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"The wicked borrowcHi
and returnerti not again."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE.

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

CURIOUS
/ CREATURES

ZOOLOGY

LONDON
JOHN C. NIMMO

1 4, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND
1890

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.

2043624

vi P REPACK.

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 unprofit-
able 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 super-
ficial 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-Ser-
pents, 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

PREFACE. vii

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.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTORY

THE GORGON

AMAZONS

• 23

THE UNICORN

PYGMIES

. 26

THE RHINOCEROS .

GIANTS

THE GULO .

101

EARLY MEN .

• 38

THE BEAR .

I05

WILD MEN .

THE FOX

125

HAIRY MEN .

THE WOLF .

134

THE OURAN OUTAN

• 5i

WERE-WOLVES

140

SATYRS

• 55

THE ANTELOPE .

THE SPHYNX

THE HORSE .

146

APES .

• 65

THE MIMICK DOG

15°

ANIMAL LORE

. 67

THE CAT

J54

THE MANTICORA .

• 7i

THE LION .

,56

THE LAMIA .

THE LEONTOPHONUS—

THE CENTAUR

. 78

PEGASUS— CROCOTTA

i57

THE LEUCROCOTTA — THE
EALE— CATTLE FEED
ING BACKWARDS
ANIMAL MEDICINE
THE SU

THE LAMB-TREE .
THE CHIMERA

THE HARPY AND SIREN 171
THE BARNACLE GOOSE
REMARKABLE EGG
MOON WOMAN
THE GRIFFIN
THE PH(EN1X
THE SWALLOW
THE MARTLET, AND FOOT-
LESS BIRDS .
SNOW BIRDS
THE SWAN .

THE ALLE, ALLE .

THE HOOPOE AND LAI
WING

THE OSTRICH

THE HALCYON

THE PELICAN

THE TROCHILUS .

WOOLLY HENS

CONTENTS.

FACE

I AGI.

TWO-HEADED WILD

GEESE .

203

'59

FOUR-FOOTED DUCK

203

. 160

FISH ....

206

'63

MERMEN

206

165

WHALES

214

170

THE SEA-MOUSE .

234

M 171

THE SEA-HARE .

234

174

THE SEA-PIG

235

' 179

THE WALRUS

235

. 1 80

THE ZIPHIUS

238

ISO

THE SAW FISH

239

I83

THE ORCA .

239

. 186

THE DOLPHIN

242

T-

THE NARWHAL

244

. I89

THE SWAMFISCK .

245

191

THE SAHAB .

247

193

THE CIRCHOS

247

194

THE REMORA

253

P-

THE DOG-FISH AND RAY

255

196

THE SEA DRAGON

256

'97

THE STING RAY .

256

199

SENSES OF FISHES

258

. 200

ZOOPHYTES .

259

201

SPONGES

260

202

THF. KRAKEN

26l

CONTENTS.

PAGE

CRAYFISH AND CRABS .

267

THE SALAMANDER

• 323

THE SEA-SERPENT

268

THE TOAD .

326

SERPENTS .

278

THE LEECH .

• 329

WORMES AND DRAGONS

293

THE SCORPION

• 330

THE CROCODILE .

THE ANT

• 332

THE BASILISK AND

THE BEE

• 332

COCKATRICE .

31?

THE HORNET

333

INDEX

33 5

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 larvae 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

t CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 re-
lated 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 Lemuridee ; and
the interval is not wide from these to the Simiadae.
The Simiadae 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 pro-
genitors 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 3

the Quadrumana. . . . The foot, judging from the great
toe in the foetus, was then prehensile ; and our pro-
genitors, no doubt, were arboreal in their habits, fre-
quenting 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."

The accompanying illustration, which seems to embody

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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."

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 cer-
tainly 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 In-
zaganin, 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.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 5

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 l 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 per-
forated 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, aesthetic young
Fauns, treading out the vintage.

But tailed men are as nothing, compared to the won-
derful beings that peopled the earth in bygone times.

1 Supposed to be Sumatra.

6 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 7

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.

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 ceil selon ceste figure."

Pliny places the Cyclopes " in the very centre of the

8 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Maeotis, 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,1 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,2 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."

1 rnt K\ei6pov, meaning the limit or boundary of the earth.
* The Gryphon must not be confounded with the Griffin, as will be seen
later on.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 9

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 pur-
pose, 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.

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 in-
habitants of which are a savage race, whose feet are
turned backwards, relatively to their legs ; they possess
wonderful velocity, and wander about indiscriminately

,0 CURIOUS CREATURES.

with the wild beasts. We learn from Bceton, 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 men-
tioned as dwelling ten days' journey beyond the Borys-
thenes (the Dneiper), according to the account of
Isogonus of Nicaea, 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 (sl/binos), and that these people see better
in the night than in the day. He states also that the
Sauromatae, 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 toivn 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 indi-
viduals 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. n

(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 Sidrd),
and the Machlyae, 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 indivi-
dual, 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

12 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Bythiae, and Phylarcus states
that a tribe of the Thibii in Pontus, and many other per-
sons 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 ./Ethiopia, 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 pro-
duced 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 13

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 Ethiopia, 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.1 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 ;

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

i4 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 back-
wards, 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,1 who have only one
leg, but are able to leap with surprising agility. The
same people are also called Sciapodae,2 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 Troglodytae (dwellers in caves) ; to
the west of whom again there is a tribe who are without
necks, and have eyes in their shoulders.8

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

1 From &v& TOU fiOfov KU\OV, ' ' from having but one leg. "
* From 2«ctaToOt, " making a shadow with his foot."
3 See illustration, p. 9.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 15

to be caught, except that they are aged, or sickly.
Tauron gives the name of Choromandae 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.1

Megasthenes places among the Nomades of India, a
people who are called Scyritae. 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 2 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 ^Ethiopian
Macrobii,3 the Seree, and the inhabitants of Mount
Athos. In the case of these last, it is supposed to be

1 Sparrow footed, from 0rpoC0os, a sparrow.

2 Probably cotton.

3 Or long livers, from /ta*pdj, "long," and /3foj, "life."

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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.

According to Onesicritus, in those parts of India
where there is no shadow, the men attain the height of
five cubits and two palms,1 and
their life is prolonged to one hun-
dred 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
>Gymnetae ; 2 but not a few authors
style them Macrobii. Ctesias men-
tions 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.
Artcmidorus states that in the island of Taprobane

1 A palm was three inches, so that these men would be eight feet high.
5 From rV/iM/TTjT, one who takes much bodily exercise.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 17

(Ceylon) life is prolonged to an extreme length, while
at the same time, the body is exempt from weakness.
Among the Calingae, 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 Troglodytae, who
dwell beyond Ethiopia, are able to outrun the horse ; and
that a tribe of the ^Ethiopians, who are known as the
Syrbotse, exceed eight cubits in height (twelve feet),
There is a tribe of ^Ethiopian 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." 1

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, 1 200 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

1 Mirage.

i8 CURIOUS CREATURES.

many precious stones in that river Inde. And in that
ryver men finde Eles of xxx foote long, & men yl
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
yl 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 yl 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 ye 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 19

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

2o CURIOUS CREATURES.

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,1 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 yl it is a great marvaill, &
that is a large fote, that the shadow thereof covereth yc
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 ele-
phant-headed men.

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 im-
plements, 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 classi-
cal times, were called Tro-
'glodytes (from the Greek
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

1 Other editions read rough hair.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 21

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 extra-
ordinary 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
Archelaiis. Juba says that there is an island in the

22 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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
Tofiazin l meaning ' to seek ' in the language of the
Troglodytae. ... 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 Troglodytae of Ethiopia had
some commercial energy, and they did a good trade in
myrrh and other condiments. Pliny says that the
Troglodytae 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 GebanitEe, 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."

1 In Greek, TWdfw, means to guess, divine, or conjecture.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 23

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 Troglodytae 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 Troglodytae 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

24 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 countty, 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 your-
selves 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 25

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

26 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 brene1
the left pappe 2 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 3 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 Pygmaeus. They are noted in the earliest classics,
for even Homer mentions them in his Iliad (B. 3, 1.
3-6), which Pope translates : —

" So, wlien 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, " Pygmaeogeranomachia,"

, l Burn. « Breast » At war.

CURIOUS CREATURES.

about the Pygmies and Cranes. The accompanying
illustration is from a fresco at Pompeii.

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,1 and the

1 From Tpeis, three, ffiri6a.fJ.at, spans.

28 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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."

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 l 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 pscudo
Pygmies. Says he : " I may tell you moreover that

1 Other editions say, six or seven years.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 29

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,

30 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 bury-
ing-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 con-
structed, 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, Tennes-
see, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 31

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 informa-
tion respecting these pigmy graves. The oldest inhabi-
tants 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

32 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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,1 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 neigh-
bours, 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

1 See his letters dated September 1888, which arrived in England early in
April 1889.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 33

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 sub-
ject of these great men.

It is Olaus Magnus who thus tells us

"Of the sobriety of Giants and Champions."

" 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

34 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 princi-
pally 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, imitat-
ing 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 ihe
Germans, that made them so effeminate, amongst the
rest he made Verses in his Country Language." Omit-
ting 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 Gates and Feasts to feed,
War is the thing they most delight to breed,

CURIOUS CREATURES. 35

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 ; x 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."

1 Ox horns, horn cups.

36 CURIOUS CREATURES.

By precept, and example, he induced many to Tempe-
rance 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.

