{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_40972/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_40972","id":"gutenberg_40972","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40972","summary":null,"tags":["Animals, Mythical","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Ancient","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore"],"text":"Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n      file which includes the original illustrations.\n      See 10972-h.htm or 10972-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10972/pg10972-images.html)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10972/10972-h.zip)\n\n\n      Images of the original pages are available through\n      Internet Archive. See\n      http://archive.org/details/mythicalmonsters00goulrich\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\n      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\n      The original text includes Persian characters. For this\n      text file version these letters have been replaced with\n      [Persian].\n\n\n\n\n\nMYTHICAL MONSTERS.\n\n[Illustration: THE FUNG WANG. _ACCORDING TO_ FANG HENG.]\n\n\nMYTHICAL MONSTERS.\n\nby\n\nCHARLES GOULD, B.A.,\n\nMember of the Royal Society of Tasmania;\nLate Geological Surveyor of Tasmania.\n\nWith Ninety-Three Illustrations.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLondon:\nW. H. Allen & Co., 13 Waterloo Place. S.W.\nPublishers to the India Office.\n1886.\n\n(All rights reserved.)\n\nLondon:\nPrinted By W H Allen and Co., 13 Waterloo Place, Pall Mall S.W.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe Author has to express his great obligations to many gentlemen who have\nassisted him in the preparation of this volume, either by affording access\nto their libraries, or by furnishing or revising translations from the\nChinese, &c.; and he must especially tender them to J. Haas, Esq., the\nAustro-Hungarian Vice-Consul at Shanghai, to Mr. Thomas Kingsmill and the\nRev. W. Holt of Shanghai, to Mr. Falconer of Hong-Kong, and to Dr. N. B.\nDennys of Singapore.\n\nFor the sake of uniformity, the author has endeavoured to reduce all the\nromanised representations of Chinese sounds to the system adopted by S. W.\nWilliams, whose invaluable dictionary is the most available one for\nstudents. No alteration, however, has been made when quotations from\neminent sinologues like Legge have been inserted.\n\nShould the present volume prove sufficiently interesting to attract\nreaders, a second one will be issued at a future date, in continuation of\nthe subject.\n\n_June, 1884._\n\n\nNOTE BY THE PUBLISHERS.\n\nThe Publishers think it right to state that, owing to the Author's absence\nin China, the work has not had the advantage of his supervision in its\npassage through the press. It is also proper to mention that the MS. left\nthe Author's hands eighteen months ago.\n\n  13, WATERLOO PLACE. S.W.\n    _January, 1886._\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                      PAGE\n\n  INTRODUCTION                                           1\n\n  LIST OF AUTHORS CITED                                 27\n\n  CHAPTER I.--ON SOME REMARKABLE ANIMAL FORMS           31\n\n  CHAPTER II.--EXTINCTION OF SPECIES                    42\n\n  CHAPTER III.--ANTIQUITY OF MAN                        78\n\n  CHAPTER IV.--THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH                   101\n\n  CHAPTER V.--ON THE TRANSLATION OF MYTHS BETWEEN\n              THE OLD AND THE NEW WORLD                137\n\n  CHAPTER VI.--THE DRAGON                              159\n\n  CHAPTER VII.--THE CHINESE DRAGON                     212\n\n  CHAPTER VIII.--THE JAPANESE DRAGON                   248\n\n  CHAPTER IX.--THE SEA-SERPENT                         260\n\n  CHAPTER X.--THE UNICORN                              338\n\n  CHAPTER XI.--THE CHINESE PH\u0152NIX                      366\n\n  APPENDICES                                           375\n\n\n\n\nMYTHICAL MONSTERS.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nIt would have been a bold step indeed for anyone, some thirty years ago,\nto have thought of treating the public to a collection of stories\nordinarily reputed fabulous, and of claiming for them the consideration\ndue to genuine realities, or to have advocated tales, time-honoured as\nfictions, as actual facts; and those of the nursery as being, in many\ninstances, legends, more or less distorted, descriptive of real beings or\nevents.\n\nNow-a-days it is a less hazardous proceeding. The great era of advanced\nopinion, initiated by Darwin, which has seen, in the course of a few\nyears, a larger progress in knowledge in all departments of science than\ndecades of centuries preceding it, has, among other changes, worked a\ncomplete revolution in the estimation of the value of folk-lore; and\nspeculations on it, which in the days of our boyhood would have been\nconsidered as puerile, are now admitted to be not merely interesting but\nnecessary to those who endeavour to gather up the skeins of unwritten\nhistory, and to trace the antecedents and early migrations from parent\nsources of nations long since alienated from each other by customs,\nspeech, and space.\n\nI have, therefore, but little hesitation in gravely proposing to submit\nthat many of the so-called mythical animals, which throughout long ages\nand in all nations have been the fertile subjects of fiction and fable,\ncome legitimately within the scope of plain matter-of-fact Natural\nHistory, and that they may be considered, not as the outcome of exuberant\nfancy, but as creatures which really once existed, and of which,\nunfortunately, only imperfect and inaccurate descriptions have filtered\ndown to us, probably very much refracted, through the mists of time.\n\nI propose to follow, for a certain distance only, the path which has been\npursued in the treatment of myths by mythologists, so far only, in fact,\nas may be necessary to trace out the homes and origin of those stories\nwhich in their later dress are incredible; deviating from it to dwell upon\nthe possibility of their having preserved to us, through the medium of\nunwritten Natural History, traditions of creatures once co-existing with\nman, some of which are so weird and terrible as to appear at first sight\nto be impossible. I propose stripping them of those supernatural\ncharacters with which a mysteriously implanted love of the wonderful has\ninvested them, and to examine them, as at the present day we are\nfortunately able to do, by the lights of the modern sciences of Geology,\nEvolution, and Philology.\n\nFor me the major part of these creatures are not chimeras but objects of\nrational study. The dragon, in place of being a creature evolved out of\nthe imagination of Aryan man by the contemplation of lightning flashing\nthrough the caverns which he tenanted, as is held by some mythologists, is\nan animal which once lived and dragged its ponderous coils, and perhaps\nflew; which devastated herds, and on occasions swallowed their shepherd;\nwhich, establishing its lair in some cavern overlooking the fertile plain,\nspread terror and destruction around, and, protected from assault by dread\nor superstitious feeling, may even have been subsidised by the\nterror-stricken peasantry, who, failing the power to destroy it, may have\npreferred tethering offerings of cattle adjacent to its cavern to having\nit come down to seek supplies from amongst their midst.[1]\n\nTo me the specific existence of the unicorn seems not incredible, and, in\nfact, more probable than that theory which assigns its origin to a lunar\nmyth.[2]\n\nAgain, believing as I do in the existence of some great undescribed\ninhabitant of the ocean depths, the much-derided sea-serpent, whose home\nseems especially to be adjacent to Norway, I recognise this monster as\noriginating the myths of the midgard serpent which the Norse Elder Eddas\nhave collected, this being the contrary view to that taken by\nmythologists, who invert the derivation, and suppose the stories current\namong the Norwegian fishermen to be modified versions of this important\nelement of Norse mythology.[3]\n\nI must admit that, for my part, I doubt the general derivation of myths\nfrom \"the contemplation of the visible workings of external nature.\"[4] It\nseems to me easier to suppose that the palsy of time has enfeebled the\nutterance of these oft-told tales until their original appearance is\nalmost unrecognisable, than that uncultured savages should possess powers\nof imagination and poetical invention far beyond those enjoyed by the most\ninstructed nations of the present day; less hard to believe that these\nwonderful stories of gods and demigods, of giants and dwarfs, of dragons\nand monsters of all descriptions, are transformations than to believe them\nto be inventions.[5]\n\nThe author of _Atlantis_,[6] indeed, claims that the gods and goddesses of\nthe ancient Greeks, the Ph\u0153nicians, the Hindoos, and the Scandinavians\nwere simply the kings, queens, and heroes of Atlantis, and the acts\nattributed to them in mythology a confused recollection of real historical\nevents. Without conceding the _locus_ of the originals, which requires\nmuch greater examination than I am able to make at the present time, I\nquite agree with him as to the principle. I believe that the mythological\ndeities represent a confused chronology of far-distant times, and that the\ndestruction of the Nemean lion, the Lernean hydra, and the Minotaur are\nsimply the records of acts of unusual bravery in combating ferocious\nanimals.\n\nOn the first landing of Pizarro the Mexicans entertained the opinion that\nman and horse were parts of one strange animal,[7] and we have thus a clue\nto the explanation of the origin of the belief in centaurs from a distant\nview of horsemen, a view possibly followed by the immediate flight of the\nobserver, which rendered a solution of the extraordinary phenomenon\nimpossible.\n\n\nON THE CREDIBILITY OF REMARKABLE STORIES.\n\nFerdinand Mendez Pinto quaintly observes, in one of his earlier chapters,\n\"I will not speak of the Palace Royal, because I saw it but on the\noutside, howbeit the Chinese tell such wonders of it as would amaze a man;\nfor it is my intent to relate nothing save what we beheld here with our\nown eyes, and that was so much as that I am afraid to write it; not that\nit would seem strange to those who have seen and read the marvels of the\nkingdom of China, but because I doubt that they which would compare those\nwondrous things that are in the countries they have not seen, with that\nlittle they have seen in their own, will make some question of it, or, it\nmay be, give no credit at all to these truths, because they are not\nconformable to their understanding and small experience.\"[8]\n\nNow as some of the creatures whose existence I shall have to contend for\nin these volumes are objects of derision to a large proportion of mankind,\nand of reasonable doubt to another, I cannot help fortifying myself with\nsome such outwork of reasoning as the pith of Pinto's remarks affords, and\nsupplementing it by adding that, while the balance between scepticism and\ncredulity is undoubtedly always difficult to hold, yet, as Lord Bacon well\nremarks, \"There is nothing makes a man suspect much more than to know\nlittle; and therefore men should remedy suspicion by procuring to know\nmore.\"\n\nWhately extends Bacon's proposition by adding, \"This is equally true of\nthe suspicions that have reference to things as persons\"; in other words,\nignorance and suspicion go hand-in-hand, and so travellers' tales, even\nwhen supported by good evidence, are mostly denied credence or accepted\nwith repugnance, when they offend the experience of those who, remaining\nat home, are thus only partially educated. Hence it is, not to go too far\nback for examples, that we have seen Bruce, Mungo Park, Du Chaillu, Gordon\nCumming, Schliemann,[9] and Stanley treated with the most ungenerous\ncriticism and contemptuous disbelief by persons who, however well informed\nin many subjects, lacked the extended and appreciative views which can\nonly be acquired by travel.\n\nNor is this incredulity limited to travellers' tales about savage life. It\nis just as often displayed in reference to the surroundings of uneventful\nlife, provided they are different from those with which we are familiar.\n\nSaladin rebuked the Knight of the Leopard for falsehood when the latter\nassured him that the waters of lakes in his own country became at times\nsolidified, so that armed and mounted knights could cross them as if on\ndry land. And the wise Indian who was taken down to see the large American\ncities, with the expectation that, being convinced of the resources and\nirresistible power of civilization he would influence his tribe to\nsubmission on his return, to the surprise of the commissioners who had\nconveyed him, spoke in directly contrary terms to those expected of him,\nprivately explaining in reply to their remonstrances, that had he told the\ntruth to his tribe he would have been indelibly branded for the remainder\nof his life as an outrageous and contemptible liar. Chinese students,\ndespatched for education in American or European capitals, are compelled\non their return to make similar reservations, under pain of incurring a\nlike penalty; and officials who, from contact with Europeans at the open\nports, get their ideas expanded too quickly, are said to be liable to\nisolation in distant regions, where their advanced and fantastic opinions\nmay do as little harm to right-thinking people as possible.[10]\n\nEven scientific men are sometimes as crassly incredulous as the uncultured\nmasses. On this point hear Mr. A. R. Wallace.[11] \"Many now living\nremember the time (for it is little more than twenty years ago) when the\nantiquity of man, as now understood, was universally discredited. Not only\ntheologians, but even geologists taught us that man belonged to the\nexisting state of things; that the extinct animals of the tertiary period\nhad finally disappeared, and that the earth's surface had assumed its\npresent condition before the human race first came into existence. So\nprepossessed were scientific men with this idea, which yet rested on\npurely negative evidence, and could not be supported by any argument of\nscientific value, that numerous facts which had been presented at\nintervals for half a century, all tending to prove the existence of man at\nvery remote epochs, were silently ignored, and, more than this, the\ndetailed statements of three distinct and careful observers confirming\neach other were rejected by a great scientific society as too improbable\nfor publication, only because they proved (if they were true) the\nco-existence of man with extinct animals.\"[12]\n\nThe travels of that faithful historian, Marco Polo, were for a long time\nconsidered as fables, and the graphic descriptions of the Abb\u00e9 Huc even\nstill find detractors continuing the _r\u00f4le_ of those who maintained that\nhe had never even visited the countries which he described.\n\nGordon Cumming was disbelieved when he asserted that he had killed an\nantelope, out of a herd, with a rifle-shot at a distance of eight hundred\nyards.\n\nMadame Merian[13] was accused of deliberate falsehood in reference to her\ndescription of a bird-eating spider nearly two hundred years ago. But\nnow-a-days Mr. Bates and other reliable observers have confirmed it in\nregard to South America, India, and elsewhere.\n\nAudubon was similarly accused by botanists of having invented the yellow\nwater-lily, which he figured in his _Birds of the South_ under the name of\nNymph\u00e6a lutea, and after having lain under the imputation for years, was\nconfirmed at last by the discovery of the long-lost flower, in Florida, by\nMrs. Mary Trent, in the summer of 1876;[14] and this encourages us to hope\nthat some day or other a fortunate sportsman may rediscover the Hali\u00e6tus\nWashingtonii, in regard to which Dr. Cover says: \"That famous bird of\nWashington was a myth; either Audubon was mistaken, or else, as some do\nnot hesitate to affirm, he lied about it.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 1.--FISHERMAN ATTACKED BY OCTOPUS.\n\n(_Facsimile from a drawing by Hokusai, a celebrated Japanese artist who\nlived about the beginning of the present century._)]\n\nVictor Hugo was ridiculed for having exceeded the bounds of poetic license\nwhen he produced his marvellous word-painting of the devil-fish, and\ndescribed a man as becoming its helpless victim. The thing was derided as\na monstrous impossibility; yet within a few years were discovered, on the\nshores of Newfoundland, cuttle-fishes with arms extending to thirty feet\nin length, and capable of dragging a good-sized boat beneath the surface;\nand their action has been reproduced for centuries past, as the\nrepresentation of a well-known fact, in _net sukes_ (ivory carvings) and\nillustrations by Japanese artists.[15]\n\nBefore the days of Darwinism, what courage was requisite in a man who\npropounded any theory a little bit extravagant! Hark how, even less than\ntwenty years ago, the ghost of the unfortunate Lord Monboddo had bricks of\ncriticism pelted at it, half earnestly, half contemptuously, by one of our\ngreatest thinkers, whose thought happened to run in grooves different from\nthose travelled in by the mind of the unfortunate Scotchman.\n\n\"Lord Monboddo[16] had just finished his great work, by which he derives\nall mankind from a couple of apes, and all the dialects of the world from\na language originally framed by some Egyptian gods, when the discovery of\nSanskrit came on him like a thunderbolt. It must be said, however, to his\ncredit, that he at once perceived the immense importance of the discovery.\nHe could not be expected to sacrifice his primordial monkeys or his\nEgyptian idols, &c.\"\n\nAnd again: \"It may be of interest to give one other extract in order to\nshow how well, apart from his men with, and his monkeys without, tails,\nLord Monboddo could sift and handle the evidence that was placed before\nhim.\"\n\nMax M\u00fcller also furnishes us with an amazing example of scepticism on the\npart of Dugald Stewart. He says[17]: \"However, if the facts about Sanskrit\nwere true, Dugald Stewart was too wise not to see that the conclusions\ndrawn from them were inevitable. He therefore denied the reality of such a\nlanguage as Sanskrit altogether, and wrote his famous essay to prove that\nSanskrit had been put together, after the model of Greek and Latin, by\nthose archforgers and liars, the Brahmans, and that the whole of Sanskrit\nliterature was an imposition.\"\n\nSo Ctesias attacked Herodotus. The very existence of Homer has been\ndenied, and even the authorship of Shakespeare's plays questioned.[18]\n\nWe are all familiar enough now with the black swan, but Ovid[19]\nconsidered it as so utterly impossible that he clinched, as it were, an\naffirmation by saying, \"If I doubted, O Maximus, of thy approval of these\nwords, I could believe that there are swans of the colour of Memnon\"\n[_i.e._ black]; and even so late as the days of Sir Thomas Browne, we find\nthem classed by him with flying horses, hydras, centaurs, harpies, and\nsatyrs, as monstrosities, rarities, or else poetical fancies.[20]\n\nNow that we have all seen the great hippopotamus disport himself in his\ntank in the gardens of the Zoological Society, we can smile at the grave\narguments of the savant who, while admitting the existence of the animal,\ndisputed the possibility of his walking about on the bed of a river,\nbecause his great bulk would prevent his rising again.[21] But I daresay\nit passed muster in his days as a very sound and shrewd observation, just\nas, possibly, but for the inconvenient waggery of Peter Pindar, might have\ndone the intelligent inquiry, which he records, after the seam in the\napple-dumpling.\n\nPoor Fray Gaspar de Jan Bernardine who, in 1611, undertook the journey by\nland from India to Portugal, was unfortunate enough to describe the mode\nin which the captain of the caravan communicated intelligence to Bagdad by\ncarrier pigeon. \"He had pigeons whose young and nests were at his house in\nthat city, and every two days he let fly a pigeon with a letter tied to\nits foot containing the news of his journey. This account met with but\nlittle belief in Europe, and was treated there as a matter of\nmerriment.\"[22]\n\nThe discredit under which this traveller fell is the more surprising\nbecause the same custom had already been noted by Sir John Mandeville,\nwho, in speaking of Syria and adjacent countries, says: \"In that contree,\nand other contrees beyond, thei have custom, whan thei schulle usen warre,\nand when men holden sege abouten Cytee or Castelle, and thei withinen dur\nnot senden messagers with lettres fr\u014d Lord to Lord for to ask Sokour, thei\nmaken here Lettres and bynden hem to the Nekke of a Colver and leten the\nColver flee, and the Colveren ben so taughte, that thei flun with the\nLettres to the very place that men wolde send hem to. For the Colveres\nben norrysscht in the Places Where thei been sent to, and thei senden them\nthere, for to beren here Lettres, and the Colveres retournen agen, where\nas thei ben norrischt, and so thei dou commonly.\"\n\nWhile, long before, Pliny had referred to it in his _Natural History_[23]\nas follows: \"In addition to this, pigeons have acted as messengers in\naffairs of importance. During the siege of Mutina, Decimus Brutus, who was\nin the town, sent despatches to the camp of the Consuls, fastened to\npigeons' feet. Of what use to Antony, then, were his entrenchments? and\nall the vigilance of the besieging army? his nets, too, which he had\nspread in the river, while the messenger of the besieged was cleaving the\nair?\"\n\nThe pace of railways; steam communication across the Atlantic; the Suez\nCanal[24]; were not all these considered in former days to be impossible?\nWith these examples of failure of judgment before us, it may be fairly\nasked whether, in applying our minds to the investigation of the reality\nof creatures apparently monstrous, we duly reflect upon the extraordinary,\nalmost miraculous, events which incessantly occur in the course of the\nshort existence of all animated nature? Supposing the history of insects\nwere unknown to us, could the wildest imagination conceive such a\nmarvellous transformation as that which takes place continually around us\nin the passage from the larva through the chrysalis to the butterfly? or\nhuman ingenuity invent one so bizarre as that recorded by Steenstrup in\nhis theory of the alternation of generation?\n\nWe accept as nothing marvellous, only because we see them daily, the\norganization and the polity of a community of ants; their collaboration,\ntheir wars, and their slaveries have been so often stated that they cease\nto astonish. The same may be said of the marvellous architecture of birds,\ntheir construction of houses to live in, of bowers to play in, and even of\ngardens to gratify their sense of beauty.[25]\n\nWe admire the ingenious imagination of Swift, and essayists dwell upon his\nhappy conceits and upon the ability with which, in his celebrated work, he\nhas ordered all things to harmonise in dimensions with the enlarged and\nreduced scales on which he has conceived the men and animals of Brobdignag\nand Lilliput. So much even has this quaint idea been appreciated, that his\nstory has achieved a small immortality, and proved one of the numerous\nsprings from which new words have been imported into our language. Yet the\npeculiar and essential singularities of the story are quite equalled, or\neven surpassed, by creatures which are, or have been, found in nature. The\nimaginary diminutive cows which Gulliver brought back from Lilliput, and\nplaced in the meadows at Dulwich, are not one bit more remarkable, in\nrespect to relative size, than the pigmy elephant (_E. Falconeri_) whose\nremains have been found in the cave-deposits of Malta, associated with\nthose of pigmy hippopotami, and which was only two feet six inches high;\nor the still existing _Hippopotamus (Ch\u00e6ropsis) liberiensis_, which M.\nMilne Edwardes[26] figures as little more than two feet in height.\n\nThe lilliputian forests from which the royal navy was constructed\ncontained even large trees in comparison with the dwarf oaks of\nMexico,[27] or with the allied, even smaller species, which crawls like\nheather about the hill-slopes of China and Japan, and still more so in\ncomparison with that singular pine, the most diminutive known (_Dacrydium\ntaxifolium_), fruiting specimens of which, according to Kirk, are\nsometimes only two inches high, while the average height is only six to\nten inches; while even among the forests of Brobdignag, a very respectable\nposition could be held by the mammoth trees of California (_Sequoia\ngigantea_), or by the loftier white gums of Australia (_Eucalyptus\namygdalina_), which occasionally reach, according to Von Mueller,[28] the\nenormous height of 480 feet. Nor could more adequate tenants (in point of\nsize) be found to occupy them than the gigantic reptilian forms lately\ndiscovered by Marsh among the deposits of Colorado and Texas.\n\nSurely a profound acquaintance with the different branches of natural\nhistory should render a man credulous rather than incredulous, for there\nis hardly conceivable a creature so monstrous that it may not be\nparalleled by existing ones in every-day life.[29]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 2.--PTERODACTYLUS. (_After Figuier._)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 3.--RHAMPHORYNCHUS. (_From \"Nature.\"_)]\n\nAre the composite creatures of Chald\u00e6an mythology so very much more\nwonderful than the marsupial kangaroo, the duck-billed platypus, and the\nflying lizard of Malaysia which are, or the pterodactylus, rhamphorynchus,\nand arch\u00e6opteryx which have been? Does not geological science, day by day,\ntrace one formation by easy gradation to another, bridge over the gaps\nwhich formerly separated them, carry the proofs of the existence of man\nconstantly further and further back into remote time, and disclose the\nprevious existence of intermediate types (satisfying the requirements of\nthe Darwinian theory) connecting the great divisions of the animal\nkingdom, of reptile-like birds and bird-like reptiles? Can we suppose that\nwe have at all exhausted the great museum of nature? Have we, in fact,\npenetrated yet beyond its ante-chambers?\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 4.--ARCH\u00c6OPTERYX.]\n\nDoes the written history of man, comprising a few thousand years, embrace\nthe whole course of his intelligent existence? or have we in the long\nmythical eras, extending over hundreds of thousands of years and recorded\nin the chronologies of Chald\u00e6a and of China, shadowy mementoes of\npre-historic man, handed down by tradition, and perhaps transported by a\nfew survivors to existing lands from others which, like the fabled (?)\nAtlantis of Plato, may have been submerged, or the scene of some great\ncatastrophe which destroyed them with all their civilization.\n\nThe six or eight thousand years which the various interpreters of the\nBiblical record assign for the creation of the world and the duration of\nman upon the earth, allow little enough space for the development of his\ncivilization--a civilization which documental evidence carries almost to\nthe verge of the limit--for the expansion and divergence of stocks, or the\nobliteration of the branches connecting them.\n\nBut, fortunately, we are no more compelled to fetter our belief within\nsuch limits as regards man than to suppose that his appearance on the\nglobe was coeval with or immediately successive to its own creation at\nthat late date. For while geological science, on the one hand, carries\nback the creation of the world and the appearance of life upon its surface\nto a period so remote that it is impossible to estimate it, and difficult\neven to faintly approximate to it, so, upon the other, the researches of\npal\u00e6ontologists have successively traced back the existence of man to\nperiods variously estimated at from thirty thousand to one million\nyears--to periods when he co-existed with animals which have long since\nbecome extinct, and which even excelled in magnitude and ferocity most of\nthose which in savage countries dispute his empire at the present day. Is\nit not reasonable to suppose that his combats with these would form the\nmost important topic of conversation, of tradition, and of primitive song,\nand that graphic accounts of such struggles, and of the terrible nature of\nthe foes encountered, would be handed down from father to son, with a\nfidelity of description and an accuracy of memory unsuspected by us, who,\nbeing acquainted with reading and writing, are led to depend upon their\nartificial assistance, and thus in a measure fail to cultivate a faculty\nwhich, in common with those of keenness of vision and hearing, are\nessential to the existence of man in a savage or semi-savage\ncondition?[30]\n\nThe illiterate backwoodsman or trapper (and hence by inference the savage\nor semi-civilized man), whose mind is occupied merely by his\nsurroundings, and whose range of thought, in place of being diffused over\nan illimitable horizon, is confined within very moderate limits, develops\nremarkable powers of observation and an accuracy of memory in regard to\nlocalities, and the details of his daily life, surprising to the scholar\nwho has mentally to travel over so much more ground, and, receiving daily\nso many and so far more complex ideas, can naturally grasp each less\nfirmly, and is apt to lose them entirely in the haze of a period of time\nwhich would still leave those of the uneducated man distinguishable or\neven prominent landmarks.[31] Variations in traditions must, of course,\noccur in time, and the same histories, radiating in all directions from\ncentres, vary from the original ones by increments dependent on\nproportionately altered phases of temperament and character, induced by\nchange of climate, associations and conditions of life; so that the early\nwritten history of every country reproduces under its own garb, and with a\nclaim to originality, attenuated, enriched, or deformed versions of\ntraditions common in their origin to many or all.[32]\n\nStories of divine progenitors, demigods, heroes, mighty hunters, slayers\nof monsters, giants, dwarfs, gigantic serpents, dragons, frightful beasts\nof prey, supernatural beings, and myths of all kinds, appear to have been\ncarried into all corners of the world with as much fidelity as the sacred\nArk of the Israelites, acquiring a moulding--graceful, weird or\nuncouth--according to the genius of the people or their capacity for\nsuperstitious belief; and these would appear to have been materially\naffected by the varied nature of their respective countries. For example,\nthe long-continuing dwellers in the open plains of a semi-tropical region,\nrelieved to a great extent from the cares of watchfulness, and nurtured in\nthe grateful rays of a genial but not oppressive sun, must have a more\nbuoyant disposition and more open temperament than those inhabiting vast\nforests, the matted overgrowth of which rarely allows the passage of a\nsingle ray, bathes all in gloom, and leaves on every side undiscovered\ndepths, filled with shapeless shadows, objects of vigilant dread, from\nwhich some ferocious monster may emerge at any moment. Again, on the one\nhand, the nomad roaming in isolation over vast solitudes, having much\nleisure for contemplative reflection, and on the other, the hardy dwellers\non storm-beaten coasts, by turns fishermen, mariners, and pirates, must\nequally develop traits which affect their religion, polity, and customs,\nand stamp their influences on mythology and tradition.\n\nThe Greek, the Celt, and the Viking, descended from the same Aryan\nancestors, though all drawing from the same sources their inspirations of\nreligious belief and tradition, quickly diverged, and respectively settled\ninto a generous martial race--martial in support of their independence\nrather than from any lust of conquest--polite, skilled, and learned; one\nbrave but irritable, suspicious, haughty, impatient of control; and the\nlast, the berserker, with a ruling passion for maritime adventure, piracy,\nand hand-to-hand heroic struggles, to be terminated in due course by a\nhero's death and a welcome to the banqueting halls of Odin in Walhalla.\n\nThe beautiful mythology of the Greek nation, comprising a pantheon of gods\nand demigods, benign for the most part, and often interesting themselves\ndirectly in the welfare of individual men, was surely due to, or at least\ngreatly induced by, the plastic influences of a delicious climate, a\nsemi-insular position in a sea comparatively free from stormy weather, and\nan open mountainous country, moderately fertile. Again, the gloomy and\nsanguinary religion of the Druids was doubtless moulded by the depressing\ninfluences of the seclusion, twilight haze, and dangers of the dense\nforests in which they hid themselves--forests which, as we know from\nC\u00e6sar, spread over the greater part of Gaul, Britain, and Spain; while the\nViking, having from the chance or choice of his ancestors, inherited a\nrugged seaboard, lashed by tempestuous waves and swept by howling winds, a\nseaboard with only a rugged country shrouded with unsubdued forests at its\nback, exposed during the major portion of the year to great severity of\nclimate, and yielding at the best but a niggard and precarious harvest,\nbecame perforce a bold and skilful mariner, and, translating his belief\ninto a language symbolic of his new surroundings, believed that he saw and\nheard Thor in the midst of the howling tempests, revealed majestic and\nterrible through rents in the storm-cloud. Pursuing our consideration of\nthe effects produced by climatic conditions, may we not assume, for\nexample, that some at least of the Chald\u00e6ans, inhabiting a pastoral\ncountry, and being descended from ancestors who had pursued, for hundreds\nor thousands of years, a nomadic existence in the vast open steppes in the\nhighlands of Central Asia, were indebted to those circumstances for the\nadvance which they are credited with having made in astronomy and kindred\nsciences. Is it not possible that their acquaintance with climatology was\nas exact or even more so than our own? The habit of solitude would induce\nreflection, the subject of which would naturally be the causes influencing\nthe vicissitudes of weather. The possibilities of rain or sunshine, wind\nor storm, would be with them a prominent object of solicitude; and the\nnecessity, in an unfenced country, of extending their watch over their\nflocks and herds throughout the night, would perforce more or less rivet\ntheir attention upon the glorious constellations of the heavens above, and\nlead to habits of observation which, systematized and long continued by\nthe priesthood, might have produced deductions accurate in the result even\nif faulty in the process.\n\nThe vast treasures of ancient knowledge tombed in the ruins of Babylon and\nAssyria, of which the recovery and deciphering is as yet only initiated,\nmay, to our surprise, reveal that certain secrets of philosophy were known\nto the ancients equally with ourselves, but lost through intervening ages\nby the destruction of the empire, and the fact of their conservancy having\nbeen entrusted to a privileged and limited order, with which it\nperished.[33]\n\nWe hail as a new discovery the knowledge of the existence of the so-called\nspots upon the surface of the sun, and scientists, from long-continued\nobservations, profess to distinguish a connection between the character of\nthese and atmospheric phenomena; they even venture to predict floods and\ndroughts, and that for some years in anticipation; while pestilences or\nsome great disturbance are supposed to be likely to follow the period when\nthree or four planets attain their apogee within one year, a supposition\nbased on the observations extended over numerous years, that similar\nevents had accompanied the occurrence of even one only of those positions\nat previous periods.\n\nMay we not speculate on the possibility of similar or parallel knowledge\nhaving been possessed by the old Chald\u00e6an and Egyptian priesthood; and may\nnot Joseph have been able, by superior ability in its exercise, to have\nanticipated the seven years' drought, or Noah, from an acquaintance with\nmeteorological science, to have made an accurate forecast of the great\ndisturbances which resulted in the Deluge and the destruction of a large\nportion of mankind?[34]\n\nWithout further digression in a path which opens the most pleasing\nspeculations, and could be pursued into endless ramifications, I will\nmerely, in conclusion, suggest that the same influences which, as I have\nshown above, affect so largely the very nature of a people, must similarly\naffect its traditions and myths, and that due consideration will have to\nbe given to such influences, in the case of some at least of the\nremarkable animals which I propose to discuss in this and future volumes.\n\n\n\n\nCHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF SOME AUTHORS WRITING ON, AND WORKS RELATING TO\nNATURAL HISTORY, TO WHICH REFERENCES ARE MADE IN THE PRESENT VOLUME;\nEXTRACTED TO A GREAT EXTENT, AS TO THE WESTERN AUTHORS, FROM KNIGHT'S\n\"CYCLOP\u00c6DIA OF BIOGRAPHY.\"\n\n\n_The Shan Hai King_--According to the commentator Kwoh P'oh (A.D.\n276-324), this work was compiled three thousand years before this time, or\nat seven dynasties' distance. Yang Sun of the Ming dynasty (commencing\nA.D. 1368), states that it was compiled by Kung Chia (and Chung Ku?) from\nengravings on nine urns made by the Emperor Y\u00fc, B.C. 2255. Chung Ku was an\nhistoriographer, and at the time of the last Emperor of the Hia dynasty\n(B.C. 1818), fearing that the Emperor might destroy the books treating of\nthe ancient and present time, carried them in flight to Yin.\n\n_The 'Rh Ya_--Initiated according to tradition, by Chow Kung; uncle of Wu\nWang, the first Emperor of the Chow dynasty, B.C. 1122. Ascribed also to\nTsze Hea, the disciple of Confucius.\n\n_The Bamboo Books_--Containing the Ancient Annals of China, said to have\nbeen found A.D. 279, on opening the grave of King Seang of Wei [died B.C.\n295]. Age prior to last date, undetermined. Authenticity disputed,\nfavoured by Legge.\n\n_Confucius_--Author of Spring and Autumn Classics, &c., B.C. (551-479).\n\n_Ctesias_--Historian, physician to Artaxerxes, B.C. 401.\n\n_Herodotus_--B.C. 484.\n\n_Aristotle_--B.C. 384.\n\n_Megasthenes_--About B.C. 300. In time of Seleucus Nicator. His work\nentitled _Indica_ is only known by extracts in those of Strabo, Arrian,\nand \u00c6lian.\n\n_Eratosthenes_--Born B.C. 276. Mathematician, Astronomer, and Geographer.\n\n_Posidonius_--Born about B.C. 140. Besides philosophical treatises, wrote\nworks on geography, history, and astronomy, fragments of which are\npreserved in the works of Cicero, Strabo, and others.\n\n_Nicander_--About B.C. 135. Wrote the _Theriaca_, a poem of 1,000 lines,\nin hexameter, on the wounds caused by venomous animals, and the treatment.\nIs followed in many of his errors by Pliny. Plutarch says the _Theriaca_\ncannot be called a poem, because there is in it nothing of fable or\nfalsehood.\n\n_Strabo_--Just before the Christian era. Geographer.\n\n_Cicero_--Born B.C. 106.\n\n_Propertius (Sextus Aurelius)_--Born probably about B.C. 56.\n\n_Diodorus Siculus_--Wrote the _Bibliotheca Historica_ (in Greek), after\nthe death of Julius C\u00e6sar (B.C. 44). Of the 40 books composing it only 15\nremain, viz. Books 1 to 5 and 11 to 20.\n\n_Juba_--Died A.D. 17. Son of Juba I., King of Numidia. Wrote on Natural\nHistory.\n\n_Pliny_--Born A.D. 23.\n\n_Lucan_--A.D. 38. The only work of his extant is the _Pharsalia_, a poem\non the civil war between C\u00e6sar and Pompey.\n\n_Ignatius_--Either an early Patriarch, A.D. 50, or Patriarch of\nConstantinople, 799.\n\n_Isidorus_--Isidorus of Charaux lived probably in the first century of our\nera. He wrote an account of the Parthian empire.\n\n_Arrian_--Born about A.D. 100. His work on the Natural History, &c. of\nIndia is founded on the authority of Eratosthenes and Megasthenes.\n\n_Pausanias_--Author of the Description or Itinerary of Greece. In the 2nd\ncentury.\n\n_Philostratus_--Born about A.D. 182.\n\n_Solinus, Caius Julius_--Did not write in the Augustan age, for his work\nentitled _Polyhistor_ is merely a compilation from Pliny's _Natural\nHistory_. According to Salmasius, he lived about two hundred years after\nPliny.\n\n_\u00c6lian_--Probably middle of the 3rd century A.D. _De Natur\u00e2 Animalium._ In\nGreek.\n\n_Ammianus Marcellinus_--Lived in 4th century.\n\n_Cardan, Jerome A._--About the end of 4th century A.D.\n\nPrinting invented in China, according to Du Halde, A.D. 924.\nBlock-printing used in A.D. 593.\n\n_Marco Polo_--Reached the Court of Kublai Khan in A.D. 1275.\n\n_Mandeville, Sir John de_--Travelled for thirty-three years in Asia dating\nfrom A.D. 1327. As he resided for three years in Peking, it is probable\nthat many of his fables are derived from Chinese sources.\n\nPrinting invented in Europe by John Koster of Haarlem, A.D. 1438.\n\n_Scaliger, Julius C\u00e6sar_--Born April 23rd, 1484. Wrote _Aristotelis Hist.\nAnim. liber decimus cum vers. et comment_. 8vo. Lyon, 1584, &c.\n\n_Gesner_--Born 1516. _Histori\u00e6 Animalium_, &c.\n\n_Ambrose Par\u00e9_--Born 1517. Surgeon.\n\n_Belon, Pierre_--Born 1518. Zoologist, Geographer, &c.\n\n_Aldrovandus_--Born 1552. Naturalist.\n\n_Tavernier, J. B._--Born 1605.\n\n_P\u0103n Ts'ao Kang Muh_--By Li Sh\u00ea-chin of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1628).\n\n_Yuen Kien L\u00e9i Han_--A.D. 1718.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nON SOME REMARKABLE ANIMAL FORMS.\n\n\nThe reasoning upon the question whether dragons, winged snakes,\nsea-serpents, unicorns, and other so-called fabulous monsters have in\nreality existed, and at dates coeval with man, diverges in several\nindependent directions.\n\nWe have to consider:--\n\n1.--Whether the characters attributed to these creatures are or are not so\nabnormal in comparison with those of known types, as to render a belief in\ntheir existence impossible or the reverse.\n\n2.--Whether it is rational to suppose that creatures so formidable, and\napparently so capable of self-protection, should disappear entirely, while\nmuch more defenceless species continue to survive them.\n\n3.--The myths, traditions, and historical allusions from which their\nreality may be inferred require to be classified and annotated, and full\nweight given to the evidence which has accumulated of the presence of man\nupon the earth during ages long prior to the historic period, and which\nmay have been ages of slowly progressive civilization, or perhaps cycles\nof alternate light and darkness, of knowledge and barbarism.\n\n4.--Lastly, some inquiry may be made into the geographical conditions\nobtaining at the time of their possible existence.\n\nIt is immaterial which of these investigations is first entered upon, and\nit will, in fact, be more convenient to defer a portion of them until we\narrive at the sections of this volume treating specifically of the\ndifferent objects to which it is devoted, and to confine our attention for\nthe present to those subjects which, from their nature, are common and in\na sense prefatory to the whole subject.\n\nI shall therefore commence with a short examination of some of the most\nremarkable reptilian forms which are known to have existed, and for that\npurpose, and to show their general relations, annex the accompanying\ntables, compiled from the anatomy of vertebrated animals by Professor\nHuxley:--\n\n  _Amphibia._\n\n  REPTILES CLASSIFIED BY HUXLEY.\n\n  ---------------------------------------------------\n     ORDER.  |   ----   |    SUB-ORDER.    |GROUPS. |\n             |          |                  |        |\n  -----------|----------|------------------|--------|\n  Chelonia.  |Land      |1. Testudinea     |        |\n             | tortoises|                  |        |\n      \"      |River and |2. Emydea         |a Terra-|\n             | marsh do.|                  |   penes|\n             |          |                  |b Chelo-|\n             |          |                  |   dines|\n             |Mud       |3. Trionychoidea  |        |\n             | tortoises|                  |        |\n      \"      |Turtles   |4. Euereta        |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n  Plesiosaur-|          |5.                |Post    |\n   ia.       |          |                  | Trias- |\n             |          |                  |  sic   |\n      \"      |          |6.                |Triassic|\n             |          |                  |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n  Lacertilia.|Geckos    |7. Ascalabota     |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n      \"      |          |8. Rhynchocephala |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n      \"      |          |9. Hom\u0153osauria    |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n      \"      |          |10. Protosauria   |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n      \"      |Monitor   |11. Platynota     |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n      \"      |          |12. Eunota        |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n      \"      |          |13. Lacertina     |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n      \"      |          |14. Chalcidea     |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n      \"      |          |15. Scincoidea    |        |\n      \"      |          |16. Dolichosauria |        |\n      \"      |          |17. Mosasauria    |        |\n      \"      |          |18. Amphisb\u00e6noida |        |\n      \"      |          |19. Cham\u00e6leonida  |        |\n  Ophidia.   |Non-vene- |20. Aglyphodontia |        |\n             | mous con-|                  |        |\n      \"      | stricting|21. Opisthoglyphia|        |\n      \"      |          |22. Proteroglyphia|        |\n      \"      |Vipers and|23. Solenoglyphia |        |\n             | Rattle-  |                  |        |\n      \"      | snakes   |24. Typhlopid\u00e6    |        |\n  Icthyosaur-|          |     . . . .      |        |\n   ia.       |          |                  |        |\n  Crocodile. |Alligator |26. Alligatorid\u00e6  |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n      \"      |Crocodiles|27. Crocodilid\u00e6   |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n      \"      |Gavials   |28.  Gavialid\u00e6    |        |\n      \"      |          |                  |        |\n             |          |29. Teleosauid\u00e6   |        |\n      \"      |          |30. Belodontid\u00e6   |        |\n  Dicynodont-|          |31. . . .         |        |\n   ia.       |          |                  |        |\n  Ornitho-   |          |32. Dinosauria    |        |\n   scelida   |          |                  |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n             |          |33. Compsognatha  |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n  Pterosaur- |Flying    |34. Pterodactylid\u00e6|        |\n   ia.       | reptile  |                  |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n             |          |                  |        |\n  ---------------------------------------------------\n  _Aves._\n\n\n  -------------------------------\n   ILLUSTRATIVE | RANGE OF THE\n      GENERA.   |    ORDER.\n  --------------|----------------\n  Pyxis, Cinyxis|}The\n                |} Chelonia\n  Emys, Cistudo |} are first\n                |} known to\n  Chelys,       |} occur in\n    Chelodina   |}\n  Gymnopus      |} the Lias.\n  Cryptopus     |}\n  Sphargis,     |}To recent.\n    Chelone     |\n  Plesiosaurus  |}\n  Pliosaurus    |}Trias to\n                |} Chalk\n  Nothosaurus   |} inclu-\n  Simosaurus    |}  sive.\n  Pistosaurus   |}\n                |\n                |recent    }\n                |          }\n  Sphenodon or  |          }\n    Rhyncocepha-|          }\n     lus        |Solenhofen}\n                | slates to}\n                | Trias    }\n                |Permian   }\n                |          }Permian\n                |recent    }to\n                |          }recent.\n                |   \"      }\n                |          }\n                |   \"      }\n                |          }\n                |   \"      }\n                |          }\n                |Recent }Permian\n   Dolichosaurus|Chalk  }to\n   Mososaurus   |Chalk  }recent.\n  Chirotes      |       }\n    Amphisb\u00e6na  |\n  Python,       |}\n    Tortrix     |}\n                |}\n                |}   Older\n  Crotalus      |}   Tertiary\n                |}   to recent.\n                |}\n   Icthyosaurus |Trias(?) to\n                |chalk inclusive.\n  Alligator     |}\n    Caiman      |}\n  Jacare        |}\n  Crocodilus    |}\n  Mecistops     |}\n  Rhynchosuchus |} Trias to\n  Gavialis      |} recent.\n  Teleosaurus   |}\n  Belodon       |}\n  Dicynodon     |   }  Trias.\n  Oudenodon     |   }\n  Thecodonto-   |Trias     }\n   saurus       |          }Mesozoic\n  Scelidosaurus |Lias      }forma-\n  Megalosaurus {| Middle & } tions.\n  Iguanodon    {| Upper    }\n               {| Mesozoic }\n                |Solenhofen}\n                |slates    }\n  Ornithopterus |}\n  Pterodactylus |}Lias to Chalk\n  Rhamphorynchus|}inclusive.\n  Dimorphodon   |}\n  ----------------------------------\n\nThe most bird-like of reptiles, the Pterosauria, appear to have possessed\ntrue powers of flight; they were provided with wings formed by an\nexpansion of the integument, and supported by an enormous elongation of\nthe ulnar finger of the anterior limb. The generic differences are based\nupon the comparative lengths of the tail, and upon the dentition. In\n_Pterodactylus_ (see Fig. 2, p. 18), the tail is very short, and the jaws\nstrong, pointed, and toothed to their anterior extremities. In\n_Rhamphorynchus_ (see Fig. 8, p. 18), the tail is very long and the teeth\nare not continuous to the extremities of the jaws, which are produced into\ntoothless beaks. The majority of the species are small, and they are\ngenerally considered to have been inoffensive creatures, having much the\nhabits and insectivorous mode of living of bats. One British species,\nhowever, from the white chalk of Maidstone, measures more than sixteen\nfeet across the outstretched wings; and other forms recently discovered by\nProfessor Marsh in the Upper Cretaceous deposits of Kansas, attain the\ngigantic proportions of nearly twenty-five feet for the same measurements;\nand although these were devoid of teeth (thus approaching the class Aves\nstill more closely), they could hardly fail, from their magnitude and\npowers of flight, to have been formidable, and must, with their weird\naspects, and long outstretched necks and pointed heads, have been at least\nsufficiently alarming.\n\nWe need go no farther than these in search of creatures which would\nrealise the popular notion of the winged dragon.\n\nThe harmless little flying lizards, belonging to the genus Draco,\nabounding in the East Indian archipelago, which have many of their\nposterior ribs prolonged into an expansion of the integument, unconnected\nwith the limbs, and have a limited and parachute-like flight, need only\nthe element of size, to render them also sufficiently to be dreaded, and\ncapable of rivalling the Pterodactyls in suggesting the general idea of\nthe same monster.\n\nIt is, however, when we pass to some of the other groups, that we find\nourselves in the presence of forms so vast and terrible, as to more than\nrealise the most exaggerated impression of reptilian power and ferocity\nwhich the florid imagination of man can conceive.\n\nWe have long been acquainted with numerous gigantic terrestrial Saurians,\nranging throughout the whole of the Mesozoic formations, such as\n_Iguanodon_ (characteristic of the Wealden), _Megalosaurus_ (Great\nSaurian), and _Hyl\u00e6osaurus_ (Forest Saurian), huge bulky creatures, the\nlast of which, at least, was protected by dermal armour partially produced\ninto prodigious spines; as well as with remarkable forms essentially\nmarine, such as _Icthyosaurus_ (Fish-like Saurian), _Plesiosaurus_, &c.,\nadapted to an oceanic existence and propelling themselves by means of\npaddles. The latter, it may be remarked, was furnished with a long slender\nswan-like neck, which, carried above the surface of the water, would\npresent the appearance of the anterior portion of a serpent.\n\nTo the related land forms the collective term Dinosauria (from \u03b4\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd\u03cc\u03c2\n\"terrible\") has been applied, in signification of the power which their\nstructure and magnitude imply that they possessed; and to the others that\nof Enaliosauria, as expressive of their adaptation to a maritime\nexistence. Yet, wonderful to relate, those creatures which have for so\nmany years commanded our admiration fade into insignificance in comparison\nwith others which are proved, by the discoveries of the last few years, to\nhave existed abundantly upon, or near to, the American continent during\nthe Cretaceous and Jurassic periods, by which they are surpassed, in point\nof magnitude, as much as they themselves exceed the mass of the larger\nVertebrata.\n\nTake, for example, those referred to by Professor Marsh in the course of\nan address to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in\n1877, in the following terms:--\"The reptiles most characteristic of our\nAmerican cretaceous strata are the Mososauria, a group with very few\nrepresentatives in other parts of the world. In our cretaceous seas they\nrule supreme, as their numbers, size, and carnivorous habits enabled them\nto easily vanquish all rivals. Some were at least sixty feet in length,\nand the smallest ten or twelve. In the inland cretaceous sea from which\nthe Rocky Mountains were beginning to emerge, these ancient 'sea-serpents'\nabounded, and many were entombed in its muddy bottom; on one occasion, as\nI rode through a valley washed out of this old ocean-bed, I saw no less\nthan seven different skeletons of these monsters in sight at once. The\nMososauria were essentially swimming lizards with four well-developed\npaddles, and they had little affinity with modern serpents, to which they\nhave been compared.\"\n\nOr, again, notice the specimens of the genus Cidastes, which are also\ndescribed as veritable sea-serpents of those ancient seas, whose huge\nbones and almost incredible number of vertebr\u00e6 show them to have attained\na length of nearly two hundred feet. The remains of no less than ten of\nthese monsters were seen by Professor Mudge, while riding through the\nMauvaise Terres of Colorado, strewn upon the plains, their whitened bones\nbleached in the suns of centuries, and their gaping jaws armed with\nferocious teeth, telling a wonderful tale of their power when alive.\n\nThe same deposits have been equally fertile in the remains of terrestrial\nanimals of gigantic size. The _Titanosaurus montanus_, believed to have\nbeen herbivorous, is estimated to have reached fifty or sixty feet in\nlength; while other Dinosaurians of still more gigantic proportions, from\nthe Jurassic beds of the Rocky Mountains, have been described by Professor\nMarsh. Among the discovered remains of _Atlantosaurus immanis_ is a femur\nover six feet in length, and it is estimated from a comparison of this\nspecimen with the same bone in living reptiles that this species, if\nsimilar in proportions to the crocodile, would have been over one hundred\nfeet in length.\n\nBut even yet the limit has not been reached, and we hear of the discovery\nof the remains of another form, of such Titanic proportions as to possess\na thigh-bone over twelve feet in length.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 5.--MONSTER BONES OF EXTINCT GIGANTIC SAURIANS FROM\nCOLORADO, SHOWING RELATIVE PROPORTIONS TO CORRESPONDING BONE IN THE\nCROCODILE (A). (_From the \"Scientific American.\"_)]\n\nFrom these considerations it is evident that, on account of the dimensions\nusually assigned to them, no discredit can be attached to the existence of\nthe fabulous monsters of which we shall speak hereafter; for these, in the\nvarious myths, rarely or never equal in size creatures which science shows\nto have existed in a comparatively recent geological age, while the\nquaintest conception could hardly equal the reality of yet another of the\nAmerican Dinosaurs, _Stegosaurus_, which appears to have been herbivorous,\nand more or less aquatic in habit, adapted for sitting upon its hinder\nextremities, and protected by bony plate and numerous spines. It reached\nthirty feet in length. Professor Marsh considers that this, when alive,\nmust have presented the strangest appearance of all the Dinosaurs yet\ndiscovered.\n\nThe affinities of birds and reptiles have been so clearly demonstrated of\nlate years, as to cause Professor Huxley and many other comparative\nanatomists to bridge over the wide gap which was formerly considered to\ndivide the two classes, and to bracket them together in one class, to\nwhich the name Sauropsid\u00e6 has been given.[35]\n\nThere are, indeed, not a few remarkable forms, as to the class position of\nwhich, whether they should be assigned to birds or reptiles, opinion was\nfor a long time, and is in a few instances still, divided. It is, for\nexample, only of late years that the fossil form Arch\u00e6opteryx[36] (Fig. 4,\np. 19) from the Solenhofen slates, has been definitely relegated to the\nformer, but arguments against this disposal of it have been based upon the\nbeak or jaws being furnished with true teeth, and the feather of the tail\nattached to a series of vertebr\u00e6, instead of a single flattened one as in\nbirds. It appears to have been entirely plumed, and to have had a moderate\npower of flight.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 6.--SIVATHERIUM (RESTORED), FROM THE UPPER MIOCENE\nDEPOSITS OF THE SIWALIK HILLS. (_After Figuier._)]\n\nOn the other hand, the Ornithopterus is only provisionally classed with\nreptiles, while the connection between the two classes is drawn still\ncloser by the copious discovery of the birds from the Cretaceous\nformations of America, for which we are indebted to Professor Marsh.\n\nThe Lepidosiren, also, is placed mid-way between reptiles and fishes.\nProfessor Owen and other eminent physiologists consider it a fish;\nProfessor Bischoff and others, an amphibian reptile. It has a two-fold\napparatus for respiration, partly aquatic, consisting of gills, and partly\naerial, of true lungs.\n\nSo far, then, as abnormality of type is concerned, we have here instances\nquite as remarkable as those presented by most of the strange monsters\nwith the creation of which mythological fancy has been credited.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 7.--SKELETON OF MEGATHERIUM. (_After Figuier._)]\n\nAmong mammals I shall only refer to the Megatherium, which appears to have\nbeen created to burrow in the earth and to feed upon the roots of trees\nand shrubs, for which purpose every organ of its heavy frame was adapted.\nThis Hercules among animals was as large as an elephant or rhinoceros of\nthe largest species, and might well, as it has existed until a late date,\nhave originated the myths, current among the Indians of South America, of\na gigantic tunnelling or burrowing creature, incapable of supporting the\nlight of day.[37]\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nEXTINCTION OF SPECIES.\n\n\nIn reviewing the past succession of different forms of ancient life upon\nthe globe, we are reminded of a series of dissolving views, in which each\nspecies evolves itself by an imperceptible gradation from some\npre-existing one, arrives at its maximum of individuality, and then slowly\nfades away, while another type, either higher or lower, evolved in turn\nfrom it, emerges from obscurity, and succeeds it on the field of view.\n\nSpecific individuality has in all cases a natural term, dependent on\nphysical causes, but that term is in many cases abruptly anticipated by a\ncombination of unfavourable conditions.\n\nAlteration of climate, isolation by geological changes, such as the\nsubmergence of continents and islands, and the competition of other\nspecies, are among the causes which have at all times operated towards its\ndestruction; while, since the evolution of man, his agency, so far as we\ncan judge by what we know of his later history, has been especially active\nin the same direction.\n\nThe limited distribution of many species, even when not enforced by\ninsular conditions, is remarkable, and, of course, highly favourable to\ntheir destruction. A multiplicity of examples are familiar to naturalists,\nand possibly not a few may have attracted the attention of the ordinary\nobserver.\n\nFor instance, it is probably generally known, that in our own island, the\nred grouse (which, by the way, is a species peculiar to Great Britain) is\nconfined to certain moorlands, the ruffs and reeves to fen districts, and\nthe nightingale,[38] chough, and other species to a few counties; while\nIreland is devoid of almost all the species of reptiles common to Great\nBritain. In the former cases, the need of or predilection for certain\nfoods probably determines the favourite locality, and there are few\ncountries which would not furnish similar examples. In the latter, the\nexplanation depends on biological conditions dating prior to the\nseparation of Ireland from the main continent. Among birds, it might\nfairly be presumed that the power of flight would produce unlimited\nterritorial expansion, but in many instances the reverse is found to be\nthe case: a remarkable example being afforded by the island of Tasmania, a\nportion of which is called the unsettled waste lands, or Western Country.\nThis district, which comprises about one-third of the island upon the\nwestern side, and is mainly composed of mountain chains of granites,\nquartzite, and mica schists, is entirely devoid of the numerous species of\ngarrulous and gay-plumaged birds, such as the Mynah mocking-bird, white\ncockatoo, wattle bird, and Rosella parrot, though these abundantly enliven\nthe eastern districts, which are fertilized by rich soils due to the\npresence of ranges of basalt, greenstone, and other trappean rocks.\n\nAnother equally striking instance is given by my late father, Mr. J.\nGould, in his work on the humming-birds. Of two species, inhabiting\nrespectively the adjacent mountains of Pichincha and Chimborazo at\ncertain elevations, each is strictly confined to its own mountain; and, if\nmy memory serves me correctly, he mentions similar instances of species\npeculiar to different peaks of the Andes.\n\nLimitation by insular isolation is intelligible, especially in the case of\nmammals and reptiles, and of birds possessing but small power of flight;\nand we are, therefore, not surprised to find Mr. Gosse indicating, among\nother examples, that even the smallest of the Antilles has each a fauna of\nits own, while the humming-birds, some of the parrots, cuckoos, and\npigeons, and many of the smaller birds are peculiar to Jamaica. He states\nstill further, that in the latter instance many of the animals are not\ndistributed over the whole island, but confined to a single small\ndistrict.\n\nContinental limitation is effected by mountain barriers. Thus, according\nto Mr. Wallace, almost all the mammalia, birds, and insects on one side of\nthe Andes and Rocky Mountains are distinct in species from those on the\nother; while a similar difference, but smaller in degree, exists with\nreference to regions adjacent to the Alps and Pyrenees.\n\nClimate, broad rivers, seas, oceans, forests, and even large desert\nwastes, like the Sahara or the great desert of Gobi, also act more or less\neffectively as girdles which confine species within certain limits.\n\nDependence on each other or on supplies of appropriate food also form\nminor yet practical factors in the sum of limitation; and a curious\nexample of the first is given by Dr. Van Lennep with reference to the\nsmall migratory birds that are unable to perform the flight of three\nhundred and fifty miles across the Mediterranean. He states that these are\ncarried across on the backs of cranes.[39]\n\n    In the autumn many flocks of cranes may be seen coming from the North,\n    with the first cold blast from that quarter, flying low, and uttering\n    a peculiar cry, as if of alarm, as they circle over the cultivated\n    plains. Little birds of every species may be seen flying up to them,\n    while the twittering cries of those already comfortably settled upon\n    their backs may be distinctly heard. On their return in the spring\n    they fly high, apparently considering that their little passengers can\n    easily find their way down to the earth.\n\nThe question of food-supply is involved in the more extended subject of\ngeological structure, as controlling the flora and the insect life\ndependent on it. As an example we may cite the disappearance of the\ncapercailzie from Denmark with the decay of the pine forests abundant\nduring late Tertiary periods.\n\nCollision, direct or indirect, with inimical species often has a fatal\nending. Thus the dodo was exterminated by the swine which the early\nvisitors introduced to the Mauritius and permitted to run wild there;\nwhile the indigenous insects, mollusca, and perhaps some of the birds of\nSt. Helena, disappeared as soon as the introduction of goats caused the\ndestruction of the whole flora of forest trees.\n\nThe Tsetse fly extirpates all horses, dogs, and cattle, from certain\ndistricts of South Africa, and a representative species in Paraguay is\nequally fatal to new-born cattle and horses.\n\nMr. Darwin[40] shows that the struggle is more severe between species of\nthe same genus, when they come into competition with each other, than\nbetween species of distinct genera. Thus one species of swallow has\nrecently expelled another from part of the United States; and the\nmissel-thrush has driven the song-thrush from part of Scotland. In\nAustralia the imported hive-bee is rapidly exterminating the small\nstingless native bee, and similar cases might be found in any number.\n\nMr. Wallace, in quoting Mr. Darwin as to these facts, points the\nconclusion that \"any slight change, therefore, of physical geography or\nof climate, which allows allied species hitherto inhabiting distinct areas\nto come into contact, will often lead to the extermination of one of\nthem.\"\n\nIt is the province of the pal\u00e6ontologist to enumerate the many remarkable\nforms which have passed away since man's first appearance upon the globe,\nand to trace their fluctuations over both hemispheres as determined by the\nadvance and retreat of glacial conditions, and by the protean forms\nassumed by past and existing continents under oscillations of elevation\nand depression. Many interesting points, such as the dates of the\nsuccessive separation of Ireland and Great Britain from the main\ncontinent, can be determined with accuracy from the record furnished by\nthe fossil remains of animals of those times; and many interesting\nassociations of animals with man at various dates, in our present island\nhome and in other countries, have been traced by the discovery of their\nremains in connection with his, in bone deposits in caverns and elsewhere.\n\nConversely, most valuable deductions are drawn by the zoologist from the\nreview which he is enabled to take, through the connected labours of his\ncolleagues in all departments, of the distinct life regions now mapped out\nupon the face of the globe. These, after the application of the necessary\ncorrections for various disturbing or controlling influences referred to\nabove, afford proof reaching far back into past periods, of successive\nalterations in the disposition of continents and oceans, and of\nconnections long since obliterated between distant lands.\n\nThe pal\u00e6ontologist reasons from the past to the present, the zoologist\nfrom the present to the past; and their mutual labours explain the\nevolution of existing forms, and the causes of the disparity or connection\nbetween those at present characterizing the different portions of the\nsurface of the globe.\n\nThe pal\u00e6ontologist, for example, traces the descent of the horse, which,\nuntil its reintroduction by the Spaniards was unknown in the New World,\nthrough a variety of intermediate forms, to the genus Orohippus occurring\nin Eocene deposits in Utah and Wyoming. This animal was no larger than a\nfox, and possessed four separated toes in front, and three behind.\nDomestic cattle he refers to the Bos primigenius, and many existing\nCarnivora to Tertiary forms such as the cave-bear, cave-lion, sabre-tiger,\nand the like.\n\nThe zoologist groups the existing fauna into distinct provinces, and\ndemands, in explanation of the anomalies which these exhibit, the\nreconstruction of large areas, of which only small outlying districts\nremain at the present date, in many instances widely separated by oceans,\nthough once forming parts of the same continent; and so, for the simile\nreadily suggests itself, the workers in another branch of science,\nPhilology, argue from words and roots scattered like fossils through the\nvarious dialects of very distant countries, a mutual descent from a common\nAryan language: the language of a race of which no historical record\nexists, though in regard to its habits, customs, and distribution much may\nbe affirmed from the large collection of word specimens stored in\nphilological museums.\n\nThus Mr. Sclater, on zoological grounds, claims the late existence of a\ncontinent which he calls Lemuria, extending from Madagascar to Ceylon and\nSumatra; and for similar reasons Mr. Wallace extends the Australia of\nTertiary periods to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and perhaps to\nFiji, and from its marsupial types infers a connection with the northern\ncontinent during the Secondary period.\n\nAgain, the connection of Europe with North Africa during a late geological\nperiod is inferred by many zoologists from the number of identical species\nof mammalia inhabiting the opposite sides of the Mediterranean, and\npal\u00e6ontologists confirm this by the discovery of the remains of elephants\nin cave-deposits in Malta, and of hippopotami in Gibraltar; while\nhydrographers furnish the supplemental suggestive evidence that an\nelevation of only fifteen hundred feet would be sufficient to establish\ntwo broad connections between the two continents--so as to unite Italy\nwith Tripoli and Spain with Morocco, and to convert the Mediterranean Sea\ninto two great lakes, which appears, in fact, to have been its condition\nduring the Pliocene and Post Pliocene periods.\n\nIt was by means of these causeways that the large pachyderms entered\nBritain, then united to the continent; and it was over them they retreated\nwhen driven back by glacial conditions, their migration northward being\neffectually prevented by the destruction of the connecting arms of land.\n\nSome difference of opinion exists among naturalists as to the extent to\nwhich zoological regions should be subdivided, and as to their respective\nlimitations.