funeral; when he quietly trotted back, none hindering him, to the
forest.




WERE-WOLVES.


But of all extraordinary stories connected with the Wolf, is the belief
which existed for many centuries, (and in some parts of France still
does exist, under the form of the “Loup-garou,”) and which is mentioned
by many classical authors--Marcellus Sidetes, Virgil, Herodotus,
Pomponius Mela, Ovid, Pliny, Petronius, &c.--of men being able to change
themselves into wolves. This was called _Lycanthropy_, from two Greek
words signifying wolf, and man, and those who were thus gifted, were
dignified by the name of _Versipellis_, or able to change the skin. It
must be said, however, for Pliny, amongst classical authors, that
although he panders sufficiently to popular superstition to mention
Lycanthropy, and quotes from others some instances of it, yet he
writes:--“It is really wonderful to what a length the credulity of the
Greeks will go! There is no falsehood, if ever so barefaced, to which
some of them cannot be found to bear testimony.”

This curious belief is to be found in Eastern writings, and it was
especially at home with the Scandinavian and Teutonic nations. It is
frequently mentioned in the Northern Sagas--but space here forbids more
than just saying that the best account of these _eigi einhamir_ (not of
one skin) is to be found in _The Book of Were-Wolves_, by the Rev. S.
Baring-Gould.

The name of _Were Wolf_, or _Wehr Wolf_, is derived thus, according to
Mr. Gould:--“_Vargr_ is the same as _u-argr_, restless; _argr_ being the
same as the Anglo-Saxon _earg_. _Vargr_ had its double signification in
Norse. It signified a Wolf, and also a godless man. This _vargr_ is the
English _were_, in the word were-wolf, and the _garou_ or _varou_ in
French. The Danish word for were-wolf is _var-ulf_ the Gothic,
_vaira-ulf_.” Lycanthropy was a widespread belief, but it gradually
dwindled down in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to those _eigi
einhamir_, the witches who would change themselves into hares, &c.

Olaus Magnus tells us _Of the Fiercenesse of Men who by Charms are
turned into Wolves_:--“In the Feast of Christ’s Nativity, in the night,
at a certain place, that they are resolved upon amongst themselves,
there is gathered together such a huge multitude of Wolves changed from
men, that dwell in divers places, which afterwards the same night doth
so rage with wonderfull fiercenesse, both against mankind, and other
creatures that are not fierce by nature, that the Inhabitants of that
country suffer more hurt from them than ever they do from the true
natural Wolves. For as it is proved, they set upon the houses of men
that are in the Woods, with wonderfull fiercenesse, and labour to break
down the doors, whereby they may destroy both men and other creatures
that remain there.

“They go into the Beer-Cellars, and there they drink out some Tuns of
Beer or Mede, and they heap al the empty vessels one upon another in the
midst of the Cellar, and so leave them: wherein they differ from natural
and true Wolves. But the place, where, by chance they stayd that night,
the Inhabitants of those Countries think to be prophetical: Because, if
any ill successe befall a Man in that place; as, if his Cart overturn,
and he be thrown down in the Snow, they are fully perswaded that man
must die that year, as they have for many years proved it by experience.
Between _Lituania_, _Samogetia_, and _Curonia_, there is a certain wall
left, of a Castle that was thrown down; to this, at a set time, some
thousands of them come together, that each of them may try his
nimblenesse in leaping. He that cannot leap over this wall, as commonly
the fat ones cannot, are beaten with whips by their Captains.

“And it is constantly affirmed that amongst that multitude there are the
great men, and chiefest Nobility of the Land. The reason of this
metamorphosis, that is exceeding contrary to Nature, is given by one
skilled in this witchcraft, by drinking to one in a Cup of Ale, and by
mumbling certain words at the same time, so that he who is to be
admitted into that unlawful Society, do accept it. Then, when he
pleaseth, he may change his humane form, into the form of a Wolf
entirely, going into some private Cellar, or secret Wood. Again, he can,
after some time put off the same shape he took upon him, and resume the
form he had before at his pleasure....

“But for to come to examples; When a certain Nobleman took a long
journey through the Woods, and had many servile Country-fellows in his
Company, that were acquainted with this witchcraft, (as there are many
such found in those parts) the day was almost spent; wherefore he must
lie in the Woods, for there was no Inne neare that place; and withall
they were sore pinched with hunger and want. Last of all, one of the
Company propounded a seasonable proposall, that the rest must be quiet,
and if they saw any thing they must make no tumulte; that he saw afar
off a flock of sheep feeding; he would take care that, without much
labor, they should have one of them to rost for Supper. Presently he
goes into a thick Wood that no man might see him, and there he changed
his humane shape like to that of a Wolf. After this he fell upon the
flock of sheep with all his might, and he took one of them that was
running back to the Wood, and then he came to the Chariot in the form of
a Wolf, and brought the sheep to them. His companions being conscious
how he stole it, receive it with grateful mind, and hide it close in the
Chariot; but he that had changed himself into a Wolf, went into the Wood
again, and became a Man.

“Also in _Livonia_ not many years since, it fell out that there was a
dispute between a Nobleman’s wife and his servant, (of which they have
plenty more in that Country, than in any Christian Land) that men could
not be turned into Wolves; whereupon he brake forth into this speech,
that he would presently shew her an example of that businesse, so he
might do it with her permission: he goes alone into the cellar, and,
presently after, he came forth in the form of a Wolf. The dogs ran
after him through the fields to the wood, and they bit out one of his
eyes, though he defended himself stoutly enough. The next day he came
with one eye to his Lady. Lastly, as is yet fresh in memory, how the
Duke of _Prussia_, giving small credit to such a Witchcraft, compelled
one who was cunning in this Sorcery, whom he held in chains, to change
himself into a Wolf; and he did so. Yet that he might not go unpunished
for this Idolatry, he afterwards caused him to be burnt. For such
heinous offences are severely punished both by Divine and Humane Laws.”

Zahn, on the authority of Trithemius, who wrote in 1335, says that men
having the spine elongated after the manner of a tail were Were-wolves.
Topsell takes a more sensible view of the matter:--“There is a certaine
territorie in Ireland (whereof M. _Cambden_ writeth) that the
inhabitants which live till they be past fifty yeare old, are foolishly
reported to be turned into wolves, the true cause whereof he
conjectureth to be, because for the most part they are vexed with the
disease called _Lycanthropia_, which is a kind of melancholy, causing
the persons so affected, about the moneth of February, to forsake their
owne dwelling or houses, and to run out into the woodes, or neare the
graves and sepulchers of men, howling and barking like Dogs and Wolves.
The true signes of this disease are thus described by _Marcellus_:
those, saith he, which are thus affected, have their faces pale, their
eies dry and hollow, looking drousily and cannot weep. Their tongue as
if it were al scab’d, being very rough, neither can they spit, and they
are very thirsty, having many ulcers breaking out of their bodies,
especially on their legges; this disease some cal _Lycaon_, and men
oppressed therewith, _Lycaones_, because that there was one _Lycaon_, as
it is fained by the poets, who, for his wickednes in sacrificing of a
child, was by _Jupiter_ turned into a Wolf, being utterly distracted of
human understanding, and that which the poets speake of him. And this is
most strange, that many thus diseased should desire the graves of the
dead.”




THE ANTELOPE.


[Illustration]

When not taken from living specimens, or skins, the artists of old drew
somewhat upon their imaginations for their facts, as is the case with
this Antelope, of which Topsell gives the following description:--“They
are bred in _India_, and _Syria_, neere the River _Euphrates_, and
delight much to drinke of the cold water thereof. Their bodie is like
the body of a _Roe_, and they have hornes growing forthe of the crowne
of their head, which are very long and sharpe; so that _Alexander_
affirmed that they pierced through the sheeldes of his Souldiers, and
fought with them very irefully: at which time his company slew as he
travelled to _India_, eight thousand, five hundred, and fifty; which
great slaughter may be the occasion why they are so rare, and seldome
seene to this day, by cause thereby the breeders, and meanes of their
continuance (which consisted in their multitude) were weakened and
destroyed. Their hornes are great, and made like a saw, and they, with
them, can cut asunder the braunches of _Osier_, or small trees, whereby
it commeth to passe that many times their necks are taken in the twists
of the falling boughes, whereat the Beast with repining cry, bewrayeth
himselfe to the Hunters, and so is taken. The vertues of this Beast are
unknowne, and therefore _Suidas_ sayth an _Antalope_ is but good in
part.”




THE HORSE.


Aldrovandus gives us a curious specimen of a horse, which the artist has
drawn with the slashed trunk breeches of the time. He says that
_Fincelius_, quoting _Licosthenes_, mentions that this animal had its
skin thus slashed, from its birth, and was to be seen about the year
1555. Its skin was as thick as sole-leather. It was, probably, an ideal
Zebra.

Topsell gives us some fine horse-lore, especially as to their love for
their masters:--“_Homer_ seemeth also to affirme that there are in
Horsses divine qualityes, understanding things to come, for, being tyed
to their mangers they mournd for the death of _Patroclus_, and also
shewed _Achilles_ what should happen unto him; for which cause _Pliny_
saieth of them that they lament their lost maisters with teares, and
foreknow battailes. _Accursius_ affirmeth that _Cæsar_ three daies
before he died, found his ambling Nag weeping in the stable, which was a
token of his ensewing death, which thing I should not beleeve, except
_Tranquillus_ in the life of _Cæsar_, had related the same thing, and he
addeth moreover, that the Horsses which were consecrated to _Mars_ for
passing over _Rubicon_, being let to run wilde abroad, without their
maisters, because no man might meddle with the horses of the Gods, were
found to weepe abundantly, and to abstaine from all meat.

[Illustration]

“Horsses are afraid of Elephants in battaile, and likewise of a
Cammell, for which cause when _Cyrus_ fought against _Crœsus_, he
overthrew his Horse by the sight of Camels, for a horse cannot abide to
looke upon a Camell. If a Horse tread in the footpath of a Wolfe, he
presently falleth to be astonished; Likewise, if two or more drawing a
Charriot, come into the place where a Wolfe hath trod, they stand so
still as if the Charriot and they were frozen to the earth, sayth
_Ælianus_ and _Pliny_. _Æsculapius_ also affirmeth the same thing of a
Horsse treading in a Beare’s footsteppes, and assigneth the reason to be
in some secret, betweene the feete of both beastes....

“Al kind of Swine are enemies to Horses, the Estridge also, is so feared
of a Horse, that the Horsse dares not appeare in his presence. The like
difference also is betwixt a Horse, and a Beare. There is a bird which
is called _Anclorus_, which neyeth like a Horse, flying about; the Horse
doth many times drive it away; but because it is somewhat blind, and
cannot see perfectly, therefore the horsse doth oftentimes ketch it, and
devoure it, hating his owne voice in a creature so unlike himself.

“It is reported by _Aristotle_, that the Bustard loveth a Horsse
exceedingly, for, seeing other Beastes feeding in the pastures,
dispiseth and abhorreth them; but, as soone as ever it seeth a Horsse,
it flyeth unto him for joy, although the Horsse run away from it: and,
therefore, the Egyptians, when they see a weake man driving away a
stronger, they picture a Bustard flying to a Horsse....

“_Julius Cæsar_ had a horsse which had cloven hooves like a man’s
fingers, and because he was foaled at that time when the sooth-sayers
had pronounced that hee should have the government of the world,
therefore he nourished him carefully, and never permitted any man to
backe him but himselfe, which he afterwards dedicated in the Temple of
Venus....

“If one do cut the vaines of the pallet of a horse’s mouth, and let it
runne downe into his belly, it will presently destroy and consume the
maw, or belly worms, which are within him. The Marrow of a horse is also
very good to loosen the sinewes which are knit and fastned together, but
first let it be boiled in wine, and afterwards be made cold, and then
anointed warmly either by the Fire, or Sun. The teeth of a male horse
not gelded, or by any labor made feeble, being put under the head, or
over the head of him that is troubled or startleth in his dreame, doth
withstand and resist all unquietnes which in the time of his rest might
happen unto him. The teeth also of a horse is verye profitable for the
curing of the Chilblanes which are rotten and full of corruption when
they are swollen full ripe. The teeth which do, first of all, fall from
horses, being bound or fastned upon children in their infancie, do very
easily procure the breeding of the teeth, but with more speed, and more
effectually, if they have never touched the ground....

“If you anoint a combe with the foame of a horse, wherewith a young man
or youth doth use to comb his head, it is of such force as it will cause
the haire of his head neither to encrease or any whit to appeare. The
foame of a horse is also very much commended for them which have either
pain or difficulty of hearing in their ears, or else the dust of horse
dung, being new made and dryed, and mingled with oyle of Roses. The
griefe or soreness of a man’s mouth or throat, being washed or annointed
with the foame of a Horse, which hath bin fed with Oates or barly, doth
presently expell the paine of the Sorenesse, if so be that it be 2 or 3
times washed over with the juyce of young or greene Sea-crabs beaten
small together.” But I could fill pages with remedial recipes furnished
by the horse.




THE MIMICK DOG.


[Illustration]

“The Mimicke or Getulian Dogge,” is, I take it, meant for a poodle. It
was “apt to imitate al things it seeth, for which cause some have
thought that it was conceived by an Ape, for in wit and disposition it
resembleth an Ape, but in face, sharpe and blacke like an Hedgehog,
having a short recurved body, very long legs, shaggy haire, and a short
taile: this is called of some _Canis Lucernarius_. These being brought
up with apes in their youth, learne very admirable and strange feats,
whereof there were great plenty in _Egypt_ in the time of king
_Ptolemy_, which were taught to leap, play, and dance, at the hearing of
musicke, and in many poore men’s houses they served insteed of servaunts
for divers uses.

“These are also used by Plaiers and Puppet-Mimicks to worke straunge
trickes, for the sight whereof they get much money; such an one was the
Mimick’s dog, of which _Plutarch_ writeth that he saw in a publicke
spectacle at Rome before the Emperor _Vespasian_. The dog was taught to
act a play, wherein were contained many persons’ parts, I mean the
affections of many other dogs; at last, there was given him a piece of
bread, wherein, as was saide, was poison, having vertue to procure a
dead sleepe, which he received and swallowed; and presently, after the
eating thereof, he began to reele and stagger too and fro like a drunken
man, and fell downe to the ground, as if he had bin dead, and so laie a
good space, not stirring foot nor lim, being drawne uppe and downe by
divers persons, according as the gesture of the play he acted did
require, but when he perceived by the time, and other signes that it was
requisite to arise, he first opened his eies, and lift up his head a
little, then stretched forth himself, like as one doth when he riseth
from sleepe; at last he geteth up, and runneth to him to whom that part
belonged, not without the joy, and good content of _Cæsar_ and all other
beholders.

“To this may be added another story of a certaine Italian about the
yeare 1403, called _Andrew_, who had a red Dog with him, of strange
feats, and yet he was blind. For standing in the Market place compassed
about with a circle of many people, there were brought by the standers
by, many Rings, Jewels, bracelets, and peeces of gold and silver, and
these, within the circle were covered with earth, then the dog was bid
to seeke them out, who with his nose and feet did presently find and
discover them, then was hee also commaunded to give to every one his
owne Ring, Jewell, Bracelet, or money, which the blind dog did performe
directly without stay or doubt. Afterward, the standers by, gave unto
him divers pieces of coine, stamped with the images of sundry princes,
and then one of them called for a piece of English money, and the Dog
delivered him a piece; another for the Emperor’s coine, and the dog
delivered him a piece thereof; and so consequently, every princes coine
by name, till all was restored; and this story is recorded by Abbas
Urspergensis, where upon the common people said, the dog was a divell,
or else possessed with some pythonicall spirit.”

It is curious to note some of the remedies against hydrophobia--and I
only give a portion of the long list.

“For the outward compound remedies, a plaister made of _Opponax_ and
Pitch, is much commended, which _Menippus_ used, taking a pound of Pitch
of Brutias, and foure ounces of _Opponax_, adding withall, that the
_Opponax_ must be dissolved in vinegar, and afterwards the Pitch and the
vinegar must be boiled together, and when the vinegar is consumed, then
put in the _Opponax_, and of both together make like taynters or
splints, and thrust them into the wound, so let them remaine many dayes
together, and in the meane time drinke an antidot of sea crabs and
vineger, (for vineger is alway pretious in this confection). Other use
_Basilica_, Onyons, Rue, Salt, Rust of Iron, white bread, seedes of hore
hound, and triacle: but the other plaister is most forcible to be
applyed outwardly, above al medicines in the world.

“For the simple or uncompounded medicines to be taken against this sore,
are many: As Goose-grease, the roote of Wilde roses drunke; bitter
Almonds, leaves of Chickweed, or Pimpernell, the old skinne of a snake
pounded with a male sea Crab, Betony, Cabbage-leaves, or stalkes, with
Persneps and vineger, lime and sewet, poulder of Sea-Crabs with Hony;
poulder of the shels of Sea-Crabs, the haires of a Dog layed on the
wound, the head of the Dog which did bite, mixed with a little
_Euphorbium_; the haire of a man with vineger, dung of Goates with wine,
Walnuts with Hony and salte, poulder of fig tree in a sear cloth,
Fitches in wine, _Euphorbium_, warme horse-dung, raw beanes chewed in
the mouth, fig tree leaves, greene figs with vineger, fennel stalkes,
Gentians, dung of pullen, the Lyver of a Buck-goate, young swallowes,
burned to poulder, also their dung; the urine of a man, an Hyæna’s skin,
flower de luce with honey, a Sea hearb called _Kakille_, _Silphum_ with
salt, the flesh and shels of snayles, leeke seeds with salt, mints, the
taile of a field mouse cut off from her alive, and she suffered to live,
rootes of Burres, with salt of the Sea plantaine, the tongue of a Ramme
with salt, the flesh of al Sea-fishes, the fat of a sea-Calfe and
Vervine, besides many other superstitious amulets which are used to be
bound to the Armes, neckes, and brests, as the Canine tooth bound up in
a leafe, and tyed to the Arme. A worme bred in the dung of Dogges,
hanged about the necke, the roots of _Gentian_ in an Hyæna’s skin, or
young Wolfe’s Skin, and such like; whereof I know no reason beside the
opinion of men.”

Let us now see what medicinal properties exist in dogs themselves; and,
here again, I must very much curtail the recital of their benefits to
mankind.

“The vertues of a Dog’s head made into poulder, are both many and
unspeakable, by it is the biting of mad dogs cured, it cureth spots, and
bunches in the head, and a plaister thereof made with Oyle of Roses,
healeth the running in the head. The poulder of the teeth of Dogges,
maketh Children’s teeth to come forth with speed and easie, and, if
their gums be rub’d with a dog’s tooth, it maketh them to have the
sharper teeth; and the poulder of these Dogs teeth rubbed upon the
Gummes of young or olde, easeth toothache, and abateth swelling in the
gummes. The tongue of a Dogge, is most wholesome both for the curing of
his owne wounds by licking, as also of any other creature. The rennet of
a Puppy drunke with Wine, dissolveth the Collicke in the same houre
wherein it was drunke,” &c., &c., &c.




THE CAT.


Aldrovandus gives us a picture of a curly-legged Cat, but, beyond saying
that it was so afflicted (or ornamented) from its birth, he gives no
particulars. Topsell, too, is singularly silent on the merits of Cats;
but yet he mentions some interesting particulars respecting them:--“To
keepe Cats from hunting of Hens, they use to tie a little wild rew under
their wings, and so likewise from Dove-coates, if they set it in the
windowes, they dare not approach unto it for some secret in nature. Some
have said that cats will fight with Serpentes, and Toads, and kill them,
and, perceiving that she is hurt by them, she presently drinketh water,
and is cured: but I cannot consent unto this opinion.... _Ponzettus_
sheweth by experience that cats and Serpents love one another, for
there was (sayth he) in a certain Monastery, a Cat norished by the
Monkes, and suddenly the most part of the Monkes which used to play with
the Cat, fell sicke; whereof the Physitians could find no cause, but
some secret poyson, and al of them were assured that they never tasted
any: at the last a poore laboring man came unto them, affirming that he
saw the Abbey-Cat playing with a Serpent, which the Physitians
understanding, presently conceived that the Serpent had emptied some of
her poyson upon the Cat, which brought the same to the Monkes, and they
by stroking and handeling the Cat, were infected therewith; and whereas
there remained one difficulty, namely, how it came to passe the Cat
herself was not poisoned thereby, it was resolved, that, forasmuch as
the Serpentes poison came from him but in playe and sporte, and not in
malice and wrath, that therefore the venom thereof being lost in play,
neither harmed the Cat at al, nor much endangered the Monkes; and the
very like is observed of Myce that will play with Serpents....

[Illustration]

“Those which will keepe their Cattes within doores, and from hunting
Birds abroad, must cut off their eares, for they cannot endure to have
drops of raine distil into them, and therefore keep themselves in
harbor.... They cannot abide the savour of oyntments, but fall madde
thereby; they are sometimes infected with the falling evill, but are
cured with _Gobium_.”




THE LION.


Of the great Cat, the Lion, the ancients give many wonderful stories,
some of them not altogether redounding to his character for bravery:--“A
serpent, or snake doth easily kill a lion, where of _Ambrosius_ writeth
very elegantly. _Eximia leonis pulchritudo, per comantes cervicis toros
excutitur, cum subito a serpente os pectore tenus attolitur, itaque
Coluber cervum fugit sed Leonem interficit. The splendant beautie of a
lion in his long curled mane is quickly abated, and allayed, when the
serpent doth but lift up his head to his brest._ For such is the
ordinance of God, that the Snake, which runneth from a fearefull Hart,
should without all feare kill a courageous Lyon; and the writer of Saint
_Marcellus_ life, _How much more will he feare a great Dragon, against
whom he hath not power to lift up his taile_. And _Aristotle_ writeth
that the Lyon is afraid of the Swine, and _Rasis_ affirmeth as much of
the mouse.

“The Cocke also both seene and heard for his voice and combe, is a
terror to the Lion and Basiliske, and the Lyon runneth from him when he
seeth him, especially from a white cocke, and the reason hereof, is
because they are both partakers of the Sunnes qualities in a high
degree, and therefore the greater body feareth the lesser, because there
is a more eminent and predominant sunny propertie in the Cocke, than in
the Lion. _Lucretius_ describes this terrour notably, affirming that, in
the morning, when the Cocke croweth, the lions betake themselves to
flight, because there are certain seedes in the body of Cockes, which
when they are sent, and appeare to the eyes of Lions, they vexe their
pupils and apples, and make them, against Nature, become gentle and
quiet.”




THE LEONTOPHONUS--THE PEGASUS--THE CROCOTTA.


The Lion has a dreadful enemy, according to Pliny, who says:--“We have
heard speak of a small animal to which the name of _Leontophonus_[36]
has been given, and which is said to exist only in those countries where
the Lion is produced. If its flesh is only tasted by the Lion, so
intensely venomous is its nature, that this lord of the other quadrupeds
instantly expires. Hence it is that the hunters of the Lion burn its
body to ashes, and sprinkle a piece of flesh with the powder, and so
kill the Lion by means of its ashes even--so fatal to it is this poison!
The Lion, therefore, not without reason, hates the Leontophonus, and,
after destroying its sight, kills it without inflicting a bite: the
animal, on the other hand, sprinkles the Lion with its urine, being well
aware that this, too, is fatal to it.”

We have read, in the Romances of Chivalry, how that Guy, Earl of
Warwick, having seen a Lion and a Dragon fighting, went to the
assistance of the former, and, having killed its opponent, the Lion
meekly trotted after him, and ever after, until its death, was his
constant companion. How, in the absence of Sir Bevis of Hampton, two
lions having killed the Steward Boniface, and his horse, laid their
heads in the fair Josian’s lap. The old romancists held that a lion
would always respect a virgin, and Spenser has immortalised this in his
character of Una. Most of us remember the story given by Aulus Gellius
and Ælian, of Androcles, who earned a lion’s gratitude by extracting a
thorn from its paw, and Pliny gives similar instances:--

“Mentor, a native of Syracuse, was met in Syria by a lion, who rolled
before him in a suppliant manner; though smitten with fear, and desirous
to escape, the wild beast on every side opposed his flight, and licked
his feet with a fawning air. Upon this, Mentor observed on the paw of
the lion, a swelling and a wound; from which, after extracting a
splinter, he relieved the creature’s pain.

“In the same manner, too, Elpis, a native of Samos, on landing from a
vessel on the coast of Africa, observed a lion near the beach, opening
his mouth in a threatening manner; upon which he climbed a tree, in the
hope of escaping, while, at the same time, he invoked the aid of Father
Liber (_Bacchus_); for it is the appropriate time for invocations where
there is no room left for hope. The wild beast did not pursue him when
he fled, although he might easily have done so; but, lying down at the
foot of the tree, by the open mouth which had caused so much terror,
tried to excite his compassion. A bone, while he was devouring his food
with too great avidity, had stuck fast between his teeth, and he was
perishing with hunger; such being the punishment inflicted upon him by
his own weapons, every now and then he would look up, and supplicate
him, as it were, with mute entreaties. Elpis, not wishing to risk
trusting himself to so formidable a beast, remained stationary for some
time, more at last from astonishment than from fear. At length, however,
he descended from the tree, and extracted the bone, the lion, in the
meanwhile, extending his head, and aiding in the operation as far as it
was necessary for him to do. The story goes on to say, that as long as
the vessel remained off that coast, the lion shewed his sense of
gratitude by bringing whatever he had chanced to procure in the chase.”

The same author mentions two curious animals, the Leucrocotta, and the
Eale, which are noticeable among other wonders:--“Æthiopia produces the
lynx in abundance, and the sphinx, which has brown hair and two mammæ on
the breast, as well as many monstrous kinds of a similar nature; horses
with wings, and armed with horns, which are called pegasi: the Crocotta,
an animal which looks as though it had been produced by the union of the
wolf and the dog, for it can break anything with its teeth, and
instantly, on swallowing it, it digests it with the stomach; monkeys,
too, with black heads, the hair of the ass, and a voice quite unlike
that of any other animal.”




THE LEUCROCOTTA--THE EALE--CATTLE FEEDING BACKWARDS.


“There are oxen, too, like that of India, some with one horn, and others
with three; the leucrocotta, a wild beast of extraordinary swiftness,
the size of the wild ass, with the legs of a Stag, the neck, tail, and
breast of a lion, the head of a badger, a cloven hoof, the mouth slit
up as far as the ears, and one continuous bone instead of teeth; it is
said, too, that this animal can imitate the human voice.

“Among the same people there is found an animal called the eale; it is
the size of the river-horse, has the tail of the elephant, and is of a
black or tawny colour. It has, also, the jaws of the wild boar and horns
that are moveable, and more than a cubit in length, so that, in
fighting, it can employ them alternately, and vary their position by
presenting them directly, or obliquely, according as necessity may
dictate.”

The Eale, with its movable horns, is run hard by the Cattle of the
Lotophagi, which are thus described by Herodotus:--“From the Augilæ at
the end of another ten days’ journey is another hill of salt and water,
and many fruit-bearing palm trees, as also in other places; and men
inhabit it, who are called Gavamantes, a very powerful nation; they lay
earth upon the salt, and then sow their ground. From these to the
Lotophagi, the shortest route is a journey of thirty days: amongst them
the kine that feed backwards are met with; they feed backwards for this
reason. They have horns that are bent forward, therefore they draw back
as they feed; for they are unable to go forward, because their horns
would stick in the ground. They differ from other kine in no other
respect than this, except that their hide is thicker and harder.”




ANIMAL MEDICINE.


We have already seen some of the wonderfully curative properties of
animals--let us learn something of their own medical attainments--as
described by Pliny. “The hippopotamus has even been our instructor in
one of the operations of medicine. When the animal has become too bulky,
by continued overfeeding, it goes down to the banks of the river, and
examines the reeds which have been newly cut; as soon as it has found a
stump that is very sharp, it presses its body against it, and so wounds
one of the veins in the thigh; and by the flow of blood thus produced,
the body, which would otherwise have fallen into a morbid state, is
relieved; after which, it covers up the wound with mud.

“The bird, also, which is called the Ibis, a native of the same country
of Egypt, has shewn us some things of a similar nature. By means of its
hooked beak, it laves the body through that part by which it is
especially necessary for health, that the residuous food should be
discharged. Nor, indeed, are these the only inventions which have been
borrowed from animals to prove of use to man. The power of the herb
_dittany_, in extracting arrows, was first disclosed to us by stags that
had been struck by that weapon; the weapon being discharged on their
feeding upon this plant. The same animals, too, when they happen to have
been wounded by the _phalangium_, a species of spider, or by any insect
of a similar nature, cure themselves by eating crabs. One of the very
best remedies for the bite of the serpent, is the plant with which
lizards treat their wounds when injured in fighting with each other. The
swallow has shown us that the _chelidonia_ is very serviceable to the
sight, by the fact of its employing it for the cure of its young, when
their eyes are affected. The tortoise recruits its powers of effectually
resisting serpents by eating the plant which is known as _cunile
bubula_; and the weasel feeds on _rue_, when it fights with the serpent
in pursuit of mice. The Stork cures itself of its diseases, with _wild
marjoram_, and the wild boar with _ivy_, as also by eating _crabs_, and,
more particularly, those that have been thrown up by the sea.

“The snake, when the membrane which covers its body, has been contracted
by the cold of winter, throws it off in the spring, by the aid of the
juices of _fennel_, and thus becomes sleek and youthful in appearance.
First of all it disengages the head, and then it takes no less than a
day and a night in working itself out, and divesting itself of the
membrane in which it has been enclosed. The same animal, too, on finding
its sight weakened during its winter retreat, anoints and refreshes its
eyes by rubbing itself on the plant called _fennel_, or _marathrum_;
but, if any of the scales are slow in coming off, it rubs itself against
the thorns of the _juniper_. The dragon relieves the nausea which
affects it in spring, with the juices of the _lettuce_. The barbarous
nations go to hunt the panther, provided with meat that has been rubbed
with _Aconite_, which is a poison. Immediately on eating it, compression
of the throat overtakes them, from which circumstance it is, that the
plant has received the name of _pardalianches_ (_pard-strangler_). The
animal, however, has found an antidote against this poison in human
excrements; besides which, it is so eager to get at them, that the
shepherds purposely suspend them in a vessel, placed so high, that the
animal cannot reach them, even by leaping, when it endeavours to get at
them; accordingly, it continues to leap, until it has quite exhausted
itself, and at last expires: otherwise, it is so tenacious of life that
it will continue to fight, long after its intestines have been dragged
out of its body.

“When an elephant has happened to devour a chameleon, which is of the
same colour with the herbage, it counteracts this poison by means of the
_wild olive_. Bears, when they have eaten of the fruit of the
_Mandrake_, lick up numbers of Ants. The Stag counteracts the effect of
poisonous plants by eating the _artichoke_. Wood pigeons, jackdaws,
blackbirds, and partridges, purge themselves once a year by eating _bay_
leaves; pigeons, turtle-doves, and poultry, with _wall pellitory_, or
_helxine_; ducks, geese, and other aquatic birds of a similar nature,
with the _bulrush_. The raven, when it has killed a chameleon, a contest
in which even the conqueror suffers, counteracts the poison by means of
laurel.”




THE SU.


Topsell mentions a fearful beast called the Su. “There is a region in
the new-found world, called _Gigantes_, and the inhabitants thereof, are
called _Patagones_; now, because their country is cold, being far in the
South, they cloath themselves with the skins of a beast called in their
owne toong _Su_, for by reason that this beast liveth for the most part
neere the waters, therefore they cal it by the name of _Su_, which
signifieth water. The true image thereof, as it was taken by
_Thenestus_, I have heere inserted, for it is of a very deformed shape,
and monstrous presence, a great ravener, and an untamable wilde beast.

“When the hunters that desire her skinne, set upon her, she flyeth very
swift, carrying her yong ones upon her back, and covering them with her
broad taile; now, for so much as no dogge or man dareth to approach
neere unto her, (because such is the wrath thereof, that in the pursuit
she killeth all that commeth near her:) The hunters digge severall
pittes or great holes in the earth, which they cover with boughes,
sticks, and earth, so weakly, that if the beast chance at any time to
come upon it, she, and her young ones fall down into the pit, and are
taken.

[Illustration]

“This cruell, untamable, impatient, violent, ravening, and bloody beast,
perceiving that her natural strength cannot deliver her from the wit and
policy of men, her hunters, (for being inclosed, she can never get out
againe) the hunters being at hand to watch her downfall, and worke her
overthrowe, first of all to save her young ones from taking and taming,
she destroyeth them all with her own teeth; for there was never any of
them taken alive, and when she seeth the hunters come about her, she
roareth, cryeth, howleth, brayeth, and uttereth such a fearefull,
noysome, and terrible clamor, that the men which watch to kill her, are
not thereby a little amazed; but, at last, being animated, because
there can be no resistance, they approach, and with their darts and
speares, wound her to death, and then take off her skin, and leave the
Carcasse in the earth. And this is all that I finde recorded of this
most strange beast.”




THE LAMB-TREE.


As a change from this awful animal, let us examine the _Planta Tartarica
Borometz_--which was so graphically delineated by Joannes Zahn in 1696.
Although this is by no means the first picture of it, yet it is the best
of any I have seen.

[Illustration]

A most interesting book[37] on the “Vegetable Lamb of Tartary” has been
written by the late Henry Lee, Esq., at one time Naturalist of the
Brighton Aquarium, and I am much indebted to it for matter on the
subject, which I could not otherwise have obtained.