" 1 6 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. . . .

" 1 8 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 37

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

38 CURIOUS CREATURES.

gladlyer fleshe of men, than other, £ men saye to us
that beyonde that yle is an yle where are greater
giaunts as xlv or 1 fote long, & some said 1 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 rein-
deer, the cave bear, the brown and the Arctic bears,
the cave hyaena, 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
Palaeolithic period — and that of the polished and care-

CURIOUS CREATURES. 39

fully finished stone arms and implements, which neces-
sarily show a later time, and a higher state of civilisa-
tion— 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 Palaeolithic 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 Pangaeus and
near the Doberes, the Agrianae, Odomanti, and those
who inhabit Lake Prasias * itself, were not at all sub-
dued 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

1 A lake between Macedonia and Thrace.

40 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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." l

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
Mcilen 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

1 The fishermen of lake Prasias still liave lake dwellings as in the time of
Herodotus.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 41

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, kjokkenmoddings, 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. Valery 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 kjokkenmoddings, 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-

42 CURIOUS CREATURES.

fish,1 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 back-
ward, 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

1 The most abundant were the oyster, mussel, cockle, and periwinkle.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 43

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 be-
daubed with white paint, their skins filthy and greasy,
their hair entangled, their voices discordant, their ges-
tures 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

44 CURIOUS CREATURES.

assisted by a few tasteless berries, and fungi. Nor are
they exempt from famine, and, as a consequence, canni-
balism 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 imple-
ments— and yet the fact being that portions of one or
two have been found — the makers of these kjokkenmodd-
ings, are classed as belonging to the later Palaeolithic
period.

Of the Bronze and Iron Ages there is no necessity
to write, men were emerging from their primaeval
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,

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 : —

11 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."

CURIOUS CREATURES.

" LA FEMME SAUVAGE.

" Fcmnic sauvage a 1'ceil humain, non sainte,
Ainsi qu'elle est sur le nature! lieu,
Au nature! vous est icy depeinte,
Comme voyez qu'il appert a votre vue."

When Caesar 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 47

most of their personal charms. Caesar (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.

She was aged twelve years, and came from the Canary
Isles, together with her father (aged 40), her brother (20),

48 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 49

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 alae 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

50 CURIOUS CREATURES.

dressed (as usual with her countrywomen) a 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 Ainos, 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 l respecting them, and he said, " Esau
himself could not have been a more hairy man than are
these A'inos. 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 pro-
minent 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 A'inos had been exaggerated.
However, Miss Bird in her " Unbeaten Tracks in Japan "
may fairly be said to have put the subject at rest, for

1 Transactions of the Ethnological Society, 1866, vol. iv., p. 34.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 51

she visited, and travelled in the A'ino 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 Simiinae,
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

52 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 pre-
sumed lustfulness, certainly not on account of its resem-
blance to the satyr of antiquity.

Gesner gives us his idea of the orang, presenting us
with the accompanying figure of the Cercopithccus, and

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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.

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 Cathar-
cludi, we find the Satyr,
an animal of extraordi-
nary 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 HP
to be caught, except when

they are aged, or sickly," and, in another place, he says,
" The Sph^ngium 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

54 CURIOUS CREATURES.

Satyrcs are in the Islands Satiridcc, 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 un-
navigable, 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 fearc, 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."

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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 55

SATYRS.

He also mentions and delineates a curious Ape
which closely resembles the classical Satyr : " Under
the Equinoctial^ toward
the East and South, there
is a kind of Ape called
jEgopithecus, 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 resem-
blance of other creatures
in their members.

" 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 scene at Constantinople : the which beast having
beene scene of the ancient Grecians, 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.

56 CURIOUS CREATURES.

" 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 scene
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 there-
fore described him with homes 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 denomina-
tion or shape from Satyres, but rather the Apes them-
selves, 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
Scirim, Esa. 13, which is interpreted monsters of the
Desart, or rough hairy Fawnes ; and when lisim is put
to Seir, it signifieth Goats.

"The Chaldceans, for Seirim, render Schedin; that is,
evill devills ; and the Arabians, lesejathin, that is Satanas :
the Pcrsyans, Devon, 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 Silent
(although the difference is, that the smaller and younger
beasts are called Satiri, the elder, and greater, Silent;)
Also Bacclice and Nymphce, wherefore Bacchus is pictured

CURIOUS CREATURES. 57

riding in a chariot of vine branches, Silenus ridinge beside
him on an Asse, and the Bacchce or Satyres shaking to-
getheer their staulkie Javelines and Paulmers.1 By reason
of their leaping they are called Scirti, and the anticke or
satyrical dauncing, Sicinnis, and they also sometimes Sicin-
nistce ; sometimes ^Egipance ; wherefore Pliny reporteth,
that among the western e Ethiopians, there are certain
little hilles full of the Satirique JEgipance, 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 foot-
ing, remnant, or appearance, to be found in the daytime.

"... There are also Satires in the Eastern moun-
taines of India, in the country of the Cartaduli, and in
the province of the Comari and Coruda, 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 ^Egipance, before declared, Nymphes of the Poets,
Fawnes, Pan and Silent, 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 Formica; lions ; being of very unquiet

i Thyrsi.

58 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Apol-
lonia, in the holy place Nyinphcruin, 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 Safyrcs
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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 59

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. lerom, in the life of Paul the Eremite,
reporteth that there appeared to S. Anthony, an Hippo-
centaure such as the Poets describe, and presently he
saw, in a rocky valley adjoining, a little man having
croked nostrils, homes 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

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 scene 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.

" Satyres are very sildom scene, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 61

to speake some wordes, but with a voice like a Goat,
and without all reason.

" 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 discours-
ing 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 :

CURIOUS CREATURES.

the face is very round, yet sharp and piked, having the
beasts 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 Fornticce, so, likewise, they are to be found
amongest the Trogloditce.

11 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 re-
venge 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.

" 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 Sphincta>, and the Megarian
Sphingas was a very popular phrase for notorious harlots),

CURIOUS CREATURES. 63

hath given occasion to the poets to faigne a certaine

monster called Sphynx, which they say was thus derived.

64 CURIOUS CREATURES.

Hydra brought foorth the Chimcera, Chimara by Ortlius,
the Sphynx, and the Ncntcean Lyon : now, this Orthus
was one of Gcryon's dogges. This Sphynx they make a
treble formed monster, a Mayden's face, a Lyon's legs,
and the wings of a fovvle ; or, as Ansonius and Varinns
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 con-
tinually in the Sphincian mountaine ; propounding to all
travailers that came that way an Enigma, 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
(Ediptts came that way, and declared the secret, that it
zvas a man, who in his infancy crcepeth on all foure, after-
ward, /;/ youth, goeth upon two legs, and last of all, in
olde age taketh unto him a staffe which makcth 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 (Edipus 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 spoilcs upon his people. Now,

CURIOUS CREATURES. 65

cem'gma, 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 aenigma, but no man knoweth after what
manner she maketh this aenigma.

" Cadmus hereupon made proclamation, that he would
give a very bountifull reward unto him that would kill
Sphinx, upon which occasion the Corinthian (Edipus came
unto her, being mounted on a swift courser, and accom-
panied with some Thebans in the night season, slue her.
Other say that (Edipus by counterfaiting friendshippe,
slue her, making shew to be of her faction ; and Pau-
sanius 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 (Edipus, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES.

with Apes, and here he gives us an Ape which, unfor-
tunately, 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 donne au Singe telle forme.
Vestu dejonc, s'appuyant d'un baston,
Estat debout, chose aux homes coforme."

Before quit-
ting the subject
of Apes, I can-
not refrain from
noticing another
of this genus
mentioned by
Topsell, and that
is the Arctopi-
thecus or Bear
Ape: — "There is
in America a very
deformed beast,
which the inha-
bitants call Haul
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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 67

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.1 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 ;

1 The italics are mine. — J. A.

68 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Boeotia,
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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 69

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 per-
ceiving 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 appro-
priate 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

70 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 re-
ceived 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 ^Egithus, 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. ^Esalon 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 Acanthi's, too, lives among the
brambles ; hence it is that it also has an antipathy to
the Ass, because it devours the bramble blossoms. The

CURIOUS CREATURES. 71

^Egithus 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 pecu-
liarity, 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

72 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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
parcnthcse he mentions, in conjunction with the Manticora,
another animal similarly gifted : — " By the union of the
hyaena with the Ethiopian lioness, the Corocotta is pro-
duced, which has the same faculty of imitating the voices
of men and cattle. Its gaze is always fixed and im-
moveable ; 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, rcvenons a 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 Aviccn 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 over-
cometh 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 with-
out peril. This, also, is the same beast which is called
Lcucrocuta, about the bignesse of a wilde Asse, being in
legs and hoofes like a Hart, having his mouth reaching on

74 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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."

Du Bartas, in " His First Week, or the Birth of the
World," mentions our friend as being created : —

" Then th' Vnicorn, th' Hyana tearing tombs,
Swift Manticlwr*, and Nubian Cephas 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 hyaena.

THE LAMIA.