\n\nBut Mr. A. R. Wallace, who has most recently written on the subject, is of\nopinion that the original division proposed by Mr. Sclater in 1857 is the\nmost tenable, and he therefore adopts it in the very exhaustive work upon\nthe geographical distribution of animals which he has recently issued. Mr.\nSclater's Six Regions are as follows:--\n\n    1.--_The Pal\u00e6arctic Region_, including Europe, Temperate Asia, and\n    North Africa to the Atlas mountains.\n\n    2.--_The Ethiopian Region_, Africa south of the Atlas, Madagascar, and\n    the Mascarene islands, with Southern Arabia.\n\n    3.--_The Indian Region_, including India south of the Himalayas, to\n    South China, and to Borneo and Java.\n\n    4.--_The Australian Region_, including Celebes and Lombok, Eastward to\n    Australia and the Pacific islands.\n\n    5.--_The Nearctic Region_, including Greenland, and North America, to\n    Northern Mexico.\n\n    6.--_The Neotropical Region_, including South America, the Antilles,\n    and Southern Mexico.\n\nThis arrangement is based upon a detailed examination of the chief genera\nand families of birds, and also very nearly represents the distribution of\nmammals and of reptiles. Its regions are not, as in other subsequently\nproposed and more artificial systems, controlled by climate; for they\nrange, in some instances, from the pole to the tropics. It probably\napproaches more nearly than any other yet proposed to that desideratum, a\ndivision of the earth into regions, founded on a collation of the groups\nof forms indigenous to or typical of them, and upon a selection of those\npeculiar to them; with a disregard of, or only admitting with caution, any\nwhich, though common to and apparently establishing connection between two\nor more regions, may have in fact but little value for the purpose of such\ncomparison; from the fact of its being possible to account for their\nextended range by their capability of easy transport from one region to\nanother by common natural agencies.[41]\n\nSuch an arrangement should be consistent with the retrospective\ninformation afforded by pal\u00e6ontology; and, taking an extended view of the\nsubject, be not merely a catalogue of the present, but also an index of\nthe past. It should afford an illustration of an existing phase of the\ndistribution of animal life, considered as the last of a long series of\nsimilar phases which have successively resulted from changes in the\ndisposition of land and water, and from other controlling agencies,\nthroughout all time. A reconstruction of the areas respectively occupied\nby the sea and the land at different geological periods will be possible,\nor at least greatly facilitated, when a complete system of similar\ngroupings, illustrative of each successive period, has been compiled.\n\nIt is obvious that any great cosmical change, affecting to a wide extent\nany of the regions, might determine a destruction of specific existence;\nand this on a large scale, in comparison with the change which is always\nprogressing in a smaller degree in the different and isolated divisions.\n\nThe brief remarks which I have made on this subject are intended to\nsuggest, rather than to demonstrate--which could only be done by a lengthy\nseries of examples--the causes influencing specific existence and its in\nmany cases extreme frailty of tenure. And I shall now conclude by citing\nfrom the works of Lyell and Wallace a short list of notable species, now\nextinct, whose remains have been collected from late Tertiary, and Post\nTertiary deposits--that is to say, at a time subsequent to the appearance\nof man. From other authors I have extracted an enumeration of species\nwhich have become locally or entirely extinct within the historic period.\n\nThese instances will, I think, be sufficient to show that, as similar\ndestructive causes must have been in action during pre-historic times, it\nis probable that, besides those remarkable animals of which remains have\nbeen discovered, many others which then existed may have perished without\nleaving any trace of their existence. There is, consequently, a\npossibility that some at least of the so-called _myths_ respecting\nextraordinary creatures, hitherto considered fabulous, may merely be\ndistorted accounts--_traditions_--of species as yet unrecognised by\nScience, which have actually existed, and that not remotely, as man's\ncongener.\n\n\n_Extinct Post Tertiary Mammalia._\n\nTHE MAMMOTH.--Among other remarkable forms whose remains have been\ndiscovered in those later deposits, in which geologists are generally\nagreed that remains of man or traces of his handicraft have also been\nrecognised, there is one which stands out prominently both for its\nmagnitude and extensive range in time and space. Although the animal\nitself is now entirely extinct, delineations by the hand of Pal\u00e6olithic\nman have been preserved, and even frozen carcases, with the flesh\nuncorrupted and fit for food, have been occasionally discovered.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 9.--THE MAMMOTH. (_After Jukes._)]\n\nThis is the mammoth, the _Elephas primigenius_ of Blumenbach, a gigantic\nelephant nearly a third taller than the largest modern species, and twice\nits weight. Its body was protected from the severity of the semi-arctic\nconditions under which it flourished by a dense covering of reddish wool,\nand long black hair, and its head was armed or ornamented with tusks\nexceeding twelve feet in length, and curiously curved into three parts of\na circle. Its ivory has long been, and still is, a valuable article of\ncommerce, more especially in North-eastern Asia, and in Eschscholtz Bay in\nNorth America, near Behring's straits, where entire skeletons are\noccasionally discovered, and where even the nature of its food has been\nascertained from the undigested contents of its stomach.\n\nThere is a well-known case recorded of a specimen found (1799), frozen and\nencased in ice, at the mouth of the Lena. It was sixteen feet long, and\nthe flesh was so well preserved that the Yakuts used it as food for their\ndogs. But similar instances occurred previously, for we find the\nillustrious savant and Emperor Kang Hi [A.D. 1662 to 1723] penning the\nfollowing note[42] upon what could only have been this species:--\n\n\"The cold is extreme, and nearly continuous on the coasts of the northern\nsea beyond Tai-Tong-Kiang. It is on this coast that the animal called Fen\nChou is found, the form of which resembles that of a rat, but which equals\nan elephant in size. It lives in obscure caverns, and flies from the\nlight. There is obtained from it an ivory as white as that of the\nelephant, but easier to work, and which will not split. Its flesh is very\ncold and excellent for refreshing the blood. The ancient work Chin-y-king\nspeaks of this animal in these terms: 'There is in the depths of the north\na rat which weighs as much as a thousand pounds; its flesh is very good\nfor those who are heated.' The Ts\u00e9e-Chou calls it Tai-Chou and speaks of\nanother species which is not so large. It says that this is as big as a\nbuffalo, buries itself like a mole, flies the light, and remains nearly\nalways under ground; it is said that it would die if it saw the light of\nthe sun or even that of the moon.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 10.--TOOTH OF THE MAMMOTH. (_After Figuier._)]\n\nIt seems probable that discoveries of mammoth tusks formed in part the\nbasis for the story which Pliny tells in reference to fossil ivory. He\nsays[43]:--\"These animals [elephants] are well aware that the only spoil\nthat we are anxious to procure of them is the part which forms their\nweapon of defence, by Juba called their horns, but by Herodotus, a much\nolder writer, as well as by general usage, and more appropriately, their\nteeth. Hence it is that, when these tusks have fallen off, either from\naccident or old age, they bury them in the earth.\"\n\nNordenskj\u00f6ld[44] states that the savages with whom he came in contact\nfrequently offered to him very fine mammoth tusks, and tools made of\nmammoth ivory. He computes that since the conquest of Siberia, useful\ntusks from more than twenty thousand animals have been collected.\n\nMr. Boyd Dawkins,[45] in a very exhaustive memoir on this animal, quotes\nan interesting notice of its fossil ivory having been brought for sale to\nKhiva. He derives[46] this account from an Arabian traveller,\nAbou-el-Cassim, who lived in the middle of the tenth century.\n\nFiguier[47] says: \"New Siberia and the Isle of Lachon are for the most\npart only an agglomeration of sand, of ice, and of elephants' teeth. At\nevery tempest the sea casts ashore new quantities of mammoth's tusks, and\nthe inhabitants of New Siberia carry on a profitable commerce in this\nfossil ivory. Every year during the summer innumerable fishermen's barks\ndirect their course to this isle of bones, and during winter immense\ncaravans take the same route, all the convoys drawn by dogs, returning\ncharged with the tusks of the mammoth, weighing each from one hundred and\nfifty to two hundred pounds. The fossil ivory thus withdrawn from the\nfrozen north is imported into China and Europe.\"\n\nIn addition to its elimination by the thawing of the frozen grounds of the\nnorth, remains of the mammoth are procured from bogs, alluvial deposits,\nand from the destruction of submarine beds.[48] They are also found in\ncave deposits, associated with the remains of other mammals, and with\nflint implements. This creature appears to have been an object of the\nchase with Pal\u00e6olithic man.\n\nMr. Dawkins, reviewing all the discoveries, considers that its range, at\nvarious periods, extended over the whole of Northern Europe, and as far\nsouth as Spain; over Northern Asia, and North America down to the Isthmus\nof Darien. Dr. Falconer believes it to have had an elastic constitution,\nwhich enabled it to adapt itself to great change of climate.\n\nMurchison, De Verneuil, and Keyserling believed that this species, as well\nas the woolly rhinoceros, belonged to the Tertiary fauna of Northern Asia,\nthough not appearing until the Quaternary period in Europe.\n\nMr. Dawkins shows it to have been pre-glacial, glacial, and post-glacial\nin Britain and in Europe, and, from its relation to the intermediate\nspecies _Elephas armeniacus_, accepts it as the ancestor of the existing\nIndian elephant. Its disappearance was rapid, but not in the opinion of\nmost geologists cataclysmic, as suggested by Mr. Howorth.\n\nAnother widely distributed species was the _Rhinoceros tichorhinus_--the\nsmooth-skinned rhinoceros--also called the woolly rhinoceros and the\nSiberian rhinoceros, which had two horns, and, like the mammoth, was\ncovered with woolly hair. It attained a great size; a specimen, the\ncarcase of which was found by Pallas imbedded in frozen soil near Wilui,\nin Siberia (1772), was eleven and a half feet in length. Its horns are\nconsidered by some of the native tribes of northern Asia to have been the\ntalons of gigantic birds; and Ermann and Middendorf suppose that their\ndiscovery may have originated the accounts by Herodotus of the\ngold-bearing griffons and the arimaspi.\n\nIts food, ascertained by Von Brandt, and others, from portions remaining\nin the hollows of its teeth, consisted of leaves and needles of trees\nstill existing in Siberia. The range of this species northwards was as\nextensive as that of the mammoth, but its remains have not yet been\ndiscovered south of the Alps and Pyrenees.\n\nThe investigation,[49] made by M. E. Lartet in 1860, of the contents of\nthe Grotto of Aurignac, in the department of the Haute Garonne, from which\nnumerous human skeletons had been previously removed in 1852, shows that\nthis animal was included among the species used as ordinary articles of\nfood, or as exceptional items at the funeral feasts of the Pal\u00e6olithic\ntroglodytes. In the layers of charcoal and ashes immediately outside the\nentrance to the grotto, and surrounding what is supposed to have been the\nhearth, the bones of a young _Rhinoceros tichorhinus_ were found, which\nhad been split open for the extraction of the marrow. Numerous other\nspecies had been dealt with in the same manner; and all these having\nreceived this treatment, and showing marks of the action of fire, had\nevidently been carried to the cave for banqueting purposes. The remains of\nHerbivora associated with those of this rhinoceros, consisted of bones of\nthe mammoth, the horse (_Equus caballus_), stag (_Cervus elaphus_), elk\n(_Megaceros hibernicus_), roebuck (_C. capreolus_), reindeer (_C.\ntarandus_), auroch (_Bison europ\u00e6us_). Among carnivora were found remains\nof _Ursus spel\u00e6us_ (cave-bear), _Ursus arctos_? (brown bear), _Meles\ntaxus_ (badger), _Putorius vulgaris_ (polecat), _Hy\u00e6na spel\u00e6a_\n(cave-hy\u00e6na), _Felis spel\u00e6a_ (cave-lion), _Felis catus ferus_ (wild cat),\n_Canis lupus_ (wolf), _Canis vulpis_ (fox). Within the grotto were also\nfound remains of _Felis spel\u00e6a_ (cave-lion) and _Sus scrofa_ (pig). The\ncave-bear, the fox, and indeed most of these, probably also formed\narticles of diet, but the hy\u00e6na seems to have been a post attendant at the\nfeast, and to have rooted out and gnawed off the spongy parts of the\nthrown-away bones after the departure of the company.\n\nIn the Pleistocene deposits at W\u00fcrzburg, in Franconia, a human\nfinger-bone occurs with bones of this species, and also of other large\nmammalia, such as the mammoth, cave-bear, and the like.\n\nAnd flint implements, and pointed javelin-heads made of reindeer horn, are\nfound associated with it in the vicinity of the old hearths established by\nPal\u00e6olithic man in the cave called the Trou du Sureau, on the river\nMalign\u00e9e in Belgium.\n\nIn the cavern of Goyet, also in Belgium, there are five bone layers,\nalternating with six beds of alluvial deposits, showing that the cave had\nbeen inhabited by different species at various periods. The lion was\nsucceeded by the cave-bear, and this by hy\u00e6nas; then Pal\u00e6olithic man\nbecame a tenant and has left his bones there, together with flint\nimplements and remains of numerous species, including those already\nenumerated as his contemporaries.\n\nTHE SABRE-TOOTHED TIGER OR LION.--This species, _Machairodus[50]\nlatifrons_ of Owen, was remarkable for having long sabre-shaped canines.\nIt belongs to an extinct genus, of which four other species are known,\ncharacterised by the possession of serrated teeth. The genus is known to\nbe represented in the Auvergne beds between the Eocene and Miocene, in the\nMiocene of Greece and India, in the Pliocene of South America and Europe,\nand in the Pleistocene. Mr. Dawkins believes that this species survived to\npost-glacial times. It is one of the numerous animals whose remains have\nbeen found with traces of man and flint implements in cave deposits at\nKent's Hole, near Torquay, and elsewhere.\n\nTHE CAVE-BEAR, _Ursus spel\u00e6us_, of Rosenm\u00fcller.--The appearance of this\nspecies has been preserved to us in the drawing by Pal\u00e6olithic man found\nin the cave of Massat (Arieze).\n\nIt occurs in the Cromer Forest Bed, a deposit referred by Mr. Boyd Dawkins\nto the early part of the Glacial period, and generally regarded as\ntransitional between the Pliocene and Quaternary. It is also found in the\ncaves of Perigaud, which are considered to belong to the reindeer era of\nM. Lartet or the opening part of the Recent period, and numerous\ndiscoveries of its remains at dates intermediate to these have been made\nin Britain and in Europe. Carl Vogt, indeed, is of opinion that this\nspecies is the progenitor of our living brown bear, _Ursus arctos_, and\nMr. Boyd Dawkins also says that those \"who have compared the French,\nGerman, and British specimens, gradually realize the fact that the fossil\nremains of the bears form a graduated series, in which all the variations\nthat at first sight appear specific vanish away.\"\n\nIt has been identified by Mr. Busk among the associated mammalian bones of\nthe Brixham cave. Its remains are very abundant in the bone deposit of the\nTrou de Sureau in Belgium, and in the cavern of Goyet, which it tenanted\nalternately with the lion and hy\u00e6na, and, like them, appears to have\npreyed on man and the larger mammalia.\n\nMr. Prestwich has obtained it in low-level deposits of river gravels in\nthe valleys of the north of France and south of England, and it has been\nobtained from the L\u00f6ss, a loamy, usually unstratified deposit, which is\nextensively distributed over central Europe, in the valleys of the Rhine,\nRhone, Danube, and other great rivers. This deposit is considered by Mr.\nPrestwich to be equivalent to other high-level gravels of the Pleistocene\nperiod.\n\nTHE MASTODON.--The generic title Mastodon has been applied to a number of\nspecies allied to the elephants, but distinguished from them by a peculiar\nstructure of the molar teeth; these are rectangular, and in their upper\nsurfaces exhibit a number of great conical tuberosities with rounded\npoints disposed in pairs, to the number of four or five, according to the\nspecies; whereas in the elephants they are broad and uniform, and\nregularly marked with furrows of large curvature. The mastodons, in\naddition to large tusks in the premaxill\u00e6, like those of the elephant, had\nalso in most instances, a pair of shorter ones in the mandible.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 11.--MASTODON'S TOOTH (WORN). (_After Figuier._)]\n\nCuvier established the name Mastodon,[51] or teat-like toothed animals,\nfor the gigantic species from America which Buffon had already described\nunder the name of the animal or elephant of the Ohio.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 12.--MASTODON'S TOOTH. (_After Figuier._)]\n\nThe form first appears in the Upper Miocene of Europe, five species being\nknown, two of them from Pikermi, near Athens, and one, _M. angustidens_,\nfrom the Miocene beds of Malta. Mastodon remains have also been found in\nthe beds of the Sivalik hills, and four species of mastodon in all are\nknown to have ranged over India during those periods.\n\nIn Pliocene deposits we have abundant remains of _M. arvernensis_, and _M.\nlongirostris_ from the Val d'Arno in Italy, and the _M. Borsoni_ from\ncentral France.\n\nThe _M. arvernensis_ may be considered as a characteristic Pliocene\nspecies in Italy, France, and Europe generally. In Britain it occurs in\nthe Norwich Crag and the Red Crag of Suffolk.\n\nSpecies of mastodon occur in the Pliocene of La Plata, and of the\ntemperate regions of South America; on the Pampas, and in the Andes of\nChili.\n\nThe _Mastodon mirificus_ of Leidy is the earliest known species in\nAmerica; this occurs in Pliocene deposits on the Niobrara and the Loup\nfork, west of the Mississippi.\n\nThe remains of the _Mastodon americanus_ of Cuvier occur abundantly in the\nPost Pliocene deposits throughout the United States, but more especially\nin the northern half; they are also found in Canada and Nova Scotia.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 13.--THE MASTODON.]\n\nPerfect skeletons are occasionally procured from marshes, where the\nanimals had become mired. In life this species appears to have measured\nfrom twelve to thirteen feet in height and twenty-four to twenty-five\nfeet in length, including seven feet for the tusks. Undigested food found\nwith its remains show that it lived partly on spruce and fir-trees. A\ndistinct species characterised the Quaternary deposits of South America.\n\nTHE IRISH ELK.--The species (_Megaceros hibernicus_), commonly but\nerroneously called the Irish Elk, was, as professor Owen[52] has pointed\nout, a true deer, whose place is between the fallow and reindeer.\n\nThough now extinct, it survived the Pal\u00e6olithic period, and may possibly\nhave existed down to historic times. Mr. Gosse adduces some very strong\ntestimony on this point, and is of opinion that its extinction cannot have\ntaken place more than a thousand years ago.\n\nIt had a flattened and expanded form of antler, with peculiarities unknown\namong existing deer, and was, in comparison with these, of gigantic size;\nthe height to the summit of the antlers being from ten to eleven feet in\nthe largest individuals, and the span of the antlers, in one case, over\ntwelve feet.\n\nAlthough its remains have been found most abundantly in Ireland, it was\nwidely distributed over Britain and middle Europe. It has been found in\npeat swamps, lacustrine marls, bone caverns, fen deposits, and the Cornish\ngravels. It has been obtained from the cavern of Goyet in Belgium, and\nfrom the burial-place at Aurignac, in the department of the Haute Garonne.\nIts known range in time is from the early part of the Glacial period down\nto, possibly, historic periods.\n\nThe CAVE-HY\u00c6NA.--_Hy\u00e6na spel\u00e6a_ of Goldfuss--is, like the cave-bear,\ncharacteristic of Europe during the Pal\u00e6olithic age. It has been found in\nnumerous caves in Britain, such as Kent's Hole, the Brixham cave, and one\nnear Wells in Somersetshire, explored by Dawkins in 1859; in all of these\nthe remains are associated with those of man, or with his implements. This\nspecies is closely related to the _H. crocuta_ of Zimm, at present\nexisting in South Africa, and is by some geologists considered identical\nwith it. It is, however, larger.\n\nIt appears to have to some extent replaced the cave-bear in Britain; we\nare also, doubtless, greatly indebted to it for some of the extensive\ncollections of bones in caverns, resulting from the carcases which it had\ndragged thither, and imperfectly destroyed.\n\nIn a cave at Kirkdale, in the vale of Pickering, the bones of about three\nhundred individuals--hy\u00e6nas--were found mingled with the remains of the\nmammoth, bear, rhinoceros, deer, cave-lion, brown bear, horse, hare, and\nother species. Mr. Dawkins,[53] in describing it, says: \"The pack of\nhy\u00e6nas fell upon reindeer in the winter, and at other times on horses and\nbisons, and were able to master the hippopotamus, the lion, the\nslender-nosed rhinoceros, or the straight-tusked elephant, and to carry\ntheir bones to their den, where they were found by Dr. Buckland. The\nhy\u00e6nas also inhabiting the 'Dukeries,' dragged back to their dens\nfragments of lion.\"\n\nNotable Quaternary forms (now extinct) on the American continent are the\ngigantic sloth-like animals _Megatherium_, which reached eighteen feet in\nlength, and _Mylodon_, one species of which (_M. robustus_) was eleven\nfeet in length; Armadillos, such as _Glyptodon_, with a total length of\nnine feet; _Chlamydotherium_, as big as a rhinoceros; and _Pachytherium_,\nequalling an ox.\n\nIn Australia we find marsupial forms as at the present day; but they were\ngigantic in comparison with the latter. As for example, the _Diprotodon_,\nwhich equalled in size a hippopotamus, and the _Nototherium_, as large as\na bullock.\n\nI may mention a few other species, the remains of which are associated\nwith some of those commented on in the last few pages; but which, as they\nhave undoubtedly continued in existence down to the present period, are\nexternal to the present portion of my argument, and are either treated of\nelsewhere, or need only to be referred to in a few words.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 14.--MYLODON ROBUSTUS. (_After Figuier._)]\n\nIt must also be borne in mind that the linking together of species by the\ndiscovery of intermediate graduated forms, is daily proceeding; so that\nsome even of those spoken of in greater detail may shortly be generally\nrecognised, as at present they are held by a few, to be identical with\nexisting forms.\n\nThe HIPPOPOTAMUS.--The _Hippopotamus major_, now considered identical with\nthe larger of the two African species--_H. amphibia_, has been found\nassociated with _E. antiquus_ and _R. hemit\u00e6chus_ of Falc in Durdham Down\nand Kirkdale caves, and in those at Kent's Hole and Ravenscliff. It has\nalso been found in river gravels at Grays, Ilford, and elsewhere, in the\nlower part of the river-border deposits of Amiens with flint implements,\nand in Quaternary deposits on the continent of Europe.\n\nTHE CAVE-LION--_Felis spel\u00e6a_--is now considered to be merely a variety of\nthe African lion (_Felis leo_), although of larger size; it had a very\nwide range over Britain and Europe during the Post Pliocene period, as\nalso did the leopard (_F. pardus_) and probably the lynx (_Lyncus_).\n\nThe REINDEER or CARIBOO--_Cervus tarandus_--which still exists, both\ndomesticated and wild, in northern Europe and America, is adapted for\nnorthern latitudes. It formerly extended over Europe, and in the British\nIsles probably survived in the north of Scotland until the twelfth\ncentury.\n\nIts remains have been found in Pleistocene deposits in numerous\nlocalities, but most abundantly in those which M. Lartet has assigned to\nthe period which he calls the Reindeer age.\n\nOther Pleistocene mammals still existing, but whose range is much\nrestricted, are the musk ox (_Ovibos moschatus_), familiar to us, from the\naccounts of arctic expeditions, as occurring in the circumpolar regions of\nNorth America; the glutton (_Gulo luscus_), the auroch (_Bison europ\u00e6us_),\nthe wild horse (_E. fossilis_), the arctic fox (_Canis lagopus_), the\nbison (_Bison priscus_), the elk or moose (_Alces malchis_), found in\nNorway and North America, the lemming, the lagomys or tail-less hare, &c.\n\nAs examples of total extinction in late years, we may mention the dodo,\nthe solitaire, and species allied to them, in the islands of Mauritius,\nBourbon, and Reunion; the moa in New Zealand; the _\u00c6piornis_ in\nMadagascar; the great auk, _Alca impennis_, in northern seas, and the\n_Rhytina Stelleri_, common once in the latitude of Behring's Straits, and\ndescribed by Steller in 1742.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 15.--SKELETON OF RHYTINA STELLERI. (_From \"The Voyage\nof the 'Vega.'\"_)]\n\nThe Dodo, a native of the island of Mauritius, was about 50 lbs. in\nweight, and covered with loose downy plumage, it was unable to rise from\nthe ground in consequence of the imperfect development of its wings; it\nwas minutely described by Sir Thomas Herbert in 1634, and specimens of the\nliving bird and of its skin were brought to Europe. Its unwieldiness led\nto its speedy destruction by the early voyagers.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 16.--RHYTINA STELLERI. (_From \"The Voyage of the\n'Vega.'\"_)]\n\nThe Solitaire was confined to the island of Mascaregue or Bourbon. It is\nfully described by Francis Leguat, who, having fled from France into\nHolland in 1689, to escape religious persecution consequent on the\nrevocation of the Edict of Nantes, engaged under the Marquis de Quesne in\nan expedition for the purpose of settlement on that island. This bird also\nspeedily became extinct.\n\nThe Moa (_Dinornis giganteus_, Owen) reached from twelve to fourteen feet\nin height, and survived for a long period after the migration of the\nMaories to New Zealand. Bones of it have been found along with charred\nwood, showing that it had been killed and eaten by the natives; and its\nmemory is preserved in many of their traditions, which also record the\nexistence of a much larger bird, a species of eagle or hawk, which used to\nprey upon it.[54]\n\nRapidly approaching total extinction are the several species of _Apteryx_\nin the same country--remarkable birds with merely rudimentary wings: as\nalso the _Notornis_, a large Rail--at first, and for a long time, only\nknown in the fossil state, but of which a living specimen was secured by\nMr. Walter Mantell in 1849: and the _Kapapo_ (_Strigops habroptilus_) of\nG. R. Gray--a strange owl-faced nocturnal ground-parrot.\n\nThe _\u00c6pyornis maximus_ was almost as large as the Moa; of this numerous\nfossil bones and a few eggs have been discovered, but there are not, I\nbelieve, any traditions extant among the natives of Madagascar of its\nhaving survived to a late period.\n\nThe Great Auk (_Alca impennis_) is now believed to be extinct. It formerly\noccurred in the British Isles, but more abundantly in high latitudes; and\nits remains occur in great numbers on the shores of Iceland, Greenland,\nand Denmark, as also of Labrador and Newfoundland.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 17.--RHYTINA STELLERI. (_After J. Fr. Brandt._)]\n\nSteller's Sea-cow (_Rhytina Stelleri_ of Cuvier) was a mammal allied to\nthe Manatees and Dugongs; it was discovered by Behring in 1768 on a small\nisland lying off the Kamtchatkan coast. It measured as much as from\ntwenty-eight to thirty-five feet in length, and was soon nearly\nexterminated by Behring's party and other voyagers who visited the island.\nThe last one of which there is any record was killed in 1854.[55]\n\nTo the above may be added the _Didunculus_, a species of ground-pigeon\npeculiar to the Samoa Islands, and the _Nestor productus_, a parrot of\nNorfolk Island. An extended list might be prepared, from fossil evidences,\nof other species which were at one time associated with those I have\nenumerated.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 18.--RHYTINA STELLERI. (_From \"The Voyage of the\n'Vega.'\"_)]\n\nIn conclusion, I may point out that that excellent naturalist Pliny[56]\nrecords the disappearance, in his days, of certain species formerly known.\nHe mentions the Incendiary, the Clivia, and the Subis (species of birds),\nand states that there were many other birds mentioned in the Etruscan\nritual, which were no longer to be found in his time. He also says that\nthere had been a bird in Sardinia resembling the crane, and called the\nGromph\u00e6na, which was no longer known even by the people of the country.\n\n\n_Local Extinction._\n\nOf local extinction we may note in our own island the cases of the beaver,\nthe bear, the wolf, the wild cattle, the elk, the wild boar, the bustard,\nand the capercailzie; of these the beaver survived in Wales and Scotland\nuntil the time of Giraldus Cambrensis in 1188, and Pennant notes\nindications of its former existence in the names of several streams and\nlakes in Wales. It was not uncommon throughout the greater part of Europe\ndown to the Middle Ages.\n\nThe bear, still common in Norway and the Pyrenees, is alluded to, as Mr.\nGosse points out, in the Welsh Triads,[57] which are supposed to have been\ncompiled in the seventh century. They say that \"the Kymri, a Celtic tribe,\nfirst inhabited Britain; before them were no men here, but only bears,\nwolves, beavers, and oxen with high prominences.\" Mr. Gosse adds, \"The\nRoman poets knew of its existence here. Martial speaks of the robber\nLaureolis being exposed on the cross to the fangs of the Caledonian bear;\nand Claudian alludes to British bears. The Emperor Claudius, on his return\nto Rome after the conquest of this island, exhibited, as trophies, combats\nof British bears in the Arena. In the Penitential of Archbishop Egbert,\nsaid to have been compiled about A.D. 750, bears are mentioned as\ninhabiting the English forests, and the city of Norwich is said to have\nbeen required to furnish a bear annually to Edward the Confessor, together\nwith six dogs, no doubt for baiting him.\"\n\nThe wolf, though greatly reduced in numbers during the Heptarchy, when\nEdgar laid an annual tribute of three hundred wolf-skins upon the Welsh,\nstill occurred in formidable numbers in England in 1281, and not\nunfrequently until the reign of Henry VII. The last wolf was killed in\nScotland in the year 1743, and in Ireland in 1770.[58]\n\nThe wild cattle are now only represented by the small herds in Chartley\nCastle, Chillingham, and Cadgow parks; the spare survivors probably of the\nspecies referred to by Herodotus when he speaks of \"large ferocious and\nfleet white bulls\" which abounded in the country south of Thrace, and\ncontinued in Poland, Lithuania, and Muscovy until the fifteenth century,\nor perhaps of the Urus described by C\u00e6sar as little inferior to the\nelephant in size, and inhabiting the Hercynian forest, and believed to be\nidentical with the _Bos primigenius_ found in a fossil state in Britain.\n\nThe wild boar was once abundant in Scotland and England. The family of\nBaird derives its heraldic crest from a grant of David I. of Scotland, in\nrecognition of his being saved from an infuriated boar which had turned on\nhim. In England only nobles and gentry were allowed to hunt it, and the\nslaughter of one by an unauthorized person within the demesnes of William\nthe Conqueror was punished by the loss of both eyes.[59]\n\nThe bustard, once abundant, is now extinct in Britain, so far as the\nindigenous race is concerned. Occasionally a chance visitant from the\ncontinent is seen; but there, also, its numbers have been greatly\ndiminished. It was common in Buffon's time in the plains of Poitou and\nChampagne, though now extremely rare, and is still common in Eastern Asia.\n\nThe capercailzie, or cock of the woods, after complete extinction, has\nbeen reintroduced from Norway, and, under protection, is moderately\nabundant in parts of Scotland.\n\nIn America, the process of extermination marches with the settlement of\nthe various states. W. J. J. Allen records the absolute disappearance of\nthe walrus from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and of the moose, the elk, and\nthe Virginian deer, from many of the states in which they formerly\nabounded. This also is true, to some extent, of the bear, the beaver, the\ngrey wolf, the panther, and the lynx.\n\nThe buffalo (_Bos americanus_) is being destroyed at the rate of two\nhundred and fifty thousand annually, and it is estimated that the number\nslain by hunters for their hides during the last forty years amounts to\nfour millions. It has disappeared in the eastern part of the continent\nfrom many extensive tracts which it formerly inhabited.\n\nAmong the ocean whales, both the right and the sperm have only been\npreserved from extinction by the fortunate discovery of petroleum, which\nhas reduced the value of their oil, and thus lessened considerably the\nnumber of vessels equipped for the whale fishery.\n\nIn South Africa, elephants and all other large game are being steadily\nexterminated within the several colonies.\n\nIn Australia, we find that the seals which thronged the islands of Bass's\nStraits in countless thousands, at the period when Bass made his\nexplorations there, have utterly disappeared. The bulk of them were\ndestroyed by seal-hunters from Sydney within a few years after his\ndiscovery. The lamentable records of the _Sydney Gazette_ of that period\nshow this, for they detail the return to port, after a short cruise, of\nschooners laden with from twelve to sixteen thousand skins each. The\nresult of this has been that for many years past the number of seals has\nbeen limited to a few individuals, to be found on one or two isolated\nrocks off Clarke's Island, and on Hogan's group.\n\nThe great sea-elephant, which, in Peron's time, still migrated for\nbreeding purposes from antarctic regions to the shores of King's Island,\nwhere it is described by him as lining the long sandy beaches by hundreds,\nhas been almost unseen there since the date of his visit, and its memory\nis only preserved in the names of Sea-Elephant Bay, Elephant Rock, &c.\nwhich are still inscribed on our charts.\n\nThe introduction of the Dingo, by the Australian blacks in their southward\nmigration, is supposed to have caused the extinction of the Thylacinus\n(_T. cynocephalus_), or striped Australian wolf, on the main land of\nAustralia, where it was once abundant; it is now only to be found in the\nremote portions of the island of Tasmania. This destruction of one species\nby another is paralleled in our own country by the approaching extinction\nof the indigenous and now very rare black rat, which has been almost\nentirely displaced by the fierce grey rat from Norway.\n\nWe learn from incidental passages in the _Bamboo Books_[60] that the\nrhinoceros, which is now unknown in China, formerly extended throughout\nthat country. We read of King Ch'aou, named H\u0115a (B.C. 980), that \"in his\nsixteenth year [of reign] the king attacked Ts'oo, and in crossing the\nriver Han met with a large rhinoceros.\" And, again, of King E, named S\u00eb\u0115\n(B.C. 860), that \"in his sixth year, when hunting in the forest of Shay,\nhe captured a rhinoceros and carried it home.\" There is also mention\nmade--though this is less conclusive--that in the time of King Yiu, named\nYeu (B.C. 313), the King of Yueh sent Kung-sze Yu with a present of three\nhundred boats, five million arrows, together with rhinoceros' horns and\nelephants' teeth.\n\nElephants are now unknown in China except in a domesticated state, but\nthey probably disputed its thick forest and jungly plains with the\nMiaotsz, Lolos, and other tribes which held the country before its present\noccupants. This may be inferred from the incidental references to them in\nthe _Shan Hai King_, a work reputed to be of great antiquity, of which\nmore mention will be made hereafter, and from evidence contained in other\nancient Chinese works which has been summarized by Mr. Kingsmill[61] as\nfollows:--\n\n\"The rhinoceros and elephant certainly lived in Honan B.C. 600. The\n_Tso-chuen_, commenting on the C\u2018hun T\u2018siu of the second year of the Duke\nSiuen (B.C. 605), describes the former as being in sufficient abundance to\nsupply skins for armour. The want, according to the popular saying, was\nnot of rhinoceroses to supply skins, but of courage to animate the\nwearers. From the same authority (Duke Hi XIII., B.C. 636) we learn that\nwhile T\u2018soo (Hukwang) produced ivory and rhinoceros' skins in abundance,\nTsin, lying north of the Yellow River, on the most elevated part of the\nLoess, was dependent on the other for its supplies of those commodities.\nThe _Tribute of Yu_ tells the same tale. Yang-chow and King (Kiangpeh and\nHukwang), we are told, sent tribute of ivory and rhinoceros' hide, while\nLiang (Shensi) sent the skins of foxes and bears. Going back to mythical\ntimes, we find Mencius (III. ii. 9) telling how Chow Kung expelled from Lu\n(Shantung) the elephants and rhinoceroses, the tigers and leopards.\"\n\nMr. Kingsmill even suggests that the species referred to were the mammoth\nand the Siberian rhinoceros (_R. tichorhinus_).\n\nM. Chabas[62] publishes an Egyptian inscription showing that the elephant\nexisted in a feral state in the Euphrates Valley in the time of Thothmes\nIII. (16th century B.C.). The inscription records a great hunting of\nelephants in the neighbourhood of Nineveh.\n\nTigers still abound in Manchuria and Corea, their skins forming a regular\narticle of commerce in Vladivostock, Newchwang, and Seoul. They are said\nto attain larger dimensions in these northern latitudes than their\nsouthern congener, the better-known Bengal tiger. They are generally\nextinct in China Proper; but P\u00e8re David states that he has seen them in\nthe neighbourhood of Pekin, in Mongolia, and at Moupin, and they are\nreported to have been seen near Amoy. Within the last few years[63] a\nlarge specimen was killed by Chinese soldiery within a few miles of the\ncity of Ningpo; and it is probable that at no distant date they ranged\nover the whole country from Hindostan to Eastern Siberia, as they are\nincidentally referred to in various Chinese works--the _Urh Yah_ specially\nrecording the capture of a white tiger in the time of the Emperor S\u00fcen of\nthe Han dynasty, and of a black one, in the fourth year of the reign of\nYung Kia, in a netted surround in Kien Ping Fu in the district of Tsz\nKwei.\n\nThe tailed deer or Mi-lu (_Cervus Davidianus_ of Milne Edwardes), which\nChinese literature[64] indicates as having once been of common occurrence\nthroughout China, is now only to be found in the Imperial hunting grounds\nsouth of Peking, where it is restricted to an enclosure of fifty miles in\ncircumference. It is believed to exist no longer in a wild state, as no\ntrace of it has been found in any of the recent explorations of Asia. The\n_Ch\u2018un ts\u2018iu_ (B.C. 676) states that this species appeared in the winter\nof that year, in such numbers that it was chronicled in the records of Lu\n(Shantung), and that in the following autumn it was followed by an inroad\nof \"Yih,\" which Mr. Kingsmill believes to be the wolf.\n\nThere also appears reason to suppose that the ostrich had a much more\nextended range than at present; for we find references in the\n_Shi-Ki_,[65] or book of history of Szema Tsien, to \"large birds with eggs\nas big as water-jars\" as inhabiting T\u2018iaou-chi, identified by Mr.\nKingsmill as Sarangia or Drangia; and, in speaking of Parthia, it says,\n\"On the return of the mission he sent envoys with it that they might see\nthe extent and power of China. He sent with them, as presents to the\nEmperor, eggs of the great bird of the country, and a curiously deformed\nman from Samarkand.\"\n\nThe gigantic Chelonians which once abounded in India and the Indian seas\nare now entirely extinct; but we have had little difficulty in believing\nthe accounts of their actual and late existence contained in the works of\nPliny and \u00c6lian since the discovery of the Colossochelys, described by Dr.\nFalconer, in the Upper Miocene deposits of the Siwalik Hills in\nNorth-Western India. The shell of _Colossochelys Atlas_ (Falconer and\nCautley) measured twelve feet, and the whole animal nearly twenty.\n\nPliny,[66] who published his work on Natural History about A.D. 77, states\nthat the turtles of the Indian Sea are of such vast size that a single\nshell is sufficient to roof a habitable cottage, and that among the\nislands of the Red Sea the navigation is mostly carried on in boats formed\nfrom this shell.\n\n\u00c6lian,[67] about the middle of the third century of our era, is more\nspecific in his statement, and says that the Indian river-tortoise is very\nlarge, and in size not less than a boat of fair magnitude; also, in\nspeaking of the Great Sea, in which is Taprobana (Ceylon), he says: \"There\nare very large tortoises generated in this sea, the shell of which is\nlarge enough to make an entire roof; for a single one reaches the length\nof fifteen cubits, so that not a few people are able to live beneath it,\nand certainly secure themselves from the vehement rays of the sun; they\nmake a broad shade, and so resist rain that they are preferable for this\npurpose to tiles, nor does the rain beating against them sound otherwise\nthan if it were falling on tiles. Nor, indeed, do those who inhabit them\nhave any necessity for repairing them, as in the case of broken tiles, for\nthe whole roof is made out of a solid shell so that it has the appearance\nof a cavernous or undermined rock, and of a natural roof.\"\n\nEl Edrisi, in his great geographical work,[68] completed A.D. 1154, speaks\nof them as existing down to his day, but as his book is admitted to be a\ncompilation from all preceding geographical works, he may have been simply\nquoting, without special acknowledgment, the statements given above. He\nsays, speaking of the Sea of Herkend (the Indian Ocean west of Ceylon),\n\"It contains turtles twenty cubits long, containing within them as many as\none thousand eggs.\" Large tortoises formerly inhabited the Mascarene\nislands, but have been destroyed on all of them, with the exception of the\nsmall uninhabited Aldabra islands, north of the Seychelle group; and those\nformerly abundant on the Galapagos islands are now represented by only a\nfew survivors, and the species rapidly approaches extinction.\n\nI shall close this chapter with a reference to a creature which, if it may\nnot be entitled to be called \"the dragon,\" may at least be considered as\nfirst cousin to it. This is a lacertilian of large size, at least twenty\nfeet in length, panoplied with the most horrifying armour, which roamed\nover the Australian continent during Pleistocene times, and probably until\nthe introduction of the aborigines.\n\nIts remains have been described by Professor Owen in several\ncommunications to the Royal Society,[69] under the name of _Megalania\nprisca_. They were procured by Mr. G. F. Bennett from the drift-beds of\nKing's Creek, a tributary of the Condamine River in Australia. It was\nassociated with correspondingly large marsupial mammals, now also extinct.\n\nFrom the portions transmitted to him Professor Owen determined that it\npresented in some respects a magnified resemblance of the miniature\nexisting lizard, _Moloch horridus_, found in Western Australia,[70] of\nwhich Dr. Gray remarks, \"The external appearance of this lizard is the\nmost ferocious of any that I know.\" In Megalania the head was rendered\nhorrible and menacing by horns projecting from its sides, and from the tip\nof the nose, which would be \"as available against the attacks of\nThylacoleo as the buffalo's horns are against those of the South African\nlion.\" The tail consisted of a series of annular segments armed with horny\nspikes, represented by the less perfectly developed ones in the existing\nspecies _Uromastix princeps_ from Zanzibar, or in the above-mentioned\nmoloch. In regard to these the Professor says, \"That the horny sheaths of\nthe above-described supports or cores arming the end of the tail may have\nbeen applied to deliver blows upon an assailant, seems not improbable, and\nthis part of the organization of the great extinct Australian dragon may\nbe regarded, with the cranial horn, as parts of both an offensive and\ndefensive apparatus.\"\n\nThe gavial of the Ganges is reported to be a fish-eater only, and is\nconsidered harmless to man. The Indian museums, however, have large\nspecimens, which are said to have been captured after they had destroyed\nseveral human beings; and so we may imagine that this structurally\nherbivorous lizard (the Megalania having a horny edentate upper jaw) may\nhave occasionally varied his diet, and have proved an importunate\nneighbour to aboriginal encampments in which toothsome children abounded,\nand that it may, in fact, have been one of the sources from which the myth\nof the Bunyip, of which I shall speak hereafter, has been derived.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nANTIQUITY OF MAN.\n\n\nI do not propose to bestow any large amount of space upon the enumeration\nof the pal\u00e6ontological evidence of the antiquity of man. The works of the\nvarious eminent authors who have devoted themselves to the special\nconsideration of this subject exhaust all that can be said upon it with\nour present data, and to these I must refer the reader who is desirous of\nacquainting himself critically with its details, confining myself to a few\ngeneral statements based on these labours.\n\nIn the early days of geological science when observers were few, great\ngroups of strata were arranged under an artificial classification, which,\nwhile it has lost to a certain extent the specific value which it then\nassumed to possess, is still retained for purposes of convenient\nreference. Masters of the science acquired, so to say, a possessive\ninterest in certain regions of it, and the names of Sedgwick, Murchison,\nJukes, Phillips, Lyell, and others became, and will remain, inseparably\nassociated with the history of those great divisions of the materials of\nthe earth's crust, which, under the names of the Cambrian, Silurian,\nDevonian, Carboniferous, and Tertiary formations, have become familiar to\nus.\n\nIn those days, when observations were limited to a comparatively small\narea, the lines separating most of these formations were supposed to be\nhard and definite; forms of life which characterized one, were presumed to\nhave become entirely extinct before the inauguration of those which\nsucceeded them, and breaks in the stratigraphical succession appeared to\njustify the opinion, held by a large and influential section, that great\ncataclysms or catastrophes had marked the time when one age or formation\nterminated and another commenced to succeed it.\n\nBy degrees, and with the increase of observers, both in England and in\nevery portion of the world, modifications of these views obtained; passage\nbeds were discovered, connecting by insensible gradations formations which\nhad hitherto been supposed to present the most abrupt separations;\ntransitional forms of life connecting them were unearthed; and an opinion\nwas advanced, and steadily confirmed, which at the present day it is\nprobable no one would be found to dispute, that not all in one place or\ncountry, but discoverable in some part or other of the world, a perfect\nsequence exists, from the very earliest formations of which we have any\ncognizance, up to the alluvial and marine deposits in process of formation\nat the present day.[71]\n\nCorrelatively it was deduced that the same phenomena of nature have been\nin action since the earliest period when organic existence can be\naffirmed. The gradual degradation of pre-existing continents by normal\ndestructive agencies, the upheaval and subsidence of large areas, the\neffusion from volcanic vents, into the air or sea, of ashes and lavas, the\naction of frost and ice, of heat, rain, and sunshine--all these have acted\nin the past as they are still acting before our eyes.\n\nIn earlier days, arguing from limited data, a progressive creation was\nclaimed which confined the appearance of the higher form of vertebrate\nlife to a successive and widely-stepped gradation.\n\nHugh Miller, and other able thinkers, noted with satisfaction the\nappearance, first of fish, then of reptiles, next of birds and mammals,\nand finally, as the crowning work of all, both geologically and actually,\nquite recently of man.\n\nThis wonderful confirmation of the Biblical history of creation appealed\nso gratefully to many, that it caused for a time a disposition to cramp\ndiscovery, and even to warp the facts of science, in order to make them\nharmonize with the statements of Revelation. The alleged proofs of the\nexistence of pre-historic man were for a long time jealously disputed, and\nit was only by slow degrees that they were admitted, that the tenets of\nthe Darwinian school gained ground, and that the full meaning was\nappreciated of such anomalies as the existence at the present day of\nGanoid fishes both in America and Europe, of true Pal\u00e6ozoic type, or of\nOolitic forms on the Australian continent and in the adjacent seas.\n\nBut step by step marvellous pal\u00e6ontological discoveries were made, and the\npillars which mark the advent of each great form of life have had to be\nset back, until now no one would, I think, be entirely safe in affirming\nthat even in the Cambrian, the oldest of all fossiliferous formations,\nvestiges of mammals, that is to say, of the highest forms of life, may\nnot at a future day be found, or that the records contained between the\nCambrian and the present day, may not in fact be but a few pages as\ncompared with the whole volume of the world's history.[72]\n\nIt is with the later of these records that we have to deal, in which\ndiscoveries have been made sufficiently progressive to justify the\nexpectation that they have by no means reached their limit, and\nsufficiently ample in themselves to open the widest fields for philosophic\nspeculation and deduction.\n\nBefore stating these, it may be premised that estimates have been\nattempted by various geologists of the collective age of the different\ngroups of formations.[73] These are based on reasonings which for the most\npart it is unnecessary to give in detail, in so much as these can scarcely\nyet be considered to have passed the bounds of speculation, and very\ndifferent results can be arrived at by theorists according to the relative\nimportance which they attach to the data employed in the calculation.\n\nThus Mr. T. Mellard Reade, in a paper communicated to the Royal Society in\n1878, concludes that the formation of the sedimentary strata must have\noccupied at least six hundred million years: which he divides in round\nnumbers as follows:--\n\n                                              Millions of Years.\n  Laurentian, Cambrian, and Silurian                 200\n  Old Red, Carboniferous, Permian, and New Red       200\n  Jurassic, Wealden, Cretaceous, Eocene, Miocene,\n    Pliocene, and Post Pliocene                      200\n                                                     ---\n                                                     600\n\nHe estimates the average thickness of the sedimentary crust of the earth\nto be at least one mile, and from a computation of the proportion of\ncarbonate and sulphate of lime to materials held in suspension in various\nriver-waters from a variety of formations, infers that one-tenth of this\ncrust is calcareous.\n\nHe estimates the annual flow of water in all the great river-basins, the\nproportion of rain-water running off the granitic and trappean rocks, the\npercentage of lime in solution which they carry down, and arrives at the\nconclusion that the minimum time requisite for the elimination of the\ncalcareous matter contained in the sedimentary crust of the earth, is at\nleast six hundred millions of years.\n\nA writer in the _Gentleman's Magazine_[74] (Professor Huxley?), whose\narticle I am only able to quote at second-hand, makes an estimate which,\nthough much lower than the above, is still of enormous magnitude, as\nfollows:--\n\n                                   Feet.       Years.\n  Laurentian                      30,000     30,000,000\n  Cambrian                        25,000     25,000,000\n  Silurian                         6,000      6,000,000\n  Old Red and Devonian            10,000     10,000,000\n  Carboniferous                   12,000     12,000,000\n  Secondary                       10,000     10,000,000\n  Tertiary and Post Tertiary       1,000      1,000,000\n  Gaps and unrepresented strata    6,000      6,000,000\n                                            -----------\n                                     Total  100,000,000\n\nMr. Darwin, arguing upon Sir W. Thompson's estimate of a minimum of\nninety-eight and maximum of two hundred millions of years since the\nconsolidation of the crust, and on Mr. Croll's estimate of sixty millions,\nas the time elapsed since the Cambrian period, considers that the latter\nis quite insufficient to permit of the many and great mutations of life\nwhich have certainly occurred since then. He judges from the small amount\nof organic change since the commencement of the glacial epoch, and adds\nthat the previous one hundred and forty million years can hardly be\nconsidered as sufficient for the development of the varied forms of life\nwhich certainly existed towards the close of the Cambrian period.\n\nOn the other hand, Mr. Croll considers that it is utterly impossible that\nthe existing order of things, as regards our globe, can date so far back\nas anything like five hundred millions of years, and, starting with\nreferring the commencement of the Glacial epoch to two hundred and fifty\nthousand years ago, allows fifteen millions since the beginning of the\nEocene period, and sixty millions of years in all since the beginning of\nthe Cambrian period. He bases his arguments on the limit to the age of the\nsun's heat as detailed by Sir William Thompson.\n\nSir Charles Lyell and Professor Haughton respectively estimated the\nexpiration of time from the commencement of the Cambrian at two hundred\nand forty and two hundred millions of years, basing their calculations on\nthe rate of modification of the species of mollusca, in the one case, and\non the rate of formation of rocks and their maximum thickness, in the\nother.\n\nThis, moreover, is irrespective of the vast periods during which life must\nhave existed, which on the development theory necessarily preceded the\nCambrian, and, according to Mr. Darwin, should not be less than in the\nproportion of five to two.\n\nIn fine, one school of geologists and zoologists demand the maximum\nperiods quoted above, to account for the amount of sedimentary deposit,\nand the specific developments which have occurred; the other considers the\nperiods claimed as requisite for these actions to be unnecessary, and to\nbe in excess of the limits which, according to their views, the physical\nelements of the case permit.\n\nMr. Wallace, in reviewing the question, dwells on the probability of the\nrate of geological changes having been greater in very remote times than\nit is at present, and thus opens a way to the reconciliation of the\nopposing views so far as one half the question is concerned.\n\nHaving thus adverted to the principles upon which various theorists have\nin part based their attacks on the problem of the estimation of the\nduration of geological ages, I may now make a few more detailed\nobservations upon those later periods during which man is, now, generally\nadmitted to have existed, and refer lightly to the earlier times which\nsome, but not all, geologists consider to have furnished evidences of his\npresence.\n\nI omit discussing the doubtful assertions of the extreme antiquity of man,\nwhich come to us from American observers, such as are based on supposed\nfootprints in rocks of secondary age, figured in a semi-scientific and\nexceedingly valuable popular journal. There are other theories which I\nomit, both because they need further confirmation by scientific\ninvestigators, and because they deal with periods so remote as to be\ntotally devoid of significance for the argument of this work.\n\nNor, up to the present time, are the evidences of the existence of man\nduring Miocene and Pliocene times admitted as conclusive. Professor\nCapellini has discovered, in deposits recognised by Italian geologists as\nof Pliocene age, cetacean bones, which are marked with incisions such as\nonly a sharp instrument could have produced, and which, in his opinion,\nmust be ascribed to human agency. To this view it is objected that the\nincisions might have been made by the teeth of fishes, and further\nevidence is waited for.\n\nNot a few discoveries have been made, apparently extending the existence\nof man to a much more remote antiquity, that of Miocene times. M. l'Abb\u00e9\nBourgeois has collected, from undoubted Miocene strata at Thenay, supposed\nflint implements which he conceives to exhibit evidences of having been\nfashioned by man, as well as stones showing in some cases traces of the\naction of fire, and which he supposes to have been used as pot-boilers. M.\nCarlos Ribeiro has made similar discoveries of worked flints and\nquartzites in the Pliocene and Miocene of the Tagus; worked flint has been\nfound in the Miocene of Aurillac (Auvergne) by M. Tardy, and a cut rib of\n_Halitherium fossile_, a Miocene species, by M. Delaunay at Pouanc\u00e9.\n\nVery divided opinions are entertained as to the interpretation of the\nsupposed implements discovered by M. l'Abb\u00e9 Bourgeois. M. Quatrefages,\nafter a period of doubt, has espoused the view of their being of human\norigin, and of Miocene age. \"Since then,\" he says, \"fresh specimens\ndiscovered have removed my last doubts. A small knife or scraper, among\nothers, which shows a fine regular finish, can, in my opinion, only have\nbeen shaped by man. Nevertheless, I do not blame those of my colleagues\nwho deny or still doubt. In such a matter there is no very great urgency,\nand, doubtless, the existence of Miocene man will be proved, as that of\nGlacial and Pliocene has been, by facts.\" Mr. Geikie, from whose\nwork--_Prehistoric Europe_--I have summarized the above statements, says,\nin reference to this question: \"There is unquestionably much force in what\nM. Quatrefages says; nevertheless, most geologists will agree with him\nthat the question of man's Miocene age still remains to be demonstrated by\nunequivocal evidence. At present, all that we can safely say is, that man\nwas probably living in Europe near the close of the Pliocene period, and\nthat he was certainly an occupant of our continent during glacial and\ninterglacial times.\"\n\nProfessor Marsh considers that the evidence, as it stands to-day, although\nnot conclusive, \"seems to place the first appearance of man [in America]\nin the Pliocene, and that the best proofs of this are to be found on the\nPacific coast.\" He adds: \"During several visits to that region many facts\nwere brought to my knowledge which render this more than probable. Man, at\nthis time, was a savage, and was doubtless forced by the great volcanic\noutbreaks to continue his migration. This was at first to the south, since\nmountain chains were barriers on the east,\" and \"he doubtless first came\nacross Behring's Straits.\"\n\nI have hitherto assumed a certain acquaintance, upon the part of the\ngeneral reader, with the terms Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene, happily\ninvented by Sir Charles Lyell to designate three of the four great\ndivisions of the Tertiary age. These, from their universal acceptation and\nconstant use, have \"become familiar in our mouths as household words.\" But\nit will be well, before further elaborating points in the history of these\ngroups, bearing upon our argument, to take into consideration their\nsubdivisions, and the equivalent or contemporary deposits composing them\nin various countries. This can be most conveniently done by displaying\nthese, in descending order, in a tabular form, which I accordingly annex\nbelow. This is the more desirable as there are few departments in\ngeological science which have received more attention than this; or in\nwhich greater returns, in the shape of important and interesting\ndiscoveries relative to man's existence, have been made.\n\nComparatively recent--comparatively, that is to say, with regard to the\nvast \u00e6ons that preceded them, but extending back over enormous spaces of\ntime when contrasted with the limited duration of written history,--they\nembrace the period during which the mainly existing distribution of land\nand ocean has obtained, and the present forms of life have appeared by\nevolution from preceding species, or, as some few still maintain, by\nseparate and special creation.\n\nTHE TERTIARY OR CAINOZOIC AGE.\n\n  |            |          |\n  |            |          |           1. Recent        }\n  |            |          |                            }\n  |            |Man's     |           2. Post Glacial  }\n  |            |range     |Man's                       }  Post  }\n  |Man's       |according |range,     3. Pleistocene or}Tertiary}\n  |range,      |to        |generally     Quaternary    }        }\n  |according   |Capellini,|admitted     (including     }        }\n  |to l'Abb\u00e9   |Marsh,    |              Glacial       }        }\n  |Bourgeois,  |and       |              formation)    }        }\n  |Quatrefages,|others.   |                                     }\n  |and         |                      4. Newer Pliocene}        }\n  |others.     |                                       }Pliocene}Tertiary\n  |            +--------------------- 5. Older Pliocene}        }or\n  |                                                             }Cainozoic\n  |                                   6. Upper Miocene }        }\n  |                                                    }Miocene }\n  +---------------------------------- 7. Lower Miocene }        }\n                                                                }\n                                      8. Upper Eocene  }        }\n                                                       }        }\n                                      9. Middle  do.   }Eocene  }\n                                                       }\n                                     10. Lower   do.   }\n\nPLIOCENE.\n\n                           BRITAIN.\n\n                      Norwich\n     P                _Sand loam and gravel_\n  N  l                Marine, land, and fresh-water\n  e  i                  shells\n  w  o      Many    { Fusus striatus\n  e  c     shells   {   \"   antiquus\n  r  e    abundant, { Tunitella communis\n     n     such as  { Cardium edule, still existing\n     e                  in adjacent sea.\n                      Norwich Crag.\n\n     P\n  O  l              { Red\n  l  i              {\n  d  o       Crag   { White,\n  e  c              { or\n  r  e              { Coralline\n     n\n     e\n\nMIOCENE.\n\n  -----------------------------------------------------------------------\n      BRITAIN.     |         FRANCE.         |    OTHER COUNTRIES OF    |\n                   |                         |          EUROPE.         |\n                   |                         |                          |\n   {Ferruginous    |Faluns of Touraine and   |Edgehem beds  }           |\n   { sands of      |  Bordeaux.              |Diest sands   }Belgium    |\n   { the North     |_Dinotherium._           |Boldeberg beds}           |\n   { downs.        |                         |                          |\n   {               |_Mastodon._              |Superga beds   Italy      |\n  U{_Terebratula   |                         |                          |\n  P{  grandis._    |_Lamantine._             |Deposits of               |\n  P{               |                         |  Pikerm\u00e9      Greece     |\n  E{               |Marine shells such as    |   with                   |\n  R{_Astarte       |  _Cypr\u00e6a, Oliva_,       |_Mastodon_                |\n   { pyrula_ with  |  _Mitra, Conus_,        |_Dinotherium_             |\n  M{ other shells  |    indicative of an     |_Hipparion_               |\n  I{ common to     |    elevated temperature.|_Antelope_                |\n  O{ the Crag.     |Fresh-water deposits of  |_Camelopardalis_          |\n  C{               |  Gers near the base of  |                          |\n  E{               |  the Pyrenees.          |Beds above the}           |\n  N{               |_Dinotherium giganteum._ |  brown coal  }Croatia    |\n  E{               |                         |  with Marine }           |\n   {               |Mastodon angustidens.    |  shells      }           |\n   {               |                         |Fresh-water   }           |\n   {               |                         |  Molasse at  }Switzerland|\n   {               |                         |  Oeningen    }           |\n   {               |                         |_Abundant     }           |\n   {               |                         |  flora_      }           |\n                   |                         |Marine Molasse}           |\n                   |                         |                          |\n   {Hempstead beds,|Calcaire de la Beauce,   |Kleyn Spawn    }          |\n   { Isle of Wight.|  fresh-water deposits of|  beds and     }Belgium   |\n   {               |  Auvergne, Sandstone,   |Limburg beds   }          |\n  L{               |  indusial limestone of  |                          |\n  O{               |  Cantal.                |                          |\n  W{Marine and     |                         |                          |\n  E{ fresh water   |Fluvio-marine strata of  |Marine and Fluvialite     |\n  R{     _Voluta_  |  Merignac and Bazas?    |  shells                  |\n   {    _Cyrena_   |                         |                          |\n   {   _Cerithium_ |                         |                          |\n   {    _&c. &c._  |_Cerithium, Pyrula, &c._ |Most of the   }           |\n  M{               |                         |  Lignites are}Germany    |\n  I{               |                         |  Lower       }           |\n  O{Lignite        |_Asterias limestone._    |  Miocene     }           |\n  C{  deposits of  |                         |Lower (fresh-water)       |\n  E{  Bovey Tracey.|                         |  Molasse                 |\n  N{               |_Nummulites._            |                          |\n  E{Numerous       |                         |                          |\n   { plants, such  |Fresh-water strata of    |                          |\n   { as _Sequoia   |  Fontainebleau.         |                          |\n   { Nysa Annona_, |Gr\u00e8s de Fontainebleau    |                          |\n     indicating a  |  (Marine).              |                          |\n     sub-tropical  |                         |                          |\n     climate.      |                         |                          |\n  -----------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n  --------------------------\n  |     INDIA.     |  AMERICA.\n  |                |\n  |                |\n  |Fresh-water     |Fresh-water\n  |                | deposits\n  |deposits of     | in Oregon\n  |                |\n  |Siwalik hills   |\n  |                |\n  |with            |White river\n  |_Mastodon_      | group in\n  |                | the Upper\n  |_Sivatherium_   | Missouri\n  |                | Regions\n  |_Colossochelys_ |\n  |                |\n  |_Rhinoceros_    |_Oreodont_\n  |                |\n  |_Felis_         |_Brontether-\n  |                |  ium._\n  |_Machairodus_   |\n  |                |Wind river\n  |_Equus_         | group\n  |                |(Fresh-water\n  |_Hippotherium_  |  deposit).\n  |                |\n  |_Camelopardalis_|\n  |                |\n  |                |Miocene\n  |                | deposits\n  |                | over a\n  |                | large part\n  |                | of the\n  |                | Atlantic\n  |                | Tertiary\n  |                | border.\n  |                |\n  |                |\n  |                |In\n  |                | California\n  |                | Miocene\n  |                | marine\n  |                | deposits\n  |                | reach\n  |                | from 4,000\n  |                | to 5,000\n  |                | feet\n  |                | in\n  |                | thickness.\n  |                |\n  |                |\n  |                |\n  --------------------------\n\nEOCENE.\n\nThe subdivisions of the Eocene have been worked out in great detail in\nBritain, France, and America. Those of most other countries have either\nnot yet been fully studied or their exact equivalence remains\nundetermined.\n\n  ---------------------------------------------------------------------\n                                 |                                    |\n             BRITAIN.            |             FRANCE.                |\n                                 |                                    |\n                                 |                                    |\n                                 |                  _Land and         |\n   {               {Pal\u00e6otherium |                   fresh-water      |\n   {A1 Bembridge   {Anoplotherium|Gypseous Series    shells_          |\n   {   Series      {Ch\u00e6ropotamus | of Montmatre     _Many quadrupeds  |\n  U{               {    &c.      |                   (4/5ths of them  |\n  P{                             |                   Perrissodactyls),|\n  P{A2 Osborne     {Fresh-water  |}                  Trionyx, Emys_   |\n  E{   Series      { & brackish  |}                                   |\n  R{               { genera      |}Calcaire Siliceux                  |\n   {                             |}                                   |\n  E{               {_Do._        |}                                   |\n  O{               {_Emys_       |}                                   |\n  C{A3 Headon      {_Trionyx_    |                                    |\n  E{   Series      {_Alligator_  |                                    |\n  N{               {_Crocodilus_ |                                    |\n  E{               {_Lepidosteus_|                                    |\n   {                             |                                    |\n   {A4 Barton      {_Voluta_     |                                   }|\n   {   Clay        {_Mitra_      |Gr\u00e8s de Beauchamp  _Nummulites_    }|\n                                 |                                   }|\n  M{B1 Bagshot and  _Cerithium_  |Calcaire Grossier  _Miliolite      }|\n  I{   Bracklesham  _Voluta_     |                    limestone      }|\n  D{   Sands and    _Cowries_    |                    of minute      }|\n  D{   Clays        _Marine      |                    Foraminifera._ }|\n  L{                 Serpents_   |                   _Nummulites_    }|\n  E{                _Nummulites_ |                   _Cerithium_,    }|\n   {   indicating a warm climate |                    &c. &c.        }|\n  E{   with a vegetation         |                                   }|\n  O{   reminding the botanist of |                                   }|\n  C{   the types of tropical     |                                   }|\n  E{   India and Australia       |Soissonnais Sands  _Nummulites_    }|\n  N{                             |                   _Nerita_, &c.   }|\n  E{B2 Wanting                   |                    &c.            }|\n                                 |                                    |\n   {C1 London Clay  _Palms_      |Argile de Londres                   |\n  L{       and      _Turtles_    |                                    |\n  O{   Bognor beds  _Sea Snakes_ |                                    |\n  W{                _Crocodiles_ |                                    |\n  E{                _Conus_,     |                                    |\n  R{                _Voluta_,    |                                    |\n   {                _Cyprina_,   |                                    |\n   {                _Nautilus_,  |                                    |\n  E{    and other shells         |                                    |\n  O{    indicating a semi-       |                                    |\n  C{     tropical climate        |                                    |\n  E{C2 Plastic and Mottled       |Argile plastique   _Fluviatile      |\n  N{   Clays and Sands           | and lignite        shells_         |\n  E{                             |                   _Large bird      |\n   {C3 Thanet Sands _Pholadomya_ |                    Gastornis       |\n   {                _Cyprina_,   |                    Parisiensis_    |\n   {                &c.          |Sables de Bracheux                  |\n  ---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n  ------------------------------------------------------------------------\n   CONTINENT |          |                                  |\n   OF EUROPE |  INDIA.  |             N. AMERICA.          |  S. AMERICA.\n   AND ASIA  |          |                                  |\n             |          |        East of the  West of the  |\n             |          |        Rocky Mts.   Rocky Mts.   |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |The Claiborne beds are considered |\n             |          |by Lyell as the equivalent of the |\n             |          |Middle Eocene of Britain; the     |\n             |          |parallelism of the other American |\n             |          |deposits has not yet been         |\n             |          |completed.                        |\n             |          |                   Uinta group    |\n             |          |                   _Uintatherium_ |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                   Bridger group  |\n             |          |        Vicksburg                 |\n             |          |          beds                    |Deposits\n             |          |T                   _Orohippus_   |believed\n             |          |h  M                _Dinoceras_   |to be of\n             |          |e  a d              _Uintatherium_|Tertiary\n             |          |   r e              _Tinocoras_   |age, in\n             |          |A  i p  Claiborne  _Tillotherium_ |the Pampas,\n  Nummulitic |Nummulitic|l  n o    beds                    |contain\n   Limestone |formation |a  e s                            |Pal\u00e6otherium\n    of the   | of Cutch,|b    i                            |and\n     Alps,   | portions |a    t             Green River    |Anoplotherium,\n  Carpathians|  of the  |m    s  _Zeuglodon   group        |and other\n   N. Africa | Himalaya,|a        cetoides_                |forms\n   Asia Minor|   and    |                                  |presenting a\n    Western  | frontiers|p                                 |resemblance to\n    Thibet.  | of China.|e                                 |the fauna of\n             |          |r                                 |that period in\n             |          |i                                 |Europe.\n             |          |o                                 |\n             |          |d                                 |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                   Wahsatch       |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                   _Coryphodon_   |\n             |          |                   _Eohippus_     |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |                                  |\n             |          |       Laramic or Lignitic Period.|\n  ------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nWe learn, both from the nature of these deposits and from their organic\ncontents, that climatic oscillations have been passing during the whole\nperiod of their deposition over the surface of the globe, and inducing\ncorresponding fluctuations in the character of the vegetable and animal\nlife abounding on it. A complete collation of these varying conditions at\nsynchronous periods remains to be achieved, but the study of our own\ncountry, and those adjacent to it, shows that alternations of tropical,\nboreal, and temperate climate have occurred in it; a remarkable series of\nconditions which has only lately been thoroughly and satisfactorily\naccounted for.\n\nThus, during a portion of the Eocene period a tropical climate prevailed,\nas is evidenced by deposits containing remains of palms of an equatorial\ntype, crocodiles, turtles, tropical shells, and other remains attesting\nthe existence of a high temperature. The converse is proved of the\nPleistocene by the existence of a boreal fauna, and the widespread\nevidences of glacial action. The gradations of climate during the Miocene\nand Pliocene, and the amelioration subsequent to the glacial period, have\nresulted in the gradual development or appearance of specific life as it\nexists at present.\n\nCorresponding indications of secular variability of climate are derived\nfrom all quarters: during the Miocene age, Greenland (in N. Lat. 70\u00b0)\ndeveloped an abundance of trees, such as the yew, the Redwood, a Sequoia\nallied to the Californian species, beeches, planes, willows, oaks,\npoplars, and walnuts, as well as a Magnolia and a Zamia. In Spitzbergen\n(N. Lat. 78\u00b0 56') flourished yews, hazels, poplars, alders, beeches, and\nlimes. At the present day, a dwarf willow and a few herbaceous plants form\nthe only vegetation, and the ground is covered with almost perpetual ice\nand snow.\n\nMany similar fluctuations of climate have been traced right back through\nthe geological record; but this fact, though interesting in relation to\nthe general solution of the causes, has little bearing on the present\npurpose.\n\nSir Charles Lyell conceived that all cosmical changes of climate in the\npast might be accounted for by the varying preponderance of land in the\nvicinity of the equator or near the poles, supplemented, of course, in a\nsubordinate degree by alteration of level and the influence of ocean\ncurrents. When, for example, at any geological period the excess of land\nwas equatorial, the ascent and passage northwards of currents of heated\nair would, according to his view, render the poles habitable; while, _per\ncontr\u00e2_, the excessive massing of land around the pole, and absence of it\nfrom the equator, would cause an arctic climate to spread far over the now\ntemperate latitudes.\n\nThe correctness of these inferences has been objected to by Mr. James\nGeikie and Dr. Croll, who doubt whether the northward currents of air\nwould act as successful carriers of heat to the polar regions, or whether\nthey would not rather dissipate it into space upon the road. On the other\nhand, Mr. Geikie, though admitting that the temperature of a large\n_unbroken_ arctic continent would be low, suggests that, as the winds\nwould be stripped of all moisture on its fringes, the interior would\ntherefore be without accumulations of snow and ice; and in the more\nprobable event of its being deeply indented by fjords and bays, warm\nsea-currents (the representatives of our present Gulf and Japan streams,\nbut possessing a higher temperature than either, from the greater extent\nof equatorial sea-surface originating them, and exposed to the sun's\ninfluence) would flow northward, and, ramifying, carry with them warm and\nheated atmospheres far into its interior, though even these, he thinks,\nwould be insufficient in their effects under any circumstances to produce\nthe sub-tropical climates which are known to have existed in high\nlatitudes.\n\nMr. John Evans[75] has thrown out the idea that possibly a complete\ntranslation of geographical position with respect to polar axes may have\nbeen produced by a sliding of the whole surface crust of the globe about a\nfluid nucleus. This, he considers, would be induced by disturbances of\nequilibrium of the whole mass from geological causes. He further points\nout that the difference between the polar and equatorial diameters of the\nglobe, which constitutes an important objection to his theory, is\nmaterially reduced when we take into consideration the enormous depth of\nthe ocean over a large portion of the equator, and the great tracts of\nland elevated considerably above the sea-level in higher latitudes. He\nalso speculates on the general average of the surface having in bygone\ngeological epochs approached much more nearly to that of a sphere than it\ndoes at the present time.\n\nSir John Lubbock favoured the idea of a change in the position of the axis\nof rotation, and this view has been supported by Sir H. James[76] and many\nlater geologists.[77] If I apprehend their arguments correctly, this\nchange could only have been produced by what may be termed geological\nrevolutions. These are great outbursts of volcanic matter, elevations,\nsubsidences, and the like. These having probably been almost continuous\nthroughout geological time, incessant changes, small or great, would be\ndemanded in the position of the axis, and the world must be considered as\na globe rolling over in space with every alteration of its centre of\ngravity. The possibility of this view must be left for mathematicians and\nastronomers to determine.\n\nSounder arguments sustain the theory propounded by Dr. Croll (though this,\nagain, is not universally accepted), that all these alterations of climate\ncan be accounted for by the effects of nutation, and the precession of the\nequinoxes. From these changes, combined with the eccentricity of the\necliptic from the first, it results that at intervals of ten thousand five\nhundred years, the northern and southern hemispheres are alternately in\naphelion during the winter, and in perihelion during the summer months,\nand _vice vers\u00e2_; or, in other words, that if at any given period the\ninclination of the earth's axis produces winter in the northern\nhemisphere, while the earth is at a maximum distance from that focus of\nits orbit in which the sun is situated, then, after an interval of ten\nthousand five hundred years, and as a result of the sum of the backward\nmotion of the equinoxes along the ecliptic, at the rate of 50' annually,\nthe converse will obtain, and it will be winter in the northern hemisphere\nwhile the earth is at a minimum distance from the sun.\n\nThe amount of eccentricity of the ecliptic varies greatly during long\nperiods, and has been calculated for several million years back. Mr.\nCroll[78] has demonstrated a theory explaining all great secular\nvariations of climate as indirectly the result of this, through the action\nof sundry physical agencies, such as the accumulation of snow and ice, and\nespecially the deflection of ocean currents. From a consideration of the\ntables which he has computed of the eccentricity and longitude of the\nearth's orbit, he refers the glacial epoch to a period commencing about\ntwo hundred and forty thousand years back, and extending down to about\neighty thousand years ago, and he describes it as \"consisting of a long\nsuccession of cold and warm periods; the warm periods of the one\nhemisphere corresponding in time with the cold periods of the other, and\n_vice vers\u00e2_.\"\n\nHaving thus spoken of the processes adopted for estimating the duration of\ngeological ages, and the results which have been arrived at, with great\nprobability of accuracy, in regard to some of the more recent, it now\nonly remains to briefly state the facts from which the existence of man,\nduring these latter periods, has been demonstrated. The literature of this\nsubject already extends to volumes, and it is therefore obviously\nimpossible, in the course of the few pages which the limits of this work\nadmit, to give anything but the shortest abstract, or to assign the credit\nrelatively due to the numerous progressive workers in this rich field of\nresearch. I therefore content myself with taking as my text-book Mr. James\nGeikie's _Prehistoric Europe_, the latest and most exhaustive work upon\nthe subject, and summarizing from it the statements essential to my\npurpose.\n\nFrom it we learn that, long prior to the ages when men were acquainted\nwith the uses of bronze and iron, there existed nations or tribes,\nignorant of the means by which these metals are utilized, whose weapons\nand implements were formed of stone, horn, bone, and wood.\n\nThese, again, may be divided into an earlier and a later race, strongly\ncharacterized by the marked differences in the nature of the stone\nimplements which they respectively manufactured, both in respect to the\nmaterial employed and the amount of finish bestowed upon it. To the two\nperiods in which these people lived the terms Pal\u00e6olithic and Neolithic\nhave been respectively applied, and a vast era is supposed to have\nintervened between the retiring from Europe of the one and the appearance\nthere of the other.\n\nPal\u00e6olithic man was contemporaneous with the mammoth (_Elephas\nprimigenius_), the woolly rhinoceros (_Rhinoceros primigenius_), the\n_Hippopotamus major_, and a variety of other species, now quite extinct,\nas well as with many which, though still existing in other regions, are no\nlonger found in Europe; whereas the animals contemporaneous with Neolithic\nman were essentially the same as those still occupying it.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 19.--ENGRAVING BY PAL\u00c6OLITHIC MAN ON REINDEER\nANTLER.[79]\n\n(The two sides of the same piece of antler are here represented.)]\n\nThe stone implements of Pal\u00e6olithic man had but little variety of form,\nwere very rudely fashioned, being merely chipped into shape, and never\nground or polished; they were worked nearly entirely out of flint and\nchert. Those of Neolithic man were made of many varieties of hard stone,\noften beautifully finished, frequently ground to a sharp point or edge,\nand polished all over.\n\nPal\u00e6olithic men were unacquainted with pottery and the art of weaving, and\napparently had no domesticated animals or system of cultivation; but the\nNeolithic lake dwellers of Switzerland had looms, pottery, cereals, and\ndomesticated animals, such as swine, sheep, horses, dogs, &c.\n\nImplements of horn, bone, and wood were in common use among both races,\nbut those of the older are frequently distinguished by their being\nsculptured with great ability or ornamented with life-like engravings of\nthe various animals living at the period; whereas there appears to have\nbeen a marked absence of any similar artistic ability on the part of\nNeolithic man.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 20.--REINDEER ENGRAVED ON ANTLER BY PAL\u00c6OLITHIC MAN.\n(_After Geikie._)]\n\nAgain, it is noticeable that, while the passage from the Neolithic age\ninto the succeeding bronze age was gradual, and, indeed, that the use of\nstone implements and, in some parts, weapons, was contemporaneous with\nthat of bronze in other places, no evidence exists of a transition from\nPal\u00e6olithic into Neolithic times. On the contrary, the examination of bone\ndeposits, such as those of Kent's Cave and Victoria Cave in England, and\nnumerous others in Belgium and France, attest \"beyond doubt that a\nconsiderable period must have supervened after the departure of\nPal\u00e6olithic man and before the arrival of his Neolithic successor.\" The\ndiscovery of remains of Pal\u00e6olithic man and animals in river deposits in\nEngland and on the Continent, often at considerable elevations[80] above\nthe existing valley bottoms, and in L\u00f6ss, and the identification of the\nPleistocene or Quaternary period with Preglacial and Glacial times, offer\na means of estimating what that lapse of time must have been.[81]\n\nSkeletons or portions of the skeletons of human beings, of admitted\nPal\u00e6olithic age, have been found in caverns in the vicinity of Liege in\nBelgium, by Schmerling, and probably the same date may be assigned those\nfrom the Neanderthal Cave near D\u00fcsseldorf. A complete skeleton, of tall\nstature, of probable but not unquestioned Pal\u00e6olithic age, has also been\ndiscovered in the Cave of Mentone on the Riviera.\n\nThese positive remains yield us further inferences than can be drawn from\nthe mere discovery of implements or fragmentary bones associated with\nremains of extinct animals.\n\nThe Mentone man, according to M. Rivi\u00e8re, had a rather long but large\nhead, a high and well-made forehead, and the very large facial angle of\n85\u00b0. In the Liege man the cranium was high and short, and of good\nCaucasian type; \"a fair average human skull,\" according to Huxley.\n\nOther remains, such as the jaw-bone from the cave of the Naulette in\nBelgium, and the Neanderthal skeleton, show marks of inferiority; but even\nin the latter, which was the lowest in grade, the cranial capacity is\nseventy-five cubic inches or \"nearly on a level with the mean between the\ntwo human extremes.\"\n\nWe may, therefore, sum up by saying that evidences have been accumulated\nof the existence of man, and intelligent man, from a period which even the\nmost conservative among geologists are unable to place at less than thirty\nthousand years; while most of them are convinced both of his existence\nfrom at least later Pliocene times, and of the long duration of ages which\nhas necessarily elapsed since his appearance--a duration to be numbered,\nnot by tens, but by hundreds of thousands of years.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 21.--ENGRAVING BY PAL\u00c6OLITHIC MAN ON REINDEER\nANTLER.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE DELUGE NOT A MYTH.\n\n\nIf we assume that the antiquity of man is as great, or even approximately\nas great, as Sir Charles Lyell and his followers affirm, the question\nnaturally arises, what has he been doing during those countless ages,\nprior to historic times? what evidences has he afforded of the possession\nof an intelligence superior to that of the brute creation by which he has\nbeen surrounded? what great monuments of his fancy and skill remain? or\nhas the sea of time engulphed any that he erected, in abysses so deep that\nnot even the bleached masts project from the surface, to testify to the\nexistence of the good craft buried below?\n\nThese questions have been only partially asked, and but slightly answered.\nThey will, however, assume greater proportions as the science of\narch\u00e6ology extends itself, and perhaps receive more definite replies when\nfresh fields for investigation are thrown open in those portions of the\nold world which Asiatic reserve has hitherto maintained inviolable against\nscientific prospectors.\n\nIf man has existed for fifty thousand years, as some demand, or for two\nhundred thousand, as others imagine, has his intelligence gone on\nincreasing thoughout the period? and if so, in what ratio? Are the terms\nof the series which involve the unknown quantity stated with sufficient\nprecision to enable us to determine whether his development has been slow,\ngradual, and more or less uniform, as in arithmetical, or gaining at a\nrapidly increasing rate, as in geometric progression. Or, to pursue the\nsimile, could it be more accurately expressed by the equation to a curve\nwhich traces an ascending and descending path, and, though controlled in\nreality by an absolute law, appears to exhibit an unaccountable and\ncapricious variety of positive and negative phases, of _points d'arr\u00eat_,\nnodes, and cusps.\n\nThese questions cannot yet be definitely answered; they may be proposed\nand argued on, but for a time the result will doubtless be a variety of\nopinions, without the possibility of solution by a competent arbiter.\n\nFor example, it is a matter of opinion whether the intelligence of the\npresent day is or is not of a higher order than that which animated the\n_savans_ of ancient Greece. It is probable that most would answer in the\naffirmative, so far as the question pertains to the culture of the masses\nonly, but how will scholars decide, who are competent to compare the works\nof our present poets, sculptors, dramatists, logicians, philosophers,\nhistorians, and statesmen, with those of Homer, Pindar, \u0152schylus,\nEuripides, Herodotus, Aristotle, Euclid, Phidias, Plato, Solon, and the\nlike? Will they, in a word, consider the champions of intellect of the\npresent day so much more robust than their competitors of three thousand\nyears ago as to render them easy victors? This would demonstrate a decided\nadvance in human intelligence during that period; but, if this is the\ncase, how is it that all the great schools and universities still cling to\nthe reverential study of the old masters, and have, until quite recently,\nalmost ignored modern arts, sciences, and languages.\n\nWe must remember that the ravages of time have put out of court many of\nthe witnesses for the one party to the suit, and that natural decay,\ncalamity, and wanton destruction[82] have obliterated the bulk of the\nphilosophy of past ages. With the exceptions of the application of steam,\nthe employment of moveable type in printing,[83] and the utilization of\nelectricity, there are few arts and inventions which have not descended to\nus from remote antiquity, lost, many of them, for a time, some of them for\nages, and then re-discovered and paraded as being, really and truly,\nsomething new under the sun.\n\nNeither must we forget the oratory and poetry, the masterpieces of logical\nargument, the unequalled sculptures, and the exquisitely proportioned\narchitecture of Greece, or the thorough acquaintance with mechanical\nprinciples and engineering skill evinced by the Egyptians, in the\nconstruction of the pyramids, vast temples, canals[84] and hydraulic\nworks.[85]\n\nNotice, also, the high condition of civilization possessed by the Chinese\nfour thousand years ago, their enlightened and humane polity, their\nengineering works,[86] their provision for the proper administration of\ndifferent departments of the State, and their clear and intelligent\ndocuments.[87]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 23.--VASE. HAN DYNASTY, B.C. 206 _to_ A.D. 23. (_From\nthe Poh Ku T'u._)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 24.--CYATHUS OR CUP FOR LIBATIONS. SHANG DYNASTY, B.C.\n1766 _to_ B.C. 1122. (_From the Poh Ku T'u._)]\n\nIn looking back upon these, I think we can hardly distinguish any such\ndeficiency of intellect, in comparison with ours, on the part of these our\nhistorical predecessors as to indicate so rapid a change of intelligence\nas would, if we were able to carry our comparison back for another similar\nperiod, inevitably land us among a lot of savages similar to those who\nfringe the civilization of the present period. Intellectually measured,\nthe civilized men of eight or ten thousand years ago must, I think, have\nbeen but little inferior to ourselves, and we should have to peer very far\nback indeed before we reached a status or condition in which the highest\ntype of humanity was the congener of the cave lion, disputing with him a\nmiserable existence, shielded only from the elements by an overhanging\nrock, or the fortuitous discovery of some convenient cavern.\n\nIf this be so, we are forced back again to the consideration of the\nquestions with which this section opened; where are the evidences of man's\nearly intellectual superiority? are they limited to those deduced from the\ndiscovery of certain stone implements of the early rude, and later\npolished ages? and, if so, can we offer any feasible explanation either of\ntheir non-existence or disappearance?\n\nIn the first place, it may be considered as admitted by arch\u00e6ologists that\nno exact line can be drawn between the later of the two stone-weapon\nepochs, the polished Neolithic stone epoch, and the succeeding age of\nbronze. They are agreed that these overlap each other, and that the rude\nhunters, who contented themselves with stone implements of war and the\nchase, were coeval with people existing in other places, acquainted with\nthe metallurgical art, and therefore of a high order of intelligence. The\nformer are, in fact, brought within the limit of historic times.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 25.--INCENSE BURNER(?). CHEN DYNASTY, B.C. 1122 _to_\nB.C. 255. (_From the Poh Ku T'u._)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 26.--TRIPOD OF THE SHANG DYNASTY. _Probable date_,\nB.C. 1649. (_From the Poh Ku T'u._)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 27.--TRIPOD OF FU YIH, SHANG DYNASTY. (_From the Poh\nKu T'u._)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 28.--TRIPOD OF KWAI WAN, CHEN DYNASTY, B.C. 1122 _to_\nB.C. 255 (_From the Poh Ku T'u._)]\n\nA similar inference might not unfairly be drawn with regard to those\nnumerous discoveries of proofs of the existence of ruder man, at still\nearlier periods. The flint-headed arrow of the North American Indian, and\nthe stone hatchet of the Australian black-fellow exist to the present day;\nand but a century or two back, would have been the sole representatives of\nthe constructive intelligence of humanity over nearly one half the\ninhabited surface of the world. No philosopher, with these alone to reason\non, could have imagined the settled existence, busy industry, and\nsuperior intelligence which animated the other half; and a parallel\nsuggestive argument may be supported by the discovery of human relics,\nimplements, and artistic delineations such as those of the hairy mammoth\nor the cave-bear. These may possibly be the traces of an outlying savage\nwho co-existed with a far more highly-organized people elsewhere,[88] just\nas at the present day the Esquimaux, who are by some geologists considered\nas the descendants of Pal\u00e6olithic man, co-exist with ourselves. They, like\ntheir reputed ancestors, have great ability in carving on bone, &c.; and\nas an example of their capacity not only to conceive in their own minds a\ncorrect notion of the relative bearings of localities, but also to impart\nthe idea lucidly to others, I annex a wood-cut of a chart drawn by them,\nimpromptu, at the request of Sir J. Ross, who, inferentially, vouches for\nits accuracy.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 29. (_From Sir John Ross' Second Voyage to the Arctic\nRegions._)]\n\nThere is but a little step between carving the figure of a mammoth or\nhorse, and using them as symbols. Multiply them, and you have the early\nhieroglyphic written language of the Chinese and Egyptians. It is not an\nunfair presumption that at no great distance, in time or space, either\nsome generations later among his own descendants, or so many nations'\ndistance among his coevals, the initiative faculty of the Pal\u00e6olithic\nsavage was usefully applied to the communication of ideas, just as at a\nmuch later date the Kououen symbolic language was developed or made use of\namong the early Chinese.[89]\n\nSuch is, necessarily, the first stage of any written language, and it may,\nas I think, perhaps have occurred, been developed into higher stages,\nculminated, and perished at many successive epochs during man's existence,\npresuming it to have been so extended as the progress of geology tends to\naffirm.\n\nMay not the meandering of the tide of civilization westward during the\nlast three thousand years, bearing on its crest fortune and empire, and\nleaving in its hollow decay and oblivion, possibly be the sequel of many\nsuccessive waves which have preceded it in the past, rising, some higher,\nsome lower, as waves will.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 30.--EARLY CHINESE HIEROGLYPHICS.]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 31.--EARLY CHINESE HIEROGLYPHICS.]\n\nIn comparison with the vast epochs of which we treat how near to us are\nNineveh, Babylon, and Carthage! Yet the very sites of the former two have\nbecome uncertain, and of the last we only know by the presence of the few\nscattered ruins on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Tyre, the vast\nentrep\u00f4t of commerce in the days of Solomon, was stated, rightly or\nwrongly, by Benjamin of Tudela, to be but barely discernible (in 1173) in\nruins beneath the waves; and the glory of the world, the temple of King\nSolomon, was represented at the same date by two copper columns which had\nbeen carried off and preserved in Rome. It is needless to quote the cases\nof Persia, Greece, and Rome, and of many once famous cities, which have\ndissolved in ruin; except as assisting to point the moral that conquest,\nwhich is always recurring, means to a great extent obliteration, the\nvictor having no sympathy with the preservation of the time-honoured\nrelics of the vanquished.\n\nWhen decay and neglect are once initiated, the hand of man largely assists\nthe ravages of time. The peasant carts the marbles of an emperor's palace\nto his lime-kiln,[90] or an Egyptian monarch strips the casing of a\npyramid[91] to furnish the material for a royal residence.\n\nNor is it beyond the limits of possibility that the arrogant caprice of\nsome, perhaps Mongol, invader in the future, may level the imperishable\npyramids themselves for the purpose of constructing some defensive work,\nor the gratification of an inordinate vanity.\n\nIn later dates how many comfortable modern residences have been erected\nfrom the pillage of medi\u00e6val abbey, keep, or castle? and how many fair\ncities[92] must have fallen to decay, in Central and Eastern Asia, and how\nmany numerous populations dwindled to insignificance since the days when\nGhenghis and Timour led forth their conquering hordes, and Nadun could\nraise four hundred thousand horsemen[93] to contest the victory with\nKublai Khan.\n\nThe unconscious ploughman in Britain has for centuries guided his share\nabove the remains of Roman villas, and the inhabitants of the later city\nof Hissarlik were probably as ignorant that a series of lost and buried\ncities lay below them, as they would have been incredulous that within a\nthousand years their own existence would have passed from the memory of\nman, and their re-discovery been due only to the tentative researches of\nan enthusiastic admirer of Homer. Men live by books and bards longer than\nby the works of their hands, and impalpable tradition often survives the\nmaterial vehicle which was destined to perpetuate it. The name of Priam\nwas still a household word when the site of his palace had been long\nforgotten.\n\nThe vaster a city is, the more likely is it to be constructed upon the\nsite of its own grave, or, in other words, to occupy the broad valley of\nsome important river beneath whose gravels it is destined to be buried.\n\nPerched on an eminence, and based on solid rock, it may escape entombment,\nbut more swiftly and more certainly will it be destroyed by the\nelements,[94] and by the decomposition of its own material furnish the\nshroud for its envelopment.[95] It is not altogether surprising then that\nno older discoveries than those already quoted have yet been made, for\nthese would probably never have resulted if tradition had not both\nstimulated and guided the fortunate explorer.\n\nIt is, therefore, no unfair inference that the remains of equally\nimportant, but very much more ancient cities and memorials of civilization\nmay have hitherto entirely escaped our observation, presuming that we can\nshow some reasonable grounds for belief that, subsequent to their\ncompletion, a catastrophe has occurred of sufficiently universal a\ncharacter to have obliterated entirely the annals of the past, and to have\nleft in the possession of its few survivors but meagre and fragmentary\nrecollections of all that had preceded them.\n\nNow this is precisely what the history and traditions of all nations\naffirm to have occurred. However, as a variance of opinion exists as to\nthe credence which should be attached to these traditions, I shall, before\nexpressing my own views upon the subject, briefly epitomize those\nentertained by two authors of sufficient eminence to warrant their being\nselected as representatives of two widely opposite schools.\n\nThese gentlemen, to whom we are indebted for exhaustive papers,[96]\nembracing the pith of all the information extant upon the subject, have\ntapped the same sources of information, consulted the same authorities,\nranged their information in almost identical order, argued from the same\ndata, and arrived at diametrically opposite conclusions.\n\nMr. Cheyne, following the lead of Continental mythologists, deduces that\nthe Deluge stories were on the whole propagated from several independent\ncentres, and adopts the theory of Schirrer and Gerland that they are ether\nmyths, without any historical foundation, which have been transferred from\nthe sky to the earth.\n\nM. Lenormant, upon the other hand, eliminating from the inquiry the great\ninundation of China in the reign of Yao, and some others, as purely local\nevents, concludes as the result of his researches that the story of the\nDeluge \"is a universal tradition among all branches of the human race,\"\nwith the one exception of the black. He further argues: \"Now a\nrecollection thus precise and concordant cannot be a myth voluntarily\ninvented. No religious or cosmogenic myth presents this character of\nuniversality. It must arise from the reminiscences of a real and terrible\nevent, so powerfully impressing the imagination of the first ancestors of\nour race, as never to have been forgotten by their descendants. This\ncataclysm must have occurred near the first cradle of mankind and before\nthe dispersion of families from which the different races of men were to\nspring.\"\n\nLord Arundel of Wardour adopts a similar view in many respects to that of\nM. Lenormant, but argues for the existence of a Deluge tradition in Egypt,\nand the identity of the Deluge of Yu (in China) with the general\ncatastrophe of which the tradition is current in other countries.\n\nThe subject is in itself so inviting, and has so direct a bearing upon the\nargument of this work that I propose to re-examine the same materials and\nendeavour to show from them that the possible solutions of the question\nhave not yet been exhausted.\n\nWe have as data:--\n\n    1. _The Biblical account._\n\n    2. _That of Josephus._\n\n    3. _The Babylonian._\n\n    4. _The Hindu._\n\n    5. _The Chinese._\n\n    6. _The traditions of all nations in the northern hemisphere, and of\n    certain in the southern._\n\nIt is unnecessary to travel in detail over the well-worn ground of the\nmyths and traditions prevalent among European nations, the presumed\nidentity of Noah with Saturn, Janus, and the like, or the Grecian stories\nof Ogyges and Deucalion. Nor is anyone, I think, disposed to dispute the\nidentity of the cause originating the Deluge legends in Persia and in\nIndia. How far these may have descended from independent sources it is now\ndifficult to determine, though it is more than probable that their\nvitality is due to the written Semitic records. Nor is it necessary to\ndiscuss any unimportant differences which may exist between the text of\nJosephus and that of the Bible, which agree sufficiently closely, but are\nmere abstracts (with the omission of many important details) in comparison\nwith the Chald\u00e6an account. This may be accounted for by their having been\nonly derived from oral tradition through the hands of Abraham. The\nBiblical narrative shows us that Abraham left Chald\u00e6a on a nomadic\nenterprise, just as a squatter leaves the settled districts of Australia\nor America at the present day, and strikes out with a small following and\nscanty herd to search for, discover, and occupy new country; his destiny\nleading him, may be for a few hundred, may be for a thousand miles. In\nsuch a train there is no room for heavy baggage, and the stone tablets\ncontaining the detailed history of the Deluge would equally with all the\nrest of such heavy literature be left behind.\n\nThe tradition, however reverenced and faithfully preserved at first,\nwould, under such circumstances, soon get mutilated and dwarfed. We may,\ntherefore, pass at once to the much more detailed accounts presented in\nthe text of Berosus, and in the more ancient Chald\u00e6an tablets deciphered\nby the late Mr. G. Smith from the collation of three separate copies.\n\nThe account by Berosus (see Appendix) was taken from the sacred books of\nBabylon, and is, therefore, of less value than the last-mentioned as being\nsecond-hand. The leading incidents in his narrative are similar to those\ncontained in that of Genesis, but it terminates with the vanishing of\nXisuthros (Noah) with his wife, daughter, and the pilot, after they had\ndescended from the vessel and sacrificed to the gods, and with the return\nof his followers to Babylon. They restored it, and disinterred the\nwritings left (by the pious obedience of Xisuthros) in Shurippak, the city\nof the Sun.\n\nThe great majority of mythologists appear to agree in assigning a much\nearlier date to the Deluge, than that which has hitherto been generally\naccepted as the soundest interpretation of the chronological evidence\nafforded by the Bible.\n\nI have never had the advantage of finding the arguments on which this\nopinion is based, formulated in association, although, as incidentally\nreferred to by various authors, they appear to be mainly deduced from the\nreferences made, both by sacred and profane writers, to large populations\nand important cities existing subsequently to the Deluge, but at so early\na date, as to imply the necessity of a very long interval indeed between\nthe general annihilation caused by the catastrophe, and the attainment of\nso high a pitch of civilization and so numerous a population as their\nexistence implies.\n\nPhilologists at the same time declare that a similar inference may be\ndrawn from the vast periods requisite for the divergence of different\nlanguages from the parent stock,[97] while the testimony of the monuments\nand sculptures of ancient Egypt assures us that race distinction of as\nmarked a type as occurs at the present day existed at so early a date[98]\nas to preclude the possibility of the derivation of present nations from\nthe descendants of Noah within the limited period usually allowed.\n\nThese difficulties vanish, if we consider the Biblical and Chaldean\nnarratives as records of a local catastrophe, of vast extent perhaps, and\nresulting in general but not total destruction, whose sphere may have\nembraced the greater portion of Western Asia, and perhaps Europe; but\nwhich, while wrecking the great centres of northern civilization, did not\nextend southwards to Africa and Egypt.[99] The Deluge legends indigenous\nin Mexico at the date of the Spanish conquest, combining the Biblical\nincidents of the despatch of birds from a vessel with the conception of\nfour consecutive ages terminating in general destruction, and\ncorresponding with the four ages or Yugas of India, supply in themselves\nthe testimony of their probable origin from Asia. The cataclysm which\ncaused what is called the Deluge may or may not have extended to America,\nprobably not. In a future page I shall enumerate a few of the\nresemblances between the inhabitants of the New World and of the Old\nindicative of their community of origin.\n\nI refer the reader to M. Lenormant's valuable essay[100] for his critical\nnotice on the dual composition of the account in Genesis, derived as it\nappears to be from two documents, one of which has been called the\nElohistic and the other the Jehovistic account, and for his comparison of\nit with the Chaldean narrative exhumed by the late Mr. George Smith from\nthe Royal Library of Nineveh, the original of which is probably of\nanterior date to Moses, and nearly contemporaneous with Abraham.\n\nI transcribe from M. Lenormant the text of the Chaldean narrative, because\nthere are points in it which have not yet been commented on, and which, as\nit appears to me, assist in the solution of the Deluge story:--\n\n    I will reveal to thee, O Izdhubar, the history of my preservation--and\n    tell to thee the decision of the gods.\n\n    The town of Shurippak, a town which thou knowest, is situated on the\n    Euphrates. It was ancient, and in it [men did not honour] the gods. [I\n    alone, I was] their servant, to the great gods--[The gods took counsel\n    on the appeal of] Anu--[a deluge was proposed by] Bel--[and approved\n    by Nabon, Nergal and] Adar.\n\n    And the god [\u00caa,] the immutable lord,--repeated this command in a\n    dream.--I listened to the decree of fate that he announced, and he\n    said to me:--\"Man of Shurippak, son of Ubaratutu--thou, build a vessel\n    and finish it [quickly].--By a [deluge] I will destroy substance and\n    life.--Cause thou to go up into the vessel the substance of all that\n    has life.--The vessel thou shalt build--600 cubits shall be the\n    measure of its length--and 60 cubits the amount of its breadth and of\n    its height.--[Launch it] thus on the ocean and cover it with a\n    roof.\"--I understood, and I said to \u00caa, my lord:--\"[The vessel] that\n    thou commandest me to build thus,--[when] I shall do it--young and old\n    [shall laugh at me].\"--[\u00caa opened his mouth and] spoke.--He said to\n    me, his servant:--\"[If they laugh at thee] thou shalt say to them:\n    [Shall be punished] he who has insulted me, [for the protection of the\n    gods] is over me.-- .... like to caverns .... ---- .... I will\n    exercise my judgment on that which is on high and that which is below\n    .... ---- .... Close the vessel .... ---- .... At a given moment that\n    I shall cause thee to know,--enter into it, and draw the door of the\n    ship towards thee.--Within it, thy grains, thy furniture, thy\n    provisions,--thy riches, thy men-servants, and thy maid-servants, and\n    thy young people--the cattle of the field and the wild beasts of the\n    plain that I will assemble--and that I will send thee, shall be kept\n    behind thy door.\"--Khasisatra opened his mouth and spoke;--he said to\n    \u00caa, his lord:--\"No one has made [such a] ship.--On the prow I will fix\n    .... --I shall see .... and the vessel .... --the vessel thou\n    commandest me to build [thus]--which in ....[101]\n\n    On the fifth day [the two sides of the bark] were raised.--In its\n    covering fourteen in all were its rafters--fourteen in all did it\n    count above.--I placed its roof and I covered it.--I embarked in it on\n    the sixth day; I divided its floors on the seventh;--I divided the\n    interior compartments on the eighth. I stopped up the chinks through\n    which the water entered in;--I visited the chinks and added what was\n    wanting.--I poured on the exterior three times 3,600 measures of\n    asphalte,--and three times 3,600 measures of asphalte within.--Three\n    times 3,600 men, porters, brought on their heads the chests of\n    provisions.--I kept 3,600 chests for the nourishment of my\n    family,--and the mariners divided amongst themselves twice 3,600\n    chests.--For [provisioning] I had oxen slain;--I instituted [rations]\n    for each day.--In [anticipation of the need of] drinks, of barrels and\n    of wine--[I collected in quantity] like to the waters of a river, [of\n    provisions] in quantity like to the dust of the earth.--[To arrange\n    them in] the chests I set my hand to.-- .... of the sun .... the\n    vessel was completed.-- .... strong and--I had carried above and below\n    the furniture of the ship.--[This lading filled the two-thirds.]\n\n    All that I possessed I gathered together; all I possessed of silver I\n    gathered together; all that I possessed of gold I gathered--all that I\n    possessed of the substance of life of every kind I gathered\n    together.--I made all ascend into the vessel; my servants male and\n    female,--the cattle of the fields, the wild beasts of the plains, and\n    the sons of the people, I made them all ascend.\n\n    Shamash (the sun) made the moment determined, and--he announced it in\n    these terms:--\"In the evening I will cause it to rain abundantly from\n    heaven; enter into the vessel and close the door.\"--The fixed moment\n    had arrived, which he announced in these terms: \"In the evening I will\n    cause it to rain abundantly from heaven.\"--When the evening of that\n    day arrived, I was afraid,--I entered into the vessel and shut my\n    door.--In shutting the vessel, to Buzurshadirabi, the pilot,--I\n    confided this dwelling with all that it contained.\n\n    Mu-sheri-ina-namari[102]--rose from the foundations of heaven in a\n    black cloud;--Ramman[103] thundered in the midst of the cloud--and\n    Nabon and Sharru marched before;--they marched, devastating the\n    mountain and the plain;--Nergal[104] the powerful, dragged\n    chastisements after him;--Adar[105] advanced, overthrowing before\n    him;--the archangels of the abyss brought destruction,--in their\n    terrors they agitated the earth.--The inundation of Ramman swelled up\n    to the sky,--and [the earth] became without lustre, was changed into a\n    desert.\n\n    They broke .... of the surface of the [earth] like .... ;--[they\n    destroyed] the living beings of the surface of the earth.--The\n    terrible [Deluge] on men swelled up to [heaven].--The brother no\n    longer saw his brother; men no longer knew each other. In heaven--the\n    gods became afraid of the waterspout, and--sought a refuge; they\n    mounted up to the heaven of Anu.[106]--The gods were stretched out\n    motionless, pressing one against another like dogs.--Ishtar wailed\n    like a child,--the great goddess pronounced her discourse:--\"Here is\n    humanity returned into mud, and--this is the misfortune that I have\n    announced in the presence of the gods. So I announced the misfortune\n    in the presence of the gods,--for the evil I announced the terrible\n    [chastisement] of men who are mine.--I am the mother who gave birth to\n    men, and--like to the race of fishes, there they are filling the\n    sea;--and the gods by reason of that--which the archangels of the\n    abyss are doing, weep with me.\"--The gods on their seats were seated\n    in tears,--and they held their lips closed, [revolving] future things.\n\n    Six days and as many nights passed; the wind, the waterspout, and the\n    diluvian rain were in all their strength. At the approach of the\n    seventh day the diluvian rain grew weaker, the terrible\n    waterspout--which had assailed after the fashion of an\n    earthquake--grew calm, the sea inclined to dry up, and the wind and\n    the waterspout came to an end. I looked at the sea, attentively\n    observing--and the whole of humanity had returned to mud; like unto\n    sea-weeds the corpses floated. I opened the window, and the light\n    smote on my face. I was seized with sadness; I sat down and I\n    wept;--and my tears came over my face.\n\n    I looked at the regions bounding the sea; towards the twelve points of\n    the horizon; not any continent.--The vessel was borne above the land\n    of Nizir,--the mountain of Nizir arrested the vessel, and did not\n    permit it to pass over.--A day and a second day the mountain of Nizir\n    arrested the vessel, and did not permit it to pass over;--the third\n    and fourth day the mountain of Nizir arrested the vessel, and did not\n    permit it to pass over;--the fifth and sixth day the mountain of Nizir\n    arrested the vessel, and did not permit it to pass over.--At the\n    approach of the seventh day, I sent out and loosed a dove. The dove\n    went, turned, and--found no place to light on, and it came back. I\n    sent out and loosed a swallow; the swallow went, turned, and--found no\n    place to light on, and it came back. I sent out and loosed a raven;\n    the raven went, and saw the corpses on the waters; it ate, rested,\n    turned, and came not back.\n\n    I then sent out (what was in the vessel) towards the four winds, and I\n    offered a sacrifice. I raised the pile of my burnt-offering on the\n    peak of the mountain; seven by seven I disposed the measured\n    vases,[107]--and beneath I spread rushes, cedar, and juniper wood. The\n    gods were seized with the desire of it,--the gods were seized with a\n    benevolent desire of it;--and the gods assembled like flies above the\n    master of the sacrifice. From afar, in approaching, the great goddess\n    raised the great zones that Anu has made for their glory (the\n    gods').[108] These gods, luminous crystal before me, I will never\n    leave them; in that day I prayed that I might never leave them. \"Let\n    the gods come to my sacrificial pile!--but never may Bel come to my\n    sacrificial pile! for he did not master himself, and he has made the\n    waterspout for the Deluge, and he has numbered my men for the pit.\"\n\n    From far, in drawing near, Bel--saw the vessel, and Bel stopped;--he\n    was filled with anger against the gods and the celestial\n    archangels:--\"No one shall come out alive! No man shall be preserved\n    from the abyss!\"--Adar opened his mouth and said; he said to the\n    warrior Bel:--\"What other than Ea should have formed this\n    resolution?--for Ea possesses knowledge and [he foresees] all.\"--Ea\n    opened his mouth and spake; he said to the warrior Bel:--\"O thou,\n    herald of the gods, warrior,--as thou didst not master thyself, thou\n    hast made the waterspout of the deluge.--Let the sinner carry the\n    weight of his sins, the blasphemer the weight of his\n    blasphemy.--Please thyself with this good pleasure, and it shall never\n    be infringed; faith in it never [shall be violated].--Instead of thy\n    making a new deluge, let hy\u00e6nas appear and reduce the number of men;\n    instead of thy making a new deluge, let there be famine, and let the\n    earth be [devastated];--instead of thy making a new deluge, let\n    Dibbara[109] appear, and let men be [mown down].--I have not revealed\n    the decision of the great gods;--it is Khasisatra who interpreted a\n    dream and comprehended what the gods had decided.\"\n\n    Then, when his resolve was arrested, Bel entered into the vessel.--He\n    took my hand and made me rise.--He made my wife rise, and made her\n    place herself at my side.--He turned around us and stopped short; he\n    approached our group.--\"Until now Khasisatra has made part of\n    perishable humanity;--but lo, now, Khasisatra and his wife are going\n    to be carried away to live like the gods,--and Khasisatra will reside\n    afar at the mouth of the rivers.\"--They carried me away and\n    established me in a remote place at the mouth of the streams.\n\nThis narrative agrees with the Biblical one in ascribing the inundation to\na deluge of rain; but adds further details which connect it with intense\natmospheric disturbance, similar to that which would be produced by a\nseries of cyclones, or typhoons, of unusual severity and duration.\n\nThe intense gloom, the deluge of rain, terrific violence of wind, and the\nhavoc both on sea and land, which accompany the normal cyclones occurring\nannually on the eastern coast of China, and elsewhere, and lasting but a\nfew hours in any one locality, can hardly be credited, except by those who\nhave experienced them. They are, however, sufficient to render explicable\nthe general devastation and loss of life which would result from the\nduration of typhoons, or analogous tempests, of abnormal intensity, for\neven the limited period of six days and nights allotted in the text above,\nand much more so for that of one hundred and fifty days assigned to it in\nthe Biblical account.\n\nAs illustrating this I may refer to a few calamities of recent date,\nwhich, though of trivial importance in comparison with the stupendous\nevent under our consideration, bring home to us the terribly devastating\npower latent in the elements.\n\nIn Bengal, a cyclone on October 31, 1876, laid under water three thousand\nand ninety-three square miles, and destroyed two hundred and fifteen\nthousand lives.\n\nA typhoon which raged in Canton, Hongkong, and Macao on September 22,\n1874, besides much other destruction, destroyed several thousand people in\nMacao and the adjacent villages, the number of corpses in the town being\nso numerous that they had to be gathered in heaps and burnt with\nkerosene, the population, without the Chinese who refused to lend\nassistance, being insufficient to bury them.\n\nA tornado in Canton, on April 11, 1878, destroyed, in the course of a few\nminutes, two thousand houses and ten thousand lives.\n\nIn view of these few historical facts, which might be greatly\nsupplemented, there appears to my mind to be no difficulty in believing\nthat the continuance, during even only six days and six nights, of\nextraordinarily violent circular storms over a given area, would,\nespecially if accompanied by so-called tidal or earthquake waves, be\nsufficient to wreck all sea-going and coasting craft, all river boats,\ninundate every country embraced within it to a very great extent, submerge\neach metropolis, city, or village, situate either in the deltas of rivers,\nor higher up their course, sap, unroof, batter down, and destroy all\ndwellings on the highlands, level forests, destroy all domestic animals,\nsweep away all cultivated soil, or bury it beneath an enormous thickness\nof _d\u00e9bris_, tear away the soil from the declivities of hills and\nmountains, destroy all shelter, and hence, by exposure, most of those\nwretched human beings who might have escaped drowning on the lower levels.\nThe few survivors would with difficulty escape starvation, or death from\nsubsequent exposure to the deadly malaria which would be liberated by the\nrooting up of the accumulated _d\u00e9bris_ of centuries. This latter\nsupposition appears to me to be directly indicated by the passage towards\nthe end of the extract referring to famine, and to the devastation of the\nearth by Dibbara (the god of epidemics).\n\nIt is noticeable that in this account there is no suggestion of complete\nimmersion, Khasisatra simply says there is not any continent (_i.e._ all\nthe hill ranges within sight would stand out from the inundation like\nislands), while he speaks of his vessel being arrested by the mountain of\nNizir, which must consequently have been above the surface of the water.\n\nNeither is there any such close limitation of the number of persons\npreserved, as in the Biblical story, for Khasisatra took with him his\nmen-servants, maid-servants, and his young people, while the version\ntransmitted by Berosus (see Appendix to this Chapter), states that\nXisuthros embarked his wife, children, and his intimate friends, and that\nthese latter subsequently founded numerous cities, built temples, and\nrestored Babylon.\n\nWe have thus a fair nucleus for starting a fresh population in the\nEuphrates valley, which may have received accessions from the gradual\nconcentration of scattered survivors, and from the enterprise of maritime\nadventurers from the African coast and elsewhere, possibly also nomads\nfrom the north, east, and west may have swelled the numbers, and a\npolyglot community have been established, which subsequently, through race\ndistinctions, jealousies, and incompatibility of language, became again\ndismembered, as recorded in the history of the attempted erection of the\nTower of Babel.\n\nConfining our attention for the moment to this one locality, we may\nimagine that the young population would not be deterred by any\napprehension of physical danger from reinhabiting such of the old cities\nas remained recognizable; since we see that men do not hesitate to\nrecommence the building of cities overthrown by earthquake shocks almost\nbefore the last tremblings are over; or, as in the case of Herculaneum and\nPompeii, within the range of volcanoes which may have already repeatedly\nvomited destroying floods of lava. Yet, in this instance, they would\nprobably invest the calamity with a supernatural horror, and regard it, as\nthe text expresses it, as a chastisement from the gods for their impiety.\nIf this were so, the very memory of such cities would soon be lost, and\nwith it all the treasures of art and literature which they\ncontained.[110]\n\nThe Hindu account is taken from the _S'atapatha-Br\u00e2hmana_, a work of\nconsiderable antiquity, being one of a series which Professor Max M\u00fcller\nbelieves to have been written eight hundred years before Christ. A literal\ntranslation of the legend, as given in this venerable work, is as\nfollows:--\n\n\"To Manu in the morning they brought water for washing, just as they bring\nit for washing the hands. As he was using the water, a fish came into his\nhand. This (fish) said to him, 'Preserve me, and I will save thee.' (Manu\nsaid), 'From what wilt thou preserve me?' (The fish replied), 'A flood\nwill carry away all these creatures; from that I will preserve thee.'\n(Manu said), 'How is thy preservation (to be effected)?' (The fish\nreplied), 'As long as we are small, there is great danger of our\ndestruction; fish even devours fish: at first preserve me in a jar. When I\ngrow too big for that, cut a trench, and preserve me in that. When I\noutgrow that, carry me to the sea; then I shall be beyond (the reach of)\ndanger.' Soon it became a great fish; it increased greatly. (The fish\nsaid), 'In so many years the flood will come; make a ship and worship me.\nOn the rising of the flood enter the ship, then I will preserve thee.'\nHaving preserved the fish he brought it to the sea. In the same year\nindicated by the fish (Manu) made a ship and worshipped the fish. When the\nflood rose he entered the ship; the fish swam near him: he attached the\ncable of the ship to his (the fish's) horn. By this means the fish carried\nhim over the northern mountain (Himalayas). (The fish said), 'I have\npreserved thee: fasten the ship to a tree. But lest the water cut thee off\nwhilst thou art on the mountain, as fast as the water subsides thou wilt\ndescend with it.' Accordingly he descended (with the water); hence this\nbecame 'Manu's Descent' from the northern mountain. The flood had carried\naway all those creatures, Manu alone was left. He being desirous of\noffspring performed a sacred rite; there also he offered a\n_p\u00e2ka_-sacrifice. With clarified butter, coagulated milk, whey, and curds,\nhe made an offering to the waters. In a year a female was produced; and\nshe arose unctuous from the moisture, with clarified butter under her\nfeet. Mitra and Varuna came to her; and said to her, 'Who art thou?' (She\nsaid), 'The daughter of Manu.' (They said), 'Say (thou art) our\n(daughter).' 'No,' she replied, 'I am verily (the daughter) of him who\nbegot me.' They desired a share in her; she agreed and did not agree. She\nwent on and came to Manu. Manu said to her, 'Who art thou?' 'Thy\ndaughter,' she replied. 'How, revered one, art thou my daughter?' (She\nreplied), 'The offerings which thou hast cast upon the waters,--clarified\nbutter, coagulated milk, whey, and curds,--from them thou hast generated\nme. I am a blessing. Do thou introduce me into the sacrifice. If thou wilt\nintroduce me into the sacrifice, thou wilt be (blessed) with abundance of\noffspring and cattle. Whatever blessing thou shalt ask through me, will\nall be given to thee.' Thus he introduced her in the middle of the\nsacrifice; for the middle of the sacrifice is that which comes between the\nfinal and the introductory prayers. He, desirous of offspring, meditating\nand toiling, went with her. By her he begot this (offspring), which is\n(called) 'The offspring of Manu.'\"\n\nThe correspondence of this legend with the Biblical and the other accounts\nis remarkable. We have the announcement of the Deluge, the construction of\na ship, the preservation therein of a representative man, the settlement\nof the vessel on a mountain, the gradual subsidence of the water, and the\nsubsequent re-peopling of the world by the man thus preserved. The very\nscene of the cataclysm is in singular agreement with the other accounts;\nfor the flood is said to carry Manu \"over the northern mountain.\" This\nplaces the scene of the Deluge in Central Asia, beyond the Himalaya\nmountains, and it proves that the legend embodies a genuine tradition\nbrought by the progenitors of the Hindus from their prim\u00e6val home, whence\nalso radiated the Semitic and Sinitic branches of mankind.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThere has been much discussion as to whether the great inundation which\noccurred in China during the reign of Yao is identical with that of\nGenesis or not. The close proximity of date lends a strong support to the\nassumption, and the supposition that the scene of the Biblical Deluge was\nlocal in its origin, but possibly widespread in its results, further\nfavours the view.\n\nAs the rise of the Nile at Cairo is the only intimation which the\ninhabitants of Lower Egypt have of the tropical rains of Central Africa,\nso the inundation of the countries adjacent to the head waters of the\ngreat rivers of China may alone have informed the inhabitants of that\ncountry of serious elemental disturbances, only reaching, and in a\nmodified form, their western frontier; and it may well have been that the\ndeluge which caused a national annihilation in Western Asia was only a\nnational calamity in the eastern portion of it.\n\nThis view is strengthened if we consider that Chinese history has no\nrecord of any deluge prior to this, which could hardly have been the case\nhad the Chinese migrated from their parent stock subsequent to an event of\nsuch importance; assuming that it had occurred, as there seems valid\nreason to suppose, within the limits of written history. The anachronism\nbetween the two dates assigned by Chinese authors (2297 B.C.) and the\nJewish historian's calculation (2104 B.C.) is only one hundred and\nninety-three years, and this is not so great but that we may anticipate\nits being explained at some future date. Strauchius' computation of 2293\nB.C. for the date of the Biblical deluge is within four years, and\nUssher's (2349-2348) within fifty-one of the Chinese one. The reason for\nsupposing the deluge of Yao to be historically true, will be inferred from\nthe arguments borrowed from Mr. Legge on the subject of the _Shu-king_, in\nanother portion of this volume. It is detailed in the great Chinese work\non history, the _T\u2018ung-k\u00eben-kang-muh_, by Choo He, of which De Mailla's\n_History of China_ professes to be a translation.\n\nThis states that the inundation happened in the sixty-first year of the\nreign of Yao (2297 B.C.), and that the waters of the Yellow River mingled\nwith those of the Ho-hi-ho and the Yangtsze, ruining all the agricultural\ncountry, which was converted into one vast sea.\n\nBut neither in the Bamboo Books nor in the _Shu-king_ do we find that any\nlocal phenomena of importance occurred, with the exception of the\ninundation. In fact, the first work is singularly silent on the subject,\nand simply says that in his sixty-first year Yao ordered K\u2018wan of Ts\u2018ung\nto regulate the Ho, and degraded him in his sixty-ninth for being unable\nto effect it, as we learn elsewhere.\n\nThe _Shu_ is more explicit. The Emperor, consulting one of his chief\nofficials on the calamity, says: \"O chief of the four mountains,\ndestructive in their overflow are the waters of the inundation. In their\nvast extent they embrace the mountains and overtop the hills, threatening\nthe heavens with their floods, so that the inferior people groan and\nmurmur.\"\n\nAccording to De Mailla's translation, K\u2018wan laboured uselessly for nine\nyears, the whole country was overrun with briars and brushwood, the people\nhad almost forgotten the art of cultivating the ground--they were without\nthe necessary seeds--and wild animals and birds destroyed all their\nattempts at agriculture.\n\nIn this extremity Yao consulted Shun, his subsequent successor, who\nrecommended the appointment of Yu, the son of K\u2018wan, in his father's\nplace.\n\nYu was more successful, and describes his labours as follows:--\n\n\"The inundating waters seemed to assail the heavens, and in their vast\nextent embraced the mountains and over-topped the hills, so that people\nwere bewildered and overwhelmed. I mounted my four conveyances,[111] and\nall along the hills hewed down the woods, at the same time, along with\nYih, showing the multitudes how to get flesh to eat.\n\n\"I also opened passages for the streams throughout the nine provinces, and\nconducted them to the sea. I deepened, moreover, the channels and canals,\nand conducted them to the streams, at the same time, along with Tseih,\nsowing _grain_, and showing the multitudes how to procure the food of toil\n_in addition_ to flesh meat.\"\n\nYu's success is simply chronicled in the Bamboo Books as, \"In his\nseventy-fifth year Yu, the Superintendent of Works, regulated the Ho.\"\n\nThere was a legend extant in China in the times of Pinto, which he gives\nin his book, of the original Chinese having migrated from a region in the\nWest, and, following the course of the Ho in boats, finally settling in\nthe country adjacent to Pekin. That some such event took place is not\nunlikely. Its acceptance would explain much that is difficult.\n\nThe pioneers, pushing through a country infested with hostile aborigines,\nwho would immediately after their passage close up the road of\ncommunication behind them--pioneers who may have been fugitives from their\nkindred through political commotions, or expelled by successful\nenemies--would have a further barrier against return, even were they\ndisposed to attempt it, in the strong opposing current which had borne\nthem safely to their new homes.\n\nIt is probable that such a journey would form an entirely new departure\nfor their history, and that a few generations later it would resemble a\nnebulous chronological zone, on the far side of which could be dimly seen\nmyths of persons and events representing in reality the history of the not\nvery remote ancestors from whom they had become separated. The early\narrivals would have been too much occupied with establishing themselves in\ntheir new dominions to be able to give much attention to keeping records\nor preserving other than the most utilitarian branches of knowledge which\nthey had brought with them. The volumes of their ancestors were probably,\nlike the clay tablets of the royal library of Babylon, not of a portable\nnature, at all events to fugitives, whose knowledge would, therefore, be\nrather of a practical than of a cultivated nature, and this would soon\nbecome limited for a while to their chiefs and religious instructors, the\nexigencies of a colony menaced with danger prohibiting any general\nacquisition or extension of learning.\n\nIn this way we can account for the community of the fables relating to the\nremote antiquity of the Chinese with those of Chaldean and Indian\nmythology, and with the highly civilized administration and astrological\nknowledge possessed by Yao and Shun as herediton of Fuh Hi, &c.\n\nWe can account for their possession of accurate delineations of the\ndragon, which would form an important decoration of the standards and\nrobes of ceremony which were companions of their flight, while their\ndescriptions of the animal and its qualities would have already entered\ninto the realms of fanciful exaggeration and myth.\n\nThe dragon of Yao and Shun's time, and of Yu's time was, in my opinion, an\naquatic creature, an alligator; but the dragon of their ancestors was a\nland lizard, which may even have existed down to the time of the great\ncataclysm which we call the Deluge, and the memory of which is best\npreserved in the Chinese drawings which have been handed down from remote\nantiquity, and have travelled from the great Central Asian centre, which\nwas once alike its habitat and that of their ancestors. Its history may\nperhaps become evolved when the great store of book knowledge contained in\nthe cuneiform tablets, representing the culture of the other branch of\ntheir great ethnological family, has been more extensively explored.\n\nGeologists of the present day have a great objection to the bringing in of\ncataclysms to account for any considerable natural changes, but this one I\nconceive to have been of so stupendous a nature as to have been quite\ncapable of both extinguishing a species and confusing the recollection of\nit. The mere fact of the story of the dragon having survived such a period\nargues greatly, in my mind, for the reality of its previous existence.\n\nExtending our consideration, we are brought face to face with another very\nimportant fact, namely, that a large proportion of the human race content\nthemselves with ephemeral structures. Thus, for example, the Chinese\nneither have now, nor at any time have had, any great architectural works.\n\"The finest building in China is a reproduction, on a large scale, of the\ntent; and the wooden construction is always imitated where the materials\nare stone or marble. The supports, often magnificent logs, brought, at\ngreat expense, specially from the Straits, represent tent-poles; and the\nroof has always the peaked ends and the curves that recall the drooping\ncanvas of the marquee. Architecture evidently died early; it never had\nlife enough to assimilate the new material which it found when it migrated\ninto China Proper. The yamen is a slightly glorified cottage; the temple\nis an improved yamen. Sculpture is equally neglected in this\n(\u00e6sthetically) benighted country. The human form is as dignified and\nsightly, to Chinese eyes at least, in China as in the West; but it never\nseems to have occurred, throughout so many hundreds of years, to any\nChinaman to perpetuate it in marble or bronze, or to beautify a city with\nstatues of its deities or great men.