The word _Borometz_ is supposed to be derived from a Tartar word
signifying a lamb, and this plant-animal was thoroughly believed in,
many centuries ago--but there seem to have been two distinct varieties
of plant, that on which little lambs were found in pods, and that as
represented by Zahn, with a living lamb attached by its navel to a short
stem. This stalk was flexible, and allowed the lamb to graze, within
its limits; but when it had consumed all the grass within its reach, or
if the stalk was severed, it died. This lamb was said to have the actual
body, blood, and bones of a young sheep, and wolves were very fond of
it--but, luckily for the lamb-tree, these were the only carnivorous
animals that would attack it.

In his “Histoire Admirable des Plantes” (1605) Claude Duret, of Moulins,
treats of the Borometz, and says: “I remember to have read some time
ago, in a very ancient Hebrew book entitled in Latin the _Talmud
Ierosolimitanum_, and written by a Jewish Rabbi Jochanan, assisted by
others, in the year of Salvation 436, that a certain personage named
Moses Chusensis (he being a native of Ethiopia) affirmed, on the
authority of Rabbi Simeon, that there was a certain country of the earth
which bore a zoophyte, or plant-animal, called in the Hebrew _Jeduah_.
It was in form like a lamb, and from its navel, grew a stem or root by
which this Zoophyte, or plant-animal, was fixed attached, like a gourd,
to the soil below the surface of the ground, and, according to the
length of its stem or root, it devoured all the herbage which it was
able to reach within the circle of its tether. The hunters who went in
search of this creature were unable to capture, or remove it, until they
had succeeded in cutting the stem by well-aimed arrows, or darts, when
the animal immediately fell prostrate to the earth, and died. Its bones
being placed with certain ceremonies and incantations in the mouth of
one desiring to foretell the future, he was instantly seized with a
spirit of divination, and endowed with the gift of prophecy.”

Mr. Lee then says: “As I was unable to find in the Latin translation of
the Talmud of Jerusalem, the passage mentioned by Claude Duret, and was
anxious to ascertain whether any reference to this curious legend
existed in the Talmudical books, I sought the assistance of learned
members of the Jewish community, and, amongst them, of the Rev. Dr.
Hermann Adler, Chief Rabbi Delegate of the United Congregations of the
British Empire. He most kindly interested himself in the matter, and
wrote to me as follows: ‘It affords me much gratification to give you
the information you desire on the Borametz. In the Mishna _Kilaim_,
chap. viii. § 5 (a portion of the Talmud), the passage occurs:
“Creatures called _Adne Hasadeh_ (literally ‘lords of the field’) are
regarded as beasts.” There is a variant reading, _Abne Hasadeh_ (stones
of the field). A commentator, Rabbi Simeon, of Sens (died about 1235),
writes as follows, on this passage: ‘It is stated in the Jerusalem
Talmud that this is a human being of the mountains: it lives by means of
its navel: if its navel be cut, it cannot live. I have heard in the name
of Rabbi Meir, the son of Kallonymos of Speyer, that this is the animal
called _Jeduah_. This is the _Jedoui_ mentioned in Scripture (lit.
_wizard_, Lev. xix. 31); with its bones witchcraft is practised. A kind
of large stem issues from a root in the earth on which this animal,
called _Jadua_, grows, just as gourds and melons. Only the _Jadua_ has,
in all respects, a human shape, in face, body, hands, and feet. By its
navel it is joined to the stem that issues from the root. No creature
can approach within the tether of the stem, for it seizes and kills
them. Within the tether of the stem it devours the herbage all around.
When they want to capture it, no man dares approach it, but they tear at
the stem until it is ruptured, whereupon the animal dies.’ Another
commentator, Rabbi Obadja, of Berbinoro, gives the same explanation,
only substituting ‘They aim arrows at the stem until it is ruptured,’
&c.

“The author of an ancient Hebrew work, _Maase Tobia_ (Venice, 1705),
gives an interesting description of this animal. In Part IV. c. 10, page
786, he mentions the Borametz found in Great Tartary. He repeats the
description of Rabbi Simeon, and adds, that he has found, in ‘A New Work
on Geography,’ namely, that ‘the Africans (_sic_) in Great Tartary, in
the province of Sambulala, are enriched by means of seeds, like the
seeds of gourds, only shorter in size, which grow and blossom like a
stem to the navel of an animal which is called _Borametz_ in their
language, i.e. _lamb_, on account of its resembling a lamb in all its
limbs, from head to foot; its hoofs are cloven, its skin is soft, its
wool is adapted for clothing, but it has no horns, only the hairs of its
head, which grow, and are intertwined like horns. Its height is half a
cubit and more. According to those who speak of this wondrous thing, its
taste is like the flesh of fish, its blood as sweet as honey, and it
lives as long as there is herbage within reach of the stem, from which
it derives its life. If the herbage is destroyed or perishes, the animal
also dies away. It has rest from all beasts and birds of prey, except
the wolf, which seeks to destroy it.’ The author concludes by expressing
his belief that this account of the animal having the shape of a lamb is
more likely to be true than it is of human form.”

As I have said, there are several delineations of this Borametz or
Borometz, but there is one, a frontispiece to the 1656 edition of the
_Paridisi in Sole--Paradisus Terrestris_, of John Parkinson, Apothecary
of London, in which, together with Adam and Eve, the _lamb-tree_ is
shown as flourishing in the Garden of Eden; and Du Bartas, in “His
_divine WEEKES And WORKES_” in his poem of Eden, (the first day of the
second week), makes Adam to take a tour of Eden, and describes his
wonder at what he sees, especially at the “lamb-plant.”

    “Musing, anon through crooked Walks he wanders,
    Round-winding rings, and intricate Meanders,
    Fals-guiding paths, doubtfull beguiling strays,
    And right-wrong errors of an end-less Maze:
    Not simply hedged with a single border
    Of _Rosemary_, cut-out with curious order,
    In _Satyrs_, _Centaurs_, _Whales_, and _half-men-Horses_,
    And thousand other counterfaited corses;
    But with true Beasts, fast in the ground still sticking,
    Feeding on grass, and th’ airy moisture licking:
    Such as those _Bonarets_, in _Scythia_ bred
    Of slender seeds, and with green fodder fed;
    Although their bodies, noses, mouthes and eys,
    Of new-yean’d Lambs have full the form and guise;
    And should be very Lambs, save that (for foot)
    Within the ground they fix a living root,
    Which at their navell growes, and dies that day
    That they have brouz’d the neighbour grass away.
            O wondrous vertue of God onely good!
    The Beast hath root, the Plant hath flesh and blood
    The nimble Plant can turn it to and fro;
    The nummed Beast can neither stir nor go:
    The Plant is leaf-less, branch-less, void of fruit;
    The Beast is lust-less, sex-less, fire-less, mute;
    The Plant with Plants his hungry panch doth feed;
    Th’ admired Beast is sowen a slender seed.”

Of the other kind of “lamb-tree,” that which bears lambs in pods, we
have an account, in Sir John Maundeville’s Travels. “Whoso goeth from
Cathay to Inde, the high and the low, he shal go through a Kingdom that
men call Cadissen, and it is a great lande, there groweth a manner of
fruite as it were gourdes, and when it is ripe men cut it a sonder, and
men fynde therein a beast as it were of fleshe and bone and bloud, as
it were a lyttle lambe without wolle, and men eate the beaste and fruite
also, and sure it seemeth very strange.”

And in the “Journall of Frier Odoricus,” which I have incorporated in my
edition of “The Voiage and Travayle of Syr John Maundeville, Knight,” he
says: “I was informed also by certaine credible persons of another
miraculous thing, namely, that in a certaine Kingdome of the sayd Can,
wherein stand the mountains called Kapsei (the Kingdomes name is Kalor)
there groweth great Gourds or Pompions, (_pumpkins_) which being ripe,
doe open at the tops, and within them is found a little beast like unto
a yong lambe.”




THE CHIMÆRA.


[Illustration]

Aldrovandus gives us the accompanying illustration of a Chimæra, a
fabulous Classical monster, said to possess three heads, those of a
lion, a goat, and a dragon. It used so to be pictorially treated, but in
more modern times as Aldrovandus represents. The mountain _Chimæra_, now
called Yanar, is in ancient Lycia, in Asia Minor, and was a burning
mountain, which, according to Spratt, is caused by a stream of
inflammable gas, issuing from a crevice. This monster is easily
explained, if we can believe Servius, the Commentator of Virgil, who
says that flames issue from the top of the mountain, and that there are
lions in the vicinity; the middle part abounds in goats, and the lower
part with serpents.




THE HARPY AND SIREN.


[Illustration]

The conjunction of the human form with birds is very easy, wings being
fitted to it, as in the case of angels--and as applied to beasts, this
treatment is very ancient, _vide_ the winged bulls of Assyria, and the
classical Pegasus, or winged horse. With birds, the best form in which
it is treated in Mythology is the Harpy. This is taken from Aldrovandus,
and fully illustrates the mixture of bird and woman, described by
Shakespeare in _Pericles_ (iv. 3):--

    “_Cleon._              Thou’rt like the harpy,
    Which to betray, dost, with thine angel’s face,
    Seize with thine eagle’s talons.”

[Illustration]

Then, also, we have the Siren, shown by this illustration, taken from
Pompeii. These Sea Nymphs were like the Harpies, depicted as a compound
of bird and woman. Like them also, there were three of them; but,
unlike them, they had such lovely voices, and were so beautiful, that
they lured seamen to their destruction, they having no power to combat
the allurements of the Sirens; whilst the Harpies emitted an infectious
smell, and spoiled whatever they touched, with their filth, and
excrements.

[Illustration]

Licetus, writing in 1634, and Zahn, in 1696, give the accompanying
picture of a monster born at Ravenna in 1511 or 1512. It had a horn on
the top of its head, two wings, was without arms, and only one leg like
that of a bird of prey. It had an eye in its knee, and was of both
sexes. It had the face and body of a man, except in the lower part,
which was covered with feathers.

Marcellus Palonius Romanus made some Latin verses upon this prodigy,
which may be thus rendered into English:--

    A Monster strange in fable, and deform
    Still more in fact; sailing with swiftest wing,
    He threatens double slaughter, and converts
    To thy fell ruin, flames of living fire.
    Of double sex, it spares no sex, alike
    With kindred blood it fills th’ Æmathian plain;
    Its corpses strew alike both street and sea.
    There hoary Thetis and the Nereids
    Swim shudd’ring through the waves, while floating wide
    The fish replete on human bodies----. Such,
    Ravenna, was the Monster which foretold
    Thy fall, which brings thee now such bitter woe,
    Tho’ boasting in thy image triumph-crowned.




THE BARNACLE GOOSE.


Of all extraordinary beliefs, that in the Barnacle Goose, which obtained
credence from the eleventh to the seventeenth centuries, is as wonderful
as any. The then accepted fact that the Barnacle Goose was generated on
trees, and dropped alive in the water, dates back a hundred years before
Gerald de Barri. Otherwise Giraldus Cambrensis wrote in 1187, about
these birds, the following being a translation:--

“There are here many birds which are called Bernacæ, which nature
produces in a manner contrary to nature, and very wonderful. They are
like marsh-geese, but smaller. They are produced from fir timber tossed
about at sea, and are at first like geese upon it. Afterwards they hang
down by their beaks, as if from a sea-weed attached to the wood, and are
enclosed in shells that they may grow the more freely. Having thus, in
course of time, been clothed with a strong covering of feathers, they
either fall into the water, or seek their liberty in the air by flight.
The embryo geese derive their growth and nutriment from the moisture of
the wood or of the sea, in a secret and most marvellous manner. I have
seen with my own eyes more than a thousand minute bodies of these birds
hanging from one piece of timber on the shore, enclosed in shells, and
already formed. The eggs are not impregnated _in coitu_, like those of
other birds, nor does the bird sit upon its eggs to hatch them, and in
no corner of the world have they been known to build a nest. Hence the
bishops and clergy in some parts of Ireland are in the habit of
partaking of these birds, on fast days, without scruple. But in doing so
they are led into sin. For, if any one were to eat of the leg of our
first parent, although he (Adam) was not born of flesh, that person
could not be adjudged innocent of eating flesh.”

We see here, that Giraldus speaks of these barnacles being developed on
wreckage in the sea, but does not mention their growing upon trees,
which was the commoner belief. I have quoted both Sir John Maundeville,
and Odoricus, about the lamb-tree, which neither seem to consider very
wonderful, for Sir John says: “Neverthelesse I sayd to them that I held
y^t for no marvayle, for I sayd that in my countrey are trees y^t beare
fruit, y^t become byrds flying, and they are good to eate, and that that
falleth on the water, liveth, and that that falleth on earth, dyeth,
and they marvailed much thereat.” And the Friar, in continuation of his
story of the _Borometz_, says: “Even as I my selfe have heard reported
that there stand certaine trees upon the shore of the Irish Sea, bearing
fruit like unto a gourd, which at a certaine time of the yeere doe fall
into the water, and become birds called Bernacles, and this is most
true.”

[Illustration]

Olaus Magnus, in speaking of the breeding of Ducks in Scotland, says:
“Moreover, another _Scotch_ Historian, who diligently sets down the
secret of things, saith that in the _Orcades_, (_the Orkneys_) Ducks
breed of a certain Fruit falling in the Sea; and these shortly after,
get wings, and fly to the tame or wild ducks.” And, whilst discoursing
on Geese, he affirms that “some breed from Trees, as I said of Scotland
Ducks in the former Chapter.” Sebastian Müenster, from whom I have taken
the preceding illustration, says in his _Cosmographia Universalis_:--“In
Scotland there are trees which produce fruit, conglomerated of their
leaves; and this fruit, when, in due time, it falls into the water
beneath it, is endowed with new life, and is converted into a living
bird, which they call the ‘tree goose.’ This tree grows in the Island
of Pomonia, which is not far from Scotland, towards the North. Several
old Cosmographers, especially Saxo Grammaticus, mention the tree, and it
must not be regarded as fictitious, as some new writers suppose.”

In Camden’s “Britannia” (translated by Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London)
he says, speaking of Buchan:--“It is hardly worth while to mention the
clayks, a sort of geese; which are believed by some, (with great
admiration) to grow upon the trees on this coast and in other places,
and, when they are ripe, to fall down into the sea; because neither
their nests nor eggs can anywhere be found. But they who saw the ship,
in which Sir Francis Drake sailed round the world, when it was laid up
in the river Thames, could testify, that little birds breed in the old
rotten keels of ships; since a great number of such, without life and
feathers, stuck close to the outside of the keel of that ship; yet I
should think, that the generation of these birds was not from the logs
of wood, but from the sea, termed by the poets ‘the parent of all
things.’”

[Illustration]

In “Purchas, his Pilgrimage,” is the voyage of Gerat de Veer to China,
&c., in 1569--and he speaks of the Barnacle goose thus:--“Those geese
were of a perfit red colour, such as come to Holland about Weiringen,
and every yeere are there taken in abundance, but till this time, it was
never knowne where they hatcht their egges, so that some men have taken
upon them to write that they sit upon trees in Scotland, that hang over
the water, and such eggs that fall from them downe into the water,
become young geese, and swim there out of the water: but those that fall
upon the land, burst asunder, and are lost; but that is now found to be
contrary, that no man could tell where they breed their egges, for that
no man that ever wee knew, had ever beene under 80°; nor that land under
80° was never set downe in any card, much lesse the red geese that
breede therein.” He and his sailors declared that they had seen these
birds sitting on their eggs, and hatching them, on the coasts of Nova
Zembla.

Du Bartas thus mentions this goose:--

    “So, slowe Boötes underneath him sees,
    In th’ ycie iles, those goslings hatcht of trees;
    Whose fruitfull leaves, falling into the water,
    Are turned, (they say) to living fowls soon after.
    So, rotten sides of broken ships do change
    To barnacles; O transformation strange!
    ’Twas first a green tree, then a gallant hull,
    Lately a mushroom, now a flying gull.”

I could multiply quotations on this subject. Gesner and every other
naturalist believed in the curious birth of the Barnacle goose--and so
even did Aldrovandus, writing at the close of the seventeenth century,
for from him I take this illustration. But enough has been said upon the
subject.




REMARKABLE EGG.


[Illustration]

No wonder that a credulous age, which could see nothing extraordinary in
the Barnacle goose, could also, metaphorically, swallow such an egg, as
Licetus, first of all, and Aldrovandus, after him, gives us in the
accompanying true picture. The latter says that a goose’s egg was found
in France, (he leaves a liberal margin for locality,) which on being
broken appeared exactly as in the picture. Comment thereon is useless.




MOON WOMAN.


[Illustration]

One would have imagined that this Egg would be sufficient to test the
credulity of most people, but Aldrovandus was equal to the occasion, and
he gives us a “Moon Woman,” who lays eggs, sits upon them, and hatches
Giants; and he gives this on the authority of Lycosthenes and Ravisius
Textor.




THE GRIFFIN.


There always has been a tradition of birds being existent, of far
greater size than those usually visible.

The Maoris aver that at times they still hear the gigantic Moa in the
scrub--and, even, if extinct, we know, by the state of the bones found,
that its extinction must have been of comparatively recent date. But no
one credits the Moa with the power of flight, whilst the Griffin, which
must not be confounded with the gold-loving Arimaspian Gryphon, was a
noble bird. Mandeville knew him:--“In this land (_Bactria_) are many
gryffons, more than in other places, and some say they have the body
before as an Egle, and behinde as a Lyon, and it is trouth, for they be
made so; but the Griffen hath a body greater than viii Lyons, and stall
worthier (_stouter_, _braver_) than a hundred Egles. For certainly he
wyl beare to his nest flying, a horse and a man upon his back, or two
Oxen yoked togither as they go at plowgh, for he hath longe nayles on
hys fete, as great as it were hornes of Oxen, and of those they make
Cups there to drynke of, and of his rybes they make bowes to shoote
with.”

[Illustration]

Olaus Magnus says they live in the far Northern mountains, that they
prey upon horses and men, and that of their nails drinking-cups were
made, as large as ostrich eggs. These enormous birds correspond in many
points to the Eastern Ruc or Rukh, or the Rok of the “Arabian Nights,”
of whose mighty powers of flight Sindbad took advantage.

Ser Marco Polo, speaking of Madagascar, says:--“’Tis said that in those
other Islands to the south, which the ships are unable to visit because
this strong current prevents their return, is found the bird _Gryphon_,
which appears there at certain seasons. The description given of it is,
however, entirely different from what our stories and pictures make it.
For persons who had been there and had seen it, told Messer Marco Polo
that it was for all the world like an eagle, but one indeed of enormous
size; so big in fact, that its wings covered an extent of 30 paces, and
its quills were 12 paces long, and thick in proportion. And it is so
strong that it will seize an Elephant in its talons, and carry him high
into the air, and drop him so that he is smashed to pieces: having so
killed him, the bird gryphon swoops down on him, and eats him at
leisure. The people of those isles call the bird _Ruc_, and it has no
other name. So I wot not if this be the real gryphon, or if there be
another manner of bird as great. But this I can tell you for certain,
that they are not half lion and half bird, as our stories do relate;
but, enormous as they be, they are fashioned just like an eagle.

“The Great Kaan sent to those parts to enquire about these curious
matters, and the story was told by those who went thither. He also sent
to procure the release of an envoy of his who had been despatched
thither, and had been detained; so both those envoys had many wonderful
things to tell the Great Kaan about those strange islands, and about the
birds I have mentioned. They brought (as I heard) to the Great Kaan, a
feather of the said Ruc, which was stated to measure 90 Spans, whilst
the quill part was two palms in circumference, a marvellous object! The
Great Kaan was delighted with it, and gave great presents to those who
brought it.”

This quill seems rather large; other travellers, however, perhaps not so
truthful as Ser Marco, speak of these enormous quills. The Moa of New
Zealand (_Dinornis giganteus_) is supposed to have been the largest bird
in Creation--and next to that is the _Æpyornis maximus_--_whose bones
and egg have been found in Madagascar_. An egg is in the British Museum,
and it has a liquid capacity of 2.35 gallons, but, alas, for the quill
story--this bird was wingless.

The Condor has been put forward as the real and veritable Ruc, but no
living specimens will compare with this bird as it has been
described--especially if we take the picture of it in Lane’s “Arabian
Nights,” where it is represented as taking up _three_ elephants, one in
its beak, and one in each of its claws.

The Japanese have a legend of a great bird which carried off men--and
there is a very graphic picture now on view at the White Wing of the
British Museum, where one of these birds, having seized a man,
frightens, very naturally, the whole community.




THE PHŒNIX.


Pliny says of the Phœnix:--“Æthiopia and India, more especially produce
birds of diversified plumage, and such as quite surpass all
description. In the front rank of these is the Phœnix, that famous bird
of Arabia; though I am not sure that its existence is not a fable.

“It is said that there is only one in existence in the whole world, and
that that one has not been seen very often. We are told that this bird
is of the size of an eagle, and has a brilliant golden plumage around
the neck, whilst the rest of the body is a purple colour; except the
tail, which is azure, with long feathers intermingled, of a roseate hue;
the throat is adorned with a crest, and the head with a tuft of
feathers. The first Roman who described this bird, and who has done so
with great exactness, was the Senator Manilius, so famous for his
learning; which he owed, too, to the instructions of no teacher. He
tells us that no person has ever seen this bird eat, that in Arabia it
is looked upon as sacred to the Sun; that it lives five hundred and
forty years. That when it is old it builds a nest of Cassia and sprigs
of incense, which it fills with perfumes, and then lays its body down
upon them to die: that from its bones and marrow there springs at first
a sort of small worm, which, in time, changes into a little bird; that
the first thing it does is to perform the obsequies of its predecessor,
and to carry the nest entire to the City of the Sun near Panchaia, and
there deposit it upon the altar of that divinity.

“The same Manilius states also, that the revolution of the great year is
completed with the life of this bird, and that then a new cycle comes
round again with the same characteristics as the former one, in the
seasons and the appearance of the stars; and he says that this begins
about midday of the day in which the Sun enters the sign of Aries. He
also tells us that when he wrote to the above effect, in the consulship
of P. Licinius, and Cneius Cornelius, (B.C. 96) it was the two hundred
and fifteenth year of the said revolution. Cornelius Valerianus says
that the Phœnix took its flight from Arabia into Egypt in the Consulship
of Q. Plautius and Sextus Papinius, (A.D. 36). This bird was brought to
Rome in the Censorship of the Emperor Claudius, being the year from the
building of the City, 800, (A.D. 47) and it was exposed to public view
in the Comitium. This fact is attested by the public Annals, but there
is no one that doubts that it was a fictitious Phœnix.”

Cuvier seems to think that the bird described above was a Golden
Pheasant, brought from the interior of Asia--at a time when these birds
were unknown to civilised Europe.

Du Bartas, in his metrical account of the Creation, mentions this winged
prodigy:--

    “The Heav’nly Phœnix first began to frame
    The earthly _Phœnix_, and adorn’d the same
    With such a Plume, that Phœbus, circuiting
    From _Fez_ to _Cairo_, sees no fairer thing:
    Such form, such feathers, and such Fate he gave her
    That fruitfull Nature breedeth nothing braver:
    Two sparkling eyes; upon her crown, a crest
    Of starrie Sprigs (more splendent than the rest)
    A goulden doun about her dainty neck,
    Her brest deep purple, and a scarlet back,
    Her wings and train of feathers (mixed fine)
    Of orient azure and incarnadine.
    He did appoint her Fate to be her Pheer,
    And Death’s cold kisses to restore her heer
    Her life again, which never shall expire
    Untill (as she) the World consume in fire.
    For, having passed under divers Climes,
    A thousand Winters, and a thousand Primes;
    Worn out with yeers, wishing her endless end,
    To shining flames she doth her life commend,
    Dies to revive, and goes into her Grave
    To rise againe more beautifull and brave.
    With Incense, Cassia, Spiknard, Myrrh, and Balm,
    By break of Day shee builds (in narrow room)
    Her Urn, her Nest, her Cradle, and her Toomb;
    Where, while she sits all gladly-sad expecting
    Some flame (against her fragrant heap reflecting)
    To burn her sacred bones to seedfull cinders,
    (Wherein, her age, but not her life, she renders.)

           *       *       *       *       *

    And _Sol_ himself, glancing his goulden eyes
    On th’ odoriferous Couch wherein she lies,
    Kindles the spice, and by degrees consumes
    Th’ immortall _Phœnix_, both her flesh and plumes.
    But instantly, out of her ashes springs
    A Worm, an Egg then, then a Bird with wings,
    Just like the first, (rather the same indeed)
    Which (re-ingendred of its selfly seed)
    By nobly dying, a new Date begins,
    And where she loseth, there her life she wins:
    Endless by’r End, eternall by her Toomb;
    While, by a prosperous Death, she doth becom
    (Among the cinders of her sacred Fire)
    Her own selfs Heir, Nurse, Nurseling, Dam and Sire.”




THE SWALLOW.

    “And is the swallow gone?
      Who beheld it?
      Which way sailed it?
    Farewell bade it none?”

    (_W. Smith, Country book._)


[Illustration]

Olaus Magnus answered this question, according to his lights, and when,
discoursing on the Migration of Swallows he says:--“Though many Writers
of Natural Histories have written that Swallows change their stations;
that is, when cold Winter begins to come, they fly to hotter Climats;
yet oft-times, in the Northern Countries, Swallows are drawn forth, by
chance by Fishermen, like a lump cleaving together, where they went
amongst the Reeds, after the beginning of Autumn, and there fasten
themselves bill to bill, wing to wing, feet to feet. For it is observed,
that they, about that time ending their most sweet note, (?) do so
descend, and they fly out peaceably after the beginning of the Spring,
and come to their old Nests, or else they build new ones by their
natural care. Now that lump being drawn forth by ignorant young men (for
the old Fishermen that are acquainted with it, put it in again) is
carryed and laid on the Sea Shore, and by the heat of the Sun, the Lump
is dissolved, and the Swallows begin to fly, but they last but a short
time because they were not set at liberty by being taken so soon, but
they were made captive by it. It hapneth also in the Spring, when they
return freely, and come to their old Nests, or make new ones, if a very
cold Winter come upon them, and much snow fall, they will all dye; that
all that Summer you shall see none of them upon the Houses, or Banks,
or Rivers; but a very few that came later out of the Waters, or from
other Parts, which by Nature come flying thither, to repair their Issue.
Winter being fully ended in _May_; For Husband-Men, from their Nests,
built higher or lower, take their Prognostications, whether they shall
sowe in Valleys, or Mountains or Hills, according as the Rain shall
increase or diminish. Also the Inhabitants hold it an ill sign, if the
Swallows refuse to build upon their houses; for they fear those
House-tops are ready to fall.”

This is proper, and good, and what we might expect from Olaus Magnus;
but it is somewhat singular to see, printed in _Notes and Queries_ for
October 22, 1864, the following:--

“The Duke de R---- related to me, a few days ago, that in Sweden, the
swallows, as soon as the winter begins to approach, plunge themselves
into the lakes, where they remain asleep and hidden under the ice till
the return of the summer; when, revived by the new warmth, they come out
from the water, and fly away as formerly. While the lakes are frozen, if
somebody will break the ice in those parts where it appears darker than
in the rest, he will find masses of swallows--cold, asleep, and half
dead; which, by taking out of their retreat, and warming, he will see
gradually to vivify again and fly.

“In other countries they retire very often to the Caverns, under the
rocks. As many of these exist between the City of Caen, and the Sea, on
the banks of the river Orne, there are found sometimes, during the
winter, piles of swallows suspended in these vaults, like bundles of
grapes. I witnessed the same thing, myself, in Italy; where, as well as
in France, it is considered (as I have heard) very lucky by the
inhabitants when swallows build nests on their habitations....
_Rhodocanakis._”

Of course, these stories of curious hybernation were pooh-poohed,
although it could not be denied that the subaqueous hybernation of
swallows is given in Goldsmith’s “Animated Nature,” and many other
Natural Histories, which succeeded his.

The wintering of swallows in caverns, has another eye-witness in Edward
Williams (_Iolo Morganwg_), who in his “Poems, Lyrics, and Pastorals,”
published 1794, says:--“About the year 1768, the author, with two or
three more, found a great number of swallows in a torpid state, clinging
in clusters to each other by their bills, in a cave of the sea-cliffs
near Dunraven Castle, in the County of Glamorgan. They revived after
they had been some hours in a warm room, but died a day or two after,
though all possible care had been taken of them.”




THE MARTLET, AND FOOTLESS BIRDS.


Of the Martin, or, as in Heraldry it is written, _Martlet_, Guillim thus
writes:--“The Martlet, or Martinet, saith Bekenhawh, hath Legs so
exceeding short, that they can by no means go: (_walk_) And thereupon,
it seemeth, the _Grecians_ do call them _Apodes, quasi sine pedibus_;
not because they do want Feet, but because they have not such Use of
their Feet, as other Birds have. And if perchance they fall upon the
Ground, they cannot raise themselves upon their Feet, as others do, and
prepare themselves to flight. For this Cause they are accustomed to make
their Nests upon Rocks and other high places, from whence they may
easily take their flight, by Means of the Support of the Air. Hereupon
it came, that this Bird is painted in Arms without Feet: and for this
Cause it is also given for a Difference of younger Brethren, to put them
in mind to trust to their wings of Vertue and Merit, to raise
themselves, and not to their Legs, having little Land to put their foot
on.”

The Alerion is a small bird of the eagle tribe, heraldically depicted as
without beak or feet.

Butler in “Hudibras” writes--

            “Like a bird of paradise,
    Or herald’s Martlet, has no legs,
    Nor hatches young ones, nor lays eggs.”

The Bird of Paradise was unknown to the ancients, and one of the
earliest notices of this bird is given in Magalhaen’s voyage in
1521:--“The King of Bachian, one of the Molucca Islands, sent two dead
birds preserved, which were of extraordinary beauty. In size they were
not larger than the thrush: the head was small, with a long bill; the
legs were of the thickness of a common quill, and a span in length; the
tail resembled that of the thrush; they had no wings, but in the place
where wings usually are, they had tufts of long feathers, of different
colours; all the other feathers were dark. The inhabitants of the
Moluccas had a tradition that this bird came from Paradise, and they
call it _bolondinata_, which signifies the ‘bird of God.’”

By-and-by, as trade increased, the skins of this bird were found to have
a high market value, but the natives always brought them, when they came
to trade, with their legs cut off. Thence sprang the absurd rumour that
they had no legs, although in the early account just quoted, their legs
are expressly mentioned. Linnæus called the emerald birds of Paradise
_apoda_ or legless; whilst Tavernier says that these birds getting drunk
on nutmegs, fall helpless to the ground, and then the ants eat off their
legs.

    “But note we now, towards the rich _Moluques_,
    Those passing strange and wondrous (birds) _Manueques_.
    (Wond’rous indeed, if Sea, or Earth, or Sky,
    Saw ever wonder swim, or goe, or fly)
    None knowes their Nest, none knowes the dam that breeds them;
    Foodless they live; for th’ Aire alonely feeds them:
    Wingless they fly; and yet their flight extends,
    Till with their flight, their unknown live’s-date ends.”




SNOW BIRDS.


But we must leave warm climes, and birds of Paradise, and speak of
“Birds shut up under the Snow.”

[Illustration]

“There are in the Northern Countries Wood-Cocks, like to pheasant for
bigness, but their Tails are much shorter, and they are cole black all
over their bodies, with some white feathers at the end of their Tails
and Wings. The Males have a red Comb standing upright; the Females have
one that is low and large, and the colour is grey. These Birds are of an
admirable Nature to endure huge Cold in the Woods, as the Ducks in the
Waters. But when the Snow covers the Superficies of the Earth, like to
Hills, all over, and for a long time presse down the boughs of the Trees
with their weight, they eat certain Fruits of the Birch-Tree, called in
_Italian_ (_Gatulo_) like to a long Pear, and they swallow them whole,
and that in so great quantity, and so greedily, that their throat is
stuffed, and seems greater than all their body.

“Then they part their Companies, and thrust themselves all over into the
snow, especially in _January_, _February_ and _March_, when Snow and
Whirlwinds, Storms, and grievous Tempests, descend from the Clouds. And
when they are covered all over, that not one of them can be seen, lying
all in heaps, for certain weeks they live, with meat collected in their
throats, and cast forth, and resumed. The Hunter’s Dogs cannot find
them; yet by the Cunning of the crafty Hunters, it falls out, that when
the Dogs err in their scent, they, by signs, will catch a number of
living Birds, and will draw them forth to their great profit. But they
must do that quickly; because when they hear the Dogs bark, they
presently rise like Bees, and take up on the Wing, and fly aloft. But,
if they perceive that the Snow will be greater, they devour the foresaid
Fruit again, and take a new dwelling, and there they stay till the end
of March: or, if the snow melt sooner, when the Sun goes out of _Aries_;
for then the snow melting, by an instinct of Nature (as many other
Birds) they rise out of their holes to lay Eggs, and produce young ones;
and this in Mountains where bryars are, and thick Trees. Males and
Females sit on the Eggs by turns, and both of them keep the Young, and
chiefly the Male, that neither the Eagle nor Fox may catch them.

“These Birds fly in great sholes together, and they remain in high
Trees, chiefly Birch-Trees; and they come not down, but for propagation,
because they have food enough on the top of their Trees. And when
Hunters or Countreymen, to whom those fields belong, see them fly all
abroad, over the fields full of snow, they pitch up staves obliquely
from the Earth, above the Snow, eight or ten foot high; and at the top
of them, there hangs a snare, that moves with the least touch, and so
they catch these Birds; because they, when they Couple, leap strangely,
as Partridges do, and so they fall into these snares, and hang there.
And when one seems to be caught in the Gin, the others fly to free her,
and are caught in the like snare. There is also another way to catch
them, namely with arrows and stalking-horses, that they may not suspect
it....

“There is also another kind of Birds called _Bonosa_, whose flesh is
outwardly black, inwardly white: they are as delicate good meat as
Partridges, yet as great as Pheasants. At the time of Propagation, the
Male runs with open mouth till he foam; then the Female runs and
receives the same; and from thence she seems to conceive, and bring
forth eggs, and to produce her young.”