The Lamiae 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 Lamiae 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 Menippns
the Lycian, that he fell in love with a strange woman,

CURIOUS CREATURES. 75

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 Senchrcea, hee met with
a certairie phantasme, or spectre like a beautifull woman,
who tooke him by the hand, and told him she was a
Phoenician 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, there-
withal! 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, whatso-
ever you conceave of this riches, there is no matter or
substance in the things which you see, for they are

76 CURIOUS CREATURES.

onely inchaunted images, and shadowes, which that you
may beleeve, this your neate bride is one of the Empusce,
called Lamia, or Mormolicce, wonderfull desirous of com-
merce 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 pur-
posed 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 Haebrew, and translated by the
auncients Lamia, which is threatened to possesse Babcll.
Likewise in the fourth chapter of the Lamentations,
where it is said in our English translation, that the
Dragons lay forth their brests, in Haebrew 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 77

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 com-
passe their prey of beastes, and by their fraud they over-
throw 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.

" Unto the same things subscribe Ccelius and Giraldus,
adding also, that there is a certaine crooked place in

78 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Probns,
the Emperor, brought them forth unto publike spectacle ;
also it is reported of them, that the}' 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 79

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 Chaldaean 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

8o CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Gizdhu-
bar, flew to heaven to see her father Anu (the Chaldaean
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.' "

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 Lapithae
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 Lapithae, 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-

CURIOUS CREATURES.

conditioned animals resented it, and attacked Hercules
with fury. They were fearfully punished, and but few
survived.

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 Tam-
berlane, Centaurs of such a form as its upper part was
that of a man, with two arms resembling those of a toad,

CURIOUS CREATURES. 83

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.

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 tyrannic,
That liv'd by Humane flesh and villanie."

— CHESTER.

THE GORGON.

In the title-page of one edition of " The Historic 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

84 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Catoble-
ponta. 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 up-
right, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 85

deadly convulsions. It is bred in Hesperia and
Lybia.

" 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 Hands in the dEthiopick 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 over-
threw, 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,1 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

1 From /cara/SX^TTw, " to look downwards,"

86 CURIOUS CREATURES.

of Marius followed luguriha, 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 Athenceus.
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 Xenofihon,
that Hanno, King of Carthage, ranged with his armie in
that region, and founde there, certaine women of in-

CURIOUS CREATURES. 87

credible 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
scene. 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 eartd,
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 corn-
passe of this monster, God onely knoweth, who, per-
adventure, 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 Uni-
corn is peculiar. He describes this animal as having
" the head of a stag, the feet of an elephant, the tail of

88 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 fore-
head, 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 antago-
nism between the Lion and the Unicorne.

" Like 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 home, 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 ./Elian, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 89

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 eye-
brows, not awkwardly, but with a certain natural twist,
and terminating in a sharp point."

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 ques-
tioned among Naturalists, which it is that is properly

called the Unicorn : And some hath made Doubt whether

90 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 thoti 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 Con-
ceit 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 91

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,

92 CURIOUS CREATURES.

and, as its old French is easily read, I have not trans-
lated it :—

" Monoceros est Beste, un corne ad en la teste,
Purceo ad si a nun, de buc ad fac,un ;
Par Pucele est prise ; or vez en quel guize.

Quant horn le volt cacer et prendre et enginner,
Si vent horn al forest u sis riparis est ;
La met une Pucele hors de sein sa mamele,
Et par odurement Monosceros la sent ;
Dune vent a la Pucele, et si baiset la mamele,
En sein devant se doit, issi veut a sa mort ;
Li hom suivent atant ki 1'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 occa-
sion 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,

CURIOUS CREATURES. 93

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 home, and send him away
alive : b\it, 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 ^Elianus 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 6^ 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.

94 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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. Markes Church, as Brasavolus writeth, one at
Argentoratum, which is wreathed about with divers
sphires.1 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 home
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 plights2 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
staflfe (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.

1 Spirals. 2 Plaits.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 95

" 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
home six foot long, . . . but that in bignesse, it
exceeded the home 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 home 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 home, the price wherof
was valued at fourscore thousand Duckets.1

"Paulus Poceius 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 Home of the quantity of
two Cubits, being seperated with pale tops or spires,
which is reported by the smoothnes and yvorie white-
nesse thereof, to have the wonderfull power of dis-
solving and speedy expelling of all venome or poison
whatsoever.

" For his home 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 scene that the home is found in the desarts, as
it happeneth in Harts, who cast off their olde home

1 Taking the Ducat at 95. 4^d., 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.

96 CURIOUS CREATURES.

thorough the inconveniences of old age, which they
leave unto the Hunters, Nature renewing an other unto
them.

" The home 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. Concern-
ing these homes, there were two scene, 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 * 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.
" Petrns Bellonius writeth, that he knewe the tooth of
some certaine Beast, in time past, sold for the home 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 home 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
AZlianus, who only ascribeth to the same this wonderfull
force against poyson and most grievous diseases, for he
maketh not this home 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

1 Another name for short— vide Cully pipe— Cutty sark.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 97

its horn — always supposing that it could be obtained
genuine, for there were horrid suspicions abroad that it
might be " the home 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 cer-
taine 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 Pes-
tilent 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,

CURIOUS CREATURES. 99

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.

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 inven-
tion ; 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 Praeface, as the
beast is strange, and never scene 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 home upon a

joo CURIOUS CREATURES.

stone, and there is not only a discord between these
beasts and Elephants for their food, but a natural de-
scription 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 home 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
home 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."

CURIOUS CREATURES.

THE GULO.

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 principal 1 ; 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 (narroiv) passage between Trees,
he presseth between them, that he may discharge his

102 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Sarnmtia.
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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 103

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 string:; for
Musicians, and give a harsh sound, which the Natives
take pleasure in ; but these, tempered with sweet sound-
ing 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

104 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Rossotnokal. It is thought to be
engendered by a Hyaena and a Lionesse, for in quality it
rcsembleth a Hycena, and it is the same which is called
Croatia : 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 con-
tinues : — " There are of these beastes two kindes, dis-
tinguished 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 105

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 pro-
fitable, 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 ofPolom'a, 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 con-
finement) 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

106 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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.1 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 im-
penetrable 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.2
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

1 "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 Loves 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."

3 This use of bear's grease is about 1800 years old.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 107

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 re-
markably 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

io8 CURIOUS CREATURES.

other animal is stupidity found more adroit in devising
mischief."

Olaus Magnus, in writing about bears, gives pre-
cedence 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 Ntdrosum, 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,

CURIOUS CREATURES.

109

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.

" 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

no CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 hef 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."

Magnus then retails the usual fables about bears

CURIOUS CREATURES. in

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."

" 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

ii2 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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."

The Northern Bears seem to have been wonderful
creatures, for they used to go mad after eating Man-
dragora, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 113

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 in-
crease 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."

Everyone of my readers, who is not a Scotsman, will ap-
preciate 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.

n4 CURIOUS CREATURES.

" 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.

" 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 115

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

n6 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 tempes-
tuous, they be taken above Water.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 117

" But that tame Bears may not onely be kept unprofit-
ably 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 begin-
ning 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

n8 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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, doubt-
lesse, 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 bearc's grease be kept

CURIOUS CREATURES. 119

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 learn 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 re-
splendant 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

120 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 fore-
feet, 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 Rhaetians use this policy to take Wolves
and Beares ; they raise up great posts, and crosse them

CURIOUS CREATURES. 121

with a long beame laded with heavy weightes, unto the
which beame they fasten a corde with meat therein, where-
unto 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 Sarma-
tians 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, where-
upon she dieth, if they that watch for her come not to
take her off. There was reported by Demetrius, Ambas-
sador 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, where-
into Bees will enter and make hony combes, and when
the Beare findeth them, she is killed as aforesaide. In

122 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Wolfcbaim or Liberdine is poison to Foxes,
Wolves, Dogs, and Beares, and to all beasts that are
littered blind, as the Alpine Rhcetians affirme. There is
one kinde of this called Cyclamwe, 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 per-
plexitie 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 after-
ward found by opening of her bodie. The like is

CURIOUS CREATURES.

123

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 plentiful!, which
they eat, and so are killed.

" Concerning the Industrie or natural! 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 aie 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,

i24 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Bui'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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 125

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 fall-
ing 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 pre-
served 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, de-
levery in child birth, the Haemorrhods, the weaknes of
the backe, and the palsie : and that women may go their
full time, they make arnmulets 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 minutiae 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.

126 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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, fautc 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 fcrcc naturae,
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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 127

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.

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

128 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 129

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 Noi~way 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 corrobora-
tion 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 Gaekwar 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

i3o CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 proba-
bilities 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
manoeuvre. 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 im-
pudent 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 be-
tethercd brute. But all of a sudden, the circling lynx

CURIOUS CREATURES. 131

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 re-
maine free from the danger of these beasts.

" The medicinall uses of this beast are these : first, (as
Pliny, and Marcel/us 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

i32 CURIOUS CREATURES.

gricfe 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
Hycena sod in Oyle, and the lame person bathed therein,
for it hath such power to evacuate and draw forth what-
soever evill humour aboundeth in the body of man, that
it leaveth nothing hurtfull behinde.

" Neverthelesse, such bodies are soon againe re-
plenished 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 bod}', 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 after-
ward with the same wash the parts, and, within an
houre the stone shall be voyded : the same vertue is in
it being drycd 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 Bui'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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 133

trembling and shaking members. The fatte of a Foxe
and a Drake enclosed in the belly of a Goose, and so
rested, 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

i34 CURIOUS CREATURES.

entred. The liver dryed, and drunke cureth often sigh-
ing. 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, drink-
ing 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 135

by, and generally shrinks from, man, but, united by hunger
into packs, they are truly to be dreaded, for they spare
nor 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

136 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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. . . .