\"[112]\n\nWhat holds good of the Chinese now, probably holds good of their ancestors\nand the race from which they parted company in Central Asia five thousand\nyears ago, when they pierced their way eastwards through the savage\naborigines of Thibet and Mongolia, pushing aside tribes which closed in\nagain behind them, so as to intercept their return or communication with\ntheir mother country--a country which may have been equally careless of\nelaborating stupendous and permanent works of architecture such as other\nnations glory in possessing, and which, like the pyramids of Egypt and of\nCentral America, stand forth for thousands of years as landmarks of the\npast.\n\nWe must, therefore, not be surprised if we do not immediately discover the\nvestiges of the people of ten, fifteen, or twenty thousand years ago. With\nan ephemeral architecture (which, as we have seen, is all that a highly\npopulous and long civilized race actually possess), the sites of vast\ncities may have become entirely lost to recollection in a few thousands of\nyears from natural decay, and how much more so would this be the case if,\nas we may reasonably argue, minor cataclysms have intervened, such as\nlocal inundations, earthquakes, deposition of volcanic ashes from even\ndistant sources, the spread of sandy deserts, destruction of life by\nexceptionally deadly pestilence, by miasma, or by the outpour of\nsulphurous fumes.\n\nWe have shown in another chapter how the process of extinction of species\ncontinues to the present day, and from the nature of this process we may\ndeduce that the number of species which became extinct during the four or\nfive thousand years preceding the era of exact history must have been\nconsiderable.\n\nThe less remarkable of these would expire unnoticed; and only those\ndistinguished by their size, ferocity, and dangerous qualities, or by some\nstriking peculiarity, would leave their impress on the mythology of their\nhabitat. Their exact history would be lost as the cities of their epoch\ncrumbled away, and during the passage through dark ages of the people of\ntheir period and their descendants, and by conquest or catastrophes such\nas we have referred to elsewhere; while the slow dispersion which appears\nto have obtained among all nations would render the record of their\nqualities the more confused as the myth which embalmed it spread in\ncircling waves farther and farther from its original centre.\n\nAmongst the most fell destroyer both of species and of their history must\nhave been the widespread, although not universal, inundation known as the\nBiblical Deluge; a deluge which we think the evidence given in the\nforegoing pages, and gathered from divers nations, justifies us in\nbelieving to have really taken place, and not to be, as mythologists\nclaim, a mere ether myth. As to its date, allowance being made for\ntrifling errors, there is no reason for disputing the computation of\nJewish chronology, especially as that is closely confirmed by the entirely\nindependent testimony of Chinese history.\n\nThis interposes a vast barrier between us and the knowledge of the past, a\nbarrier round which we pass for a short distance at either end when we\nstudy the history of the two great streams of nations which have diverged\nfrom a common centre, the Chinese towards the East, the Accadian Chald\u00e6ans\nand Semites towards the West; a barrier which we may hope to surmount when\nwe are able to discover and explore the lost cities of that common centre,\nwith the treasures of art and literature which they must undoubtedly\npossess.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nON THE TRANSLATION OF MYTHS BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW WORLD.\n\n\nIntercourse between various parts of the old world and the new was\nprobably much more intimate even three or four thousand years ago than we,\nor at all events our immediate ancestors, have credited. The Deluge\nTablets referred to in another chapter contain items from which we gather\nthat sea-going vessels, well equipped and with skilled pilots, were in\nvogue in the time of Noah, and there is wanting no better proof of their\nseaworthiness than the fact that his particular craft was able to weather\na long-continued tempest which would probably have sunk the greater part\nof those which keep the seas at the present time. The older Chinese\nclassics make constant allusions to maritime adventure, and the discovery\nby Schliemann in ancient Troy[113] of vases with Chinese inscriptions\nconfirms the notion that, at that date at least, commercial exchange was\neffected between these two widely-distant countries, either directly or by\ntransfer through different entrep\u00f4ts.\n\nA more striking example, and one which carries us back to a still earlier\nepoch, will be afforded if the reported discovery of Chinese vestigia in\nEgyptian tombs is confirmed by further investigation.\n\nThe fleets of King Solomon penetrated at least to India, and detached\nsquadrons[114] probably coasted from island to island along the Malay\narchipelago; while to descend by gradation to modern times, we may quote\nthe circumnavigation of Africa by Hanno the Carthaginian,[115] the\ndiscovery of America prior to Columbus by the Chinese in the fifth\ncentury, from the Asiatic side, and by the Norsemen under Leif Ericsson in\nthe year 1001, from the European; and the anticipation of the so-called\ndiscoveries of Van Diemen and Tasman by the voyages of Arab and other\nnavigators, from whose records El Edrisi,[116] in the twelfth century, was\nenabled to indicate the existence of New Guinea, and, I think, of the\nnorthern coast of Australia. For although the identity with Mexico of the\ncountry called Fu-sang, visited prior to A.D. 499 by the Buddhist priest\nHoei-shiu, has been disputed, yet the arguments in favour of it seem to\npreponderate. These were adduced primarily by Deguignes, and subsequently\nby C. F. Neumann, Leland and others, and are based on the facts stated in\nthe short narrative in regard to distance, description of the Maguey\nplant, or great aloe,[117] the absence of iron, and abundance of copper,\ngold, and silver.\n\nWhile there can be little question that the islands and land of W\u00e1k W\u00e1k\nare respectively some of the Sunda islands, New Guinea, and the adjacent\nportion of Australia, it does not appear to have struck any of the\ncommentators on this question that the name \"islands of W\u00e1k W\u00e1k\" may be\nassumed to signify simply \"Bird of Paradise islands.\" Wallace, in his\n_Malay Archipelago_, emphatically remarks that in the interior of the\nforests of New Guinea the most striking sound is the cry \"Wok Wok\" of the\ngreat Bird of Paradise, and we may therefore reasonably speculate on the\nbird having been known as the Wok Wok, and the islands as the Wok Wok\nislands, just as we ourselves use the imitative names of Cuckoo, Morepork,\nor Hoopoe for birds, or Snake islands, Ape Hill, &c. for places.\n\nThis view is to an extent strengthened by W\u00e1k W\u00e1k being the home of the\nlovely maiden captured by Hasan (in the charming story of Hasan of El\nBasrah in the _Arabian Nights_), after she had divested herself of her\nbird skin, and to which he had to make so weary a pilgrimage from island\nto island, and sea to sea, in search of her after her escape from him. It\nis evident that among the wonders related by navigators of islands so\nremote and unfrequented, not the least would be the superavian loveliness\nof the Birds of Paradise, and from the exaggerated narratives of\ntravellers may have arisen the beautiful fable incorporated in the\n_Arabian Nights_, as well as that other recorded by Eesa or Moosa the son\nof El Mubarak Es Serafee.[118] \"Here, too, is a tree that bears fruit like\nwomen with bodies, eyes, limbs, &c. like those of women; they have\nbeautiful faces, and are suspended by the hair; they come forth from\ninteguments like large leathern bags; and when they feel the air and the\nsun they cry out 'W\u00e1k W\u00e1k' until their hair is cut, and when it is cut\nthey die; and the people of these islands understand their cry, and augur\nill from it.\" This, after all, is not more absurd than the story of the\norigin of the barnacle duck, extant and believed in Europe until within\nthe last century or so.\n\nEl Edrisi, who, in common with the geographers of the period, believed in\na great antarctic continent, after describing Sofala with its mines of\ngold, abundance of iron, &c., jumps at once to the mainland of W\u00e1k W\u00e1k,\nwhich he describes as possessing two towns situated on a great gulf\n(Carpentaria?), and a savage population.[119]\n\nThe two small towns may very well have been encampments of the aborigines,\nor trading stations of Malay merchants.\n\nIt may be noted that this identification of W\u00e1k W\u00e1k is in opposition to\nthe view entertained by some commentators; for example, Professor de Goeje\nof Leyden has recently identified the Sil\u00e2 islands (which had previously\nbeen considered as being Japan) with Corea, and W\u00e1k W\u00e1k with Japan; but\nthis does not agree with El Edrisi's account of the people being black,\nunclothed, and living on fish, shell, and tortoises (turtles), without\ngold, commerce, ships, or beasts of burden. Elsewhere El Edrisi says the\nwomen are entirely naked, and only wear combs of ivory ornamented with\nmother of pearl.\n\nLane thinks the Arabs applied the name of W\u00e1k W\u00e1k to all the islands with\nwhich they were acquainted on the east and south-east of Borneo. Es\nSerafee, beside the details given in a previous note, also says, \"From one\nof these islands of W\u00e1k W\u00e1k there issueth a great torrent like pitch,\nwhich floweth into the sea, and the fish are burnt thereby, and float upon\nthe water.\" And Hasan, in the story quoted above, has, in order to reach\nthe last of the seven islands of W\u00e1k W\u00e1k, to pass over the third island,\nthe land of the Jinn, \"where by reason of the vehemence of the cries of\nthe J\u00e1nn, and the rising of the flames about, of the sparks and the smoke\nfrom their mouths, and the harsh sounds from their throats, and their\ninsolence, they will obstruct the way before us,\" &c. &c. I think that in\neach of these latter instances, the volcanic islands of Java, and other of\nthe Sunda islands are indicated.\n\nThe information in our possession is as yet too meagre to permit of our\nindulging in any profitable consideration of the sources from which\noriginated those nations which peopled America during the very early\npre-traditional ages, of which geological evidence is accumulating daily.\nIn fact, the theories on this point have advanced so little beyond the\nlimits of speculation that I feel it unnecessary to do more than quote one\nof them, as summarized in the ensuing extract. \"Professor Flowers, in\nremarking upon recent pal\u00e6ontological investigations, which prove that an\nimmense number of forms of terrestrial animals that were formerly supposed\nto be peculiar to the Old World are abundant in the New; and that many,\nsuch as the horse, rhinoceros, and the camel, are more numerous in species\nand varieties in the latter, infers that the means of land communication\nmust have been very different to what it is now, and that it is quite as\nlikely that Asiatic man may have been derived from America as the reverse,\nor both may have had their source in a common centre, in some region of\nthe earth now covered with sea.\"[120]\n\nThe most commonly accepted theory with regard to the origin of those who\nhave peopled the American continent, within the limits of tradition, is\nthat they are of Asiatic descent, and that the migration has been effected\nin comparatively recent times by way of Behring Straits, and supplemented\nby chance passages from Southern Asia by way of the Polynesian islands, or\nfrom the north of Africa, across the Atlantic. There are, however, some\nwho elaborate Professor Flowers' suggestion, and contend, in opposition to\nthe more generally received opinion, that the peopling of the present\ncountries of the Old World has in fact been effected from the New.\n\nFor instance, a proficient Aztec scholar, Senor Altamirano[121] of Mexico,\nargues that the Aztecs were a race, originating in the unsubmerged parts\nof America, as old as the Asiatics themselves, and that Asia may in fact\nhave been peopled from Mexico; while Mr. E. J. Elliott, in quoting him,\nsays: \"From the ruins recently found, the most northern of any yet\ndiscovered, the indications of improved architecture, the work of\ndifferent ages, can be traced in a continual chain to Mexico, when they\nculminate in massive and imposing structures, thus giving some proof by\ncircumstantial evidence to Altamirano's reasoning.\"\n\nAgain, \"Dr. Rudolf Falb[122] discovers that the language spoken by the\nIndians in Peru and Bolivia, especially in Quichua and Aymara, exhibits\nthe most astounding affinities with the Semitic languages, and\nparticularly with the Arabic--in which tongue Dr. Falb himself has been\nskilled from his boyhood. Following up the links of this discovery, he has\nfirst found a connecting link with the Aryan roots, and, secondly, has\narrived face to face with the surprising revelation that the Semitic roots\nare universally Aryan. The common stems of all the variants are found in\ntheir purest condition in Quichua and Aymara, from which fact Dr. Falb\nderives the conclusion that the high plains of Peru and Bolivia must be\nregarded as the point of exit of the present human race.\"\n\nOn the other hand, Mr. E. B. Tylor, in the course of an article upon\nBackgammon among the Aztecs,[123] which he argues must have reached them\nfrom Asia, and very likely through Mexico, points out that the myths and\nreligion of the North American tribes contain many fancies well known to\nAsia, which they were hardly likely to have hit upon independently, and\nwhich they had not learned from white men: \"Such as the quaint belief that\nthe world is a monstrous tortoise floating on the waters; and an idea\nwhich the Sioux have in common with the Tartars, that it is sinful to chop\nor poke with a sharp instrument the burning log on the fire.\" He quotes\nAlexander von Humboldt as having \"argued years ago that the Mexicans did\nand believed things which were at once so fanciful and so like the fancies\nof the Asiatics that there must have been communication. Would two\nnations,\" he asks, \"have taken independently to forming calendars of days\nand years by repeating and combining cycles of animals, such as tiger,\ndog, ape, hare, &c.? Would they have developed independently similar\nastrological fancies about these signs governing the periods they began,\nand being influential each over a particular limb or organ of men's\nbodies? Would they, again, have evolved separately out of this\nconsciousness the myths of the world and its inhabitants having, at the\nend of several successive periods, been destroyed by elemental\ncatastrophes?\"\n\nHe adds, \"It may very well have been the same agency which transported to\nMexico the art of bronze-making, the computation of time by periods of\ndogs and apes, the casting of nativity, and the playing of backgammon.\"\n\nThen, again, we have the theory of those, now indeed few in number, who\nhold that the present Indian inhabitants of America were a distinctly\nindigenous race. Lord Kaimes, in his _Sketches of the History of Man_,\nsays, \"I venture still further, which is to conjecture that America has\nnot been peopled from any part of the Old World.\" Voltaire had preceded\nhim in this line of argument, relying on ridicule rather than on reason.\n\"The same persons that readily admit that the beavers of Canada are of\nCanadian origin, assert that the men must have come there in boats, and\nthat Mexico must have been peopled by some of the descendants of\nMagog.\"[124]\n\nMissionaries of various sects have endeavoured to identify the Red man\nwith the lost ten tribes. Adair conceived the language of the Southern\nIndians to be a corruption of Hebrew, and the Jesuit Lafitan, in his\nhistory of the savages of America, maintained that the Caribee language\nwas radically Hebrew.\n\nMr. John Josselyn,[125] in an account of the Mohawks, states that their\nlanguage is a dialect of the Tartars, and Dr. Williamson, in his history\nof North Carolina, considers it can hardly be questioned that the Indians\nof South America are descended from a class of the Hindoos in the southern\npart of Asia.\n\nAmongst others, Captain Don Antonio del Rio, who described the ruins of an\nancient city in Guatemala, believed that they were the relics of a\ncivilization founded by Ph\u0153nician colonists who had crossed the Atlantic\nocean; and yet another theory is propounded by Mr. Knox,[126] who\nconsiders the extinct Guanches, formerly inhabiting the Canary and Cape de\nVerde islands, to have closely resembled the Egyptians in certain\nparticulars. He goes on to observe, \"Now cross the Atlantic, and in a\nnearly parallel zone of the earth, or at least in one not far removed, we\nstumble all at once upon the ruined cities of Copan and Central America.\nTo our astonishment, notwithstanding the breadth of the Atlantic,\nvestiges, of a nature not to be doubted, of a thoroughly Egyptian\ncharacter reappear--hieroglyphics, monolithic temples, pyramids; who\nerected these monuments on the American continent? Perhaps at some remote\nperiod the continents were not so far apart, they might have been united,\nthus forming a zone or circle of the earth occupied by a pyramid-building\npeople.\"\n\nIt is not impossible that all of these theories may be correct, and that\nnumerous migrations may have been made at various periods by different\nnations, the most facile would of course be that from North-Eastern Asia\nby way of the Aleutian islands, for, as the author of _Fu-sang_ well\nremarks, a sailor in an open boat might cross from Asia to America by that\nroute in summer time, and hardly ever be out of sight of land; and this in\na part of the sea generally abounding in fish, as is proved by the\nfishermen who inhabit many of these islands, on which fresh water is\nalways to be found. But it is more than likely that the direct route,\nfrom the islands of Japan to the coast of California or Mexico, was also\noccasionally followed, voluntarily or involuntarily, by mariners impelled\nby enterprise, religious motives, or stress of weather.\n\nColonel B. Kennon, as an evidence of the possibility of junks performing\nlong ocean voyages, adduces the instance of a Japanese junk picked up by\nan American whaler two thousand three hundred miles south-east of Japan,\nand of others which had drifted among the Aleutian islands nearly half-way\nover to San Francisco; and in noting the resemblance and probable\nco-origin of the Sandwich Islanders with the Japanese, he adverts to the\n\"ancient and confirmed habit of both Japanese and Chinese of taking women\nto sea with them, or of traders keeping their families on board, which\nwould fully account for the population of those islands,\" or, to extend\nthe argument, of points on the American continent. The Jewish element\nmight easily be introduced through this channel, for the occasional\nadmixture of Jewish blood both among the Chinese and Japanese is so\nstrongly marked, as to have induced some authors to contend for the\nabsolute descent of the latter people at least from Jewish parentage.\n\nIt must also be remembered that the waters of both the North and South\nPacific are peculiarly favourable to the navigation of small craft, and\nthat Captain Bligh, after the mutiny on board the _Bounty_, was able to\nsafely perform a journey of two thousand miles in an open boat; while all\nthe islands both in North and South Polynesia must necessarily have been\ngradually peopled by the drifting over the ocean of stray canoes.\n\nAgain, as the tradition of the existence of a large continent west of the\nAfrican coast was extant amongst the Egyptian priests long before the days\nof Solon, and, as I shall show hereafter, among the Carthaginians and\nTyrrhenians, it is, I think, more than probable that both Ph\u0153nician and\nEgyptian mariners, either acting under a Royal Commission, or influenced\nby mercantile considerations, would endeavour to discover it, and, as in\nthe case of Columbus, would have no difficulty in stretching across the\nAtlantic before a fair trade wind, though they might be less successful\nthan him on their return.\n\nThe possibility of the existence of a large island or continent, midway\nbetween the Old and New World, within the traditional period, is included\nin the important question, which is still _sub judice_ amongst geologists,\nwhether the general disposition of land and water has or has not been\nvariable during past ages. Sir Charles Lyell held the first view, and was\nof opinion[127] that complete alternations of the positions of continent\nand ocean had repeatedly occurred in geological time.\n\nThe opposite idea has been suggested at various dates by eminent\nauthorities, suggested rather than sustained by elaborate arguments, until\nrecently, when the question has been re-examined by Mr. Wallace and Dr.\nCarpenter.\n\nThe former, in that chapter of island life devoted to the permanence of\ncontinents, dwells forcibly upon Dr. Darwin's inference from the paucity\nof oceanic islands affording fragments of either Pal\u00e6ozoic or Secondary\nformations \"that _perhaps_ during the Pal\u00e6ozoic and Secondary periods\nneither continents nor continental islands existed where our oceans now\nextend; for, had they existed, Pal\u00e6ozoic and Secondary formations would in\nall probability have been accumulated from sediment derived from their\nwear and tear; and these would have been at least partially upheaved by\nthe oscillations of level which must have intervened during these\nenormously long periods. If, then, we may infer anything from these facts,\nwe may infer that, where our oceans now extend, oceans have extended from\nthe remotest period of which we have any record; and, on the other hand,\nthat where continents now exist, large tracts of land have existed,\nsubjected no doubt to great oscillations of level, since the Cambrian\nperiod.\"\n\nI am not aware whether Dr. Darwin has expressed himself more\nauthoritatively on this point in later works, or whether the whole\nquestion has been discussed in detail otherwise than by Mr. Wallace in the\nchapter referred to, in which he quotes what must, I think, after all,\nonly be taken in the light of a suggestion as an auxiliary to the powerful\narguments which he himself has enunciated in favour of a similar\nconclusion. There is no doubt that the paucity of any but volcanic or\ncoralline islands throughout the greatest extent of existing oceans has a\ncertain but not absolute significance, so far as recent geological epochs\nare concerned.\n\nThere is another line of reasoning, debated by Mr. Wallace, based on the\nformation of the Pal\u00e6ozoic and Secondary strata from the waste of broken\ncontinents and islands occupying generally the site of the existing\ncontinents, and separated by insignificant distances of inland sea or\nextensions from the adjacent oceans. It is soundly based on their\nlithological structure, as generally indicative of a littoral and shallow\nwater origin, but it seems to me to be only positive so far as it shows\nthat, throughout geological time, some land has existed somewhere within\nthe limits of the present upheaval, and simply negative as to what may or\nmay not have been the condition of what are now the great ocean spaces of\nthe world. Indeed, it would at first sight seem only reasonable to infer,\nthat the very depressions which caused the inundations of Europe and Asia,\nduring the deposition of any important formation, would imply a\ncorresponding elevation elsewhere, in order that the same relative areas\nof land and water might be maintained.\n\nThis view has, however, been reduced in its proportions by Dr. Carpenter,\nwho has levelled the results of the recent researches by the _Challenger_\nexpedition against the advocates of the intermutations of land and ocean,\nand, in pursuing another line of reasoning from Mr. Wallace, has estimated\nthe solid contents of ocean and land above the sea-level respectively, as\nbearing the proportion of thirty-six to one. So that, supposing all the\nexisting land of the globe to sink down to the sea-level, this subsidence\nwould be balanced by the elevation of only one thirty-sixth part of the\nexisting ocean floor from its present depth to the same level.\n\nIt must be admitted that the balance of argument was until lately\nconsiderably against the former existence of the country of Atlantis,\nwhose ghostly outlines, however, we could almost imagine to be sketched\nout by faint contours in the chart illustrative of the North Atlantic\nportion of the _Challenger_ investigations. But it was not so overwhelming\nas to entitle us to ignore the story entirely as a fable. I do not\nconceive it impossible that some centrally situated and perhaps volcanic\nisland may once have existed, sufficiently important to have served as the\nbasis of simple legends, which, under the enchantment of distance and time\nbecame metamorphosed and enriched.\n\nMr. A. R. Grote suggests that it is simply a myth founded on the\nobservation of low-lying clouds in a sun-flushed sky, which gave the\nappearance like islands on a golden sea.\n\nMr. Donelly, on the other hand, in a very exhaustive and able volume,\ncontends first, that Atlantis actually existed, and secondly, that it was\nthe origin of our present civilization, that its kings are represented by\nthe gods of Greek mythology, and that its destruction originated our\nDeluge story.\n\nThe well-known story is contained in an epic of Plato, of which two\nfragments only remain, found in two dialogues (the Tim\u00e6us and the\nCritias). Critias is represented as telling an old-world story, handed\ndown in his family from his great-grandfather Dropidas, who had heard it\nfrom Solon, who had it from the Egyptian priests of Sais.[129]\n\n\u00c6lian, again, contains an extract from Theophrastus, who wrote in the time\nof Alexander the Great, which can hardly imply anything else than an\nacquaintance with America. It is in the form of a dialogue between Midas\nthe Phrygian and Silenus.\n\nThe latter informs Midas that Europe, Asia, and Africa were but islands\nsurrounded on all sides by sea, but that there was a continent situated\nbeyond these which was of immense dimensions, even without limits, and\nthat it was so luxuriant as to produce animals of prodigious magnitude.\nThat there men grew to double the size of themselves, and that they lived\nto a far greater age, that they had many cities, and their usages and laws\nwere different from their own; that in one city there was more than a\nmillion of inhabitants, and that gold and silver were there in vast\nquantities.\n\nDiodorus Siculus gives an account of what could only have been the\nmainland of America, or one of the West Indian islands; it is as follows.\n\n\"After cursorily mentioning the islands within the Pillars of Hercules,\nlet us treat of those further ones in the open ocean, for towards Africa\nthere is a very large island in the great ocean sea, situated many days'\nsail from Libya towards the west.\n\n\"Its soil is fruitful, a great part rising in mountains, but still with no\nscarcity of level expanse, which excels in pleasantness, for navigable\nrivers flow through and irrigate it. Gardens abound, stored with various\ntrees and numerous orchards, intersected by pleasant streams.\n\n\"The towns are adorned with sumptuous edifices, and drinking taverns,\nbeautifully situated in gardens, are everywhere met with; as the\nconvenient situation of these largely invites to pleasure, they are\nfrequented during the summer season.\n\n\"The mountain region possesses numerous and large forests, and various\nkinds of fruitful trees. It everywhere presents deep valleys and springs\nsuitable for mountain recreations.\n\n\"Indeed the whole of this island is watered with springs of sweet water,\nwhich gives rise not merely to the pleasure of its inhabitants, but also\nto an accession of their health and strength.\n\n\"Hunting furnishes all kinds of game, the abundance of which in their\nbanquets leaves nothing to be desired.\n\n\"Moreover, the sea which washes against this island abounds with fish,\nsince the ocean, from its nature everywhere, affords a variety of fish.\n\n\"Finally, the temperature is very genial, from which it results that the\ntrees bear fruit throughout the greater part of the year.\n\n\"Lastly, it excels so much in felicity as to resemble the habitations of\nthe gods rather than of men.\n\n\"Formerly it was unknown, on account of the remoteness of its situation\nfrom the rest of the world, but accident disclosed its position. The\nPh\u0153nicians have been in the habit of making frequent passages, for the\nsake of commerce, from the very oldest dates, from whence it resulted that\nthey were the founders of many of the African colonies, and of not a few\nof those European ones situated to the west; and when they had yielded to\nthe idea which had entered their minds, of enriching themselves greatly,\nthey passed out beyond the Pillars of Hercules into the sea which is\ncalled the Ocean, and they first founded a city called Gades, on the\nEuropean peninsula, and near the straits of the Pillars [of Hercules] in\nwhich, when others had flocked to it, they instituted a sumptuous temple\nto Hercules. This temple has been held in the utmost veneration both in\nancient times and during later periods up to the present day; therefore\nmany Romans of illustrious nobility and reputation pronounce their vows to\nthat god, and happily discharge their obligations.\n\n\"The Ph\u0153nicians for this reason continued their exploration beyond the\nPillars, and when they were sailing along the African coast, being carried\noff by a tempest to a distant part of the ocean, were driven by the\nviolence of the storm, after a period of many days, to the island of which\nI have spoken, and having first acquainted themselves with its nature and\npleasing characters, introduced it to the notice of others. On that\naccount, the Tyrrhenians, also obtaining the empire of the sea, determined\non a colony there, but the Carthaginians prevented them, both because they\nfeared lest many of their citizens, being allured by the advantages of the\nisland, might migrate there, and because they wished to have a refuge\nprepared for themselves against a sudden stroke of fortune, if by chance\nthe Carthaginian Republic should receive any deadly blow, for they\ncontemplated that they would be able, while yet powerful at sea, to\ntransport themselves and their families to the island unknown to the\nvictors.\"[130]\n\nAmong the many proofs which may be cited of community of origin between\nthe Asiatics and certainly a large proportion of the American population\nis the practice of scalping enemies, quoted by Herodotus as prevalent\namongst the Scythians, and universally existing amongst all tribes of\nNorth American Indians; the discovery of jade ornaments amongst Mexican\nremains, and the general esteem in which that material is held by the\nChinese; the use of the Quipos among the Peruvians, and the assertion in\nthe _I-king_, or Book of Change, one of the oldest of the Chinese\nClassics, that \"The ancients knotted cords to express their meaning, but\nin the next age the sages renounced the custom and adopted a system of\nwritten characters;\"[131] the discovery of the meander pattern among\nPeruvian relics, and the common use of this ornamentation on Chinese vases\nand tripods, at dates long preceding the Trojan era, in which it is\ncommonly supposed to have originated; the similarity of the features of\nChinese, and other Mongols, with those of various Indian tribes; the\nresemblance of masks and various other remains to Chinese patterns\ndiscovered recently by Desir\u00e9e de Charnay in Central America; and the\nreserve and stolid demeanour of both races. A good illustration of this is\nafforded by the story told of the celebrated statesman Sieh Ngan (A.D.\n320-385), in Mayer's _Chinese Reader's Manual_; it could be imagined to\napply to any Indian sachem.\n\nIt is related of Sieh Ngan that, at the time when the capital was menaced\nby the advancing forces of Fukien, he sat one day over a game of chess\nwith a friend, when a despatch was handed to him, which he calmly read and\nthen continued the game. On being asked what the news was, he replied: \"It\nis merely an announcement that my young people have beaten the enemy.\" The\nintelligence was, in fact, of the decisive rout of the invaders by the\narmy under his brother Sieh She and his nephew Sieh H\u00fcan. Only when\nretired within the seclusion of his private apartments did he give himself\nup to an outburst of joy. The very expression \"my young people\" is the\nequivalent of \"my young men\" which the Indian chief would have employed.\n\nA singular custom prevails among the Petivaces, an Indian tribe of\nBrazil.[132] \"When they are delivered of a child, and ought to have all\nthe ceremony and attendance proper to a lying-in woman, the husband\npresently lies down in his hammock (as if he had been brought to bed\nhimself), and all his wives and neighbours come about and serve him. This\nis a pleasant fancy indeed, that the woman must take all the pains to\nbring the child into the world, and then the man lie down and gruntle upon\nit.\"\n\nCompare with this the account given by Marco Polo of the same custom\nprevalent among the Miau-tze, or aborigines of China, as distinguished\nfrom their present occupants. Their reduction to submission is recorded in\nthe early works on the country.\n\n\"Proceeding five days' journey, in a westerly direction from Karazan, you\nenter the province of Kardandan belonging to the dominion of the great\nKhan, and of which the principal city is named Vochang (probably\nYung-chang in the western part of Yunnan). These people have the following\nsingular usage. As soon as a woman has been delivered of a child, and\nrising from her bed, has washed and swathed the infant, her husband\nimmediately takes the place she has left, has the child beside him, and\nnurses it for forty days. In the meantime the friends and relations of the\nfamily pay to him their visits of congratulation; whilst the woman attends\nto the business of the house, carries victuals and drink to the husband in\nhis bed, and suckles the infant at his side.\"[133]\n\nWe find a reference in _Hudibras_ to this grotesque practice, in which it\nis imputed, but erroneously, to the Chinese themselves, and it reappears\non the western side of Europe, among those singular people the Basques,\nwho have their own especial Deluge tradition, and use a language which,\naccording to Humboldt, approaches some of the dialects of the North\nAmerican Indians more nearly than any other. They profess to trace the\ncustom up to A\u00eftor or Noah, whose wife bore a son to him when they were in\nexile, and, being afraid to stay by herself for fear of being discovered\nand murdered, bade her husband take care of the child, while she went out\nto search for food and firing.\n\nThe change of name which prevails among the Chinese and Japanese in both\nsexes, at different periods of life, is also found upon the other\ncontinent,[134] where males and females when they come to years of\ndiscretion do not retain the names they had when young, and, if they do\nany remarkable deed, assume a new name upon it.\n\nLess importance is to be attached to the coincidence of sun worship,\nDeluge tradition, and the preservation of ancestral ashes.[135] These,\nthough probably not, might have been indigenous; but we can hardly\nconceive this of serpent worship, which Mr. Fergusson suggests arose among\na people of Turanian origin, from which it spread to every country or land\nof the Old World in which a Turanian settled. The coincidence between the\nserpent mounds of North America and such an one as is described by M.\nPhen\u00e9 in Argyllshire[136] is remarkable; and still more so is that between\nthe Mexican myth of the fourfold destruction of the world by fire and\nwater, with those current among the Egyptians and that of the four ages in\nthe Hindu mythology.\n\nAnother coincidence, although perhaps of minor value, will be seen in the\ndresses of the soldiers of China and Mexico, as noted in the passages\nannexed. \"Thus, in our own time, the Chinese soldiers wear a dress\nresembling the tiger skin, and the cap, which nearly covers the face, is\nformed to represent the head of a tiger\";[137] while the Mexican warriors,\naccording to Spanish historians, \"wore enormous wooden helmets in the form\nof a tiger's head, the jaws of which were armed with the teeth of this\nanimal.\"[138]\n\nMr. C. Wolcott-Brooks, in an address to the California Academy of Science,\nhas pointed out that, according to Chinese annals, Tai Ko Fo Kee, the\ngreat stranger-king, ruled the kingdom of China, and that he is always\nrepresented in pictures with two small horns like those associated with\nthe representation of Moses. He and his successors are said to have\nintroduced into China \"picture writing\" like that in use in Central\nAmerica at the time of the Spanish conquest. Now there has been found at\nCopan, in Central America, a figure strikingly like the Chinese symbol of\nFo Kee, with his two horns. \"Either,\" says Mr. Brooks, \"one people learned\nfrom the other, or both acquired their forms from a common source.\"\n\nIn reviewing all these cases we cannot fail to perceive that early and\nfrequent communication must have taken place between the two worlds, and\nthat the myths of one have probably been carried with them by the migrants\nto the other.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 32.--MURAL TABLET, TEMPLE OF LONGEVITY, CANTON.]\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHE DRAGON.\n\n\nThe dragon is defined in the _Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica_ for 1877 as \"the\nname given by the ancients to a huge winged lizard or serpent (fabulous).\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 33.--_Draco_, OR FLYING LIZARD FROM SINGAPORE. (_After\nN. B. Dennys._)]\n\nThe text also goes on to state that \"they (the ancients) regarded it as\nthe enemy of mankind, and its overthrow is made to figure among the\ngreatest exploits of the gods and heroes of heathen mythology. A dragon\nwatched the gardens of the Hesperides, and its destruction formed one of\nthe seven labours of Hercules. Its existence does not seem to have been\ncalled in question by the older naturalists; figures of the dragon\nappearing in the works of Gesner and Aldrovandus, and even specimens of\nthe monster, evidently formed artificially of portions of different\nanimals, have been exhibited.\" A reference is also made to the genus\nDraco, comprising eighteen specimens of winged lizards, all small, and\npeculiar to India and the islands of the Malay archipelago.\n\nSuch is the meagre account of a creature which figures in the history and\nmythology of all nations, which in its different forms has been worshipped\nas a god, endowed with beneficent and malevolent attributes, combatted as\na monster, or supposed to have possessed supernatural power, exercised\nalternately for the benefit or chastisement of mankind.\n\nIts existence is inseparably wedded to the history, from the most remote\nantiquity, of a nation which possesses connected and authentic memoirs\nstretching uninterruptedly from the present day far into the remote past;\non which the belief in its existence has been so strongly impressed, that\nit retains its emblem in its insignia of office, in its ornamentation of\nfurniture, utensils, and dwellings, and commemorates it annually in the\ncompetition of dragon boats, and the processions of dragon images; which\nbelieves, or affects to believe, in its continued existence in the pools\nof the deep, and the clouds of the sky; which propitiates it with\nsacrifices and ceremonies, builds temples in its honour, and cultivates\nits worship; whose legends and traditions teem with anecdotes of its\ninterposition in the affairs of man, and whose scientific works, of\nantiquity rivalling that of our oldest Western Classics, treat of its\nexistence as a sober and accepted fact, and differentiate its species with\nsome exactness. It is, moreover, though not very frequently, occasionally\nreferred to in the Biblical history of that other ancient, and almost\nequally conservative branch of the human race, the Jews, not as a myth, or\ndoubtfully existent supernatural monster, but as a tangible reality, an\nexact terrible creature.\n\nEqually do we find it noticed in those other valuable records of the past\nwhich throw cross lights upon the Bible narrative, and confirm by\ncollateral facts the value of its historic truth; such as the fragments\nof Chald\u00e6an history handed down by the reverent care of later historians,\nthe careful narrative of Josephus, and the grand resurrection of Chald\u00e6an\nand Assyrian lore effected by the marvellously well directed and fortunate\nlabour of G. H. Smith and those who follow in his train.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 34.--BRONZE DRAGONS SUPPORTING THE ARMILLARY SPHERE,\nOBSERVATORY, PEKIN.]\n\nAmong the earliest classics of Europe, its existence is asserted as a\nscientific fact, and accepted by poets as a sound basis for analogies,\ncomparisons, allegories, and fable; it appears in the mythology of the\nGoth, and is continued through the tradition and fable of every country of\nEurope; nor does it fail to appear even in the imperfect traditions of the\nNew World,[139] where its presence may be considered as comparatively\nindigenous, and undetermined by the communications dependent on the\nso-called discovery of later days.\n\nTurning to other popular accounts, we find equally limited and incredible\nversions of it. All consider it sufficiently disposed of by calling it\nfabulous,[140] and that a sufficient explanation of any possible belief in\nit is afforded by a reference[141] to the harmless genus of existing\nflying lizards referred to above.\n\nSome consider it an evolution of the fancy, typifying noxious principles;\nthus, Chambers[142] says, \"The dragon appears in the mythical history and\nlegendary poetry of almost every nation as the emblem of the destructive\nand anarchical principle; ... as misdirected physical force and untamable\nanimal passions.... The dragon proceeds openly to work, running on its\nfeet with expanded wings, and head and tail erect, violently and\nruthlessly outraging decency and propriety, spouting fire and fury both\nfrom mouth and tail, and wasting and devastating the whole land.\"\n\nThe point which strikes me as most interesting in this passage is the\nreference to the legendary theory of the mode of the dragon's progress,\nwhich curiously calls to mind the semi-erect attitude of the existing\nsmall Australian frilled lizard (_Chlamydosaurus_). This attitude is also\nascribed to some of the extinct American Dinosaurs, such as the\nStegosaurus.\n\nNo one, so far as I am aware, in late days has hitherto ventured to uphold\nthe claims of this terrible monster to be accepted as a real contemporary\nof primitive man,[143] which may even have been co-existent with him to a\ncomparatively recent date, and but lately passed away into the cohort of\nextinct species, leaving behind it only the traditions of its ferocity and\nterrors, to stamp their impression on the tongues of all countries.\n\nNo one has endeavoured to collate the vast bulk of materials shrouded in\nthe stories of all lands. If this were perfectly effected, a diagnosis of\nthe real nature of the dragon might perhaps be made, and the chapter of\nits characteristics, alliances, and habits completed like that of any\nother well-established species.\n\nThe following sketch purposes only to initiate the task here propounded,\nthe author's access to materials being limited, and only sufficient to\nenable him, as he thinks, to establish generally the proposition which it\ninvolves, to grasp as it were some of the broader and salient features of\nthe investigation, while leaving a rich gleaning of corroborative\ninformation for the hand of any other who may please to continue and\nextend his observations.\n\nAt the outset it will be necessary to assign a much more extended\nsignification to the word dragon than that which is contained in the\ndefinition at the head of this chapter. The popular mind of the present\nday doubtless associates it always with the idea of a creature possessing\nwings; but the _Lung_ of the Chinese, the \u03b4\u03c1\u03ac\u03ba\u03c9\u03bd of the Greeks, the\n_Draco_ of the Romans, the Egyptian dragon, and the _N\u00e2ga_ of the Sanscrit\nhave no such limited signification, and appear to have been sometimes\napplied to any serpent, lacertian, or saurian, of extraordinary\ndimensions, nor is it always easy to determine from the passages in which\nthese several terms occur what kind of monster is specially indicated.\n\nThus the dragon referred to by Propertius in the quotation annexed may\nhave been a large python. \"Lanuvium[144] is, of old, protected by an aged\ndragon; here, where the occasion of an amusement so seldom occurring is\nnot lost, where is the abrupt descent into a dark and hollowed cave; where\nis let down--maiden, beware of every such journey--the honorary tribute to\nthe fasting snake, when he demands his yearly food, and hisses and twists\ndeep down in the earth. Maidens, let down for such a rite, grow pale, when\ntheir hand is unprotectedly trusted in the snake's mouth. He snatches at\nthe delicacies if offered by a maid; the very baskets tremble in the\nvirgin's hands; if they are chaste, they return and fall on the necks of\ntheir parents, and the farmers cry 'We shall have a fruitful year.'\"[145]\n\nTo the same class may probably be ascribed the dragon referred to by\nAristotle.[146] \"The eagle and the dragon are enemies, for the eagle feeds\non serpents\"; and again,[147] \"the Glanis in shallow water is often\ndestroyed by the dragon serpent.\" It might perhaps be supposed that the\ncrocodile is here referred to, but this is specially spoken of in another\npassage, as follows[148]: \"But there are others which, though they live\nand feed in the water, do not take in water but air, and produce their\nyoung out of the water; many of these animals are furnished with feet, as\nthe otter and crocodile, and others are without feet, as the\nwater-serpent.\"\n\nA somewhat inexplicable habit is ascribed to the dragon in Book ix.[149]:\n\"When the draco has eaten much fruit, it seeks the juice of the bitter\nlettuce; it has been seen to do this.\"\n\nPliny, probably quoting Aristotle,[150] also states that the dragon\nrelieves the nausea which affects it in spring with the juices of the\nlettuce; and \u00c6lian[151] repeats the story.\n\nIt is also probable that some large serpent is intended by Pliny in the\nstory which he relates,[152] after Democritus, that a man called Thoas was\npreserved in Arcadia by a dragon. When a boy, he had become attached to it\nand had reared it very tenderly; but his father, being alarmed at the\nnature and monstrous size of the reptile, had taken and left it in the\ndesert. Thoas being here attacked by robbers who lay in ambush, he was\ndelivered from them by the dragon, which recognized his voice and came to\nhis assistance. It may be noted in regard to this that there are many\nauthenticated instances of snakes evidencing considerable affection for\nthose who have treated them with kindness.[153]\n\nThe impression that Pliny's dragon was intended to represent some large\nboa or python is strengthened by his statement:[154] \"The dragon is a\nserpent destitute of venom; its head placed beneath the threshold of a\ndoor, the gods being duly propitiated by prayers, will ensure good fortune\nto the house, it is said.\"\n\nIt is remarkable that he attributes to the dragon the same desire and\ncapacity to attack the elephant as is attributed to the Pa snake in\nWestern China, and by the old Arabian voyagers to serpents in Borneo.\n\nThe _Shan-hai-king_, a Chinese work of extreme antiquity, of which special\nmention will be made hereafter, says: \"The Pa snake swallows elephants,\nafter three years it ejects the bones; well-to-do people, eating it, are\ncured of consumption.\"\n\nDiodorus Siculus, in speaking of the region of the Nile in Libya, says\nthat, according to report, very large serpents are produced there and in\ngreat numbers, and that these attack elephants when they gather around the\nwatering places, involve them in their folds till they fall exhausted, and\nthen devour them.\n\nDiodorus, in another passage referring to the crocodiles and hippopotami\nof Egypt, speaking of Ethiopia and Libya, mentions a variety of serpents\nas well as of other wild beasts, including dragons of unusual size and\nferocity.\n\nWhile El Edrisi says: \"On peut encore citer le serpent de Zaledj dont\nparlent Ben Khordad\u00e9be, l'auteur du Livre des Merveilles, et divers autres\n\u00e9crivains qui s'accordent \u00e0 dire qu'il existe dans les montagnes de l'ile\nde Zaledj une esp\u00e8ce de serpent qui attaque l'elephant et le buffle, et\nqui ne les abandonnent qu'apr\u00e8s les avoir vaincu.\"[155]\n\nArtemidorus, also, according to Strabo,[156] \"mentions serpents of thirty\ncubits in length, which can master elephants and bulls. In this he does\nnot exaggerate; but the Indian and African serpents are of a more fabulous\nsize, and are said to have grass growing on their backs.\"\n\nIphicrates, according to Bryant, \"related that in Mauritania there were\ndragons of such extent that grass grew upon their backs.\"\n\nIt is doubtful whether large serpents, or real dragons, are referred to by\nPliny in the following interesting passages which I give at length: the\nsurprise which he expresses at Juba's believing that they had crests,\nleads me to suspect that there was possibly some confusion of species\ninvolved; that Juba might have been perfectly accurate so far as the\ncrests are concerned, and that the beasts in question, in place of being\npythons of magnitude, were rather some gigantic lizard-like creature, of\ngreat length and little bulk, corresponding with the Chinese idea of the\ndragon, and, therefore, naturally bearing horny crests, similar to those\nwith which the monster is usually represented by the latter people.\n\nIt must be noticed here, that if we postulate the existence of the dragon,\nwe are not bound to limit ourselves to a single species, or even two, as\nthe same causes which effected the gradual destruction of one would be\nexceedingly likely to effect that of another; we must not, therefore, be\ntoo critical in comparing descriptions of different authors in different\ncountries and epochs, since they may refer only to allied, but not\nidentical, animals.\n\n\"Africa produces elephants, but it is India that produces the largest, as\nwell as the _dragon_, who is perpetually at war with the elephant, and is\nitself of so enormous a size, as easily to envelop the elephants with its\nfolds, and encircle them in its coils. The contest is equally fatal to\nboth; the elephant, vanquished, falls to the earth, and by its weight\ncrushes the dragon which is entwined around it.[158]\n\n\"The sagacity which every animal exhibits in its own behalf is wonderful,\nbut in these it is remarkably so. The dragon has much difficulty in\nclimbing up to so great a height, and therefore, watching the road, which\nbears marks of their footsteps, when going to feed, it darts down upon\nthem from a lofty tree. The elephant knows that it is quite unable to\nstruggle against the folds of the serpent, and so seeks for trees or rocks\nagainst which to rub itself.\n\n\"The dragon is on its guard against this, and tries to prevent it, by\nfirst of all confining the legs of the elephant with the folds of its\ntail; while the elephant, on the other hand, tries to disengage itself\nwith its trunk. The dragon, however, thrusts its head into its nostrils,\nand thus, at the same moment, stops the breath, and wounds the most tender\nparts. When it is met unexpectedly, the dragon raises itself up, faces its\nopponent, and flies more especially at the eyes; this is the reason why\nelephants are so often found blind, and worn to a skeleton with hunger and\nmisery.\n\n\"There is another story, too, told in relation to these combats. The blood\nof the elephant, it is said, is remarkably cold; for which reason, in the\nparching heats of summer, it is sought by the dragon with remarkable\navidity. It lies, therefore, coiled up and concealed in the river, in wait\nfor the elephants when they come to drink; upon which it darts out,\nfastens itself around the trunk, and then fixes its teeth behind the ear,\nthat being the only place which the elephant cannot protect with the\ntrunk. The dragons, it is said, are of such vast size that they can\nswallow the whole of the blood; consequently the elephant, being drained\nof its blood, falls to the earth exhausted; while the dragon, intoxicated\nwith the draught, is crushed beneath it, and so shares its fate.[159]\n\n\"\u00c6thiopia produces dragons, not so large as those of India, but still\ntwenty cubits in length. The only thing that surprises me is, how Juba\ncame to believe that they have crests. The \u00c6thiopians are known as the\nAsach\u00e6i, among whom they most abound; and we are told that on those coasts\nfour or five of them are found twisted and interlaced together like so\nmany osiers in a hurdle, and thus setting sail, with their heads erect,\nthey are borne along upon the waves to find better sources of nourishment\nin Arabia.\"[160]\n\nPliny then goes on to describe, as _separate from dragons, large serpents\nin India_, as follows.\n\n\"Megasthenes[161] informs us that in India serpents grow to such an\nimmense size as to swallow stags and bulls; while Metrodorus says that\nabout the river Rhyndacus, in Pontus, they seize and swallow the birds\nthat are flying above them, however high and however rapid their flight.\n\n\"It is a well-known fact that during the Punic war, at the river Bagrada,\na serpent one hundred and twenty feet in length was taken by the Roman\narmy under Regulus, being besieged, like a fortress, by means of balist\u00e6\nand other engines of war. _Its skin and jaws_ were preserved in a temple\nat Rome down to the time of the Numantine war.\n\n\"The serpents, which in Italy are known by the name of boa, render these\naccounts far from incredible, for they grow to such vast size that a child\nwas found entire in the stomach of one of them which was killed on the\nVaticanian Hill during the reign of Emperor Claudius.\"[162]\n\nAristotle tells us that \"in Libya, the serpents, as it has been already\nremarked, are very large. For some persons say that as they sailed along\nthe coast, they saw the bones of many oxen, and that it was evident to\nthem that they had been devoured by serpents. And, as the ships passed on,\nthe serpents attacked the triremes, and some of them threw themselves upon\none of the triremes and overturned it.\"[163]\n\nIt is doubtful whether the dragons described by Benjamin of Tudela, who\ntravelled through Europe and the East and returned to Castille in\n1173,[164] as infesting the ruins of the palace of Nebuchodonosor at\nBabylon, so as to render them inaccessible, were creatures of the\nimagination such as the medi\u00e6val mind seems to have loved to dress up, or\nvenomous serpents. But there is little doubt that the so-called dragons of\nlater voyages were simply boas, pythons, or other large serpents, such as\nthose described by John Leo, in his description of a voyage to Africa, as\nexisting in the caverns of Atlas. He says, \"There are many monstrous\ndragons which are thick about the middle, but have slender necks and\ntails, so that their motion is but slow.[165] They are so venomous, that\nwhatever they bite or touch, certain death ensues.\" There is also the\nstatement of Job Ludolphus that (in \u00c6thiopia) \"the dragons are of the\nlargest size, very voracious, but not venomous.\"[166]\n\nI fancy that at the present day the numbers, magnitude, and terrifying\nnature of serpents but feebly represent the power which they asserted in\nthe early days of man's existence, or the terror which they then inspired.\nThis subject has been so ably dealt with by a writer of the last\ncentury[167] that I feel no hesitation in transcribing his remarks at\nlength.\n\n\"It is probable, in early times, when the arts were little known and\nmankind were but thinly scattered over the earth, that serpents,\ncontinuing undisturbed possessors of the forest, grew to an amazing\nmagnitude, and every other tribe of animals fell before them. It then\nmight have happened that the serpents reigned tyrants of the district for\ncenturies together. To animals of this kind, grown by time and rapacity to\none hundred or one hundred and fifty feet long, the lion, the tiger, and\neven the elephant itself were but feeble opponents. That horrible fetor,\nwhich even the commonest and the most harmless snakes are still found to\ndiffuse, might in these larger ones become too powerful for any living\nbeing to withstand, and while they preyed without distinction, they might\nalso have poisoned the atmosphere round them. In this manner, having for\nages lived in the hidden and unpeopled forest, and finding, as their\nappetites were more powerful, the quantity of their prey decreasing, it is\npossible they might venture boldly from their retreats into the more\ncultivated parts of the country, and carry consternation among mankind, as\nthey had before desolation among the lower ranks of nature.\n\n\"We have many histories of antiquity presenting us such a picture, and\nexhibiting a whole nation sinking under the ravages of a single serpent.\nAt that time man had not learned the art of uniting the efforts of many to\neffect one great purpose. Opposing multitudes only added new victims to\nthe general calamity, and increased mutual embarrassment and terror. The\nanimal, therefore, was to be singly opposed by him who had the greatest\nstrength, the best armour, and the most undaunted courage. In such an\nencounter hundreds must have fallen, till one more lucky than the rest, by\na fortunate blow, or by taking the monster in its torpid interval and\nsurcharged with spoil, might kill and thus rid his country of the\ndestroyer. Such was the original occupation of heroes.\n\n\"But as we descend into more enlightened antiquity we find these animals\nless formidable, as being attacked in a more successful manner.\n\n\"We are told that while Regulus led his army along the banks of the river\nBagrada in Africa, an enormous serpent disputed his passage over. We are\nassured by Pliny that it was one hundred and twenty feet long, and that it\nhad destroyed many of the army. At last, however, the battering engines\nwere brought out against it, and then, assailing it at a distance, it was\ndestroyed. Its spoils were carried to Rome, and the general was decreed an\novation for his success.\n\n\"There are, perhaps, few facts better ascertained in history than this: an\novation was a remarkable honour, and was only given for some signal\nexploit that did not deserve a triumph. No historian would offer to invent\nthat part of the story, at least, without being subject to the most\nshameful detection.\n\n\"The skin was kept for several years after, in the Capitol, and Pliny says\nhe saw it there.\n\n\"This tribe of animals, like that of fishes, seem to have no bounds put to\ntheir growth; their bones are in a great measure cartilaginous, and they\nare consequently capable of great extension.\n\n\"The older, therefore, a serpent becomes, the larger it grows, and, as\nthey live to a great age, they arrive at an enormous size. Leguat assures\nus that he saw one in Java that was fifty feet long.[168] Carli mentions\ntheir growing to above forty feet, and there is now in the British Museum\none that measures thirty-two feet.\n\n\"Mr. Wentworth, who had large concerns in the Berbice in America, assures\nus that in that country they grow to an enormous length. He describes an\nIndian mistaking one for a log, and proceeding to sit down on it, when it\nbegan to move. A soldier with him shot the snake, but the Indian died of\nfright. It measured thirty-six feet. It was sent to the Hague.\n\n\"A life of savage hostility in the forest offers the imagination one of\nthe most tremendous pictures in nature. In those burning countries where\nthe sun dries up every brook for hundreds of miles round: where what had\nthe appearance of a great river in the rainy season becomes in summer one\ndreary bed of sand; in those countries a lake that is never dry, or a\nbrook that is perennial, is considered by every animal as the greatest\nconvenience of nature. When they have discovered this, no dangers can\ndeter them from attempting to slake their thirst. Thus the neighbourhood\nof a rivulet, in the heart of the tropical continents, is generally the\nplace where all the hostile tribes of nature draw up for the engagement.\n\n\"On the banks of this little envied spot, thousands of animals of various\nkinds are seen venturing to quench their thirst, or preparing to seize\ntheir prey. The elephants are perceived in a long line, marching from the\ndarker parts of the forest. The buffaloes are there, depending upon\nnumbers for security; the gazelles relying solely upon their swiftness;\nthe lion and tiger waiting a proper opportunity to seize.\n\n\"But chiefly the larger serpents are upon guard there, and defend the\naccesses of the lake. Not an hour passes without some dreadful combat, but\nthe serpent, defended by its scales, and naturally capable of sustaining a\nmultitude of wounds, is of all others the most formidable. It is the most\nwakeful also, for the whole tribe sleep with their eyes open, and are\nconsequently for ever upon the watch; so that, till their rapacity is\nsatisfied, few other animals will venture to approach their station.\"\n\nWe read of a serpent exhibited in the time of Augustus at Rome, which,\nSuetonius tells us, \"was fifty cubits in length.\"[169] But at the present\nday there are few authentic accounts of snakes exceeding thirty feet in\nlength; and there are some people who discredit any which profess to speak\nof snakes of greater dimensions than this. There are some, however, among\nthe annexed stories, which I think demand belief, and apparently we may\nconclude that the python and boa exceptionally attain as much as forty\nfeet in length, or even more.\n\nWallace[170] merely reports by hearsay that the pythons in the\nPhillipines, which destroy young cattle, are said to reach more than forty\nfeet.\n\nCaptain Sherard Osborn,[171] in his description of Quedah in the Malay\npeninsula, says, also, as a matter of popular belief: \"The natives of\nTamelan declared most of them to be of the boa-constrictor species, but\nspoke of monsters in the deep forests, which might, if they came out,\nclear off the whole village. A pleasant feat, for which Jadie, with a wag\nof his sagacious head, assured me that an 'oular Bessar' or big snake was\nquite competent.\n\n\"It was strange but interesting to find amongst all Malays a strong belief\nin the extraordinary size to which the boa-constrictors or pythons would\ngrow; they all maintained that in the secluded forests of Sumatra or\nBorneo, as well as on some of the smaller islands which were not\ninhabited, these snakes were occasionally found of forty or fifty feet in\nlength.\"\n\nMajor McNair says[172]: \"One of the keenest sportsmen in Singapore gives\nan account of a monster that he encountered. He had wounded a boar in the\njungle, and was following its tracks with his dogs, when, in penetrating\nfurther into the forest, he found the dogs at bay, and, advancing\ncautiously, prepared for another shot at the boar; to his surprise,\nhowever, he found that the dogs were baying a huge python, which had\nseized the boar, thrown its coils round the unfortunate beast, and was\ncrushing it to death. A well-directed shot laid the reptile writhing on\nthe ground, and it proved to be about thirty feet long. But such instances\nof extreme length are rare.\"\n\nUnfortunately the exciting story of a serpent, between forty and fifty\nfeet in length, which I extract from the _North China Daily News_ of\nNovember 10th, 1880, the scene of which is also laid in the Malay\npeninsula, lacks the authenticity of the narrator's name. It is as\nfollows:--\n\n\"The _Straits Times_ tells the following exciting python story: 'A\nsportsman, who a few days ago penetrated into the jungle lying between\nBuddoh and Sirangoon, came upon a lone hut in a district called Campong\nBatta, upon the roof of which the skin of an enormous boa or python\n(whichever may be the correct name) was spread out. The hut was occupied\nby a Malay and his wife, from whom our informant gathered the following\nextraordinary account. One night, about a week previously, the Malay was\nawakened by the cries of his wife for assistance. Being in perfect\ndarkness, and supposing the alarm to be on account of thieves, he seized\nhis sharp parang, and groped his way to her sleeping place, where his hand\nfell upon a slimy reptile. It was fully a minute before he could\ncomprehend the entire situation, and when he did, he discovered that the\nwhole of his wife's arm had been drawn down the monster's throat, whither\nthe upper part of her body was slowly but surely following. Not daring to\nattack the monster at once for fear of causing his wife's death, the\nhusband, with great presence of mind, seized two bags within reach, and\ncommenced stuffing them into the corner of the snake's jaws, by means of\nwhich he succeeded in forcing them wider open and releasing his wife's\narm. No sooner had the boa lost his prey than he attacked the husband,\nwhom he began encircling in his fatal coils; but holding out both arms,\nand watching his opportunity, he attacked the monster so vigorously with\nhis parang that it suddenly unwound itself and vanished through an opening\nbeneath the attap sides of the hut. His clothes were covered with blood,\nas was also the floor of the hut, and his wife's arm was blue with the\nsqueezing it received between the boa's jaws. At daylight the husband\ndiscovered his patch of plaintain trees nearly ruined, where the boa,\nwrithing in agony, had broken off the trees at the roots, and in the midst\nof the debris lay the monster itself, dead. The Malay assured our\ninformant that he had received no less than sixty dollars from Chinese,\nwho came from long distances to purchase pieces of the flesh on account of\nits supposed medical properties, and that he had refused six dollars for\nthe skin, which he preferred to retain as a trophy. It was greatly\ndecomposed, having been some days exposed in the open air, and useless for\ncuring. There is no telling what may have been the measurement of this\nlarge reptile, but the skin, probably greatly stretched by unskilful\nremoval, measured between seven and eight fathoms.'\"\n\nBontius speaks of serpents in the Asiatic Isles. \"The great ones,\" he\nsays, \"sometimes exceed thirty-six feet; and have such capacity of throat\nand stomach that they swallow whole boars.\"\n\nMr. McLeod, in the _Voyage of the Alceste_, states that during a captivity\nof some months at Whidah, on the coast of Africa, he had opportunities of\nobserving serpents double this length.[173]\n\nBroderip, in his _Leaves from the Note-book of a Naturalist_ (Parker,\n1852), speaks of a serpent thirty feet in length, which attacked the crew\nof a Malay proa anchored for the night close to the island of Celebes.\n\nMr. C. Collingwood in _Rambles of a Naturalist_, states that \"Mr. Low\nassured me that he had seen one [python] killed measuring twenty-six feet,\nand I heard on good authority of one of twenty-nine feet having been\nkilled there. In Borneo they were said to attain forty feet, but for this\nI cannot vouch.\"\n\nThat large pythons still exist in South and Western China, although of\nvery reduced dimensions as compared with those described in ancient works,\nis affirmed by many writers, from whom I think it is sufficient to extract\na notice by one of the early missionaries who explored that country.\n\n\"Pour ce qui est des serpens qu'on trouve dans Chine l'Atlas raconte que\nla Province de Quansi, en produit de si grands et d'une longueur si\nextr\u00eame, qu'il est presque incroyable; et il nous assure, qu'il s'en est\ntrouv\u00e9, qui \u00e9taient plus longs que ne seraient pas dix perches attach\u00e9es\nles unes avec les autres, c'est-\u00e0-dire, qu'ils avaient plus de trente\npieds g\u00e9om\u00e9triques. Flore Sienois dit, 'Gento est le plus grand de tous\nceux qui sont dans les provinces de Quansi, de Haynan, et de Quantun ...\nil d\u00e9vore les cerfs.... Il s'\u00e9l\u00e8ve droit sur sa queue, et combat\nvigoureusement, en cette posture, contre les hommes et les b\u00eates\nfarouches.'\"[174]\n\nWe have unfortunately no clue to the actual length of the serpent Bomma,\ndescribed by J. M. da Sorrento in _A Voyage to Congo_ in 1682, contained\nin Churchill's collection of voyages published in 1732.[175] \"The flesh\nthey eat is generally that of wild creatures, and especially of a sort of\nserpent called Bomma. At a certain feast in Baia, I observed the windows,\ninstead of tapestry and arras, adorned with the skin of these serpents as\nwide as that of a large ox, and long in proportion.\"\n\nThat harmless snakes of from twelve to fourteen feet in length occur\nabundantly in Northern Australia is generally known; but it is only of\nlate years that I have been made acquainted with a firm belief,\nentertained by the natives in the interior, of the existence near the\njunction of the Darling and Murray, south of the centre of the continent,\nof a serpent of great magnitude.\n\nI learn from Mr. G. R. Moffat that on the Lower Murray, between Swan Hill\nand the Darling junction--at the time of his acquaintance with the\ndistrict (about 1857 to 1867)--the black fellows had numerous stories of\nthe existence of a large serpent in the Mallee scrub. It was conspicuous\nfor its size, thirty to forty feet in length, and especially for its great\ngirth, swiftness, and intensely disgusting odour; this latter, in fact,\nconstituted the great protection from it, insomuch as it would be\nimpossible to approach without recognising its presence.\n\nMr. Moffatt learnt personally from a Mr. Beveridge, son of Mr. Peter\nBeveridge, of Swan Hill station, that he had actually seen one, and that\nhis account quite tallied with those of the blacks. In answer to an\ninquiry which I addressed to Australia, I received the note attached\nbelow.[176]\n\nMr. Henry Liddell, who was resident on the Darling River in 1871-72,\ninforms me that he has heard from stock-riders and ration-carriers similar\naccounts to that of Mr. Moffatt, with reference to the existence of large\nserpents of the boa species in an adjacent locality, viz. the tract of\ncountry lying to the east of Darling and Murray junction, in the back\ncountry belonging to Pooncaira station.\n\nThey described them as being numerous, in barren and rocky places, among\nbig boulders; fully forty feet long; as thick as a man's thigh; and as\nhaving the same remarkable odour described by Mr. Moffatt. They spoke of\nthem as quite common, and not at all phenomenal, between Wentworth and\nPooncaira.