THE SWAN.


The ancient fable so dear, even to modern poets, that Swans sing before
they die--was not altogether believed even in classical times, as saith
Pliny:--“It is stated that at the moment of the swan’s death, it gives
utterance to a mournful song; but this is an error, in my opinion; at
least, I have tested the truth of the story on several occasions.” That
some swans have a kind of voice, and can change a note or two, no one
who has met with a flock or two of “hoopers,” or wild swans, can deny.

[Illustration]

Olaus Magnus relates the fable--and quotes Plato, that the swan sings at
its death, not from sorrow, but out of joy, at finishing its life. He
also gives us a graphic illustration of how swans may be caught by
playing to them on a lute or other stringed instrument, and also that
they were to be caught by men (playing music) with stalking-horses, in
the shape of oxen, or horses; and, in another page, he says, that not
far from London, the Metropolis of England, on the River Thames, may be
found more than a thousand domesticated swans.




THE ALLE, ALLE.


[Illustration]

“There is also in this Lake (_the White Lake_) a kind of bird, very
frequent; and in other Coasts of the _Bothnick_ and _Swedish_ Sea, that
cries incessantly all the Summer, _Alle, Alle_, therefore they are
called all over, by the Inhabitants, _Alle, Alle_. For in that Lake such
a multitude of great birds is found, (as I said before) by reason of the
fresh Waters that spring from hot springs, that they seem to cover all
the shores and rivers, especially Sea-Crows, or Cormorants, Coots, More
Hens, two sorts of Ducks, Swans, and infinite smaller Water Birds. These
Crows, and other devouring birds, the hunters can easily take, because
they fly slowly, and not above two or four Cubits above the Water: thus
they do it on the narrow Rocks, as in the Gates of Islands, on the Banks
of them, they hang black nets, or dyed of a Watry Colour upon Spears;
and these, with Pulleys, will quickly slip up or down, that in great
Sholes they catch the Birds that fly thither by letting the Nets fall
upon them: and this is necessary, because those Birds fly so slowly, and
right forward; so that few escape. Also, sometimes Ducks, and other
Birds are taken in these Nets. Wherefore these black, or slow Birds,
whether they swim or fly, are always crying _Alle, Alle_, which in
Latine signifies _All, All_, (_Omnes_) and so they do when they are
caught in the Nets: and this voyce the cunning Fowler interprets thus,
that he hath not, as yet, all of them in his Nets; nor ever shall have,
though he had six hundred Nets.”




THE HOOPOE AND LAPWING.


Whether the following bird is meant for the Hoopoe, or the Lapwing, I
know not. The Latin version has “De Upupis,” which clearly means
Hoopoes--and the translation says, “Of the Whoups or Lapwings”--I follow
the latter. “_Lapwings_, when at a set time they come to the Northern
Countries from other parts, they foreshew the nearnesse of the Spring
coming on. It is a Bird that is full of crying and lamentation, to
preserve her Eggs, or young. By importunate crying, she shews that Foxes
lye hid in the grasse; and so she cries out in all places, to drive away
dogs and other Beasts. They fight with Swallows, Pies, and Jackdaws.

[Illustration]

“On Hillocks, in Lakes, she lays her Eggs, and hatcheth her young ones.
Made tame she will cleane a house of Flyes, and catch Mice. She
foreshews Rain when she cries; which also Field Scorpions do, called
Mares, Cuckows; who by flying overthwart, and crying loudly, foreshew
Rain at hand; also the larger Scorpions, with huge long snouts, fore
signifie Rain; so do Woodpeckers. There is a Bird also called Rayn, as
big as a Partridge that hath Feathers of divers colours, of a yellow,
white, and black colour: This is supposed to live upon nothing but Ayr,
though she be fat, nothing is found in her belly. The Fowlers hunt her
with long poles, which they cast high in the Ayr to fright her, so that
they may catch the Bird flying down.”




THE OSTRICH.


[Illustration]

Modern observation, and especially Ostrich farming, has thoroughly
exploded the old errors respecting this bird. We believe in its powers
of _swallowing_ anything not too large, but not in its _digesting_
everything, and certainly not, as Muenster would fain have us believe,
that an Ostrich’s dinner consists of a church-door key, and a
horse-shoe. As matters of fact, we know that, when pursued, they do not
bury their heads in the sand, or a bush; and instead of covering their
eggs with sand, and leaving the sun to hatch them, both the male and
female are excellent, and model parents.

Pliny, however, says differently:--“This bird exceeds in height a man
sitting on horseback, and can surpass him in swiftness, as wings have
been given to aid it in running; in other respects Ostriches cannot be
considered as birds, and do not raise themselves from the earth. They
have cloven talons, very similar to the hoof of the stag (_they have but
two toes_); with these they fight, and they also employ them in seizing
stones for the purpose of throwing at those who pursue them. They have
the marvellous property of being able to digest every substance without
distinction, but their stupidity is no less remarkable: for although the
rest of their body is so large, they imagine when they have thrust their
head and neck into a bush, that the whole body is concealed.”

Giovanni Leone Africano writes that “this fowle liveth in drie desarts
and layeth to the number of ten or twelve egges in the sand, which being
about the bignesse of great bullets weigh fifteen pounds a piece; but
the ostrich is of so weak a memorie, that she presently forgetteth the
place where her egges were laid, and, afterwards the same, or some other
ostrich hen finding the said eggs by chance hatched and fostereth them
as if they were certainely her owne. The chickens are no sooner crept
out of the shell but they prowle up and downe the desarts for their
food, and before theyr feathers be growne they are so swifte that a man
shall hardly overtake them. The ostrich is a silly and deafe creature,
feeding upon any thing which it findeth, be it as hard and indigestible
as yron.”




THE HALCYON.


Of this bird, the Kingfisher, Aristotle thus discourses:--“The halcyon
is not much larger than a sparrow; its colour is blue and green, and
somewhat purple; its whole body is composed of these colours as well as
the wings and neck, nor is any part without every one of these colours.
Its bill is somewhat yellow, long and slight; this is its external form.
Its nest resembles the marine balls which are called halosachnæ
(_probably a Zoophyte_, Alcyonia) except in colour, for they are red; in
form it resembles those sicyæ (cucumbers) which have long necks; its
size is that of a very large sponge, for some are greater, others less.
They are covered up, and have a thick solid part, as well as the cavity;
it is not easily cut with a sharp knife, but, when struck or broken with
the hand, it divides readily like the halosachnæ. The mouth is narrow,
as it were a small entrance, so that the sea water cannot enter, even if
the Sea is rough: its cavity is like that of the Sponge. The material of
which the nest is composed is disputed, but it appears to be principally
composed of the spines of the _belone_, for the bird lives on fish.”

Pliny says:--“It is a thing of very rare occurrence to see a halcyon,
and then it is only about the time of the setting of the Vergiliæ, and
the summer and winter solstices; when one is sometimes to be seen to
hover about a ship, and then immediately disappear. They hatch their
young at the time of the winter solstice, from which circumstance those
days are known as the ‘halcyon days;’ during this period the sea is calm
and navigable, the Sicilian sea in particular.”

“Halcyon days” is used proverbially, but the Kingfisher had another
very useful trait. If a dead Kingfisher were hung up by a cord, it would
point its beak to the quarter whence the wind blew. Shakespeare mentions
this property in _King Lear_ (ii. 1):--

                “Turn their halcyon beaks
    With every gale and vary of their masters.”

And Marlowe, in his _Jew of Malta_ (i. 1):--

    “But now, how stands the wind?
    Into what corner peers my halcyon bill?”




THE PELICAN.


[Illustration]

The fable of the Pelican “in her piety, vulning herself,” as it is
heraldically described--is so well known, as hardly to be worth
mentioning, even to contradict it. In the first place, the heraldic bird
is as unlike the real one, as it is possible to be; but the legend seems
to have had its origin in Egypt, where the vulture was credited with
this extraordinary behaviour, and this bird is decidedly more in
accordance with the heraldic ideal. Du Bartas, singing of “Charitable
birds,” praises equally the Stork and the Pelican:--

    “The _Stork_, still eyeing her deer _Thessalie_,
    The _Pelican_ comforteth cheerfully:
    Prayse-worthy Payer; which pure examples yield
    Of faithfull Father, and Officious Childe:
    Th’ one quites (in time) her Parents love exceeding,
    From whom shee had her birth and tender breeding;
    Not onely brooding under her warm brest
    Their age-chill’d bodies bed-rid in the nest;
    Nor only bearing them upon her back
    Through th’ empty Aire, when their own wings they lack;
    But also, sparing (This let Children note)
    Her daintiest food from her own hungry throat,
    To feed at home her feeble Parents, held
    From forraging, with heavy Gyves of Eld.
    The other, kindly, for her tender Brood
    Tears her own bowells, trilleth-out her blood,
    To heal her young, and in a wondrous sort,
    Unto her Children doth her life transport:
    For finding them by som fell Serpent slain,
    She rends her brest, and doth upon them rain
    Her vitall humour; whence recovering heat,
    They by her death, another life do get.”




THE TROCHILUS.


This bird, as described by Aristotle, and others, is of a peculiar turn
of mind:--“When the Crocodile gapes, the trochilus flies into its mouth
to cleanse its teeth; in this process the trochilus procures food, and
the other perceives it, and does not injure it; when the Crocodile
wishes the trochilus to leave, it moves its neck that it may not bite
the bird.”

Giovanni Leone--before quoted--says, respecting this bird:--“As we
sayled further we saw great numbers of crocodiles upon the banks of the
ilands in the midst of Nilus lye baking them in the sunne with their
jawes wide open, whereinto certaine little birds about the bignesse of a
thrush entering, came flying forth againe presently after. The occasion
whereof was told me to be this: the crocodiles by reason of their
continuall devouring beasts and fishes have certaine pieces of flesh
sticking fast betweene their forked teeth, which flesh being putrified,
breedeth a kind of worme, wherewith they are cruelly tormented; wherefor
the said birds flying about, and seeing the wormes enter into the
Crocodile’s jaws to satisfie their hunger thereon, but the Crocodile
perceiving himselfe freede from the wormes of his teeth, offereth to
shut his mouth, and to devour the little bird that did him so good a
turne, but being hindred from his ungratefull attempt by a pricke which
groweth upon the bird’s head, hee is constrayned to open his jawes, and
to let her depart.”

Du Bartas gives another colour to the behaviour of the Trochilus:--

    “The _Wren_, who seeing (prest with sleep’s desire)
    _Nile’s_ poys’ny Pirate press the slimy shoar,
    Suddenly coms, and, hopping him before,
    Into his mouth he skips, his teeth he pickles,
    Clenseth his palate, and his throat so tickles,
    That, charm’d with pleasure, the dull _Serpent_ gapes.
    Wider and wider, with his ugly chaps:
    Then, like a shaft, th’ _Ichneumon_ instantly
    Into the Tyrants greedy gorge doth fly,
    And feeds upon that Glutton, for whose Riot,
    All _Nile’s_ fat margents scarce could furnish diet.”




WOOLLY HENS.


Sir John Maundeville saw in “the kingdome named Mancy, which is the best
kingdome of the worlde--(Manzi, _that part of China south of the river
Hoang-ho_) whyte hennes, and they beare no feathers, but woll as shepe
doe in our lande.”




TWO-HEADED WILD GEESE.


Near the land of the _Cynocephali_ or dog-headed men, there were many
islands, and, “Also in this yle, and in many yles thereabout are many
wyld geese with two heads.” But these were not the only extraordinary
breed of wild geese, extant.

    “As the wise Wilde-geese, when they over-soar
    Cicilian mounts, within their bills do bear,
    A pebble stone both day and night: for fear
    Lest ravenous Eagles of the North descry
    Their Armies passage, by their Cackling Cry.”

Aristotle mentions the Crane as another stone-bearing bird:--“Among
birds, as it was previously remarked, the Crane migrates from one
extremity of the earth to the other, and they fly against the wind. As
for the story of the stone, it is a fiction, for they say that they
carry a stone as ballast, which is useful as a touchstone for gold,
after they have vomited it up.”




FOUR-FOOTED DUCK.


[Illustration]

Gesner describes a four-footed duck, which he says is like the English
puffin, except in the number of its feet: but Aldrovandus “out-Herods
Herod” when he gives us “A monstrous Cock with Serpent’s tail.”

If we can believe Pliny, there are places where certain birds are never
found:--“With reference to the departure of birds, the owlet, too, is
said to lie concealed for a few days. No birds of this last kind are to
be found in the island of Crete, and if any are imported thither, they
immediately die. Indeed, this is a remarkable distinction made by
Nature; for she denies to certain places, as it were, certain kinds of
fruits and shrubs, and of animals as well;...

“Rhodes possesses no Eagles. In Italy, beyond the Padus, there is, near
the Alps, a lake known by the name of Larius, beautifully situate amid a
country covered with shrubs; and yet this lake is never visited by
storks, nor, indeed, are they ever known to come within eight miles of
it; whilst on the other hand, in the neighbouring territory of the
Montres, there are immense flocks of magpies and jackdaws, the only bird
that is guilty of stealing gold and silver, a very singular propensity.

“It is said that in the territory of Tarentum, the woodpecker of Mars is
never found. It is only lately, too, and that but very rarely, that
various kinds of pies have begun to be seen in the districts that lie
between the Apennines, and the City; birds which are known by the name
of _Variæ_, and are remarkable for the length of the tail. It is a
peculiarity of this bird, that it becomes bald every year at the time of
sowing rape. The partridge does not fly beyond the frontiers of Bœotia,
into Attica; nor does any bird, in the island in the Euxine in which
Achilles was buried, enter the temple there consecrated to him.

[Illustration]

“In the territory of Fidenæ, in the vicinity of the City, the storks
have no young, nor do they build nests; but vast numbers of ring-doves
arrive from beyond sea every year in the district of Volaterræ. At Rome,
neither flies, nor dogs ever enter the temple of Hercules in the Cattle
Market.”...




FISH.


Terrestrial and Aerial animals were far more familiar to the Ancients
than were the inhabitants of the vast Ocean, and not knowing much about
them, their habits and ways, took “omne ignotum pro magnifico.”

We have seen the union of Man and Beast, and Man and Bird; and Man and
Fish was just as common, and perhaps more ancient than either of the
former--for Berosus, the Chaldean historian, gives us an account of
Oannes, or Hea, who corresponded to the Greek Cronos, who is identified
with the fish-headed god so often represented on the sculptures from
Nimroud, and of whom, clay figures have been found at Nimroud and
Khorsabad, as well as numerous representations on seals and gems.

[Illustration]

Of this mysterious union of Man and Fish, Berosus says:--“In the
beginning there were in Babylon a great number of men of various races,
who had colonised Chaldea. They lived without laws, after the manner of
animals. But in the first year there appeared coming out of the
Erythrian Sea (_Persian Gulf_) on the coast where it borders Babylonia,
an animal endowed with reason, named Oannes. He had all the body of a
fish, but below the head of the fish another head, which was that of a
man; also the feet of a man, which came out of its fish’s tail. He had a
human voice, and its image is preserved to this day. This animal passed
the day time among men, taking no nourishment. It taught them the use of
letters, of sciences, and of arts of every kind; the rules for the
foundation of towns, and the building of temples, the principles of
laws, and geometry, the sowing of seeds, and the harvest; in one word,
it gave to men all that conduced to the enjoyment of life. Since that
time nothing excellent has been invented. At the time of sunset, this
monster Oannes threw itself into the sea, and passed the night beneath
the waves, for it was amphibious. He wrote a book upon the beginning of
all things, and of Civilisation, which he left to mankind.”

Helladice quotes the same story, and calls the composite being Oes;
while another writer, Hyginus, calls him Euahanes. M. Lenormant thinks
that it is evident that this latter name is more correct than Oannes,
for it points to one of the Akkadian names of Hea--“Hea-Khan,” _Hea, the
fish_--and must be identified with the fish-God in the illustration.

Alexander Polyhistor, who mainly copied from Berosus, says that Oannes
wrote concerning the generation of Mankind, of their different ways of
life, and of their civil polity; and the following is the purport of
what he wrote:--

“There was a time in which there existed nothing but darkness, and an
abyss of waters, wherein resided most hideous beings, which were
produced on a twofold principle. There appeared men, some of whom were
furnished with two wings, others with four, and two faces. They had one
body, but two heads; the one that of a man, the other of a woman; they
were likewise in their several organs both male and female. Other human
beings were to be seen with the legs and horns of a goat; some had
horse’s feet, while others united the hind-quarters of a horse with the
body of a man, resembling in shape the hippocentaurs. Bulls likewise
were bred then with the heads of men, and dogs with fourfold bodies,
terminated in their extremities with the tails of fishes; horses also
with the heads of dogs; men, too, and other animals, with the heads and
bodies of horses, and the tails of fishes. In short, there were
creatures in which were combined the limbs of every species of animals.
In addition to these, fishes, reptiles, serpents, with other monstrous
animals, which assumed each other’s shape and countenance. Of all which
were preserved delineations in the temple of Belus, at Babylon.”

[Illustration]

But, undoubtedly, the earliest representation of the _real_
Merman--half-man, half-fish--comes to us from the uncovered palace of
Khorsabad. On a portion of its sculptured walls is a representation of
Sargon, the father of Sennacherib, sailing on his expedition to Cyprus,
B.C. 720--on which occasion he had wooden images of the gods made and
thrown overboard in order to accompany him on his voyage. Among these is
Hea, or Oannes, which I venture to assert is the first representation of
a Merman.

In Hindoo Mythology, one of the incarnations, or _avatars_ of Vishnu,
represents him as issuing from the mouth of a fish. The God Dagon (Dag
in Hebrew, signifying fish) was probably Oannes or Hea--and Atergatis
was depicted as a Mermaid, half-woman, half-fish. The Greeks worshipped
her as Astarte, and later on as Venus Aphrodite she was perfect woman,
still, however, born of the Sea-foam, and attended by Tritons or Mermen.

These Tritons and Nereids, male and female, were firmly believed in by
both Greek and Roman--who both depicted them alike--the Triton,
sometimes having a trident, sometimes without, but both Triton, and
Nereid, perfect man and woman, of high types of manly and feminine
beauty, to the waist--below which was the body of a fish of the
Classical dolphin type. So ingrained have these forms become in
humanity, that it would seem almost impossible to realise a Merman, or
Mermaid, other than as usually depicted.

Pliny, of course, tells about them:--“A deputation of persons from
Olisipo (_Lisbon_) that had been sent for the purpose, brought word to
the Emperor Tiberius that a Triton had been both seen and heard in a
certain cavern, blowing a Conch shell, and of the form they are usually
represented. Nor yet is the figure generally attributed to the nereids
at all a fiction, only in them the portion of the body that resembles
the human figure, is still rough all over with scales. For one of these
creatures was seen upon the same shores, and, as it died, its plaintive
murmurs were heard, even by the inhabitants, at a distance.

[Illustration]

“The legatus of Gaul, too, wrote word to the late Emperor Augustus, that
a considerable number of nereids had been found dead upon the sea-shore.
I have, too, some distinguished informants of equestrian rank, who state
that they themselves once saw, in the Ocean of Gades, a sea-man, which
bore in every part of his body, a perfect resemblance to a human being,
and that during the night he would climb up into ships; upon which the
side of the vessel, where he seated himself, would instantly sink
downward, and, if he remained there any considerable time, even go under
water.”

Ælian tells us, that it is reported that the great sea which surrounds
the Island of Taprobana (_Ceylon_) contains an immense multitude of
fishes and whales, and some of them have the heads of lions, panthers,
rams, and other animals; and (which is more wonderful still) some of the
Cetaceans have the form of Satyrs.

[Illustration]

Gesner obligingly depicts this Pan, Sea Satyr, Ichthyo centaurus, or Sea
Demon, as he is indifferently called, and wants to pass it off as a
veritable Merman, probably on account of its human-like trunk. He also
quotes Ælian as to the authenticity of this monster,--and he gives a
picture of another Man-fish, which he says was seen at Rome, on the
third of November, 1523. Its size was that of a boy about five years of
age. (See next page.)

Mermen and Mermaids do not seem to affect any particular district, they
were met with all over the world--and records of their having been seen,
come to us from all parts. That was well, and occurred in the ages of
faith, but now the materialism of the present age would shatter, if it
could, our cherished belief in these Marine eccentricities, and would
fain have us to credit that all those that have been seen, were some of
the Phocidæ, such as a “Dugong,” or else they would attempt to persuade
us that a beautiful mermaid, with her comb and looking-glass, was
neither more nor less than a repulsive-looking “Manatee.”

[Illustration]

Sir J. Emerson Tennent quotes in his “Natural History of Ceylon” from
the description of one of the Dutch Colonial Chaplains, named Valentyn,
who wrote an account of the Natural History of Amboyna. He says that in
1663, a lieutenant in the Dutch army was with some soldiers on the
sea-beach at Amboyna, when they all saw mermen swimming near the beach.
He described them as having long and flowing hair, of a colour between
grey and green. And he saw them again, after an interval of six weeks,
when he was in company with some fifty others. He also says that these
Marine Curiosities, both male and female, have been taken at Amboyna:
and he cites a special one, of which he gives a portrait, that was
captured by a district visitor of the Church, and presented by him to
the Governor.

This last animal enjoyed European fame, as in 1716, whilst Peter the
Great was the guest of the British Ambassador at Amsterdam, the latter
wrote to Valentyn, asking that the marvel should be sent over for the
Czar’s inspection--but it came not. Valentyn also tells how, in the year
1404, a mermaid, tempest-tossed, was driven through a breach in a dyke
at Edam, in Holland, and was afterwards taken alive in the lake of
Parmen, whence she was carried to Haarlem. The good Dutch vrows took
kindly care of her, and, with their usual thriftiness, taught her a
useful occupation, that of spinning; nay, they Christianised her--and
she died a Roman Catholic, several years after her capture.

The authentic records, if trust can be placed in them, are various and
many--but are hardly worth recapitulating because of their sameness, and
the smile of incredulity which their recital provokes.

Let us therefore turn to the monarch of the deep, the Whale--and of this
creature we get curious glimpses from the Northern Naturalists; but,
before investigating this authentic denizen of ocean, we will examine
some whose title to existence is not quite so clearly made out. Olaus
Magnus gives us an introduction to some of “The horrible Monsters of the
Coast of Norway. There are monstrous fish on the Coasts or Sea of
_Norway_, of unusual Names, though they are reputed a kind of _Whales_;
and, if men look long on them they will fright and amaze them. Their
forms are horrible, their heads square, all set with prickles, and they
have sharp and long Horns round about, like a tree rooted up by the
roots: they are ten or twelve Cubits long, very black, and with huge
eyes, the Compass whereof (i.e., _of the fish_) is above eight or ten
Cubits: the apple of the eye is of one Cubit, and is red and fiery
coloured, which in the dark night appears to Fisher-men afar off under
Waters, as a burning Fire, having hairs like Goose-Feathers, thick and
long, like a beard hanging down; the rest of the body, for the greatness
of the head, which is square, is very small, not being above fourteen or
fifteen cubits long; one of these Sea Monsters will drown easily many
great ships, provided with many strong Marriners.”

[Illustration]

He also speaks of a Cetacean, called a Physeter:--“The Whirlpool, or
Prister, is of the kind of Whales, two hundred Cubits long, and is very
cruel. For, to the danger of Sea men, he will sometimes raise himself
beyond the Sail yards, and cast such floods of Waters above his head,
which he had sucked in, that with a cloud of them, he will often sink
the strongest ships, or expose the Marriners to extream danger. This
Beast hath also a long and large round mouth like a Lamprey, whereby he
sucks in his meat or water, and by his weight cast upon the Fore or
Hinder-Deck, he sinks, and drowns a ship.

[Illustration]

“Sometimes, not content to do hurt by water onely, as I said, he will
cruelly over throw the ship like any small Vessel, striking it with his
back, or tail. He hath a thick black Skin, all his body over; long fins,
like to broad feet, and a forked tail 15 or 20 foot broad, wherewith he
forcibly binds any parts of the ship, he twists it about. A Trumpet of
War is the fit remedy against him, by reason of the sharp noise, which
he cannot endure: and by casting out huge great Vessels, that hinders
this Monster’s passage, or for him to play withall; or with Strong Canon
and Guns, with the sound thereof he is more frighted, than with a Stone,
or Iron Bullett; because this Ball loseth its force, being hindered by
his Fat, or by the Water, or wounds but a little, his most vast body,
that hath a Rampart of mighty Fat to defend it. Also, I must add, that
on the Coasts of _Norway_, most frequently both Old and New Monsters are
seen, chiefly by reason of the inscrutable depth of the Waters.
Moreover, in the deep Sea, there are many kinds of fishes that are
seldome or never seen by Man.”

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

We have the saying, “Throw a tub to the Whale,” and we not only find
that it is the proper treatment to conciliate Physeters, but Gesner
shows us the real thing applied to Whales, trumpet and all complete, and
he also shows us the close affinity between the Whale and the Physeter,
in the accompanying illustration, which depicts a whale uprearing, and
coming down again on an unfortunate vessel.

There is another Whale, described by Gesner, which he calls the “Trol”
whale, or in German, “Teüfelwal,” or Devil Whale. This whale lies asleep
on the water, and is of such a deceptive appearance that seamen mistake
it for an island, and cast anchor into it, a proceeding which this
peculiar class of whale does not appear to take much heed of. But, when
it comes to lighting a fire upon it, and cooking thereon, it naturally
wakes up the whale. It is of this “Teüfelwal” that Milton writes
(“Paradise Lost,” Bk. i., l. 200):--

                    “Or that sea-beast
    Leviathan, which God of all His works
    Created hugest that swim the ocean-stream.
    Him, haply slumbering on the Norway foam,
    The pilot of some small night-foundered skiff,
    Deeming some island, oft, as seamen tell,
    With fixèd anchor in his scaly rind,
    Moors by his side under the lee, while night
    Invests the sea, and wishèd morn delays.”

[Illustration]

And the same story is told in the First Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor,
or, as Mr. Lane, whose translation (ed. 1883) I use, calls him,
Es-Sindibád of the Sea:--“We continued our voyage until we arrived at an
island like one of the gardens of Paradise, and at that island, the
master of the ship brought her to anchor with us. He cast the anchor,
and put forth the landing plank, and all who were in the ship landed
upon that island. They had prepared for themselves fire-pots, and they
lighted the fires in them, and their occupations were various: some
cooked, others washed, and others amused themselves. I was among those
who were amusing themselves upon the shores of the island, and the
passengers were assembled to eat and drink, and play and sport. But
while we were thus engaged, lo, the master of the ship, standing upon
its side, called out with his loudest voice, ‘O ye passengers, whom may
God preserve! come up quickly into the ship, hasten to embark, and leave
your merchandise, and flee with your lives, and save yourselves from
destruction; for this apparent island upon which ye are, is not, in
reality, an island, but it is a great fish that hath become stationary
in the midst of the sea, and the sand hath accumulated upon it, so that
it hath become like an island, and trees have grown upon it, since times
of old; and, when ye lighted upon it the fire, it felt the heat, and put
itself in motion, and now it will descend with you into the sea, and ye
will all be drowned; then seek for yourselves escape before destruction,
and leave the merchandise!’ The passengers, therefore, hearing the words
of the master of the ship, hastened to go up into the vessel, leaving
the merchandise, and their other goods, and their copper cooking-pots,
and their fire-pots; and some reached the ship, and others reached it
not. The island had moved, and descended to the bottom of the sea, with
all that were upon it, and the roaring sea, agitated with waves, closed
over it.”

Olaus Magnus, too, tells of sleeping whales being mistaken for
islands:--“The Whale hath upon its Skin a superficies, like the gravel
that is by the sea side; so that oft times when he raiseth his back
above the waters, Sailors take it to be nothing else but an Island, and
sayl unto it, and go down upon it, and they strike in piles upon it, and
fasten them to their ships: they kindle fires to boyl their meat; until
at length the Whale feeling the fire, dives down to the bottome; and
such as are upon his back, unless they can save themselves by ropes
thrown forth of the ship, are drown’d. This Whale, as I have said before
of the Whirlpool and Pristes, sometimes so belcheth out the waves that
he hath taken in, that, with a Cloud of Waters, oft times, he will drown
the ship; and when a Tempest ariseth at Sea, he will rise above water,
that he will sink the ships, during these Commotions and Tempests.
Sometimes he brings up Sand on his back, upon which, when a Tempest
comes, the Marriners are glad that they have found Land, cast Anchor,
and are secure on a false ground; and when as they kindle their fires,
the Whale, so soon as he perceives it, he sinks down suddenly into the
depth, and draws both men and ships after him, unless the Anchors
break.”

But _apropos_ of the whale casting forth such quantities of water, it
is, as a matter of fact, untrue. The whale has a tremendously strong
exhalation, and when it breathes under water, its breath sends up two
columns of _spray_, but, if its head is above water, it cannot spout.

One thing in favour of whales, is “The Wonderful affection of the whales
towards their young. Whales, that have no Gills, breathe by Pipes, which
is found but in few creatures. They carry their young ones, when they
are weak and feeble; and if they be small, they take them in at their
mouths. This they do also when a Tempest is coming; and after the
Tempest, they Vomit them up. When for want of water their young are
hindered, that they cannot follow their Dams, the Dams take water in
their mouths, and cast it to them like a river, that she may so free
them from the Land they are fast upon. Also she accompanies them long,
when they are grown up; but they quickly grow up, and increase ten
years.”

[Illustration]

According to Olaus Magnus, there be many kinds of whales:--“Some are
hairy, and of four Acres in bigness; the Acre is 240 foot long and 120
broad; some are smooth skinned, and those are smaller, and are taken in
the West and Northern Sea; some have their Jaws long and full of teeth;
namely, 12 or 14 foot long, and the Teeth are 6, 8, or 12 foot long. But
their two Dog teeth, or Tushes, are longer than the rest, underneath,
like a Horn, like the teeth of Bores, or Elephants. This kind of whale
hath a fit mouth to eat, and his eyes are so large, that fifteen men may
sit in the room of each of them, and sometimes twenty, or more, as the
beast is in quantity.

“His horns are 6 or 7 foot long, and he hath 250 upon each eye, as hard
as horn, that he can stir stiff or gentle, either before or behind.
These grow together, to defend his eyes in tempestuous weather, or when
any other Beast that is his enemy sets upon him; nor is it a wonder,
that he hath so many Horns, though they be very troublesome to him;
when, as between his eyes, the space of his forehead is 15 or 20 foot.”

[Illustration]

The Spermaceti whale (_Physeter macrocephalus_) is the subject of a
curious story, according to Olaus Magnus. He declares Ambergris is the
sperm of the male Whale, which is not received by the female. “It is
scattered wide on the sea, in divers figures, of a blew colour, but more
tending to white; and these are glew’d together; and this is carefully
collected by Marriners, as I observed, when, in my Navigation I saw it
scattered here and there: This they sell to Physitians, to purge it; and
when it is purged, they call it _Amber-greese_, and they use it against
the Dropsie and Palsie, as a principal and most pretious unguent. It is
white; and if it be found, that is of the colour of Gyp, it is the
better. It is sophisticated with the powder of Lignum, Aloes, Styrax,
Musk, and some other things. But this is discovered because that which
is sophistocated will easily become soft as Wax, but pure _Amber-greese_
will never melt so. It hath a corroborating force, and is good against
swoundings and the Epilepsie.”

As a matter of fact, it is believed to be a morbid secretion in the
intestinal canal of the whale, originating in its bile. It is found in
its bowels, and also floating on the sea, grey-coloured, in lumps
weighing from half an ounce to one hundred pounds. Its price is about £3
per oz. It is much used in perfumery, but not in medicine, at least in
Europe: but in Asia and Africa, it is, in some parts, so used, and also
in cookery.

Olaus Magnus, too, tells us of the benefits the whale confers on the
inhabitants of the cold and dreary North. How they salt the flesh for
future eating, and the usefulness of the fat for lighting and warming
through the long Arctic winter, while the small bones are used as fuel.
Of the skin of this useful mammal, they make Belts, Bags, and Ropes,
whilst a whole skin will clothe forty men. But these are not all its
uses.

“Having spoken that the bodies of Whales are very large, for their head,
teeth, eyes, mouth and skin; the bones require a place to be described;
and it is thus. Because the vehemency of Cold in the farther parts of
the North, and horrid Tempests there, will hardly suffer Trees to grow
up tall, whereof necessary houses may be builded: therefore provident
Nature hath provided for the Inhabitants, that they may build their
houses of the most vast Ribs of Sea Creatures, and other things
belonging thereunto. For these monsters of the Sea, being driven to
land, either by some others that are their Enemies, or drawn forth by
the frequent fishing for them by men, that the Inhabitants there may
make their prey of them, or whether they die and consume; it is certain,
that they leave such vast bones behind them, that whole Mansion Houses
may be made of them, for Walls, Gates, Windows, Coverings, Seats, and
for Tables also. For these Ribs are 20, 30, or more feet in length.
Moreover the Back-bones, and Whirl-bones, and the Forked-bones of the
vast head, are of no small bigness: and all these by the industry of
Artists, are so fitted with Saws and Files, that the Carpenter in Wood,
joyn’d together with Iron, can make nothing more compleat.

[Illustration]

“When, therefore, the flesh of this most huge Beast is eat and
dissolved, onely his bones remain like a great Keel; and when these are
purged by Rain, and the Ayr, they raise them up like a house, by the
force of men that are called unto it. Then by the industry of the Master
Builder, Windows being placed on the top of the house, or sides of the
Whale, it is divided into many convenient Habitations; and gates are
made of the same Beasts Skin, that is taken off long before, for that
and some other use, and is hardened by the sharpness of the winds. Also
a part within this Keel raised up like a house, they make several Hog
Sties and places for other creatures, as the fashion is in other houses
of Wood; leaving always under the top of this structure, a place for
Cocks, that serve instead of Clocks, that men may be raised to their
labour in the night, which is there continual in the Winter-time. They
that sleep between these Ribs, see no other Dreams, than as if they were
always toiling in the Sea-waves, or were in danger of Tempests, to
suffer shipwreck.”