CURIOUS CREATURES. 137

" Now although there be a great difference betwixt him
and a Bui, 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 Bui, he com-
meth not upon the front for feare of his homes, nor yet
behind him for feare of his heeles, but first of al standeth
a loofe from him, with his glaring eyes, daring and pro-
voking the Bui, 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 Bui 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

138 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 ; there-
fore, 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 Wolfs 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 over-
come 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 139

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.

i4o CURIOUS CRKATURES.

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 Greeks 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 : —

CURIOUS CREATURES. i4t

" 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" Lycan-
thropy 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

i42 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 over-
turn, 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 multi-
tude 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 143

upon him, and resume the form he had before at his
pleasure. . . .

" But for to come to examples ; When a certain Noble-
man 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; where-
fore 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

M4 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 hein-
ous 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. Cambdcn 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 145

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.

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

i46 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 homes
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 com-
pany 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 scene to
this day, by cause thereby the breeders, and meanes of
their continuance (which consisted in their multitude)
were weakened and destroyed. Their homes 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 Fincclius, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 147

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 Ccesar 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
Ccesar, had related the same thing, and he addeth more-
over, 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 abun-
dantly, and to abstaine from all meat.

" Horsses are afraid of Elephants in battaile, and like-

i48 CURIOUS CREATURES.

wise of a Cammell, for which cause when Cyrus fought
against Crcesus, 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 draw-
ing 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 ^Elianus and Pliny. jEscu-
lapius 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, there-
fore, the Egyptians, when they see a weake man driving
away a stronger, they picture a Bustard flying to a
Horsse. . . .

"Julius Cccsar had a horsse which had cloven hooves
like a man's fingers, and because he was foaled at that
time when the sooth-saycrs had pronounced that hee
should have the government of the world, therefore he

CURIOUS CREATURES. 149

nourished him carefully, and never permitted any man
to backe him but himselfe, which he afterwards dedi-
cated 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

i5o CURIOUS CREATURES.

fed with Gates 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.

"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 Cam's Lucernarius. These being brought up with
apes in their youth, learne very admirable and strange

CURIOUS CREATURES. 151

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 spec-
tacle 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
uppeand 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 Ccesar 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

1 52 CURIOUS CREATURES.

by the slanders 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 slanders by, gave unto him
divers pieces of coine, stamped wilh Ihe images of
sundry princes, and Ihen one of them called for a piece
of English money, and the Dog delivered him a piece ;
another for Ihe Emperor's coine, and Ihe dog delivered
him a piece Ihereof ; and so consequenlly, every princes
coine by name, lill all was reslored ; and Ihis slory is
recorded by Abbas Urspergensis, where upon Ihe common
people said, Ihe dog was a divell, or else possessed wilh
some pylhonicall spiril."

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

" For the outward compound remedies, a plaisler
made of Opponax and Pitch, is much commended, which
Alcnipptis used, taking a pound of Pitch of Brutias, and
foure ounces of Opponax, adding wilhall, lhat the Opponax
must be dissolved in vinegar, and afterwards Ihe Pilch
and Ihe vinegar musl be boiled logelher, and when Ihe
vinegar is consumed, then put in the Opponax, and of
both logether make like taynlers or splinls, and Ihrusl
them into the wound, so lei Ihem remaine many dayes
together, and in the meane time drinke an antidot of
sea crabs and vineger, (for vineger is alvvay prelious in
this confection). Other use Basilica, Onyons, Rue, Salt,
Rust of Iron, white bread, seedes of hore hound, and

CURIOUS CREATURES. 153

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 Hyaena'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 Hyaena'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

154 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 whole-
some 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 men-
tions 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 155

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 understand-

ing, 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 re-
mained 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,

:56 CURIOUS CREATURES.

neither harmed the Cat at al, nor much endangered the
Monkes ; and the very like is observed of Myce that will
play with Serpents. . . .

" 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 Gobiutn."

THE LION.

Of the great Cat, the Lion, the ancients give many
wonderful stories, some of them not altogether redound-
ing to his character for bravery : — " A serpent, or snake
doth easily kill a lion, where of Ambrosius writeth very
elegantly. Exiniia /corn's pulchritudo, per comantcs ceruicis
toros excutitur, cum subito a serpcnte os pectore tenus
attolitur, itaque Coluber cervum fugit sed Lconcm interficit.
The splendant bcautie of a lion in his long curled mane is
quickly abated, and allayed, when the serpent doth but lift
up his head to his brcst. 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 scene 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, espe-

CURIOUS CREATURES. 157

cially from a white cocke, and the reason hereof, is be-
cause 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 them-
selves 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^ 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

1 From Aeovrotfrovos, the Lion Killer.

158 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 re-
spect a virgin, and Spenser has immortalised this in
his character of Una. Most of us remember the story
given by Aulus Gellius and ^Elian, 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 crea-
ture'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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 159

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 en-
treaties. 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 ex-
tracted 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 : — "Ethiopia produces the lynx in abund-
ance, and the sphinx, which has brown hair and two
mammae 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

r6o CURIOUS CREATURES.

a lion, the head of a badger, a cloven hoof, the mouth
slit up as far as the ears, and one continuous bone in-
stead 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 Augilae 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 cura-
tive properties of animals — let us learn something of

CURIOUS CREATURES. 161

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

1 62 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 divest-
ing 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.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 163

" When an elephant has happened to devour a chame-
leon, 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 Man-
drake, 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 in-
serted, 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

164 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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.

"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 down-

fall, and worke her overthrowe, first of all to save her
young ones from taking and taming, she destroyed!
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,

CURIOUS CREATURES.

165

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.

A most interesting book * 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 signify-
ing a lamb, and this plant-
animal was thoroughly be-
lieved 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

1 Written to prove that this plant was the Cotton-plant.

1 66 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 carnivo-
rous 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 leroso-
lintitanum, 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 Jcduah. 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 divina-
tion, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 167

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 com-
mentator, 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 thejedoui 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

168 CURIOUS CREATURES. ,

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 be-
lief 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 Ter-
restris,of John Parkinson, Apothecary of London, in which,
together with Adam and Eve, the lamb-free is shown as
flourishing in the Garden of Eden ; and Du Bartas, in

CURIOUS CREATURES. 169

" 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 Maun-
deville'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 sender, and men fynde

1 70 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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
Trava3rle 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 moun-
tains 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 CHIMERA.

Aldrovandus gives us the accompanying illustration
of a Chimaera, a fabulous Classical monster, said to pos-

CURIOUS CREATURES. 171

sess 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 Chi-
titcera, 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.

The conjunction of the human form with birds is very
easy, wings being fitted to it, as in the case of angels — and

172

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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."

Then, also, we have the Siren, shown by this illustra-
tion, taken from Pompeii. These Sea Nymphs were like
the Harpies, depicted as a compound of bird and woman.

CURIOUS CREATURES.

173

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 what-
ever they touched, with their filth, and excrements.

Licetus, writing in 1634, and Zahn, in 1696, give the
accompanying picture of a monster born at Ravenna in

174 CURIOUS CREATURES.

1 5 1 1 or 1 5 1 2. 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 ; s.iiling 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' ^mathian 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,

Ravennn, 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 Bernacae,
which nature produces in a manner contrary to nature,
and very wonderful. They are like marsh-geese, but

CURIOUS CREATURES. 175

smaller. They are produced from fir timber tossed
about at sea, and are at first like geese upon it. After-
wards 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 cot'tu,
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 Maunde-
ville, 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 yl for no
marvayle, for I sayd that in my countrey are trees yl
beare fruit, yl become byrds flying, and they are good
to eate, and that that falleth on the water, liveth, and

i76

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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."

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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 177

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 Miienster, from whom I have taken the pre-
ceding illustration, says in his Cosmographia Universalis :
— " In Scotland there are trees which produce fruit, con-
glomerated 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 Gib-
son, 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 admira-
tion) 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. ' "

In " Purchas, his Pilgrimage," is the voyage of Gerat
de Veer to China, &c., in 1569 — and he speaks of the

178 CURIOUS CREATURES.

Barnacle goose thus : — " Those geese were o'f 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 179

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 Bootes 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.

No wonder that a credulous
age, which could see nothing
extraordinary in the Barnacle
goose, could also, metaphori-
cally, swallow such an egg, as
Licetus, first of all, and Aldro-
vandus, after him, gives us in the accompanying true

:8o

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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.

One would have imagined that this Egg would be
sufficient to test the credulity of most people, but Aldro-
vandus 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.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 181

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 (Bactrid) 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 homes of Oxen, and of those they make
Cups there to drynke of, and of his rybes they make
bowes to shoote with."

Olaus Magnus says they live in the far Northern

i82 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Rue 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 Rue, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 183

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 Rue, which was stated to measure 90
Spans, whilst the quill part was two palms in circum-
ference, 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, how-
ever, 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 sEpyorms
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 Rue, 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 PHCENIX.

Pliny says of the Phoenix : — "^Ethiopia and India, more
especially produce birds of diversified plumage, and such

1 84 CURIOUS CREATURES.

as quite surpass all description. In the front rank of
these is the Phoenix, 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 inter-
mingled, 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 per-
fumes, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 185

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 Phoenix 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 Phcenix."

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 Phoenix first began to frame
The earthly Phcenix, and adorn'd the same
With such a Plume, that Phoebus, 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,

186 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Phcenix, 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.)