\n\nThe Anaconda, in regard to which so much myth and superstition prevails\namong the Indians of Brazil, is thus spoken of by Condamine, in his\n_Travels in South America_. \"The most rare and singular of all is a large\namphibious serpent from twenty-five to thirty feet long and more than a\nfoot thick, according to report. It is called Jacumama, or 'the mother of\nthe waters,' by the Americans of Maynas, and commonly inhabits the large\nlakes formed by the river-water after flood.\"[177]\n\nUlloa, also, in his _Voyage to South America_,[178] says: \"In the\ncountries watered by that vast river (the Maranon) is bred a serpent of a\nfrightful magnitude, and of a most deleterious nature. Some, in order to\ngive an idea of its largeness, affirm that it will swallow any beast\nwhole, and that this has been the miserable end of many a man. But what\nseems still a greater wonder is the attractive quality attributed to its\nbreath,[179] which irresistibly draws any creature to it which happens to\nbe within the sphere of its attraction. The Indians call it Jacumama,\n_i.e._ 'mother of water'; for, as it delights in lakes and marshy places,\nit may in some sense be considered as amphibious. I have taken a great\ndeal of pains to inquire into this particular, and all I can say is that\nthe reptile's magnitude is really surprising.\"\n\nJohn Nieuhoff, in his Voyages to Brazil,[180] speaking of the serpent\nGuaku or Liboya, says: \"It is questionless the biggest of all serpents,\nsome being eighteen, twenty-four, nay thirty feet long, and of the\nthickness of a man in his middle. The Portuguese call it Kobra Detrado, or\nthe roebuck serpent, because it will swallow a whole roebuck, or any other\ndeer it meets with; after they have swallowed such a deer, they fall\nasleep, and so are catched. Such a one I saw at Paraiba, which was thirty\nfeet long, and as big as a barrel. This serpent, being a very devouring\ncreature, greedy of prey, leaps from amongst the hedges and woods, and\nstanding upright upon its tail, wrestles both with men and wild beasts;\nsometimes it leaps from the trees upon the traveller, whom it fastens\nupon, and beats the breath out of his body with its tail.\"\n\nThe largest (water boa) ever met with by a European appears to be that\ndescribed by a botanist, Dr. Gardiner, in his _Travels in Brazil_. It had\ndevoured a horse, and was found dead, entangled in the branches of a tree\noverhanging a river, into which it had been carried by a flood; it was\nnearly forty feet long.\n\n\n_Winged Serpents._\n\nThe next section relates to winged serpents, a belief in which was\nprevalent in early ages, and is strongly supported by several independent\nworks.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 35.--EGYPTIAN FOUR-WINGED SERPENT, CHANUPHIS, OR BAIT.\n(_From \"Serpent Myths of Ancient Egypt,\" by W. R. Cooper._)]\n\nTo my mind, Herodotus speaks without the slightest doubt upon the subject\nin the following passages. \"Arabia[181] is the last of inhabited lands\ntowards the south, and it is the only country which produces frankincense,\nmyrrh, cassia, cinnamon, and ledanum.\" \"The frankincense they procure by\nmeans of the gum styrax, which the Greeks get from the Ph\u0153nicians. This\nthey burn, and thereby obtain the spice; for the trees which bear the\nfrankincense are guarded by winged serpents, small in size, and of\nvarious colours, whereof vast numbers hang about every tree. They are of\nthe same kind as the serpents that invade Egypt, and there is nothing but\nthe smoke of the styrax which will drive them from the trees.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 36.--THE SYMBOLIC WINGED SERPENT OF THE GODDESS\nMERSOKAR OR MELSOKAR. (_After W. R. Cooper._)]\n\nAgain,[182] \"the Arabians say that the whole world would swarm with these\nserpents, if they were not kept in check, in the way in which I know that\nvipers are.\" \"Now, with respect to the vipers and the winged snakes of\nArabia, if they increased as fast as their nature would allow, impossible\nwere it for man to maintain himself upon the earth. Accordingly, it is\nfound that when the male and female come together, at the very moment of\nimpregnation, the female seizes the male by the neck, and having once\nfastened cannot be brought to leave go till she has bit the neck entirely\nthrough, and so the male perishes; but after a while he is avenged upon\nthe female by means of the young, which, while still unborn, gnaw a\npassage through the womb and then through the belly of their mother.\nContrariwise, other snakes, which are harmless, lay eggs and hatch a vast\nnumber of young. Vipers are found in all parts of the world, but the\nwinged serpents are nowhere seen except in Arabia, where they are all\ncongregated together; this makes them appear so numerous.\"\n\nHerodotus had so far interested himself in ascertaining the probability of\ntheir existence as to visit Arabia for the purpose of inquiry; he\nsays,[183] \"I went once to a certain place in Arabia, almost exactly\nopposite the city of Buto, to make inquiries concerning the winged\nserpents. On my arrival I saw the back-bones and ribs of serpents in such\nnumbers as it is impossible to describe; of the ribs there were a\nmultitude of heaps, some great, some small, some middle-sized. The place\nwhere the bones lie is at the entrance of a narrow gorge between steep\nmountains, which there open upon a spacious plain communicating with the\ngreat plains of Egypt. The story goes, that with the spring the snakes\ncome flying from Arabia towards Egypt, but are met in this gorge by the\nbirds called ibises, who forbid their entrance and destroy them all. The\nArabians assert, and the Egyptians also admit, that it is on account of\nthe service thus rendered that the Egyptians hold the ibis in so much\nreverence.\" He further[184] describes the winged serpent as being shaped\nlike the water-snake, and states that its wings are not feathered, but\nresemble very closely those of the bat.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 37.--THE SYMBOLIC WINGED SERPENT OF THE GODDESS\nEILEITHYA. (_After W. R. Cooper._)]\n\nAristotle briefly states, as a matter of common report, that there were in\nhis time winged serpents in Ethiopia.[185] Both two and four winged snakes\nare depicted among the Egyptian sculptures, considered by Mr. Cooper to\nbe emblematic of deities, and to signify that the four corners of the\nearth are embraced and sheltered by the supreme Providence.\n\nJosephus[186] unmistakably affirms his belief in the existence of flying\nserpents, in his account of the stratagem which Moses adopted in attacking\nthe Ethiopians, who had invaded Egypt and penetrated as far as Memphis.\nFrom this we may infer that in his time flying serpents were by no means\npeculiar to Arabia, but, as might have been expected, equally infested the\ndesert lands bordering the fertile strip of the Nile.\n\nIn Whiston's translation we read that \"Moses prevented the enemies, and\ntook and led his army before those enemies were apprised of his attacking\nthem; for he did not march by the river, but by land, where he gave a\nwonderful demonstration of his sagacity; for when the ground was difficult\nto be passed over, because of the multitude of serpents (which it produces\nin vast numbers, and indeed is singular in some of those productions,\nwhich other countries do not breed, and yet such as are worse than others\nin power and mischief, and an unusual fierceness of sight, some of which\nascend out of the ground unseen, and also fly in the air, and so come upon\nmen at unawares, and do them a mischief), Moses invented a wonderful\nstratagem to preserve the army safe and without hurt; for he made baskets,\nlike unto arks, of sedge, and filled them with ibes, and carried them\nalong with them; which animal is the greatest enemy to serpents\nimaginable, for they fly from them when they come near them; and as they\nfly they are caught and devoured by them, as if it were done by the harts;\nbut the ibes are tame creatures, and only enemies to the serpentine kind;\nbut about these ibes I say no more at present, since the Greeks themselves\nare not unacquainted with this sort of bird. As soon, therefore, as Moses\nwas come to the land, which was the breeder of these serpents, he let\nloose the ibes, and by their means repelled the serpentine kind, and used\nthem for his assistants before the army came upon that ground.\"\n\nThese statements of Herodotus and Josephus are both too precise to be\nexplicable on the theory that they refer to the darting or jumping\nserpents which Nieuhoff describes, in his day, as infesting the palm trees\nof Arabia and springing from tree to tree; or to the jaculus of\nPliny,[187] which darts from the branches of trees, and flies through the\nair as though it were hurled by an engine, and which is described by \u00c6lian\nand graphically figured by Lucan[188] in the passage--\"Behold! afar,\naround the trunk of a barren tree, a fierce serpent--Africa calls it the\njaculus--wreathes itself, and then darts forth, and through the head and\npierced temples of Paulus it takes its flight: nothing does venom there\neffect, death seizes him through the wound. It was then understood how\nslowly fly the stones which the sling hurls, how sluggishly whizzes the\nflight of the Scythian arrow.\"\n\nSolinus, whose work, _Polyhistor_, is mainly a compilation from Pliny's\nNatural History, gives a similar account of the swarms of winged serpents\nabout the Arabian marshes, and states that their bite was so deadly that\ndeath followed the bite before pain could be felt; he also refers to their\ndestruction by the ibises, and is probably only quoting other authors\nrather than speaking of his own knowledge.\n\nCicero, again, speaks of the ibis as being a very large bird, with strong\nlegs, and a horny long beak, which destroys a great number of serpents,\nand keeps Egypt free from pestilential diseases, by killing and devouring\nthe flying serpents, brought from the deserts of Lybia by the south-west\nwind, and so preventing the mischief which might attend their biting\nwhile alive, or from any infection when dead.\n\nThere are not unfrequent allusions in ancient history to serpents having\nbecome so numerous as to constitute a perfect plague; the dreadful\nmortality caused among the Israelites by the fiery serpents spoken of in\nNumbers is a case in point, and another[189] is the migration of the Neuri\nfrom their own country into that of the Budini, one generation before the\nattack of Darius, in consequence of the incursion of a huge multitude of\nserpents. It is stated that some of these were produced in their own\ncountry, but for the most part they came in from the deserts of the north.\nThe home of the Neuri appears to have been to the north-west of the Pontus\nEuxinus, pretty much in the position of Poland, and I believe that at the\npresent day the only harmful reptile occurring in it is the viper common\nto the rest of Europe. Diodorus Siculus[190] mentions a tradition that the\nCerastes had once made an irruption into Egypt in such numbers as to have\ndepopulated a great portion of the inhabited districts.\n\nThese stories are interesting as showing a migratory instinct occurring in\ncertain serpents, either periodically or occasionally, and are thus to\nsome extent corroborative of the account of the annual invasion of Egypt\nby serpents, referred to in a previous page. They also, I think, confirm\nthe impression that serpents were more numerous in the days of early\nhistory, and had a larger area of distribution than they have now, and\nthat possibly some species, such as the Arabian and flying serpents, which\nhave since become extinct, then existed. Thus the boa is spoken of by\nPliny as occurring commonly in Italy, and growing to such a vast size that\na child was found entire in one of them, which was killed on the Vatican\nHill during the reign of the Emperor Claudius. Yet at the present day\nthere are no snakes existing there at all corresponding to this\ndescription.\n\nParallel instances of invasions of animals materially affecting the\nprosperity of man are doubtless familiar to my readers, such as the\noccasional migration of lemmings, passage of rats, flights of locusts, or\nthe ravages caused by the Colorado beetle; but many are perhaps quite\nunaware what a terrible plague can be established, in the course of a very\nfew years, by the prolific unchecked multiplication of even so harmless,\ninnocent, and useful an animal as the common rabbit. The descendants of a\nfew imported pairs have laid waste extensive districts of Australia and\nNew Zealand, necessitated an enormous expenditure for their extirpation,\nand have at the present day[191] caused such a widespread destruction of\nproperty in the latter country, that large areas of ground have actually\nhad to be abandoned and entirely surrendered to them.\n\nIt is interesting to find in the work of the Arabic geographer El Edrisi a\ntradition of an island in the Atlantic, called Laca, off the north-west\ncoast of Africa, having been formerly inhabited, but abandoned on account\nof the excessive multiplication of serpents on it. According to\nScaligerus, the mountains dividing the kingdom of Narsinga from Malabar\nproduce many wild beasts, among which may be enumerated winged dragons,\nwho are able to destroy any one approaching their breath.\n\nMegasthenes (_tradente \u00c6liano_) relates that winged serpents are found in\nIndia; where it is stated that they are noxious, fly only by night, and\nthat contact with their urine destroys portions of animals.\n\nAmmianus Marcellinus (who wrote about the fourth century A.D.) states that\nthe ibis is one among the countless varieties of the birds of Egypt,\nsacred, amiable, and valuable as storing up the eggs of serpents in his\nnest for food and so diminishing their number. He also refers to their\nencountering flocks of winged snakes, coming laden with poison from the\nmarshes of Arabia, and overcoming them in the air, and devouring them\nbefore they quit their own region. And Strabo,[192] in his geographical\ndescription of India, speaks of serpents of two cubits in length, with\nmembraneous wings like bats: \"They fly at night, and let fall drops of\nurine or sweat, which occasions the skins of persons who are not on their\nguard to putrefy.\" Isaiah speaks of fiery flying serpents, the term\n\"fiery\" being otherwise rendered in the Alexandrine edition of the\nSeptuagint by \u03b8\u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03c2 \"deadly,\" while the term \"fiery\" is explained by\nother authorities as referring to the burning sensation produced by the\nbite, and to the bright colour of the serpents.[193] Collateral evidence\nof the belief in winged serpents is afforded by incidental allusions to\nthem in the classics. Thus Virgil alludes to snakes with strident wings in\nthe line\n\n  Illa autem attolit stridentis anguibus alis.[194]\n\nLucan[195] refers to the winged serpents of Arabia as forming one of the\ningredients of an incantation broth brewed by a Thessalian witch, Erictho,\nwith the object of resuscitating a corpse, and procuring replies to the\nqueries of Sextus, son of Pompey. There are other passages in Ovid and\nother poets, in which the words \"winged serpents\" are made use of, but\nwhich I omit to render here, since from the context it seems doubtful\nwhether they were not intended as poetic appellations of the monster to\nwhich, by popular consent, the term dragon has been generally restricted.\n\nI feel bound to refer, although of course without attaching any very great\nweight of evidence to them, to the numerous stories popular in the East,\nin which flying serpents play a conspicuous part, the serpents always\nhaving something magical or supernatural in their nature. Such tales are\nfound in the entrancing pages of the _Arabian Nights_, or in the very\nentertaining folk-lore of China, as given to us by Dr. N. P. Dennys of\nSingapore.[196]\n\nThe latest notice of the flying serpent that we find is in a work by P.\nBelon du Mans, published in 1557, entitled, _Portraits de quelques\nanimaux, poissons, serpents, herbes et arbres, hommes et femmes d'Arabie,\n\u00c9gypte, et Asie, observ\u00e9s par P. Belon du Mans_. It contains a drawing of\na biped winged dragon, with the notice \"Portrait du serpent ail\u00e9\" and the\nquatrain--\n\n  Dangereuse est du serpent la nature\n  Qu'on voit voler pr\u00e8s le mont Sinai\n  Qui ne serait, de la voir, esbahy,\n  Si on a peur, voyant sa pourtraiture?\n\nThis is copied by Gesner, who repeats the story of its flying out of\nArabia into Egypt.[197] I attach considerable importance to the short\nextract which I shall give in a future page from the celebrated Chinese\nwork on geography and natural history, the _Shan Hai King_, or Mountain\nand Sea Classic. The _Shan Hai King_ claims to be of great antiquity, and,\nas Mr. Wylie remarks, though long looked on with distrust, has been\ninvestigated recently by scholars of great ability, who have come to the\nconclusion that it is at least as old as the Chow dynasty, and probably\nolder. Now, as the Chow dynasty commenced in 1122 B.C., it is, if this\nlatter supposition be correct, of a prior age to the works of Aristotle,\nHerodotus, and all the other authors we have been quoting, and therefore\nis the earliest work on natural history extant, and the description of the\nflying serpent of the Sien mountains (_vide infr\u00e0_) the earliest record of\nthe existence of such creatures.\n\n\n_Classical Dragon and Medi\u00e6val Dragon._\n\nWhile the flying serpents of which we have just treated, will, if we\nassent to the reality of their former existence, assist greatly in the\nexplanation of the belief in a winged dragon so far as Egypt, Arabia, and\nadjacent countries are concerned, it seems hardly probable that they are\nsufficient to account for the wide-spread belief in it. This we have\nalready glanced at; but we now propose to examine it in greater detail,\nwith reference to countries so distant from their habitat as to render it\nunlikely that their description had penetrated there.\n\nThe poets of Greece and Rome introduce the dragon into their fables, as an\nillustration, when the type of power and ferocity is sought for. Homer, in\nhis description of the shield of Hercules, speaks of \"The scaly horror of\na dragon coiled full in the central field, unspeakable, with eyes oblique,\nretorted, that askant shot gleaming fire.\" So Hesiod[198] (750 to 700\nB.C., Grote), describing the same object, says: \"On its centre was the\nunspeakable terror of a dragon glancing backward with eyes gleaming with\nfire. His mouth, too, was filled with teeth running in a white line, dread\nand unapproachable; and above his terrible forehead, dread strife was\nhovering, as he raises the battle rout. On it likewise were heads of\nterrible serpents, unspeakable, twelve in number, who were wont to scare\nthe race of men on earth, whosoever chanced to wage war against the son of\nJove.\"\n\nHere it is noteworthy that Hesiod distinguishes between the dragon and\nserpents.\n\nOvid[199] locates the dragon slain by Cadmus in B\u0153otia, near the river\nCephisus. He speaks of it as being hid in a cavern, adorned with crests,\nand of a golden colour. He, like the other poets, makes special reference\nto the eyes sparkling with fire, and it may be noted that a similar\nbrilliancy is mentioned by those who have observed pythons in their native\ncondition. He speaks of the dragon as _blue_,[200] and terribly\ndestructive owing to the possession of a sting, long constricting folds,\nand venomous breath.\n\nThe story of Ceres flying to heaven in a chariot drawn by two dragons, and\nof her subsequently lending it to Triptolemus, to enable him to travel all\nover the earth and distribute corn to its inhabitants, is detailed or\nalluded to by numerous poets, as well as the tale of Medea flying from\nJason in a chariot drawn by winged dragons. Ceres[201] is further made to\nskim the waves of the ocean, much after the fashion of mythical personages\ndepicted in the wood-cuts illustrating passages in the _Shan Hai\nKing_.[202] Ammianus Marcellinus, whose history ends with the death of\nValerius in A.D. 378, refers, as a remarkable instance of credulity, to a\nvulgar rumour that the chariot of Triptolemus was still extant, and had\nenabled Julian, who had rendered himself formidable both by sea and land,\nto pass over the walls of, and enter into the city of Heraclea. Though\nrational explanations are afforded by the theory of Bochart and Le Clerc,\nthat the story is based upon the equivocal meaning of a Ph\u0153nician word,\nsignifying either a winged dragon or a ship fastened with iron nails or\nbolts; or by that of Philodorus, as cited by Eusebius, who says that his\nship was called a flying dragon, from its carrying the figure of a dragon\non its prow; yet either simply transposes into another phase the current\nbelief in a dragon, without prejudicing it.\n\nDiodorus Siculus disposes of the Colchian dragon and the golden-fleeced\nram in a very summary manner, as follows:--\n\n\"It is said that Phryxus, the son of Athamas and Nephele, in order to\nescape the snares of his stepmother, fled from Greece with his half-sister\nHellen, and that whilst they were being carried, under the advice of the\ngods, by the ram with a golden fleece out of Europe into Asia, the girl\naccidentally fell off into the sea, which on that account has been called\nHellespont. Phryxus, however, being carried safely into Colchis,\nsacrificed the ram by the order of an oracle, and hung up its skin in a\nshrine dedicated to Mars.\n\n\"After this the king learnt from an oracle that he would meet his death\nwhen strangers, arriving there by ship, should have carried off the golden\nfleece. On this account, as well as from innate cruelty, the man was\ninduced to offer sacrifice with the slaughter of his guests; in order\nthat, the report of such an atrocity being spread everywhere, no one might\ndare to set foot within his dominions. He also surrounded the temple with\na wall, and placed there a strong guard of Taurian soldiery; which gave\nrise to a prodigious fiction among the Greeks, for it was reported by them\nthat bulls, breathing fire from their nostrils, kept watch over the\nshrine, and that a dragon guarded the skin, for by ambiguity the name of\nthe Taurians was twisted into that of bulls, and the slaughter of guests\nfurnished the fiction of the expiation of fire. In like manner they\ntranslated the name of the prefect Draco, to whom the custody of the\ntemple had been assigned, into that of the monstrous and horrible creature\nof the poets.\"\n\nNor do others fail to give a similar explanation of the fable of Phryxus,\nfor they say that Phryxus was conveyed in a ship which bore on its prow\nthe image of a ram, and that Hellen, who was leaning over the side under\nthe misery of sea-sickness, tumbled into the water.\n\nAmong other subjects of poetry are the dragon which guarded the golden\napples of the Hesperides, and the two which licked the eyes of Plutus at\nthe temple of \u00c6sculapius with such happy effect that he began to see.\n\nPhilostratus[203] separates dragons into Mountain dragons and Marsh\ndragons. The former had a moderate crest, which increased as they grew\nolder, when a beard of saffron colour was appended to their chins; the\nmarsh dragons had no crests. He speaks of their attaining a size so\nenormous that they easily killed elephants. \u00c6lian describes their length\nas being from thirty or forty to a hundred cubits; and Posidonius mentions\none, a hundred and forty feet long, that haunted the neighbourhood of\nDamascus; and another, whose lair was at Macra, near Jordan, was an acre\nin length, and of such bulk that two men on horseback, with the monster\nbetween them, could not see each other.\n\nIgnatius states that there was in the library of Constantinople the\nintestine of a dragon one hundred and twenty feet long, on which were\nwritten the _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_ in letters of gold. There is no\nambiguity in Lucan's[204] description of the \u00c6thiopian dragon: \"You also,\nthe dragon, shining with golden brightness, who crawl in all (other) lands\nas innoxious divinities, scorching Africa render deadly with wings; you\nmove the air on high, and following whole herds, you burst asunder vast\nbulls, embracing them with your folds. Nor is the elephant safe through\nhis size; everything you devote to death, and no need have you of venom\nfor a deadly fate.\" Whereas the dragon referred to by Pliny (_vide ante_,\np. 169), as also combating the elephant, is evidently without wings, and\nmay either have been a very gigantic serpent, or a lacertian corresponding\nto the Chinese idea of the dragon.\n\nDescending to later periods, we learn from Marcellinus[205] that in his\nday dragon standards were among the chief insignia of the Roman army; for,\nspeaking of the triumphal entry of Constantine into Rome after his triumph\nover Magnentius, he mentions that numbers of the chief officers who\npreceded him were surrounded by dragons embroidered on various points of\ntissue, fastened to the golden or jewelled points of spears; the mouths of\nthe dragons being open so as to catch the wind, which made them hiss as\nthough they were inflamed with anger, while the coils of their tails were\nalso contrived to be agitated by the breeze. And again he speaks of\nSilvanus[206] tearing the purple silk from the insignia of the dragons\nand standards, and so assuming the title of Emperor.\n\nSeveral nations, as the Persians, Parthians, Scythians, &c., bore dragons\non their standards: whence the standards themselves were called dracones\nor dragons.\n\nIt is probable that the Romans borrowed this custom from the Parthians,\nor, as Casaubon has it, from the Dacae, or Codin, from the Assyrians; but\nwhile the Roman dracones were, as we learn from Ammianus Marcellinus,\nfigures of dragons painted in red on their flags, among the Persians and\nParthians they were, like the Roman eagles, figures in relievo, so that\nthe Romans were frequently deceived and took them for real dragons.\n\nThe dragon plays an important part in Celtic mythology. Among the Celts,\nas with the Romans, it was the national standard.\n\n  While Cymri's dragon, from the Roman's hold\n  Spread with calm wing o'er Carduel's domes of gold.[207]\n\nThe fables of Merllin, Nennius, and Geoffry describe it as red in colour,\nand so differing from the Saxon dragon which was white. The hero Arthur\ncarried a dragon on his helm, and the tradition of it is moulded into\nimperishable form in the _Faerie Queen_. A dragon infested Lludd's\ndominion, and made every heath in England resound with shrieks on each\nMay-day eve. A dragon of vast size and pestiferous breath lay hidden in a\ncavern in Wales, and destroyed two districts with its venom, before the\nholy St. Samson seized and threw it into the sea.\n\nIn Celtic chivalry, the word dragon came to be used for chief, a Pendragon\nbeing a sort of dictator created in times of danger; and as the knights\nwho slew a chief in battle were said to slay a dragon, this doubtless\nhelped to keep alive the popular tradition regarding the monster which\nhad been carried with them westward in their migration from the common\nAryan centre.\n\nThe Teutonic tribes who invaded and settled in England bore the effigies\nof dragons on their shields and banners, and these were also depicted on\nthe ensigns of various German tribes.[208] We also find that Thor himself\nwas a slayer of dragons,[209] and both Siegfried and Beowulf were\nsimilarly engaged in the Niebelungen-lied and the epic bearing the name of\nthe latter.[210] The Berserkers not only named their boats after the\ndragon, but also had the prow ornamented with a dragon figure-head; a\nfashion which obtains to the present day among the Chinese, who have an\nannual _dragon-boat festival_, in which long snaky boats with a ferocious\ndragon prow run races for prizes, and paddle in processions.\n\nSo deeply associated was the dragon with the popular legends, that we find\nstories of encounters with it passing down into the literature of the\nMiddle Ages; and, like the heroes of old, the Christian saints won their\nprincipal renown by dragon achievements. Thus among the\ndragon-slayers[211] we find that--\n\n1. St. Phillip the Apostle destroyed a huge dragon at Hierapolis in\nPhrygia.\n\n2. St. Martha killed the terrible dragon called Tarasque at Aix (la\nChapelle).\n\n3. St. Florent killed a similar dragon which haunted the Loire.\n\n4. St. Cado, St. Maudet, and St. Paul did similar feats in Brittany.\n\n5. St. Keyne of Cornwall slew a dragon.\n\n6. St. Michael, St. George, St. Margaret, Pope Sylvester, St. Samson,\nArchbishop of Dol, Donatus (fourth century), St. Clement of Metz, killed\ndragons.\n\n7. St. Romain of Rouen destroyed the huge dragon called La Gargouille,\nwhich ravaged the Seine.\n\nMoreover, the fossil remains of animals discovered from time to time, and\nnow relegated to their true position in the zoological series, were\nsupposed to be the genuine remains of either dragons or giants, according\nto the bent of the mind of the individual who stumbled on them: much as in\nthe present day large fossil bones of extinct animals of all kinds are in\nChina ascribed to dragons, and form an important item in the Chinese\npharmacop\u0153ia. (_Vide_ extract on Dragon bones from the\n_Pen-tsaou-kang-mu_, given on pp. 244-246.)\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 38.--SKELETON OF AN IGUANODON.]\n\nThe annexed wood-cut of the skeleton of an Iguanodon, found in a coal-mine\nat Bernissant, exactly illustrates the semi-erect position which the\ndragon of fable is reported to have assumed.\n\nAmong the latest surviving beliefs of this nature may be cited the dragon\nof Wantley (Wharncliffe, Yorkshire), who was slain by More of More Hall.\nHe procured a suit of armour studded with spikes, and, proceeding to the\nwell where the dragon had his lair, kicked him in the mouth, where alone\nhe was vulnerable. The Lambton worm is another instance.\n\nThe explanations of these legends attempted by mythologists, based on the\nsupposition that the dragons which are their subjects are simply symbolic\nof natural phenomena, are ingenious, and perhaps in many instances\nsufficient, but do not affect, as I have before remarked, the primitive\nand conserved belief in their previous existence as a reality.\n\nThus, the author of _British Goblins_ suggests that for the prototype of\nthe red dragon, which haunted caverns and guarded treasures in Wales, we\nmust look in the lightning caverns of old Aryan fable, and deduces the\nfire-darting dragons of modern lore from the shining hammer of Thor, and\nthe lightning spear of Odin.\n\nThe stories of ladies guarded by dragons are explained on the\nsupposition[212] that the ladies were kept in the secured part of the\nfeudal castles, round which the walls wound, and that an adventurer had to\nscale the walls to gain access to the ladies; when there were two walls,\nthe authors of romance said that the assaulter overcame two dragons, and\nso on. St. Romain, when he delivered the city of Rouen from a dragon which\nlived in the river Seine, simply protected the city from an overflow,\njust as Apollo (the sun) is symbolically said to have destroyed the\nserpent Python, or, in other words, dried up an overflow. And the dragon\nof Wantley is supposed by Dr. Percy to have been an overgrown rascally\nattorney, who cheated some children of their estates, but was compelled to\ndisgorge by a gentleman named More, who went against him armed with the\n\"spikes of the law,\" whereupon the attorney died of vexation.\n\nFurthermore, our dragoons were so denominated because they were armed with\ndragons, that is, with short muskets, which spouted fire like dragons, and\nhad the head of a dragon wrought upon their muzzle.\n\nThis fanciful device occurs also among the Chinese, for a Jesuit, who\naccompanied the Emperor of China on a journey into Western Tartary in\n1683, says, \"This was the reason of his coming into their country with so\ngreat an army, and such vast military preparations; he having commanded\nseveral pieces of cannon to be brought, in order for them to be discharged\nfrom time to time in the valleys; purposely that the noise and fire,\nissuing from the mouths of the dragons, with which they were adorned,\nmight spread terror around.\"\n\nThough dragons have completely dropped out of all modern works on natural\nhistory, they were still retained and regarded as quite orthodox until a\nlittle before the time of Cuvier; specimens, doubtless fabricated like the\ningeniously constructed mermaid of Mr. Barnum, were exhibited in the\nmuseums; and voyagers occasionally brought back, as authentic stories of\ntheir existence, fables which had percolated through time and nations\nuntil they had found a home in people so remote from their starting point\nas to cause a complete obliteration of their passage and origin.\n\nFor instance, Pigafetta, in a report of the kingdom of Congo,[213]\n\"gathered out of the discourses of Mr. E. Lopes, a Portuguese,\" speaking\nof the province of Bemba, which he defines as \"on the sea coast from the\nriver Ambrize, until the river Coanza towards the south,\" says of\nserpents, \"There are also certain other creatures which, being as big as\nrams, have wings like dragons, with long tails, and long chaps, and divers\nrows of teeth, and feed upon raw flesh. Their colour is blue and green,\ntheir skin painted like scales, and they have _two feet but no more_.[214]\nThe Pagan negroes used to worship them as gods, and at this day you may\nsee divers of them that are kept for a marvel. And because they are very\nrare, the chief lords there curiously preserve them, and suffer the people\nto worship them, which tendeth greatly to their profits by reason of the\ngifts and oblations which the people offer unto them.\"\n\nAnd John Barbot, Agent-General of the Royal Company of Africa, in his\ndescription of the coasts of South Guinea,[215] says: \"Some blacks\nassuring me that they (_i.e._ snakes) were thirty feet long. They also\ntold me there are winged serpents or dragons having a forked tail and a\nprodigious wide mouth, full of sharp teeth, extremely mischievous to\nmankind, and more particularly to small children. If we may credit this\naccount of the blacks, they are of the same sort of winged serpents which\nsome authors tell us are to be found in Abyssinia, being very great\nenemies to the elephants. Some such serpents have been seen about the\nriver Senegal, and they are adorned and worshipped as snakes are at Wida\nor Fida, that is, in a most religious manner.\"\n\nUlysses Aldrovandus,[216] who published a large folio volume on serpents\nand dragons, entirely believed in the existence of the latter, and gives\ntwo wood engravings of a specimen which he professes to have received in\nthe year 1551, of a true dried \u00c6thiopian dragon.\n\nHe describes it as having two feet armed with claws, and two ears, with\nfive prominent and conspicuous tubercles on the back. The whole was\nornamented with green and dusky scales. Above, it bore wings fit for\nflight, and had a long and flexible tail, coloured with yellowish scales,\nsuch as shone on the belly and throat. The mouth was provided with sharp\nteeth, the inferior part of the head, towards the ears, was even, the\npupil of the eye black, with a tawny surrounding, and the nostrils were\ntwo in number, and open.\n\nHe criticises Ammianus Marcellinus for his disbelief in winged dragons,\nand states in further justification of his censure that he had heard, from\nmen worthy of confidence, that in that portion of Pistorian territory\ncalled Cotone, a great dragon was seen whose wings were interwoven with\nsinews a cubit in length, and were of considerable width; this beast also\npossessed two short feet provided with claws like those of an eagle. The\nwhole animal was covered with scales. The gaping mouth was furnished with\nbig teeth, it had ears, and was as big as a hairy bear. Aldrovandus\nsustains his argument by quotations from the classics and reference to\nmore recent authors. He quotes Isidorus as stating that the winged Arabian\nserpents were called Sirens, while their venom was so effective that their\nbite was attended by death rather than pain; this confirms the account of\nSolinus.\n\nHe instances Gesner as saying that, in 1543, he understood that a kind of\ndragon appeared near Styria, within the confines of Germany, which had\nfeet like lizards, and wings after the fashion of a bat, with an incurable\nbite, and says these statements are confirmed by Froschonerus in his work\non Styria (_idque Froschonerus ex Bibliophila Stirio narrabat_). He\nclasses dragons (which he considers as essentially winged animals) either\nas footless or possessing two or four feet.\n\nHe refers to a description by Scaliger[217] of a species of serpent four\nfeet long, and as thick as a man's arm, with cartilaginous wings pendent\nfrom the sides. He also mentions an account by Brodeus, of a winged dragon\nwhich was brought to Francis, the invincible King of the Gauls, by a\ncountryman who had killed it with a mattock near Sanctones, and which was\nstated to have been seen by many men of approved reputation, who thought\nit had migrated from transmarine regions by the assistance of the wind.\n\nCardan[218] states that whilst he resided in Paris he saw five winged\ndragons in the William Museum; these were biped, and possessed of wings so\nslender that it was hardly possible that they could fly with them. Cardan\ndoubted their having been fabricated, since they had been sent in vessels\nat different times, and yet all presented the same remarkable form.\nBellonius states that he had seen whole carcases of winged dragons,\ncarefully prepared, which he considered to be of the same kind as those\nwhich fly out of Arabia into Egypt; they were thick about the belly, had\ntwo feet, and two wings, whole like those of a bat, and a snake's tail.\n\nIt would be useless to multiply examples of the stories, no doubt fables,\ncurrent in medi\u00e6val times, and I shall therefore only add here two of\nthose which, though little known, are probably fair samples of the whole.\nIt is amusing to find the story of Sindbad's escape from the Valley of\nDiamonds reappearing in Europe during the Middle Ages, with a substitution\nof the dragon for the roc. Athanasius Kircher, in the _Mundus\nSubterraneus_, gives the story of a Lucerne man who, in wandering over\nMount Pilate, tumbled into a cavern from which there was no exit, and, in\nsearching round, discovered the lair of two dragons, who proved more\ntender than their reputation. Unharmed by them he remained for the six\nwinter months, without any other sustenance than that which he derived\nfrom licking the moisture off the rock, in which he followed their\nexample. Noticing the dragons preparing for flying out on the approach of\nspring, by stretching and unfolding their wings, he attached himself by\nhis girdle to the tail of one of them, and so was restored to the upper\nworld, where, unfortunately, the return to the diet to which he had been\nso long unaccustomed killed him. In memory, however, of the event, he left\nhis goods to the Church, and a monument illustrative of his escape was\nerected in the Ecclesiastical College of St. Leodegaris at Lucerne.\nKircher had himself seen this, and it was accepted as an irrefragable\nproof of the story.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 39.--THE DRAGONS OF MOUNT PILATE. (_From the \"Mundus\nSubterraneus\" of Athanasius Kircher._)]\n\nAnother story is an account also given by A. Kircher,[219] of the fight\nbetween a dragon and a knight named Gozione, in the island of Rhodes, in\nthe year 1349 A.D. This monster is described as of the bulk of a horse or\nox, with a long neck and serpent's head--tipped with mule's ears--the\nmouth widely gaping and furnished with sharp teeth, eyes sparkling as\nthough they flashed fire, four feet provided with claws like a bear, and a\ntail like a crocodile, the whole body being coated with hard scales. It\nhad two wings, blue above, but blood-coloured and yellow underneath; it\nwas swifter than a horse, progressing partly by flight and partly by\nrunning. The knight, being solicited by the chief magistrate, retired into\nthe country, when he constructed an imitation dragon of paper and tow, and\npurchased a charger and two courageous English dogs; he ordered slaves to\nsnap the jaws and twist the tail about by means of cords, while he urged\nhis horse and dogs on to the attack. After practising for two months,\nthese latter could scarcely retain their frenzy at the mere sight of the\nimage. He then proceeded to Rhodes, and after offering his vows in the\nChurch of St. Stephen, repaired to the fatal cave, instructing his slaves\nto witness the combat from a lofty rock, and hasten to him with remedies,\nif after slaying the dragon he should be overcome by the poisonous\nexhalations, or to save themselves, in the event of his being slain.\nEntering the lair he excited the beast with shouts and cries, and then\nawaited it outside. The dragon appearing, allured by the expectation of an\neasy prey, rushed on him, both running and flying; the knight shattered\nhis spear at the first onset on the scaly carcase, and leaping from his\nhorse continued the contest with sword and shield. The dragon, raising\nitself on its hind legs, endeavoured to grasp the knight with his fore\nones, giving the latter an opportunity of striking him in the softer parts\nof the neck. At last both fell together, the knight being exhausted by the\nfatigue of the conflict, or by mephitic exhalations. The slaves, according\nto instruction, rushed forward, dragged off the monster from their master,\nand fetched water in their caps to restore him; after which he mounted his\nhorse and returned in triumph to the city, where he was at first\nungratefully received, but afterwards rewarded with the highest ranks of\nthe order, and created magistrate of the province.[220]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 40.--THE DRAGON OF THE DRACHENFELDT. (_Athanasius\nKircher._)]\n\nKircher had a very pious belief in dragons. He says: \"Since monstrous\nanimals of this kind for the most part select their lairs and\nbreeding-places in subterraneous caverns, I have considered it proper to\ninclude them under the head of subterraneous beasts. I am aware that two\nkinds of this animal have been distinguished by authors, the one with, the\nother without, wings. No one either can or ought to doubt concerning the\nlatter kind of creature, unless perchance he dares to contradict the Holy\nScripture, for it would be an impious thing to say it when Daniel makes\nmention of the divine worship accorded to the dragon Bel by the\nBabylonians, and after the mention of the dragon made in other parts of\nthe sacred writings.\"\n\nHarris, in his _Collection of Voyages_,[221] gives a singular _resum\u00e9_. He\nsays:--\"We have, in an ancient author, a very large and circumstantial\naccount of the taking of a dragon on the frontiers of Ethiopia, which was\none and twenty feet in length, and was carried to Ptolemy Philadelphus,\nwho very bountifully rewarded such as ran the hazard of procuring him this\nbeast.--Diodorus Siculus, lib. iii.... Yet terrible as these were they\nfall abundantly short of monsters of the same species in India, with\nrespect to which St. Ambrose[222] tells us that there were dragons seen in\nthe neighbourhood of the Ganges nearly seventy cubits in length. It was\none of this size that Alexander and his army saw in a cave, where it was\nfed, either out of reverence or from curiosity, by the inhabitants; and\nthe first lightning of its eyes, together with its terrible hissing, made\na strong impression on the Macedonians, who, with all their courage, could\nnot help being frighted at so horrid a spectacle.[223] The dragon is\nnothing more than a serpent of enormous size; and they formerly\ndistinguished three sorts of them in the Indies, viz. such as were found\nin the mountains, such as were bred in caves or in the flat country, and\nsuch as were found in fens and marshes.\n\n\"The first is the largest of all, and are covered with scales as\nresplendent as polished gold.[224] These have a kind of beard hanging from\ntheir lower jaw, their eyebrows large, and very exactly arched; their\naspect the most frightful that can be imagined, and their cry loud and\nshrill;[225] their crests of a bright yellow, and a protuberance on their\nheads of the colour of a burning coal.\n\n\"Those of the flat country differ from the former in nothing but in having\ntheir scales of a silver colour,[226] and in their frequenting rivers, to\nwhich the former never come.\n\n\"Those that live in marshes and fens are of a dark colour, approaching to\na black, move slowly, have no crest, or any rising upon their heads.[227]\nStrabo says that the painting them with wings is the effect of fancy, and\ndirectly contrary to truth, but other naturalists and travellers both\nancient and modern affirm that there are some of these species\nwinged.[228] Pliny says their bite is not venomous, other authors deny\nthis. Pliny gives a long catalogue of medical and magical properties,\nwhich he ascribes to the skin, flesh, bones, eyes, and teeth of the\ndragon, also a valuable stone in its head. 'They hung before the mouth of\nthe dragon den a piece of stuff flowered with gold, which attracted the\neyes of the beast, till by the sound of soft music they lulled him to\nsleep, and then cut off his head.'\"\n\nI do not find Harris's statement in Diodorus Siculus, the author quoted,\nbut there is the very circumstantial description of a serpent thirty\ncubits (say forty-five feet) in length, which was captured alive by\nstratagem, the first attempt by force having resulted in the death of\nseveral of the party. This was conveyed to Ptolemy II. at Alexandria,\nwhere it was placed in a den or chamber suitable for exhibition, and\nbecame an object of general admiration. Diodorus says: \"When, therefore,\nso enormous a serpent was open for all to see, credence could no longer be\nrefused the Ethiopians, or their statements be received as fables; for\nthey say that they have seen in their country serpents so vast that they\ncan not only swallow cattle and other beasts of the same size, but that\nthey also fight with the elephant, embracing his limbs so tightly in the\nfold of their coils that he is unable to move, and, raising their neck up\nunderneath his trunk, direct their head against the elephant's eyes;\nhaving destroyed his sight by fiery rays like lightning, they dash him to\nthe ground, and, having done so, tear him to pieces.\"\n\nIn an account of the castle of Fahender, formerly one of the most\nconsiderable castles of _Fars_, it is stated--\"Such is the historical\nfoundation of an opinion generally prevalent, that the subterranean\nrecesses of this deserted edifice are still replete with riches. The\ntalisman has not been forgotten; and tradition adds another guardian to\nthe previous deposit, a dragon or winged serpent; this sits for ever\nbrooding over the treasure which it cannot enjoy.\"\n\nI shall examine, on a future occasion, how far those figures correspond to\nthe Persian ideas of dragons and serpents, the _azhdaha_ (\u0627\u0698\u062f\u0647\u0627 = dragon)\nand _m\u00e1r_ (\u0645\u0627\u0631 = snake), which, as various poets relate, are constant\nguardians of every subterraneous _ganj_ (\u06af\u0646\u062c = treasure).\n\nThe _m\u00e1r_ at least may be supposed the same as that serpent which guards\nthe golden fruit in the garden of the Hesperides.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nTHE CHINESE DRAGON.\n\n\nWe now approach the consideration of a country in which the belief in the\nexistence of the dragon is thoroughly woven into the life of the whole\nnation. Yet at the same time it has developed into such a medley of\nmythology and superstition as to materially strengthen our conviction of\nthe reality of the basis upon which the belief has been founded, though it\ninvolves us in a mass of intricate perplexities in connection with the\ndetermination of its actual period of existence.\n\nThere is no country so conservative as China, no nation which can boast of\nsuch high antiquity, as a collective people permanently occupying the same\nregions, and preserving records of their polity, manners, and surroundings\nfrom the earliest date of their occupation of the territory which still\nremains the centre of their civilization; and there is none in which\ndragon culture has been more persistently maintained down to the present\nday.\n\nIts mythologies, histories, religions, popular stories, and proverbs, all\nteem with references to a mysterious being who has a physical nature and\nspiritual attributes. Gifted with an accepted form, which he has the\nsupernatural power of casting off for the assumption of others, he has the\npower of influencing the weather, producing droughts or fertilizing rains\nat pleasure, of raising tempests and allaying them. Volumes could be\ncompiled from the scattered legends which everywhere abound relating to\nthis subject; but as they are, for the most part, like our medi\u00e6val\nlegends, echoes of each other, no useful purpose would be served by doing\nso, and I therefore content myself with drawing, somewhat copiously, from\none or two of the chief sources of information.\n\nAs, however, Chinese literature is but little known or valued in England,\nit is desirable that I should devote some space to the consideration of\nthe authority which may be fairly claimed for the several works from which\nI shall make quotations, bearing on the Chinese testimony of the past\nexistence, and date of existence, of the dragon and other so-called\nmythical animals.\n\nIncidental comments on natural history form a usual part of every Chinese\ngeographical work, but collective descriptions of animals are rare in the\nliterature of the present, and almost unique in that of the past. We are,\ntherefore, forced to rely on the side-lights occasionally afforded by the\nolder classics, and on one or two works of more than doubtful authenticity\nwhich claim, equally with them, to be of high antiquity. The works to\nwhich I propose to refer more immediately are the _Yih King_, the _Bamboo\nBooks_, the _Shu King_, the _'Rh Ya_, the _Shan Hai King_, the _P\u0103n Ts'ao\nKang Muh_, and the _Yuen Kien L\u00e9i Han_.\n\nAs it is well known that all the ancient books, with the exception of\nthose on medicine, divination, and husbandry, were ordered to be destroyed\nin the year B.C. 212 by the Emperor Tsin Shi Hwang Ti, under the\nthreatened penalty for non-compliance of branding and labour on the walls\nfor four years, and that a persecution of the _literati_ was commenced by\nhim in the succeeding year, which resulted in the burying alive in pits of\nfour hundred and sixty of their number, it may be reasonably objected that\nthe claims to high antiquity which some of the Chinese classics put\nforth, are, to say the least, doubtful, and, in some instances, highly\nimprobable.\n\nThis question has been well considered by Mr. Legge in his valuable\ntranslation of the Chinese Classics. He points out that the tyrant died\nwithin three years after the burning of the books, and that the Han\ndynasty was founded only eleven years after that date, in B.C. 201,\nshortly after which attempts were commenced to recover the ancient\nliterature. He concludes that vigorous efforts to carry out the edict\nwould not be continued longer than the life of its author--that is, not\nfor more than three years--and that the materials from which the classics,\nas they come down to us, were compiled and edited in the two centuries\npreceding the Christian era, were genuine remains, going back to a still\nmore remote period.\n\n\nTHE \"YIH KING\" OR \"YH KING.\"\n\nThe _Yih King_ is one of those books specially excepted from the general\ndestruction of the books. References in it to the dragon are not numerous,\nand will be found as quotations in the extracts from the large\nencyclop\u00e6dia _Yuen Kien L\u00e9i Han_, given hereafter. This work has hitherto\nbeen very imperfectly understood even by the Chinese themselves, but the\nrecent researches of M. Terrien de la Couperie lead us to suppose that our\ntranslations have been imperfect, from the fact that many symbols have\ndifferent significations in the present day to those which they had in\nvery ancient times, and that a special dictionary of archaic meanings must\nbe prepared before an accurate translation can be arrived at, a\nconsummation which may shortly be expected from his labours. I find in my\nnotes, taken from the manuscript of a lecture given before the Ningpo Book\nClub in 1870, by the Rev. J. Butler, of the Presbyterian Mission, that\n\"the way in which the dragon came to represent the Emperor and the Throne\nof China[229] is accounted for in the _Yih King_ as follows:--The chief\ndragon has his abode in the sky, and all clouds and vapours, winds and\nrains are under his control. He can send rain or withhold it at his\npleasure, and hence all vegetable life is dependent on him. So the\nEmperor, from his exalted throne, watches over the interests of his\npeople, and confers on them those temporal and spiritual blessings without\nwhich they would perish.\" I abstain from dwelling on this or any other\npassages in the _Yih King_, pending the translation promised by M. De la\nCouperie, the nature of whose views on it are condensed in the note[230]\nattached, being extracts from his papers on the subject.\n\n\nTHE ANNALS OF THE BAMBOO BOOKS.\n\nThese are annals from which a great part of Chinese chronology is derived.\nMr. Legge gives the history of their discovery, as related in the history\nof the Emperor Woo, the first of the sovereigns of Tsin, as follows:\n\n\"In the fifth year of his reign, under title of H\u00eben-ning[231] [= A.D.\n279], some lawless parties, in the department of Keih, dug open the grave\nof King S\u00ebang of Wei [died B.C. 295] and found a number of bamboo tablets,\nwritten over, in the small seal character, with more than one hundred\nthousand words, which were deposited in the imperial library.\"\n\nMr. Legge adds, \"The Emperor referred them to the principal scholars in\nthe service of the Government, to adjust the tables in order, having first\ntranscribed them in modern characters. Among them were a copy of the _Yih\nKing_, in two books, agreeing with that generally received, and a book of\nannals, in twelve or thirteen chapters, beginning with the reign of\nHwang-te, and coming down to the sixteenth year of the last emperor of the\nChow dynasty, B.C. 298.\"\n\n\"The reader will be conscious of a disposition to reject at once the\naccount of the discovery of the Bamboo Books. He has read so much of the\nrecovery of portions of the Shoo from the walls of houses that he must be\ntired of this mode of finding lost treasures, and smiles when he is now\ncalled on to believe that an old tomb opened and yielded its literary\nstores long after the human remains that had been laid in it had mingled\nwith the dust. From the death of King S\u00ebang to A.D. 279 were 574 years.\"\n\nAgainst this, however, which is not a very weighty objection, if we\nconsider the length of time that Egyptian papyri have been entombed before\ntheir restoration to the light, Mr. Legge ranges preponderating evidence\nin favour of their authenticity, and concludes that \"they had, no doubt,\nbeen lying for nearly six centuries in the tomb in which they had been\nfirst deposited when they were then brought anew to light.\"\n\nThe annals consist of two portions, one forming what is undoubtedly the\noriginal text, and consisting of short notices of occurrences, such as,\n\"In his fiftieth year, in the autumn, in the seventh month, on the day\nKang shin [fifty-seventh of cycle] ph\u0153nixes, male and female, arrived,\"\n&c. &c. It also records earthquakes, obituaries, accessions, and\nremarkable natural phenomena. The other portion is interspersed between\nthese, in the form of rather diffuse, though not very numerous, notes,\nwhich by some are supposed to be a portion of the original text, by\nothers, to have been added by the commentator Shin Yo [A.D. 502-557].\n\nIn the latter, frequent references are made to the appearance of ph\u0153nixes\n(the _fung wang_), _ki-lins_ (unicorns), and dragons.\n\nIn the former we find only incidental references to either of these, such\nas, \"XIV. The Emperor K\u2018ung-kea. In his first year (B.C. 1611), when he\ncame to the throne, he dwelt on the west of the Ho. He displaced the chief\nof Ch\u2018e-wei,[232] and appointed Lew-luy[233] to feed the dragons.\"\n\nAccording to the latter, Hwang Ti (B.C. 2697) had a dragon-like\ncountenance; while the mother of Yaou (B.C. 2356) conceived him by a\ndragon. The legend is: \"After she was grown up, whenever she looked into\nany of the three Ho, there was a dragon following her. One morning the\ndragon came with a picture and writing. The substance of the writing\nwas--the Red one has received the favour of Heaven.... The red dragon made\nK\u2018ing-teo pregnant.\"\n\nAgain, when Yaou had been on the throne seventy years, a dragon-horse\nappeared bearing a scheme, which he laid on the table and went away.\n\nThe Emperor Shun (B.C. 2255) is said to have had a dragon countenance.\n\nIt is also said of Yu (the first emperor of the Hia dynasty) that when the\nfortunes of Hia were about to rise, all vegetation was luxuriant, and\ngreen dragons lay in the borders; and that \"on his way to the south, when\ncrossing the Kiang, in the middle of the stream, two yellow dragons took\nthe boat on their backs. The people were all afraid; but Yu laughed, and\nsaid, 'I received my appointment from Heaven, and labour with all my\nstrength to nourish men. To be born is the course of nature; to die is by\n_Heaven's_ decree. Why be troubled by the dragons?' On this the dragons\nwent away, dragging their tails.\"\n\nFrom these extracts it will be seen that the dragon, although universally\nbelieved in, was already mythical and legendary, so far as the Chinese\nwere concerned.\n\n\nTHE \"SHU KING\"[234] OR \"SHOO KING\"\n\nis, according to Dr. Legge, simply a collection of historic memorials,\nextending over a space of one thousand seven hundred years, but on no\nconnected method, and with great gaps between them.\n\nIt opens with the reign of Yaou (B.C. 2357), and contains interesting\ndetails of the polity of those remote ages.\n\nIt contains a record of the great inundation occurring during his reign,\nwhich Mr. Legge does not identify with the Deluge of Genesis, but which\nDr. Gutzlaff and other missionary Sinologues consider to be the same.\n\nIt is interesting to find in this work, claiming so high an antiquity,\nreferences to an antiquity which had preceded it--a bygone civilization,\nperhaps--as follows, in the book called _Yih and Ts\u2018ih_.[235] The emperor\n(Shun, B.C. 2255 to 2205) says, \"I wish to see the emblematic figures of\nthe ancients--the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountain, the dragon, and\nthe flowery fowl, which are depicted _on the upper garment_; the temple\ncup, the aquatic grass, the flames, the grains of rice, the hatchet, and\nthe symbol of distinction, which are embroidered _on the lower garment_.\n_I wish to see_ all these displayed with the five colours, so as to form\nthe official robes; it is yours to adjust them clearly.\" Here the dragon\nis chosen as an emblematic figure, in association with eleven others,\nwhich are objects of every-day knowledge, and this, I think, establishes a\npresumption that it itself was not at that date considered an object of\ndoubtful credibility.\n\nSimilarly, we find the twelve symbolical animals, representing the twelve\nbranches of the Horary characters (dating, see Williams' Dictionary, from\nB.C. 2637), to be the rat, the ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse,\nsheep, monkey, cock, dog, boar, where the dragon is the only one about\nwhose existence a question can be raised. _From this latter we learn that\nthere was no confusion of meaning then between dragons and serpents_; the\ndistinction of the two creatures was clearly recognized, just as it was\nmany centuries afterwards by Mencius (4th century B.C.), who, in writing\nof these early periods, says, \"In the time of Yaou, the waters, flowing\nout of their channels, inundated the Middle Kingdom. Snakes and dragons\noccupied it, and the people had no place where they could settle\nthemselves\"; and again, \"Yu dug open their obstructed channels, and\nconducted them to the sea. He drove away the snakes and dragons,[236] and\nforced them into the grassy marshes.\"\n\n\nTHE \"'RH YA.\"\n\nThe _'Rh Ya_ or _Urh Ya_,[237] also transliterated _Eul Ya_ and _\u0152l Ya_, a\ndictionary of terms used in the Chinese classics, but more especially of\nthose in the _Shi King_, or \"Book of Odes,\" a collection of ancient\nballads compiled and arranged by Confucius.\n\nThere is a tradition that it was commenced by the Duke of Chow 1100 B.C.,\nand completed or enlarged by Tsz Hia, a disciple of Confucius.\n\nDr. Bretschneider suggests that each heading or phrase in the original\nbook merely represents the book names and the popular names of the plants\nand animals.\n\nThe bulk of the work at present extant consists of the commentary by Kwoh\nP\u2018oh (about A.D. 300) and, in some editions, of additional commentaries by\nother authors.\n\nThe illustrations selected from it for the present volume are reduced from\nthose in a very fine folio copy, for the loan of which I am indebted to\nMr. Thomas Kingsmill, of Shanghai.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 41.--THE BANNER CALLED TSING K'I. (_From the 'Rh\nYa._)]\n\nThese profess to date back so far as the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960 to A.D.\n1127), and it is interesting to observe that the representations of tools\nof husbandry then in use (Fig. 50, p. 232), and of the methods of hawking\n(Fig. 46, p. 225), fishing (Fig. 47, p. 227), and the like, are such as\nmight be taken without alteration from those of the present day.\n\nThe drawings made by Kwoh P\u2018oh appear to have been lost in the sixth\ncentury A.D.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 42.--THE K'I WITH BELLS. (_From the 'Rh Ya._)]\n\nNotices of the dragon only appear incidentally in the _'Rh Ya_ as forming\npart of the decoration of banners, &c.; but descriptions and figures of\nthe Chinese unicorn are given, and of other remarkable animals, of which I\nshall eventually take notice.\n\nThese figures of dragons in the drawings of banners (Figs. 41-44) are\nespecially interesting; as there is fair reason to suppose that they at\nleast have been reproduced time after time from pre-existing ones with\ntolerable accuracy; and that they give us a good notion of the general\ncharacter of the animal they purport to represent.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 43.--THE CHAO BANNER. (_From the 'Rh Ya._)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 44.--THE K'I OR KIAO LUNG STANDARD. (_From the San Li\nTu._)]\n\nI have appended a few _fac-similes_ of wood engravings from the _'Rh Ya_\non general subjects, in anticipation of others dealing with specialities,\nwhich will be found in their appropriate positions; they will serve to\ncorrect the notion that the Chinese are entirely devoid of artistic power\nand imagination (Figs. 46-49).\n\n\nTHE \"SHAN HAI KING\" OR CLASSIC OF MOUNTAIN AND SEAS.\n\nShort notices of this remarkable work are given by Mr. Alexander\nWylie[238] and Dr. Bretschneider,[239] and a more exhaustive one by M.\nBazin.[240]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 45.--ONE OF THE EAVE TILES FROM THE OLD IMPERIAL\nPALACE OF NANKIN, showing the Five-clawed or Imperial Dragon, an emblem\nwhich cannot be borne by any outside of the Imperial service, under the\npenalty of death. Commoners have to be satisfied with a four-clawed\ndragon.]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 46.--RETURN FROM THE CHASE. (_From the 'Rh Ya._)]\n\nIt is also largely quoted by Williams in his valuable Chinese dictionary.\nOtherwise Sinologues appear to have entirely ignored it.\n\nMr. Wylie remarks that \"it has long been looked upon with distrust; but\nsome scholars of great ability have recently investigated its contents,\nand come to the conclusion that it is at least as old as the Chow dynasty,\nand probably of a date even anterior to that period.\"\n\nM. Bazin speaks of it as a fabulous description of the world, and\nattributes it to Taouist writers in the fourth century of our era, who\nforged the authority of the great Y\u00fc and Peh Yi. He thinks it would be\nuseless to attempt the identification of the localities given in it, and\noffers a translation of a portion of the first chapter in support of his\nviews.\n\nThe value of his translation is impaired by his making no distinction\nbetween the text and the commentary, and he appears to have possessed an\ninferior and incomplete version.\n\nIn an editorial article in the _North China Herald_ of May 9, 1884\n(presumably by Mr. Balfour, an excellent Sinologue), it is referred to the\ndate of Ch'in Shih Huang, who connected the Heptarchy into a single\nkingdom, and conquered Cochin China about B.C. 222.\n\nKwoh Po\u2018h[241] (A.D. 276-324), who prepared an edition which has descended\nto us, ascribes a date to it 3,000 years anterior to his time.\n\nLiu Hsiu,[241] of the Han dynasty (B.C. 206 to A.D. 25), states that the\nEmperor Y\u00fc, the founder of the Hia dynasty (B.C. 2205), employed Yih and\nPeh Yi as geographers and natural historians, who produced the \"Book of\nWonders by Land and Sea.\" While Yang Sun,[241] of the Ming dynasty\n(commencing A.D. 1368), states in his after-preface that the Emperor Y\u00fc\nhad nine metal vases cast, on which all wonderful or rare animals were\nengraved, the commoner ones being recorded in the annals of Y\u00fc; and that\nK\u2018ung Kiah (of the Hia dynasty, B.C. 1879), included this varied\ninformation in the present work.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 47.--ONE MODE OF CAPTURING FISH. (_From the 'Rh Ya._)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 48.--SUMMER. (_From the 'Rh Ya._)]\n\nIt is to be hoped that at no distant date some competent Sinologue will be\ninduced to furnish a full translation of this remarkable work, with an\nadequate commentary.\n\nThere is no doubt that many would be deterred from doing so by an\nimpression that a collection of fabulous stories, treating of supernatural\nbeings and apparently impossible monsters, is unworthy the consideration\nof mature intellect, and only fit to be relegated to the domain of Jack\nthe Giant Killer and other childish stories. After a close examination of\nthe book, I apprehend that this view of it can hardly be maintained. That\nsuch stories or descriptions are interspersed throughout the work is not\nto be disputed; but a large proportion of it consists of apparently\nauthentic geographical records, including, as is customary with all works\nof a similar nature in China, descriptions of the most remarkable objects\nof natural history occurring in the different regions. I think it will be\nfound possible to identify many of these at the present day, some may be\nconjectured at, and the residue are not more numerous in proportion than\nthe similar fables or perverted accounts which figure in the western\nclassic volumes of Ctesias, Aristotle, Pliny, and even much later writers.\nSo far as the supernatural portions are concerned, it must be remembered\nthat, even so late as the days of the childhood of Sir Humphrey Davy,\npixies were still supposed by the lower classes to trace the fairy rings\nin Cornwall; that quite lately, and perhaps among certain classes to the\npresent day, the existence of the banshee in Ireland, of the kelpie in\nScotland, and of persons gifted with the mysterious and awe-inspiring\npower of second sight, was religiously believed in. There are few\nimportant houses in England whose ancestral walls have not concealed an\napparition connected with the destinies of the family, appearing only on\nfatal or eventful occasions; and in the days of the sapient James I. in\nEngland, and among the Pilgrim Fathers in the American States, the\nexistence of wizards and witches was universally accepted as an undeniable\nfact, proved by hundreds of instances of extorted or voluntary confession,\nand supplemented by the concurrent testimony of a still greater number of\nwitnesses who genuinely believed themselves to have been the spectators or\nvictims of the supernatural powers of the accused.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 49.--MANTIS (A VERY CHARACTERISTIC FIGURE). (_From the\n'Rh Ya._)]\n\nAn historian of these later times might well have described such things as\nrealities, and we should not be disposed, on account of his having done\nso, to question the validity of his description of other objects or\ncreatures existing at the period, presuming them to be more consistent\nwith our present notions of possibility.\n\nNo one, now-a-days, would discredit the veracity of Marco Polo because he\nspeaks of enormous serpents in Carajan, possessing two feet, each armed\nwith a single claw. That there was a solid foundation for his story is\nadmitted, and commentators are only at variance as to whether the basis\nwas a large species of python, such as still exists in Southern China, or\na gigantic alligator, of which he might have seen a mutilated specimen.\n\nIt must also be borne in mind that the existence of some gigantic saurian,\nnow extinct, possessing two limbs only, in place of four, is not an\nimpossibility; as the small lizard, Chirotes, is in that condition, and\nalso the North American genus _Siren_, belonging to the Newts.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 50.--TOOLS OF HUSBANDRY. (_From the 'Rh Ya._)]\n\nI notice that Retzoch, in his designs to illustrate Schiller's poem, \"The\nFight with the Dragon,\" makes the monster have only two fore-legs, and\nthis appears to have been a common medi\u00e6val conception of it. Aldrovandus\nand Gesner both give figures of biped dragons. There is also a curious\ndrawing in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1749--which is transferred into\nthe pages of the _Encyclop\u00e6dia of Philadelphia_, apparently a piracy of an\nEnglish Cyclop\u00e6dia, of what is styled a sea-dragon, four feet long, which\nstands bolt upright on two legs, and, like Barnum's mermaid, was probably\na triumph of art.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 51.--DRACO BIPES APTEROS CAPTUS IN AGRO BONONIENSI.\n(_Aldrovandus._)]\n\nAldrovandus was probably imposed on by some waggish friend, in reference\nto the biped dragon without wings, two cubits long, which was said to have\nbeen killed by a countryman near Bonn in 1572 A.D., and which he first\nfigured and then placed in his museum; and he evidently fully believed in\nthe Ethiopian winged biped dragon, of which he gives two figures, but\nwithout quoting his authority.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 52.--DRACO \u00c6THIOPICUS. (_Aldrovandus._)]\n\nGesner gives a similar figure, after Belon, of the winged dragon of Mount\nSinai; but Athanasius Kircher is more liberal, and gives his dragon not\nonly wings but four legs.