Besides men, Whales had their foes, in the deep, and there was,
according to Du Bartas, one very formidable and cunning enemy, in the
shape of a bird:--

    “Meanwhile the _Langa_, skimming, (as it were,)
    The Ocean’s surface, seeketh everywhere,
    The hugy Whale; where slipping in (by Art),
    In his vast mouth, shee feeds upon his Hart.”

But it is cheering to find, on the authority of the same author, that he
also has a helpful friend:--

    “As a great Carrak, cumbred and opprest
    With her-self’s burthen, wends not East and West,
    Star-boord, and Lar-boord, with so quick Careers
    As a small Fregat, or swift Pinnass steers;
    And as a large and mighty limbed Steed,
    Either of _Friseland_, or of _German_ breed,
    Can never manage half so readily,
    As _Spanish_ Jennet, or light _Barbarie_;
    So the huge _Whale_ hath not so nimble motion
    As smaller fishes that frequent the Ocean;
    But, sometimes, rudely ’gainst a Rock he brushes,
    Or in some roaring straight he blindly rushes,
    And scarce could live a Twelve month to an end,
    But for the little _Musculus_ (his friend),
    A little Fish, that, swimming still before,
    Directs him safe from Rock, from shelf and shoar.”

But we have only spoken of a very few varieties of Whales; some yet
remain, which may be styled “fancy” Whales. At all events, they are lost
to our times. Herodotus tells us that in the Borysthenes (_Dneiper_)
were “large whales without any spinal bones, which they call Antacæi,
fit for salting.” Then, Gesner gives us varieties of Whales, of which we
know nothing. There is the bearded and maned creature with a face
somewhat resembling that of a human being, found only in the remotest
North, and there is the hairy whale, _Cetum Capillatum vel Crinitum_, or
_Germanice_, Haarwal, but no particulars of this curious creature are
given.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

He presents us with the image of a Cetacean, which he calls an Indian
Serpent--but he evidently is so doubtful of the creature’s authenticity
that he tells us that Hieronimus Cardanus sent it formerly to him. He
cannot quite make it out, with its monkey’s head, and paws, but points
out that it must be an aquatic animal, because of its tail.

[Illustration]

In his _Addenda et Emendanda_, he gives, on the authority of Olaus
Magnus, a picture of an unnamed Whale--he says it was of great size, and
had terrible teeth.

[Illustration]

He also gives us two or three curious pictures of now extinct Cetaceans,
something like terrestrial animals or men. And the first is a Leonine
Monster, and for its authority he quotes Rondeletius.

This creature had none of its parts fitted to act as a marine animal of
prey, but he says that Gisbertus (_Horstius_) Germanus, a physician at
Rome, certifies that it was taken on the high seas, not long before the
death of Pope Paul III., which took place A.D. 1549. It was of the size
and shape of a Lion, it had four feet, not mutilated, or imperfect as
those of the Seal, and not joined together as is the case with the
beaver or duck, but perfect, and divided into toes with nails: a long
thin tail ending in hair; ears hardly visible, and its body covered with
scales--but he adds that Gisbertus found fault with the artist, who had
made the feet longer than they ought to have been--and the ears too
large for an aquatic animal.

[Illustration]

Gesner also gives us (and so does Aldrovandus) pictures of the Monk
and Bishop fishes. The Monk-fish, he says, was caught off Norway, in a
troubled sea: and he quotes Bœothius as describing a similar monster
found in the Firth of Forth. The Bishop-fish was only _seen_ off the
coast of Poland, A.D. 1531.

[Illustration]

The existence of these marine monsters had, at all events, very wide
credence, even if they never existed, for Sluper, whom I have before
quoted, gives, in his curious little book, two pictures of these two
fishes (more awful than Gesner did). Of the Sea Monk he says:

    “La Mer poissons en abondance apporte,
    Par dons divins que devons estimer.
    Mais fort estrange est le Moyne de Mer,
    Qui est ainsi que ce pourtrait le porte.”

And of the Sea Bishop:

    “La terre n’a Evesques seulement,
    Qui sōt p̱ bulle en grād hōneur et titre,
    L’evesque croist en mer sembablement,
    Ne parlāt point, cōbien qu’il porte Mitre.”

[Illustration]

And Du Bartas writes of them, as if all in air, or on the earth, had its
double in the sea--and he specially mentions these piscine
ecclesiastics:--

    “Seas have (as well as skies) Sun, Moon, and Stars;
    (As well as ayre) Swallows, and Rooks, and Stares;
    (As well as earth) Vines, Roses, Nettles, Millions,[38]
    Pinks, Gilliflowers, Mushrooms, and many millions
    Of other Plants (more rare and strange than these)
    As very fishes living in the Seas.
    And also Rams, Calfs, Horses, Hares, and Hogs,
    Wolves, Lions, Urchins, Elephants and Dogs,
    Yea, Men and Mayds; and (which I more admire[39])
    The mytred Bishop, and the cowled Fryer;
    Whereof, examples, (but a few years since)
    Were shew’n the Norways, and Polonian Prince.”

Was the strange fish that Stow speaks of in his _Annales_ one of these
two?--“A.D. 1187. Neere unto Orforde in Suffolke, certaine Fishers of
the sea tooke in their Nettes, a Fish having the shape of a man in all
pointes, which Fish was kept by _Bartlemew de Glanville_, Custos of the
castle of Orforde, in the same Castle, by the space of sixe monethes,
and more, for a wonder: He spake not a word. All manner of meates he
gladly did eate, but more greedilie raw fishe, after he had crusshed out
all the moisture. Oftentimes he was brought to the Church where he
showed no tokens of adoration. At length, when he was not well looked
to, he stale away to the Sea and never after appeared.” If this was not
the real Simon Pure, yet I think it may put in a claim as a first-class
British production, and, as far as I know, unique--all other denizens of
the deep having some trace of their watery habitat, either in wearing
scales, or a tail.

Following Du Bartas’ idea, let us take some marine animals which have a
somewhat similar counterpart on shore.

Gesner gives us the picture, Olaus Magnus gives us the veracious
history, of the Sea-cow:--“The Sea Cow is a huge Monster, strong, angry,
and injurious; she brings forth a young one like to herself; yet not
above two, but one often, which she loves very much, and leads it about
carefully with her, whithersoever she swims to Sea, or goes on Land.
Lastly this Creature is known to have lived 130 years, by cutting off
her tail.”

[Illustration]

Olaus Magnus calls the Seal, the Sea-calf; and with trifling exceptions,
gives a fair account of its habits, only there are some points which
differ from the modern Seal, at all events:--“The Sea-Calf, which also
in Latine is called _Helcus_, hath its name from the likeness of a
Land-Calf, and it hath a hard fleshy body; and therefore it is hard to
be killed, but by breaking the Temples of the head. It hath a voice like
a Bull, four feet, but not his ears; because the manner and mansion of
its life is in the Waters. Had it such ears, they would take in much
Water, and hinder the swimming of it.... They will low in their sleep,
thence they are called Calves. They will learn, and with their voyce and
countenance salute the company, with a confused murmuring; called by
their names, they will answer, and no Creature sleeps more profoundly.
The Fins that serve them for to swim in the Sea, serve for legs on Land,
and they go hobling up and down as lame people do. Their Skins, though
taken from their bodies, have always a sense of the Seas, and when the
Sea goes forth, they will stand up like Bristles. The right Fin hath a
soporiferous quality to make one sleep, if it be put under one’s head.
They that fear Thunder, think those Tabernacles best to live in, that
are made of Sea-Calves Skins, because onely this Creature in the Sea, as
an Eagle in the Ayr is safe and secure from the Stroke of Thunder.... If
the Sea be boisterous and rise, so doth the Sea Calfe’s hair: if the Sea
be calm, the hair is smooth; and thus you may know the state of the Sea
in a dead Skin. The _Bothnick_ Marriners conjecture by their own
Cloaths, that are made of these Skins, whether the Sea shall be calm,
and their voyage prosperous, or they shall be in danger of Shipwreck....
These Creatures are so bold, that when they hear it thunder, and they
see it clash and lighten, they are glad, and ascend upon the plain
Mountains, as Frogs rejoyce against Rain.”

A very fine piece of casuistry is shown, in “the perplexity of those
that eat the flesh of _Sea-Calves_ in _Lent_,” and it seems to be
finally settled that, according to “the men of a more clear judgment,
rejecting many Reasons, brought on both sides, do say, and prove, that
when the Sea-Calf brings forth on the shore, if the Beast driven by the
Hunter, run into the Woods, men must forbear to eat of it in Lent, when
flesh is forbidden; but if he run to the Waters, one may fairly eat
thereof.”

Gesner, in giving this delineation of a Sea-Horse, openly says that it
is the Classical horse, as used by Neptunus; but Olaus Magnus declares
that “The Sea Horse, between _Britany_ and _Norway_, is oft seen to have
a head like a horse, and to neigh; but his feet and hoof are cloven
like to a Cow’s; and he feeds both on Land, and in the Sea. He is
seldome taken, though he grow to be as big as an Ox. He hath a forked
Tail like a Fish.

[Illustration]




“THE SEA-MOUSE.


“The Sea-Mouse makes a hole in the Earth, and lays her Eggs there, and
then covers them with Earth: on the 30th day she digs it open again, and
brings her young to the Sea, first blind, and, afterwards, he comes to
see.




“THE SEA-HARE.


“The Sea-Hare is found to be of divers kinds in the Ocean, but so soon
as he is caught, onely because he is suspected to be Venemous, how like
so ever he is to a Hare, he is let loose again. He hath four Fins behind
his Head, two whose motion is all the length of the fish, and they are
long, like to a Hare’s ears, and two again, whose motion is from the
back, to the depth of the fishes belly, wherewith he raiseth up the
weight of his head. This Hare is formidable in the Sea; on the Land he
is found to be as timorous and fearful as a hare.”




THE SEA-PIG.


[Illustration]

Again we are indebted to Gesner for the drawing of this Sea Monster.
Olaus Magnus, speaking of “The Monstrous Hog of the _German Ocean_,”
says:--“I spake before of a Monstrous Fish found on the Shores of
_England_, with a clear description of his whole body, and every member
thereof, which was seen there in the year 1532, and the Inhabitants made
a Prey of it. Now I shall revive the memory of that Monstrous Hog that
was found afterwards, _Anno_ 1537, in the same _German Ocean_, and it
was a Monster in every part of it. For it had a Hog’s head, and a
quarter of a Circle, like the Moon, in the hinder part of its head, four
feet like a Dragon’s, two eyes on both sides in his Loyns, and a third
in his belly, inclining towards his Navel; behind he had a forked Tail,
like to other Fish commonly.”




THE WALRUS.


[Illustration]

Of the Walrus, Rosmarus, or Morse, Gesner draws, and Olaus Magnus
writes, thus:--“The _Norway_ Coast, toward the more Northern parts,
hath a great Fish, as big as Elephants, which are called _Morsi_, or
_Rosmari_, may be they are (called) so from their sharp biting; for, if
they see any man on the Sea-shore, and can catch him, they come suddenly
upon him, and rend him with their Teeth, that they will kill him in a
trice. Therefore these Fish called _Rosmari_, or _Morsi_, have heads
fashioned like to an Oxes, and a hairy Skin, and hair growing as thick
as straw or corn-reeds, that lye loose very largely. They will raise
themselves with their Teeth, as by Ladders to the very tops of Rocks,
that they may feed on the Dewie Grasse, or Fresh Water, and role
themselves in it, unless in the mean time they fall very fast asleep,
and rest upon the Rocks; for then Fishermen make all the haste they can,
and begin at the Tail, and part the Skin from the Fat; and unto this
that is parted, they put most strong Cords, and fasten them on the
rugged rocks or Trees, that are near; then they throw stones at his
head, out of a Sling, to raise him, and they compel him to descend,
spoiled of the greatest part of his Skin, which is fastned to the Ropes:
he being thereby debilitated, fearful, and half dead, he is made a rich
prey, especially for his Teeth, that are very pretious amongst the
_Scythians_, the _Muscovites_, _Russians_, and Tartars, (as Ivory
amongst the Indians,) by reason of its hardness, whiteness, and
ponderousnesse. For which Cause, by excellent industry of Artificers
they are made fit for handles for Javelins: And this is also testified
by _Mechovita_, an historian of _Poland_, in his double _Sarmatia_, and
_Paulus Jovius_ after him, relates it by the Relation of one
_Demetrius_, that was sent from the great Duke of _Muscovy_ to Pope
Clement the 7th.”

Although Olaus Magnus is very circumstantial in his detail as to the
intense somnolence, and brutal flaying alive of the “thereby
debilitated” Walrus, I can find no confirmation of either, in any other
account--on the contrary, in “A Briefe Note of the Morse and the use
thereof,” published in Hakluyt, it is described as very wakeful and
vigilant, and certainly not an animal likely to have salt put on its
tail after Magnus’s manner:--

“In the voyage of Jacques Carthier, wherein he discovered the Gulfe of
S. Laurance, and the said Isle of Ramea in the yeere 1534, he met with
these beastes, as he witnesseth in these words: About the said island
are very great beasts as great as oxen, which have two great teeth in
their mouthes like unto elephant’s teeth, and live in the Sea. Wee sawe
one of them sleeping upon the banks of the water, and, thinking to take
it, we went to it with our boates, but so soon as he heard us, he cast
himselfe into the sea. Touching these beasts which Jacques Carthier
saith to be as big as oxen, and to have teeth in their mouthes like
elephants teeth; true it is that they are called in Latine _Boves
marini_ or _Vaccæ marinæ_, and in the Russian tongue morsses, the hides
whereof I have seene as big as any ox hide, and being dressed, I have
yet a piece of one thicker than any two oxe, or bul’s hides in England.

“The leather dressers take them to be excellent good to make light
targets against the arrowes of the savages; and I hold them farre better
than the light leather targets which the Moores use in Barbarie against
arrowes and lances, whereof I have seene divers in her Majesties stately
armourie in the Toure of London. The teeth of the sayd fishes, whereof I
have seene a dry flat full at once, are a foote and sometimes more in
length; and have been sold in England to the combe and knife makers at 8
groats and 3 shillings the pound weight, whereas the best ivory is solde
for halfe the money; the graine of the bone is somewhat more yellow than
the ivorie. One Mr. Alexander Woodson of Bristoll, my old friend, an
excellent mathematician and skilful phisitian, shewed me one of these
beasts teeth which were brought from the Isle of Ramea in the first
prize, which was half a yard long, or very little lesse: and assured mee
that he had made tryall of it in ministering medicine to his patients,
and had found it as sovereigne against poyson as any unicorne’s horne.”




THE ZIPHIUS.


This Voracious Animal, whose size may be imagined by comparison with the
Seal it is devouring, is thus described by Magnus:--“Because this Beast
is conversant in the Northern Waters, it is deservedly to be joined with
other monstrous Creatures. The Swordfish is like no other, but in
something it is like a Whale. He hath as ugly a head as an Owl: his
mouth is wondrous deep, as a vast pit, whereby he terrifies and drives
away those that look into it. His Eyes are horrible, his Back
Wedge-fashion, or elevated like a Sword; his snout is pointed. These
often enter upon the Northern Coasts as Thieves and hurtful Guests, that
are always doing mischief to ships they meet, by boring holes in them,
and sinking them.

[Illustration]




“THE SAW FISH.


“The Saw fish is also a beast of the Sea; the body is huge great, the
head hath a crest, and is hard and dented like to a Saw. It will swim
under ships and cut them, that the Water may come in, and he may feed on
the men when the ship is drowned.”




THE ORCA


is probably the Thresher whale. Pliny thus describes it:--“The Balæna
(_whale of some sort_) penetrates to our seas even. It is said that they
are not to be seen in the ocean of Gades (_Bay of Cadiz_) before the
winter solstice, and that at periodical seasons they retire and conceal
themselves in some calm capacious bay, in which they take a delight in
bringing forth. This fact, however, is known to the Orca, an animal
which is particularly hostile to the Balæna, and the form of which
cannot be in any way accurately described, but as an enormous mass of
flesh, armed with teeth. This animal attacks the Balæna in its place of
retirement, and with its teeth tears its young, or else attacks the
females which have just brought forth, and, indeed, while they are still
pregnant; and, as they rush upon them, it pierces them just as though
they had been attacked by the beak of a Liburnian Galley. The female
Balænæ, devoid of all flexibility, without energy to defend themselves,
and overburdened by their own weight; weakened, too, by gestation, or
else the pains of recent parturition, are well aware that their only
resource is to take flight in the open sea, and to range over the whole
face of the ocean; while the Orcæ, on the other hand, do all in their
power to meet them in their flight, throw themselves in their way, and
kill them either cooped up in a narrow passage, or else drive them on a
shoal, or dash them to pieces against the rocks. When these battles are
witnessed, it appears just as though the sea were infuriate against
itself; not a breath of wind is there to be felt in the bay, and yet the
waves, by their pantings and their repeated blows, are heaved aloft in a
way which no whirlwind could effect.

“An Orca has been seen even in the port of Ostia, where it was attacked
by the Emperor Claudius. It was while he was constructing the harbour
there that this orca came, attracted by some hides, which, having been
brought from Gaul, had happened to fall overboard there. By feeding
upon these for several days it had quite glutted itself, having made for
itself a channel in the shoaly water. Here, however, the sand was thrown
up by the action of the wind to such an extent that the creature found
it quite impossible to turn round; and while in the act of pursuing its
prey, it was propelled by the waves towards the shore, so that its back
came to be perceived above the level of the water, very much resembling
in appearance the keel of a vessel turned bottom upwards. Upon this,
Cæsar ordered a number of nets to be extended at the mouth of the
harbour, from shore to shore, while he himself went there with the
Prætorian Cohorts, and so afforded a spectacle to the Roman people; for
boats assailed the monster, while the soldiers on board showered lances
upon it. I, myself, saw one of the boats sunk by the water which the
animal, as it respired, showered down upon it.”

Olaus Magnus thus writes “Of the fight between the Whale and the Orca. A
_Whale_ is a very great fish, about one hundred, or three hundred foot
long, and the body is of a vast magnitude, yet the _Orca_, which is
smaller in quantity, but more nimble to assault, and cruel to come on,
is his deadly Enemy. An Orca is like a Hull turned inwards outward; a
Beast with fierce Teeth, with which, as with the Stern of a Ship, he
rends the _Whale’s_ Guts, and tears its Calve’s body open, or he quickly
runs and drives him up and down with his prickly back, that he makes him
run to Fords and Shores. But the _Whale_, that cannot turn its huge
body, not knowing how to resist the wily _Orca_, puts all its hopes in
flight; yet that flight is weak, because this sluggish Beast, burdned by
its own weight, wants one to guide her, to fly to the Foords, to escape
the dangers.”




THE DOLPHIN.


Pliny says:--“The Dolphin is an animal not only friendly to man, but a
lover of music as well; he is charmed by melodious concerts, and more
especially by the notes of the water organ. He does not dread man, as
though a stranger to him, but comes to meet ships, leaps and bounds to
and fro, vies with them in swiftness, and passes them even when in full
sail.

“In the reign of the late Emperor Augustus, a dolphin which had been
carried to the Lucrine Lake, conceived a most wonderful affection for
the child of a certain poor man, who was in the habit of going that way
from Baiæ to Puteoli to school, and who used to stop there in the middle
of the day, call him by his name of _Simo_, and would often entice him
to the banks of the lake with pieces of bread which he carried for the
purpose. At whatever hour of the day he might happen to be called by the
boy, and although hidden and out of sight at the bottom of the water, he
would instantly fly to the surface, and after feeding from his hand,
would present his back for him to mount, taking care to conceal the
spiny projection of his fins in their sheath, as it were; and so,
sportively taking him up on his back, he would carry him over a wide
expanse of sea to the school at Puteoli, and in a similar manner bring
him back again. This happened for several years, until, at last, the boy
happened to fall ill of some malady, and died. The Dolphin, however,
still came to the same spot as usual, with a sorrowful air, and
manifesting every sign of deep affliction, until at last, a thing of
which no one felt the slightest doubt, he died purely of sorrow and
regret.

“Within these few years also, another at Hippo Diarrhytus, on the coast
of Africa, in a similar manner used to receive his food from the hands
of various persons, present himself for their caresses, sport about
among the swimmers, and carry them on his back. On being rubbed with
unguents by Flavianus, the then pro-consul of Africa, he was lulled to
sleep, as it appeared, by the sensation of an odour so new to him, and
floated about just as though he had been dead. For some months after
this, he carefully avoided all intercourse with man, just as if he had
received some affront or other; but, at the end of that time, he
returned, and afforded just the same wonderful scenes as before. At
last, the vexations that were caused them by having to entertain so many
influential men who came to see this sight, compelled the people of
Hippo to put the animal to death....

“Hegesidemus has also informed us, that, in the city of Iasus (_the
island and city of Caria_), there was another boy also, Hermias by name,
who in a similar manner used to traverse the sea on a dolphin’s back,
but that, on one occasion, a tempest suddenly arising, he lost his life,
and was brought back dead: upon which, the dolphin, who thus admitted
that he had been the cause of his death, would not return to the sea,
but lay down upon dry land and there expired.”

Du Bartas gives us a new trait in the Dolphin’s character:--

    “Even as the Dolphins do themselves expose,
    For their live fellows, and beneath the waves
    Cover their dead ones under sandy graves.”




THE NARWHAL,


generally called the Monoceros or Sea Unicorn, is thus shown in one
place, by Gesner; and, rough though it is, it is far more like the
Narwhal’s horn than is the other, also, in his work, of a Sea Rhinoceros
or Narwhal engaged in combat with an outrageous-sized Lobster, or
Kraken, I know not which; for, as we shall presently see, the Kraken is
represented as a Crayfish or Lobster. It was the long twisted horn of
the Narwhal which did duty for ages as the horn of the fabled Unicorn, a
gift worthy to be presented by an Emperor to an Emperor.

[Illustration]

This sketch of Gesner’s, he describes as a one-horned monster with a
sharp nose, devouring a Gambarus. Olaus Magnus dismisses the Narwhal
very curtly:--“The Unicorn is a Sea Beast, having in his forehead a
very great Horn, wherewith he can penetrate, and destroy the ships in
his way, and drown multitudes of men. But divine goodnesse hath provided
for the safety of Marriners herein; for, though he be a very fierce
Creature, yet is he very slow, that such as fear his coming may fly from
him.”

[Illustration]

The earlier voyagers who really saw the Narwhal, fairly accurately
described it; as Baffin, whose name is so familiar to us by the bay
called after him:--“As for the Sea Unicorne, it being a great fish,
having a long horn or bone growing forth of his forehead or nostrill,
such as Sir Martin Frobisher, in his second voyage found one, in divers
places we saw them, which, if the horne be of any good value, no doubt
but many of them may be killed;” and Frobisher, as reported in Hakluyt,
says:--“On this west shore we found a dead fish floating, which had in
his nose a horne streight, and torquet, (_twisted_) of length two yards
lacking two ynches. Being broken in the top, here we might perceive it
hollow, into the which some of our sailors, putting spiders, they
presently died. I saw not the triall hereof, but it was reported unto me
of a truth; by the vertue thereof we supposed it to be the Sea
Unicorne.”




THE SWAMFISCK.


[Illustration]

The accompanying illustration, though heading the chapter in Olaus
Magnus regarding the Swamfisck and other fish, does not at all seem to
elucidate the text:--“The Variety of these Fish, or rather Monsters, is
here set down, because of their admirable form, and many properties of
Nature, as they often come to the _Norway_ Shores amongst other
Creatures, and they are catcht for their Fat, which they have in great
plenty and abundance. For the Fisher-men purge it, by boyling it like
flesh, on the fire, and they sell it to anoint leather, or for Oyl to
burn in Lamps, to continue light, when it is perpetual darkness.
Wherefore the first Monster that comes, is of a round form, in _Norway_
called _Swamfisck_, the greatest glutton of all other Sea-Monsters. For
he is scarce satisfied, though he eat continually. He is said to have no
distinct stomach; and so what he eats turns into the thickness of his
body, that he appears nothing else than one Lump of Conjoyned Fat. He
dilates and extends himself beyond measure, and when he can be extended
no more, he easily casts out fishes by his mouth because he wants a neck
as other fishes do. His mouth and belly are continued one to the other.
But this Creature is so thick, that when there is danger, he can, (like
the Hedg-Hog) re-double his flesh, fat and skin, and contract and cover
himself; nor doth he that but to his own loss, because fearing Beasts
that are his Enemies, he will not open himself when he is oppressed
with hunger, but lives by feeding on his own flesh, choosing rather to
be consumed in part by himself, than to be totally devoured by Wild
Beasts. If the danger be past, he will try to save himself.




“THE SAHAB.


“There is also another Sea-Monster, called _Sahab_, which hath small
feet in respect of its great body, but he hath one long one, which he
useth in place of a hand to defend all his parts; and with that he puts
meat into his mouth, and digs up grass. His feet are almost gristly, and
made like the feet of a Cow or Calf. This Creature swimming in the
water, breathes, and when he sends forth his breath, it returns into the
Ayr, and he casts Water aloft, as Dolphins and Whales do.




“THE CIRCHOS.


“There is also another Monster like to that, called _Circhos_, which
hath a crusty and soft Skin, partly black, partly red, and hath two
cloven places in his Foot, that serve for to make three Toes. The right
foot of this Animal is very small, but the left is great and long; and,
therefore, when he walks all his body leans on the left side, and he
draws his right foot after him: When the Ayr is calm he walketh, but
when the Wind is high, and the Sky cloudy, he applies himself to the
Rocks, and rests unmoved, and sticks fast, that he can scarce be pulled
off. The nature of this is wonderful enough: which in calm Weather is
sound, and in stormy Weather is sick.”

[Illustration]

The Northern Naturalists did not enjoy the monopoly of curious fish,
for Zahn gives us a very graphic picture of the different sides of two
small fish captured in Denmark and Norway (_i.e._, presumably in some
northern region) with curious letters marked on them. He does not
attempt to elucidate the writing; and as it is of no known language, we
may charitably put it down to the original “Volapük.” He also favours us
with the effigies of a curious fish found in Silesia in 1609, also
ornamented with an inscription in an unknown tongue.

[Illustration]

He also supplies us with the portrait of a pike, which was daintily
marked with a cross on its side and a star on its forehead.

But too much space would be taken up if I were to recount all the
piscine marvels that he relates.

Aristotle mentions that fish do not thrive in cold weather, and he says
that those which have a stone in their head, as the chromis, labrax,
sciæna, and phagrus, suffer most in the winter; for the refrigeration of
the stone causes them to freeze, and be driven on shore.

Sir John Mandeville, speaking of the kingdom of Talonach, says:--“And
that land hath a marvayle that is in no other land, for all maner of
fyshes of the sea cometh there once a yeare, one after the other, and
lyeth him neere the lande, sometime on the lande, and so lye three
dayes, and men of that lande come thither and take of them what he will,
and then goe these fyshes awaye, and another sort commeth, and lyeth
also three dayes and men take of them, and do thus all maner of fyshes
tyll all have been there, and menne have taken what they wyll. And men
wot not the cause why it is so. But they of that Countrey saye, that
those fyshes come so thyther to do worship to theyr king, for they say
he is the most worthiest king of the worlde, for he hath so many wives,
and geateth so many children of them.” (See next page.)

[Illustration]

I know of no other fish of such an accomodating nature, except it be
those of whom Ser Marco Polo speaks, when writing of Armenia:--“There is
in this Country a certain Convent of Nuns called St. Leonard’s about
which I have to tell you a very wonderful circumstance. Near the church
in question there is a great lake at the foot of a mountain, and in this
lake are found no fish, great or small, throughout the year till Lent
come. On the first day of Lent they find in it the finest fish in the
world, and great store, too, thereof; and these continue to be found
till Easter Eve. After that they are found no more till Lent come round
again; and so ’tis every year. ’Tis really a passing great miracle!”

[Illustration]

Edward Webbe, “Master Gunner,” whose travels were printed in 1590,
informs us that in the “Land of Siria there is a River having great
store of fish like unto Samon-trouts, but no Jew can catch them, though
either Christian and Turk shall catch them in abundance, with great
ease.”

Pliny has some curious natural phenomena to tell us about, of showers of
Milk, Blood, Flesh, Iron, and Wool; nay, he even says that, the year of
this woolly shower, when Titus Annius Milo was pleading his own cause,
there fell a shower of baked tiles!

[Illustration]

After this we can swallow Olaus Magnus’s story of a rain of fishes very
comfortably, especially as he supplements it with showers of frogs and
worms.

He gives a curious story of the black river at the New Fort in
Finland:--“There is a Fort in the utmost parts of _Finland_ that is
under the Pole, and it belongs to the Kingdom of _Sweden_, and it is
called the New-Fort, because it was wonderfull cunningly built, and
fortified by Nature and Art; for it is placed on a round Mountain,
having but one entrance and outlet toward the West; and that by a ship
that is tyed with great Iron Chains, which by strong labour and benefit
of Wheels, by reason of the force of the Waters, is drawn to one part
of the River by night, by keepers appointed by the King of _Sweden_, or
such as farm it. A vast river runs by this Castle, whose depth cannot be
found; it ariseth from the White Lake, and falls down by degrees: at the
bottome it is black, especially round this Castle, where it breeds and
holds none but black Fish, but of no ill taste, as are Salmons, Trouts,
Perch, Pikes, and other soft Fish. It produceth also the Fish _Trebius_,
that is black in Summer, and white in Winter, who, as _Albertus_ saith,
grows lean in the Sea; but when he is a foot long, he is five fingers
fat: This, seasoned with Salt, will draw Gold out of the deepest waters
that it is fallen in, and make it flote from the bottome. At last, it
makes the black Lake passing by _Viburgum_, as _Nilus_ makes a black
River, where he dischargeth himself.

[Illustration]

“When the Image of a Harper, playing, as it were, upon his Harp, in the
middle of the Waters above them appears, it signifies some ill _Omen_,
that the Governor of the Fort, or Captain shall suddenly be slain, or
that the negligent and sleepy Watchman shall be thrown headlong from
the high walls, and die by Martial Law. Also this water is never free
from Ghosts and Visions that appear at all times; and a man may hear
Pipes sound, and Cymbals tinkle, to the shore.”

Aristotle mentions a fish called the Meryx that chewed the cud, and
Pliny speaks of the Scarus, which, he says, “at the present day is the
only fish that is said to ruminate, and feed on grass, and not on other
fish.” But he seems to have forgotten that in a previous place in the
same book, he speaks of a large peninsula in the Red Sea, on the
southern coast of Arabia, called Cadara, where “the sea monsters, just
like so many cattle, were in the habit of coming on shore, and after
feeding on the roots of shrubs, they would return; some of them, which
had the heads of horses, asses, and bulls, found a pasture in the crops
of grain.”




THE REMORA.


Of this fish Pliny writes:--“There is a very small fish that is in the
habit of living among the rocks, and is known as the Echeneis, Ἀπὸ τοῦ
ἔχειν νῆας. (_From holding back ships._) It is believed that when this
has attached itself to the keel of a ship, its progress is impeded, and
that it is from this circumstance that it takes its name. For this
reason, also, it has a disgraceful repute, as being employed in love
philtres, and for the purpose of retarding judgments and legal
proceedings.... It is never used, however, for food.... Mucianus speaks
of a Murex of larger size than the purple, with a head that is neither
rough nor round; and the shell of which is single, and falls in folds on
either side. He tells us, also, that some of these creatures once
attached themselves to a ship freighted with children of noble birth,
who were being sent by Periander for the purpose of being castrated, and
that they stopped its course in full sail; and he further says, that the
shell-fish which did this service are duly honoured in the temple of
Venus, at Cnidos. Trebius Niger says that this fish is a foot in length,
and five fingers in thickness, and that it can retard the course of
vessels; besides which, it has another peculiar property--when preserved
in salt, and applied, it is able to draw up gold which has fallen into a
well, however deep it may happen to be.”

    “But, _Clio_, wherefore art thou tedious
    In numbering _Neptune’s_ busie burgers thus?
    If in his works thou wilt admire the worth
    Of the Sea’s Soverain, bring but only forth
    One little _Fish_, whose admirable story
    Sufficeth sole to shewe his might and glory.
    Let all the Windes, in one Winde gather them,
    And (seconded with _Neptune’s_ strongest stream)
    Let all at once blowe all the stiffest gales
    Astern a Galley under all her sails;
    Let her be holpen with a hundred Owers,
    Each lively handled by five lusty Rowers;
    The _Remora_, fixing her feeble horn
    Into the tempest beaten Vessel’s Stern,
    Stayes her stone still, while all her stout Consorts
    Saile thence, at pleasure, to their wished Ports,
    Then loose they all the sheats, but to no boot:
    For the charm’d Vessell bougeth not a foot;
    No more than if, three fadom under ground,
    A score of Anchors held her fastly bound:
    No more than doth the Oak, that in the Wood,
    Hath thousand Tempests, (thousand times) withstood;
    Spreading as many massy roots belowe,
    As mighty arms above the ground do growe.”




THE DOG-FISH AND RAY.