Olaus Magnus answered this question, according to his
lights, and when, discoursing on the Migration of Swal-
lows he says : — " Though many Writers of Natural His-
tories have written that Swallows change their stations ;
that is, when cold Winter begins to come, they fly to

CURIOUS CREATURES.

187

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

1 88 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 189

(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 Gold-
smith's "Animated Nature," and many other Natural
Histories, which succeeded his.

The wintering of swallows in caverns, has another
eye-witness in Edward Williams (lolo 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 accus-
tomed to make their Nests upon Rocks and other high
places, from whence they may easily take their flight,

i9o CURIOUS CREATURES.

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, heraldi-
cally 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 pre-
served, 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 re-
sembled 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. Lin-

CURIOUS CREATURES. 191

naeus 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."

" 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

1 92 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 193

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

i94 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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.

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 illus-
tration 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.

" There is also in this Lake (the White Lake) a kind of
bird, very frequent ; and in other Coasts of the Bothnick

CURIOUS CREATURES.

195

and Swedish Sea, that cries incessantly all the Summer,
Alle, Alle, therefore they are called all over, by the In-
habitants, 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 for-
ward; 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,

196

CURIOUS CREATURES.

(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 trans-
lation 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 ncarnesse 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.

"On Hillocks, in Lakes, she lays her Eggs, and hatcheth

CURIOUS CREATURES.

197

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 Wood-
peckers. 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.

Modern observation, and especially Ostrich farming,
has thoroughly exploded the
old errors respecting this
bird. We believe in its
powers of swallowing any-
thing not too large, but not
in its digesting everything,
and certainly not, as Muen-
ster 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,

198 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 con-
sidered 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 cer-
tainely 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."

CURIOUS CREATURES. 199

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 halosachnae (probably
a Zoophyte, Alcyonia) except in colour, for they are red ;
in form it resembles those sicyae (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
halosachnae. 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 Vergiliae, 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 King-

200 CURIOUS CREATURES.

fisher had another very useful trait. If a dead King-
fisher 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. I) : —

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

And Marlowe, in his Jew of Malta (i. i) : —

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

THE PELICAN.

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 her-
aldic bird is as un-
like 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 extraordi-
nary 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 c.>mforteth cheerfully:

CURIOUS CREATURES. 20

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

202 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 corns, 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."

CURIOUS CREATURES. 203

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.

Gesner describes a four-footed duck, which he says
is like the English puffin, except in the number of its

204 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 depar-
ture 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 neighbour-
ing 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 wood-
pecker 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 Varice, 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
Bceotia, into Attica ; nor does any bird, in the island
in the Euxine in which Achilles was buried, enter the
temple there consecrated to him.

" In the territory of Fidenae, in the vicinity of the City,

206 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Volaterrae. 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
Cannes, or Hea, who corresponded to the Greek Cronos,
who is identified with the fish-headed god so often re-
presented 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.

Of this mysterious union of Man and Fish, Berosus
says : — " In the beginning there were in Babylon a great
numberof 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 Ery-
thrian 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,

CURIOUS CREATURES.

207

of sciences, and
of arts of every
kind ; the rules
for the founda-
tion of towns,
and the build-
ing of temples,
the principles of
laws, and geo-
metry, the sow-
ing of seeds,
and the harvest ;
in one word, it
gave to men all
that conduced
to the enjoy-
ment of life.
Since that time
nothing excel-
lent has been
invented. At
the time of sun-
set, this monster
Cannes threw it-
self into the sea,
and passed the
night beneath
the waves, for it
wasamphibious.
Rewrote a book
upon the begin-
ningof all things,
and of Civilisation, which he left to mankind.

208 CURIOUS CREATURES.

Helladice quotes the same story, and calls the com-
posite being Oes ; while another writer, Hyginus, calls
him Euahanes. M. Lenormant thinks that it is evident
that this latter name is more correct than Cannes, 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 Bero-
sus, says that Cannes 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, sonic 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 209

preserved delineations in the temple of Belus, at
Babylon."

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 ac-
company him on his voyage. Among these is Hea, or
Cannes, which I venture to assert is the first representa-
tion 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 Cannes or Hea — and Ater-
gatis was depicted as a Mermaid, half-woman, half-fish.

2io CURIOUS CREATURES.

The Greeks worshipped her as Astarte, and later on as
Venus Aphrodite she was perfect woman, still, how-
ever, 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 femi-
nine 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 inhabi-
tants, at a distance.

"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

212 CURIOUS CREATURES.

the night he would climb up into ships ; upon which the
side of the vessel, where he seated himself, would in-
stantly sink downward, and, if he remained there any
considerable time, even go under water."

jElian tells us, that it is reported that the great sea
which surrounds the Island of Taprobana (Ceylon} con-
tains 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.

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 ./Elian
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 par-
ticular 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 213

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 Phocidae,
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 repul-
sive-looking " Manatee."

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

2i4 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 spin-
ning ; 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 recapitu-
lating 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 215

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."

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

216

CURIOUS CREATURES.

weight cast upon the Fore or Hinder-Deck, he sinks, and
drowns a ship.

" 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 can-
not endure :
and by casting
out huge great
Vessels, that
hinders this
Monster's pas-
sage, or for
him to play

y*in

and Guns, with

the sound thereof he is more frighted, than with a Stone,
or Iron Bullett ; because this Ball loscth 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."

CURIOUS CREATURES.

217

We have the saying, " Throw a tub to the Whale," and
we not only find that it is the proper treatment to con-

ciliate 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 unfor-
tunate vessel.

There is another Whale, described by Gesner, which
he calls the " Trol " whale, or in German, " Teufelwal,"
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

2i8 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 " TeOfelwal " that
Milton writes (" Paradise Lost," Bk. i., 1. 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 fixed anchor in his scaly rind,
Moors by his side under the lee, while night
Invests the sea, and wished morn delays."

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-Sindiba~d 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 219

themselves. I was among those who were amusing them-
selves 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 de-
struction, 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 merchan-
dise, 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

220 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Tem-
pest 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 221

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."

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

222

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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."

" 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-grcese, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 223

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 corro-
borating 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 use-
fulness 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

224 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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.

" 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 225

the same Beasts Skin, that is taken off long before, for
that and some other use, and is hardened by the sharp-
ness 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 ship-
wreck."

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,

2 A

226

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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. Herodo-
tus tells us that in the
Borysthenes (Dneiper)
were " large whales
without any spinal
bones, which they
call Antacaei, fit for
salting." Then,
Gesner gives us varie-
ties of Whales, of
which we know no-
thing. There is the
bearded and maned
creature with a face
somewhat resem-
bling that of a human
being, found only in
the remotest North,
~ and there is the hairy
whale, Cetum Capillatunt v£l Crinitum, or Germanice,
Haarwal, but no particulars of this curious creature
are given.

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

CURIOUS CREATURES.

227

paws, but points out that it must be an aquatic animal,
because of its tail.

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.

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

228 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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.

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 Bceothius 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.

The existence of these marine monsters had, at all

CURIOUS CREATURES.

229

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."

23o CURIOUS CREATURES.

And of the Sea Bishop :

" La terre n'a Evesques seulement,
Qui sot p bulle en grad honeur et tiltre,
L'evesque croist en mer sembablement,
Ne parlat point, cobien qu'il porte Mitre.'

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 : —

CURIOUS CREATURES. 231

" Sens 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,1
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 2)
The m'ytred 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,
Gustos 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

1 Melons. 2 Wonder at.

232 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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."

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 Hel-
ens, 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 break-
ing 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,

CURIOUS CREATURES. 233

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 for-
bidden ; 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

234

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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.

" 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 3<Dth 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 235

Land he is found to be as timorous and fearful as a
hare."

THE SEA- PIG.

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.

Of the Walrus, Rosmarus, or Morse, Gesner draws,
and Olaus Magnus writes, thus : — " The Norway Coast,

236 CURIOUS CREATURES.

toward the more Northern parts, hath a great Fish, as
big as Elephants, which are called Morsi, or Rostnari,
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 them-
selves 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 237

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 dis-
covered 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

238 CURIOUS CREATURES.

teeth ; true it is that they are called in Latine Boves
tnarini or Vaccce marina, and in the Russian tongue
tnorsses, the hides whereof I have scene 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 Barbaric against
arrowes and lances, whereof I have scene divers in her
Majesties stately armourie in the Toure of London.
The teeth of the sayd fishes, whereof I have scene 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 yel-
low 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 minis-
tering medicine to his patients, and had found it as
sovereigne against poyson as any unicorne's home."

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 con-
versant in the Northern Waters, it is deservedly to be
joined with other monstrous Creatures. The Sword-

CURIOUS CREATURES. 239

fish 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.

" 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 Balaena (whale of some sorf) 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

24o CURIOUS CREATURES.

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, how-
ever, is known to the Orca, an animal which is particularly
hostile to the Balaena, 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 Balaena 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 Balsenae, 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 Orcae, 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 re-
peated blows, are heaved aloft in a way which no whirl-
wind 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.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 241

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, Caesar 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
Praetorian 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."

2 B

242 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Baiae
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 pro-
jection 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 hap-
pened 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.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 243

" 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 ap-
peared, 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 lasus (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."

244

CURIOUS CREATURES.

THE NARWHAL,

generally called the Monoceros or Sea Unicorn, is
thus shown in one place, by Gcsner ; 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 repre-
sented as a Cray-
fish 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.

This sketch of Gesner's, he describes as a one-horned
monster with a sharp nose, devouring a Gambarus.