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 53.--THE FOUR-FOOTED WINGED DRAGON. (_Kircher._)]\n\nIn poetry we find Ashtaroth described as appearing to Faust in the form of\na serpent with two little feet.\n\nAs to the mysterious powers imputed throughout the _Shan Hai King_ to\ndifferent creatures, of controlling drought, rain, and fire, or acting,\nwhen partaken of, as remedies for sundry ills and ailments, it may be\nasked whether we ourselves are free from analogous superstitious beliefs?\nWill a sailor view without uneasiness the destruction of a Mother Carey's\nchicken, or a Dutchman, of a stork? Or is the Chinese pharmacop\u0153ia of the\npresent day much more trustworthy as to many of its items?\n\nAs to the human-visaged creatures, both snakes and four-footed beasts, may\nwe not perhaps put them on a par with other fancied resemblances, which\nhold to the present day, of (for example) the hippopotamus, to a\nriver-horse, of the pipe-fish, known as the hippocampus, to a sea-horse;\nof the manatee to a merman, and the like?\n\nAnd, lastly, are the composite creatures, partly bird and partly\nreptilian, occasionally referred to, so entirely incredible? Is it not\nbarely possible that some of those intervening types which we know from\nthe teaching of Darwin, must have existed; which we know, from the\nresearches of pal\u00e6ontology have existed; types intermediate to the\n_Struthionid\u00e6_, the most reptilian of birds, and the _Chlamyd\u00e6_, the most\navian of reptiles--is it not possible that some of these may have\ncontinued their existence down to a late date, and that the tradition of\nthese existing as the descendants or the analogues of the Arch\u00e6opteryx,\nand the toothed birds of America, may be embalmed in the pages in\nquestion? Is it impossible? Do not the Trigonias, the Terebratulas, the\nMarsupials, and, in part, the vegetation of Australia, form the spare\nsurviving descendants of the forms which characterised the oolitic period\non our own shores? Why, then, may not a few cretaceous and early tertiary\nforms have struggled on, through a happy combination of circumstances, to\nan aged and late existence in other lands.\n\nAfter long, repeated, and careful examination of the _Shan Hai King_, I\narrive at a very different conclusion from M. Bazin. I hold it to be an\nauthentic and precious memorial which has been handed down to us from\nremote antiquity, the value of which has been unrecognised owing to the\nbook being unfortunately a fusion of two and perhaps three distinct works.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 54.--THE PA SNAKE. (_From the Shan Hai King._)]\n\nThe oldest was the _Shan King_, and consists of five volumes, devoted\nrespectively to the northern, southern, eastern, western, and central\nmountain ranges. This is devoid of all reference to persons and habited\nplaces. It is simply an abstract of the results of a topographical survey\nwhich may not impossibly have been, as it claims, the one conducted by Y\u00fc.\n\nIt contains lists of mountains and rivers, with valuable notes on their\nmineral productions, fauna and flora. It also gives lists of the\ndivinities controlling or belonging to each mountain range, and the\nsacrifices suitable to them. There are few extravagances in this portion\nof the work.\n\nThe remainder is devoted to a history of the regions without and within\nthe four _hai_ or seas bounding the empire, and those constituting what is\ncalled the Great Desert. Here extravagant stories, myths, accounts of\nwonderful people, references to states, cities, and tribes are mingled\nwith geographical notices which, from their repetition, show that this\nportion is itself resolvable into two distinct works of more modern date,\nwhose origin was probably posterior to the wave of Taouist superstition\nwhich swept over China in the first six centuries of our era. I must add\nthat the term, \"within the four seas\" does not imply the arrogant belief,\nas is generally supposed, that this Empire extended to the ocean on every\nside, the archaic meaning being the very different one of frontier or\nboundary region; while the word \"desert\" has a similar signification.\n\nIn that more credible portion of the work which I believe to have been the\noriginal _Shan King_, references to dragons are infrequent. In some\ninstances the _kiao_ (which I interpret as the gavial) is specifically\nreferred to; in others the word _lung_ is used; thus, it speaks of dragons\nand turtles abounding in the Ti River, flowing from one of the northern\nmountains east of the Ho. From the context, however, an aquatic creature,\nand probably an alligator, is indicated. From the entire text I gather\nthat the true terrestrial dragon was not an inmate of China, at all events\nafter the period of Y\u00fc. I further infer that it was a feared and much\nrespected denizen of the more or less arid highlands, whence the early\nChinese either migrated or were driven, and from which point the dragon\ntraditions flowed pretty evenly east and west, beat against the Himalayan\nchain on the south, and only penetrated India in a later and modified\nform.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 55.--FLYING SNAKES FROM THE SIEN MOUNTAINS (CENTRAL\nMOUNTAINS). (_Shan Hai King._)]\n\nThere is a short reference to the Ying Lung or winged dragon; it is as\nfollows:--\n\n\"In the north-east corner of the Great Desert are mountains called\nHiung-li and T'u K'iu. The Ying Lung lives at the south extremity.\n\n    \"[Commentary.--The Ying Lung is a dragon with wings.]\n\n\"He killed Tsz Yiu and Kwa Fu.\n\n    \"[Commentary.--Tsz Yiu was a soldier.]\n\n\"He could not ascend to heaven.\n\n    \"[Commentary.--The Ying Lung dwells beneath the earth.]\n\n\"So there is often drought.\n\n    \"[Commentary.--Because no rain was made above.]\n\n\"When there is a drought, the form of the Ying dragon is made, and then\nthere is much rain.\n\n    \"[Commentary.--Now the false dragon is for this purpose, to influence\n    (the heaven); men are not able to do it.]\"\n\nThe better printed copies of this work are illustrated with a very\ntruculent-looking dragon with outspread wings. A stone delineation of a\ndragon with wings forms the ornamentation of the bridge at Nincheang Foo.\nIn the interior of China, it was observed by Mr. Cooper, and is given in\nhis _Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce_. These are the only cases in China\nin which I have come across illustrations of dragons with genuine wings.\nAs a rule, the dragon appears to be represented as having the power of\ntranslating itself without mechanical agency, sailing among the clouds, or\nrising from the sea at pleasure.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 56.--PING I (ICY EXTERMINATOR), A RIVER DIVINITY (?).\nFrom within the Sea and North. (_Shan Hai King._)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 57.--THE EMPEROR K'I, OF THE HIA DYNASTY. From without\nthe Sea and West. (_Shan Hai King._)]\n\nThe _Shan Hai King_ contains valuable notices of winged snakes and\ngigantic serpents, as, for example, the so-called singing snakes. Speaking\nof the Sien mountain (one of the Central Mountains), it says: \"Gold and\njade abound. It is barren. The Sien river issues and flows north into the\nI river. On it are many singing snakes. They look like snakes, but have\nfour wings. Their voice is like the beating of stones. When they appear\nthere will be great drought in the city.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 58.--Y\u00dc KIANG (A GOD). Without the Sea and North.\n(_Shan Hai King._)]\n\nThe Pa snake, already spoken of, is described as capable of gorging an\nelephant. The Ta Hien mountains were reputed uninhabitable on account of\nthe presence of gigantic serpents (pythons?), which were said to have been\nof the colour of mugwort, to have possessed hairs like pig's bristles\nprojecting between the lines of their riband-like markings. Rumour had\nmagnified their length to one hundred fathoms, and they made a noise like\nthe beating of a drum or the striking of a watchman's wooden clapper. The\nSiong Jan mountains were infested by serpents, also gigantic, but of a\ndifferent species.\n\nThe annexed wood-cuts (Figs. 56, 57) of Ping I (Icy exterminator), and the\nEmperor K'i (B.C. 2197), each in cars, driving two dragons, are\ninteresting in connection with the later fable of Medea and Triptolemus.\nThe two stories were probably derived from a common source; the Chinese\nversion, however, being much the older of the two.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 59.--THE TYPHOON DRAGON. (_From a Chinese Painting._)]\n\nThe text as to K'i is:--\"K'i of the Hia dynasty danced with Kiutai at the\nTayoh common. He drove two dragons. The clouds overhung in three layers.\nIn his left hand he grasped a screen; in his right hand he held ear\nornaments; at his girdle dangled jade crescents. It is north of Tayun\nmount; one author calls it Tai common.\" The commentator says Kiutai is the\nname of a horse, and \"dance\" means to dance in a circle. [Probably this is\nthe earliest reference extant to a circus performance.]\n\nPing I is supposed to dwell in Tsung Ki pool near the fairy region of\nKwa-Sun, to have a human face, and to drive two dragons.\n\nCursorily examined, the _Shan Hai King_ is a farrago of falsehood; read\nwith intelligence, it is a mine of historical wealth.\n\n\nTHE PAN TSAO KANG MU.[242]\n\nDescending to late times, we have the great Chinese Materia Medica, in\nfifty-two volumes, entitled _P\u0103n Tsao Kang Mu_, made up of extracts from\nupwards of eight hundred preceding authors, and including three volumes of\nillustrations by Li Shechin, of the Ming dynasty (probably born early in\nthe sixteenth century A.D.). It was first printed in the W\u0103n-leih period\n(1573 to 1620). I give its article upon the dragon _in extenso_.\n\n\"According to the dictionary of H\u00fc Sh\u0103n, the character lung in the antique\nform of writing represents the shape of the animal. According to the\n_Shang Siao Lun_, the dragon is deaf, hence its name of _lung_ (deaf). In\nWestern books the dragon is called _nake_ (_naga_). Shi-Ch\u0103n says that in\nthe _'Rh Ya Yih_ of Lo-Yuen the dragon is described as the largest of\nscaled animals (literally, insects). Wang Fu says that the dragon has nine\n(characteristics) resemblances. Its head is like a camel's, its horns like\na deer's, its eyes like a hare's,[243] its ears like a bull's, its neck\nlike a snake's, its belly like an iguanodon's (?), its scales like a\ncarp's, its claws like an eagle's, and its paws like a tiger's. Its scales\nnumber eighty-one, being nine by nine, the extreme (odd or) lucky number.\nIts voice resembles the beating of a gong. On each side of its mouth are\nwhiskers, under its chin is a bright pearl, under its throat the scales\nare reversed, on the top of its head is the _poh shan_, which others call\nthe wooden foot-rule. A dragon without a foot-rule cannot ascend the\nskies. When its breath escapes it forms clouds, sometimes changing into\nrain, at other times into fire. Luh Tien in the _P'i Ya_ remarks, when\ndragon-breath meets with damp it becomes bright, when it gets wet it goes\non fire. It is extinguished by ordinary fire.\n\n\"The dragon comes from an egg, it being desirable to keep it folded up.\nWhen the male calls out there is a breeze above, when the female calls out\nthere is a breeze below, in consequence of which there is conception. The\n_Shih Tien_ states, when the dragons come together they are changed into\ntwo small serpents. In the _Siao Shwoh_ it is said that the disposition of\nthe dragon is very fierce, and it is fond of beautiful gems and jade (?).\nIt is extremely fond of swallow's flesh; it dreads iron, the _mong_ plant,\nthe centipede, the leaves of the Pride of India, and silk dyed of\ndifferent (five) colours. A man, therefore, who eats swallow's flesh\nshould fear to cross the water. When rain is wanted a swallow should be\noffered (used); when floods are to be restrained, then iron; to stir up\nthe dragon, the _mong_ plant should be employed; to sacrifice to _K\u00fch\nYuen_, the leaves of the Pride of India bound with coloured silk should be\nused (see Mayers, p. 107, \u00a7 326) and thrown into the river. Physicians who\nuse dragons' bones ought to know the likes and dislikes of dragons as\ngiven above.\"\n\n\"_Dragons' Bones._[244]--In the _Pieh luh_ it is said that these are found\nin the watercourses in Tsin (Southern Shansi) and in the earth-holes which\nexist along the banks of the streams running in the caves of the T'ai Shan\n(Great Hill), Shantung. For seeking dead dragons' graves there is no fixed\ntime. Hung King says that now they are largely found in Leung-yih (in\nShansi?) and Pa-chung (in Szchuen). Of all the bones, dragon's spine is\nthe best; the brains make the white earth _stri\u00e6_, which when applied to\nthe tongue is of great virtue. The small teeth are hard, and of the usual\nappearance of teeth. The horns are hard and solid. All the dragons cast\noff their bodies without really dying. Han says the dragon-bones from\nYea-cheu, Ts\u2018ang-cheu and T'ai-yuen (all in Shansi) are the best. The\nsmaller bones marked with wider lines are the female dragon's; the rougher\nbones with narrower lines are those of the male dragon; those which are\nmarked with variegated colours are esteemed the best. Those that are\neither yellow or white are of medium value; the black are inferior. If any\nof the bones are impure, or are gathered by women, they should not be\nused.\n\n\"P'u says dragons' bones of a light white colour possess great virtue.\nKung says the bones found in Tsin (South Shansi) that are hard are not\ngood; the variegated ones possess virtue. The light, the yellow, the\nflesh-coloured, the white, and the black, are efficacious in curing\ndiseases in the internal organs having their respective colours, just as\nthe five varieties of the _chi_[245] plant, the five kinds of limestone,\nand the five kinds of mineral oil (literally, fat), which remain still for\ndiscussion in this work.\n\n\"Su-chung states: 'In the prefecture of Cheu ki\u00fcn, to the \"East of the\nRiver\" (Shansi), dragons' bones are still found in large quantities.'\n\n\"Li-chao, in the _Kwoh-shi-pu_, says: 'In the spring floods the fish leap\ninto the Dragon's Gate, and the number of cast-off bones there is very\nnumerous. These men seek for medicinal purposes. They are of the five\ncolours. This Dragon's Gate is in Tsin (Shansi), where this work\n(_Kwoh-shi-pu_) is published. Are not, then, these so-called dragons'\nbones the bones of fish?'\n\n\"Again, quoting from Sun Kwang-hien in the _Poh-mung Legends_: 'In the\ntime of the five dynasties there was a contest between two dragons; when\none was slain, a village hero, Kw'an, got both its horns. In the front of\nthe horns was an object of a bluish colour, marked with confused lines,\nwhich no one knew anything about, as the dragon was completely dead.'\n\n\"Tsung Shih says: 'All statements [concerning dragons' bones] disagree;\nthey are merely speculations, for when a mountain cavern has disclosed to\nview a skeleton head, horns and all, who is to know whether they are\n_exuvi\u00e6_ or that the dragon has been killed? Those who say they are\n_exuvi\u00e6_, or that the dragon is dead, then have the form of the animal,\nbut have never seen it alive. Now, how can one see the thing (as it really\nis) when it is dead? Some also say that it is a transformation, but how is\nit only in its appearance that it cannot be transformed?'\n\n\"Ki, in the present work, says that they are really dead dragons' bones;\nfor one to say that they are _exuvi\u00e6_ is a mere speculation.\n\n\"Shi Ch\u0103n says: 'The present work considers that these are really dead\ndragons' bones, but To Shi thinks they are _exuvi\u00e6_. Su and Kan doubt both\nthese statements. They submit that dragons are divine beings, and resemble\nthe principle of immortality (never-in-themselves-dying principle); but\nthere is the statement of the dragon fighting and getting killed; and\nfurther, in the _Tso-chw\u2018en_, in which it is stated that there was a\ncertain rearer of dragons who pickled dragons for food [for the imperial\ntable?].'\n\n\"The _I-ki_ says: 'In the time of the Emperor Hwo, of the Han dynasty,\nduring a heavy shower a dragon fell in the palace grounds, which the\nEmperor ordered to be made into soup and given to his Ministers.'\n\n\"The _Poh-wuh-chi_ states that a certain Chang Hwa 'got dragon's flesh to\ndry, for it is said that when seasoning was applied the five colours\nappeared, &c. These facts prove that the dragon does die, an opinion which\nis considered correct by [the writers of] the present work.'\"\n\n\nTHE YUEN KIEN LEI HAN.\n\nThis is an encyclop\u00e6dia in four hundred and fifty books or volumes,\ncompleted in 1710. More than eighty pages are devoted to the dragon.\nThese, with all similar publications in China, consist entirely of\nextracts from old works, many of which have perished, and of which\nfragments alone remain preserved as above.\n\nI have had the whole of this carefully translated, but think it\nunnecessary to trouble the reader, in the present volume, with more than\nthe first chapter, which I give in the Appendix. There is also a\ndescription of the Kiao, of which I give extracts in the Appendix,\ntogether with others relating to the same creature, and to the T\u2018o lung,\nfrom the _P\u0103n Tsao Kang Mu_.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 60--VIGNETTE. (_After Hok\u016dsai._)]\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nTHE JAPANESE DRAGON.\n\n\nThere is but little additional information as to the dragon to be gained\nfrom Japan, the traditions relating to it in that country having been\nobviously derived from China. In functions and qualities it is always\nrepresented as identical with the Chinese dragon. In Japan, however, it is\ninvariably figured as possessing three claws, whereas in China it has four\nor five, according as it is an ordinary or an imperial emblem. The\npeasantry are still influenced by a belief in its supernatural powers, or\nin those of some large or multiple-headed snake, supposed to be a\ntransformation of it, and to be the tenant of deep lakes or of springs\nissuing from mountains.\n\nI give, as examples of dragon stories, two selected from the narratives of\nmythical history,[246] and one extracted from a native journal of the\nday.\n\nThe first states that \"Hi-koho-ho-da-mi no mikoto (a god) went out\nhunting, and his eldest brother Hono-sa-su-ri no mikoto went out fishing.\nThey were very successful, and proposed to one another to change\noccupations. They did so.\n\n\"Hono-sa-su-ri no mikoto went out to the mountain hunting, but got\nnothing, therefore he gave back his bow and arrow; but Hi-ko-hoho-da-mi no\nmikoto lost his hook in the sea; he therefore tried to return a new one,\nbut his brother would not receive it, and wanted the old one; and the\nmikoto was greatly grieved, and, wandering on the shore, met with an old\nman called Si-wo-tsu-chino-gi, and told him what had happened.\n\n\"The latter made a cage called m\u00e9-na-shi-kogo, enclosed him in it, and\nsank it to the bottom of the sea. The mikoto proceeded to the temple\nof the sea-god, who gave him a girl, Toyotama, in marriage. He\nremained there three years, and recovered the hook which he had\nlost, as well as receiving two pieces of precious jade called 'ebb'\nand 'flood.' He then returned. After some years he died. His son,\nHi-ko-na-gi-sa-ta-k\u2018e-ouga-ya-fu-ki-ay\u0101-dzu no mikoto, succeeded to the\ncrown.\n\n\"When his father first proposed to return, his wife told him that she was\n_enciente_, and that she would come out to the shore during the rough\nweather and heavy sea, saying, 'I hope you will wait until you have\ncompleted a house for my confinement.' After some time Toyotama came there\nand begged him never to come to her bed when she was sleeping. He,\nhowever, crept up and peeped at her. He saw a dragon holding a child in\nthe midst of its coils. It suddenly jumped up and darted into the sea.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 61.--JAPANESE DRAGON (IN BRONZE).]\n\nThe second legend is: \"When the So-sa-no-o no mikoto went to the sources\nof the river Hi-no-ka-mi at Idzumo, he heard lamentations from a house; he\ntherefore approached it and inquired the cause. He saw an old man and\nwoman clasping a young girl. They told him that in that country there was\na very large serpent, which had eight[247] heads and eight tails, and came\nannually and swallowed one person. 'We had eight children, and we have\nalready lost seven, and now have only one left, who will be swallowed;\nhence our grief.' The mikoto said, 'If you will give that girl to me, I\nwill save her.' The old man and woman were rejoiced. The mikoto changed\nhis form, and assumed that of the young girl. He divided the room into\neight partitions, and in each placed one saki tub and waited its approach.\nThe serpent arrived, drank the saki, got intoxicated, and fell asleep.\n\n\"Then the mikoto drew his sword and cut the serpent into small pieces.\nWhen he was cutting the tail his sword was a little broken; therefore he\nsplit open the tail to find the reason, and found in it a valuable sword,\nand offered it to the god O-mi-ka-mi, at Taka-maga-hara.\n\n\"He called the sword Ama no mourakoumo no tsurogi,[248] because there was\na cloud up in the heaven where the serpent lies. Finally he married the\ngirl, and built a house at Suga in Idzumo.\"\n\nThe third story runs as follows:--\n\n_The White Dragon._\n\n\"There is a very large pond at the eastern part of Fu-si-m\u012b-shi-ro-yama,\nat Yama-shiro (near Kioto); it is called Ukisima. In the fine weather\nlittle waves rise up on account of its size. There are many turtles in it.\nIn the summertime many boys go to the pond to swim, but never go out into\nthe middle or far from the shore. No one is aware how deep the centre of\nthe pond is, and it is said that a white dragon lives in that pond, and\ncan transform itself into a bird, which the people of the district call\nO-gon-cho, _i.e._ golden bird, because, when it becomes a bird, it has a\nyellow plumage. The bird flies once in fifty years, and its voice is like\nthe howling of a wolf. In that year there is famine and pestilence, and\nmany people die. Just one hundred years ago, when this bird flew and\nuttered its cry, there was a famine and drought and disease, and many\npeople died. Again, at Tempo-go-nen (_i.e._ in the fifth year of Tempo),\nfifty years back from the present time, the bird flew as before, and there\nwas once again disease and famine. Hence the people in that district were\nmuch alarmed, as it is now just fifty years again. They hoped, however,\nthat the bird would not fly and cry. But at 2 A.M. of the 19th April it is\nsaid that it was seen to do so. The people, therefore, were surprised, and\nnow are worshipping God in order to avert the famine and disease. The old\nfarmers say, in the fine weather the white dragon may occasionally be seen\nfloating on the water, but that if it sees people it sinks down beneath\nthe surface.\"[249]\n\nAs a pendant to this I now quote a memorial from the _Pekin Gazette_ of\nApril 3rd, 1884, of which a translation is given in the _North China\nHerald_ for May 16th, 1884.\n\n\"A Postscript Memorial of P\u2018an Y\u00fc requests that an additional title of\nrank, and a tablet written by His Majesty's own hand, may be conferred on\na dragon spirit, who has manifested himself and answered the prayers made\nto him.\n\n\"In the Ang-shan mountains, a hundred _li_ from the town of Kuei-hai,\nthere are three wells, of which one is on the mountain top, in a spot\nseldom visited. It has long been handed down that a dragon inhabits this\nwell. If pieces of metal are thrown into the well they float, but light\nthings, as silk or paper, will sink. If the offerings are accepted, fruits\ncome floating up in exchange. Anything not perfectly pure and clean is\nrejected and sent whirling up again. The spirit dwells in the blackest\ndepths of the water, in form like a strange fish, with golden scales and\nfour paws, red eyes and long body. He ordinarily remains deep in the water\nwithout stirring. But in times of great drought, if the local authorities\npurify themselves, and sincerely worship him, he rises to the top. He is\nthen solemnly conveyed to the city, and prayers for rain are offered to\nhim, which are immediately answered. His temple is in the district city,\non the To\u2018ang-hai Ling. The provincial and local histories record that\ntablets to him have been erected from the times of the Mongol and the Ming\ndynasties. During the present dynasty, on several occasions, as, for\ninstance, in the years 1845 and 1863, he has been carried into the city,\nand rain has fallen immediately. Last year a dreadful drought occurred, in\nwhich the ponds and tanks dried up, to the great terror of the people. On\nthe 15th day of the eighth month, the magistrate conducted the spirit into\nthe city, and, with the assembled multitude, prayed to him fervently;\nthereupon a gentle rain, falling throughout the country, brought plenty in\nthe place of scarcity, and gladdened the hearts of all. At about the same\ntime, the people of a district in the vicinity, called Chin-y\u00fc, also had\nrecourse to the spirit, with equally favourable results. These are\nwell-known events, which have happened quite recently.\n\n\"It is the desire of the people of the district that some mark of\ndistinction should be conferred on the spirit; and the memorialist finds\nsuch a proceeding to be sanctioned both by law and precedent; he therefore\nhumbly lays the wishes of the people before His Majesty, who, perhaps,\nwill be pleased to confer a title and an autograph tablet as above\nsuggested. The Rescript has already been recorded.\n\n\"No. 6 of Memorial.\"\n\nThe idea of the transformation of a sea-monster or dragon into a bird is\ncommon both to China and Japan; for instance, in _The Works of Chuang\nTsze_, ch. i. p. 1, by F. H. Balfour, F.R.G.S., we read that--\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 62.--THE HAI RIYO. (_Chi-on-in Monastery, Kioto._)]\n\n\"In the Northern Sea there was a fish, whose name was _kw\u2018\u00ean_. It is not\nknown how many thousand _li_ this fish was in length. It was afterwards\ntransformed into a bird called _p\u2018\u00eang_, the size of whose back is\nuncertain by some thousands of _li_. Suddenly it would dart upwards with\nrapid flight, its wings overspreading the sky like clouds. When the\nwaters were agitated [in the sixth moon] the bird moved its abode to the\nSouthern Sea, the Pool of Heaven. In the book called _Ts\u2018i Hieh_, which\ntreats of strange and marvellous things, it is said that when the _p\u2018\u00eang_\nflew south, it first rushed over three thousand _li_ of water, and then\nmounted to the height of ninety thousand _li_, riding upon the wind that\nblows in the sixth moon. The wild horses, _i.e._ the clouds and dust of\nheaven, were driven along by the zephyrs. The colour of the sky was blue;\nyet, is that the real colour of the sky, or only the appearance produced\nby infinite, illimitable depths? For the bird, as it looked downwards, the\nview was just the same as it is to us when we look upwards.\"\n\nOn the screens decorating the Chi-on-in monastery in Kioto, are depicted\nseveral composite creatures, half-dragon, half-bird, which appear to\nrepresent the Japanese rendering of the Chinese Ying Lung or winged\ndragon. They have dragons' heads, plumose wings, and birds' claws, and\nhave been variously designated to me by Japanese as the _Hai Riyo_ (Fig.\n62), the _Tobi Tatsu_, and the _Schachi Hoko_.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 63.--JAPANESE DRAGON (BRONZE).]\n\n\nCONCLUSION OF DRAGON CHAPTERS.\n\nThe numerous quotations given in the above pages, or in the Appendix, are\nmerely a selection, and by no means profess to be so extensive as they\nshould be were this work a monograph on the dragon alone. Having a special\nobject in view, I have forborne to diverge into those interesting\nspeculations which relate to its religious significance; these I leave to\nthose who deal specially with this portion of its history. I therefore\npass over the many traditions and legends regarding it contained in the\npages of the _Memoirs of Hiouen-Thsang_,[250] of _Fo\u0115 Kou\u0115 Ki_,[251] and\nsimilar narratives, and omit quoting folk-lore from the pages of Dennys,\nEitel, and others who have written on the subject.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 64.]\n\nFor my purpose it would be profitless to collate legends such as that\ngiven in the Apocrypha, in the story of Bel and the Dragon, and\nreappearing in the pages of El Edrisi as an Arab legend, with Alexander\nthe Great as the hero, and the Canaries as the scene, or to dwell on the\nCorean and Japanese versions of dragon stories, which are merely borrowed,\nand corrupted in borrowing, from the Chinese. Nor shall I do more than\nallude to the fact that dragons are represented in the Brahminical caves\nat Ellora, and among the sculptures of Ancoar Wat in Cambodia.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 65.]\n\nThe rude diagrams, Figs. 64, 65, 66, are facsimiles from a manuscript of\nfolio size in the possession of J. Haas, Esq., Imperial Austro-Hungarian\nVice-Consul for Shanghai, which he kindly placed at my disposal. This\nunique volume is at present, unfortunately, unintelligible. It comes from\nthe western confines of China, and is believed to be an example of the\nwritten Lolo language, that is, of the language of the aboriginal tribes\nof China. They suffice to show that the same respect for the dragon is\nshown among these people as in China; but no opinion can be offered as to\nwhether this belief and respect is original or imported, until their\nliterature has been examined.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 66.]\n\nI regret that I am unable to give in this volume, as I had wished, an\naccount of the Persian dragon, which, I am informed, is contained in a\nrare Persian work.\n\nIn conclusion, I must hope that the reader who has had the patience to\nwade through the medley of extracts which I have selected, and to analyse\nthe suggestive reasoning of the introductory chapters, will agree with me\nthat there is nothing impossible in the ordinary notion of the traditional\ndragon; that such being the case, it is more likely to have once had a\nreal existence than to be a mere offspring of fancy; and that from the\naccident of direct transmission of delineations of it on robes and\nstandards, we have probably a not very incorrect notion of it in the\ndepicted dragon of the Chinese.\n\nWe may infer that it was a long terrestrial lizard, hibernating, and\ncarnivorous, with the power of constricting with its snake-like body and\ntail; possibly furnished with wing-like expansions of its integument,\nafter the fashion of _Draco volans_, and capable of occasional progress on\nits hind legs alone, when excited in attack. It appears to have been\nprotected by armour and projecting spikes, like those found in _Moloch\nhorridus_ and _Megalania prisca_, and was possibly more nearly allied to\nthis last form than to any other which has yet come to our knowledge.\nProbably it preferred sandy, open country to forest land, its habitat was\nthe highlands of Central Asia, and the time of its disappearance about\nthat of the Biblical Deluge discussed in a previous chapter.\n\nAlthough terrestrial, it probably, in common with most reptiles, enjoyed\nfrequent bathing, and when not so engaged, or basking in the sun, secluded\nitself under some overhanging bank or cavern.\n\nThe idea of its fondness for swallows, and power of attracting them,\nmentioned in some traditions, may not impossibly have been derived from\nthese birds hawking round and through its open jaws in the pursuit of the\nflies attracted by the viscid humours of its mouth. We know that at the\npresent day a bird, the trochilus of the ancients, freely enters the open\nmouth of the crocodile, and rids it of the parasites affecting its teeth\nand jaws.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nTHE SEA-SERPENT.\n\n  On the dark bottom of the great salt lake\n  Imprisoned lay the giant snake,\n  With naught his sullen sleep to break.\n      _Poets of the North_, \"Oelenschl\u00e6ger.\" Translated by Longfellow.\n\n\nThat frank writer, Montaigne, says[252]:--\n\n\"Yet on the other side it is a sottish presumption to disdaine and\ncondemne that for false, which unto us seemeth to beare no show of\nlikelihood or truth: which is an ordinarie fault in those who perswade\nthemselves to be of more sufficiencie than the vulgar sort.\n\n\"But reason hath taught me, that so resolutely to condemne a thing for\nfalse, and impossible, is to assume unto himself the advantage, to have\nthe bounds and limits of God's will, and of the power of our common mother\nNature tied to his sleeve: and that there is no greater folly in the\nworld, than to reduce them to the measure of our capacitie, and bounds of\nour sufficiencie.\n\n\"If we term those things monsters or miracles to which our reason cannot\nattain, how many such doe daily present themselves unto our sight? let us\nconsider through what cloudes, and how blinde-folde we are led to the\nknowledge of most things, that passe our hands: verily we shall finde, it\nis rather custome, than Science that removeth the strangenesse of them\nfrom us: and that those things, were they newly presented unto us, wee\nshould doubtless deeme them, as much, or more unlikely, and incredible,\nthan any other.\"\n\nMontaigne's remarks seem to me to apply as aptly to the much-vexed\nquestion of the existence or non-existence of the sea-serpent as though\nthey had been specially written in reference to it.\n\nThe sea-serpent, at once the belief and the denied of scientific men; the\naccepted and ignored, according to their estimation of the evidence, of\nreasoners, not scientific perhaps, but intelligent and educated; the\nvalued basis for items to the journalist, and the quintain for every\nself-sufficient gobemouche to tilt against; appearing mysteriously at long\nintervals and in distant places; the sea-serpent has as yet avoided\ncapture and the honourable distinction of being catalogued and labelled in\nour museums.\n\nYet I do believe this weird creature to be a real solid fact, and not a\nfanciful hallucination. This assertion, however, has to be sustained under\nmany difficulties. The dread of ridicule closes the mouths of many men who\ncould speak upon the subject, while their dependent position forces them\nto submit to the half-bantering, half-warning expostulations of their\nemployers. When, for example, an unimaginative shipowner breaks jests over\nhis unfortunate shipmaster's head, and significantly hints his hope (as I\nknow to have been the case) that on his next voyage he will see no more\nsea-serpents, or, in other words, that the great monster belongs to the\nsame genus as the snakes seen in the boots of a western dram-drinker, we\nmay be sure that an important barrier is put to any further communication\non the subject from that source, at least;[253] or when, again, some knot\nof idle youngsters enliven the monotony of a long voyage by preparing a\ndeliberate hoax for publication on their arrival, a certain amount of\ndiscredit necessarily attaches to the monster on the ultimate exposure of\nthe jest.\n\nMen also occasionally deceive themselves, and while honestly believing\nthat they have seen his oceanic majesty, produce a story which, on\nanalysis, crumbles into atoms and crowns him with disgrace as an impostor.\n\nThe hard logic of science, in the hand of one of our master minds, has\nalso been arrayed against him, but fortunately weighs rather against\nspecial avatars than against his existence absolutely.\n\nFinally, the narratives of different observers disagree so much in detail\nthat we have a difficulty in reconciling them, except upon the supposition\nthat they relate to several distinct creatures, a supposition which I\nshall hope to show is not improbable, as well as that the term sea-serpent\nis an unwarranted specific differentiation of that of sea-monster, the\nvarious creatures collectively so designated being neither serpents nor,\nindeed, always mutually related. In commencing my record, I must bear in\nmind Mrs. Glasse's proverbially excellent advice, and admit that it is\nsimply a history of the various appearances of a creature or creatures too\nfugitive to admit of specific examination, and that until, by some\nremarkable stroke of fortune, specimens are secured, their zoological\nstatus must remain an unsolved, although closely guessed at, problem.\n\nI have elsewhere stated my conviction that the serpent Midgard is only a\ncorruption of accounts of the sea-serpent handed down from times when a\nsupernatural existence was attributed to it; and we have in the Sagas\nprobably the earliest references to it, unless, perhaps, the serpents\nmentioned by Aristotle, which attacked and overset the galleys off the\nLibyan coast, may have been of this species.\n\nThe coast of Norway, deeply indented by fjords, the channels of which, for\na certain breadth, have a depth equal to that of the sea outside, seldom\nless than four hundred fathoms, and corresponding in some degree with the\nheight of the precipitous cliffs which enclose them, abounding in all\nkinds of fish, and in the season with whales, which at one time used to\nnumber thousands in a shoal, appears, until within the last thirty years,\nto have been peculiarly the favourite haunt of the serpent. Paddle and\nscrew are probably answerable for his non-appearance on the surface\nlately.\n\nThe west coast of the Isle of Skye is another locality from which several\nreports of it have been received during this century; less frequently it\nhas been observed upon the eastern American coast-line, upon the sea-board\nof China, and in various portions of the broad ocean. It generally follows\nthe track of whales, and in two instances observers affirm that it has\nbeen seen in combat with them.\n\nI have no doubt but that the literature of Norway contains frequent\nreferences to it of olden date, but the earliest notice of it in that\ncountry which I have been able to procure is one contained in _A Narrative\nof the North-East Frosty Seas_, declared by the Duke of Mosconia his\nambassadors to a learned gentlemen of Italy, named Galeatius Butrigarius,\nas follows[254]:--\n\n\"The lake called Mos, and the Island of Hoffusen in myddest thereof is in\nthe degree 45.30 and 61. In this lake appeareth a strange monster, which\nis a serpent of huge bigness; and as, to all other places of the world,\nblazing stars do portend alteration, so doth this to Norway. It was seen\nof late in the year of Christ 1522, appearing far above the water, rowling\nlike a great pillar, and was by conjecture far off esteemed to be of fifty\ncubits in length.\"\n\nPontoppidan, the Bishop of Bergen, who published his celebrated _Natural\nHistory of Norway_ in 1755, and who had at one time discredited its\nexistence \"till that suspicion was removed by full and sufficient evidence\nfrom creditable and experienced fishermen and sailors in Norway, of which\nthere are hundreds, who can testify that they have annually seen them,\"\nstates that the North traders, who came to Bergen every year with their\nmerchandise, thought it a very strange question, when they were seriously\nasked whether there were any such creatures, as ridiculous, in fact, as if\nthe question had been put to them whether there be such fish as eel or\ncod.\n\nAccording to Pontoppidan, these creatures continually keep at the bottom\nof the sea, excepting in the months of July and August, which is their\nspawning time, and then they come to the surface in calm weather, but\nplunge into the water again so soon as the wind raises the least wave.\n\nIt was supposed by the Norway fishermen to have a great objection to\ncastor, with which they provided themselves when going out to sea,\nshutting it up in a hole in the stern, and throwing a little overboard\nwhen apprehensive of meeting the sea-snake. The Faroe fisherman had the\nsame idea with reference to the Tvold whale, which was supposed to have a\ngreat aversion to castor and to shavings of juniper wood.\n\nOlaus Magnus, in his _Histor. Septentrion_, chap. xxvii., writing not from\npersonal observation but from the relations of others, speaks of it as\nbeing two hundred feet in length and twenty feet round, having a mane two\nfeet long, being covered with scales, having fiery eyes, disturbing ships,\nand raising itself up like a mast, and sometimes snapping some of the men\nfrom the deck.\n\nAldrovandus, quoting Olaus Magnus, says that about Norway there\noccasionally appears a serpent reaching to one hundred or two hundred feet\nin length, dangerous to ships in calm weather, as it sometimes snatches a\nman from the ship. It is said that merchant ships are involved by it and\nsunk.\n\nOlaus Magnus also figures another serpent, which is said to inhabit the\nBaltic or Swedish Sea; it is from thirty to forty feet in length, and will\nnot hurt anyone unless provoked.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 67.--SEA-SERPENT ATTACKING A VESSEL. (_From Olaus\nMagnus._)]\n\nArndt. Bernsen, in his account of the fertility of Denmark and Norway,\nsays that the sea-snake, as well as the Tvold whale, often sinks both men\nand boats; and Pontoppidan was informed by the North traders that the\nsea-snake has frequently raised itself up and thrown itself across a boat,\nand even across a vessel of some hundred tons burthen, and by its weight\nsunk it to the bottom; and that they would sometimes raise their frightful\nheads and snap a man out of a boat; but this Pontoppidan does not vouch\nfor, and, indeed, says that if anything, however light, be thrown at and\ntouch them they generally plunge into the water or take another course.\n\nHans (afterwards Bishop) Egede, in his _Full and Particular Relation of my\nVoyage to Greenland, as a Missionary, in the year 1734_, figures and\ndescribes a sea-monster which showed itself on his passage. He says: \"On\nthe 6th of July 1734, when off the south coast of Greenland, a sea-monster\nappeared to us, whose head, when raised, was on a level with our main-top.\nIts snout was long and sharp, and it blew water almost like a whale; it\nhad large broad paws; its body was covered with scales; its skin was rough\nand uneven; in other respects it was as a serpent; and when it dived, its\ntail, which was raised in the air, appeared to be a whole ship's length\nfrom its body.\"\n\nIn another work, _The New Survey of Old Greenland_, Egede speaks of the\nsame monster, with the addition that the body was full as thick and as big\nin circumference as the ship that he sailed in. The drawing (which I\nreproduce, Fig. 68) appears to have been taken by another missionary, Mr.\nBing, who stated that the creature's eyes seemed red, and like burning\nfire. The paws mentioned by Egede were probably paddles like those of the\nLiassic Saurians.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 68.--SEA-SERPENT SEEN BY HANS EGEDE, IN 1734, OFF THE\nSOUTH COAST OF GREENLAND.]\n\nPontoppidan considers this to be a different monster from the Norway\nsea-serpent, of which he gives a figure furnished him by the Rev. Hans\nStrom, made from descriptions of two of his neighbours at Herroe, who had\nbeen eye-witnesses of its appearance.\n\nLawrance de Ferry, a captain in the Norwegian Navy, and commander in\nBergen in Pontoppidan's time, actually wounded one of the Norwegian\nserpents, and made two of his men, who were with him in the boat at the\ntime, testify upon oath in court to the truth of the statement which he\nhimself made, as follows:--\n\n\"The latter end of August, in the year 1746, as I was on a voyage, in my\nreturn from Trundheim, in a very calm and hot day, having a mind to put in\nat Molde, it happened that when we were arrived with my vessel within six\nEnglish miles of the aforesaid Molde, being at a place called Jule-N\u00e6fs,\nas I was reading in a book, I heard a kind of murmuring voice from amongst\nthe men at the oars, who were eight in number, and observed that the man\nat the helm kept off from the land. Upon this I inquired what was the\nmatter; and was informed that there was a sea-snake before us. I then\nordered the man at the helm to keep to the land again, and to come up with\nthis creature, of which I had heard so many stories. Though the fellows\nwere under some apprehensions, they were obliged to obey my orders. In the\nmeantime this sea-snake passed by us, and we were obliged to tack the\nvessel about, in order to get nearer to it. As the snake swam faster than\nwe could row, I took my gun, that was ready charged, and fired at it; on\nthis he immediately plunged under the water. We rowed to the place where\nit sank down (which in the calm might be easily observed) and lay upon our\noars, thinking it would come up again to the surface; however, it did not.\nWhen the snake plunged down, the water appeared thick and red; perhaps\nsome of the shot might wound it, the distance being very little. The head\nof this snake, which it held more than two feet above the surface of the\nwater, resembled that of a horse. It was of a greyish colour, and the\nmouth was quite black and very large. It had black eyes and a long white\nmane,[255] that hung down from the neck to the surface of the water.\nBesides the head and neck, we saw seven or eight folds or coils of this\nsnake, which were very thick, and, as far as we could guess, there was\nabout a fathom distance between each fold.--Bergen, 1751.\"\n\nPontoppidan remarks on the peculiarity of spouting water from the nostrils\nexhibited by the creature seen by Hans Egede, and states that he had not\nknown it spoken of in any other instance.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 69.--THE NORWEGIAN SEA-SERPENT. (_According to\nPontoppidan._)]\n\nHe also remarks that the Norway sea-snakes differ from the Greenland ones\nwith regard to the skin, which in the former is as smooth as glass, and\nhas not the least wrinkle, except about the neck, where there is a kind of\nmane, which looks like a parcel of sea-weeds hanging down to the water.\nSummarising the accounts which had reached him, he estimates the length at\nabout one hundred fathoms or six hundred English feet. He states that it\nlies on the surface of the water (when it is very calm) in many folds, and\nthat these are in a line with the head; some small parts of the back are\nto be seen above the surface of the water when it moves or bends, which at\na distance appear like so many casks or hogsheads floating in a line,\nwith a considerable distance between each of them.\n\n\"The creature does not, like the eel or land-snake, taper gradually to a\npoint, but the body, which looks to be as big as two hogsheads, grows\nremarkably small at once just where the tail begins. The head in all the\nkinds has a high and broad forehead, but in some a pointed snout, though\nin others that is flat, like that of a cow or horse, with large nostrils,\nand several stiff hairs standing out on each side like whiskers.\"\n\n\"They add that the eyes of this creature are very large, and of a blue\ncolour, and look like a couple of bright pewter plates. The whole animal\nis of a dark brown colour, but it is speckled and variegated with light\nstreaks or spots that shine like tortoise-shell. It is of a darker hue\nabout the eyes and mouth than elsewhere, and appears in that part a good\ndeal like those horses which we call Moors-heads.\"\n\nHe mentions two places, one at Amunds Vaagen in Nordfiord, the other at\nthe island of Karmen, where carcases of it had been left at high water. He\nsupposes it to be viviparous.\n\nIn an account of the Laplanders of Finmark, by Knud Leems, with the notes\nof Gunner, Bishop of Drontheim, (Copenhagen, 1767, 4to., in Danish and\nLatin),[256] I find, \"The Sea of Finmark also generates the snake or\nmarine serpent, forty paces long, equalling in the size of the head the\nwhale, in form the serpent. This monster has a maned neck, resembling a\nhorse, a back of a grey colour, the belly inclining to white.\n\n\"On the canicular days, when the sea is calm, the marine serpent usually\ncomes up, winding into various spirals, of which some are above, the\nothers below, the water. The seamen very much dread this monster. Nor\nwhile he is coming up do they easily entrust themselves to the dangers of\nthe deep.\"\n\nMr. J. Ramus records a large sea-snake which was seen in 1687 by many\npeople in Dramsfiorden. It was in very calm weather, and so soon as the\nsun appeared, and the wind blew a little, it shot away just like a coiled\ncable that is suddenly thrown out by the sailors; and they observed that\nit was some time in stretching out its many folds.\n\nCaptain (afterwards Sir Arthur) de Capell Brooke[257] collected all\naccounts he could, during his journey to the North Cape, respecting the\nsea-serpent, with the following results:--\n\n\"As I had determined on arriving at the coast to make every inquiry\nrespecting the truth of the accounts which had reached England the\npreceding year, of the sea-serpent having recently been seen off this part\nof Norway, I shall simply give the different reports I received during my\nvoyage to the North Cape, leaving others to their own conclusions, and\nwithout expressing, at least for the present, my opinion respecting them.\n\n\"The fisherman at P\u00eajerstad said a serpent was seen two years ago in the\nFolden-Fjord, the length of which, as far as it was visible, was sixty\nfeet.\"\n\nAt Otersoen, the Postmaster, Captain Schielderup, who had formerly been in\nthe Norwegian sea service, and seemed a quick intelligent man, stated that\nthe serpent had actually been off the island for a considerable length of\ntime during the preceding summer, in the narrow parts of the sound,\nbetween this island and the continent, and the description he gave was as\nfollows:--\n\n\"It made its appearance for the first time in the month of July 1849 off\nOtersoen. Previous to this he had often heard of the existence of these\ncreatures, but never before believed it. During the whole of that month\nthe weather was excessively sultry and calm; and the serpent was seen\nevery day nearly in the same part of the Sound.\n\n\"It continued there while the warm weather lasted, lying motionless, and\nas if dozing, in the sunbeams.\n\n\"The number of persons living on the island, he said, was about thirty;\nthe whole of whom, from motives of curiosity, went to look at it while it\nremained. This was confirmed to me by subsequent inquiries among the\ninhabitants, who gave a similar account of it. The first time that he saw\nit he was in a boat, at the distance of two hundred yards. The length of\nit he supposes to have been about three hundred ells or six hundred feet.\nOf this he could not speak accurately; but it was of considerable length,\nand longer than it appeared, as it lay in large coils above the water to\nthe height of many feet. Its colour was greyish. At the distance at which\nhe was, he could not ascertain whether it were covered with scales; but\nwhen it moved it made a loud crackling noise, which he distinctly heard.\nIts head was shaped like that of a serpent; but he could not tell whether\nit had teeth or not. He said it emitted a very strong odour; and that the\nboatmen were afraid to approach near it, and looked on its coming as a bad\nsign, as the fish left the coast in consequence! Such were the particulars\nhe related to me.\n\n\"The merchant at Krogo\u00ebn confirmed in every particular the account of\nCaptain Schielderup, and that many of the people of Krogo\u00ebn had witnessed\nit.\n\n\"On the island of Lek\u00f6 I obtained from the son of Peter Greger, the\nmerchant, a young man who employed himself in the fishery, still further\ninformation respecting the sea-serpent. It was in August of the preceding\nyear, while fishing with others in the Viig or Veg-Fjord, that he saw it.\nAt that time they were on shore hauling in their nets, and it appeared\nabout sixty yards distant from them, at which they were not a little\nalarmed, and immediately retreated. What was seen of it above water, he\nsaid, appeared six times the length of their boat, of a grey colour, and\nlying in coils a great height above the surface. Their fright prevented\nthem from attending more accurately to other particulars. In fact, they\nall fairly took to their heels when they found the monster so near to\nthem.\n\n\"At Alstahoug I found the Bishop of the Nordlands. The worthy prelate was\na sensible and well-informed man, between fifty and sixty years of age. To\nthe testimony of others respecting the existence of the sea-serpent, I\nshall now add that of the Bishop himself, who was an eye-witness to the\nappearance of two in the Bay of Shuresund or S\u00f6rsund, on the Drontheim\nFjord, about eight Norway miles from Drontheim. He was but a short\ndistance from them, and saw them plainly. They were swimming in large\nfolds, part of which were seen above the water, and the length of what\nappeared of the largest he judged to be about one hundred feet. They were\nof a darkish grey colour; the heads hardly discernible, from their being\nalmost under water, and they were visible for only a short time. Before\nthat period he had treated the account of them as fabulous; but it was now\nimpossible, he said, to doubt their existence, as such numbers of\nrespectable people since that time had likewise seen them on several\noccasions. He had never met with any person who had seen the kraken, and\nwas inclined to think it a fable.\n\n\"During the time that I remained at Hundholm, a curious circumstance\noccurred. One day, when at dinner at Mr. Blackhall's house, and thinking\nlittle of the sea-serpent, concerning which I had heard nothing for some\ntime, a young man, the master of a small fishing-yacht, which had just\ncome in from Drontheim, joined our party. In the course of conversation he\nmentioned that a few hours before, whilst close to Hundholm, and previous\nto his entering the harbour, two sea-snakes passed immediately under his\nyacht. When he saw them he was on the deck, and, seizing a handspike, he\nstruck at them as they came up close to the vessel on the other side, upon\nwhich they disappeared. Their length was very great, and their colour\ngreyish, but for the very short time they were visible he could not notice\nany further particulars.\n\n\"He had no doubt of their being snakes, as he called them, and the\ncircumstance was related entirely of his own accord.\"\n\nCaptain Brooke sums up the reports he received with the following general\nobservations:--\n\n\"Taking upon the whole a fair view of the different accounts related in\nthe foregoing pages respecting the sea-serpent, no reasonable person can\ndoubt the fact of some marine animal of extraordinary dimensions, and in\nall probability of the serpent tribe, having been repeatedly seen by\nvarious persons along the Norway and Finmark coasts. These accounts, for\nthe most part, have been given verbally from the mouths of the fishermen,\na honest and artless class of men, who, having no motive for\nmisrepresentation, cannot be suspected of a wish to deceive; could this\nidea, however, be entertained, the circumstance of their assertions having\nbeen so fully confirmed by others, in more distant parts, would be\nsufficient to free them from any imputation of this kind.\n\n\"The simple facts are these: In traversing a space of full seven hundred\nmiles of coast, extending to the most northern point, accounts have been\nreceived from numerous persons respecting the appearance of an animal\ncalled by them a sea-serpent. This of itself would induce some degree of\ncredit to be given to it; but when these several relations as to the\ngeneral appearance of the animal, its dimensions, the state of the weather\nwhen it was seen, and other particulars, are so fully confirmed, one by\nthe other, at such considerable intervening distances, every reasonable\nman will feel satisfied of the truth of the main fact. Many of the\ninformants, besides, were of superior rank and education; and the opinions\nof such men as the Amtmand (Governor) of Finmark, Mr. Steen, the clergyman\nof Carls\u00f6, Prosten (Dean) Deinboll of Vads\u00f6, and the Bishop of Nordland\nand Finmark, who was even an eye-witness, ought not to be disregarded.\n\n\"The Bishop of Nordland has seen two of them about eight miles from\nDrontheim, the largest being apparently one hundred feet, and, in 1822,\none as bulky as an ox, and a quarter of a mile in length, appeared off the\nisland of Sor\u00f6, near Finmark, and was seen by many people.\"\n\nNot having the _Zoologist_ at hand, I now quote a _resum\u00e9_ of short\nnotices extracted from it, contained in the _Illustrated London News_ for\nOctober 28, 1848, as follows:--\n\n\"Our attention has been drawn to the _Zoologist_ for the past year,\nwherein are several communications tending to authenticate the existence\nof the great sea-serpent. Thus, in the number for February 1847, we find\nparagraphs quoted from the Norse newspapers stating that in the\nneighbourhood of Christiansund and Molde, in the province of Romsdal, in\nNorway, several highly respectable and credible witnesses have attested\nthe seeing of the serpent. In general, they state that it has been seen in\nthe larger Norwegian fjords, seldom in the open sea. In the large bight of\nthe sea at Christiansund it has been seen every year, though only in the\nwarmest season, in the dog days, and then only in perfectly calm weather\nand unruffled water.\n\n\"Its length is stated at about forty-four feet, and twice as thick as a\ncommon snake, in proportion to the length. The front of the head was\nrather pointed, the eyes sharp, and from the back of the head commenced a\nmane like that of a horse. The colour of the animal was a blackish brown.\nIt swam swiftly, with serpentine movements like a leech. One of the\nwitnesses describes the body to be two feet in diameter, the head as long\nas a brandy anker (ten-gallon cask) and about the same thickness, not\npointed, but round. It had no scales, but the body quite smooth. The\nwitness acknowledged Pontoppidan's representation to be like the serpent\nhe saw.\"\n\n\"The writer of this article received letters from Mr. Soren Knudtzon,\nstating that a sea-serpent had been seen in the neighbourhood of\nChristiansund by several people; and from Dr. Hoffmann, a respectable\nsurgeon in Molde, stating that, lying on a considerable fjord to the south\nof Christiansund, Rector Hammer, Mr. Krabt, curate, and several persons,\nvery clearly saw, while on a journey, a sea-serpent of very considerable\nsize.\n\n\"Four other persons saw a similar animal, July 28th, 1845.\n\n\"The next communication, dated Sund's Parsonage, August 31st, 1846,\nrecords the appearance of a supposed sea-serpent, on the 8th, in the\ncourse between the islands of Sartor Leer and T\u00f6s. Early on this day, just\nas the steamer _Bi\u00f6rgvin_ passed through Rogne Fjord, towing a vessel to\nBergen, Daniel Solomonson, a cotter, saw a sea-monster swimming from Rogne\nFjord in a westerly direction towards his dwelling at Gr\u00f6nnevigski\u00e6set, in\nthe northern part of the parish of Sund. The head appeared like a F\u00e6ring\nboat (about twenty feet long) keel uppermost; and from behind it raised\nitself forward in three, and sometimes four and five undulations, each\napparently about twelve feet long. On the same morning a lad, out fishing\nin the Rogne Fjord, saw a serpent, which he describes to have been sixty\nfeet long.\"\n\nFor further information on the Norwegian sea-serpent, I am indebted to the\nexcellent chapter, devoted to the question generally, contained in Mr.\nGosse's _Romance of Natural History_, First Series, from which I transfer,\nwithout abbreviation, a statement made by the Rev. W. Deinboll,\nArchdeacon of Molde:--\n\n\"On the 28th of July 1845, J. C. Lund, bookseller and printer; G. S.\nKrogh, merchant; Christian Flang, Lund's apprentice; and John Elgensen,\nlabourer, were out on Romsdalfjord, fishing. The sea was, after a warm\nsunshiny day, quite calm. About seven o'clock in the afternoon, a little\ndistance from shore, near the ballast place and Molde Hove, they saw a\nlarge marine animal which slowly moved itself forward, as it appeared to\nthem, with the help of two fins on the fore-part of the body nearest the\nhead, which they judged from the boiling of the water on both sides of it.\nThe visible part of the body appeared to be between forty and fifty feet\nin length, and moved in undulations like a snake. The body was round and\nof a dark colour, and seemed to be several ells[258] in thickness. As they\ndiscerned a waving motion in the water behind the animal, they concluded\nthat part of the body was concealed under water. That it was one connected\nanimal they saw plainly from its movement. When the animal was about one\nhundred yards from the boat, they noticed tolerably correctly its\nfore-part, which ended in a sharp snout; its colossal head raised itself\nabove the water in the form of a semi-circle; the lower part was not\nvisible. The colour of the head was dark brown, and the skin smooth. They\ndid not notice the eyes, or any mane or bristles on the throat. When the\nserpent came about a musket-shot near, Lund fired at it, and was certain\nthe shots hit it in the head. After the shot he dived but came up\nimmediately; he raised his head like a snake preparing to dart on its\nprey. After he had turned and got his body in a straight line, which he\nappeared to do with great difficulty, he darted like an arrow against the\nboat. They reached the shore, and the animal, perceiving it had come into\nshallow water, dived immediately, and disappeared in the deep.\"\n\nMr. Gosse further quotes a statement made by an Englishman, writing under\nthe signature of \"Oxoniensis\" in the _Times_ of November 4th, 1848, to the\neffect that--\n\n\"A parish priest, residing on Romsdalfjord, about two days' journey south\nof Drontheim, an intelligent person, whose veracity I have no reason to\ndoubt, gave me a circumstantial account of one which he had himself seen.\nIt rose within thirty yards of the boat in which he was, and swam parallel\nwith it for a considerable time. Its head he described as equalling a\nsmall cask in size, and its mouth, which it repeatedly opened and shut,\nwas furnished with formidable teeth; its neck was smaller, but its body,\nof which he supposed that he saw about half on the surface of the water,\nwas not less in girth than that of a moderate-sized horse. Another\ngentleman, in whose house I stayed, had also seen one, and gave a similar\naccount of it; it also came near his boat upon the fjord, when it was\nfired at, upon which it turned and pursued them to the shore, which was\nluckily near, when it disappeared. They expressed great surprise at the\ngeneral disbelief attached to the existence of these animals amongst\nnaturalists, and assured me that there was scarcely a sailor accustomed to\nthose inland lakes who had not seen them at one time or other.\"\n\nThe Rev. Alfred C. Smith, M.A., a naturalist, who visited Norway in 1850,\nsummarises the result of his investigations in the words: \"and I cannot\nwithhold my belief in the existence of some huge inhabitant of those\nnorthern seas, when, to my mind, the fact of his existence has been so\nclearly proved by numerous eye-witnesses, many of whom were too\nintelligent to be deceived, and too honest to be doubted.\"\n\nPassing from these numerous narratives, which are distinguished for a\nremarkable agreement in the main characteristic described, I will proceed\nto some of those whose scene lies on our own coast.\n\nIn 1809, Mr. McLean, the parish minister of Eigg, communicated to Dr.\nNeil, the Secretary of the Wernerian Society, the following\nstatement:--[259]\n\n\"I saw the animal of which you inquire, in June 1808, on the coast of\nColl. Rowing along that coast, I observed, at about the distance of half a\nmile, an object to windward, which gradually excited astonishment. At\nfirst view it appeared like a small rock; but knowing that there was no\nrock in that situation, I fixed my eyes closely upon it. Then I saw it\nelevated considerably above the level of the sea, and, after a slow\nmovement, distinctly perceived one of its eyes. Alarmed at the unusual\nappearance and magnitude of the animal, I steered so as to be at no great\ndistance from the shore. When nearly in a line between it and the shore,\nthe monster, directing its head, which still continued above water,\ntowards us, plunged violently under water. Certain that he was in chase of\nus, we plied hard to get ashore. Just as we leapt out on a rock, and had\ntaken a station as high as we conveniently could, we saw it coming rapidly\nunder water towards the stern of our boat. When within a few yards of it,\nfinding the water shallow, it raised its monstrous head above water, and,\nby a winding course, got, with apparent difficulty, clear of the creek\nwhere our boat lay, and where the monster seemed in danger of being\nembayed. It continued to move off, with its head above water and with the\nwind, for about half a mile before we lost sight of it. Its head was\nsomewhat broad, and of form somewhat oval; its neck somewhat smaller; its\nshoulders, if I can so term them, considerably broader, and thence it\ntapered towards the tail, which last it kept pretty low in the water, so\nthat a view of it could not be taken so distinctly as I wished. It had no\nfins that I could perceive, and seemed to me to move progressively by\nundulation up and down. Its length I believed to be between seventy and\neighty feet. When nearest to me it did not raise its head wholly above\nwater, so that, the neck being under water, I could perceive no shining\nfilaments thereon, if it had any. Its progressive motion under water I\ntook to be very rapid. About the time I saw it, it was seen near the Isle\nof Canna. The crews of thirteen fishing-boats, I am told, were so much\nterrified at its appearance, that they, in a body, fled from it to the\nnearest creek for safety. On the passage from Rum to Canna, the crew of\none boat saw it coming towards them, with the wind, and its head high\nabove water. One of the crew pronounced the head as large as a little\nboat, and its eye as large as a plate. The men were much terrified, but\nthe monster offered them no molestation.\"\n\nI next extract, from the pages of the _Inverness Courier_, some very\npertinent remarks upon a description of the sea-monster seen by the Rev.\nMessrs. McRae and Twopeny, contained in the _Zoologist_, and I add the\narticle there referred to. I had the advantage of hearing from a gentleman\nrelated to Mr. McRae that he could substantiate his statement, having\nhimself about the same time, and in that locality, observed the same\nappearance, though at a greater distance off.\n\nThe following is the article in the _Inverness Courier_:--\n\n\"We are glad to see that the two gentlemen who favoured us last autumn\nwith an account of what they believed to be a strange animal seen off the\nwest coast, Inverness-shire, have published in the _Zoologist_, a monthly\njournal of natural history, a careful description of the creature which\nthey saw, and which seems to resemble the engravings of what is called the\nNorwegian sea-serpent. We subjoin the magazine article entire. There is\nsuch a dread of ridicule in appearing publicly in company with this\nmysterious and disreputable monster, that we must commend the boldness of\nthe two clergymen in putting their names to the narrative; especially as\nwe observe that other observers have not been so courageous, and that\nthey have been obliged to give some of their information anonymously.\n\n\"The huge serpent, if serpent it may be called, invariably appears in\nstill warm weather, and in no other. There are certain Norwegian fjords\nand narrow seas which it frequents, and it is scarcely ever seen in the\nopen sea. In the present case, the limit in which the animal has been seen\non our coast, is Lochduich to the north and the Sound of Mull to the\nsouth, only about a fifth of the space between Cape Wrath and the Mull of\nKintyre; and it is in that part it should be most looked for. We beg to\ndraw the attention of our readers on the West Coast to the fact, now\nestablished on indubitable evidence, of the supposed animal having been\nseen there last year, and to the possibility of its appearing again in\nsimilar weather this year. If it chances to turn up once more, some full\nand accurate account of the phenomenon would certainly be most desirable.\"\n\nThe following is the article in the _Zoologist_[260]:--\n\n    Appearance of an animal, believed to be that which is called the\n    Norwegian Sea-serpent, on the Western Coast of Scotland, in August\n    1872, by the Rev. John McRae, Minister of Glenelg, Inverness-shire,\n    and the Rev. David Twopeny, Vicar of Stockbury, Kent.\n\n    On the 20th of August 1872 we started from Glenelg in a small cutter,\n    the _Leda_, for an excursion to Lochourn. Our party consisted, besides\n    ourselves, of two ladies, F. and K., a gentleman, G. B., and a\n    Highland lad. Our course lay down the Sound of Sleat, which on that\n    side divides the Isle of Skye from the mainland, the average breadth\n    of the channel in that part being two miles.\n\n    It was calm and sunshiny, not a breath of air, and the sea perfectly\n    smooth. As we were getting the cutter along with oars we perceived a\n    dark mass about two hundred yards astern of us, to the north. While we\n    were looking at it with our glasses (we had three on board) another\n    similar black lump rose to the left of the first, leaving an interval\n    between; then another and another followed, all in regular order. We\n    did not doubt its being one living creature: it moved slowly across\n    our wake, and disappeared. Presently the first mass, which was\n    evidently the head, reappeared, and was followed by the rising of the\n    other black lumps, as before. Sometimes three appeared, sometimes\n    four, five, or six, and then sank again. When they rose, the head\n    appeared first, if it had been down, and the lumps rose after it in\n    regular order, beginning always with that next the head, and rising\n    gently; but when they sank, they sank altogether rather abruptly,\n    sometimes leaving the head visible.\n\n    It gave the impression of a creature crooking up its back to sun\n    itself. There was no appearance of undulation; when the lumps sank,\n    other lumps did not rise in the intervals between them. The greatest\n    number we counted was seven, making eight with head, as shown in\n    sketch No. 1 [two engravings are given]. The parts were separated from\n    each other by intervals of about their own length, the head being\n    rather smaller and flatter than the rest, and the nose being very\n    slightly visible above the water; but we did not see the head raised\n    above the surface either this or the next day, nor could we see the\n    eye. We had no means of measuring the length with any accuracy; but\n    taking the distance from the centre of one lump to the centre of the\n    next to be six feet, and it could scarcely be less, the whole length\n    of the portion visible, including the intervals submerged, would be\n    forty-five feet.