[Illustration]

Olaus Magnus writes of “The cruelty of some Fish, and the kindness of
others. There is a fish of the kind of Sea-Dogfish, called _Boloma_, in
_Italian_, and in _Norway_, _Haafisck_, that will set upon a man
swimming in the Salt-Waters, so greedily, in Troops, unawares, that he
will sink a man to the bottome, not only by his biting, but also by his
weight; and he will eat his more tender parts, as his nostrils, fingers,
&c., until such time as the Ray come to revenge these injuries; which
runs thorow the Waters armed with her natural fins, and with some
violence drives away these fish that set upon the drown’d man, and doth
what he can to urge him to swim out. And he also keeps the man, until
such time as his spirit being quite gone; and after some days, as the
Sea naturally purgeth itself, he is cast up. This miserable spectacle is
seen on the Coasts of _Norway_ when men go to wash themselves, namely,
strangers and Marriners that are ignorant of the dangers, leap out of
their ships into the sea. For these Dogfish, or _Boloma_, lie hid under
the ships riding at Anchor as Water Rams, that they may catch men, their
malicious natures stirring them to it.”




THE SEA DRAGON.


[Illustration]

Of the Ray tribe of fishes, the Sea Dragon is the most
frightful-looking, but we know next to nothing about it. Pliny only
cursorily mentions it thus:--“The Sea Dragon again, if caught, and
thrown on the sand, works out a hole for itself with its muzzle, with
the most wonderful celerity.” Olaus Magnus simply copies Pliny almost
word for word. Gesner, from whom I have taken this illustration, merely
classes it among the Rays, and gives no further information about it;
neither does Aldrovandus, from whom I have taken another picture.




THE STING RAY.


Pliny mentions the Sting Ray, and ascribes to it marvellous powers,
which it does not possess:--“There is nothing more to be dreaded than
the sting which protrudes from the tail of the _Trygon_, by our people
known as the _Pastinaca_, a weapon five inches in length. Fixing this in
the root of a tree, the fish is able to kill it; it can pierce armour,
too, just as though with an arrow, and to the strength of iron it adds
all the corrosive qualities of poison.”

[Illustration]




SENSES OF FISHES.


He also tells us about the senses of fishes, and first of their
hearing:--“Among the marine animals, it is not probable that Oysters
enjoy the sense of hearing, but it is said that immediately a noise is
made, the Solen (_razor-sheath_) will sink to the bottom; it is for this
reason, too, that silence is observed by persons while fishing at sea.
Fishes have neither organs of hearing, nor yet the exterior orifice. And
yet it is quite certain that they do hear, for it is a well-known fact,
that in some fish-ponds they are in the habit of being assembled to be
fed by the clapping of the hands. In the fish-ponds, too, that belong to
the Emperor, the fish are in the habit of coming, each kind, as it hears
its name. So, too, it is said the Mullet, the Wolf-fish, the Salpa, and
the Chromis, have a very exquisite sense of hearing, and that it is for
this reason that they frequent shallow water.

“It is quite manifest that fishes have the sense of smell also; for they
are not all to be taken with the same bait, and are seen to smell at it
before they seize it. Some, too, that are concealed in the bottom of
holes are driven out by the fishermen, by the aid of the smell of salted
fish; with this he rubs the entrance of their retreat in the rock,
immediately upon which they take to flight from the spot, just as though
they had recognized the dead carcases of those of their kind. Then,
again, they will rise to the surface at the smell of certain odours,
such, for instance, as roasted sepia and polypus; and hence it is that
these baits are placed in the osier-kipes used for taking fish. They
immediately take to flight upon smelling the bilge-water in a ship’s
hold, and more especially upon scenting the blood of fish.

“The Polypus cannot possibly be torn away from the rock to which it
clings; but upon the herb _cunila_ being applied, the instant it smells
it, the fish quits its hold.... All animals have the sense of touch,
those even which have no other sense; for even in the oyster, and, among
land animals, in the worm, this sense is found. I am strongly inclined
to believe, too, that the sense of taste exists in all animals; for why
else should one seek one kind of food, and one another?”




ZOOPHYTES.


Writing on the lower phases of Marine Animal life, he says:--“Indeed,
for my own part, I am strongly of opinion that there is sense existing
in those bodies which have the nature of neither animals nor vegetables,
but a third, which partakes of them both:--sea-nettles, and sponges, I
mean. The Sea Nettle wanders to and fro by night, and at night changes
its locality. These creatures are by nature a sort of fleshy branch, and
are nurtured upon flesh. They have the power of producing an itching,
smarting pain, just like that caused by the nettle found on land. For
the purpose of seeking its prey, it contracts, and stiffens itself to
the utmost possible extent, and then, as a small fish swims past, it
will suddenly spread out its branches, and so seize and devour it. At
another time it will assume the appearance of being quite withered away,
and let itself be tossed to and fro, by the waves, like a piece of
sea-weed, until it happens to touch a fish. The moment it does so, the
fish goes to rub itself against a rock, to get rid of the itching:
immediately upon which, the nettle pounces upon it. By night also it is
on the look-out for Scallops and Sea-urchins. When it perceives a hand
approaching it, it instantly changes its colour, and contracts itself;
when touched, it produces a burning sensation, and if ever so short a
time is afforded, makes its escape. Its mouth is situate, it is said, at
the root or lower part, and the excrements are discharged by a small
canal situated above.




“SPONGES.


“We find three kinds of sponges mentioned; the first are thick, very
hard, and rough, and are called _tragi_: the second are thick, and much
softer, and are called _mani_: of the third, being fine, and of a closer
texture, tents for sores are made; this last is known as _Achillium_.
All of these sponges grow on rocks, and feed upon shell and other fish,
and slime.

“It would appear that these creatures, too, have some intelligence; for,
as soon as ever they feel the hand about to tear them off, they contract
themselves, and are separated with much greater difficulty: they do the
same also, when the waves buffet them to and fro. The small shells that
are found in them, clearly show that they live upon food; about Torone
it is even said that they will survive after they have been detached,
and that they grow again from the roots which have been left adhering to
the rock. They leave a colour similar to that of blood upon the rock
from which they have been detached, and those, more especially, which
are produced in the Syrtes of Africa.”

Olaus Magnus gives us the accompanying illustration of Zoophytes and
Sponges. Of the latter, he says:--“Sponges are much multiplied near the
Coasts of _Norway_; the nature of it is, that it agrees with other
living creatures in the way of contracting, and dilating itself: yet
some are immovable from rocks, and if they be broken off at the Roots,
they grow again; some are movable from place to place; and these are
found in huge plenty on the foresaid shores. They are fed with mud,
small fish, and oysters. When they are alive, they are black, as they
are when they are wet.”

[Illustration]




THE KRAKEN.


This enormous monster, peculiar to the Northern Seas, is scarcely a
fable, because huge Calamaries are not infrequently seen. Poor
Pontoppidan has often been considered a Danish Ananias, but there are
authentic accounts of these enormous Cuttle-fish; for instance, in 1854,
one was stranded at the Skag, in Jutland, which was cut in pieces by the
fishermen in order to be used as bait, and filled many wheelbarrows.
Another, either in 1860 or 1861, was stranded between Hillswick and
Scalloway, on the west of Scotland, and its tentacles were sixteen feet
long, the pedal arms about half as long, and its body seven feet. The
French ship _Alecton_, on 30th November 1861, between Madeira and
Teneriffe, slipped a rope with a running knot over an enormous calamary,
but only brought a portion on board, the body breaking off. It was
estimated at being sixteen to eighteen feet in length, without counting
its arms. The legend of its sinking ships and taking sailors from them
is common to many countries, even the Chinese and Japanese thus
depicting them.

[Illustration]

Olaus Magnus gives us a graphic picture of a huge Polyp, thus seizing a
sailor, and dragging him from his ship in spite of all his efforts to
prevent him. On the next page is a huge calamary shown with a man in its
clutches. This is both in Gesner and Aldrovandus. But this terror to
mariners had its master in the Conger eel. Gesner, who has taken his
picture from some description of the World, introduces it as a
Sea-Serpent; but Aristotle says that “the Congers devour the Polypi,
which cannot adhere to them on account of the smoothness of their
surface.” Magnus also speaks of the antipathy between the two.

[Illustration]

According to Pliny, quoting Trebius Niger, the Polypus shows a fair
amount of cunning:--“Shell fish are destitute of sight, and, indeed, all
other sensations but those which warn them of hunger, and the approach
of danger. Hence it is that the Polypus lies in ambush till the fish
opens its shell, immediately upon which, it places within it a small
pebble, taking care, at the same time, to keep it from touching the body
of the animal, lest, by making some movement, it should chance to eject
it. Having made itself thus secure, it attacks its prey, and draws out
the flesh, while the other tries to contract itself, but all in vain, in
consequence of the separation of the shell, thus effected by the
insertion of the wedge.

[Illustration]

“In addition to the above, the same author states that there is not an
animal in existence, that is more dangerous for its powers of destroying
a human being when in the water. Embracing his body, it counteracts his
struggles, and draws him under with its feelers and its numerous
suckers, when, as often is the case, it happens to make an attack upon
a shipwrecked mariner or a child. If, however, the animal is turned
over, it loses all its power; for when it is thrown upon its back, the
arms open of themselves.

“The other particulars which the same author has given, appear still
more closely to border upon the marvellous. At Carteia, in the preserves
there, a Polypus was in the habit of coming from the sea to the pickling
tubs that were left open, and devouring the fish laid in salt there--for
it is quite astonishing how eagerly all sea animals follow even the very
smell of salted condiments, so much so, that it is for this reason that
the fishermen take care to rub the inside of the wicker fish-kipes with
them.--At last, by its repeated thefts and immoderate depredations, it
drew down upon itself the wrath of the keepers of the works. Palisades
were placed before them, but these the Polypus managed to get over by
the aid of a tree, and was only caught at last by calling in the
assistance of trained dogs, which surrounded it at night, as it was
returning with its prey; upon which, the keepers, awakened by the noise,
were struck with alarm at the novelty of the sight presented.

“First of all, the size of the Polypus was enormous beyond all
conception: and then it was covered all over with dried brine, and
exhaled a most dreadful stench. Who could have expected to find a
Polypus there, or could have recognised it as such, under these
circumstances? They really thought that they were joining battle with
some monster, for at one instant, it would drive off the dogs by its
horrible fumes, and lash at them with the extremities of its feelers;
while at another, it would strike them with its stronger arms, giving
blows with so many clubs, as it were; and it was only with the greatest
difficulty that it could be dispatched with the aid of a considerable
number of three-pronged fish-spears. The head of this animal was shewn
to Lucullus; it was in size as large as a cask of fifteen amphoræ
(_about 135 gallons_), and had a beard (_iti tentaculæ_), to use the
expression of Trebius himself, which could hardly be encircled with both
arms, full of knots, like those upon a club, and thirty feet in length;
the suckers, or calicules, as large as an urn, resembled a basin in
shape, while the teeth again were of a corresponding largeness: its
remains, which were carefully preserved as a curiosity, weighed seven
hundred pounds.”

Olaus Magnus says:--“On the Coasts of _Norway_ there is a Polypus, or
creature with many feet, which hath a pipe on his back, whereby he puts
to Sea, and he moves that sometimes to the right, and sometimes to the
left. Moreover, with his Legs as it were by hollow places, dispersed
here and there, and by his Toothed Nippers, he fastneth on every living
Creature that comes near to him, that wants blood. Whatever he eats he
heaps up in the holes where he resides: Then he casts out the Skins,
having eaten the flesh, and hunts after fishes that swim to them: Also
he casts out the shels, and hard outsides of Crabs that remain. He
changeth his colour by the colour of the stone he sticks unto,
especially when he is frighted at the sight of his Enemy, the Conger. He
hath 4 great middle feet, in all 8; a little body, which the great feet
make amends for. He hath also some small feet that are shadowed and can
scarce be perceived. By these he sustains, moves, and defends himself,
and takes hold of what is from him: and he lies on his back upon the
stones, that he can scarce be gotten off, onlesse you put some stinking
smell to him.”




CRAYFISH AND CRABS.


Pliny tells us that in the Indian Ocean are Crayfish four cubits in
length (six feet), and he claims for crabs a sovereign specific against
bites of scorpions and snakes:--“River-Crabs taken fresh and beaten up
and drunk in water, or the ashes of them, kept for the purpose, are
useful in all cases of poisoning, as a counter poison; taken with asses’
milk they are particularly serviceable as a neutralizer of the venom of
the scorpion; goat’s milk or any other kind of milk being substituted,
where asses’ milk cannot be procured. Wine, too, should also be used in
all such cases. River-Crabs beaten up with Ocimum, and applied to
Scorpions, are fatal to them. They are possessed of similar virtues,
also, for the bites of all other kinds of venomous animals, the Scytale
in particular, adders, the sea hare, and the bramble frog. The ashes of
them, preserved, are good for persons who give symptoms of hydrophobia
after being bitten by a mad dog, some adding gentian as well, and
administering the mixture in wine. In cases, too, where hydrophobia has
already appeared, it is recommended, that these ashes should be kneaded
up into boluses with wine and swallowed. If ten of these crabs be tied
together with a handful of Ocimum, all the scorpions in the
neighbourhood, the magicians say, will be attracted to the spot. They
recommend, also, that to wounds inflicted by the scorpion, these crabs,
or the ashes of them, should be applied with Ocimum. For all these
purposes, however, sea crabs, it should be remembered, are not so
useful. Thrasyllus informs us that there is nothing so antagonistic to
serpents as crabs: that swine, when stung by a serpent, cure themselves
by eating them; and that, when the sun is in the sign of Cancer,
serpents suffer the greatest tortures....

“It is said that while the sun is passing through the sign of Cancer,
the dead bodies of the crabs, which are lying on the shore, are
transformed into serpents.”




THE SEA-SERPENT.


Of the antiquity of the belief in the Sea-Serpent there can be no doubt,
for it is represented on the walls of the Assyrian palace at Khorsabad,
more than once, in the sculpture representing the voyage of Sargon to
Cyprus, thus giving it an authentic antiquity of over 2600 years: but as
its existence must then have been a matter of belief, it naturally comes
that it must be much older than that.

[Illustration]

Aristotle, who wrote nearly 400 years later, speaks of them, and their
savage disposition:--“In Libya, the serpents, as it has been already
remarked, are very large. For some persons say that as they sailed along
the coast, they saw the bones of many oxen, and that it was evident to
them that they had been devoured by the serpents. And, as the ships
passed on, the serpents attacked the triremes, and some of them threw
themselves upon one of the triremes, and overturned it.”

These, together with Sargon’s Sea-Serpent, were doubtless marine snakes,
which are still in existence, and are found in the Indian Ocean, but the
larger ones seem to have been seen in more northern waters. It has been
the fashion to pooh-pooh the existence of this sea monster, but there
are many that still do believe in it most thoroughly; only, to express
that belief would be to certainly expose oneself to ridicule. No one
doubts the _bonâ fides_ of those who narrate having seen them, but some
one is sure to come forward with his pet theory as to its being a school
of porpoises, or an enormous cuttle-fish, with its tentacles playing on
the surface of the water; so that no one likes to confess that he has
seen it.

[Illustration]

Both Olaus Magnus and Gesner give illustrations of the Sea-Serpent of
Norway, and I give that of the latter, as it is the best. The former
says:--“They who Work of Navigation, on the Coasts of _Norway_, employ
themselves in fishing, or merchandize, do all agree in this strange
Story, that there is a Serpent there which is of a Vast Magnitude,
namely 200 feet long, and, moreover, 20 foot thick; and is wont to live
in Rocks and Caves toward the Sea Coast about _Berge_; which will go
alone from his holes in a clear night in Summer, and devour Calves,
Lambs, and Hogs, or else he goes into the Sea to feed on Polypus,
Locusts, and all sorts of Sea Crabs. He hath commonly hair hanging from
his neck a cubit long, and sharp Scales, and is black, and he hath
flaming shining eys. This Snake disquiets the Shippers, and he puts up
his head on high like a pillar, and catcheth away men, and he devours
them; and this hapneth not, but it signifies some wonderful change of
the Kingdom near at hand; namely, that the Princes shall die, or be
banished; or some Tumultuous Wars shall presently follow. There is also
another Serpent of an incredible magnitude in a town called _Moos_, of
the Diocess of _Hammer_; which, as a Comet portends a change in all the
World, so, that portends a change in the Kingdom of _Norway_, as it was
seen, _Anno_ 1522, that lifts himself high above the Waters, and rouls
himself round like a sphere. This Serpent was thought to be fifty Cubits
long by conjecture, by sight afar off: there followed this the
banishment of King _Christiernus_, and a great persecution of the
Bishops; and it shew’d also the destruction of the Country.”

Topsell, in his _Historie of Serpents_, 1608, does not add much to
Sea-Serpent lore, but he adds the picture of another kind of Serpent, as
does also Aldrovandus, whose illustration I give. (See p. 272.) Erik
Pontoppidan, Bishop of Bergen, in his _Natürlichen Historie von
Norwegen_, gives a picture of the Sea-Serpent, somewhat similar to that
previously given by Hans Egede, “the Apostle of Greenland.” (See next
page.) Pontoppidan tried to sift the wheat from the chaff, in connection
with the Natural History of the North, but he was not always successful.
He gives several cases, one seemingly very well authenticated, of the
appearance of Sea-Serpents.

But possibly more credence may be given to more modern instances. Sir
Walter Scott, in the Notes to _The Pirate_, says (speaking of Shetland
and Orkney fishermen):--“The Sea-Snake was also known, which, arising
out of the depths of the ocean, stretches to the skies his enormous
neck, covered with a mane like that of a war-horse, and with his broad
glittering eyes, raised mast-head high, looks out, as it seems, for
plunder or for victims.” “The author knew a mariner, of some reputation
in his class, vouch for having seen the celebrated Sea-Serpent. It
appeared, as far as could be guessed, to be about a hundred feet long,
with the wild mane and fiery eyes which old writers ascribe to the
monster; but it is not unlikely the spectator might, in the doubtful
light, be deceived by a good Norway log on the water.”

[Illustration]

Mr. Maclean, the pastor of Eigg, an island in the Small Isles parish,
Inverness-shire, wrote, in 1809, to Dr. Neill, the Secretary of the
Wernerian Society, that he had seen a Sea-Serpent, while he was in a
boat about two miles from land. The serpent followed the boat, and the
minister escaped by getting on to a rock. He described it as having a
large head and slender tail, with no fins, its body tapering to its
tail. It moved in undulations, and he thought its length might be
seventy to eighty feet. It was seen, also, by the crews of thirteen
fishing-boats, who, being frightened thereat, fled to the nearest creek
for safety.

[Illustration]

A Sea-Serpent, judged to be of the length of about eighty feet, was seen
by a party of British officers, in Margaret’s Bay, whilst crossing from
Halifax to Mahone Bay, on 15th May 1833.

In 1847 a Sea-Serpent was seen frequently, in the neighbourhood of
Christiansand and Molde, by many persons, and by one Lars Johnöen,
fisherman at Smolen, especially. He said that one afternoon, in the
dog-days, when sitting in his boat, he saw it twice in the course of two
hours, and quite close to him. It came, indeed, to within six feet of
him, and, becoming alarmed, he commended his soul to God, and lay down
in the boat, only holding his head high enough to enable him to observe
the monster. It passed him, disappeared, and returned; but a breeze
springing up, it sank, and he saw it no more. He described it as being
about six fathoms (thirty-six _feet_) long, the body (which was as round
as a serpent’s) two feet across, the head as long as a ten-gallon cask,
the eyes round, red, sparkling, and about five inches in diameter; close
behind the head, a mane, like a fin, commenced along the neck, and
spread itself out on both sides, right and left, when swimming. The
mane, as well as the head, was of the colour of mahogany. The body was
quite smooth, its movements occasionally fast and slow. It was
serpent-like, and moved up and down. The few undulations which those
parts of the body and tail that were out of water made, were scarce a
fathom in length. His account was confirmed by several people of
position, a Surgeon, a Rector, and a Curate, being among those who had
seen a Sea-Serpent.

But an appearance of the Sea-Serpent, without doubt, is most
satisfactorily attested by the captain and officers of H.M.S. _Dædalus_.
The first notice of it was in the _Times_ of 10th October 1848, in which
was a paragraph, dated 7th October, from Plymouth:--

“When the _Dædalus_ frigate, Captain M‘Quhæ, which arrived here on the
4th inst., was on her passage home from the East Indies, between the
Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena, her captain, and most of her officers
and crew, at four o’clock one afternoon, saw a Sea-Serpent. The creature
was twenty minutes in sight of the frigate, and passed under her
quarter. Its head appeared about four feet out of the water, and there
was about sixty feet of its body in a straight line on the surface. It
is calculated that there must have been under water a length of thirty
or forty feet more, by which it propelled itself at the rate of fifteen
miles an hour. The diameter of the exposed part of the body was about
sixteen inches; and when it extended its jaws, which were full of large
jagged teeth, they seemed sufficiently capacious to admit of a tall man
standing upright between them. The ship was sailing north at the rate of
eight miles an hour. The _Dædalus_ left the Cape of Good Hope on the
30th of July, and reached St. Helena on the 16th of August.”

Captain M‘Quhæ sent the following letter to Admiral Sir W. H. Gage,
G.C.H., at Devonport:--

    “HER MAJESTY’S SHIP _DÆDALUS_, HAMOAZE,
    _Oct. 11, 1848_.

    “SIR,--In reply to your letter of this day’s date, requiring
    information as to the truth of a statement published in the Times
    newspaper, of a Sea-Serpent of extraordinary dimensions having been
    seen from Her Majesty’s Ship _Dædalus_, under my command, on her
    passage from the East Indies, I have the honour to acquaint you, for
    the information of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that at
    five o’clock P.M., on the 6th of August last, in latitude 24° 44′ S.
    and longitude 9° 22′ E., the weather dark and cloudy, wind fresh
    from the N.W., with a long ocean swell from the S.W., the ship on
    the port tack heading N.E. by N., something very unusual was seen by
    Mr. Sartoris, midshipman, rapidly approaching the ship from before
    the beam. The circumstance was immediately reported by him to the
    officer of the watch, Lieutenant Edgar Drummond, with whom, and Mr.
    William Barrett, the master, I was at the time walking the
    quarter-deck. The ship’s company were at supper.

    [Illustration]

    “On our attention being called to the object, it was discovered to
    be an enormous Serpent, with head and shoulders kept about four feet
    constantly above the surface of the sea; and, as nearly as we could
    approximate by comparing it with the length of what our
    maintopsail-yard would show in the water, there was, at the very
    least, sixty feet of the animal _à fleur d’eau_, no portion of which
    was, to our perception, used in propelling it through the water,
    either by vertical or horizontal undulation. It passed rapidly, but
    so close under our lee quarter that, had it been a man of my
    acquaintance, I should have easily recognised his features with the
    naked eye; and it did not, either in approaching the ship or after
    it had passed our wake, deviate in the slightest degree from its
    course to the S.W., which it held on at the pace of from twelve to
    fifteen miles per hour, apparently on some determined purpose.

    “The diameter of the Serpent was about fifteen or sixteen inches
    behind the head, which was, without any doubt, that of a snake; and
    it was never, during the twenty minutes that it continued in sight
    of our glasses, once below the surface of the water. Its colour, a
    dark brown, with yellowish white about the throat. It had no fins,
    but something like the mane of a horse, or rather a bunch of
    seaweed, washed about its back. It was seen by the quartermaster,
    the boatswain’s mate, and the man at the wheel, in addition to
    myself and officers above mentioned.

    “I am having a drawing of the Serpent made from a sketch taken
    immediately after it was seen, which I hope to have ready for
    transmission to my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty by
    to-morrow’s post.--I have, &c.,

    PETER M‘QUHÆ, CAPTAIN.”

Space will not allow me to chronicle all the other appearances of
Sea-Serpents from 1848 to the present time. Suffice it to say, they are
not very uncommon, and as for veracity, I will give another instance of
its being seen on board the Royal Yacht _Osborne_, on 2nd June 1877, off
Cape Vito, Sicily. Lieutenant Haynes made sketches, and wrote a
description, of it, which was confirmed by the Captain and several
officers. He wrote:--

    “ROYAL YACHT _OSBORNE_, GIBRALTAR,
    _June 6, 1877_.

    “On the evening of that day (June 2), the sea being perfectly
    smooth, my attention was first called by seeing a ridge of fins
    above the surface of the water extending about thirty feet, and
    varying from five to six feet in height. On inspecting it by means
    of a telescope, at about one and a half cable’s distance, I
    distinctly saw a head, two flappers, and about thirty feet of an
    animal’s shoulder.

    “The head, as nearly as I could judge, was about six feet thick, the
    neck narrower, about four or five feet, the shoulder about fifteen
    feet across, and the flappers each about fifteen feet in length. The
    movements of the flappers were those of a turtle, and the animal
    resembled a huge seal, the resemblance being strongest about the
    back of the head. I could not see the length of the head, but from
    its crown or top to just below the shoulder (where it became
    immersed) I should reckon about fifty feet. The tail end I did not
    see, being under water, unless the ridge of fins to which my
    attention was first attracted, and which had disappeared by the time
    I got a telescope, were really the continuation of the shoulder to
    the end of the object’s body. The animal’s head was not always above
    water, but was thrown upwards, remaining above for a few seconds at
    a time, and then disappearing. There was an entire absence of
    ‘blowing’ or ‘spouting.’”

I think the verdict may be given that its existence, although belonging
to “Curious Zoology,” is not impossible, and can hardly be branded as a
falsehood.




SERPENTS.


Of Serpents Topsell has written a “Historie,” which, if not altogether
veracious, is very amusing; and I shall quote largely from it, as it
shows us “the latest thing out” in Serpents as believed in, and taught,
in the time of James I. He begins, of course, with their creation, and
the Biblical mention of them, and then passes to the power of man over
them in charming and taming them. Of the former he tells the following
tale:--

“_Aloisius Cadamustus_, in his description of the New World, telleth an
excellent hystorie of a _Lygurian_ young Man, beeing among the _Negroes_
travailing in _Affrick_, whereby he endeavoureth to proove, how ordinary
and familiar it is to them, to take and charme Serpents.

“The young man beeing in _Affricke_ among the _Negroes_, and lodged in
the house of a Nephew to the Prince of _Budoniell_, when he was taking
himselfe to his rest, suddenly awakened by hearing the unwonted noise of
the hissing of innumerable sorts of Serpents; wherat he wondred, and
beeing in some terror, he heard his Host (the Prince’s Nephew) to make
himselfe readie to go out of the doores, (for he had called up his
servants to sadle up his Cammels:) the young man demaunded of him the
cause, why he would go out of doores now so late in the darke night? to
whom he answered, I am to goe a little way, but I will returne againe
verie speedily; and so he went, and with a charme quieted the Serpents,
and drove them all away, returning againe with greater speed than the
_Lygurian_ young man, his ghest, expected. And when he had returned, he
asked his ghest if hee did not heare the inmoderate hyssing of the
Serpents? and he answered, that he had heard them to his great terrour.
Then the Prince’s Nephew (who was called Bisboror) replyed, saying, they
were Serpents which had beset the house, and would have destroyed all
their Cattell and Heards, except hee had gone foorth to drive them away
by a Charme, which was very common and ordinary in those parts, wherin
were abundance of very hurtfull Serpents.

“The Lygurian young man, hearing him say so, marvailed above measure,
and said, that this thing was so rare and miraculous, that scarcely
Christians could beleeve it. The _Negro_ thought it as strange that the
young man should bee ignorant heereof, and therefore told him, that
their Prince could worke more strange things by a Charme which he had,
and that this, and such like, were small, vulgar, and not be counted
miraculous. For, when he is to use any strong poyson upon present
necessitie, to put any man to death, he putteth some venom uppon a
sword, or other peece of Armour, and then making a large round Circle,
by his Charme compelleth many Serpents to come within that circle, hee
himselfe standing amongst them, and observing the most venomous of them
all so assembled, which he thinketh to contain the strongest poyson,
killeth him, and causeth the residue to depart away presentlie; then,
out of the dead Serpent hee taketh the poyson, and mixeth it with the
seede of a certaine vulgar Tree, and therewithall annoynteth his dart,
arrow, or sword’s point, whereby is caused present death, if it give the
bodie of a man but a very small wound, even to the breaking of the
skinne, or drawing of the blood. And the saide _Negro_ did earnestly
perswade the young man to see an experiment hereof, promising him to
shew all as he had related, but the _Lygurian_ beeing more willing to
heare such things told, than bolde to attempt the triall, told him that
he was not willing to see any such experiment.

“And by this it appeareth, that all the _Negroes_ are addicted to
Incantations, which never have anie approbation from God, except against
Serpents, which I cannot very easilie be brought to beleeve.”

Of the affection of some serpents for the human-kind he gives some
examples:--“We reade also in Plutarch of certain Serpents, lovers of
young virgins, and by name there was one that was in love with one
_Ætolia_, a Virgin, who did accustome to come unto her in the night
time, slyding gentlie all over her bodie, never harming her, but as one
glad of such acquaintance, tarried with her in that dalliance till the
morning, and them would depart away of his owne accorde: the which thing
beeing made manifest unto the Guardians and Tutours of the Virgin, they
removed her unto another Towne. The Serpent missing his Love, sought her
uppe and downe three or four dayes, and at last mette her by chance, and
then hee saluted her not as he was wont, with fawning, and gentle
slyding, but fiercely assaulted her with grimme and austere countenance,
flying to her hands, and binding them with the spire of his bodie, fast
to her sides, did softly with his tayle beat her upon her backer parts.
Whereby was collected, some token of his chastisement unto her, who had
wronged such a Lover, with her wilfull absence and disappointment.

“It is also reported by _Ælianus_ that _Egemon_ in his verses, writeth
of one _Alena_, a _Thessalian_ who, feeding his Oxen in _Thessaly_,
neere the Fountaine _Hæmonius_, there fell in love with him a Serpent of
exceeding bignesse and quantitie, and the same would come unto him, and
softly licke his face and golden haire, without dooing him any manner of
hurt at all.”

He tells a few more “Snake stories,” and quotes from “a little Latine
booke printed at _Vienna_, in the yeare of the Lorde 1551,” the
following:--“There was (sayth mine Author) found in a mowe or rycke of
corne, almost as many Snakes, Adders, and other Serpentes, as there were
sheafes, so as no one sheafe could be removed, but there presently
appeared a heape of ougly and fierce Serpents. The countrey men
determined to set fire upon the Barne, and so attempted to doe, but in
vaine, for the straw would take no fire, although they laboured with all
their wit and pollicye, to burne them up; At last, there appeared unto
them at the top of the heap a huge great Serpent, which, lifting up his
head, spake with man’s voyce to the countrey men, saying: _Cease to
prosecute your devise, for you shall not be able to accomplish our
burning, for wee were not bredde by Nature, neither came we hither of
our own accord, but were sent by God to take vengeance on the sinnes of
men._”

And some serpents were “very fine and large,” for he says:--“_Gellius_
writeth, that when the Romanes were in the Carthaginian Warre, and
_Attilius Regulus_ the Consull had pitched his Tents neere unto the
river _Bragrada_, there was a Serpent of monstrous quantitie, which had
beene lodged within the compasse of the Tents, and therefore did cause
to the whole Armie exceeding great calamitie, untill by casting of
stones with slings, and many other devises, they oppressed and slew that
Serpent, and afterward fleyed off the skinne and sent it to _Rome_;
which was in length one hundred and twentie feete.

“And, although this seemeth to be a beast of unmatchable stature, yet
_Postdenius_ a Christian writer, relateth a storie of another which was
much greater, for hee writeth that he saw a Serpent dead, of the length
of an acre of Land, and all the residue both of head and bodie, were
answerable in proportion, for the bulke of his bodie was so great, and
lay so high, that two Horsemen could not see one the other, beeing at
his two sides, and the widenes of his mouth was so great, that he could
receive at one time, within the compasse thereof, a horse and a man on
his backe both together: The scales of his coate or skinne, being every
one like a large buckler or target. So that now, there is no such cause
to wonder at the Serpent which is said to be killed by _St. George_,
which was, as is reported, so great, that eight Oxen were but strength
enough to drawe him out of the Cittie _Silena_....

“Among the _Scyritæ_, the Serpents come by great swarmes uppon their
flocks of sheepe and cattell, and some they eate up all, others they
kill, and sucke out the blood, and some part they carry away. But if
ever there were anything beyond credite, it is the relation of
_Volateran_ in his twelfth booke of the _New-found Lands_, wherein he
writeth, that there are Serpents of a mile long, which at one certaine
time of the yeere come abroad out of the holes and dennes of habitation,
and destroy both the Heards and Heard-men if they find them. Much more
favourable are the Serpents of a _Spanish_ Island, who doe no harme to
any living thing, although they have huge bodies, and great strength to
accomplish their desires.”

After this it will be refreshing to have one of Topsell’s own particular
_true stories_: and this is “Of a true history done in _England_, in
the house of a worshipfull Gentleman, upon a servant of his, whom I
could name if it were needfull. He had a servant that grew very lame and
feeble in his legges, and thinking that he could never be warme in his
bed, did multiply his clothes, and covered himselfe more and more, but
all in vaine, till at length he was not able to goe about, neither could
any skill of Phisitian or Surgeon find out the cause.

“It hapned on a day as his Maister leaned at his Parlour window, he saw
a great Snake to slide along the house side, and to creepe into the
chamber of this lame man, then lying in his bedde, (as I remember,) for
hee lay in a lowe chamber, directly against the Parlour window
aforesaid. The Gentleman desirous to see the issue, and what the Snake
would doe in the chamber, followed, and looked into the chamber by the
window; where hee espied the snake to slide uppe into the bed-straw, by
some way open in the bottome of the bedde, which was of old bordes.
Straightway, his hart rising thereat, he called two or three of his
servaunts, and told them what he had seene, bidding them goe take their
Rapiers, and kill the said snake. The serving-men came first, and
removed the lame man (as I remember) and then the one of them turned up
the bed, and the other two the straw, their Maister standing without, at
the hole, whereinto the said snake had entered into the chamber. The
bedde was no sooner turned up, and the Rapier thrust into the straw, but
there issued forth five or six great snakes that were lodged therein:
Then the serving-men bestirring themselves, soone dispatched them, and
cast them out of doores dead. Afterward, the lame man’s legges
recovered, and became as strong as ever they were; whereby did
evidentlie appeare, the coldnes of these snakes or Serpents, which came
close to his legges everie night, did so benumme them, as he could not
goe.”