Glaus Magnus dismisses the Narwhal very curtly: — "The
Unicorn is a Sea Beast, having in his forehead a very

CURIOUS CREATURES. 245

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."

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
home 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 home streight,
and torquet, (twisted) of length two yards lacking two
ynches. Being broken in the top, here we might per-
ceive 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.

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

246 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Swam-
fisck, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 247

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
Circkos, 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."

The Northern Naturalists did not enjoy the monopoly

248

CURIOUS CREATURES.

of curious fish, for Zahn gives us a very graphic picture
of the different sides of two
small fish captured in Den-
mark and Norway (i.e., pre-
sumably 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 " Volapiik." 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.

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, scisena, and phagrus,
suffer most in the winter ; for the refrigeration of the
stone causes them to freeze, and be driven on shore.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 249

Sir John Mandeville, speaking of the kingdom of Talo-
nach, 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 bene 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.)

I know of no other fish of such an accommodating
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,

25o CURIOUS CREATURES.

about which I have to tell you a very wonderful circum-
stance. Near the church in question there is a great
lake at the foot of a mountain, and in this lake arc 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 ! "

Edward Webbe, "Master Gunner," whose travels
were printed in 1590, informs us that in the "Land of

CURIOUS CREATURES. 251

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 !

After this we can swallow Olaus Magnus's story of a

rain of fishes very comfortably, especially as he supple-
ments 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

252

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 de-
grees : 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 Trcbius,
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 Vibiirgum, as Nilus
makes a black River, where he dischargeth himself.

" 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 253

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, MTTO TOV e%eiv vrja^. (From
holding back ships.) It is believed that when this has
attached itself to the keel of a ship, its progress is im-
peded, 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

254 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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."

CURIOUS CREATURES. 255

THE DOG-FISH AND RAY.

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."

256 CURIOUS CREATURES.

THE SEA DRAGON.

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 corro-
sive qualities of poison."

2 C

258 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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-sheatli) 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 hear-
ing, nor yet the exterior orifice. And yet it is quite cer-
tain that they do hear, for it is a well-known fact, that
in some fish-ponds they are in the habit of being as-
sembled 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 bears 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 recog-
nized 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.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 259

" 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 pos-
sible 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 appear-
ance 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

260 CURIOUS CREATURES.

for Scallops and Sea-urchins. When it perceives a hand
approaching it, it instantly changes its colour, and con-
tracts itself; when touched, it produces a burning sen-
sation, 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 Nor-

CURIOUS CREATURES. 261

way ; 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."

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

262 CURIOUS CREATURES.

were sixteen feet long, the pedal arms about half as
long, and its body seven feet. The French ship Alccton,
on 3Oth 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.

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
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 de-
scription 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

264

CURIOUS CREATURES.

smoothness of their surface." Magnus also speaks of
the antipathy between the two.

According to Pliny, quoting Trebius Niger, the Polypus
shows a fair amount of cunning : — " Shell fish are desti-
tute 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.
" 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 265

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 circum-
stances ? 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

266 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 ol fifteen amphorae
(about 135 gallons), and had a beard (iti tentaculcv), 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 cali-
cules, as large as an urn, resembled a basin in shape,
while the teeth again were of a corresponding large-
ness : 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, especi-
ally 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."

CURIOUS CREATURES. 267

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 neighbour-
hood, 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 antago-
nistic to serpents as crabs : that swine, when stung by
a serpent, cure themselves by eating them ; and that,

268 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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.

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 doubt-
less marine snakes, which are still in existence, and are
found in the Indian Ocean, but the larger ones seem to

CURIOUS CREATURES. 269

have been seen in more northern waters. It has been
the fashion to pooh-pooh the existence of this sea mon-
ster, 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
bond 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.

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

270 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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
Chrtstiemus, and a great persecution of the Bishops ; and
it shew'd also the destruction of the Country."

Topsell, in his Historic 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 Pontop-
pidan, Bishop of Bergen, in his Naturlichen Historic 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

CURIOUS CREATURES.

271

Pirate, says (speaking of Shetland and Orkney fisher-
men) : — " 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."

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

272 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 273

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.

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 I5th May 1833.

In 1847 a Sea-Serpent was seen frequently, in the
neighbourhood of Christiansand and Molde, by many
persons, and by one Lars Johnoen, 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 con-
firmed by several people of position, a Surgeon, a

274 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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. Dadalus. The first notice of it was in the
Times of loth October 1848, in which was a paragraph,
dated 7th October, from Plymouth : —

"When the Dcedalus frigate, Captain M'Quhae, 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 Dcedalus left the Cape of Good Hope on the soth of
July, and reached St. Helena on the i6th of August."

Captain M'Quhae sent the following letter to Admiral
Sir W. H. Gage, G.C.H., at Devonport : —

"HER MAJESTY'S SHIP D&DALUS, HAMOAZE,
Oct. u, 1848.

" SIR, — In reply to your letter of this day's date, requir-
ing information as to the truth of a statement published

CURIOUS CREATURES.

275

in the Times newspaper, of a Sea-Serpent of extraor-
dinary dimensions having been' seen from
Her Majesty's Ship Daedalus, under my
command, on her passage from the East
Indies, I have the honour to acquaint you,
for the information of my Lords Com-
missioners 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, mid-
shipman, 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.

" On our attention being called to the
object, it was discovered to be an enor-
mous 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 a
fleur d'eau, no portion of which was, to
our perception, used in propelling it through the water,

276 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Com-
missioners of the Admiralty by to-morrow's post. — I
have, &c., PETER M'QuH^E, 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 con-
firmed by the Captain and several officers. He wrote : —

CURIOUS CREATURES. 277

" ROYAL YACHT OSSORNE, 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 re-
sembled 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 atten-
tion 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 impos-
sible, and can hardly be branded as a falsehood.

278 CURIOUS CREATURES.

SERPENTS.

Of Serpents Topsell has written a " Historic," 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 j'oung man beeing in Affricke among the Negroes,
and lodged in the house of a Nephew to the Prince of
Budonicll, when he was taking himselfe to his rest, sud-
denly 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 279

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 com-
pelleth 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

280 CURIOUS CREATURES.

to heare such things told, than bolde to attempt the
trial], 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 ap-
probation 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 JEtolta,
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 JElianus that Egetnon in his
verses, writeth of one Alcna, a Thcssalian who, feeding
his Oxen in Thessaly, neere the Fountaine Hcemonius,
there fell in love with him a Serpent of exceeding big-

CURIOUS CREATURES. 281

nesse 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 come,
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 Ser-
pent, and afterward fleyed off the skinne and sent it
to Rome ; which was in length one hundred and twentie
feete.

282 CURIOUS CREATURES.

"And, although this seemeth to be a beast of unmatch-
able 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 wide-
nes 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
Si laia. . . .

11 Among the Scyritcv, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 283

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 scene, 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

284 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 historic 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, re-
turned into the Citty againe, and the next day went

CURIOUS CREATURES. 285

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 Ser-
pent 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 Nor-
thern 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 Trackinia, called Smt'lo, to which, if any
Serpents doe either come neere, or touch, they foorth-
with 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

286 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Thorns 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 per-
ceived 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
He 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 drunken-
nesse 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 287

creepe into them, but the smell of garlick, as Erasmus
saith, driveth them away. No serpents were ever yet
scene to touch the herbe Trifolie, or Three-leaved-grasse,
as jEdonnus wold make us believe. And Cardan the
Phisitian hath observed as much, that serpents, nor any-
thing 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 venom-
ous 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, bear-
ing 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.

288 CURIOUS CREATURES.

Even now, in some country places, viper broth is used as
a medicine ; and, in the first half of the eighteenth cen-
tury, its flesh, prepared in various ways, was thoroughly
recognised in the Pharmacopoeia. 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 re-
ceive 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,

CURIOUS CREATURES. 289

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
outre. 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, be-
cause of the Boas Serpent bred in Italy at this day : for
we read in Solmus, 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. . . .

CURIOUS CREATURES. 291

" 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 quern lellus Itala nutrit
Hunc bubulum plures lac enutrire docent.

Which may be englished thus :

The Boas Serpent which Italy doth breede,
Men say, itppon the milke of C owes dothfeede.

" 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."

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 scene, 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

292

CURIOUS CREATURES.

signifie the mutation or change of worldly affaires/ &c."
And, after giving a long-winded inscription, apropos 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."

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 illus-
tration of a marble tablet in the Vatican (also given in

CURIOUS CREATURES.

293

" 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.

" 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

294 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Fridkvus 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 " Wormcs,"
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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 295

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 indefati-
gable 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

296 CURIOUS CREATURES.

of his Victory, by whom he begat many hopeful Chil-
dren : 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 logger-
heads with his neighbours, notably one Lionel Rowle-
stone, 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 fre-
quented a green mound near the well (the Worm Hill),
where it lapped itself nine times round, leaving vermicu-
lar 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 297

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,

298 CURIOUS CREATURES.

and ran himself with open arms to meet his son. In-
stead of committing a parricide, the conqueror again
repaired to his adviser, who pronounced, as the alterna-
tive 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, Feb-
ruary 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 299

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 de-
solate, 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, ac-
cordingly, 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 ob-
served him, it raised itself up, and stared at him, for
some time, without venturing to approach ; whereupon

300 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 illus-

CURIOUS CREATURES. 301

tration 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.

The Winged Dragons were undoubtedly more furious
and wicked than the Wormes, and there is scarcely any

302 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 power-
ful 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 SpaKwv, 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, Pt'erius, and Grevinus, follow-
ing 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

304 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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."