\n\n    Presently, as we were watching the creature, it began to approach us\n    rapidly, causing a great agitation in the sea. Nearly the whole of the\n    body, if not all of it, had now disappeared, and the head advanced at\n    a great rate in the midst of a shower of fine spray, which was\n    evidently raised in some way by the quick movement of the animal--it\n    did not appear how--and not by spouting. F. was alarmed and retreated\n    to the cabin, crying out that the creature was coming down upon us.\n    When within about a hundred yards of us it sank and moved away in the\n    direction of Syke, just under the surface of the water, for we could\n    trace its course by the waves it raised on the still sea to the\n    distance of a mile or more. After this it continued at intervals to\n    show itself, careering about at a distance, as long as we were in that\n    part of the Sound; the head and a small part only of the body being\n    visible on the surface; but we did not again, on that day, see it so\n    near nor so well as at first.\n\n    At one time F. and K. and G. B. saw a fin sticking up at a little\n    distance back from the head, but neither of us were then observing. On\n    our return the next day we were again becalmed on the north side of\n    the opening of Lochourn, where it is about three miles wide, the day\n    warm and sunshiny as before. As we were dragging slowly along in the\n    afternoon the creature again appeared over towards the south side, at\n    a greater distance than we saw it the first day. It now showed itself\n    in three or four rather long lines, as in the sketch No. 2, and looked\n    considerably longer than it did the day before; as nearly as we could\n    compute, it looked at least sixty feet in length. Soon it began\n    careering about, showing but a small part of itself, as on the day\n    before, and appeared to be going up Lochourn. Later in the afternoon,\n    when we were still becalmed in the mouth of Lochourn, and by using the\n    oars had nearly reached the island of Sandaig, it came rushing past us\n    about a hundred and fifty yards to the south, on its return from\n    Lochourn. It went with great rapidity, its black head only being\n    visible through the clear sea, followed by a long trail of agitated\n    water. As it shot along, the noise of its rush through the water could\n    be distinctly heard on board. There were no organs of motion to be\n    seen, nor was there any shower of spray as on the day before, but\n    merely such a commotion in the sea as its quick passage might be\n    expected to make. Its progress was equable and smooth, like that of a\n    log towed rapidly. For the rest of the day, as we worked our way home\n    northwards through the Sound of Sleat, it was occasionally within\n    sight of us until nightfall, rushing about at a distance, as before,\n    and showing only its head, and a small part of its body on the\n    surface. It seemed on each day to keep about us, and as we were always\n    then rowing, we were inclined to think it perhaps might be attracted\n    by the measured sound of the oars. Its only exit in this direction to\n    the north was by the narrow Strait of Kylerhea, dividing Skye from the\n    mainland, and only a third of a mile wide, and we left our boat,\n    wondering whether this strange creature had gone that way or turned\n    back again to the south. We have only to add to this narrative of what\n    we saw ourselves, the following instances of its being seen by other\n    people, of the correctness of which we have no doubt. The ferrymen on\n    each side of Kylerhea saw it pass rapidly through on the evening of\n    the 21st, and heard the rush of the water; they were surprised, and\n    thought it might be a shoal of porpoises, but could not comprehend\n    their going so quickly.\n\n    Finlay McRae, of Bundaloch, in the parish of Kintail, was within the\n    mouth of Lochourn on the 21st, with other men in his boat, and saw the\n    creature at about the distance of one hundred and fifty yards. Two\n    days after we saw it, Alexander Macmillan, boat-builder at Dornie, was\n    fishing in a boat in the entrance of Lochduich, half-way between\n    Druidag and Castledonan, when he saw the animal, near enough to hear\n    the noise, and see the ripple it made in rushing along in the sea. He\n    says that what seemed its head was followed by four or more lumps, or\n    \"half-rounds,\" as he calls them, and that they sometimes rose and\n    sometimes sank altogether. He estimated its length at not less than\n    between sixty and eighty feet. He saw it also on two subsequent days\n    in Lochduich. On all these occasions his brother, Farquhar, was with\n    him in the boat, and they were both much alarmed, and pulled to the\n    shore in great haste.\n\n    A lady at Duisdale, in Skye, a place overlooking the part of the Sound\n    which is opposite the opening of Lochourn, said that she was looking\n    out with a glass when she saw a strange object on the sea, which\n    appeared like eight seals in a row. This was just about the time that\n    we saw it. We were also informed that about the same time it was seen\n    from the island of Eigg, between Eigg and the mainland, about twenty\n    miles to the south-west of the opening of Lochourn. We have not\n    permission to mention the names in these two last instances.\n\n      JOHN MCRAE.\n      DAVID TWOPENY.\n\n    _P.S._--The writers of the above account scarcely expect the public to\n    believe in the existence of the creature which they saw. Rather than\n    that, they look for the disbelief and ridicule to which the subject\n    always gives rise, partly on account of the animal having been\n    pronounced to be a snake, without any sufficient evidence, but\n    principally because of the exaggerations and fables with which the\n    whole subject is beset. Nevertheless, they consider themselves bound\n    to leave a record of what they saw, in order that naturalists may\n    receive it as a piece of evidence, or not, according to what they\n    think it is worth. The animal will very likely turn up on those coasts\n    again, and it will be always in that \"dead season,\" so convenient to\n    editors of newspapers, for it is never seen but in the still warm days\n    of summer or early autumn. There is a considerable probability that it\n    has visited the same coasts before.\n\n    In the summer of 1871, some large creature was seen for some time\n    rushing about in Lochduich, but it did not show itself sufficiently\n    for anyone to ascertain what it was. Also, some years back, a\n    well-known gentleman of the West Coast, now living, was crossing the\n    Sound of Mull, from Mull to the mainland, \"on a very calm afternoon,\n    when,\" as he writes, \"our attention was attracted to a monster which\n    had come to the surface, not more than fifty yards from our boat. It\n    rose without causing the slightest disturbance of the sea, or making\n    the slightest noise, and floated for some time on the surface, but\n    without exhibiting its head or tail, showing only the ridge of the\n    back, which was not that of a whale or any other sea animal that I had\n    ever seen. The back appeared sharp and ridge-like, and in colour very\n    dark, indeed black, or almost so. It rested quietly for a few minutes,\n    and then dropped quietly down into the deep, without causing the\n    slightest agitation. I should say that about forty feet of it,\n    certainly not less, appeared on the surface.\"\n\n    It should be noticed that the inhabitants of that Western Coast are\n    quite familiar with the appearance of whales, seals, and porpoises,\n    and when they see them they recognise them at once. Whether the\n    creature which pursued Mr. McLean's boat off the island of Coll in\n    1808, and of which there is an account in the _Transactions_ of the\n    Wernerian Society (vol. i. p. 442), was one of these Norwegian\n    animals, it is not easy to say. Survivors who knew Mr. McLean, say\n    that he could quite be relied upon for truth.\n\n    The public are not likely to believe in the creature till it is\n    caught, and that does not seem likely to happen just yet, for a\n    variety of reasons, one reason being that it has, from all the\n    accounts given of it, the power of moving very rapidly. On the 20th,\n    while we were becalmed in the mouth of Lochourn, a steam-launch slowly\n    passed us, and, as we watched it, we reckoned its rate at five or six\n    miles an hour. When the animal rushed past us on the next day at about\n    the same distance, and when we were again becalmed nearly in the same\n    place, we agreed that it went twice as fast as the steamer, and we\n    thought that its rate could not be less than ten or twelve miles an\n    hour. It might be shot, but would probably sink. There are three\n    accounts of its being shot at in Norway; in one instance it sank, and\n    in the other two it pursued the boats, which were near the shore, but\n    disappeared when it found itself getting into shallow water.\n\n    It should be mentioned that when we saw this creature, and made our\n    sketches of it, we had never seen either Pontoppidan's _Natural\n    History_ or his print of the Norwegian sea-serpent, which has a most\n    striking resemblance to the first of our own sketches. Considering the\n    great body of reasonable Norwegian evidence, extending through a\n    number of years, which remains after setting aside fables and\n    exaggerations, it seems surprising that no naturalist of that country\n    has ever applied himself to make out something about the animal. In\n    the meantime, as the public will most probably be dubious about\n    quickly giving credit to our account, the following explanations are\n    open to them, all of which have been proposed to me, viz.:--porpoises,\n    lumps of sea-weed, empty herring-barrels, bladders, logs of wood,\n    waves of the sea, and inflated pig-skins! but as all these theories\n    present to our mind greater difficulties than the existence of the\n    animal itself, we feel obliged to decline them.\n\nThe editor of the _Zoologist_ adds:--\n\n    I have long since expressed my firm conviction that there exists a\n    large marine animal unknown to us naturalists; I maintain this belief\n    as firmly as ever.\n\n    I totally reject the evidence of published representations; but I do\n    not allow these imaginary figures to interfere with a firm conviction.\n\nHere, again, we have the same general resemblances, observed under the\nsame conditions of weather, as in the case of the Norwegian serpent. As to\nthe pursuit, which may either have been urged from motives of curiosity or\nof anger, it is curious to find a remarkable account of a similar\nincident in _Kotzebue's Vogages_, where it is stated that M. Kriukoff,\nwhile in a boat at Beering's Island, was pursued by an animal like a red\nserpent, and immensely long, with a head like that of a sea-lion, but the\neyes disproportionately large. \"It was fortunate,\" observed M. Kriukoff,\n\"we were so near land, or the monster would have swallowed us; he raised\nhis head far above the surface, and the sea-lions were so terrified, that\nsome rushed into the water, and others concealed themselves on the shore!\"\n\nThe last notice of its appearance in British waters is extracted from\n_Nature_, as follows:--\n\n    Believing it to be desirable that every well-authenticated observation\n    indicating the existence of large sea-serpents should be permanently\n    registered, I send you the following particulars:--\n\n    About three P.M. on Sunday, September 3, 1882, a party of gentlemen\n    and ladies were standing at the northern extremity of Llandudno pier,\n    looking towards the open sea, when an unusual object was observed in\n    the water near to the Little Orme's Head, travelling rapidly westwards\n    towards the Great Orme. It appeared to be just outside the mouth of\n    the bay, and would therefore be about a mile distant from the\n    observers. It was watched for about two minutes, and in that interval\n    it traversed about half the width of the bay, and then suddenly\n    disappeared. The bay is two miles wide, and therefore the object,\n    whatever it was, must have travelled at the rate of thirty miles an\n    hour. It is estimated to have been fully as long as a large steamer,\n    say two hundred feet; the rapidity of its motion was particularly\n    remarked as being greater than that of any ordinary vessel. The colour\n    appeared to be black, and the motion either corkscrew-like or\n    snake-like, with vertical undulations. Three of the observers have\n    since made sketches from memory, quite independently, of the\n    impression left on their minds, and on comparing these sketches, which\n    slightly varied, they have agreed to sanction the accompanying outline\n    as representing as nearly as possible the object which they saw. The\n    party consisted of W. Barfoot, J.P., of Leicester, F. J. Marlow,\n    solicitor, of Manchester, Mrs. Marlow, and several others. They\n    discard the theories of birds or porpoises as not accounting for this\n    particular phenomenon.\n\n      F. T. MOTT.\n\n    Birstall Hill, Leicester,\n      January 16th, 1883.\n\nIt must also be mentioned that Dr. Hibbert[261] states that the\nsea-serpent has been seen in the Shetland seas, and instances one seen off\nthe Isle Stonness, Valley Island, and Dunvossness.\n\nThe first that we hear of the appearance of the sea-serpent in American\nwaters is of one which appeared on the coast of Maine, in Penobscot Bay,\nat intervals, during the thirty years preceding 1809. The Rev. Abraham\nCummings, who reports this, saw it himself at a distance of about eighty\nyards, and considered it to be seventy feet long; it was seen by the\nBritish in their expedition to Bagaduse, during the first American war,\nand supposed to be three hundred feet long. The next record relates to one\nappearing in August 1817, which was frequently seen in the harbour of\nGloucester, Cape Aure, about thirty miles from Boston. It is the subject\nof a report, published by a committee appointed by the Linn\u00e6an Society of\nNew England. Dr. Hamilton summarises the results as follows:--\n\n\"The affidavits of a great many individuals of unblemished character are\ncollected, which leaves no room to apprehend anything like deceit. They do\nnot agree in every minute particular, but in regard to its great length\nand snake-like form, they are harmonious.\"\n\nEleven depositions were taken, in which the length was variously estimated\nat from fifty to one hundred feet. It was either seen lying perfectly\nstill, extended upon the surface of the water, or progressing rapidly at\nthe rate of a mile in two, or at the most three, minutes; the mode of\nprogression is generally spoken of as vertical undulation. The tenth\ndeposition states: \"On the 20th of June 1815, my boy informed me of an\nunusual appearance on the surface of the sea in the Cove. When I viewed it\nthrough the glass, I was in a moment satisfied that it was some aquatic\nanimal, with the form, motions, and appearance of which I was not\npreviously acquainted. It was about a quarter of a mile from the shore,\nand was moving with great rapidity to the southward; it appeared about\nthirty feet in length. Presently it turned about, and then displayed a\ngreater length, I suppose at least one hundred feet. It then came towards\nme very rapidly, and lay entirely still on the surface of the water. His\nappearance then was like a string of buoys. I saw thirty or forty of these\nprotuberances, or bunches, which were about the size of a barrel. The head\nappeared six or eight feet long, and tapered off to the size of a horse's\nhead. He then appeared about one hundred and twenty feet long; the body\nappeared of a uniform size; the colour deep brown. I could not discover\nany eye, mane, gills, or breathing holes. I did not see any fins or lips.\"\n\nOne of the Committee of the Linn\u00e6an Society was himself an eye-witness,\nand Colonel Perkins, of Boston, published in 1848 a communication which\nwas a copy of a letter he had written in 1820, detailing his personal\nexperience in confirmation of the Society's Report, as follows:--\"In a few\nmoments after my exclamation, I saw, on the opposite side of the harbour,\nat about two miles from where I had first seen, or thought I saw, the\nsnake, the same object, moving with a rapid motion up the harbour, on the\nwestern shore. As he approached us, it was easy to see that his motion was\nnot that of the common snake, either on the land or in the water, but\nevidently the vertical movement of the caterpillar. As nearly as I could\njudge, there was visible at a time about forty feet of his body. It was\nnot, to be sure, a continuity of body, as the form from head to tail\n(except as the apparent bunches appeared as he moved through the water)\nwas seen only at three or four feet asunder. It was very evident, however,\nthat his length must be much greater than what appeared, as in his\nmovement he left a considerable wake in his rear. I had a fine glass, and\nwas within from one-third to half a mile of him. The head was flat in the\nwater, and the animal was, as far as I could distinguish, of a chocolate\ncolour. I was struck with an appearance in front of the head like a single\nhorn, about nine inches to a foot in length, and of the form of a\nmarline-spike. There were a great many people collected by this time, many\nof whom had before seen the same object, and the same appearance. From the\ntime I first saw him until he passed by the place where I stood, and soon\nafter disappeared, was not more than fifteen or twenty minutes.\n\n\"Subsequent to the period of which I have been speaking, the snake was\nseen by several of the crews of our coasting vessels, and in some\ninstances within a few yards. Captain Tappan, a person well known to me,\nsaw him with his head above the water two or three feet, at times moving\nwith great rapidity, and at others slowly. He also saw what explained the\nappearance, which I have described, of a horn on the front of the head.\nThis was doubtless what was observed by Captain Tappan to be the tongue,\nthrown in an upright position from the mouth, and having the appearance\nwhich I have given to it.\n\n\"One of the revenue cutters, whilst in the neighbourhood of Cape Ann, had\nan excellent view of him at a few yards' distance. He moved slowly; and\nupon the approach of the vessel, sank and was seen no more.\"\n\nDr. Hamilton[262] states that an animal of similar appearance was again\nseen, in August 1819, off Nahant, Boston, and remained in the\nneighbourhood for some weeks. Two hundred persons witnessed it, thirteen\nfolds were counted, and the head, which was serpent-shaped, was elevated\ntwo feet above the surface. Its eye was remarkably brilliant and\nglistening. The water was smooth, and the weather calm and serene. When it\ndisappeared, its motion was undulatory, making curves perpendicular to\nthe surface of the water, and giving the appearance of a long moving\nstring of corks. It appeared again off Nahant in July 1833. \"It was first\nseen on Saturday afternoon, passing between Egg Rock and the Promontory,\nwinding his way into Lynn Harbour; and again on Sunday morning, heading\nfor South Shores. It was seen by forty or fifty ladies and gentlemen, who\ninsist that they could not have been deceived.\"\n\nThe _Zoologist_ for May 1847 contains an account of a sea-serpent seen in\nMahone Bay, about forty miles east of Halifax, by five officers of the\ngarrison, when on a fishing excursion:--\"We were surprised by the sight of\nan immense shoal of grampuses, which appeared in an unusual state of\nexcitement, and which in their gambols approached so close to our little\ncraft that some of the party amused themselves by firing at them with\nrifles. At this time we were jogging at about five miles an hour, and must\nhave been crossing Margaret's Bay, 'when suddenly,' at a distance of from\na hundred and fifty to two hundred yards on our starboard bow, we saw the\nhead and neck of some denizen of the deep, precisely like those of a\ncommon snake, in the act of swimming, the head so far elevated and thrown\nforward by the curve of the neck, as to enable us to see the water under\nand beyond it. The creature rapidly passed, leaving a regular wake, from\nthe commencement of which to the fore part, which was out of water, we\njudged in length to be about eighty feet, and this within rather than\nbeyond the mark. It is most difficult to give correctly the dimensions of\nany object in the water. The head of the creature we set down at about six\nfeet in length, and that portion of the neck which we saw the same; the\nextreme length, as before stated, at between eighty and one hundred feet.\nThe neck in thickness equalled the bole of a moderate-sized tree. The head\nand neck of a dark brown or nearly black colour, streaked with white in\nirregular streaks. I do not recollect seeing any part of the body.\"\n\nConsiderable interest was excited in 1848 by the account of a sea-serpent\nseen by the captain and officers of Her Majesty's ship _D\u00e6dalus_ while on\nher passage from the Cape of Good Hope to St. Helena, in lat. 24\u00b0 44' S.\nand long. 9\u00b0 22' E. In this case the usual concomitants of calm weather\nand absence of swell are wanting. The official report to the Admiralty is\nas follows:--\n\n    H.M.S. _D\u00e6dalus_,\n    Hamoaze, Oct. 11.\n\n    SIR,--In reply to your letter of this day's date, requiring\n    information as to the truth of a statement published in the _Times_\n    newspaper, of a sea-serpent of extraordinary dimensions having been\n    seen from Her Majesty's ship _D\u00e6dalus_, under my command, on her\n    passage from the East Indies, I have the honour to acquaint you, for\n    the information of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that at 5\n    o'clock P.M. on the 6th of August last, in latitude 24\u00b0 44' S. and\n    longitude 9\u00b0 22' E., the weather dark and cloudy, wind fresh from the\n    N.W., with a long ocean swell from the S.W., the ship on the port\n    tack, heading N.E. by N., something very unusual was seen by Mr.\n    Sartoris, midshipman, rapidly approaching the ship from before the\n    beam. The circumstance was immediately reported by him to the officer\n    of the watch, Lieutenant Edgar Drummond, with whom and Mr. William\n    Barrett, the master, I was at the time walking the quarter-deck. The\n    ship's company were at supper.\n\n    On our attention being called to the object, it was discovered to be\n    an enormous serpent, with head and shoulders kept about four feet\n    constantly above the surface of the sea; and as nearly as we could\n    approximate by comparing it with the length of what our main\n    topsail-yard would show in the water, there was at the very least\n    sixty feet of the animal _\u00e0 fleur d'eau_, no portion of which was, in\n    our perception, used in propelling it through the water, either by\n    vertical or horizontal undulation. It passed rapidly, but so close\n    under our lee quarter that had it been a man of my acquaintance I\n    should have easily recognized his features with the naked eye; and it\n    did not, either in approaching the ship or after it had passed our\n    wake, deviate in the slightest degree from its course to the S.W.,\n    which it held on at the pace of from twelve to fifteen miles per hour,\n    apparently on some determined purpose. The diameter of the serpent was\n    about fifteen or sixteen inches behind the head, which was, without\n    any doubt, that of a snake; and it was never, during the twenty\n    minutes that it continued in sight of our glasses, once below the\n    surface of the water; its colour, a dark brown with yellowish white\n    about the throat. It had no fins, but something like the mane of a\n    horse, or rather a bunch of sea-weed, washed about its back. It was\n    seen by the quarter-master, the boatswain's mate, and the man at the\n    wheel, in addition to myself and officers above mentioned.\n\n    I am having a drawing of the serpent made from a sketch taken\n    immediately after it was seen, which I hope to have ready for\n    transmission to my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty by to-morrow's\n    post.\n\n      I have, &c.,\n      PETER M'QUH\u0152, _Capt._\n\n    To Admiral Sir W. H. Gage, G.C.B.,\n      Devonport.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 70.--SEA-SERPENT SEEN BY THE CREW OF H.M.S. \"D\u00c6DALUS,\"\nIN 1848.]\n\nThis drawing was figured in the _Illustrated London News_ in illustration\nof a short but very valuable memoir, and is reproduced upon a smaller\nscale here.\n\nA similar, perhaps the same, monster was fallen in with at a slightly\nlater date, 20\u00b0 further south, as described in a letter addressed to the\neditor of the _Globe_.\n\n    _Mary Ann of Glasgow._\n    Glasgow, Oct. 19, 1848.\n\n    SIR,--I have just reached this port, on a voyage from Malta to Lisbon,\n    and my attention having been called to a report relative to an animal\n    seen by the master and crew of Her Majesty's ship _D\u00e6dalus_, I take\n    the liberty of communicating the following circumstance:--\n\n    \"When clearing out of the port of Lisbon, upon the 30th of September\n    last, we spoke the American brig _Daphne_, of Boston, Mark Trelawny\n    master; she signalled for us to heave to, which we did, and standing\n    close round her counter lay to while the mate boarded us with the\n    jolly boat, and handed a packet of letters, to be despatched per first\n    steamer for Boston on our arrival in England. The mate told me that\n    when in lat. 4\u00b0 11' S., long. 10\u00b0 15' E., wind dead north, upon the\n    20th of September, a most extraordinary animal had been seen. From his\n    description, it had the appearance of a huge serpent or snake, with a\n    dragon's head.\n\n    \"Immediately upon its being seen, one of the deck guns was brought to\n    bear upon it, which, having been charged with spike-nails and whatever\n    other pieces of iron could be got at the moment, was discharged at the\n    animal, then only distant about forty yards from the ship. It\n    immediately reared its head in the air, and plunged violently with its\n    body, showing evidently that the charge had taken effect. The _Daphne_\n    was to leeward at the time, but was put about on the starboard tack,\n    and stood towards the brute, which was seen foaming and lashing the\n    water at a fearful rate. Upon the brig nearing, however, it\n    disappeared, and, though evidently wounded, made rapidly off at the\n    rate of fifteen or sixteen knots an hour, as was judged from its\n    appearing several times upon the surface. The _Daphne_ pursued for\n    some time; but the night coming on, the master was obliged to put\n    about and continue his voyage.\n\n    From the description given by the mate, the brute must have been\n    nearly a hundred feet long, and his account of it agrees in every\n    respect with that lately forwarded to the Admiralty by the master of\n    the _D\u00e6dalus_.\n\n      JAMES HENDERSON, _Master_.\n\nThe account of the creature seen by the officers and crew of the _D\u00e6dalus_\nexcited more than the usual attention given to these stories; for the\nprofessional status of the observers guaranteed at once the veracity of\ntheir statement, and the probability of their judgment being accurate.\nConsiderable correspondence ensued, including a very masterly attack upon\nthe identification of the creature by Professor Owen, which will be again\nreferred to further on. It also elicited another sea-serpent story which\nappeared in the _Bombay Bi-monthly Times_ for January 1849.\n\n    I see, in your paper of the 30th of December, a paragraph in which a\n    doubt is expressed of the authenticity of the account given by\n    Captain M'Quh\u0153 of the great \"sea-serpent.\" When returning to India,\n    in the year 1829, I was standing on the poop of the _Royal Saxon_, in\n    conversation with Captain Petrie, the commander of that ship. We were\n    at a considerable distance south-west of the Cape of Good Hope, in the\n    usual track of vessels to this country, going rapidly along (seven or\n    eight knots) in fine smooth water. It was in the middle of the day,\n    and the other passengers were at luncheon, the man at the wheel, a\n    steerage passenger, and ourselves being the only persons on the poop.\n    Captain Petrie and myself, at the same instant, were literally fixed\n    in astonishment by the appearance, a short distance ahead, of an\n    animal of which no more generally correct description could be given\n    than that by Captain M'Quh\u0153. It passed within thirty-five yards of the\n    ship without altering its course in the least; but as it came right\n    abreast of us, it slowly turned its head towards us. Apparently about\n    one-third of the upper part of its body was above water, in nearly its\n    whole length; and we could see the water curling up on its breast as\n    it moved along, but by what means it moved we could not perceive....\n    We saw this apparently similar creature in its whole length, with the\n    exception of a small portion of the tail, which was under water; and\n    by comparing its length with that of the _Royal Saxon_ (about six\n    hundred feet) when exactly alongside in passing, we calculated it to\n    be in that, as well as its other dimensions, greater than the animal\n    described by Captain M'Quh\u0153. I am not quite sure of our latitude and\n    longitude at the time, nor do I exactly remember the date, but it was\n    about the end of July.\n\n      R. DAVIDSON,\n      _Superintending Surgeon,\n      Nagpore Subsidiary Force_.\n\n    Kamptu,\n      3rd January 1849.\n\nAgain, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Steele, of the Coldstream Guards, wrote\nto the _Zoologist_: \"I have lately received the following account from my\nbrother, Captain Steele, 9th Lancers, who, on his way out to India in the\n_Barham_, saw the sea-serpent. Thinking it might be interesting to you, as\ncorroborating the account of the _D\u00e6dalus_, I have taken the liberty of\nsending you the extract from my brother's letter:--'On the 28th of August,\nin long. 40\u00b0 E., lat. 37\u00b0 16' S., about half-past two, we had all gone\ndown below to get ready for dinner, when the first mate called us on deck\nto see a most extraordinary sight. About five hundred yards from the ship\nthere was the head and neck of an enormous snake; we saw about sixteen or\ntwenty feet out of the water, and he _spouted_ a long way from his head;\ndown his back he had a crest like a cock's comb,[263] and was going very\nslowly through the water, but left a wake of about fifty or sixty feet, as\nif dragging a long body after him. The captain put the ship off her course\nto run down to him, but as we approached him he went down. His colour was\ngreen, with light spots. _He was seen by everyone on board._' My brother\nis no naturalist; and I think this is the first time the monster has ever\nbeen seen to spout.\"\n\nOne of the officers of the ship wrote: \"On looking over the side of the\nvessel I saw a most wonderful sight, which I shall recollect as long as I\nlive. His head appeared to be about sixteen feet above the water, and he\nkept moving it up and down, sometimes showing his enormous neck, which was\nsurmounted with a huge crest in the shape of a saw. It was surrounded by\nhundreds of birds, and we at first thought it was a dead whale. He left a\ntrack in the water like the wake of a boat, and from what we could see of\nhis head and part of his body, we were led to think he must be about sixty\nfeet in length, but he might be more. The captain kept the vessel away to\nget nearer to him; and when we were within a hundred yards he slowly sank\ninto the depths of the sea. While we were at dinner he was seen again.\"\n\nThe _Times_, of Feb. 5, 1858, contains a statement made by Captain\nHarrington, of the ship _Castilian_, and certified to by his chief and\nsecond officers, as follows:--\n\n\"Ship _Castilian_, Dec. 12, 1857; N.E. end of St. Helena, distant ten\nmiles. At 6.30 P.M., strong breezes and cloudy, ship sailing about twelve\nmiles per hour. While myself and officers were standing on the leeside of\nthe poop, looking towards the island, we were startled by the sight of a\nhuge marine animal, which reared its head out of the water within twenty\nyards of the ship, when it suddenly disappeared for about half a minute,\nand then made its appearance in the same manner again, showing us\ndistinctly its neck and head about ten or twelve feet out of the water.\nIts head was shaped like a long nun-buoy, and I suppose the diameter to\nhave been seven or eight feet in the largest part, with a kind of scroll,\nor tuft of loose skin, encircling it about two feet from the top; the\nwater was discoloured for several hundred feet from its head, so much so\nthat, on its first appearance, my impression was that the ship was in\nbroken water, produced, as I supposed, by some volcanic agency since the\nlast time I had passed the island; but the second appearance completely\ndispelled those fears, and assured us that it was a monster of\nextraordinary length, which appeared to be moving slowly towards the land.\nThe ship was going too fast to enable us to reach the masthead in time to\nform a correct estimate of its extreme length; but from what we saw from\nthe deck, we conclude that it must have been over two hundred feet long.\nThe boatswain and several of the crew who observed it from the topgallant\nforecastle, state that it was more than double the length of the ship, in\nwhich case it must have been five hundred feet. Be that as it may, I am\nconvinced that it belonged to the serpent tribe; it was of a dark colour\nabout the head, and was covered with several white spots.\"\n\nA writer in the _New York Sun_ (I have the clipping, but, unfortunately,\nnot the date), discussing the best authenticated stories, says: \"The Lynn\nsea-serpent appears to be the most authentic, the writer having seen\nseveral persons who saw it from the beach, and knowing others personally\nor by reputation. The first animal of this kind seen about Lynn was in\n1638, and was seen by Dr. John Josselyn; and again another was observed,\nin 1819, by Mr. Cabot. Amos Lawrance, one of the pillars of old Boston,\nsaid: 'I have never had any doubt of the existence of the sea-serpent\nsince the morning he was seen off Nahant by old Marshal Prince through his\nfamous masthead spy-glass. For within the next two hours I conversed with\nSamuel Cabot and Daniel P. Parker, I think, and one or more persons\nbesides, who had spent a part of that morning in witnessing its movements.\nIn addition, Colonel Harris, the commander at Fort Independence, told me\nthat the creature had been seen by a number of his soldiers while standing\nsentry at early dawn, some time before this show at Nahant; and Colonel\nHarris believed it as firmly as though the creature were drawn up before\nus in State Street, where we then were.' Such is the history of the Lynn\nsea-serpent; and the following is an extract from the report of the\nLinn\u00e6an Society of Boston, made by Dr. Bigelow and F. C. Gray: 'The\nmonster was from eighty to ninety feet long; his head usually carried\nabout two feet above the water; the body of a dark brown colour, with\nthirty or forty more protuberances, compared by some to four-gallon kegs,\nby others to a string of buoys, and called, by some, bunches on the back.\nMotions very rapid--faster than those of a whale; swimming a mile in three\nminutes, and sometimes more, leaving a wake behind him; chasing mackerel,\nherrings, and other fish, which were seen jumping out of the water fifty\nat a time as he approached. He only came to the surface of the sea in calm\nand bright weather. A skilful gunner fired at him from our boat, and,\nhaving taken good aim, felt sure he must have hit him on the head. The\ncreature turned towards him, then dived under the boat, and reappeared a\nhundred yards on the other side.' In February of 1846 a letter was printed\nin the various newspapers, signed by Captain Lawson, giving a description\nof a monstrous snake seen by him from his vessel off Capes Charles and\nHenry. The length was stated at one hundred feet, and on the back were\nseen sharp projections. The head was small in proportion to the length.\"\n\nI next append a few short statements which have appeared at various dates\nin the public prints.\n\nThe _News of the World_, Sept. 28, 1879, states that Captain J. F. Cox,\nmaster of the British ship _Privateer_, which arrived at Delaware\nbreakwater on Sept. 9, from London, says: \"On August 5, one hundred miles\nwest of Brest (France), weather fine and clear, at 5 P.M., as I was\nwalking the quarter-deck, I saw something black rise out of the water,\nabout twenty feet, in shape like an immense snake of three feet diameter.\nIt was about three hundred yards from the ship, coming towards us. It\nturned its head partly from us, and went down with a great splash, after\nstaying up about five seconds, but rose again three times at intervals of\nten seconds, until it had turned completely from us, and was going from us\nat a great speed, and making the water boil all round it. I could see its\neyes and shape perfectly. It was like a great eel or snake, but as black\nas coal tar, and appeared to be making great exertions to get away from\nthe ship. I have seen many kinds of fish, in five different oceans, but\nwas never favoured with a sight of the great sea-snake before.\"\n\nThe _Singapore Daily News_, April 6, 1878, in its Australian news quotes\nfrom Wellington (New Zealand), Feb. 26 (this month corresponds with August\nnorth of the Line): \"The captain of the steamship _Durham_ reports having\nseen a monster serpent off Nerowas Island. Thirty feet of the monster was\nvisible out of the water. The crew and passengers corroborate the report.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 71.--SEA-SERPENT SEEN FROM THE SHIP \"SACRAMENTO,\" JULY\n30, 1877. (_From the \"Australian Sketcher.\"_)]\n\nThe _Australian Sketcher_ for November 24, 1877, states: \"Captain W. H.\nNelson, of the American ship _Sacramento_, which arrived in this port from\nNew York on October 20, reported that he saw the sea-serpent on his\nvoyage. The _Argus_ paragraph on the subject stated: 'The date on which\nthe creature was seen was on July 30, the ship then being in lat. 31\u00b0 59'\nN. and long. 37\u00b0 W. The man at the wheel was the first to observe the\nmonster, and he at once called Captain Nelson, telling him what he saw;\nbut the latter, having the same feeling of incredulity with regard to the\nsea-serpent as most other people, did not hurry from below. On coming on\ndeck, however, he was rewarded with a distant glimpse of the supposed\nsea-serpent, which the helmsman, for his part, declared he saw quite\nplainly. Some forty feet of the monster was alleged to be observable. It\nappeared to be about the size of a flour-barrel in girth, and its colour\nwas yellowish; the head is described as being flat. The eyes were plainly\nvisible. Captain Nelson is convinced that what he saw was some\nextraordinary marine monster.' We have obtained from John Hart, the man at\nthe wheel, a pencil sketch of the creature, of which we give an engraving.\nThe sketch is accompanied with a further description, in which the writer\nsays: 'This is a correct sketch of the sea-serpent seen by me while on\nboard the ship _Sacramento_, on her passage from New York to Melbourne, I\nbeing at the wheel at the time. It had the body of a very large snake; its\nlength appeared to me to be about fifty feet or sixty feet. Its head was\nlike an alligator's, with a pair of flippers about ten feet from its head.\nThe colour was of a reddish brown. At the time seen it was lying perfectly\nstill, with its head raised about three feet above the surface of the sea,\nand as it got thirty or forty feet astern, it dropped its head.'\"\n\nI confess that I do not attach much weight to this last example, from the\nsuspicious resemblance which the illustration given in the _Sketcher_\nbears to an alligator, suggesting that possibly such a creature may have\nbeen blown by winds or carried by currents to the position where it was\nseen. It is true that Mr. Gosse quotes the size of the largest alligator\non record as only seventeen feet and a half, whereas the estimated length\nof the supposed sea-serpent in this instance was from forty to sixty. But\nagainst that may be argued the difficulty of estimating lengths or heights\nwhen you have but a short inspection, and no object immediately near with\nwhich to institute a comparison[264]; while I am by no means certain that\nMr. Gosse's maximum is correct. Dr. Dennys, of Singapore, has assured me\nthat some years back an alligator, approaching thirty feet in length,\nhaunted for some days the small tidal creek which runs through, and for\nsome miles above, that town; while I very well remember Mr. Gregory, the\nSurveyor-General of Queensland, informing me that in the rivers in the\nnorth of that colony there were alligators equalling in length a\nwhale-boat, say twenty-eight feet.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 72.--SEA-SERPENT SEEN FROM THE S.S. \"CITY OF\nBALTIMORE,\" IN THE GULF OF ADEN, JAN. 28, 1879. (_From the \"Graphic\" of\nApril 19, 1879._)]\n\nThe _Graphic_ of April 19th, 1879, contains a drawing of \"a marine monster\nseen from S.S. _City of Baltimore_, in the Gulf of Aden, January 28th.\"\nThe descriptive letter-press is as follows:--\n\n\"The following is an abstract of the account given by our correspondent,\nMajor H. W. I. Senior, of the Bengal Staff Corps, to whom we are indebted\nfor the sketch from which our engraving is taken: 'On the 28th January\n1879, at about 10 A.M., I was on the poop deck of the steamship _City of\nBaltimore_, in latitude 12\u00b0 28' N., longitude 43\u00b0 52' E. I observed a long\nblack object a-beam of the ship's stern on the starboard side, at a\ndistance of about three-quarters of a mile, darting rapidly out of the\nwater and splashing in again with a noise distinctly audible, and\nadvancing nearer and nearer at a rapid pace. In a minute it had advanced\nto within half-a-mile, and was distinctly recognisable as the \"veritable\nsea-serpent.\" I shouted out \"Sea-serpent! sea-serpent! Call the captain!\"\nDr. C. Hall, the ship's surgeon, who was reading on deck, jumped up in\ntime to see the monster, as did also Miss Greenfield, one of the\npassengers on board. By this time it was only about five hundred yards\noff, and a little in the rear, owing to the vessel then steaming at the\nrate of about ten knots an hour in a westerly direction. On approaching\nthe wake of the ship, the serpent turned its course a little way, and was\nsoon lost to view in the blaze of sunlight reflected on the waves of the\nsea. So rapid were its movements, that when it approached the ship's wake,\nI seized a telescope, but could not catch a view, as it darted rapidly out\nof the field of the glass before I could see it. I was thus prevented from\nascertaining whether it had scales or not; but the best view of the\nmonster obtainable, when it was about three cables' length, that is, about\nfive hundred yards, distant, seemed to show that it was without scales. I\ncannot, however, speak with certainty. The head and neck, about two feet\nin diameter, rose out of the water to a height of about twenty or thirty\nfeet, and the monster opened its jaws wide as it rose, and closed them\nagain as it lowered its head and darted forward for a dive, reappearing\nalmost immediately some hundred yards ahead. The body was not visible at\nall, and must have been some depth under water, as the disturbance on the\nsurface was too slight to attract notice, although occasionally a splash\nwas seen at some distance behind the head. The shape of the head was not\nunlike pictures of the dragon I have often seen, with a bull-dog\nappearance of the forehead and eye-brow. When the monster had drawn its\nhead sufficiently out of the water, it let itself drop, as it were, like a\nhuge log of wood, prior to darting forward under the water.'\"\n\nMajor Senior's statement is countersigned by the two persons whom he\nmentions as co-witnesses.\n\nWhen in Singapore, in 1880, I received the personal testimony of Captain\nAnderson, at that time chief officer of the _Pluto_ (property of the\nStraits Government) and formerly a commander in the P. and O. Company's\nservice.\n\nCaptain Anderson assured me that he had twice seen large sea-serpents.\nOnce off Ushant, when he was chief officer of the _Delta_ in 1861. No\naccount was entered in the log nor any notice sent to the newspapers, for\nfear of ridicule. On that occasion the whole ship's company saw it; it was\nfive (?) miles distant, and showed fifteen feet of its body out of the\nwater. It resembled a snake with a large fringe round the neck. It\nappeared to be travelling, and moved its head to and fro like a snake. It\nnever spouted, and was observed for a quarter of an hour.\n\nThe second occasion was in the Red Sea, when he was in command of the\n_Sumatra_, on the outward trip in October or November 1877. Off Mocha he\nsaw an animal, five miles distant, that lifted the body high out of the\nwater like a snake. All exclaimed, \"There is the sea-serpent!\" but no\nentry was made in the log, or report made of it. The same creature was,\nhowever, seen shortly after by a man-of-war close to Suez and reported.\n\nIn 1881 I once more had the personal testimony of an eye-witness.\n\nMr. J. H. Hoar, of the pilot station, Shanghai, China, informed me that he\nsaw a sea-serpent some years previously, when he was stationed at Ningpo,\non the China coast-line, a little south of the embouchure of the\nYangtse-kiang. He was at the time on the look-out for a vessel, from the\ntop of the bank of Lowchew Island, Chinsang, on the southern side of the\nisland fronting the six-mile passage. This island lies east of Worth\nPoint. The hill he was on was about one hundred and fifty feet high, the\nsnake distant about two hundred and fifty yards, the depth of water seven\nfathoms. His attention was directed to it by a group of Chinamen calling\nout \"Sh\u00ea,\" which means \"snake.\" He saw it lying on the surface of the\nwater, resembling two masts of a junk end to end, but with a slight\ninterval. Presently it rose slightly, and then appeared all in one,\nextended flat upon the surface of the water. He examined it with his\nglass, and noticed the eye, which appeared to be as big as a coffee\nsaucer, and slate-coloured. The head was flat on the top. He estimated the\nlength at from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and forty feet.\n\nHe learned that it was the third occasion of its being seen in that place\nwithin eight years. An account was published in one of the local journals,\nby Mr. Sloman, from the statements of the Chinese observers. Mr. Hoar was\nprevented from doing the same by the fear of being ridiculed. I may note\nthat there is a bay, not far from this spot, among the Chusan islands,\nwhich has long been credited with being the abode of a great sea-dragon,\nand in passing over which junks take certain superstitious precautions.\n\nI have little doubt of the identity of the sea-serpent with the sea-dragon\nof the Chinese. Dr. Dennys[265] says: \"Of course our old friend, the\nsea-serpent, turns up on the coasts of China, and the description of him\ndoes not greatly differ from that recorded elsewhere. According to a\npopular legend, the Chien Tang river was at one time infested by a great\nkiau or sea-serpent, and in 1129 A.D., a district graduate is said to have\nheroically thrown himself into the flood to encounter and destroy the\nmonster. It has been already noted that most of the river gods are\nsupposed to appear in the form of water-snakes, and that the sea-serpents\nnoticed in Chinese records have always infested the mouths of rivers.\"\n\nThe Rev. Mr. Butler, of the Presbyterian Mission in Ningpo, informed me\nthat a dragon which threatened boats was supposed by the Chinese to infest\na narrow passage called Quo Mung, outside of Chinaye. Formerly there were\ntwo of them in the neighbourhood, which were very furious, and frequently\nupset boats. They had to be appeased by a yearly offering of a girl of\nfair appearance and perfect body. At last, one of the _literati_\ndetermined to stop this. He armed himself, and jumped into the water;\nblood rose to the surface. He had killed one of the dragons. The other\nretired to the narrow place. A temple was erected to the hero at Peach\nBlossom ferry.\n\nIt may be noted that both the Malays and the Chinese attribute the origin\nof ambergris to either a sea-dragon or a sea-serpent. Thus, in the\ndescription of Ambergris Island or Dragon Spittle Island, contained in the\n_History of the Ming Dynasty_, Book 325, from which an extract is given\n(in translation) by Mr. W. P. Groeneveldt, in his _Notes on the Malay\nArchipelago and Malacca_, compiled from Chinese sources,[266] we find it\nstated that \"this island has the appearance of a single mountain, and is\nsituated in the Sea of Lambri, at a distance of one day and one night from\nSumatra. It rises abruptly out of the sea, which breaks on it with high\nwaves.\"\n\n\"Every spring numerous dragons come together to play on this island, and\nthey leave behind their spittle. The natives afterwards go in canoes to\nthe spot and collect this spittle, which they take with them.\n\n\"The dragon-spittle is at first like fat, of a black and yellow colour,\nand with a fishy smell; by length of time it contracts into large lumps;\nand these are also found in the belly of a large fish, of the size of the\nChinese peck, and also with a fishy smell. When burnt it has a pure and\ndelicious fragrance.\n\n\"It is sold in the market of Sumatra, one tael, official weight, costing\ntwelve golden coins of that country, and one cati,[267] one hundred and\nninety-two of such pieces, equal to about nine thousand Chinese copper\ncash; and so it is not very cheap.\"\n\nDr. F. Porter Smith[268] states that there can be no doubt that the\ncostly, odorous, light yellow, gummy substance, found floating on the sea,\nor procured from the belly of some large fish in the Indian Ocean, and\nknown by the Chinese of the present day as _lung sin_, or dragon's\nspittle, is actually ambergris. The dragon is said to cough it up.\n\n\"A similar substance, called _kih-tiau-chi_, brought from Canton and\nFoochow in former days, is said to be the egg of the dragon or a kind of\nsea-serpent named _kih tiau_. The name _kih tiau_ is singularly like the\nGreek name for a sea-monster.\"\n\nOne of the most remarkable accounts of sea-monsters, which I believe to be\nthoroughly trustworthy, is of an animal seen in the Malacca Straits in\n1876.\n\nThe first notice of it appeared in the _Straits Times Overland Journal_\nfor September 18th, 1876, in the form of a short editorial.\n\n\"Our friend Mr. Henry Lee, of _Land and Water_, who in his late work has\ntaken so much trouble to enter into and describe the habits and\npeculiarities of the sea-serpent,[269] will be glad to hear that the\npassengers and officers of the S.S. _Nestor_, which arrived here this\nmorning, are unanimous in the conclusion, and vouch for the fact, that an\nextraordinary sea-monster was seen by them between Malacca and Penang on\ntheir voyage to this port, on Monday, about noon. It was about two hundred\nand fifty feet long, about fifty feet broad, square-headed, with black and\nyellow stripes, closely resembling a salamander.\"\n\nThis was followed, on the succeeding day, by a letter from the captain.\n\n    SIR,--In reference to your paragraph in your yesterday's issue,\n    relating to our having seen a sea-monster answering to the popular\n    notion of a sea-serpent, I am prepared to vouch for the correctness of\n    the statement already made to you by the doctor and a passenger by my\n    ship.\n\n    Being on the bridge at the time (about 10 A.M.) with the first and\n    third officers, we were surprised by the appearance of an\n    extraordinary monster going in our course, and at an equal speed with\n    the vessel, at a distance from us of about six hundred feet. It had a\n    square head and a dragon black and white striped tail, and an immense\n    body, which was quite fifty feet broad when the monster raised it. The\n    head was about twelve feet broad, and appeared to be occasionally, at\n    the extreme, about six feet above the water. When the head was placed\n    on a level with the water, the body was extended to its utmost limit\n    to all appearance, and then the body rose out of the water about two\n    feet, and seemed quite fifty feet broad at those times. The long\n    dragon tail with black and white scales afterwards rose in an\n    undulating motion, in which at one time the head, at another the body,\n    and eventually the tail, formed each in its turn a prominent object\n    above the water.\n\n    The animal, or whatever it may be called, appeared careless of our\n    proximity, and went our course for about six minutes on our starboard\n    side, and then finally worked round to our port side, and remained in\n    view, to the delight of all on board, for about half an hour. His\n    length was reckoned to be over two hundred feet.\n\n      JOHN W. WEBSTER,\n      Commander, S.S. _Nestor_.\n\n    Singapore,\n      18th September 1876.\n\nMr. Cameron, proprietor of the journal, subsequently informed me that he\nhad specially warned Captain Webster of the certain doubt that would be\ncast upon his statement, but he still insisted on its publication. It was\nconfirmed by Mr. H. R. Beaver, a merchant of Singapore, and other persons\nwho were passengers by the boat.\n\nThe same newspaper (_Straits Times Overland Journal_), on November 2,\n1876, had the following extract from the _China Mail_:--\n\n\"It is more than probable that Captain Webster, of the steamer _Nestor_,\nwill be 'interviewed' very extensively when he reaches a berth in London\nDocks. A genuine sea-serpent is not met with every day, and as the\nobservations made by the officers of the ship have, we understand, been\nset down in some formal way before Consul Medhurst at Shanghai, to be\nforwarded to the _Field_, the naturalists will be in a position to pursue\ntheir researches when the captain arrives. Competent authorities are now\nof opinion that the part of the monster formerly supposed to have been its\nhead, must have been a hump; and that its head's being under water would\naccount for the supreme contempt with which it treated the passage of the\nsteamer. The undulating motion of the huge animal would explain the\nstatement that this knob or hump rose occasionally about six feet out of\nthe water. The alternate yellow and black stripes which covered all that\ncould be seen of the body, appear to have conveyed the impression that the\ntail was like that of a dragon covered with scales, although that\nconclusion need not necessarily be looked upon as certain. If the head of\nthis unknown 'shape' was actually under water, then the length becomes\nproportionately greater. It was over two hundred feet long before, it must\nnow be regarded as measuring, say, two hundred and fifty feet, which, with\nforty-five or fifty feet beam, gives a leviathan of something like the\ndimensions of an old-fashioned frigate.\"\n\nA correspondent of the _Celestial Empire_, of Shanghai, wrote thus to the\njournal:--\n\n    SIR,--If it is true that one of those who observed the marine monster\n    from the _Nestor_ is still here, it is very desirable that he should\n    give some fuller account of what he saw. Only a sciolist will deny\n    the possibility of such a beast, and Professor Owen himself has\n    remarked that the only absolutely incredible part of the accounts of\n    those who have seen it, is the statement of its vertical sinuosity,\n    which is impossible to any of the serpent tribe.\n\n    The monster seen by the _Nestor_, however, was probably one of the\n    Chelonid\u00e6, \"the father of all the turtles,\" as he is fitly called by\n    the natives of Sumatra, who fully believe in his existence, and to\n    whom he occasionally appears. Indeed, Baumgarten, in his _Malaysien_,\n    published at Amsterdam in 1829, describes the monster, and estimates\n    its length and breadth at one hundred and twenty and thirty cubits\n    respectively, measurements which agree very nearly with those given by\n    Captain Webster. Baumgarten[270] adds that it is a general belief in\n    Sumatra (vol. ii. p. 321, Ed. 1820), that whosoever sees him will die\n    within the year. \"This,\" he says naively enough, \"I have not been able\n    to prove.\"\n\nMr. David Aitken, of Singapore, wrote to the _Daily Times_ as follows:--\n\n    DEAR SIR,--Like many others, I have been astonished at the dimensions\n    given by you of the sea-serpent. They are certainly enormous, and they\n    far surpass anything I have ever seen or heard of. The largest snake\n    ever I authentically heard about was one which passed between the\n    surveying brigs _Krishna_ and _Menx_ when under the command of\n    Lieutenant Ward, of the Indian Navy, when surveying off the coast of\n    Sumatra, about the years 1858 and 1859. This monster passed by the\n    brigs one Sunday morning when they were moored somewhere opposite\n    Malacca. Its length was variously estimated at from the length of the\n    _Krishna_ to one hundred feet. Sixty feet was the moderate length set\n    down for its frame.\n\n    In or near the same place, another monster had been seen by a previous\n    surveying party.\n\nMr. Stephen Cave, M.P. for Shoreham, in 1861, communicated to Mr. Gosse a\nshort statement, which throws some light upon the food of the monster. It\nis in the form of an extract from his journal written during a voyage to\nthe West Indies, in 1846, as follows:--\n\n\"Thursday, December 10, off Madeira, on board R.M.S. _Thomas_, made\nacquaintance with a Captain Christmas, of the Danish Navy, a proprietor in\nSanta Cruz, and holding some office about the Danish court. He told me he\nonce saw a sea-serpent between Iceland and the Faroe islands. He was\nlying-to in a gale of wind, in a frigate of which he had the command, when\nan immense shoal of porpoises rushed by the ship as if pursued; and, lo\nand behold, a creature with a neck moving like that of a swan, about the\nthickness of a man's waist, with a head like a horse, raised itself slowly\nand gracefully from the deep, and, seeing the ship, it immediately\ndisappeared again, head foremost, like a duck diving. He only saw it for a\nfew seconds. The part above the water seemed about eighteen feet in\nlength. He is a singularly intelligent man, and by no means one to allow\nhis imagination to run away with him.\"\n\nWitty journalists had a good time over the publication of the story of the\nserpent seen by Captain Drevar, with which I shall wind up my list of\napparitions. As will be seen, however, the captain stuck manfully to his\nguns, and I, for one, am of the belief that he really saw the incident\nwhich he narrates. I have not met the captain himself, but I did, in\nSingapore, meet with many who had heard the whole story from his own lips,\nand whose impression was that he was a truthful man.\n\n    _The Barque \"Pauline\" Sea-serpent._\n\n    To the Editor of the _Calcutta Englishman_.\n\n    SIR,--As I am not sure that my statement respecting the sea-serpent\n    reached the _Shipping Gazette_ in London, I enclose a copy that may be\n    interesting to your numerous readers. I have been sent plenty of\n    extracts from English papers, nearly all of them ridiculing my\n    statement. I can laugh and joke on the subject as well as anyone, but\n    I can't see why, if people can't fairly refute my statement, they\n    should use falsehood to do so. The _Daily Telegraph_ says, \"The ribs\n    of the ill-fated fish were distinctly heard cracking one after the\n    other, with a report like that of a small cannon; its bellowings\n    ceased, &c. To use the eloquent words of the principal spectator, it\n    'struck us all aghast with terror.'\" If the writer knew anything of\n    sailors, he would not write such bosh. Fear and terror are not in\n    Jack's composition; and such eloquent words he leaves to such\n    correspondents as described the ever-doubtful \"man-and-dog-fight.\" I\n    am just as certain of seeing what I described, as that I met the\n    advertisement that the _Telegraph_ has the largest circulation in the\n    world staring me at every street corner in London. It is easy for such\n    a paper to make any man, good, great, or interesting, look ridiculous.\n    Little wonder is it that my relatives write saying that they would\n    have seen a hundred sea-serpents and never reported it; and a lady\n    also wrote that she pitied anyone that was related to anyone that had\n    seen the sea-serpent. It is quite true that it is a sad thing for any\n    man to see more, to feel more, and to know more, than his fellows; but\n    I have some of the philosophy that made O'Connell rejoice in being the\n    most abused man in the United Kingdom, for he also had the power of\n    giving a person a lick with the rough side of his tongue. If I had any\n    such power I would not use it, for contempt is the sharpest reproof;\n    and this letter is the only notice I have taken of the many absurd\n    statements, &c. &c. &c.\n\n      GEORGE DREVAR,\n      _Master of the Pauline_.\n\n    Barque _Pauline_,\n      Chittagong, January 15, 1876.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 73.--SEA-SERPENT ATTACKING WHALE, AS SEEN BY CAPT.\nDREVAR, OF THE BARQUE \"PAULINE,\" IN 1876.]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 74.--SEA-SERPENT ATTACKING WHALE.--THE END OF THE\nSTRUGGLE.]\n\n    Barque _Pauline_, January 8th, 1875, lat. 5\u00b0 13' S., long. 35\u00b0 W.,\n    Cape Roque, north-east corner of Brazil distant twenty miles, at 11\n    A.M.\n\n    The weather fine and clear, the wind and sea moderate. Observed some\n    black spots on the water, and a whitish pillar, about thirty-five feet\n    high, above them. At the first glance I took all to be breakers, as\n    the sea was splashing up fountain-like about them, and the pillar, a\n    pinnacle rock bleached with the sun; but the pillar fell with a\n    splash, and a similar one rose. They rose and fell alternately in\n    quick succession, and good glasses showed me it was a monster\n    sea-serpent coiled twice round a large sperm whale. The head and tail\n    parts, each about thirty feet long, were acting as levers, twisting\n    itself and victim around with great velocity. They sank out of sight\n    about every two minutes, coming to the surface still revolving, and\n    the struggles of the whale and two other whales that were near,\n    frantic with excitement, made the sea in this vicinity like a boiling\n    cauldron; and a loud and confused noise was distinctly heard. This\n    strange occurrence lasted some fifteen minutes, and finished with the\n    tail portion of the whale being elevated straight in the air, then\n    waving backwards and forwards, and laving [lashing?] the water\n    furiously in the last death-struggle, when the whole body disappeared\n    from our view, going down head-foremost towards the bottom, where, no\n    doubt, it was gorged at the serpent's leisure; and that monster of\n    monsters may have been many months in a state of coma, digesting the\n    huge mouthful. Then two of the largest sperm whales that I have ever\n    seen moved slowly thence towards the vessel, their bodies more than\n    usually elevated out of the water, and not spouting or making the\n    least noise, but seeming quite paralysed with fear; indeed, a cold\n    shiver went through my own frame on beholding the last agonising\n    struggle of the poor whale that had seemed as helpless in the coils of\n    the vicious monster as a small bird in the talons of a hawk. Allowing\n    for two coils round the whale, I think the serpent was about one\n    hundred and sixty or one hundred and seventy feet long, and seven or\n    eight in girth. It was in colour much like a conger eel, and the head,\n    from the mouth being always open, appeared the largest part of the\n    body.... I think Cape San Roque is a landmark for whales leaving the\n    south for the North Atlantic.... I wrote thus far, little thinking I\n    would ever see the serpent again; but at 7 A.M., July 13th, in the\n    same latitude, and some eighty miles east of San Roque, I was\n    astonished to see the same or a similar monster. It was throwing its\n    head and about forty feet of its body in a horizontal position out of\n    the water as it passed onwards by the stern of our vessel. I began\n    musing why we were so much favoured with such a strange visitor, and\n    concluded that the band of white paint, two feet wide above the\n    copper, might have looked like a fellow-serpent to it, and, no doubt,\n    attracted its attention.... While thus thinking, I was startled by the\n    cry of \"There it is again,\" and a short distance to leeward, elevated\n    some sixty feet in the air, was the great leviathan, grimly looking\n    towards the vessel. As I was not sure it was only our free board it\n    was viewing, we had all our axes ready, and were fully determined,\n    should the brute embrace the _Pauline_, to chop away for its backbone\n    with all our might, and the wretch might have found for once in its\n    life that it had caught a Tartar. This statement is strictly true, and\n    the occurrence was witnessed by my officers, half the crew, and\n    myself; and we are ready, at any time, to testify on oath that it is\n    so, and that we are not in the least mistaken.... A vessel, about\n    three years ago, was dragged over by some sea-monster in the Indian\n    Ocean.\n\n      GEORGE DREVAR,\n      Master of the _Pauline_.\n\n\n    Chittagong, January 15, 1876.\n\n    Captain George Drevar, of the barque _Pauline_, appeared on Wednesday\n    morning at the Police-court, Dale-street, before Mr. Raffles,\n    stipendiary magistrate, accompanied by some of his officers and part\n    of the crew of the barque, when they made the following declaration:--\n\n    \"We, the undersigned, captain, officers, and crew of the barque\n    _Pauline_, of London, do solemnly and sincerely declare that on July\n    8th, 1875, in latitude 5\u00b0 13', longitude 35\u00b0 W., we observed three\n    large sperm whales, and one of them was gripped round the body with\n    two turns of what appeared to be a large serpent. The head and tail\n    appeared to have a length beyond the coils of about thirty feet, and\n    its girth eight or nine feet. The serpent whirled its victim round and\n    round for about fifteen minutes, and then suddenly dragged the whale\n    to the bottom, head first.\n\n      \"GEORGE DREVAR, _Master_,\n      \"HORATIO THOMPSON,\n      \"HENDERSON LANDELLO,\n      \"OWEN BAKER,\n      \"WILLIAM LEWAN.\n\n    \"Again, on July 13th, a similar serpent was seen about two hundred\n    yards off, shooting itself along the surface, head and neck being out\n    of the water several feet. This was seen only by the captain and one\n    ordinary seaman.\n\n      \"GEORGE DREVAR, _Master_.\n\n    \"A few moments after, it was seen elevated some sixty feet\n    perpendicularly in the air by the chief officer and the following able\n    seamen, Horatio Thompson, Owen Baker, William Lewan. And we make this\n    solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the same to be true.\n\n      \"GEORGE DREVAR, _Master_,\n      \"WILLIAM LEWAN, _Steward_,\n      \"HORATIO THOMPSON, _Chief Officer_,\n      \"JOHN HENDERSON LANDELLO, _2nd Officer_,\n      \"OWEN BAKER.\"\n\nSome confirmation of Captain Drevar's story is afforded by one quoted by\nthe Rev. Henry T. Cheeves, in _The Whale and his Captors_. The author\nsays:--\n\n\"From a statement made by a Kinebeck shipmaster in 1818, and sworn to\nbefore a justice of the peace in Kinebeck county, Maine, it would seem\nthat the notable sea-serpent and whale are sometimes found in conflict. At\nsix o'clock in the afternoon of June 21st, in the packet _Delia_, plying\nbetween Boston and Hallowell, when Cape Ann bore west-south-west about two\nmiles, steering north-north-east, Captain Shuback West and fifteen others\non board with him saw an object directly ahead, which he had no doubt was\nthe sea-serpent, or the creature so often described under that name,\nengaged in fight with a large whale....\n\n\"The serpent threw up its tail from twenty-five to thirty feet in a\nperpendicular direction, striking the whale by it with tremendous blows,\nrapidly repeated, which were distinctly heard, and very loud, for two or\nthree minutes; they then both disappeared, moving in a south-west\ndirection; but after a few minutes reappeared in-shore of the packet, and\nabout under the sun, the reflection of which was so strong as to prevent\ntheir seeing so distinctly as at first, when the serpent's fearful blows\nwith his tail were repeated and clearly heard as before. They again went\ndown for a short time, and then came up to the surface under the packet's\nlarboard quarter, the whale appearing first, and the serpent in pursuit,\nwho was again seen to shoot up his tail as before, which he held out of\nwater for some time, waving it in the air before striking, and at the same\ntime his head fifteen or twenty feet, as if taking a view of the surface\nof the sea. After being seen in this position a few minutes, the serpent\nand whale again disappeared, and neither was seen after by any on board.\nIt was Captain West's opinion that the whale was trying to escape, as he\nspouted but once at a time on coming to the surface, and the last time he\nappeared he went down before the serpent came up.\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 75.--SEA-SERPENT ATTACKING WHALE. (_From Sketches by\nCapt. Davidson, S.S. \"Kiushiu-maru.\"_)]\n\nA remarkable and independent corroboration of modern date comes from the\nJapan seas. It was reported both in local papers and in the _San\nFrancisco Californian Mail-Bag_ for 1879, from which I extract the notice\nand the illustrative cuts (Fig. 75).\n\n\"The accompanying engravings are _fac-similes_ of a sketch sent to us by\nCaptain Davidson, of the steamship _Kiushiu-maru_,[271] and is inserted as\na specimen of the curious drawings which are frequently forwarded to us\nfor insertion. Captain Davidson's statement, which is countersigned by his\nchief officer, Mr. McKechnie, is as follows:--\n\n\"'Saturday, April 5th, at 11.15 A.M., Cape Satano distant about nine\nmiles, the chief officer and myself observed a whale jump clear out of the\nsea, about a quarter of a mile away.\n\n\"'Shortly after it leaped out again, when I saw there was something\nattached to it. Got glasses, and on the next leap distinctly saw something\nholding on to the belly of the whale. The latter gave one more spring\nclear of the water, and myself and chief officer then observed what\nappeared to be a creature of the snake species rear itself about thirty\nfeet out of the water. It appeared to be about the thickness of a junk's\nmast, and after standing about ten seconds in an erect position, it\ndescended into the water, the upper end going first. With my glasses I\nmade out the colour of the beast to resemble that of a pilot fish.'