Yet one more:--

“I cannot conceale a most memorable historie as ever was any in the
world, of a fight betwixt the Serpents of the Land and the Water. This
history is taken out of a Booke of _Schilt-bergerus_, a _Bavarian_, who
knew the same, (as he writeth) while hee was a captive in _Turky_; his
words are these. In the kingdome called _Genyke_, there is a Citty
called _Sampson_, about which, while I was prisoner with _Baiazeta_ King
of _Turkes_, there pitched or arrived, an innumerable company of Land
and Water Serpents, compassing the said Cittie, a mile about. The Land
Serpents came out of the woods of _Trienick_, which are great and many,
and the Water Serpents came out of the bordering Sea. These were nine
dayes together assembling in that place, and for feare of them there was
not any man that durst goe out of the Citty, although it was not
observed that they hurt any man, or living creature there-abouts.

“Wherefore the Prince also commanded, that no man should trouble them,
or doe them any harme, wisely judging, that such an accident came not
but by Divine Miracle, and that also to signifie some notable event.
Uppon the tenth day, these two valiant troupes joyned battell, early in
the morning, before the sunne-rising, so continuing in fight untill the
sunne-set, at which time the Prince, with some horsemen, went out of the
Cittie to see the battell, and it appeared to him and his associates,
that the Water Serpents gave place to the Land Serpents. So the Prince,
and his company, returned into the Citty againe, and the next day went
forth againe, but found not a Serpent alive, for there were slaine above
eyght thousand: all which, he caused presently to be covered with earth
in ditches, and afterwards declared the whole matter to _Baiazeta_ by
letters, after he had gotten that Cittie, whereat the great Turke
rejoyced, for hee thereby interpreted happinesse to himselfe.”

Luckily, man has found out things inimical to Serpents, and they, and
their use, seem to be very simple:--

“There is such vertue in the Ashe tree, that no Serpent will endure to
come neere either the morning or evening shadow of it; yea, though very
farre distant from them, they do so deadlie hate it. We set downe
nothing but that wee have found true by experience: If a great fire be
made, and the same fire encircled round with Ashen-boughes, and a
serpent put betwixt the fire and the Ashen-boughes, the Serpent will
sooner runne into the fire, than come neere the Ashen-boughes: thus
saith _Pliny_. _Olaus Magnus_ saith, that those Northern Countries which
have great store of Ash-trees, doe want venemous beasts, of which
opinion is also _Pliny_. _Callimachus_ saith, there is a Tree growing in
the Land of _Trachinia_, called _Smilo_, to which, if any Serpents doe
either come neere, or touch, they foorthwith die. _Democritus_ is of
opinion, that any Serpent will die if you cast Oken-leaves upon him.
_Pliny_ is of opinion that _Alcibiadum_, which is a kind of wild
Buglosse, is of the same use and qualitie; and further, being chewed, if
it be spet upon any serpent, that it cannot possibly live. In time of
those solemne Feastes which the _Athenians_ dedicated to the Goddesse
_Ceres_, their women did use to lay and strew their beddes, with the
leaves of the Plant called _Agnos_, because serpents could not endure
it, and because they imagined it kept them chast, Where-upon they
thought the name was given it. The herbe called Rosemarie, is terrible
to serpents.

“The _Egyptians_ doe give it out, that _Polydamna_ the wife of _Thorris_
their King, taking pittie upon _Helen_, caused her to be set on shore in
the Island of _Pharus_, and bestowed upon her an herbe (whereof there
was plenty) that was a great enemy to serpents: whereof the serpents
having a feeling sence (as they say) and so readily knowne of them, they
straightwaies got them to their lurking holes in the earth; and _Helen_
planted this herbe, who, coming to the knowledge thereof, she perceived
that in his due time it bore a seede that was a great enemy to serpents,
and thereupon was called _Helenium_, as they that are skilfull in Plants
affirme; and it groweth plentifully in _Pharus_, which is a little Ile
against the mouth of _Nylus_, joyned to _Alexandria_ by a bridge.

“Rue, (called of some, Herbe of Grace) especially that which groweth in
_Lybia_, is but a backe friend to Serpents, for it is most dry, and
therefore causing Serpents soon to faint, and loose their courage,
because (as _Simocatus_ affirmeth) it induceth a kind of heavinesse or
drunkennesse in their head, with a vertiginie, or giddines through the
excesse of his drinesse, or immoderate sticcitie. Serpents cannot endure
the savour of Rue, and, therefore, a Wesill, when she is to fight with
any serpent, eateth Rue, as a defensative against her enemie, as
_Aristotle_, and _Pliny_ his Interpreter, are of opinion.

“The Country people leaving their vessels of Milke abroade in the open
fieldes, doe besmeare them round about with garlick, lest some venomous
serpents should creepe into them, but the smell of garlick, as
_Erasmus_ saith, driveth them away. No serpents were ever yet seene to
touch the herbe _Trifolie_, or Three-leaved-grasse, as _Ædonnus_ wold
make us believe. And _Cardan_ the Phisitian hath observed as much, that
serpents, nor anything that is venemous will neither lodge, dwell, or
lurk privily neere unto _Trifolie_, because that is their bane, as they
are to other living creatures: and therefore it is sowne to very good
purpose, and planted in very hot countries, where there is most store of
such venomous creatures.

“_Arnoldus Villanonanus_ saith that the herb called _Dracontea_ killeth
serpents. And _Florentinus_ affirmeth that, if you plant Woormwood,
Mugwort, or Sothernwood about your dwelling, that no venomous serpents
will ever come neer, or dare enterprise to invade the same. No serpent
is found in Vines, when they flourish, bearing flowers or blossoms, for
they abhor the smell, as _Aristotle_ saith. _Avicen_, an _Arabian_
Phisitian, saith, that Capers doe kill worms in the guts, and likewise
serpents. If you make a round circle with herbe Betonie, and therein
include any serpents, they will kill themselves in the place, rather
than strive to get away. Galbanum killeth serpents only by touching, if
oyle and the herbe called Fenell-giant be mixt withall. There is a
shrubbe called Therionarca, having a flower like a Rose, which maketh
serpents heavy, dull and drousie, and so killeth them, as _Pliny_
affirmeth.”

There are more plants inimical to serpents, but enough have been given
to enable the reader, if he have faith in them, to defend himself; and
it is comforting to think, that although the serpent is especially
noxious, when alive, he is marvellously useful, medicinally, when dead.
Even now, in some country places, viper broth is used as a medicine;
and, in the first half of the eighteenth century, its flesh, prepared in
various ways, was thoroughly recognised in the Pharmacopœia. But
Topsell, who gathered together all the wisdom of the ancients, gives so
very many remedies (for all kinds of illnesses) that may be derived from
different parts, and treatment, of serpents, that I can only pick out a
few:--

“_Pliny_ saith, that if you take out the right eye of a serpent, and so
bind it about any part of you, that it is of great force against the
watering or dropping of the eyes, by meanes of a rhume issuing out
thereat, if the serpent be againe let goe alive. And so hee saith, that
a serpent’s or snake’s hart, if either it be bitten or tyed to any part
of you, that it is a present remedie for the toothach: and hee addeth
further, that if any man doe tast of the snake’s hart, that he shall
never after be hurt of any serpent.... The blood of a serpent is more
precious than _Balsamum_, and if you annoynt your lips with a little of
it, they will looke passing redde: and, if the face be annoynted
therewith, it will receive no spot or fleck, but causeth it to have an
orient and beautiful hue. It represseth all scabbiness of the body,
stinking in the teeth, and gummes, if they be therewith annointed. The
fat of a serpent speedily helpeth all rednes, spots, and other
infirmities of the eyes, and beeing annoynted upon the eyeliddes, it
cleereth the eyes exceedingly.

“Item, put them (_serpents_) into a glassed pot, and fill the same with
Butter in the Month of May, then lute it well with paste (that is, Meal
well kneaded) so that nothing may evaporate, then sette the potte on the
fire, and let it boyle wel-nigh halfe a day: after this is done,
straine the Butter through a cloth, and the remainder beate in a morter,
and straine it againe, and mixe them together, then put them into water
to coole, and so reserve it in silver or golden boxes, that which is not
evaporated, for the older, the better it is, and so much the better it
will be, if you can keepe it fortie years. Let the sicke patient, who is
troubled eyther with the Goute, or the Palsie, but annoynt himselfe
often against the fire with this unguent, and, without doubt, he shall
be freed, especially if it be the Goute.”

Of serpents in general, I shall have little to say, except those few of
which the descriptions are the most _outré_. And first let us have out
the “Boas,” which cannot mean that enormous serpent the Boa-Constrictor,
which enfolds oxen, deer, &c., crushing their bones in its all-powerful
fold, and which sometimes reaches the length of thirty or
five-and-thirty feet--long enough, in all conscience, for a respectable
serpent. But Topsell begins his account of “The Boas” far more
magnificently:--

“It was well knowne among all the Romans, that when _Regulus_ was
Governour, or Generall, in the _Punick_ warres, there was a Serpent
(neere the river _Bagrade_) killed with slings and stones, even as a
Towne or little Cittie is over-come, which Serpent was an hundred and
twenty foote in length; whose skinne and cheeke bones, were reserved in
a Temple at _Rome_, untill the _Numantine_ warre.

“And this History is more easie to be beleeved, because of the Boas
Serpent bred in Italy at this day: for we read in _Solinus_, that when
_Claudius_ was Emperour, there was one of them slaine in the _Vatican_
at Rome, in whose belly was found an Infant swallowed whole, and not a
bone thereof broken....

[Illustration: The Boas]

“The Latines call it _Boa_, and _Bova_, because by sucking Cowe’s milke
it so encreaseth, that in the end it destroyeth all manner of herdes,
Cattell, and Regions.... The Italians doe usually call them, _Serpeda de
Aqua_, a Serpent of the water, and, therefore, all the Learned expound
the Greeke word _Hydra_, for a Boas. _Cardan_ saith, that there are of
this kind in the Kingdom of _Senega_, both without feet and wings, but
most properly, as they are now found in Italy, according to these
verses:

    _Boa quidem serpens quem tellus Itala nutrit
    Hunc bubulum plures lac enutrire docent._

Which may be englished thus:

    _The Boas Serpent which Italy doth breede,
    Men say, uppon the milke of Cowes doth feede._

“Their fashion is in seeking for their prey among the heardes, to
destroy nothing that giveth suck, so long as it will live, but they
reserve it alive untill the milk be dryed up, then afterwards they kill
and eate it, and so they deale with whole flocks and heards.”

[Illustration]

Whilst on the subject of Hydra, I give Topsell’s idea of the Lernean
Hydra, whose story is so familiar to us. (See p. 292.) But, after
presenting us with such a frightful ideal, he says:--“And some ignorant
men of late daies at _Venice_, did picture this Hydra with wonderfull
Art, and set it forth to the people to be seene, as though it had beene
a true carkase, with this inscription: In the yeare of Christe’s
incarnation, 550, about the Month of January, ‘this monstrous Serpent
was brought out of _Turky_ to _Venice_, and afterwards given to the
French King: It was esteemed to be worth 600 duckats. These monsters
signifie the mutation or change of worldly affaires,’ &c.” And, after
giving a long-winded inscription, _àpropos_ of nothing, he says:--“I
have also heard that in _Venice_ in the Duke’s treasury, among the rare
Monuments of that Citty, there is preserved a Serpent with seaven heads,
which, if it be true, it is the more probable that there is a Hydra, and
that the Poets were not altogether deceived, that say _Hercules_ killed
such an one.”

[Illustration]

Mr. Henry Lee, in his little book, “Sea Fables Explained,” says that the
Lernean Hydra was neither more nor less than a huge Octopus, and gives
an illustration of a marble tablet in the Vatican (also given in
“Smith’s Classical Dictionary”), which does not seem unlike one.

The Wingless Dragons belong to the serpent tribe, with the exception
that they are generally furnished with legs. These are “Wormes,” of
several of which we, in England, were the happy possessors. Of course,
in the northern parts of Europe, they survived (in story at all events)
much later than with us, and Olaus Magnus gives accounts of several
fights with them, notably that of Frotho and Fridlevus, two Champions,
against a serpent.

[Illustration]

“_Frotho_, a Danish Champion and a King, scarce being past his
childhood, in a single combat killed a huge fierce great Serpent,
thrusting his sword into his belly, for his hard skin would not be
wounded, and all darts thrown at him, flew back again, and it was but
labour lost. _Fridlevus_ was no lesse valiant, who, both to try his
valour, and to find out some hidden treasure, set upon a most formidable
Serpent for his huge body and venomous teeth, and, for a long time, he
cast his darts against his scaly sides, and could not hurt him, for his
hard body made nothing of the weapons cast with violence against him.
But this Serpent twisting his tail in many twines, by turning his tail
round, he would pull up trees by the roots, and by his crawling on the
ground, he had made a great hollow place, that in some places, hills
seemed to be parted as if a valley were between them, wherefore
_Fridlevus_ considering that the upper parts of this beast could not be
penetrated, he runs him in with his sword underneath; and, piercing into
his groine, he drew forth his virulent matter, as he lay panting: when
he had killed the Serpent, he dug up the money, and carried it away.”

He gives another story of a combat with “Wormes,” although in the Latin
they are called _Vipers_: yet I leave my readers to judge whether the
small snake, the viper, would require such an amount of killing as
Regner had to bestow upon them:--

“Of _Regnerus_, called Hair-Coat. There was a King of the _Sueons_
called _Herothus_, whose troubled mind was not a little urged how to
preserve his Daughter’s chastity; whether he should guard her with wild
beasts (as the manner of most Princes was then) or else should commit
the custody of her to man’s fidelity. But he, preferring cruelty of
Beasts to man’s fidelity, he soonest chose what would do most hurt. For,
hunting in the woods, he brought some Snakes that his Company had found,
for his Daughter to feed up. She, quickly obeying her Father’s commands,
bred up a generation of vipers by her Virgin hands. And that they might
want no meat, her curious Father caused the whole body of an Ox to be
brought, being ignorant that, by this private food, he maintain’d a
publick destruction. These, being grown up, by their venomous breath
poysoned the neighbouring parts; but the King, repenting his folly,
proclaimed that he who could remove this plague, should have his
daughter.

“When _Regnerus_ of _Norway_, descended of the King’s race, who was the
chief Suiter this Virgin had, heard this Report, he obtained from the
Nurse a woollen Cassock, and hairy Breeches, whereby he might hinder the
biting of the Adders. And when he came to _Sweden_ in a ship, he
purposely suffered his Clothes to grow stiff with cold, casting water
upon them: and thus clothed, having onely his Sword and Dart to defend
him, he went to the King. As he went forward, two huge Adders met him on
the way, that would kill the young man, with the twisting of their
tails, and by the venome they cast forth.

“But _Regnerus_ confiding in the hardness of his frozen Garments, both
endured and repulsed their Venome, by his clothes, and their biting his
Harness, being indefatigable in pressing hard upon these Wild Beasts.
Last of all he strongly casts out of his hand his Javelin that was
fastened with a Hoop, and struck it into their bodies. Then, with his
two-edged Sword, rending both their hearts, he obtained a happy end of
an ingenious and dangerous fight. The King, looking curiously on his
clothes, when he saw them so hairy on the back-side, and unpolished like
ragged Frize, he spake merrily, and called him _Lodbrock_: that is _Hair
Coat_; and to recreate him after his pains, he sent for him to a Banquet
with his friends. He answered, _That he must first go see those
Companions he had left_: and he brought them to the King’s Table, very
brave in clothes, as he was then: and lastly, when that was done, he
received the pledge of his Victory, by whom he begat many hopeful
Children: and he had her true love to him the more, and the rather
enjoyed his company, by how much she knew the great dangers he underwent
to win her by, and the ingenious practises he used.”

We were favoured in England with several “Wormes.” Nor only in England,
but in Scotland and Wales. Of course, Ireland can boast of none, as St.
Patrick banished all the serpents from that island.

Of the Dragon of Wantley I say nothing; he has been reslain in modern
times, and all the romance has gone out of him. Nobody wishes to know
that the Dragon was Sir Francis Wortley, who was at loggerheads with his
neighbours, notably one Lionel Rowlestone, whose advocate was More of
More Hall. We had rather have had our dear old Dragon, and have let the
champion More slay him in the orthodox manner.

But the “laidley Worme” of Lambton is still all our own, and its story
is thus told by Surtees in his “History, &c., of Durham,” 1820:--

“The heir of Lambton, fishing, as was his profane custom, in the Wear,
on a Sunday, hooked a small worm or eft, which he carelessly threw into
a well, and thought no more of the adventure. The worm (at first
neglected) grew till it was too large for its first habitation, and,
issuing forth from the _Worm Well_, betook itself to the Wear, where it
usually lay a part of the day coiled round a crag in the middle of the
water; it also frequented a green mound near the well (_the Worm Hill_),
where it lapped itself nine times round, leaving vermicular traces, of
which, grave living witnesses depose that they have seen the vestiges.
It now became the terror of the country, and, amongst other enormities,
levied a daily contribution of nine cows’ milk, which was always placed
for it at the green hill, and in default of which it devoured man and
beast. Young Lambton had, it seems, meanwhile, totally repented him of
his former life and conversation, had bathed himself in a bath of holy
water, taken the sign of the cross, and joined the Crusaders.

“On his return home, he was extremely shocked at witnessing the effects
of his youthful imprudences, and immediately undertook the adventure.
After several fierce combats, in which the Crusader was foiled by his
enemy’s _power of self-union_, he found it expedient to add policy to
courage, and not, perhaps, possessing much of the former quality, he
went to consult a witch or wise woman. By her judicious advice he armed
himself in a coat-of-mail studded with razor blades; and, thus prepared,
placed himself on the crag in the river, and awaited the monster’s
arrival.

“At the usual time the worm came to the rock, and wound himself with
great fury round the armed knight, who had the satisfaction to see his
enemy cut in pieces by his own efforts, whilst the stream washing away
the severed parts, prevented the possibility of reunion.

“There is still a sequel to the story: the witch had promised Lambton
success only on one condition, that he should slay the first living
thing which met his sight after the victory. To avoid the possibility of
human slaughter, Lambton had directed his father, that as soon as he
heard him sound three blasts on his bugle, in token of the achievement
performed, he should release his favourite greyhound, which would
immediately fly to the sound of the horn, and was destined to be the
sacrifice. On hearing his son’s bugle, however, the old chief was so
overjoyed, that he forgot his instructions, and ran himself with open
arms to meet his son. Instead of committing a parricide, the conqueror
again repaired to his adviser, who pronounced, as the alternative of
disobeying the original instructions, that no chief of the Lambtons
should die in his bed for seven, (or as some accounts say) for nine
generations--a commutation which, to a martial spirit, had nothing
probably very terrible, and which was willingly complied with....

“In the garden-house at Lambton are two figures of no great antiquity. A
Knight in good style, armed cap-a-pie, the back _studded with razor
blades_, who holds the worm by one ear with his left hand, and with his
right crams his sword to the hilt down his throat; and a Lady who wears
a coronet, with bare breasts, &c., in the style of Charles 2nd’s
Beauties, a wound on whose bosom and an accidental mutilation of the
hand are said to have been the work of the worm.”

There were several other English “Wormes,” but this must suffice as a
type. Also, as a typical Scotch “Worme,” the Linton Worme will serve. A
writer (W. E.) tells its story so well in _Notes and Queries_, February
24, 1866, that I transfer it here, in preference to telling it myself.
It was slain by Sir John Somerville, about the year 1174, who received
the lands and barony of Linton, in Roxburghshire, as the reward of his
exploit. W. E. quotes from a family history entitled a “Memorie of the
Somervills,” written by James, the eleventh lord, A.D. 1679:--

“‘In the parochene of Lintoune, within the sheriffdome of Roxburghe,
ther happened to breede ane hydeous monster, in the forme of a worme,
soe called and esteemed by the country people (but in effecte has beene
a serpente or some suche other creature), in length three Scots yards,
and somewhat bigger than ane ordinarie man’s leg, &c.... This creature,
being a terrour to the country people, had its den in a hollow piece of
ground, on the syde of a hill, south east from Lintoun Church, some more
than a myle, which unto this day is knowne by the name of the Worme’s
glen, where it used to rest and shelter itself; but, when it sought
after prey, then would it wander a myle or two from its residence, and
make prey of all sort of bestiall that came in its way, which it easily
did because of its lownesse, creeping amongst the peat, heather, or
grasse, wherein that place abounded much, by reasone of the meadow
grounde, and a large flow moss, fit for the pasturage of many
cattell.... Soe that the whole country men thereabout wer forced to
remove ther bestiall and transport them 3 or 4 myles from the place,
leaving the country desolate, neither durst any person goe to the
Church, or mercat, upon that rod, for fear of this beast.’

“Somerville happening to come to Jedburgh, on the King’s business, found
the inhabitants full of stories about the wonderful beast.

“‘The people who had fled ther for shelter, told soe many lies, as
first, that it increased every day, and was beginning to get wings:
others pretended to have seen it in the night, and asserted it was full
of fyre, and in tyme, would throw it out, &c., with a thousand other
ridiculous stories.’

“Somerville determined to see the monster, and, accordingly, rode to the
glen about sunrise, when he was told it generally came forth. He had not
to wait long, till he perceived it crawl out of its den. When it
observed him, it raised itself up, and stared at him, for some time,
without venturing to approach; whereupon he drew nearer to observe it
more closely, on which it turned round, and slunk into its lair.

“Satisfied that the beast was not so dangerous as reported, he resolved
to destroy it, but as every one declared that neither sword nor dagger
had any effect on it, and that its venom would destroy any one that came
within its reach: he prepared a spear double the ordinary length, plated
with iron, four feet from the point, on which he placed a slender iron
wheel, turning on its centre. On this he fastened a lighted peat, and
exercised his horse with it for several days, until it shewed no fear or
dislike to the fire and smoke. He then repaired to the den, and, on the
worme appearing, his servant set fire to the peat, and, putting spurs to
his horse, he rode full at the beast. The speed at which he advanced,
caused the wheel to spin round, and fanned the peat into a blaze. He
drove the lance down the monster’s throat full a third part of its
length, when it broke, and he left the animal writhing in the agonies of
death.”

I am afraid the Welsh “Worme” is not so well authenticated as the
others; but the story is, that Denbigh is so named from a Dragon slain
by John Salusbury of Lleweni, who died 1289. It devastated the country
far and wide, after the manner of its kind, and all the inhabitants
prayed for the destruction of this _bych_. This the Champion effected,
and in his glee, joyfully sang, _Dyn bych, Dyn bych_ (_No bych_); and
the country round was so named.

There arises the question, whether, having regard to the fact that the
Lambton worm, at all events, was amphibious, it might not have been a
Plesiosaurus, which had survived some of its race, such as the
illustration now given, of the one reconstructed by Thos. Hawkins, in
his “Book of the Great Sea Dragons.” We know that at some time or other
these animals existed, and, it may be, some few lingered on. At all
events most civilised nations have had a belief in it, and it was held
to be the type of all that was wicked; so much so, that one of Satan’s
synonyms is “the Great Dragon.” In the Romances of Chivalry, its
destruction was always reserved for the worthiest knight; in classical
times it was a terror. Both Hindoos and Chinese hold it in firm faith,
and, take it all in all, belief in its entity was general.

[Illustration]

The Winged Dragons were undoubtedly more furious and wicked than the
Wormes, and there is scarcely any reason to go farther than its
portrait by Aldrovandus, to enable us to recognise it at any time. (See
next page.) Topsell gives another, but with scarcely so much detail.

But, although we in our times have not seen flying dragons in the flesh,
we have their fossilised bones in evidence of their existence. The
Pterodactyl, as Mr. Hawkins observes, “agrees with the Dragon in nearly
all its more important features. Thus, it was of great size, possessed a
large head, with long jaws and powerful teeth. It had wings of great
span, and at the same time three powerful clawed fingers to each hand,
wings devoid of feathers, and capable of being folded along the sides of
the body, while the large size of the orbits may not, improbably, have
suggested the name dragon; for dragon, which is derived from the Greek
δράκων, means, literally, _keen-sighted_.”

We now have flying lizards, both in India and the Malay Archipelago, in
which latter is found a small lemur which can fly from tree to tree, and
we are all familiar with bats, some of which attain a large size.

Topsell has exercised great research among old authorities respecting
dragons, and he draws their portraits thus:--“_Gyllius_, _Pierius_, and
_Grevinus_, following the authority of _Nicander_, do affirme that a
Dragon is of a blacke colour, the bellie somewhat green, and very
beautifull to behold, having a treble rowe of teeth in their mouthes
upon every jawe, and with most bright and cleare seeing eyes, which
caused the Poets to faine in their writings, that these dragons are the
watchfull keepers of Treasures. They have also two dewlappes growing
under their chinne, and hanging downe like a beard, which are of a redde
colour; their bodies are set all over with very sharpe scales, and over
their eyes stand certaine flexible eyeliddes. When they
gape wide with their mouth, and thrust forth their tongue, theyr teeth
seeme very much to resemble the teeth of Wilde Swine: And theyr neckes
have many times grosse thicke hayre growing upon them, much like unto
the bristles of a Wylde Boare.”

[Illustration]

Apart from looks, he does not give dragons, as a rule, a very bad
character, and says they do not attack men unless their general food
fails them:--“They greatlie preserve their health (as _Aristotle_
affirmeth) by eating of Wild lettice, for that they make them to vomit,
and cast foorth of theyr stomacke what soever meate offendeth them, and
they are most speciallie offended by eating Apples, for theyr bodies are
much subject to be filled with winde, and therefore they never eate
Apples, but first they eate Wilde lettice. Theyr sight also (as
_Plutarch_ sayth) doth many times grow weake and feeble, and therefore
they renew and recover the same againe by rubbing their eyes against
Fennel, or else by eating it. Their age could never yet be certainely
knowne, but it is conjectured that they live long, and in great health,
like all other serpents, and therefore they grow so great.

       *       *       *       *       *

“Neither have wee in Europe onely heard of Dragons, and never seene
them, but also even in our own Country, there have (by the testimonie of
sundry writers) divers been discovered and killed. And first of all,
there was a Dragon, or winged Serpent, brought unto _Francis_ the French
King, when hee lay at _Sancton_, by a certaine Country man, who had
slaine the same Serpent himselfe with a Spade, when it sette upon him in
the fields to kill him. And this thinge was witnessed by many Learned
and Credible men which saw the same; and they thought it was not bredde
in that Country, but rather driven by the winde thither from some
forraine Nation. For Fraunce was never knowne to breede any such
Monsters. Among the _Pyrenes_, too, there is a cruell kinde of Serpent,
not past foure foot long, and as thicke as a man’s arme, out of whose
sides growe winges, much like unto gristles.

“_Gesner_ also saith, that in the yeere of our Lord 1543 there came many
Serpents both with wings and legs into the parts of Germany neere
_Stiria_, who did bite and wound many men incurably. _Cardan_ also
describeth certaine serpents with wings, which he saw at Paris, whose
dead bodies were in the hands of _Gulielmus Musicus_; hee saith that
they had two legges, and small winges, so that they could scarce flie,
the head was little, and like to the head of a serpent, their colour
bright, and without haire or feathers, the quantitie of that which was
greatest, did not exceede the bignes of a Cony, and it is saide they
were brought out of India....

“There have beene also Dragons many times seene in Germaine, flying in
the ayre at mid-day, and signifying great and fearefull fiers to follow,
as it happened neere to the Cittie called _Niderburge_, neere to the
shore of the _Rhyne_, in a marvailous cleere sun-shine day, there came a
dragon three times successively together in one day, and did hang in the
ayre over a Towne called _Sanctogoarin_, and shaking his tayle over that
Towne every time: it appeared visibly in the sight of many of the
inhabitants, and, afterwards it came to passe, that the said towne was
three times burned with fire, to the great harme and undooing of the
people dwelling in the same; for they were not able to make any
resistance to quench the fire, with all the might, Art, and power they
could raise. And it was further observed, that about the time there were
many dragons seene washing themselves in a certaine Fountaine or Well
neere the towne, and if any of the people did by chance drinke of the
water of that Well, theyr bellyes did instantly begin to swell, and they
dyed as if they had been poysoned. Whereupon it was publicly decreed,
that the said well should be filled up with stones, to the intent that
never any man should afterwards be poisoned with that water; and so a
memory thereof was continued, and these thinges are written by _Justinus
Goblerus_, in an Epistle to _Gesner_, affirming that he did not write
fayned things, but such things as were true, and as he had learned from
men of great honesty and credite, whose eyes did see and behold both the
dragons, and the mishaps that followed by fire.”

Hitherto we have only seen that side of a Dragon’s temperament that is
inimical to man, but there are stories, equally veracious, of their
affection and love for men, women, and children: how they, by kindness,
may be tamed, and brought into kindly relations with the human species.

_Pliny_, quoting _Democritus_, says that “a Man, called _Thoas_, was
preserved in _Arcadia_ by a Dragon. When a boy he had become much
attached to it, and had reared it very tenderly; but his father, being
alarmed at the nature and monstrous size of the reptile, had taken and
left it in the desert. _Thoas_ being here attacked by some robbers, who
lay in ambush, he was delivered from them by the Dragon, which
recognised his voice, and came to his assistance.”

Topsell tells us that “there be some which by certaine inchaunting
verses doe tame Dragons, and rydeth upon their neckes, as a man would
ride upon a horse, guiding and governing them with a bridle.”

And so widely spread was the belief that these fearful animals could be
brought into subjection, that Magnus gives us an account “Of the Fight
of King _Harald_ against a tame Dragon,” but this one seems hardly as
docile as those previously instanced:--“_Haraldus_ the most illustrious
King of _Norway_, residing, in his youth, with the King of
_Constantinople_, and being condemned for man-slaughter, he was
commanded to be cast to a tame Dragon that should rend him in pieces. As
he went into the prison, one very faithfull servant he had, offered
himself freely to die with his Master.

[Illustration]

“The keeper of the Castle, curiously observing them both, let them down
at the mouth of the Den, being unarmed, and well searched; wherefore,
when the servant was naked, he admitted _Harald_ to be covered with his
shirt, for modesty’s sake, who gave him a braslet privily, and he
scattered little fish on the pavement, that the Dragon might first stay
his hunger on them, and that the guilty persons that are shut up in the
dark prison, might have a little light by the shining of the Fins and
Scales. Then _Haraldus_ picking up the bones of a Carkeis, stopt them
into the linen he had, and bound them fast together like a Club. And
when the Dragon was let forth, and rushed greedily on his prey cast to
him, he lept quickly on his back, and he thrust a Barber’s razor in at
his navill, that would only be pierced by iron, which, as luck was, he
brought with him, and kept it concealed by him: this cold Serpent that
had most hard scales all over, disdained to be entred in any other part
of his body. But _Haraldus_ sitting so high above him, could neither be
bitten by his mouth, or hurt by his sharp teeth; or broken with the
turnings of his tayle. And his servant using the weapons, or bones put
together, beat the Dragon’s head till he bled, and died thereof by his
many weighty strokes. When the King knew this, he freely changed his
revenge, into his service, and pardoned these valiant persons, and
furnishing them with a Ship and Monies, he gave them leave to depart.”

The natural instinct of Dragons was undoubtedly vicious, and they must
have been most undesirable neighbours, _teste_ the following story
quoted by Topsell from Stumpsius:--“When the Region of _Helvetia_
beganne first to be purged from noysome beasts, there was a horrible
dragon found neere a Country towne called _Wilser_, who did destroy all
men and beastes, that came within his danger in the time of his hunger,
inasmuch that that towne and the fields therto adjoyning, was called
_Dedwiler_, that is, a Village of the Wildernes, for all the people and
inhabitants had forsaken the same, and fledde to other places.

“There was a man of that Towne whose name was _Winckleriedt_, who was
banished for manslaughter: this man promised, if he might have his
pardon, and be restored againe to his former inheritance, that he would
combat with that Dragon, and by God’s helpe destroy him; which thing was
granted unto him with great joyfulnes. Wherefore he was recalled home,
and in the presence of many people went foorth to fight with that
Dragon, whom he slew and overcame, whereat for joy hee lifted uppe his
sword imbrued in the dragon’s blood, in token of victory, but the blood
distilled downe from the sword uppon his body, and caused him instantly
to fall downe dead.

“There be certaine beasts called _Dracontopides_, very great and potent
Serpents, whose faces are like to the faces of Virgins, and the residue
of their body like to dragons. It is thought that such a one was the
Serpent that deceived _Eve_, for _Beda_ saith it had a Virgin’s
countenance, and therefore the woman, seeing the likenes of her owne
face, was the more easily drawne to believe it: into which the devill
had entred; they say he taught it to cover the body with leaves, and to
shew nothing but the head and face. But this fable is not worthy to be
refuted, because the Scripture itself, dooth directly gaine-say everie
part of it. For, first of all it is called a Serpent, and if it had been
a Dragon, _Moses_ would have said so; and, therefore, for ordinary
punishment, GOD doth appoint it to creepe upon the belly, wherefore it
is not likely that it had either wings or feete. Secondly, it was
impossible and unlikely, that any part of the body was covered or
conceiled from the sight of the woman, seeing she knew it directly to be
a Serpent, as shee afterward confessed before GOD and her husband.