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 of-
fendeth 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 Dra-
gons, and never scene 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 305

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 scene 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

306 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 scene 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 cer-

CURIOUS CREATURES. 307

taine 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.

" 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 ser-
vant 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

3o8 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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, tcste the following story quoted by Topsell
from Stumpsius : — " When the Region of Helvetia be-
ganne first to be purged from noysome beasts, there was
a horrible dragon found neere a Country towne called
IVilser, 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
Dcdwiler, that is, a Village of the Wildernes, for all the
people and inhabitants had forsaken the same, and fledde
to other places.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 309

" There was a man of that Towne whose name was
Winckkriedf, who was banished for manslaughter : this
man promised, if he might have his pardon, and be re-
stored againe to his former inheritance, that he would com-
bat 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 Ser-
pent that deceived Eve, for Beda saith it had a Virgin's
countenance, and therefore the woman, seeing the like-
nes 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 punish-
ment, 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.

310 CURIOUS CREATURES.

" There be also certaine little dragons called in Arabia,
Vcsga, 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, where-
withall they claspe and begirt the body of the Elephant,

CURIOUS CREATURES. 311

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

3i2 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 weaiie 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 quo-
tation on almost anything, makes Othello say (Act iv.
sc. i) :—

" 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 ! "

Gcsner, and Topsell, in his " Historic of Four-Footcd
Beastes," give the accompanying illustration of a hippo-
potamus eating a crocodile, the original of which, they

CURIOUS CREATURES. 313

say, came from the Coliseum at Rome, and was then in
the Vatican.

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 He 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 He 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

3M CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 terrific 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 Hand.

" 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 inclina-
tion, even the Egyptians themselves account a Crocodile
a savage, and cruell murthering beast, as may appeare
by their Hieroglyphicks, for when they will decyphcr 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 315

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 lachrimce, 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

3i 6 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 unpacific-
able 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 jEgytians doe with the fat or sewet of a
Crocodile, (is to) annoynt all them that be sick of Feavers,

CURIOUS CREATURES. 317

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.

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

3i8 CURIOUS CREATURES.

by the Graecian Basiliscos, and by the Latine, Regnlns,
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 pur-

pose ; for, besides the strength of his poyson, which is
uncurablc, he hath a certain combe or Corronet uppon
his head, as shall be shewed in due place."

Pliny thus describes " The Serpents called Basilisks.
There is the same power * also in the serpent called the

* 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 yl if they behold any man with wrath, they
slcy them of the beholding, as the Basalisk docth."

CURIOUS CREATURES. 319

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

320

CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 Levinns Lernnius in his
twelfth booke of the hidden miracles of nature, hath this
discourse, in the fourth chapter thereof. There hap-
pened (saith he) within our memory in the Citty Pirizaa,
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 Mercurial! affirmcth, 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 321

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 cer-
taine 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 more-
over, 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

322 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 pestifer-
ous 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 scene, yet it departeth back againe, without
drinking, neglecting his owne nutriment, to save itselfe
from further danger : whereupon Lucanus saith,

Late sibi submovet omne

S) 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.

11 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 touch-
ing, 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 bcene thrust through a Cockatrice,

CURIOUS CREATURES. 323

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 myste-
rious origin.

" 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 Pamphy-
lia, and the mountainous parts of Cilicia, after having

324 CURIOUS CREATURES.

devoured a Salamander, will become poisonous to those
who eat its flesh ; and yet the danger is quite impercep-
tible 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 com-

CURIOUS CREATURES. 325

posed 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.

326 CURIOUS CREATURES.

"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 in-
curable, 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 : —

CURIOUS CREATURES. 327

" 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. i.)

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

328 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 them-
selves 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."

CURIOUS CREATURES. 329

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."

Olaus Magnus gives us the accompanying picture of the

luxurious man in his arm-chair by the river-side, catch-
ing his own leeches, and suffering from gnats ; and also

330 CURIOUS CREATURES.

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 dan-
gerous 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

CURIOUS CREATURES. 331

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 stand-
ing 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 Sisim-
brice, 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."

332 CURIOUS CREATURES.

There is a curious legend, that if a Scorpion is sur-
rounded 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, sus-
pended in the temple of Hercules at Erythrae (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 Dardae. It has the colour of a cat, and is in size
as large as an Egyptian wolf. This gold, which it ex-
tracts 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, com-
bined with their ferocity, and their passion for gold ! "

THE BEE.

The Busy Bee, too, according to Olaus Magnus, de-
veloped, 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.

CURIOUS CREATURES. 333

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.

So also, up North, they seem to have had a special

334

CURIOUS CREATURES.

breed of Hornets, which must have been ferocious
indeed, sparing neither man nor beast, as is evi-
denced by the corpses, and by the extremely ener-
getic efforts of the yet living man to cope with his
enemies.

INDEX.

ABAMIRON, country of men with

legs reversed, 9.
Acanthis, the, 70.
Accursius, 147.
Achillium. See Sponges.
yEdonaus, 287.
/Egipanae, a name for Satyrs,

57-

yEgithus, the, 70, 71.
/Egopithecus, the, 55.
/Elianus, 88, 93, 96, 148, 158,

212, 280, 331.
AL salon, the, 70.
/Esculapius, 148.
/Etolia, 280.
Agatharcides, 10, 16.
A'inos, the, a hairy people of

Japan, 50, 51.
Albertus, 93, TOO, 252.
Albinos, 10.
Alciatus, 65.
Aldrovandus, 47, 48, 81, 97,

154. i7°> 171. i72> X79,
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 Medusa, 85.

Ambergris, 222, 223.

Anclorus, the, 148.

Andrew, an Italian, 151.

Androgyni, tribe of, 1 1.

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

Ant, the, 71, 112, 332.

Antacasi (whales without spinal
bones'], 226.

Antelope, the, 145, 146.

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

An thus, the, 71.

Anu, 80.

Apes, 65, 66.

Apocynon. See The Toad.

Apollonides, 12.

Apollonius, 58, 59.

Archelaiis, 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.

2 II

338

INDEX.

Athenseus, 86.
Ausonius, 64.
Avicen, 72, 287.

BABOONS, 62.

Bacchantes, 80.

Bacchae, a name for Satyrs, 56.

Baffin, 245.

Balaena, the, 239, 240.

Barnacle Goose, the, 174, 175,

176, 177, 178, 179.
Bartlemew de Glanville, 231.
Basilisk, 156, 317, 318, 319,

321, 33'-

Batrachites. See The Toad.

Bear, the, 68, 104, 105, 106,
107, 108, 109, no, in,
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, in, 139.
Boas, the, 289, 290, 291.
Bolindinata. See Bird of

Paradise.

Boloma, the. See Dog-fish.
Bonosa, the, 193.
Bceothius, 228.

Borometz, the. See Lamb Tree.
Boscawen, W. St. Ch«d, 78.
Brazavolus, 94.
Bugil, the, 84.
Bull, the, and Bears, 109, and

Wolves, 137.
Bustard, the, 148.

CADAMUSTUS, ALOISIUS, 278.
Cadmus, 64, 65.
Caesar, Julius, 46, 47, 148.
Calf and Wolves, 137.
Calingas, a tribe of India whose

women conceive at the age of

five years and die at eight, 1 7.
Callimachus, 285.
Calliphanes, n.
Cambden, Mr., 144.
Camden, 177.
Camel, the, 148.
Cants 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.
Chimaera, the, 64, 170, 171.
Chiron, the Centaur, 79.
Chloraeus, the, 69.
Choromandas, a nation without

a proper voice, 15.
Christie, Mr., on Paleolithic

remains, 39.
Cicero, 12.
Circhos, the, 247.
Claudius, Emperor. See Orca.
Clayks. See Barnacle Geese.
Clement, Pope, 96.

INDEX

339

Clitarchus, 16.

Cock, the, 156, 157.

Cock with serpent's tail, 204,

205.
Cockatrice, the, 85, 317, 319,

320, 321, 322.
Ccelius, 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.
Cray-fish, 267.
Cristotinius. See Lamia.
Crocodile, the, 311, 312, 313,

3i4» 3*5, 3l6> 3*7-
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,

D/EDALUS, H.M.S., 274, 275,

276.

Dagon, 209.

Damon, 12.

Darwin, Descent of Man, i ;
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, i.
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,

*5°» IS1-

Dolphin, the, 242, 243.

D ordogne, Paleolithic 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,
3°7> 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-fooled, 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,-2.% ; their age, 28 ; Spuri-
ous pygmies, 28 ; Northern
dwarfs, 29 ; in America, 29,
30, 31 ; African dwarfs, 31,
32 ; their acute ness, 33.

EAGLE, the, 69, 70.

340

INDEX.

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,

3io» 3"-
Elpis, 158.
Embarus, 123.
Emin Pacha, 32.
Empusae. See Lamia.
Enchanters, families of, n.
Epyornis maximus, 183.
Ethiopia, wonders of, 13.
Eudoxus, 15.
Euryale, 85.

FABRICIUS, GEORGE, 61.
Falisci, or Hirpi, a tribe un-

harmed 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.
Formicas Lions, 58.
Fox, the, 68, 70, 125, 126, 127,

128, 129, 130, 131, 132,

.133, '34-

Fridlevus, 293, 294.
Frobisher, Sir Martin, 245.
Frog, the, 68.
Frotho, 293.