“There be also certaine little dragons called in _Arabia_, _Vesga_, and
in _Catalonia_, _Dragons of houses_; these, when they bite, leave their
teeth behind them, so as the wound never ceaseth swelling, as long as
the teeth remain therein, and therefore, for the better cure thereof,
the teeth are drawne forth, and so the wound will soone be healed.

“And thus much for the hatred betwixt men and dragons, now we will
proceede to other creatures.

“The greatest discord is between the Eagle and the Dragon, for the
Vultures, Eagles, Swannes and Dragons, are enemies to one another. The
Eagles, when they shake their winges, make the dragons afraide with
their ratling noyse; then the dragon hideth himselfe within his den, so
that he never fighteth but in the ayre, eyther when the Eagle hath taken
away his young ones, and he, to recover them, flieth aloft after her, or
else when the Eagle meeteth him in her nest, destroying her egges and
young ones: for the Eagle devoureth the dragons, and little Serpents
upon earth, and the dragons againe, and Serpents do the like against the
Eagles in the ayre. Yea, many times the dragon attempteth to take away
the prey out of the Eagle’s talants, both on the ground, and in the
ayre, so that there ariseth betwixt them a very hard and dangerous
fight.

“In the next place we are to consider the enmitie that is betwixt
Dragons and Elephants, for, so great is their hatred one to another,
that in Ethyopia the greatest dragons have no other name but Elephant
killers. Among the Indians, also, the same hatred remaineth, against
whom the dragons have many subtile inventions: for, besides the greate
length of their bodies, wherewithall they claspe and begirt the body of
the Elephant, continually byting of him, untill he fall downe dead, and
in the which fall they are also bruzed to peeces; for the safeguard of
themselves, they have this device. They get and hide themselves in
trees, covering their head, and letting the other part hang downe like a
rope: in those trees they watch untill the Elephant come to eate and
croppe of the branches; then, suddenly, before he be aware, they leape
into his face, and digge out his eyes, then doe they claspe themselves
about his necke, and with their tayles, or hinder parts, beate and vexe
the Elephant, untill they have made him breathlesse, for they strangle
him with theyr fore parts, as they beate them with the hinder, so that
in this combat they both perrish: and this is the disposition of the
Dragon, that he never setteth upon the Elephant, but with the advantage
of the place, and namely from some high tree or Rocke.

“Sometimes againe, a multitude of dragons doe together observe the
pathes of the Elephants, and crosse those pathes they tie together their
tailes as it were in knots, so that when the Elephant commeth along in
them, they insnare his legges, and suddainly leape uppe to his eyes, for
that is the part they ayme at above all other, which they speedily pull
out, and so not being able to doe him any more harme, the poore beast
delivereth himselfe from present death by his owne strength, and yet
through his blindnesse received in that combat, hee perrisheth by
hunger, because he cannot choose his meate by smelling, but by his
eyesight.”




THE CROCODILE.


The largest of the Saurians which we have left us, is the Crocodile; and
it formerly had the character of being very deceitful, and, by its
weeping, attracted its victims. Sir John Mandeville thus describes
them:--“In this land, and many other places of Inde, are many
cocodrilles, that is a maner of a long serpent, and on nights they dwell
on water, and on dayes they dwell on land and rocks, and they eat not in
winter. These serpents sley men, and eate them weeping, and they have no
tongue.”

On the contrary, the Crocodile has a tongue, and a very large one too.
As to the fable of its weeping, do we not even to this day call sham
mourning, “shedding crocodile’s tears?” Spenser, in his “Faerie Queene,”
thus alludes to its supposed habits (B. I. c. 5. xviii.):--

    “As when a wearie traveller, that strayes
    By muddy shore of broad seven-mouthed Nile,
    Unweeting of the perillous wandring wayes,
    Doth meete a cruell craftie crocodile,
    Which in false griefe hyding his harmeful guile,
    Doth weepe full sore, and sheddeth tender tears:
    The foolish man, that pities all this while
    His mourneful plight, is swallowed up unawares,
    Forgetfull of his owne, that mindes another’s cares.”

And Shakespeare, from whom we can obtain a quotation on almost anything,
makes Othello say (Act iv. sc. 1):--

                            “O devil, devil!
    If that the earth could teem with woman’s tears,
    Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile;--
    Out of my sight!”

Gesner, and Topsell, in his “Historie of Four-Footed Beastes,” give the
accompanying illustration of a hippopotamus eating a crocodile, the
original of which, they say, came from the Coliseum at Rome, and was
then in the Vatican.

[Illustration]

Topsell, in his “History of Serpents,” dwells lovingly, and lengthily,
on the crocodile. He says:--“Some have written that the Crocodile
runneth away from a man if he winke with his left eye, and looke
steadfastly uppon him with his right eye, but if this bee true, it is
not to be attributed to the vertue of the right eye, but onely to the
rarenesse of sight, which is conspicuous to the Serpent from one eye.
The greatest terrour unto Crocodiles, as both _Seneca_ and _Pliny_
affirme, are the inhabitants of the Ile _Tentyrus_ within _Nilus_, for
those people make them runne away with their voyces, and many times
pursue and take them in snares. Of these people speaketh _Solinus_ in
this manner:--There is a generation of men in the Ile _Tentyrus_ within
the waters of _Nilus_, which are of a most adverse nature to the
Crocodile, dwelling also in the same place. And, although their persons
or presence be of small stature, yet heerein is theyr courage admired,
because at the suddaine sight of a Crocodile, they are no whit daunted;
for one of these dare meete and provoke him to runne away. They will
also leape into Rivers and swimme after the Crocodile, and, meeting
with it, without feare cast themselves uppon the Beasts backe, ryding on
him as uppon a horse. And if the Beast lift uppe his head to byte him,
when hee gapeth they put into his mouth a wedge, holding it hard at both
ends with both their hands, and so, as it were with a bridle, leade, or
rather drive, them captives to the Land, where, with theyr noyse, they
so terrifie them, that they make them cast uppe the bodies which they
had swallowed into theyr bellies; and because of this antypathy in
Nature, the Crocodyles dare not come neare to this Iland.

“And _Strabo_ also hath recorded, that at what time crocodiles were
brought to Rome, these _Tentyrites_ folowed and drove them. For whom
there was a certaine great poole or fish-pond assigned, and walled
about, except one passage for the Beast to come out of the water into
the sun shine: and when the people came to see them, these _Tentyrites_,
with nettes would draw them to the Land, and put them backe againe into
the water at theyr owne pleasure. For they so hooke them by theyr eyes,
and bottome of their bellyes, which are their tenderest partes, that,
like as horses broken by theyr Ryders, they yeelde unto them, and forget
theyr strength in the presence of these theyr Conquerors....

“To conclude this discourse of Crocodiles inclination, even the
Egyptians themselves account a Crocodile a savage, and cruell murthering
beast, as may appeare by their Hieroglyphicks, for when they will
decypher a mad man, they picture a Crocodile, who beeing put from his
desired prey by forcible resistance, hee presently rageth against
himselfe. And they are often taught by lamentable experience, what
fraude and malice to mankind liveth in these beasts; for, when they
cover themselves under willowes and greene hollow bankes, till some
people come to the waters side to draw and fetch water, and then
suddenly, or ever they be aware, they are taken, and drawne into the
water.

“And also, for this purpose, because he knoweth that he is not able to
overtake a man in his course or chase, he taketh a great deale of water
in his mouth, and casteth it in the pathwaies, so that when they
endeavour to run from the crocodile, they fall downe in the slippery
path, and are overtaken and destroyed by him. The common proverbe also,
_Crocodili lachrimæ_, the Crocodile’s teares, justifieth the treacherous
nature of this beast, for there are not many bruite beasts that can
weepe, but such is the nature of the Crocodile, that to get a man within
his danger, he will sob, sigh, and weepe, as though he were in
extremitie, but suddenly he destroyeth him. Others say, that the
Crocodile weepeth after he hath devoured a man....

“Seeing the friendes of it are so few, the enemies of it must needes be
many, and therefore require a more large catalogue or story. In the
first ranke whereof commeth (as worthy the first place), the _Ichneumon_
or _Pharaoh’s Mouse_, who rageth against their egges and their persons;
for it is certaine that it hunteth with all sagacity of sense to find
out theyr nests, and having found them, it spoyleth, scattereth,
breaketh, and emptieth all theyr egs. They also watch the old ones a
sleepe, and finding their mouths open against the beames of the Sunne,
suddenly enter into them, and, being small, creepe downe theyr vast and
large throates before they be aware, and then, putting the Crocodile to
exquisite and intollerable torment, by eating their guttes asunder, and
so their soft bellies, while the Crocodile tumbleth to and fro sighing
and weeping, now in the depth of water, now on the Land, never resting
till strength of nature fayleth. For the incessant gnawing of the
_Ichneumon_ so provoketh her to seek her rest, in the unrest of every
part, herbe, element, throwes, throbs, rowlings, tossings, mournings,
but all in vaine, for the enemy within her breatheth through her breath,
and sporteth herselfe in the consumption of those vitall parts, which
wast and weare away by yeelding to her unpacificable teeth, one after
the other, till shee that crept in by stealth at the mouth, like a puny
theefe, come out at the belly like a conquerour, thorough a passage
opened by her owne labour and industry....

“The medicines arising out of it are also many. The first place
belongeth to the Caule, which hath moe benefits or vertues in it, than
can be expressed. The bloud of a Crocodile is held profitable for many
thinges, and among other, it is thought to cure the bitings of any
Serpent. Also by annoynting the eyes, it cureth both the dregs, or spots
of blood in them, and also restoreth soundnesse and clearenesse to the
sight, taking away all dulnesse, or deadnesse from the eyes. And it is
said, that if a man take the liquor which commeth from a piece of a
Crocodyle fryed, and annoynte therewithall his wound or harmed part,
that then he shall bee presently rid of all paine and torment. The
skinne both of the Land and Water Crocodile dryed into powder, and the
same powder, with Vineger or Oyle, layd upon a part or member of the
body, to be seared, cut off or lanced, taketh away all sense and feeling
of paine from the instrument in the action.

“All the Ægytians doe with the fat or sewet of a Crocodile, (_is to_)
annoynt all them that be sick of Feavers, for it hath the same
operation which the fat of a Sea-dogge, or Dog-fish hath, and, if those
parts of men and beasts which are hurt and wounded with Crocodile’s
teeth, be annoynted with this fat, it also cureth them. Being concocted
with Water and Vineger, and so rowled uppe and downe in the mouth, it
cureth the tooth-ache: and also it is outwardly applyed agaynst the
byting of Flyes, Spyders, Wormes, and such like, for this cause, as also
because it is thought to cure Wennes, bunches in the flesh, and olde
woundes. It is solde deare, and held pretious in _Alcair_, (Cairo.)
_Scaliger_ writeth that it cureth the _Gangren_. The Canyne teeth which
are hollow, filled with Frankinsence, and tyed to a man or woman, which
hath the toothach, cureth them, if the party know not of the carrying
them about: And so they write, that if the little stones which are in
their belly be taken forth and so used, they work the same effect
against Feavers. The dung is profitable against the falling off of the
hayre, and many such other things.”




THE BASILISK AND COCKATRICE.


[Illustration]

Aldrovandus portrays the Basilisk with eight legs. Topsell says it is
the same as the Cockatrice, depicts it as a crowned serpent, and
says:--“This Beast is called by the Græcian _Baziliscos_, and by the
Latine, _Regulus_, because he seemeth to be the King of Serpents, not
for his magnitude or greatnesse: For there are many Serpents bigger than
he, as there be many foure-footed Beastes bigger than the Lyon, but,
because of his stately pace, and magnanimious mind: for hee creepeth not
on the earth like other Serpents, but goeth halfe upright, for which
occasion all other Serpentes avoyde his sight. And it seemeth nature
hath ordayned him for that purpose; for, besides the strength of his
poyson, which is uncurable, he hath a certain combe or Corronet uppon
his head, as shall be shewed in due place.”

[Illustration]

Pliny thus describes “The Serpents called Basilisks. There is the same
power[40] also in the serpent called the Basilisk. It is produced in
the province of Cyrene, being not more than twelve fingers in length. It
has a white spot on the head, strongly resembling a sort of diadem. When
it hisses, all the other serpents fly from it: and it does not advance
its body, like the others, by a succession of folds, but moves along
upright and erect upon the middle. It destroys all shrubs, not only by
its contact, but even those that it has breathed upon; it burns up all
the grass too, and breaks the stones, so tremendous is its noxious
influence. It was formerly a general belief that if a man on horseback
killed one of these animals with a spear, the poison would run up the
weapon and kill, not only the rider, but the horse as well. To this
dreadful monster the effluvium of the weasel is fatal, a thing which has
been tried with success, for kings have often desired to see its body
when killed; so true is it that it has pleased Nature that there should
be nothing without its antidote. The animal is thrown into the hole of
the basilisk, which is easily known from the soil around it being
infected. The weasel destroys the basilisk by its odour, but dies itself
in this struggle of nature against its own self.”

Du Bartas says:--

    “What shield of Ajax could avoid their death
    By th’ Basilisk whose pestilentiall breath
    Doth pearce firm Marble, and whose banefull eye
    Wounds with a glance, so that the wounded dye.”

The origin of the Cockatrice is, to say the least, peculiar:--“There is
some question amongest Writers, about the generation of this Serpent:
for some, (and those very many and learned,) affirme him to be brought
forth of a Cockes egge. For they say that when a Cocke groweth old, he
layeth a certaine egge without any shell, instead whereof it is covered
with a very thicke skinne, which is able to withstand the greatest force
of an easie blow or fall. They say, moreover, that this Egge is layd
onely in the Summer time, about the beginning of the Dogge-dayes, being
not so long as a Hens Egge, but round and orbiculer: Sometimes of a
Foxie, sometimes of a yellowish muddy colour, which Egge is generated of
the putrified seed of the Cocke, and afterward sat upon by a Snake or a
Toad, bringeth forth the Cockatrice, being halfe a foot in length, the
hinder part like a Snake, the former part like a Cocke, because of a
treble combe on his forehead.

“But the vulger opinion of Europe is, that the Egge is nourished by a
Toad, and not by a Snake; howbeit, in better experience it is found that
the Cocke doth sit on that egge himselfe: whereof _Levinus Lemnius_ in
his twelfth booke of the hidden miracles of nature, hath this discourse,
in the fourth chapter thereof. There happened (saith he) within our
memory in the Citty _Pirizæa_, that there were two old Cockes which had
layd Egges, but they could not, with clubs and staves drive them from
the Egges, untill they were forced to breake the egges in sunder, and
strangle the Cockes....

“There be many grave humaine Writers, whose authority is irrefragable,
affirming not onely that there be cockatrices, but also that they infect
the ayre, and kill with their sight. And _Mercuriall_ affirmeth, that
when he was with _Maximilian_ the Emperour, hee saw the carkase of a
cockatrice, reserved in his treasury among his undoubted monuments....
Wee doe read that in Rome, in the dayes of Pope _Leo_ the fourth (847 to
855), there was a cockatrice found in a Vault of a Church or Chappell,
dedicated to Saint _Lucea_, whose pestiferous breath hadde infected the
Ayre round about, whereby great mortality followed in Rome: but how the
said Cockatrice came thither, it was never knowne. It is most probable
that it was created, and sent of God for the punnishment of the Citty,
which I do the more easily beleeve, because _Segonius_ and _Julius
Scaliger_ do affirme, that the sayd pestiferous beast was killed by the
prayers of the said _Leo_ the fourth....

“The eyes of the Cockatrice are redde, or somewhat inclyning to
blacknesse; the skin and carkase of this beast have beene accounted
precious, for wee doe read that the _Pergameni_ did buy but certaine
peeces of a Cockatrice, and gave for it two pound and a halfe of Sylver:
and because there is an opinion that no Byrd, Spyder, or venomous Beast
will endure the sight of this Serpent, they did hang uppe the skinne
thereof stuffed, in the Temples of _Apollo_ and _Diana_, in a certaine
thinne Net made of Gold; and therefore it is sayde, that never any
Swallow, Spider, or other Serpent durst come within those Temples; And
not onely the skinne or the sight of the Cockatrice worketh this effect,
but also the flesh thereof, being rubbed uppon the pavement, postes, or
Walles of any House. And moreover, if Silver bee rubbed over with the
powder of the Cockatrices flesh, it is likewise sayde that it giveth it
a tincture like unto Golde: and, besides these qualities, I remember not
any other in the flesh or skinne of this serpent....

“We read also that many times in _Affrica_, the Mules fall downe dead
for thirst, or else lye dead on the ground for some other causes, unto
whose Carkase innumerable troupes of Serpentes gather themselves to
feede there uppon; but when the Bazeliske windeth the sayd dead body,
he giveth forth his voyce: at the first hearing whereof, all the
Serpents hide themselves in the neare adjoyning sandes, or else runne
into theyr holes, not daring to come forth againe, untill the Cockatrice
have well dyned and satisfied himselfe. At which time he giveth another
signall by his voyce of his departure: then come they forth, but never
dare meddle with the remnants of the dead beast, but go away to seeke
some other prey. And if it happen that any other pestiferous beast
cometh unto the waters to drinke neare the place wherein the Cockatrice
is lodged, so soone as he perceiveth the presence thereof, although it
be not heard nor seene, yet it departeth back againe, without drinking,
neglecting his owne nutriment, to save itselfe from further danger:
whereupon _Lucanus_ saith,

                _----Late sibi submovet omne
    Vulgus, et in vacua regnat Basiliscus arena._

Which may be thus englished;

    _He makes the vulgar farre from him to stand,
    While Cockatrice alone raignes on the sand._

“Now we are to intreate of the poyson of this serpent, for it is a hot
and a venemous poyson, infecting the Ayre round about, so as no other
Creature can live neare him, for it killeth, not onely by his hissing,
and by his sight, (as is sayd of the Gorgons) but also by his touching,
both immediately, and mediately; that is to say, not onely when a man
toucheth the body it selfe, but also by touching a Weapon wherewith the
body was slayne, or any other dead beast slaine by it, and there is a
common fame, that a Horseman taking a Speare in his hand, which had
beene thrust through a Cockatrice, did not onely draw the poyson of it
unto his owne body, and so dyed, but also killed his horse thereby.”




THE SALAMANDER.


Many writers have essayed this fabled creature, but almost all have
approached the subject with diffidence, as if not quite sure of the
absolute entity of the animal. Thus, Aristotle does not speak of it
authoritatively:--“And the Salamander shews that it is possible for some
animal substances to exist in the fire, for _they say_ that fire is
extinguished when this animal walks over it.” Pliny, on Salamanders,
writes:--“We find it stated by many authors, that a serpent is produced
from the spinal marrow of a man. Many creatures, in fact, among the
quadrupeds even, have a secret, and mysterious origin.

[Illustration]

“Thus, for instance, the salamander, an animal like a lizard in shape,
and with a body starred all over, never comes out except during heavy
showers, and disappears the moment it becomes fine. This animal is so
intensely cold as to extinguish fire by its contact, in the same way
that ice doth. It spits forth a milky matter from its mouth; and
whatever part of the human body is touched with this, all the hair falls
off, and the part assumes the appearance of leprosy.... The wild boar of
Pamphylia, and the mountainous parts of Cilicia, after having devoured
a Salamander, will become poisonous to those who eat its flesh; and yet
the danger is quite imperceptible by reason of any peculiarity in the
smell and taste. The Salamander, too, will poison either water or wine
in which it happens to be drowned; and, what is more, if it has only
drunk thereof, the liquid becomes poisonous.”

This idea of an animal supporting life in the fire is not confined to
the Salamander alone, for both Aristotle and Pliny aver that there is a
fly which possesses this accomplishment. Says the former:--“In Cyprus,
when the manufacturers of the stone called _chalcitis_ burn it for many
days in the fire, a winged creature something larger than a great fly is
seen walking and leaping in the fire: these creatures perish when taken
from the fire.” And the latter:--“That element, also, which is so
destructive to matter, produces certain animals; for in the
copper-smelting furnaces of Cyprus, in the very midst of the fire, there
is to be seen, flying about, a four-footed animal with wings, the size
of a large fly: this creature, called the ‘pyrallis,’ and by some the
‘pyrausta.’ So long as it remains in the fire it will live, but if it
comes out, and flies a little distance from it, it will instantly die.”

Ser Marco Polo thoroughly pooh-poohs the idea of the Salamander, and
says it is Asbestos. Speaking of the Province of Chingintalas, he
says:--“And you must know that in the same mountain there is a vein of
the substance of which Salamander is made. For the real truth is that
the Salamander is no beast, as they allege in our part of the world, but
is a substance found in the earth; and I will tell you about it.

“Everybody must be aware that it can be no animal’s nature to live in
fire, seeing that every animal is composed of all the four elements.
Now, I, Marco Polo, had a Turkish acquaintance of the name of Zurficar,
and he was a very clever fellow, and this Turk related to Messer Marco
Polo how he had lived three years in that region on behalf of the Great
Kaan, in order to procure those Salamanders for him. He said that the
way they got them was by digging in that mountain till they found a
certain vein. The substance of this vein was then taken and crushed,
and, when so treated, it divides, as it were, into fibres of wool, which
they set forth to dry. When dry, these fibres were pounded in a great
copper mortar, and then washed, so as to remove all the earth, and to
leave only the fibres, like fibres of wool. These were then spun, and
made into napkins. When first made, these napkins are not very white,
but by putting them in the fire for a while they come out as white as
snow. And so again, whenever they become dirty they are bleached by
being put in the fire.

“Now this, and nought else, is the truth about the Salamander, and the
people of the country all say the same. Any other account of the matter
is fabulous nonsense. And I may add that they have, at Rome, a napkin
out of this stuff, which the Grand Kaan sent to the Pope, to make a
wrapper, for the Holy Sudarium of Jesus Christ.”

That extremely truthful person, Benvenuto Cellini, in his thoroughly
veracious autobiography, tells us the following _Snake Story_:--“When I
was about five years old, my father happened to be in a basement-chamber
of our house, where they had been washing, and where a good fire of
oak-logs was still burning; he had a viol in his hand, and was playing
and singing alone beside the fire.

“The weather was very cold. Happening to look into the fire, he spied in
the middle of those most burning flames a little creature like a lizard,
which was sporting in the core of the intensest coals. Becoming
instantly aware of what the thing was, he had my sister and me called,
and, pointing it out to us children, gave me a great box on the ears,
which caused me to howl and weep with all my might. Then he pacified me
good-humouredly, and spoke as follows: ‘My dear little boy, I am not
striking you for any wrong that you have done, but only to make you
remember that that lizard which you see in the fire is a salamander, a
creature which has never been seen before, by any one of whom we have
credible information.’ So saying, he kissed me, and gave me some pieces
of money.”

Even Topsell is half-hearted about its fire-resisting qualities, giving
no modern instances, and only, for it, quoting old authors. According to
his account, and to the picture which I have taken from him, the
Salamander is not a prepossessing-looking animal:--“The Salamander is
also foure-footed like a Lyzard, and all the body over it is set with
spots of blacke and yellow, yet is the sight of it abhominable, and
fearefull to man. The head of it is great, and sometimes they have
yellowish bellyes and tayles, and sometimes earthy.”

He also says its bite is not only poisonous, but incurable, and that it
poisons all it touches.




THE TOAD.


Toads were always considered venomous and spiteful, and they had but one
redeeming quality, which seems to be lost to its modern descendants:--

    “Sweet are the uses of adversity;
    Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
    Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.”

    (_As You Like It_, Act ii. sc. 1.)

Pliny says of these animals:--“Authors quite vie with one another in
relating marvellous stories about them; such, for instance, as that if
they are brought into the midst of a concourse of people, silence will
instantly prevail; as also that, by throwing into boiling water, a small
bone that is found in their right side, the vessel will immediately
cool, and the water refuse to boil again until it has been removed. This
bone, they say, may be found by exposing a dead toad to ants, and
letting them eat away the flesh; after which the bones must be put into
the vessel one by one.

“On the other hand, again, in the left side of this reptile there is
another bone, they say, which, when thrown into water, has all the
appearance of making it boil, and the name given to which is ‘apocynon’
(_averting dogs_). This bone it is said has the property of assuaging
the fury of dogs, and, if put in the drink, of conciliating love, and
ending discord and strife. Worn, too, as an amulet, it acts as an
aphrodisiac, we are told.”

Topsell writes so diffusely on the virtues of these “toad stones” that I
can only afford space for a portion of his remarks:--“There be many late
Writers, which doe affirme that there is a precious stone in the head of
a Toade, whose opinions (because they attribute much to the vertue of
this stone) is good to examine in this place.... There be many that
weare these stones in Ringes, beeing verily perswaded that they keepe
them from all manner of grypings and paines of the belly, and the small
guttes. But the Art, (as they term it) is in taking of it out, for they
say it must be taken out of the head alive, before the Toade be dead,
with a peece of cloth of the colour of redde Skarlet, wherewithall they
are much delighted, so that while they stretch out themselves as it were
in sport upon that cloth, they cast out the stone of their head, but
instantly they sup it up againe, unlesse it be taken from them through
some secrete hole in the said cloth, whereby it falleth into a cesterne
or vessell of water, into the which the Toade dare not enter, by reason
of the coldnes of the water....

“This stone is that which in auncient time was called _Batrachites_, and
they attribute unto it a vertue besides the former, namely, for the
breaking of the stone in the bladder, and against the Falling sicknes.
And they further write that it is a discoverer of present poyson, for in
the presence of poyson it will change the colour. And this is the
substaunce of that which is written about this stone. Now for my part I
dare not conclude either with it, or against it, for many are directlie
for this stone ingendered in the braine or head of the Toade: on the
other side, some confesse such a stone by name and nature, but they make
doubt of the generation of it, as others have delivered; and therefore,
they beeing in sundry opinions, the hearing whereof might confound the
Reader, I will referre him for his satisfaction unto a Toade, which hee
may easily every day kill: For although when the Toade is dead, the
vertue thereof be lost, which consisted in the eye, or blew spot in the
middle, yet the substance remaineth, and, if the stone be found there in
substance, then is the question at an end; but, if it be not, then must
the generation of it be sought for in some other place.”




THE LEECH.


The Leech has, from a very early age, been used as a means of letting
blood; but, among the old Romans, it had medicinal uses such as we know
not of now. It was used as a hair dye. Pliny gives two receipts for
making it, and it must have been powerful stuff, if we can believe his
authority:--“Leeches left to putrify for forty days in red wine, stain
the hair black. Others, again, recommend one sextarius of leeches to be
left to putrefy the same number of days in a leaden vessel, with two
sextarii of vinegar, the hair to be well rubbed with the mixture in the
sun. According to Sornatius this preparation is, naturally, so
penetrating, that if females, when they apply it, do not take the
precaution of keeping some oil in the mouth, the teeth, even, will
become blackened thereby.”

[Illustration]

Olaus Magnus gives us the accompanying picture of the luxurious man in
his arm-chair by the river-side, catching his own leeches, and suffering
from gnats; and also his far more prudent friend, who makes the
experiment on the vile body of his horse, and thus saves his own blood;
but he gives us no account of its habits and customs.




THE SCORPION.


Of the Scorpion, Pliny says:--“This animal is a dangerous scourge, and
has a venom like that of the serpent; with the exception that its
effects are far more painful, as the person who is stung will linger for
three days before death ensues. The sting is invariably fatal to
virgins, and nearly always so to matrons. It is so to men also, in the
morning, when the animal has issued from its hole in a fasting state,
and has not yet happened to discharge its poison by an accidental
stroke. The tail is always ready to strike, and ceases not for an
instant to menace, so that no opportunity may possibly be lost....

“In Scythia, the Scorpion is able to kill even the swine, with its
sting, an animal which, in general, is proof against poisons of this
kind in a remarkable degree. When stung, those swine which are black,
die more speedily than others, and more particularly if they happen to
throw themselves into the water. When a person has been stung, it is
generally supposed that he may be cured by drinking the ashes of the
Scorpion mixed with wine. It is the belief also that nothing is more
baneful to the Scorpion than to dip it in oil.... Some writers, too, are
of opinion that the Scorpion devours its offspring, and that the one
among the young which is most adroit avails itself of its sole mode of
escape, by placing itself on the back of the mother, and thus finding a
place where it is in safety from the tail and sting. The one that thus
escapes, they say, becomes the avenger of the rest, and, at last, taking
advantage of its elevated position, puts its parents to death.”

Topsell has some marvels to relate concerning the generation of
Scorpions:--“And it is reported by _Elianus_, that about _Estamenus_ in
India, there are abundance of Scorpions generated, onely by corrupt
raine water standing in that place. Also, out of the Baziliske beaten
into peeces, and so putrified, are Scorpions engendred. And when as one
had planted the herbe _Basilica_ on a wall, in the roome or place
thereof hee found two Scorpions. And some say that if a man chaw in his
mouth, fasting, this herbe Basill before he wash, and, afterwards, lay
the same abroade uncovered where no sun commeth at it for the space of
seaven nights, taking it in all the daytime, he shall at length find it
transmuted into a Scorpion, with a tayle of seaven knots.

“_Hollerius_, to take away all scruple of this thing, writeth that in
Italy, in his dayes, there was a man that had a Scorpion bredde in his
braine, by continuall smelling to this herbe Basil; and _Gesner_ by
relation of an Apothecary in Fraunce, writeth also a storie of a young
mayde, who by smelling to Basill, fell into an exceeding head-ach,
whereof she died without cure, and, after her death, beeing opened,
there were found little Scorpions in her braine.

“_Aristotle_ remembreth an herbe which he calleth _Sisimbriæ_, out of
which putrified Scorpions are engendered. And wee have showed already,
in the history of the Crocodile, that out of the Crocodile’s egges doe
many times come Scorpions, which at their first egression doe kill theyr
dam that hatched them.”

There is a curious legend, that if a Scorpion is surrounded by fire, so
that it cannot escape, it will commit suicide by stinging itself to
death.




THE ANT.


No one would credit the industrious Ant, whose ways we are told to
consider, and gather wisdom therefrom, was avaricious and lustful after
gold; but it seems it was even so, at least, in Pliny’s time; but then
they were abnormally large:--“The horns of an Indian Ant, suspended in
the temple of Hercules at Erythræ (_Ritri_) have been looked upon as
quite miraculous for their size. This ant excavates gold from holes, in
a country to the north of India, the inhabitants of which are known as
the Dardæ. It has the colour of a cat, and is in size as large as an
Egyptian wolf. This gold, which it extracts in the winter, is taken by
the Indians during the heats of summer, while the Ants are compelled, by
the excessive warmth, to hide themselves in their holes. Still, however,
on being aroused by catching the scent of the Indians, they sally forth,
and frequently tear them to pieces, though provided with the swiftest
Camels for the purpose of flight; so great is their fleetness, combined
with their ferocity, and their passion for gold!”




THE BEE.


The Busy Bee, too, according to Olaus Magnus, developed, in the regions
of the North, a peculiarity to which it seems a stranger with us, but
which might be encouraged, with beneficial effect, by the Temperance
Societies.

[Illustration]

The Bees infested drunkards, being drawn to them by the smell of the
liquor with which they had soaked their bodies, and stung them.




THE HORNET.


[Illustration]

So also, up North, they seem to have had a special breed of Hornets,
which must have been ferocious indeed, sparing neither man nor beast, as
is evidenced by the corpses, and by the extremely energetic efforts of
the yet living man to cope with his enemies.

[Illustration]




FOOTNOTES.


[1] Supposed to be Sumatra.

[2] γης κλειθρον, meaning the limit or boundary of the earth.

[3] The Gryphon must not be confounded with the Griffin, as will be seen
later on.

[4] The Roman cubit was eighteen inches, so that these men were nearly
eight feet high.

[5] From ἀπὸ τοῦ μονοῦ κώλου, “from having but one leg.”

[6] From Σκιαποῦς, “making a shadow with his foot.”

[7] See illustration, p. 9.

[8] Sparrow footed, from στροῦθος, a sparrow.

[9] Probably cotton.

[10] Or long livers, from μακρὸς, “long,” and βίος, “life.”

[11] A palm was three inches, so that these men would be eight feet
high.

[12] From Γυμνητὴς, one who takes much bodily exercise.

[13] Mirage.

[14] Other editions read _rough hair_.

[15] In Greek, Τοπάζω, means to guess, divine, or conjecture.

[16] Burn.

[17] Breast.

[18] At war.

[19] From τρεις, _three_, σπιθαμὰι, _spans_.

[20] Other editions say six or seven years.

[21] See his letters dated September 1888, which arrived in England
early in April 1889.

[22] Ox horns, horn cups.

[23] A lake between Macedonia and Thrace.

[24] The fishermen of lake Prasias still have lake dwellings as in the
time of Herodotus.

[25] The most abundant were the oyster, mussel, cockle, and periwinkle.

[26] Transactions of the Ethnological Society, 1866, vol. iv., p. 34.

[27] Thyrsi.

[28] The italics are mine.--J. A.

[29] From καταβλέπω, “to look downwards.”

[30] Spirals.

[31] Plaits.

[32] Taking the Ducat at 9s. 4½d., it would come to £37,000, but if this
were multiplied by three, the lowest computation of the value of money
then, and now, it would be worth considerably over £100,000.

[33] Another name for short--vide _Cutty pipe_--_Cutty sark_.

[34] “An unlicked cub” is a proverb which has sprung from this fable.
Aristotle was right when he said that bears when newly born were without
hair, and blind, but wrong in continuing “its legs, and almost all its
parts, are without joints.” Still, the popular idea that bears licked
their young into shape, lasted till very modern times, and still
survives in the proverb quoted. Shakespeare mentions it in 3 Henry VI.
iii. 2:--

    “Like to Chaos, or an unlick’d bear whelp,
    That carries no impression like the dam.”

And Chester, in his _Love’s Martyr_, speaking of the Bear, says--

    “Brings forth at first a thing that’s indigest,
    A lump of flesh without all fashion,
    Which she, by often licking brings to rest,
    Making a formal body, good and sound.
    Which often in this iland we have found.”

[35] This use of bear’s grease is about 1800 years old.

[36] From Λεοντοφονος, the Lion Killer.

[37] Written to prove that this plant was the Cotton-plant.

[38] Melons.

[39] Wonder at.

[40] Alluding to the Catoblepon (see ante, p. 85), and its power of
killing animals and human beings with its eye. This power does not seem
confined to animals, for Sir John Mandeville says:--“An other yle there
is northward where there are many evill and fell women, and they have
precious stones in their eies, and they have such kinde y^t if they
behold any man with wrath, they sley them of the beholding, as the
Basalisk doeth.”




INDEX.




[Illustration]

INDEX.


  Abarimon, _country of men with legs reversed_, 9.

  Acanthis, the, 70.

  Accursius, 147.

  Achillium. See _Sponges_.

  Ædonaus, 287.

  Ægipanæ, _a name for Satyrs_, 57.

  Ægithus, the, 70, 71.

  Ægopithecus, the, 55.

  Ælianus, 88, 93, 96, 148, 158, 212, 280, 331.

  Æsalon, the, 70.

  Æsculapius, 148.

  Ætolia, 280.

  Agatharcides, 10, 16.

  Aïnos, the, _a hairy people of Japan_, 50, 51.

  Albertus, 93, 100, 252.

  Albinos, 10.

  Alciatus, 65.

  Aldrovandus, 47, 48, 81, 97, 154, 170, 171, 172, 179, 180, 204, 228,
      256, 262, 270, 302, 317.

  Alexander, 146.

  Alumnus, 100.

  Amahut, _a tree_, 67.

  Amazons, 23;
    _their fate after their defeat by the Greeks_, 24, 25;
    _Sir John Mandeville’s account of them_, 25, 26;
    _called Medusæ_, 85.

  Ambergris, 222, 223.

  Anclorus, the, 148.

  Andrew, _an Italian_, 151.

  Androgyni, _tribe of_, 11.

  Animal lore, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71.

  Ant, the, 71, 112, 332.

  Antacæi (_whales without spinal bones_), 226.

  Antelope, the, 145, 146.

  Anthropophagi, 6, 9, 10, 18, 72.

  Anthus, the, 71.

  Anu, 80.

  Apes, 65, 66.

  Apocynon. See _The Toad_.

  Apollonides, 12.

  Apollonius, 58, 59.

  Archelaüs, 21.

  Archigene, 134.

  Arctopithecus, the, _or Bear-Ape_, 55, 66.

  Arimaspi, 8, 9.

  Aristotle, 71, 105, 148, 156, 199, 201, 203, 248, 253, 262, 268, 286,
      287, 323, 324, 331.

  Artemidorus, 16.

  Asbestos. See _Salamander_.

  Astomi, _a people with no mouths, and who subsist by smell_, 15.

  Ass, the, 70.

  Ass, the Indian, 88.

  Ass, the wild, 68.

  Atergatis, 209.

  Athenæus, 86.

  Ausonius, 64.

  Avicen, 72, 287.


  B.

  Baboons, 62.

  Bacchantes, 80.

  Bacchæ, _a name for Satyrs_, 56.

  Baffin, 245.

  Balæna, the, 239, 240.

  Barnacle Goose, the, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179.

  Bartlemew de Glanville, 231.

  Basilisk, 156, 317, 318, 319, 321, 331.

  Batrachites. See _The Toad_.

  Bear, the, 68, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114,
      115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 148.

  Bear-Ape. See _Arctopithecus_.

  Bee, the, 112, 113, 332, 333.

  Beeton, 10.

  Bekenhawh, 189.

  Bellonius, Petrus, 96.

  Berosus, 79, 206.

  Bevis of Hampton, 158.

  Bird, Miss, 50.

  Birds, peculiarities of, 204, 206.

  Bishop-fish, the, 228, 230.

  Boar, the wild, 69, 111, 139.

  Boas, the, 289, 290, 291.

  Bolindinata. See _Bird of Paradise_.

  Boloma, the. See _Dog-fish_.

  Bonosa, the, 193.

  Bœothius, 228.

  Borometz, the. See _Lamb Tree_.

  Boscawen, W. St. Chad, 78.

  Brazavolus, 94.

  Bugil, the, 84.

  Bull, the, _and Bears_, 109;
    _and Wolves_, 137.

  Bustard, the, 148.


  C.

  Cadamustus, Aloisius, 278.

  Cadmus, 64, 65.

  Cæsar, Julius, 46, 47, 148.

  Calf and Wolves, 137.

  Calingæ, _a tribe of India whose women conceive at the age of five
      years and die at eight_, 17.

  Callimachus, 285.

  Calliphanes, 11.

  Cambden, Mr., 144.

  Camden, 177.

  Camel, the, 148.

  _Canis Lucernarius_, 150, 151.

  Cardanus, Hieronimus, 53, 226, 287, 291, 305.

  Cartazonon. See _Unicorn_.

  Carthier, Jacques, 237.

  Cat, the, 154, 155, 156.

  Caterpillar, the, 71.

  Catharcludi, _a tribe in India_, 14.

  Catableponta, _name for Gorgon_, 84, 85, 318.

  Cattle, _curious_, 23.

  Cebi, the, 57.

  Cellini, Benvenuto, 325, 326.

  Centaurs, 65, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83.

  Cephus, the, 74.

  Cercopithecus, the, 52, 53.

  Cetum Capillatum vel Crinitum. See _Whale, Hairy_.

  Chameleon, the, 163.

  Chimæra, the, 64, 170, 171.

  Chiron, _the Centaur_, 79.

  Chloræus, the, 69.

  Choromandæ, _a nation without a proper voice_, 15.

  Christie, Mr., _on Palæolithic remains_, 39.

  Cicero, 12.

  Circhos, the, 247.

  Claudius, Emperor. See _Orca_.

  Clayks. See _Barnacle Geese_.

  Clement, Pope, 96.

  Clitarchus, 16.

  Cock, the, 156, 157.

  Cock with serpent’s tail, 204, 205.

  Cockatrice, the, 85, 317, 319, 320, 321, 322.

  Cœlius, 77.

  Condor, the, 183.

  Conger Eel, the, 262.

  Corocotta, the, 72.

  Couret, M. de, 5.

  Crab, the, 129, 267, 268.

  Crane, the, 203.

  Crannoges, 41.

  Crates of Pergamus, 10, 17.

  Crawford, John, 49.

  Crayfish, 267.

  Cristotinius. See _Lamia_.

  Crocodile, the, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317.

  Crocotta, the, 159.

  Cronos, or Hea, 79.

  Crow, the, 70, 129, 130, 131.

  Ctesias, 4, 14, 16, 71.

  Cuvier, 185.

  Cyclops, 7, 65.

  Cynocephalus, the, 55, 56, 63.

  Cyrni, the, _who live 400 years_, 15.


  D.

  Dædalus, H.M.S., 274, 275, 276.

  Dagon, 209.

  Damon, 12.

  Darwin, _Descent of Man_, 1;
    _Tailed men_, 4;
    _Shell-fish middens in Tierra del Fuego_, 42.

  Davis, Barnard, 50.

  De Barri, Gerald, 174.

  Deer and Bears, 109.

  De Leo, Ronzo, 31.

  Demetrius, 121, 237.

  Democritus, 131, 285, 306.

  Denbigh Worme, the. See _Dragons_.

  Descent of Man, 1.

  De Thaun, Philip, 91.

  De Veer, Gerat, 177.

  Devil Whale, the. See _Trol Whale_.

  Dingo, the, 126.

  _Dinornis Giganteus._ See _Moa_.

  Dion, 77.

  Dog, the, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154.

  Dog-fish, the, 255.

  Dog, _the Mimic or Getulian_, 150, 151.

  Dolphin, the, 242, 243.

  Dordogne, _Palæolithic remains in caves at_, 39.

  Dormouse, the, 67.

  Draco, 64.

  Dracontopides. See _Dragons_.

  Dragon, the, 158, 162, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301,
      302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311.

  Drake, Sir Francis, 177.

  Du Bartas, 74, 168, 169, 179, 185, 186, 200, 202, 225, 230, 231,
      243, 319.

  Duck, the, 70;
    _four-footed_, 203.

  Dugong, the, 213.

  Duret, Claude, 166.

  Dwarfs, _with no mouth_, 19;
    _mentioned in the Bible_, 26;
    _Homer and the pygmies--battle with the Cranes_, 26, 27, 28;
    _only twenty-seven inches high_, 28;
    _their age_, 28;
    _Spurious pygmies_, 28;
    _Northern dwarfs_, 29;
    _in America_, 29, 30, 31;
    _African dwarfs_, 31, 32;
    _their acuteness_, 33.


  E.

  Eagle, the, 69, 70.

  Eale, the, 159, 160.

  Echeneis, the. See _Remora_.

  Edmund, St., 139, 140.

  Eels, _thirty feet long_, 18.

  Egede, Hans, 270.

  Egemon, 280.

  Egg, Remarkable, 179, 180.

  Ehannum. See _Lamia_.

  Eigi-einhamir. See _Were Wolves_.

  Elephant, the, 100, 147, 163, 310, 311.

  Elpis, 158.

  Embarus, 123.

  Emin Pacha, 32.

  Empusæ. See _Lamia_.

  Enchanters, _families of_, 11.

  _Epyornis maximus_, 183.

  Ethiopia, _wonders of_, 13.

  Eudoxus, 15.

  Euryale, 85.


  F.

  Fabricius, George, 61.

  Falisci, or Hirpi, _a tribe unharmed by fire_, 12.

  Farnesius, 90.

  Fauns, 5, 56, 57, 60.

  Ferrerius, Joannes, 95.

  Fincelius, 146.

  Fish, curious, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253.

  Fish, senses of, 258, 259.

  Flavianus, 243.

  Florentinus, 287.

  Footless birds. See _Apodes_.

  Formicæ Lions, 58.

  Fox, the, 68, 70, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134.

  Fridlevus, 293, 294.

  Frobisher, Sir Martin, 245.

  Frog, the, 68.

  Frotho, 293.


  G.

  Gækwar of Baroda, 129.

  Gambarus, the, 244.

  Gazelle, the, 67.

  Geese, two-headed wild, 203.

  Gellius, or Gyllius, Aulus, 158, 281, 302.

  Geryon, 64.

  Geskleithron, _dwelling of one-eyed men_, 8.

  Gesner, 52, 97, 127, 179, 203, 212, 217, 226, 228, 229, 231, 233, 236,
      244, 256, 262, 269, 305, 306, 312, 331.

  Getulian Dog, the, 150, 151.

  Giants, 13, 16, 17, 32;
    _their stupidity_, 33;
    _their sobriety_, 33;
    _Starchaterus Thavestus_, 33, 34, 35, 36;
    _Giants mentioned in the Bible_, 36;
    _height of Adam, &c._, 37;
    _Gabbaras_, 37;
    _Posio and Secundilla_, 37;
    _Sir John Mandeville’s giants_, 37, 38.

  Gibson, Edmund, 177.

  Giraldus Cambrensis, 77, 174, 175.

  Gisbertus Germanus, 227, 228.

  Gizdhubar, 78, 79, 80.

  Glutton, the. See _Gulo_.

  Goat, the, 128, 136.

  Goblerus, Justinus, 306.

  Gorgon, the, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87.

  Gorgon blepen, _sharp-sighted persons_, 86.

  Gould, Rev. S. Baring, 141.

  Grevinus, 302.

  Griffins, 8, 180, 181, 182, 183.

  Gryphons, 8, 9, 181.

  Guenon, the. See _Haut_.

  Guillim, 89, 189.

  Gulielmus Musicus, 305.

  Gulo, the, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105.

  Guy, Earl of Warwick, 157.

  Gymnetæ, _who live a hundred years_, 16.


  H.

  Haafisch, the. See _Dog-fish_.

  Haarwal, the. See _Whale, Hairy_.

  Hakluyt, 237, 245.

  Halcyon, the, 199, 200.

  Hanno, 86.

  Harald, King, 307, 308.

  Hare, the, 68, 128.

  Harmona, 64.

  Harpe, the, _a falcon_, 70.

  Harpy, the, 171, 172.

  Hauser, Caspar, _a wild man_, 45.

  Haut or Hauti, the, 66, 67.

  Hawkins, Thos., 301, 302.

  Hea, 79, 206, 207, 208, 209.

  Hea-bani, 79, 80.

  Hedgehog, the, 69, 111, 128.

  Hegesidemus, 243.

  Helcus, the. See _Sea Calf_.

  Helen, 286.

  Helladice, 208.

  Hens, Woolly, 202.

  Hentzner, Paul, 93.

  Hermias, 243.

  Herodotus, 8, 21, 23, 39, 140, 160, 226.

  Heron, the, 70.

  Hesiodus, 85.

  Hippocentaur, the, 59.

  Hippopotamus, the, 161, 312.

  Hirpi, or Falisci, _a tribe unharmed by fire_, 12.

  Hollerius, 331.

  Homer, 75.

  Hoopoe, the, 196.

  Hornet, the, 333, 334.

  Horse, the, 112, 138, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150.

  Horstius, 227.

  Hyæna, the, 74, 132.

  Hydra, 64, 291, 292.

  Hydrophobia, 152, 153.


  I.

  Ibis, the, 161.

  Ichneumon, the, 70, 202, 315, 316.

  Ichthyo Centaurus, the, 212.

  Ierom, Saint, 59.

  Illyrii, _a tribe having fascination in their eyes_, 12.

  Incubi, 60.

  India, _Wonders of_, 13.

  Isodorus, 100.

  Isogonus of Nicæa, 10, 11, 12, 15.

  Istar, 80.


  J.

  James IV. and VI. of Scotland, 88.

  Jeduah, the. See _Lamb Tree_.

  Jerff. See _Gulo_.

  Jocasta, 65.

  Jochanan, Rabbi, 166.

  Johnöen, Lars, 273.

  Jovius, Paulus, 237.

  Juba, 21.

  Jugurtha, 86.


  K.

  Khumbaba, 79.

  Kingfisher. See _Halcyon_.

  Kite, the, 69.

  Kjökkenmöddings, 41, 42, 43, 44.

  Kraken, the, 244, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 292.


  L.

  Lacus insanus, 23.

  Laius, 65.

  Lake dwellings, 39, 40, 41.

  La Madelaine, _Palæolithic remains at_, 39.

  Lamb tree, the, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170.

  Lambri, _Kingdom of_, 5.

  Lambton Worme, the. See _Dragons_.

  Lamia, the, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78.

  Lane, Mr., 218.

  Langa, the, 225.

  Lapithæ, 80.

  Lapwing, the, 196, 197.

  Lee, Henry, 165, 292.

  Leech, the, 329, 330.

  Lemnius, Levinus, 320.

  Lenormant, M., 208.

  Leone, Giovanni, 198, 201.

  Leonine Monster, a, 227.

  Leontophonus, the, 158.

  Leontopithecus, the, 55.

  Leopard, the, 138.

  Leucrocotta, the (see also _Manticora_), 159, 160.

  Leviathan, 218.

  Licetus, 173, 179.

  Licosthenes, 81, 146, 180.

  Lilith. See _Lamia_.

  Linton Worme, the. See _Dragons_.

  Lion, the, 71, 88, 156, 157, 158, 159.

  Livingstone, Dr., 31.

  Livy, 9.

  Lizards, flying, 302.

  Lotophagi, _Cattle of_, 160.

  Loup-garou. See _Were Wolf_.

  Lucanus, 322.

  Lucretius, 157.

  Lycanthropy. See _Were Wolf_.

  Lycaon. See _Were Wolf_.

  Lynx, the, 129, 159.


  M.

  Machlyæ, _the tribe of, are androgynous_, 11.

  Maclean, Rev. --, 271.

  Macrobii, _people who live four hundred years_, 15, 16.

  M‘Quhæ, Capt., 274, 275, 276.

  Magalhaen, 190.

  Magnus, Olaus, 29, 33, 104, 108, 127, 141, 176, 182, 187, 188, 194,
      214, 219, 221, 223, 227, 231, 232, 233, 236, 237, 241, 244, 245,
      251, 255, 256, 260, 262, 264, 266, 269, 285, 293, 329, 332.

  Manatee, 213.

  Mandeville, Sir John, 17, 21, 25, 28, 37, 169, 175, 181, 202, 249,
      312, 318.

  Mandi, _who live on locusts_, 16.

  Mandragora, 112.

  Man-fish, 212, 213, 231.

  Mani. See _Sponges_.

  Manilius, Senator, 184.

  Manticora, the, 71, 72, 73, 74, 159.

  Maphoon, _a hairy woman_, 49, 50.

  Mappa Mundi, 7, 17.

  Marcellinus, 134.

  Marcellus, 131, 133, 134, 140, 144, 174.

  Marco Polo, 5, 28, 100, 182, 249, 324, 325.

  Maricomorion, the. See _Manticora_.

  Marion, the. See _Manticora_.

  Marius, 86.

  Marsi, _the tribe of_, 11.

  Martlet, the, 189, 190.

  Mechovita, 102, 237.

  Megasthenes, 14, 15, 16.

  Meir, Rabbi, 167.

  Men, _tailed_, 4, 5, 17;
    _one-eyed_, 8, 18;
    _with legs reversed_, 9;
    _with sea-green eyes_, 10, 15;
    _with white hair_, 10, 14, 16;
    _eat every other day_, 10;
    _those whose touch cures the sting of serpents_, 10;
    _saliva cures ditto_, 10;
    _testing the fidelity of wives by means of serpents_, 11;
    _possessing both sexes_, 11;
    _families of enchanters_, 11;
    _with the power of fascination in their eyes_, 12;
    _with two pupils in each eye_, 12;
    _whose bodies will not sink in water_, 12;
    _whose perspiration causes consumption_, 12;
    _the glance of women with double pupils in their eyes
        is noxious_, 12;
    _Indians never expectorate, and are subject to no pains_, 13;
    _Men eight feet high_, 13, 16;
    _with feet turned backwards, and eight toes_, 14;
    _with heads of dogs_, 14;
    _Women only pregnant once in their lives_, 14, 16;
    _Men with one leg_, 14, 20;
    _whose feet shade them from the sun_, 14, 20;
    _without necks, and eyes in their shoulders_, 14, 19;
    _large and small feet_, 15;
    _with holes in their faces instead of nostrils,
        and flexible feet_, 15;
    _with no mouths, who subsist by smell_, 15;
    _who live 400 years_, 15;
    _living on vipers_, 16;
    _with no shadow_, 16;
    _live to 130 years and never seem to get old_, 16;
    _who live 200 years_, 16;
    _do not live over 40 years_, 16;
    _who live on locusts_, 16;
    _Women bear children at seven years of age_, 16;
    _Women conceive at five years of age and die in their
        eighth year_, 17;
    _Men with ears which cover their bodies_, 17;
    _twelve feet high_, 17;
    _live on baboon’s milk_, 17;
    _green and yellow_, 18;
    _Men eating each other_, 18;
    _without eyes or nose_, 19;
    _with mouths in their shoulders_, 19;
    _cover their faces with their lips_, 19;
    _Dwarfs with no mouth_, 19;
    _with ears to their shoulders_, 19;
    _with horses’ feet_, 19;
    _go on all fours_, 19;
    _go on their knees_, 19;
    _live by the smell of wild apples_, 19;
    _covered with feathers_, 20;
    _Elephant-headed men_, 20;
    _feed on serpents and lizards_, 21;
    _Amazons_, 23, 24, 25, 26;
    _Pygmies_, 26;
    _their height_, 28;
    _Early men_, 38;
    _their skulls_, 38;
    _the Stone Age_, 38;
    _Bronze and Iron Ages_, 39;
    _Palæolithic remains in caves_, 39;
    _the Lake men_, 39;
    _early mention of them_, 39;
    _their food_, 41;
    _Kitchen middens_, 41;
    _their wide range_, 41;
    _Shell-fish middens in Tierra del Fuego_, 42, 43;
    _Danish middens_, 44;
    _Wild men_, 41;
    _Ancient Britons_, 46, 47;
    _Hairy men_, 47, 49, 50, 51;
    _Julia Pastrana_, 47;
    _Puella pilosa of Aldrovandus_, 47, 48;
    _Hairy people at Ava_, 49, 50;
    _the Aïnos of Japan_, 50, 51;
    _Moon Woman_, 180.

  Menippus, 74, 75, 76, 152.

  Menismini, _who live on baboon’s milk_, 17.

  Mentor, 158.

  Mercuriall, 320.

  Mermen and Mermaids, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214.

  Meryx, the, 253.

  Midas, 58.

  Milo, Titus Annius, 251.

  Milroy, General, 30.

  Milton, 8, 218.

  Mimick Dog, the, 150, 151.

  Mirage, 17.

  Moa, the, 181, 183.

  Mole, the, 68.

  Monboddo, Lord, 5.

  Monk-fish, the, 228, 229.

  Monoceros. See _Unicorn_, also _Narwhal_.

  Monocoli, _people having but one leg_, 14.

  Monster, a, 173.

  Moon Woman, 180.

  Mormolicæ. See _Lamia_.

  Morse, the. See _Walrus_.

  Moses Chusensis, 166.

  Mucianus, 253.

  Müenster, Sebastian, 177.

  Murex, the, 253, 254.

  Musculus, the, 226.

  Myrepsus, 132, 134.


  N.

  Narwhal, the, 244, 245.

  Nasomenes, _the tribe of_, 11.

  Nebuchadnezzar, 78.

  Nemæan Lion, 64.

  Nereids, 210.

  Niam Niams, 5.

  Nicander, 302.

  Nisus, the, 70.

  Nymphæ, _a name for Satyrs_, 57.

  Nymphodorus, 11.


  O.

  Oannes, _or Hea_, 206, 207, 208, 209.

  Obadja, Rabbi, 167.

  Octopus. See _Kraken_.

  Odoricus, Friar, 170, 175.

  Œdipus, 64, 65.

  Olaus Magnus. See _Magnus, O._

  Onisecritus, 16.

  Onocentaur, the, 56, 83.

  Ophiogenes, 10.

  Oppianus, 99, 119.

  Orca, the, 239, 240, 241.

  _Osborne_, the Royal Yacht, 276, 277.

  Ostridge or Estridge, 148, 197, 198.

  Ouran Outan, the, 51, 52.

  Ourani Outanis, 4.

  Ovid, 140.

  Owl, the, 70.

  Oxen and Wolves, 137, 138.


  P.

  Pan, the, _a satyr_, 55, 57.

  Pan, the Sea, 212.

  Pandore, _live two hundred years_, 16.

  Panther, the, 162.

  Paradise, Birds of, 190, 191.

  Parkinson, John, 168.

  Pastrana, Julia, _a hairy woman_, 47.

  Pausanias, 65.

  Pelican, the, 200, 201.

  Pegasus, the, 159.

  Pergannes, 16.

  Peter, the wild boy, 45.

  Peter Martyr, 4.

  Petronius, 140.

  Phalangium, the, 68, 70, 161.

  Pharnaces, _a tribe whose perspiration causes consumption_, 12.

  Philostratus, 58.

  Phœnix, the, 183, 184, 185, 186.

  Pholus, _the Centaur_, 80.

  Phylarcus, 12.

  Physeter, the, 215, 216, 217.

  Pierius, 302.

  Pitan, _a tribe living on the smell of wild apples_, 19.

  Pithocaris, 139.

  Plato, 194.

  Plesiosaurus, the, 300, 301.

  Pliny, 5, 7, 8, 9, 17, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 53, 57, 67, 72, 81, 86, 87,
      88, 105, 124, 127, 131, 133, 140, 148, 158, 161, 183, 193, 198,
      199, 204, 210, 239, 242, 251, 253, 256, 264, 267, 285, 286, 287,
      288, 306, 313, 318, 324, 327, 329, 330, 332.

  Plutarch, 151, 281.

  Polydamna, 286.

  Polypus, the. See _Kraken_.

  Poæius, Paulus, 95.

  Pomponius, Mela, 140.

  Pontoppidan, Erik, 261, 270.

  Ponzettus, 154.

  Pope, Alex., 26.

  Postdenius, 282.

  Prister, the, 215, 220.

  Psylli, _a race whose saliva cures the sting of serpents_, 10.

  Pterodactyl, the, 302.

  Ptolemy, 5.

  Ptolemy, King, 151.

  Purchas, _his Pilgrimage_, 29, 177.

  Pygmies. See _Dwarfs_.

  Pygmæogeranomachia, _a poem on the battle between the Pygmies
      and the Cranes_, 26.

  Pyrallis, the, 70. See also _Salamander_.

  Pyrausta. See _Salamander_.

  Pyrrhus, King, _His right great toe cured diseases of the spleen_, 13.


  R.

  Rabbit, the, 68.

  Rasis, 156.

  Raven, the, 69, 70, 163.

  Ravenna, _Monster at_, 173, 174.

  Ravisius, Textor, 180.

  Ray, the, 255.

  Rayn, the, 197.

  Regnerus, 294, 295.

  _Reineke Fuchs_, 126.

  Remora, the, 253, 254.

  Rhinoceros, 89, 97, 98, 99, 100.

  Robinson, Phil, 129.

  Rodocanakis, 188, 189.

  Rondeletius, 227.

  Rosmarus, the. See _Walrus_.

  Rossamaka, the. See _Gulo_.

  Ruc, Rukh, or Rok. See _Griffin_.


  S.

  Sahab, the, 247.

  St. John, Mr., 5.

  Salamander, 323, 324, 325, 326.

  Salusbury, John, 300.

  Sargon, 209, 268.

  Satyr, the, 14.

  Satyr, _the classical_, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60.

  Satyrs, 55, 56, 61, 62.

  Saw Fish, the, 239.

  Saxo, 33, 34, 177.

  Scaliger, 131, 317, 321.

  Scarus, the, 253.

  Schilt-bergerus, 284.

  Sciapodæ, _men whose feet shade them from the sun_, 14.

  Scirti, _a name for Satyrs_, 57.

  Scorpion, the, 69, 330, 331, 332.

  Scott, Sir Walter, 270, 271.

  Scyritæ, _a tribe in India with holes in their faces instead of
      nostrils, and flexible feet_, 15.

  Sea Animals, various, 231.

  Sea Calves, 116, 232, 233.

  Sea-Cow, the, 232.

  Sea Demon, 212.

  Sea Dragon, the, 256.

  Sea Hare, 132, 234.

  Sea-Horse, the, 233, 234.

  Seamew, the, 70.

  Sea-Mouse, the, 234.

  Sea-Nettle, the, 259, 260.

  Sea-Pig, the, 235.

  Sea Rhinoceros, the. See _Narwhal_.

  Sea Satyr, 212.

  Sea Serpent, the, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277.

  Sea Unicorn, the. See _Narwhal_.

  Seal, the. See _Sea Calves_.

  Segonius, 321.

  Seneca, 313.

  Sennacherib, 209.

  Seræ, _who live four hundred years_, 15.

  Serpeda de Aqua, 291.

  Serpents, _bite of, cured by men’s saliva_, 10;
    _ditto by odour of men_, 11;
    _test of fidelity of wives_, 11;
    _destroy strangers_, 69;
    _war with Weasels and Swine_, 70;
    _killed by Spiders_, 71;
    _and Cats_, 154, 155, 156;
    _and Mice_, 156;
    _and Lions_, 156;
    _cure for bite of_, 161;
    _take medicine_, 162;
    _the Indian, a kind of whale_, 226, 227;
    _and Crabs_, 267, 268;
    _charming them_, 278, 279;
    _their loves_, 280, 281;
    _talking_, 281;
    _size_, 281, 282;
    _their coldness_, 283, 284;
    _pugnacity_, 284, 285;
    _their antipathies_, 285, 286, 287;
    _as medicine_, 288, 289.

  Servius, 171.

  Sextus, 134, 138.

  Shrew mouse, the, 68, 70.

  Shu-Maon, _a hairy man_, 49.

  Sicinnis, Sicinnistæ, _a name for Satyrs_, 57.

  Sidetes, 140.

  Sileni, _a name for Satyrs_, 56, 57.

  Simeon, Rabbi, 166, 167, 168.

  Simia Satyrus, the, 52, 53, 54, 56.

  Simiinæ, the, 51.

  Simocatus, 286.

  Sindbad the Sailor, 218.

  Siren, the, 172, 173.

  Sluper, John, 7, 45, 65, 229.

  Snow Birds, 191, 192, 193.

  Solinus, 58, 313.

  Solyman, Sultan, 96.

  Somerville, Sir John, 298, 299, 300.

  Sow, 135, 136.

  Spenser, 88, 158, 312.

  Spermaceti Whale, the, 222.

  Sphyngium, the, 53.

  Sphynx or Sphynga, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 159.

  Spider, the, 69, 70, 71.

  Sponges, 260, 261.

  Spratt, 171.

  Stag, the, 68, 69, 163.

  Stanley, H. M., 31, 32.

  Starchaterus Thavestus, _a giant_, 33, 34, 35.

  Steingo, _a name for a Gorgon_, 85.

  Stheno, 85.

  Sting-ray, the, 256, 257.

  Stork, the, 162, 200, 201.

  Stow, John, 231.

  Strabo, 314.

  Struthpodes, _a tribe with small feet_, 15.

  Stumpsius, 308.

  Su, the, 163, 164, 165.

  Suidas, 65, 146.

  Swallow, the, 161, 186, 187, 188, 189.

  Swamfisck, the, 245, 246, 247.

  Swan, the, 69, 193, 194.

  Swine, 70, 148, 156.

  Swordfish, the, 238, 239.

  Sylla, 58.

  Syrbotæ, _men twelve feet high_, 17.


  T.

  Tantalus apples, 75.

  Tauron, 15.

  Tavernier, 191.

  Tennent, Sir J. E., 213.

  Teüfelwal, the. See _Trol Whale_.

  Thenestus, 163.

  Theophrastus, 106, 118, 119.

  Thibii, _a tribe having two pupils to each eye_, 12.

  Thos, the, 71.

  Thresher-Whale, the. See _Orca_.

  Tiles, _shower of baked_, 251.

  Toad, the, 326, 327, 328.

  Topazos, _a beautiful stone_, 21, 22.

  Topsell, Edward, 53, 55, 66, 74, 83, 91, 92, 94, 97, 99, 104, 127,
      131, 145, 146, 154, 163, 270, 278, 282, 288, 289, 291, 302, 306,
      308, 312, 313, 317, 325, 326, 327, 331.

  Tortoise, the, 161.

  Traconyt, _a beautiful stone_, 21.

  Tragi. See _Sponges_.

  Tranquillus, 147.

  Trebius, the, 252.

  Trebius Niger, 254, 264, 266.

  Triballi, _a tribe having the power of fascination with their
      eyes_, 12.

  Triorchis, the, _a hawk_, 70.

  Trispithami, _a race three spans high_, 27.

  Trithemius, 144.

  Tritons, 65, 210.

  Trochilus, the, 70, 201, 202.

  Troglodytæ, _dwellers in caves_, 14;
    _their swiftness_, 17;
    _their remains_, 20;
    _feed on serpents and lizards_, 21;
    _their commerce_, 22.

  Trol Whale, the, 217.

  Trygon, the. See _Sting-ray_.

  Turtles, _horned_, 23.

  Turtle-dove, the, 70.

  Tytiri, _a name for Satyrs_, 56.

  Tzetzes, 93.


  U.

  Unicorn, the, 74, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97.
    See also _Rhinoceros_.

  Urchin, the, 128.


  V.

  Valentyn, 213.

  Varinus, 64.

  Varro, 10.

  Versipellis. See _Were Wolves_.

  Vespasian, 151.

  Vielfras, the. See _Gulo_.

  Villanonanus, Arnoldus, 287.

  Vipers, _flesh of, causing longevity_, 16.

  Virgil, 140.

  Vishnu, 209.

  Volateran, 282.


  W.

  Wallace, A. R., 52.

  Walrus, the, 235, 236, 237, 238.

  Wantley, Dragon of. See _Dragons_.

  Wasp, the, 70.

  Weasel, the, 68, 70, 163.

  Webbe, Edward, 250.

  Webber, _Romance of Natural History_, 30.

  Were Wolves, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144.

  Whale, the, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224,
      225, 226, 227.

  Whale, _the hairy_, 226.

  Whaup, the. See _Lapwing_.

  Whirlpool, the, 215, 220.

  Williams, Edward, 189.

  Woodcock, the, 69.

  Wolf, the, 68, 131, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 148.

  Wolff, G. E., 31.

  Wolverine, the. See _Gulo_.

  Wood, E. J., _book on Giants and Dwarfs_, 29.

  Wood, W. Martin, 50.

  “Wormes.” See _Dragons_.


  X.

  Xenophon, 86.


  Y.

  Youle, Captain Henry, 49.


  Z.

  Zahn, Joannes, 4, 144, 165, 173, 248.

  Zaidu, 79.

  Zebra, 146, 147.

  Ziphius, the, 238, 239.

  Zoophytes, 259, 260.




THE END.

PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON.




Transcriber's Notes.

Punctuation has been standardised, and simple typographical errors have
been repaired. Hyphenation, quotation mark usage, and obsolete/variant
spelling have been preserved as printed. Characters printed superscript
in the original book are here preceded by the caret symbol.

Page 62, beasts => breasts (having the breasts of women)

Page 87, eartd => earth (downeward to the earth)

Page 135, nor => not (for they spare not man nor beast)

Page 141, Greeks => Greek (from two Greek words)

Page 230, tiltre => titre (hōneur et titre)

Page 262, added "the" (On the next page is a huge calamary)

Page 337, Abamiron => Abarimon

Page 340, Gaekwar => Gækwar





End of Project Gutenberg's Curious Creatures in Zoology, by John Ashton