GAEKWAR 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,
3°5» 3o6, 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 men-
tioned in the Bible, 36 ;
height of Adam, &c., 37 ;
Gabbaras, 37 ; Posio and
Secundilla, 37 ; Sir John
Mandeviltes 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.

INDEX.

Gymnetoe, who live a hundred
years, 16.

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, in, 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 un-
harmed by fire, \2.

Hollerius, 331.

Homer, 75.

Hoopoe, the, 196.

Hornet, the 333, 334.

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

Horstius, 227.

Hyaena, the, 74, 132.

Hydra, 64, 291, 292.
Hydrophobia, 152, 153.

IBIS, the, 1 6 1.

Ichneumon, the, 70, 202, 315,
3i6.

Ichthyo Centaurus, the, 212.

lerom, Saint, 59.

Illyrii, a tribe having fascina-
tion in their eyes, 12.

Incubi, 60.

India, Wonders of, 13.

Isodorus, 100.

Isogonus of Nicaea, 10, u, 12,
15-

Istar, 80.

JAMES IV. and VI. of Scotland,

88.

Jeduah, the. See Lamb Tree.
Jerff. See Gulo.
Jocasta, 65.
Jochanan, Rabbi, 166.
Johnoen, Lars, 273.
Jovius, Paulus, 237.
Juba, 21.
Jugurtha, 86.

KHUMBABA, 79.
King-fisher. See Halcyon.
Kite, the, 69.
Kjokkenmoddings, 41. 42, 43,

44-
Kraken, the, 244, 261,262,263,

264, 265, 266, 292.

LACUS INSANUS, 23.

Laius, 65.

Lake dwellings, 39, 40, 41.

342

INDEX.

La Madelaine, Paleolithic re-
mains 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.

Lapithae, 80.

Lapwing, the, 196, 197.

Lee, Henry, 165, 292.

Leech, the, 329, 330.

Leumius, 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 Man-
ticora'), 159, 160.

Leviathan, 218.

Licetus, 173, 179.

Licosthenes, 81, 146, 180.

Lilith. See Lamia.

Linton Worme, the. See Dra-
gons.

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.

MACHLY^E, the tribe of, are
androgynous, 1 1.

Maclean, Rev. — , 271.

Macrobii, people who live four
hundred years, 15, 16.

M'Quhae, 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.

5°.

Mappa Mundi, 7, 17.
Marcellinus, 134.
Marcellus, 131, 133, 134, 140,

144, 174.
Marco Polo, 5, 28, TOO, 182,

249> 324, 325-

Maricomorion, the. See Man-
ticora.

Marion, the. See Manticora.

Marius, 86.

Marsi, the tribe of, 1 1.

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,
1 5 ; with white hair, i o, 14,
i 6 ; eat every other day, i o ;

INDEX.

343

those whose touch cures the i
stitig of serpents, i o ; saliva \
cures ditto, \ o ; testing the
fidelity of wives by means of
serpents, 1 1 ; possessing both
sexes, ii ; families of en-
chanters, 1 1 ; with the power
of fascination in their eyes,
1 2 ; with two pupils in each
eye, 1 2 ; whose bodies will not
sink in water, 1 2 ; whose per-
spiration causes consumption,
12 ; the glance of women with
double ptipils in their eyes is
noxious, 12 ; Indians never
expectorate, and are subject to
no pains, 13 ; Men eight feet
high, 13, 1 6 ; with feet turned
backwards, and eight toes, 14 ;
with heads of dogs, 1 4 ; Women
only pregnant once in their
lives, 14, 1 6 ; 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 nos-
trils, and flexible feet, 15 ;
with no mouths, who subsist
by smell, 15 ; who live 400
years, 15 ; living on vipers,
1 6 ; with no shadow, 16 ; live
to i 50 yearsand never seem
to get old, 1 6 ; who live 200
years, 16 ; do not live over
40 years, 16 ; who live on
locusts, 1 6 ; Women bear chil-
dren at seven years of age,

1 6 ; 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, \ 9 ;
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
dges, 39 ; Paleolithic re-
mains 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 Pas-
trana, 47 ; Puella pilosa of
Aldrovandus, 47, 48 ; Hairy
people at Ava, 49, 50 ; the
Amos 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.

344

INDEX.

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.
Mormolicse. See Lamia.
Morse, the. See Walrus.
Moses Chusensis, 166.
Mucianus, 253.
Muenster, Sebastian, 177.
Murex, the, 253, 254.
Musculus, the, 226.
Myrepsus, 132, 134.

NARWHAL, the, 244, 245.

Nasomenes, the tribe o/, J i.

Nebuchadnezzar, 78.

Nemaean Lion, 64.

Nereids, 210.

Niam Niams, 5.

Nicander, 302.

Nisus, the, 70.

Nymphae, a name for Satyrs,

57-
Nymphodorus, n.

CANNES, or Hea, 206, 207,

208, 209.

Obadja, Rabbi, 167.
Octopus. See Kraken.
Odoricus, Friar, 170, 175.
(Edipus, 64, 65.
Olaus Magnus. See Magnus, O.
Onisecritus, 16.
Onocentaur, the, 56, 83.
Uphiogenes, 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.

PAN, the, a satyr, 55, 57.

Pan, the Sea, 212.

Pandore, live two hundred years,
1 6.

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 per-
spiration causes consump-
tion, 12.

Philostratus, 58.

Phoenix, the, 183, 184, 185,
1 86.

Pholus, the Centaur, 80.

Phylarcus, 12.

Physeter, the, 215, 216, 217.

Pierius, 302.

Pitan, a tribe living on the sinc/l
of wild apples, 19.

Pithocaris, 139.

Plato, 194.
; Plesiosaurus, the, 300, 301.

INDEX.

345

Pliny, 5, 7, 8, 9, 17, 21, 22,
23, 26, 27, 53. 57, 67, 72,
81, 86, 87, 88, 105, 124,
I27, I31) 133) X4°, 148,
158, 161, 183, 193, 198,
199, 204, 210, 239, 242,
25T» 253, 256, 264, 267,
285, 286, 287, 288, 306,
313, 318, 324, 327, 329,

33°, 332-

Plutarch, 151, 281.
Polydamna, 286.
Polypus, the. See Kraken.
Poaeius, 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.
Pygmaeogeranomachia, 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,

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.
Rue, Rukh, or Rok. See Griffin.

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.

Sax°, 33> 34. 177.
Scaliger, 131, 317, 321.
Scarus, the, 253.
Schilt-bergerus, 284.
Sciapodae, 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.
Scyritae, 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.

346

INDEX.

Seamew, the, 70.

Sea-Mouse, the, 234.

Sea-Nettle, the, 259, 260.

Sea-Pig, the, 235.

Sea Rhinoceros, the. See Nar-
whal.

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.

Seras, who live four hundred
years, 15.

Serpeda de Aqua, 291.

Serpents, bite of, cured by men's
saliva, 10 ; ditto by odour of
men, 1 1 ; test of fidelity of
wives, 1 1 ; destroy strangers,
69 ; war with Weasels and
Swine, 7 o ; killed by Spiders,
71; and Cats, 154,155, 156;
and Mice, 156 ; and Lions,
156; cure for bite of, 1 6 1 ;
take medicine, 162 ; the In-
dian,akind of whale, 226,227;
and Crabs, 267, 268; charm-
ing tJiem, 278, 279 ; their
loves, 280, 281; talking,
281; size, 281, 282; their
coldness, 283, 284 ; pugna-
city, 284, 285 ; their antipa-
thies, 285, 286, 287 ; as
medicine, 288, 289.

Servius, 171.

Sextus, 134, 138.

Shrew mouse, the, 68, 70.

Shu-Maon, a hairy man, 49.

Sicinnis, Sicinnistae, a name for
Satyrs, 57.

Sidetes, 140.

Sileni, a name for Satyrs, 56, 5 7.

Simeon, Rabbi, 166, 167, 168.

Simia Satyrus, the, 52, 53, 54,

56.

Simiinae, 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,

1 88, 189.

Swamfisck, the, 245, 246, 247.
Swan, the, 69, 193, 194.
Swine, 70, 148, 156.
Swordfish, the, 238, 239.
Sylla, 58.
Syrbotas, men twelve feet high,

INDEX.

347

TANTALUS apples, 75.
Tauron, 15.
Ta vernier, 191.
Tennent, Sir J. E., 213.
Teufelwal, 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.

Troglodytae, dwellers in caves,
1 4 ; their swiftness, 1 7 ; their
remains, 20 ; feed on serpents
and lizards, 21 ; their com-
merce, 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.

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

Urchin, the, 128.

VALENTYN, 213.
Varinus, 64.
Varro, 10.

Versipellis. See Were Wolves.
Vespasian, 151.
Vielfras, the. See Gulo.
Villanonanus, Arnoldus, 287.
Vipers, flesh of, causing lon-
gevity, 1 6.
Virgil, 140.
Vishnu, 209.
Volateran, 282.

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, X44-
Whale, the, 214, 215, 216, 217,

2l8, 219, 220, 221, 222,

223, 224, 225, 226, 227.

Whale, the hairy, 226.
Whaup, the. See Lapwing.

348

INDEX.

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.

XENOPHON, 86.

YOULE, Captain HENRY, 49.

ZAHN, JOANNES, 4, 144, 165,

173, 248.
Zaidu, 79.
Zebra, 146, 147.
Ziphius, the, 238, 239.
Zoophytes, 259, 260.

THE END.

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

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