\"\n\nThere is an interesting story[272] of a fight between a water-snake and a\ntrout, by Mr. A. W. Chase, Assistant United States Coast Survey, which,\n_magnis componere parva_, may be accepted as an illustration of how a\ncreature of serpentine form would have to deal with a whale; only, as on\nthe surface or in mid-water it would be prevented from grasping any rocks\nby which to anchor itself, we may readily conceive it holding on with a\ntenacious grip of its extended jaws, and drawing itself up to the enemy\nuntil it could either embrace it in its coils or stun it with violent\nblows of the tail.[273]\n\n\"The trout, at first sight, was lying in mid-water, heading up stream. It\nwas, as afterwards appeared, fully nine inches in length.... This new\nenemy of the trout was a large water-snake of the common variety, striped\nblack and yellow. He swam up the pool on the surface until over the trout,\nwhen he made a dive, and by a dexterous movement seized the trout in such\na fashion that the jaws of the snake closed its mouth. The fight then\ncommenced. The trout had the use of its tail and fins, and could drag the\nsnake from the surface; when near the bottom, however, the snake made use\nof its tail by winding it round every stone or root that it could reach.\nAfter securing this tail-hold, it could drag the trout towards the bank,\nbut on letting go the trout would have a new advantage. This battle was\ncontinued for full twenty minutes, when the snake managed to get its tail\nout of the water and clasped around the root of one of the willows\nmentioned as overhanging the pool. The battle was then up, for the snake\ngradually put coil after coil around the root, with each one dragging the\nfish toward the land. When half its body was coiled it unloosed the first\nhold, and stretched the end of its tail out in every direction, and\nfinding another root, made fast; and now, using both, dragged the trout on\nthe gravel bank. It now had it under control, and, uncoiling, the snake\ndragged the fish fully ten feet up on the bank, and, I suppose would have\ngorged him,\" &c. &c.\n\nCaptain Drevar follows Pontoppidan (probably unwittingly) in identifying\nthe sea-serpent with the leviathan of Scripture, quoting Isaiah xxvii. 1,\n\"In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall\npunish leviathan, the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked\nserpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.\" As I read the\nabove passage, it is the dragon that is in the sea, and not the leviathan,\nwhich should be identified with the sea-serpent, unless the two, dragon\nand leviathan, are in apposition, which does not seem to be the case.\n\nThese various narratives which I have collected are, for the most part,\nwell attested by the signature, or declaration on oath, of well-known and\nresponsible people. Captain Drevar, in the small pamphlet which he had\nprinted for private circulation, says: \"Does any thinking person imagine I\ncould keep command over men with a deliberate lie in our mouths?\" and a\nsimilar question may be asked, with, I think, the possibility of only one\nreply, in the case of the narratives of Captain M'Quh\u0153 and other officers\nand commanders in various navies and merchant vessels, and of the numerous\nother reputable witnesses who have affirmed, either as a simple statement\nor on oath, that they have seen sundry remarkable sea-monsters. I used the\nexpression, \"I think,\" because, of course, there is the possibility of\nscepticism.\n\n\"Authority, in matters of opinion, divides itself (say) into three\nprincipal classes: there is the authority of witnesses; they testify to\nmatters of fact. The judgment upon these is commonly, though not always,\neasy; but this testimony is always the substitution of the faculties of\nothers for our own, which, taken largely, constitutes the essence of\nauthority.\n\n\"This is the kind which we justly admit with the smallest jealousy. Yet\nnot always; one man admits, another refuses, the authority of a\nsea-captain and a sailor or two on the existence of a sea-serpent.\"[274]\n\nI, for my part, belong to the former of these two categories. I believe in\nthe statements that I have recorded, and in the following reasoning\naddress only those who do likewise.\n\nThat mistakes have occasionally occurred is undoubted. Mr. Gosse records\ntwo instances in which long patches of sea-weed so far excited the\nimagination of captains of vessels as to cause them to lower boats and\nproceed to the attack.\n\nThe credibility of ghost stories generally is much affected when supposed\napparitions are investigated and traced to some simple cause; and the\nhypersceptical may argue on parallel grounds that the transformation, in\nsome few instances, of a supposed sea-serpent into sea-weed, or the\nadmission of the plausible suggestion that it has been simulated by a\nseal, a string of porpoises, or some other very ordinary animals, largely\naffects the whole question.\n\nAnd this would undoubtedly be the case if the conditions of the several\nexamples were at all similar. But the hesitation or temporary\nmisapprehension of captains or crews, in a thousand instances, as to the\nnature of a string of weed, supine on the surface, and lashed into\nfantastic motion by the surge of the ocean waves, has absolutely no\nbearing on the positive stories of a creature which is seen in calm fjords\nand bays to roll itself coil after coil, uplift its head high above the\nwater, exhibit capacious jaws armed with teeth, conspicuous eyes, and paws\nor paddles, which pursues and menaces boats, presents a tangible object to\na marksman, and when struck disappears with a mighty splash.\n\nThe probability of a gigantic seal, or of a string of porpoises, being\nmistaken for a sea-serpent by post-captains and their officers in the Navy\nis small, but becomes almost, if not quite, impossible when the observers\nare fishermen on coasts like those of Norway, who have been in the habit\nof seeing seals and porpoises almost every day of their lives. We may,\ntherefore, freely grant that occasional mistakes have arisen, just as we\nhave admitted that undoubtedly many hoaxes have been indulged in.\n\nA rational and commonplace explanation is quite possible in some cases,\nas, for example, in that of a creature of abnormal appearance seen by the\ncrew of Her Majesty's yacht, the _Osborne_, in the Mediterranean, which\nwas suggested, with great probability, to have been, if I remember\ncorrectly, some species of shark; while the supposed sea-serpent, washed\nup on the Isle of Stronsa, in 1808, proved, on scientific examination, to\nbe a shark of the genus Selache, probably belonging to the species known\nas \"the barking shark.\"\n\nThe great oceanic bone shark, known to few except whalers, which has been\nstated to reach as much as sixty feet in length, may also occasionally\nhave originated a misconception; and there must be still remaining in the\ndepths of the ocean undescribed species of fish, of bizarre form, and\nprobably gigantic size, the occasional appearance of which would puzzle an\nobserver.\n\nFor example, in November 1879, an illustration was given in the _Graphic_\nof \"another marine monster,\" professing to be a sketch in the Gulf of Suez\nfrom H.M.S. _Philomel_, accompanied by the following descriptive\nletter-press:--\n\n\"This strange monster,\" says Mr. W. J. Andrews, Assistant Paymaster,\nH.M.S. _Philomel_, \"was seen by the officers and ship's company of this\nship at about 5.30 P.M. on October 14, when in the gulf of Suez, Cape\nZafarana bearing at the time N.W. seventeen miles, lat. 28\u00b0 56' N., long.\n32\u00b0 54' E.\n\n\"When first observed it was rather more than a mile distant on the port\nbow, its snout projecting from the surface of the water, and strongly\nmarked ripples showing the position of the body. It then opened its jaws,\nas shown in the sketch, and shut them again several times, forcing the\nwater from between them as it did so in all directions in large jets. From\ntime to time a portion of the back and dorsal fin appeared at some\ndistance from the head. After remaining some little time in the\nabove-described position, it disappeared, and on coming to the surface\nagain it repeated the action of elevating the head and opening the jaws\nseveral times, turning slowly from side to side as it did so.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 76.--ANOTHER MARINE MONSTER. A Sketch in the Gulf of\nSuez, from H.M.S. \"Philomel,\" Oct. 14, 1879. (_From the \"Graphic,\" Nov.\n1879._)]\n\n\"On the approach of the ship the monster swam swiftly away, leaving a\nbroad track like the wake of a ship, and disappeared beneath the waves.\n\n\"The colour of that portion of the body that was seen was black, as was\nalso the upper jaw. The lower jaw was grey round the mouth, but of a\nbright salmon colour underneath, like the belly of some kinds of lizard,\nbecoming redder as it approached the throat. The inside of the mouth\nappeared to be grey with white stripes, parallel to the edges of the jaw,\nvery distinctly marked. These might have been rows of teeth or of some\nsubstance resembling whalebone. The height the snout was elevated above\nthe surface of the water was at least fifteen feet, and the spread of the\njaws quite twenty-five feet.\"\n\nStrangely enough, a proximate counterpart of this fish, but of mimic size,\nwas made known to science in 1882. My attention was called by Mr. Streich,\nof the German Consulate in Shanghai, to a description of this in the\n_Daheim_, an illustrated family paper, published in Leipzig, with an\nillustrative figure, from which I inferred that the monster seen by the\ncrew of the _Philomel_ was only a gigantic and adult specimen of a species\nbelonging to the same order, perhaps to the same genus, as the\nEurypharynx, adapted to live in the depths of the ocean, and only\nappearing upon the surface rarely and as the result of some abnormal\nconditions. I give _fac-similes_ of both engravings, in order that my\nreaders may draw their own comparison. The letter-press of the Daheim is\nas follows:--\n\n\"_A New Fish._[275]\n\n\"The deep-sea explorations of last year, which extended over eight\nthousand metres in depth, brought to light some very extraordinary\nanimals, of which, up to the present date, we have no idea. The most\ncurious one was found by the French steamer _Le Travailleur_, on which\nthere was a staff of naturalists, and of the number was M. Milne Edwards.\nThey were entirely devoted to deep-sea dredging.\n\n\"Between Morocco and the Canary Islands, at two thousand three hundred\nmetres depth, the dredge caught a most wonderful animal, which at the\nfirst glance nobody thought to be a fish. This fish, of which we give\nhere a picture, dwells on the bottom of the sea where the water is +5\u00b0\nCelsius,[276] in a kind of red slime composed of the shells of small\nGlobigerin\u00e6. On account of its curious mouth it has been called\n_Eurypharynx Pelicanoides_, _i.e._ the Pelican-like Broad-jaws. This\ncreature is distinguished from all its class by the peculiar construction\nof its mouth, its under jaw being of a structure different from that of\nany other fish, possessing only two small teeth and a big pouch of most\nexpansible skin, similar to the sac which a pelican has on its under jaw.\nIn this sac it (the Broad-jaw) collects its food, and as its stomach is of\nvery small dimensions, we may, from analogy with other fishes, conclude\nthat it digests partly in this sac.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 77.--EURYPHARYNX PELICANOIDES. (_From the Daheim._)]\n\n\"The swimming apparatus of this fish is not much developed, and reduced to\na number of spines erect from the back and the belly.\n\n\"The pectoral fins, which are immediately behind the eye, are also very\nsmall, so that we may conclude from this that this fish does not move\nmuch, and is not a good swimmer.\n\n\"It only inhabits the bottom of the sea. Its body decreases gradually\nbackwards till it finishes in a string-like tail. The organs for breathing\nare not much developed. Six slits (gill apertures?) allow the water to\nenter.\n\n\"The colour of the fish (the size of which we do not find in our\nauthority) is velvet black.\"\n\nBefore proceeding further I must point out that we may dismiss from our\nminds the possibility of the so-called sea-serpent being merely a large\nexample of those marine serpents of which several species and numerous\nindividuals are known to exist on the coast of many tropical countries,\nfor these are rarely more than from four to six feet in length, although\nDampier[277] mentions one which he saw on the northern coast of Australia,\nwhich was long (but the length is not specified) and as big as a man's\nleg. He gives a curious instance of these biters being bit, which he\nobserved not far from Scoutens Island, off New Guinea:--\n\n\"On the 23rd we saw two snakes, and the next morning another passing by\nus, which was furiously assaulted by two fishes that had kept in company\nfive or six days. They were shaped like mackerel, and were about that\nbigness and length, and of a yellow-greenish colour. The snake swam away\nfrom them very fast, keeping his head above water. The fish snapped at his\ntail; but when he turned himself that fish would withdraw and another\nwould snap; so that by turns they kept him employed. Yet he still defended\nhimself, and swam away at a great pace, till they were out of sight.\"\n\nLeguat[278] speaks of a marine serpent, over sixty pounds in weight, which\nhe and his comrades in misfortune captured and tasted, when marooned by\norder of the Governor of the Mauritius on some small island off the\nharbour, about six miles from the shore. He says:--\n\n\"It was a frightful sea-serpent, which we in our great simplicity took for\na large lamprey or eel. This animal seemed to us very extraordinary, for\nit had fins, and we knew not that there were any such creatures as\nsea-serpents. Moreover, we had been so accustomed to discover creatures\nthat were new to us, both at land and at sea, that we did not think this\nto be any other than an odd sort of eel that we never had seen before, yet\nwhich we could not but think more resembled a snake than an eel. In a\nword, the monster had a serpent or crocodile's head, and a mouth full of\nhooked, long and sharp teeth.... When our purveyors came we related to\nthem what had happened to us, and showed them the eel's head, but they\nonly said they had never seen the like.\"\n\nIn spite of Leguat's impression, I think it was only some species of\nconger eel.\n\nMarine serpents are abundant on the Malay coast, and particularly so in\nthe Indian Ocean. Niebuhr says:--\n\n\"In the Indian Ocean, at a certain distance from land, a great many\nwater-serpents, from twelve to fifteen inches in length, are to be seen\nrising above the surface of the water. When these serpents are seen they\nare an indication that the coast is exactly two degrees distant. We saw\nsome of these serpents, for the first time, on the evening of the 9th of\nSeptember; on the 11th we landed in the harbour of Bombay.\"[279]\n\nThese sea-snakes are reputed to be mostly, if not entirely, venomous.\nTheir motion in the water is by undulation in a horizontal, not in a\nvertical, direction; they breathe with lungs; their home is on the\nsurface, and they would perish if confined for any considerable period\nbeneath it.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 78.--SCOLIOPHIS ATLANTICUS. Killed on the Sea-shore\nnear Boston, in 1817, and at that time supposed to be the young of the\nSea-Serpent.]\n\nIt is an open question whether conger eels may not exist, in the ocean\ndepths, of far greater dimensions than those of the largest individuals\nwith which we are acquainted. Major Wolf, who was stationed at Singapore\nwhile I was there in 1880, gave me information which seems to corroborate\nthis idea. He stated that when dining some years before with a retired\ncaptain of the 39th Regiment, then resident at Wicklow, the latter\ninformed him that, having upon one occasion gone to the coast with his\nservant in attendance on him, the latter asked permission to cease\ncontinuing on with the captain in order that he might bathe. Having\nreceived permission, he proceeded to do so, and swam out beyond the edge\nof the shallow water into the deep. A coastguardsman, who was watching him\nfrom the cliff above, was horrified to see something like a huge fish\npursuing the man after he had turned round towards the shore. He was\nafraid to call out lest the man should be perplexed. The man, however,\nheard some splash or noise behind him, and looked round and saw a large\nhead, like a bull-dog's head, projecting out of the water as if to seize\nhim. He made a frantic rush shoreways, and striking the shallow ground,\nclambered out as quickly as possible, but broke one of his toes from the\nviolence with which he struck the ground. This story was confirmed by a\nMr. Burbidge, a farmer, who stated that on one occasion when he himself\nwas bathing within a mile or so of the same spot, the water commenced\nswirling around him, and that, being alarmed, he swam rapidly in, and was\npursued by something perfectly corresponding with that described by the\nother narrator, and which he supposed to be a large conger eel. In each\ncase the length was estimated at twenty feet. Mr. Gosse gives the greatest\nlength recorded at ten feet.\n\nWere we only acquainted with a small and certain proportion of the\nsea-serpent stories, we might readily imagine that they had been\noriginated by a sight of some monstrous conger, but there are details\nexhibited by them, taken as a whole, which forbid that idea. We must\ntherefore search elsewhere for the affinities of the sea-serpent.\n\nAnd first as to those authorities who believe and who disbelieve in its\nexistence.\n\nProfessor Owen, in 1848, attacked the _D\u00e6dalus_ story in a very masterly\nmanner, and extended his arguments so as to embrace the general\nnon-probability of other stories which had previously affirmed it. He was,\nin fact, its main scientific opponent.\n\nSir Charles Lyell, upon the other hand, was, I believe, persuaded of its\nexistence from the numerous accounts which he accumulated on the occasion\nof his second visit to America, especially evidence procured for him by\nMr. J. W. Dawson, of Pictou, as to one seen, in 1844, at Arisaig, near the\nnorth-east end of Nova Scotia, and as to another, in August 1845, at\nMerigomish, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.\n\nAgassiz also gave in his adhesion to it. \"I have asked myself, in\nconnection with this subject, whether there is not such an animal as the\nsea-serpent. There are many who will doubt the existence of such a\ncreature until it can be brought under the dissecting knife; but it has\nbeen seen by so many on whom we may rely, that it is wrong to doubt any\nlonger. The truth is, however, that if a naturalist had to sketch the\noutlines of an icthyosaurus or plesiosaurus from the remains we have of\nthem, he would make a drawing very similar to the sea-serpent as it has\nbeen described. There is reason to think that the parts are soft and\nperishable, but I still consider it probable that it will be the good\nfortune of some person on the coast of Norway or North America to find a\nliving representative of this type of reptile, which is thought to have\ndied out.\"\n\nMr. Z. Newman was the first scientific man to absolutely affirm his belief\nin its existence, and to indicate its probable zoological affinities; and\nhe was ably followed by Mr. Gosse, who, in the charming work[280] already\nfrequently quoted, exhaustively discusses the whole question.\n\nMr. Gosse, however, to my mind, forgoes a great portion of the advantage\nof his argument by a too limited acceptance of authorities, and leaves\nuntouched, as have all who preceded him, the question of the breathing\napparatus of the creature, and also omits insisting, as he might well have\ndone, on the remarkable coincidence of the seasons and climatic conditions\nat and under which the creature ordinarily exhibits itself, which may be\nquoted first as an argument in favour of the reality of the different\nstories, and, secondly, as affording indications of the nature and habits\nof the creature to which they relate.\n\nBoth Mr. Newman and Mr. Gosse, moreover, laboured under the disadvantage\nof being unacquainted with some of the later stories, such as that of the\n_Nestor_ sea-serpent seen in the Straits of Malacca, which appears to\namply substantiate the general conclusion at which they had already,\nhappily, as I conceive, arrived.\n\nIn nearly all the cases quoted, and in all of those where the creature has\nappeared in the deep fjords of Norway or in the bays of other coasts, the\ndate of its appearance has been some time during the months of July and\nAugust, and the weather calm and hot. These last summer conditions, in\nhigh latitudes, do not obtain for long together, so that the auspices\nfavourable to the appearance of the creature would probably not exist for\nmore than a few weeks in each season, and during the remainder of the year\nit would rest secluded in the depths of the fjords, presuming those to be\nits permanent habitation, or in some oceanic home, if, as would seem more\nlikely to be the case, its appearance in the bays and fjords was simply\ndue to a temporary visit, made possibly in connection with its\nreproduction; for, were its habitation in the fjords constant, we should\nexpect it to make its appearance annually, instead of at irregular and\ndistant intervals.\n\nWe must also infer that it is a non-air-breathing creature.\n\nProfessor Owen, in his very able discussion of the _D\u00e6dalus_ story, bases\nhis main argument against the serpentine character of the creature seen in\nthis and other instances on there being either no undulation at all of the\nbody, or a vertical one, which is not a characteristic of serpents, and on\nthe fact of no remains having ever been discovered washed up on the Norway\ncoasts. He says:--\n\n\"Now, a serpent, being an air-breathing animal, with long vesicular and\nreceptacular lungs, dives with an effort, and commonly floats when dead,\nand so would the sea-serpent, until decomposition or accident had opened\nthe tough integument and let out the imprisoned gases.... During life the\nexigencies of the respiration of the great sea-serpent would always compel\nhim frequently to the surface; and, when dead and swollen, it would\n\n  Prone on the flood, extended long and large,\n    Lie floating many a rood.\n\nSuch a spectacle, demonstrative of the species if it existed, has not\nhitherto met the gaze of any of the countless voyagers who have traversed\nthe seas in so many directions.\"\n\nBut, assuming it to be neither a serpent nor an air-breathing creature,\nthe very cogent arguments which he applied so powerfully fall to the\nground, and I may at once state that a review of the whole of the reported\ncases of its appearance entirely favours the first assumption, while a\nlittle reflection will show the necessity of the latter. No air-breathing\ncreature, or rather a creature furnished with lungs, could possibly exist,\neven for a season only, in the inland bays of populous countries like\nNorway and Scotland without continually exposing itself to observation;\nbut this is not the case. Whereas there is no difficulty in conceiving\nthat a creature adapted to live in the depths of the ocean could breathe\nreadily enough at the surface, even for considerable periods; for we know\nthat fish of many kinds, and notably carp, can retain life for days, and\neven weeks, when removed from the water, provided they happen to be in a\nmoist situation.\n\nAgain, a power of constriction, a characteristic of boas and pythons, and\ntherefore implying an alliance with them, is not necessarily indicated, as\nmight be supposed, even by the action affirmed in Captain Drevar's story;\nfor a creature of serpentine form, attacking another, might coil itself\nround for the mere purpose of maintaining a hold while it tore its victim\nopen with its powerful jaws and teeth. This action is simply that of an\neel which, on being hooked, grasps weeds at the bottom to resist capture.\n\nNor are we bound to accept in any way the captain's suggestion that the\nmonster gorged its victim after the fashion of a land-serpent. It may as\nreadily have torn it open and fed on it as an eel might; and it is,\nindeed, not unreasonable to suppose that so powerful a monster would find\nits prey among large creatures, such as seals, porpoises, and the smaller\ncetace\u00e6.\n\nThat the sea-serpent was formerly more frequently seen on the Norwegian\ncoasts than now I consider probable, as also that its visits were\nconnected with its breeding season, and discontinued in consequence of the\ngreater number and larger size of vessels, and especially of the\nintroduction of steam. As a parallel instance, I may mention that, in the\nearly days of the settlement of Australia, sperm whales resorted to the\nharbours along its coasts for calving purposes, and were sufficiently\nnumerous to cause the maintenance of what were called \"bay whaling\nstations\" at Hobart Town, Spring Bay, and many other harbours of Tasmania\nand South Australia. At the present time, the sperm whale rarely\napproaches within ten miles of the coast, and the small whaling fleet\nfinds scanty occupation in the ocean extending south from the great\nAustralian bight to the south cape of Tasmania. Mr. Gosse eliminates from\nhis concluding analysis of sea-serpent stories all those recorded by\nNorwegian and American observers, and argues only upon a selected number\nresting on British evidence.\n\nBy this contraction he loses as a basis of argument a number of accounts\nwhich I consider as credible as those he quotes, and from which positive\ndeductions might be drawn, more weighty than those of similar, but merely\ninferential, character which he employs.\n\nThe account of the monster seen by Hans Egede, for example, where the\ncreature exhibited itself more completely than it did in any of the\ninstances selected by Mr. Gosse, specifically indicated the possession of\npaws, flippers, fins or paddles, while this can only be surmised at, in\nthe latter cases to which I refer, from the progressive steady motion of\nthe creature, with the head and neck elevated above the surface, and\napparently unaffected by any undulatory motion of the body. This at once\nremoves it from the serpent class, without any necessity for the\nadditional confirmation which the enlarged proportions of the body in\ncomparison with those of the neck, as given in Egede's amended version,\nafford us.\n\nThe creature seen in the Straits of Malacca, and one quoted by Mr. Newman,\nin the _Zoologist_, exhibit characters which confirm Egede's story. In the\nlatter instance, \"Captain the Hon. George Hope states that, when in H.M.S.\n_Fly_, in the Gulf of California, the sea being perfectly calm and\ntransparent, he saw at the moment a large marine animal, with the head and\ngeneral figure of an alligator, except that the neck was much longer, and\nthat instead of legs the creature had four large flappers, somewhat like\nthose of turtles, the anterior pair being larger than those of the\nposterior. The creature was distinctly visible, and all its movements\ncould be observed with ease. It appeared to be pursuing its prey at the\nbottom of the sea. Its movements were somewhat serpentine, and an\nappearance of annulations or ring-like divisions of the body were\ndistinctly perceptible.\" Mr. Gosse, commenting on this story, says: \"Now,\nunless this officer was egregiously deceived, he saw an animal which could\nhave been no other than an Enaliosaur, a marine reptile of large size, of\nsauroid figure, with turtle-like paddles.\"\n\nIn the former case the creature was far more gigantic and robust, in\ncontradistinction to the slender and serpentine form more usually\nobserved, and we must consequently infer that there is not merely one but\nseveral distinct species of marine monster, unknown and rarely exhibiting\nthemselves, belonging to different genera, and perhaps orders, but all\npopularly included under the title of \"sea-serpent.\"\n\nThe attempt to classify these presents difficulties. Mr. Gosse, however,\nhas very ably reviewed the somewhat scanty materials at his command, and,\nagreeing with the suggestion made originally by Mr. Newman, has elaborated\nthe argument that one of the old Enaliosaurs exists to the present day.\nThis form, Pal\u00e6ontology tells us, commenced in the Carboniferous, attained\nits maximum specific development in the Jurassic, and continued to the\nclose of the Cretaceous periods. This rational suggestion is supported by\nthe collateral argument that some few Ganoid fishes and species of\nTerebratula, have continuously existed to the present time; that certain\nPlacoid fishes, of which we have no trace, and which consequently must\nhave been very scarce during Tertiary periods, reappear abundantly as\nrecent species; that the Iguanodon is represented by the Iguana of the\nAmerican tropics, and that the Trionychid\u00e6, or river tortoises, which\ncommenced during the Wealden, and disappeared from thence until the\npresent period, are now abundantly represented in the rivers of the Old\nand the New World.\n\nThe points of resemblance between the northern and most often seen form of\nthe sea-serpent and certain genera of the Enaliosaurs, such as\nPlesiosaurus, are a long swan-like neck, a flattened lizard-like head and\nprogress by means of paddles. A difficulty in this connection arises,\nhowever, in respect to the breathing apparatus. Pal\u00e6ontologists favour the\nidea that the Plesiosaurus and its allies were air-breathing creatures\nwith long necks, adapted to habitual projection above the surface. Such a\nconstruction and habit is, as I have before said, to my mind, impossible\nin the case of an animal of so scarce an appearance as the sea-serpent;\nand I am incapable of estimating how far the theory is inflexible in\nregard to the old forms that I have mentioned. May there not be some\nlarge marine form combining some of the characters of the salamander and\nthe saurians; may not the pigmy newt of Europe, the large salamander\ntenanting the depths of Lake Biwa in Japan, and the famous fossil form,\nthe _Homo Diluvii Testis_ of Sheuzberg, have a marine cousin linking them\nwith the gigantic forms which battled in the Oolitic seas? May not the\ntuft of loose skin or scroll encircling its head have some connection with\na branchial apparatus analagous to that of the Amphibia; and was not the\nlarge fringe round the neck, like a beard, noticed on the one seen by\nCaptain Anderson when in the Delta in 1861, of a similar nature?\n\nIn conclusion, I must strongly express my own conviction, which I hope,\nafter the perusal of the evidence contained in the foregoing pages, will\nbe shared by my readers, that, let the relations of the sea-serpent be\nwhat they may; let it be serpent, saurian, or fish, or some form\nintermediate to them; and even granting that those relations may never be\ndetermined, or only at some very distant date; yet, nevertheless, the\ncreature must now be removed from the regions of myth, and credited with\nhaving a real existence, and that its name includes not one only, but\nprobably several very distinct gigantic species, allied more or less\nclosely, and constructed to dwell in the depths of the ocean, and which\nonly occasionally exhibit themselves to a fortune-favoured wonder-gazing\ncrew.\n\n\nNOTE.\n\nIt is with great pleasure that I add the following testimony of a belief\nin the existence of the sea-serpent, from a country which has not hitherto\nbeen supposed to have any traditions relating to it. My inquiries in\nBurmah, as to a belief among its inhabitants in sundry so-called mythical\nbeings, led me unexpectedly on the track of the following information, for\nwhich I am indebted to the scholarship and courtesy of F. Ripley, Esq.,\nGovernment Translator in the Secretariat Department, Rangoon.\n\n\nEXTRACT from the _Kavilakhana d\u00e9pan\u00e9_, pp. 132-133.\n\n    [Author--Mingyi Thiri Mahazeyathu, the Myaunghla Myoza, Nanig-ngan-gya\n    Wundauk, or Sub-Minister for Foreign Affairs to His Majesty the late\n    King of Burmah.]\n\n\"The creature Nyan is called in the M\u00e1gadha language _Tanti-g\u00e1ha_, in the\nBeng\u00e1li _Gara_; in the Sakkata, _Gr\u00e1ha_ or _Avagr\u00e1h_; and in the Burmese,\nNyan.\n\n\"Hence are to be found the following passages, viz.:--\n\n    \"'_Tanti-g\u00e1ha_--The creature Nyan, of the immense length of one or two\n    hundred fathoms,' in the _Shri Sariputtara Apadan_.\n\n    \"'_Graho_ or _Avagraho_--a predatory monster, in shape like an\n    earthworm,' in the _Amarakosha Abhidhan_;\n\nand\n\n    \"'_Dvagar samudda maha nady sanga mela t\u00e1k\u00e1 yazantu vigera itichate_,'\n    in the commentary of the _Amarakosha Abhidhan_.\n\n\"From these works, which contain definitions of two words designative of\nthe creature Nyan, it will be gathered that there does exist a predatory\nmonster in the form of an earthworm, which inhabits estuaries and the\nmouths of great rivers.\n\n\"Regarding the predatory instincts of this creature, it should be\nunderstood that it attacks even such animals as elephants. Hence the\n_Dhammathats_, in dealing with the decision of cases of hire of\nlive-stock, wishing to point out that no fault lies through losses owing\nto natural accidents, make the following remarks:--\n\n    \"'There shall be no fault held if oxen die by reason of a snake\n    gliding under them.'\n\n    \"'There shall be no fault held, if buffaloes die by reason of a dove\n    resting on their horns.'\n\n    \"'There shall be no fault held if oxen and buffaloes die of their\n    having eaten a grasshopper.'\n\n    \"'There shall be no fault held if elephants die by reason of their\n    having been encoiled in the folds of a Nyan.'\n\n    \"'There shall be no fault held if horses die by reason of their having\n    been sucked by bilas.'\n\n    \"The Poetical Version of the _Pokinnaka Dhammathat_, which is a\n    compilation of several Dhammathats, in the same strain, says:--\n\n    [Here follows a verse, the same in effect as the above.]\n\n\"From such passages it will be seen that there is a frightful monster of\nextraordinary strength, which is capable of capturing even such animals as\nelephants.\"\n\n\"In the form of oath of fealty administered by successive kings to their\nfeudatories and vassals, the following imprecation is to be found:--\n\n    \"'May I die through being seized by alligators and Nyans.'\"\n\n    [Here follows an explanatory note respecting the four species of\n    danger to be found in the ocean.]\n\n\"In the reign of King Alaung-mindara-gy\u00e9, the founder of the city of\nRatana Singha--when he went on an expedition against Ayudhara or Yodhaya\n(Siam) and was crossing the Martaban river, he lost some two or three\nelephants, which were destroyed as soon as they had entered the water. The\nKing ascertained from the lower country inhabitants that they had been\ncaptured and bitten by the creature Nyan. Two or three elephants were\nsimilarly lost in Ava, when it was also ascertained that they had been\ncaptured by the Nyan. There goes a saying that the Nyan is some one to two\nhundred fathoms long. The form of oath of fealty contains an imprecation\nin which the Nyan is to fulfil a part. And there are writings which make\nmention of its existence.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nTHE UNICORN.\n\n\nA belief in the unicorn, like that in the dragon, appears to have obtained\namong both Eastern and Western authors, at a very early period. In this\ncase, however, it has survived the revulsion from a fatuous confidence in\nthe fables and concocted specimens of the Middle Ages, and even now the\nexistence or non-existence of this remarkable animal remains a debateable\nquestion.\n\nUntil within a late period occasional correspondents of the South African\njournals continued to assert its existence, basing their communications on\nthe reports of hunters from the interior, while but a few hundred years\nsince travellers spoke of actually seeing it or of passing through\ncountries in which its existence was absolutely affirmed to them. Horns,\ngenerally those of the narwhal, but occasionally of one species of\nrhinoceros, were brought home and deposited in museums as those of the\nveritable unicorn, or sold, under the same pretext, for large sums, on\naccount of their reputed valuable medicinal properties.[281] The animal is\nvariously described as resembling a horse or some kind of deer; this\ndescription may possibly refer to some animal of a type intermediate to\nthem, now almost, if not quite, extinct. In some instances it is supposed\nthat a species of rhinoceros is indicated.\n\nThere has been much discussion as to the identity of the animal referred\nto in many passages of the Bible, the Hebrew name of which, _Reem_, has\nbeen translated \"unicorn.\" Mr. W. Smith considers that a species of\nrhinoceros could not have been indicated, as it is spoken of in one\npassage as a sacrificial animal, whereas the ceremonial ritual of the Jews\nforbade the use of any animal not possessing the double qualifications of\nchewing the cud and being cloven-footed. The qualities attributed to it\nare great strength, an indomitable disposition, fierce nature, and an\nactive and playful disposition when young. He considers that the passage,\nDeut. xxxiii. 17, should be rendered \"his horns are like the horns of a\nunicorn,\" and not, as it is given, \"horns of unicorns\"; and is of opinion\nthat some species of wild ox is intended.\n\nAmong profane Western authors we first find the unicorn referred to by\nCtesias, who describes it as having one horn, a cubit long. Herodotus also\nmentions it in the passage,[282] \"For the eastern side of Libya, where the\nwanderers dwell, is low and sandy, as far as the river Triton; but\nwestward of that, the land of the husbandmen is very hilly and abounds\nwith forests and wild beasts, for this is the tract in which the huge\nserpents are found, and the lions, the elephants, the bears, the aspicks,\nand the horned asses\"; and again, \"Among the wanderers are none of these,\nbut quite other animals, as antelopes, &c. &c., and asses, not of the\nhorned sort, but of a kind which does not need to drink.\"\n\nAristotle[283] mentions two unicorn animals. \"There are only a few\n[animals] that have a solid hoof and one horn, as the Indian ass and the\noryx.\"\n\nPliny[284] tells us that the Ors\u00e6an Indians hunt down a very fierce animal\ncalled the monoceros, which has the head of the stag, the feet of the\nelephant, and the tail of the boar, while the rest of the body is like\nthat of the horse. It makes a deep lowing noise, and has a single black\nhorn, projecting from the middle of its forehead, and two cubits in\nlength. This animal, it is said, cannot be taken alive. In speaking of the\nIndian ass, he says,[285] \"the Indian ass is only a one-horned animal\";\nand of the oryx of Africa,[286] \"the oryx is both one-horned and\ncloven-footed.\"\n\n\u00c6lian[287] transfers the locality back again from Africa to Asia, and it\nmay be presumed, in the following quotation, that he indicates the country\nnorth of the Himalaya, Thibet, and Tartary, which still has the reputation\nof being one of the homes of the unicorn.\n\n\"They say that there are mountains in the innermost regions of India\ninaccessible to men, and full of wild beasts; where those creatures which\nwith us are domesticated, such as sheep, dogs, goats, and cattle, range\nabout at their own free will, free from any charge by a shepherd or\nherdsman.\n\n\"Both historians, and the more learned of the Indians, among whom the\nBrahmins may be specified, declare that there is a countless number of\nthese beasts. Among them they enumerate the unicorn, which they call\ncartazonon, and say that it reaches the size of a horse of mature age,\npossesses a mane and reddish yellow hair, and that it excels in swiftness\nthrough the excellence of its feet and of its whole body. Like the\nelephant, it has inarticulate feet, and it has a boar's tail; one black\nhorn projects between the eyebrows, not awkwardly, but with a certain\nnatural twist, and terminating in a sharp point.\n\n\"It has, of all animals, the harshest and most contentious voice. It is\nsaid to be gentle to other beasts approaching it, but to fight with its\nfellows. Not only are the males at variance in natural contention amongst\nthemselves, but they also fight with the females, and carry their combats\nto the length of killing the conquered; for not only are their bodies\ngenerally indued with great strength, but also they are armed with an\ninvincible horn. It frequents desert regions and wanders alone and\nsolitary. In the breeding season it is of gentle demeanour towards the\nfemale, and they feed together; when this has passed and the female has\nbecome gravid, it again becomes fierce and wanders alone.\n\n\"They say that the young, while still of tender age, are carried to the\nKing of the Prasians for exhibition of their strength, and exposed in\ncombats on festivals; for no one remembers them to have been captured of\nmature age.\"\n\nC\u00e6sar[288] records the reputed existence in his day, within the bounds of\nthe great Hercynian Forest, of a bull, shaped like a stag, with one horn\nprojecting from the middle of its forehead and between the ears.\n\nCosmas,[289] surnamed Indicopleustes, a merchant of Alexandria, who lived\nin the sixth century, and made a voyage to India, and subsequently wrote\nworks on cosmography, gives a figure of the unicorn, not, as he says, from\nactual sight of it, but reproduced from four figures of it in brass\ncontained in the palace of the King of Ethiopia. He states, from report,\nthat \"it is impossible to take this ferocious beast alive; and that all\nits strength lies in its horn. When it finds itself pursued and in danger\nof capture, it throws itself from a precipice, and turns so aptly in\nfalling, that it receives all the shock upon the horn, and so escapes safe\nand sound.\" It is noteworthy that this mode of escape is attributed, at\nthe present day, to both the musk ox and the Ovis Ammon.\n\nMarco Polo may or may not indicate a rhinoceros in the passage, \"Apr\u00e8s\navoir descendu ces deux journ\u00e9es et demie, on trouve une province au midi\nqui est sur les confins de l'Inde, on l'appelle Amien--on marche quinze\njourn\u00e9es par des lieux desertes et par de grands bois o\u00f9 il y a beaucoup\nd'\u00e9l\u00e9phants et de licornes et d'autres b\u00eates sauvages. Il n'y a ni hommes\nni habitations aussi, nous laisserons ce lieu.\"\n\nBut no such inference can be attached to the descriptions of the Ethiopian\nunicorn by Leo and Ludolphus.\n\nThe first says:[290]\n\n\"The unicorn is found in the mountains of high Ethiopia. It is of an ash\ncolour and resembles a colt of two years old, excepting that it has the\nhead of a goat, and in the middle of its forehead a horn three feet long,\nwhich is smooth and white like ivory, and has yellow streaks running along\nfrom top to bottom.\n\n\"This horn is an antidote against poison, and it is reported that other\nanimals delay drinking till it has soaked its horn in the water to purify\nit. This animal is so nimble that it can neither be killed nor taken. But\nit casts its horn like a stag, and the hunters find it in the deserts. But\nthe truth of this is called in question by some authors.\"\n\nLudolphus[291] says:\n\n\"Here is also another beast, called arucharis, with one horn, fierce and\nstrong, of which unicorn several have been seen feeding in the woods.\"\n\nComing down to later days we find the unicorn described by Lewes\nVertomannus[292]--he who, having visited, among other places, the site of\nthe legend of St. George and the Dragon,[293] and undergone a variety of\nadventures, visits, in the course of them, the temple of Mecca, and, as\nfollows, gives a description \"of the unicorns of the Temple of Mecha,\nwhich are not seen in any other place.\"\n\n\"On the other part of the temple are parks or places enclosed, where are\nseen two unicorns, named of the Greeks monocerot\u00e6, and are there showed to\nthe people for a miracle, and not without good reason, for the seldomness\nand strange nature. The one of them, which is much higher than the other,\nyet not much unlike to a colt of thirty months of age; in the forehead\ngroweth only one horn, in manner right foorth, of the length of three\ncubits. The other is much younger, of the age of one year, and like a\nyoung colt; the horn of this is of the length of four handfulls.\n\n\"This beast is of the colour of a horse of weesell colour, and hath the\nhead like a hart, but no long neck, a thynne mane hanging only on the one\nside. Their leggs are thin and slender like a fawn or hind. The hoofs of\nthe fore-feet are divided in two, much like the feet of a goat. The outer\npart of the hinder feet is very full of hair.\n\n\"This beast doubtless seemeth wild and fierce, yet tempereth that\nfierceness with a certain comeliness.\n\n\"These unicorns one gave to the Sultan of Mecha as a most precious and\nrare gift. They were sent him out of Ethiope by a king of that country who\ndesired by that present to gratify the Sultan of Mecha.\"\n\nVisiting the interior of Arabia from Aden, and afterwards starting for\nPersia, Vertomannus was driven back by a contrary wind to Zeila (in\nAfrica), which he describes as being an important city with much\nmerchandise--when again he says, \"I saw there also certain kyne, having\nonly one horn in the middle of the forehead, as hath the unicorn, and\nabout a span in length, but the horn bendeth backwards. They are of bright\nshining red colour.\"\n\nIn an account of the travels of Johann Grueber, Jesuit (about 1661),\ncontained in Astley's collection of voyages, we find:--\n\n\"Sining[294] is a great and populous city, built at the vast wall of\nChina, through the gate of which the merchants from India enter Katay or\nChina. There are stairs to go a-top of the wall, and many travel on it\nfrom the gate at Sining to the next at Soochew, which is eighteen days'\njourney, having a delightful prospect all the way, from the wall, of the\ninnumerable habitations on one side, and the various wild beasts which\nrange the desert on the other side.\n\n\"Besides wild bulls, here are tigers, lions, elephants, rhinoceroses, and\nmonoceroses, which are a kind of horned asses.\n\n\"Thus the merchants view the beasts free from danger, especially from that\npart of the wall which, running southward, approaches Quang-si, Yunnan,\nand Tibet; for at certain times of the year they betake themselves to the\nYellow River, and parts near the wall which abound with thickets, in order\nto get pasture and seek their prey.\"\n\nFather Jerome Lobo, a Portuguese Jesuit, who embarked for Abyssinia in the\nyear 1622,[295] states that--\n\n\"In the province of Agaus has been seen the unicorn; that beast so much\ntalked of and so little known. The prodigious swiftness with which the\ncreature runs from one wood into another has given me no opportunity of\nexamining it particularly; yet I have had so near a sight of it as to be\nable to give some description of it.\n\n\"The shape is the same with that of a beautiful horse, exact and nicely\nproportioned, of a bay colour, with a black tail, which in some provinces\nis long, in others very short; some have long manes hanging to the ground.\nThey are so timorous that they never feed but surrounded with other beasts\nthat defend them.\n\n\"Deer and other defenceless animals often herd about the elephant, which,\ncontenting himself with roots and leaves, preserves the beasts that place\nthemselves, as it were, under his protection, from the others that would\ndevour them.\"\n\nThere is a somewhat doubtful story contained in the _Narrative of a\nJourney from St. Petersburg, in Russia, to Peking, in China, in\n1719_,[296] to the effect that between Tobolsky and Tomski--\n\n\"Our baggage having waited at Tara till our arrival, we left that place on\nthe 18th, and next came to a large Russian village sixty versts from Tara,\nand the last inhabited by Russians till you pass the Baraba and come to\nthe river Oby.... One of these hunters told me the following story, which\nwas confirmed by several of his neighbours, that in the year 1713, in the\nmonth of March, being out a-hunting, he discovered the track of a stag,\nwhich he pursued. At overtaking the animal he was somewhat startled on\nobserving it had only one horn, stuck in the middle of its forehead. Being\nnear this village, he drove it home, and showed it, to the great\nadmiration of the spectators. He afterwards killed it, and ate the flesh,\nand sold the horn to a comb-maker in the town of Tara, for ten alteens,\nabout fifteen pence sterling.\n\n\"I inquired carefully about the shape and size of this unicorn, as I\nshall call it, and was told that it exactly resembled a stag.\n\n\"The horn was of a brownish colour, about one arch\u00e6on or twenty-eight\ninches long, and twisted from the root till within a finger's length of\nthe tip, where it was divided, like a fork, into two points, very sharp.\"\n\nOne of the most trustworthy of observers, the Abb\u00e9 Huc, speaks very\npositively on the subject of the unicorn.[297] He says: \"The unicorn\nreally exists in Thibet.... We had for a long time a small Mongol Treatise\non Natural History, for the use of children, in which a unicorn formed one\nof the pictorial illustrations.... The Chinese Itinerary says, on the\nsubject of the lake you see before your arrival at Atzder (going from east\nto west), 'The unicorn, a very curious animal, is found in the vicinity of\nthis lake, which is forty _li_ long.'\"\n\nThe unicorn is known in Thibet by the name of serou; in Mongolia, by that\nof _kere_; while in a Thibetan manuscript examined by the late Major\nLattre, it is called the one-horned _tsopo_.\n\nMr. Hazlitt, in his notes appended to the statement by Huc as to the\nunicorn, states that Mr. Hodgson, of Nepaul, sent to Calcutta the skin and\nhorn of a unicorn that died in the menagerie of the Rajah of Nepaul.\n\nIt was described as being very fierce, and abundant in the plains of\nTingri, in the southern part of the Thibetan province of Tsang, watered by\nthe Arroun; it assembled round salt beds. The form is graceful, colour\nreddish, two tufts of hair project from the exterior of each nostril, and\nthere is much down round the hair and mouth. The hair is rough and seems\nhollow. Doctor Able designated it _Antelope Hodgsonii_.\n\nBaron von M\u00fcller described,[298] through the medium of M. Antoine\nd'Abbadie, a unicorn animal which he had received when at Melpes in\nKordofan:--\n\n\"I met, on the 17th of April 1848, a man who was in the habit of selling\nto me specimens of animals. One day he asked me if I wished also for an\n_a'nasa_, which he described thus: 'It is the size of a small donkey, has\na thick body and thin bones, coarse hair, and tail like a boar. It has a\nlong horn on its forehead, and lets it hang when alone, but erects it\nimmediately on seeing an enemy. It is a formidable weapon, but I do not\nknow its exact length. The _a'nasa_ is found not far from here (Melpes),\ntowards the south-southwest. I have seen it often in the wild grounds,\nwhere the negroes kill it, and carry it home to make shields from its\nskin.' _N.B._--This man was well acquainted with the rhinoceros, which he\ndistinguished, under the name of _fetit_, from the _a'nasa_.\n\n\"On June the 14th I was at Kursi, also in Kordofan, and met there a slave\nmerchant who was not acquainted with my first informer, and gave me\nspontaneously the same description of the _a'nasa_, adding that he had\nkilled and eaten one long ago, and that its flesh was well flavoured.\"\n\nThis creature is mentioned by Rupell, under the name of _Nillekma_ or\n_Arase_, as indigenous to Kordofan, and, by Cavassi, as known in Congo\nunder that of _Abada_.\n\nMr. Freeman, in the _South African Christian Recorder_ (vol. i.), gives\nthe native account of an animal not uncommon in Makooa, and called the\n_Ndzoodzoo_, described as being about the size of a horse, extremely fleet\nand strong, with a single horn from two feet to two and a half feet in\nlength, projecting from its forehead, which is said to be flexible when\nthe animal is asleep, and capable of being curled up at pleasure, but\nbecoming stiff and hard under the excitement of rage. It is extremely\nfierce, and invariably attacks a man when it discerns him. The female is\nwithout a horn.\n\nOur latest information as to this species comes from Prejevalski,[299]\nwho, speaking of it as the orongo, says that it has elegant black horns\nstanding vertically above the head; the back is dun-coloured; the middle\nof the breast, stomach, and rump, white; seen at a distance it appears\nwhite; it is very numerous in Northern Thibet. He adds: \"Another prevalent\nsuperstition is that the orongo has only one horn growing vertically from\nthe centre of the head. In Kansu and Kokonor we were told that unicorns\nwere rare, one or two in a thousand. The Mongols in Tsaidan deny it, but\nsay it may be so in south-west Thibet.\"\n\nTurning to the Chinese classics and books of antiquity, we find\nreferences, sometimes vague and mythical, sometimes exact, to several\ndistinct unicorn animals. These may be enumerated as:--\n\n  [300]1. The Ki-Lin, represented in Japan by the Kirin.\n       2. The King.\n       3. The Kioh Twan.\n       4. The Poh.\n       5. The Hiai Chai.\n       6. The Too Jon Sheu.\n\nBesides these there are clear descriptions of the rhinoceros, which cannot\nin any way be confounded with the above. The only one of these popularly\nfamiliar is the Ki-Lin, the history of which is interwoven with that of\nremote ages. The first mention of it is made in the Bamboo Books--only in\nthat part, however, of them which is apparently a commentary, note, or\nsubsequent addition, though some authorities hold it to be a portion of\nthe actual text. The work states that, during the reign of Hwang-Ti (B.C.\n2697), Ki-Lins appeared in the parks.\n\nTheir appearance was generally supposed to signalise the reign of an\nupright monarch, and Confucius considered that the appearance of one\nduring his epoch was a bad omen, as it did not harmonise with the troubled\nstate of the times. The name Ki-Lin is a generic or dual word, composed of\nthose of the Ki and the Lin, the respective male and female of the\ncreature.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 79.--THE KI-LIN. (_After a modern Chinese painting._)]\n\nThis peculiar species of word formation is adopted in other instances in\nreference to birds and animals; thus we have the male Fung and the female\nHwang united in the Fung Hwang, or so-called Chinese ph\u0153nix, and the Yuen\nand Yang in the Yuen Yang, or mandarin duck.\n\nSometimes the word Lin alone is used with the same generic meaning.\n\nThe _'Rh Ya_, in the original text, defines the Lin as having a Kiun's\nbody (the Kiun is a kind of muntjack or deer), an ox's tail, and one horn.\nThe commentary states that the tip of the horn is fleshy, and that the\nKing Yang chapter of the \"Spring and Autumn Annals\" of Confucius defines\nit as a horned Kiun.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 80.--THE LIN (FEMALE OF THE CHINESE UNICORN). (_From\nthe 'Rh Ya._)]\n\nThe preface to the _Shi Shu_ quotes Li Si\u00fcn to the effect that the Lin is\nan auspicious and perfect beast.\n\nSun Yen says it is a spiritual beast. The _Shwoh Wan_ says the Lin is the\nfemale of the K\u2018i and the K\u2018i is a beast endowed with goodness, possessing\na Kiun's body, an ox's tail, and one horn. According to the _Shwoh Wan_,\nthe Lin may be considered as a large female deer. Now the _Shu King_\nconsiders that many of these beasts are comprised under the Ki-Lin, only\nthe characters, though retaining the sound, have become altered in form.\n\nCheu Nau calls it Lin-che-chi and Man Chw\u2018en says that the Lin is\ntruthful, and reducible to rule.\n\nThe _Li Yuen_ says: \"If the unicorn can once be tamed, then the other\nbeasts will not show terror.\"\n\nTa Tai, in the _Li Ki_, quoting the _Yih_ [_King_], says there are 360\nkinds of hairy creatures, and the Ki-Lin is the chief of them.\n\nThe _Li Ki_, commenting on the _King Fang I Chw\u2018en_, says: \"The Lin has a\nKiun's body, an ox's tail, a horse's hoof, and is of five colours. It is\ntwelve feet high.\"[301]\n\nAgain, in commenting on Fuh Kien's _Ho Chwen_, it says: \"The Lin springs\nfrom the earth's central regions. It is a beast of superior integrity, is\nattached to its mother, and reducible to rule. The _Shu King_, quoting Luh\nLi, says the Lin has a Kiun's body, an ox's tail, a horse's feet, and a\nyellow colour, round hoofs, and one horn; the tip of the horn is erect and\nfleshy.\n\n\"Its call in the middle part thereof is like a monastery bell. Its pace is\nregular; it rambles only on selected grounds and after it has examined the\nlocality. It will not live in herds, or be accompanied in its movements.\nIt cannot be beguiled into pitfalls, or captured in snares. When the\nmonarch is virtuous, this beast appears.\"\n\nAt present there are Lin existing on the frontiers of Ping Cheu. Even the\nlarge or small Lin are always like deer, so that this species is not the\nauspicious Ying Lin; although Tsz Ma Siang Su,[302] in his odes on the\nshooting of the Mi and trapping Lin, says that it is.\n\nThe top of the horn being fleshy is a characteristic of the Lin, and Mao\nChw\u2018en says that the Lin's horn is an emblem of goodness. Ching Tsien says\nthat the horn has a fleshy termination, indicating the peaceful character\nof the beast, and that it has no use for it.\n\nThe \"Book of Rites,\" quoting the _Kwang Ya_, says that on account of its\nelegant style it takes place, _par excellence_, among the large-horned\nbeasts; the existing edition of the _Kwang Ya_ omits this.\n\nThe _Kung Yang Chw\u2018en_ says the Kiun also has horns.\n\nKung Ssun Tsz, in the annals of the fourteenth year of the Duke Ngai\n(State of Lu), says that the Kiun has fleshy horns.\n\nKwoh, in his preface, proves the Lin to have a Kiun's body.\n\nThe _'Rh Ya_ gives the drawing of a unicorn animal called the Ki; but no\nreference to the horn is given in the text, which simply describes it as a\nlarge Kiun with a yak's tail and dog's feet.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 81.--THE KI.]\n\nThe Ki is not defined in the _'Rh Ya_, and the only information I have as\nto it is derived from Williams' dictionary, where it is stated to be \"a\nfabulous auspicious animal, which appears when sages are born; the male of\nthe Chinese unicorn. It is drawn like a piebald scaly horse, with one horn\nand a cow's tail, and may have had a living original in some extinct\nequine animal.\" But there is a very full account of an animal called the\nKing. It is not impossible that it is identical with the King which, in\nthe usual brief style of the original text of the _'Rh Ya_, is epitomised\nas a large Biao (a kind of stag), with an ox's tail and one horn; and the\nseveral commentaries on it are as follows:--\n\n\"In the time of the Emperor Wu, of the Han dynasty, during the worship of\nheaven and earth at the solstices at Yung, there was captured a unicorn\nbeast like a Piao; it was at that time designated the Lin; it was,\nhowever, a Piao related to the Chang (a kind of deer).\"\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 82.--THE KING. (_From the 'Rh Ya._)]\n\nThe _Shwoh Wan_ says: \"The King is a large stag with an ox's tail and one\nhorn.\" It may be a large form of the Piao. The Wang Hwu Analects say that\nthe Piao is an object of the chase, and that it is as swift as a stag.\n\nKwan Tsz, in the _Ti Yuen_ volume, says that as there are Mi and Piao and\nmany species of deer, so also the Piao is a species of deer.\n\nThe \"Shi Ki,\" in the book _Fung Shen_, says that during the worship at the\nsolstices at Yung, there was captured a one-horned beast like a Piao, and\nthat the local authorities assert that as His Majesty was making\nreverential invocations on the country altar to the Supreme Being, he was\nrecompensed for the sacrifice by a beast which was a unicorn.\n\nWu Chao's preface to the _Loh Yiu_ says: \"The body is like that of a\nmuntjack, and it has one horn\"; while the Spring and Autumn (Annals)\nallude to this animal in speaking of the horned Kiun.\n\nThe inhabitants of Ch\u2018u say the Kiun is a Piao. Kwoh, in his preface, says\nthat the capture made in the time of Wu, of the Han dynasty, was actually\na Piao, as demonstrated by the Han books. The _Chung Kiun_ narrative\nstates that in Shang Yung was captured a white Lin bearing one horn, of\nwhich the tip was fleshy. At the present day nothing has been heard of a\nPiao with a fleshy tip, therefore these must be different beasts.\n\nKwoh also says that the Piao is identical with the Chang, and the Chang\nwith the Kiun. This corresponds with what Wei Chao So had already stated,\nthat the people of Ch\u2018u assert that the Kiun is a Piao, and that the Piao\nis certainly a kind of deer.\n\nIts meat is eminently savoury.\n\nLuh Ki says that of all four-footed creatures, the Piao is the most\nexcellent.\n\nYeu Shi states in the _Kiao Sz_ annals (\"Sacrifices to Heaven and Earth\"),\nthat the Piao is a kind of deer. Its body exactly resembles that of the\nChang.\n\nFinally, the explanatory prefaces of many classical works, when commenting\non the _'Rh Ya_, say that the Piao is identical with the Chang and of a\nblack colour; and they confirm Kwoh's opinion, although the _'Rh Ya_\nforgets to allude to the three characters denoting the black colour.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 83.--THE KI-RIN. (_From a Japanese Drawing in a Temple\nat Kioto._)]\n\nIt was probably some unicorn animal which is referred to in the General\nHistory of China, called the _Tong Kien Kang Mu_ (_vide_ P\u00e8re de Mailla's\ntranslation), as having been presented to the Emperor Yung Loh of the Ming\ndynasty, in A.D. 1415, by envoys from Bengal. De Mailla says it was called\na Ki-Lin by the Chinese out of flattery.\n\nAgain, the same History says that in the succeeding year the kingdom of\nMalin sent as tribute a Ki-Lin similar to that from Bengal.\n\nThe Ki-Rin, a Japanese version of the Ki-Lin, is simply borrowed from\nChinese sources. It is figured in the illustrated edition of the great\nJapanese Encyclop\u00e6dia _Kasira gaki zou vo Sin mou dzu wi tai sei_,[303]\nand represented, as in the Chinese drawings, as covered with scales; but\nit must be noted that nothing in any of the texts of either country\nwarrants this furniture of the body.[304]\n\nThe same encyclop\u00e6dia figures another unicorn beast under the name of the\nKai Tsi, and describes it as being an animal of foreign countries,\nresembling a lion, and having a single horn. It is also called the Sin You\nor divine sheep. It is able to distinguish between right and wrong. When\nKau You exercised criminal jurisdiction, he handed over those whose crime\nwas doubtful to the Kai Tsu, and it is said that this animal destroyed the\nguilty and spared the innocent.\n\nThis is described in the Chinese work _Yuen Kien L\u00e9i Han_,[305] under the\nname of the Hiai Chai, and similar powers of discrimination are there\nattributed to it.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 84.--THE SZ, OR MALAYAN RHINOCEROS. (_From the 'Rh\nYa._)]\n\nA synonym for it was the Chiai Tung. It states that, according to the _Si\nYang Y Shu_, a one-horned spiritual lamb was born in the Ping Shen\ndistrict, and in the twenty-first year of Kai Yuen. The horn was fleshy,\nand the top of the head covered with white hair. The second chapter on the\nsame subject says that, in ancient times, if parties were at law, the\njudge brought this animal out, and it would gore at the guilty one.\n\nThe Kioh Twan is yet another unicorn animal described in the _Yuen Kien\nL\u00e9i Han_,[306] which is said to have the appearance of a deer with the\ntail of a horse, but to be of a greenish colour, with one horn above the\nnose, and to be capable of traversing eighteen thousand _li_ in one day.\n\nThe _Li Kau Sing Sha Shao_ says that the Emperor Yuen Ti Su sent his\nambassadors to the western part of India, who procured animals several\ntens of feet in height,[307] unicorn, like the rhinoceros. The rumour went\nthat these were inauspicious for the Emperor, and they were immediately\nreturned.\n\n\n_The Poh._\n\nThe _Shan Hai King_ describes an animal as existing among the plains of\nMongolia, having the appearance of a horse, with a white body, black tail,\none horn, teeth and claws like a tiger, which howls like the roll of a\ndrum, devours tigers and leopards, and is capable of being used instead of\nsoldiers; it is called Poh.\n\nThe _'Rh Ya_ describes the same animal as like a horse, with saw teeth,\nexisting on tigers and leopards.\n\nThe \"History of the North\" says that in the Kingdom of Peh Chi (?) a\nmagistrate named Chung Wa held office, who was very equitable in his\nrule. His district was invaded by some ferocious animals. Suddenly six of\nthe Poh came and killed and devoured them as a reward for his good rule.\n\nThe Sung History says that a man named Leu Chang, an ambassador, arrived\nat a district called Shen Su, where the mountains contained a strange\nanimal, in appearance like a horse, but capable of eating tigers and\nleopards. The people were unacquainted with it, and asked Leu Chang what\nit was, who said it was called the Poh, and referred them to the _Shan Hai\nKing_ for a description of it.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 85.--TARGET IN THE FORM OF A SPHYNX. (_From the Sun Li\nT'u._). The arrows were discharged upwards and fell into the cylinder\nbehind the figure.]\n\nAmong other remarkable and interesting drawings which have come down from\nantiquity in the _San Li T'u_,[308] or illustrated edition of the three\n(ceremonial) rituals, are some representing the various targets used by\nofficials of different ranks in the military examinations, in which the\narrows had to be lodged by shooting upwards from a distance. These are\nfashioned in the form of animals, one realising the idea of the sphynx,\nand two representing unicorn animals, called respectively the Lu--which,\naccording to some, is like an ass with one horn, but, according to others,\ndiffering from a donkey in having a cleft hoof--and the Sz, which is said\nto be like an ox with one horn.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 86.--THE LU TARGET. (_From the San Li T'u._)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 87.--THE SZ TARGET. (_From the San Li T'u._)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 88.--THE TOO JOU SHEN. (_From the Ming Tombs._)]\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 89.--THE TOO JOU SHEN. (_From the Ming Tombs._)]\n\nThe Too Jou Shen is the name of an animal with a lion-like body and head,\ncloven hoofs, and a blunt short horn projecting from the centre of the\nforehead. Two pairs of these form a portion of the avenue of stone figures\nof animals leading up to the Ming tombs, about eighty miles north of\nPekin. I have not found it described in any book.\n\nA writer in the _China Review_[309] endeavours to prove that the Ki-Lin is\na reminiscence of the giraffe, which he supposes may once have spread over\nAsia, and, in addition to various passages included among those which I\nhave quoted above, adduces one from the _Wu Tsah Tsu_, which states that,\n\"In the period Yung Loh of the Ming dynasty (1403-1425) a Ki-Lin was\ncaught, and a painter was ordered to make a sketch and hand it up to the\nhigh magistrates. According to the picture, the body was perfectly shaped\nlike that of a deer, _but the neck was very long, perhaps three or four\nfeet_.\" I must admit that I cannot agree with him in his conclusions.\nHarris[310] has given much better arguments in favour of the unicorn being\nmerely a species of oryx. He appears to me, however, to speak too\nabsolutely, to make his facts too pliant, and to base his main belief on\nthe untenable theory that the myth, tradition, or theory is based on the\nprofile drawing of an oryx, exhibiting one horn only. We might just as\nsoon expect people to start stories of two-legged cows or horses, or\none-legged races of men, if so slender a basis for forging a species were\nsufficient. What the zoological status of the unicorn may be I am not\nprepared to show, but I find it impossible to believe that a creature\nwhose existence has been affirmed by so many authors, at so many different\ndates, and from so many different countries, can be, as mythologists\ndemand, merely the symbol of a myth. There is a possible solution, which\ndoes not appear to have struck previous writers on the subject, viz., that\nthe unicorn may be merely a hybrid produced occasionally and at more or\nless rare intervals.\n\nBy accepting this view we could explain the extraordinary combinations of\ncharacter assigned to it, and the discrepancy which exists between the\nqualities of courage and gentleness ascribed to it by Western and Chinese\nauthors. A valuable chapter remains to be written by naturalists and\nprogressionists on the limits within which hybridization exists in a state\nof nature among the higher animals; its prevalence among the lower and\namong plants is, of course, well known. A cross between some equine and\ncervine species might readily result in a unicorn offspring, and either\nthe courageous qualities of the sire[311] or the gentleness of the dam\nmight preponderate, according to the relations of the species in each of\nthe instances.\n\nAs an alternative, we may speculate on the unicorn being a generic name\nfor several distinct species of (probably) now extinct animals; missing\nlinks between the three families, the Equid\u00e6, Cervid\u00e6, and Bovid\u00e6;\ncreatures which were the contemporaries of prehistoric man, and which,\nbefore they finally expired, attracted the attention of his descendants,\nduring early historic times, by the rare appearance of a few surviving\nindividuals.\n\nThe supernatural qualities ascribed to these by various nations must be\nconsidered merely the embroidery of fancy, designed to enrich and adorn an\narticle esteemed rare and valuable.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nTHE CHINESE PH\u0152NIX.\n\n\nFrom the date of the earliest examination of the literature of China, it\nhas been customary among Sinologues to trace a fancied resemblance between\na somewhat remarkable bird, which occupies an important position in the\nearly traditions of that Empire, and the ph\u0153nix of Western authors. Some\nmythologists have even subsequently concluded that the Fung Hwang of the\nChinese, the ph\u0153nix of the Greeks, the Roc of the Arabs, and the Garuda of\nthe Hindoos, are merely national modifications of the same myth. I do not\nhold this opinion, and, in opposing it, purpose, in the future, to discuss\neach of these birds in detail, although in the present volume I treat only\nof the Fung Hwang.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 90.--TEMPLE MEDALS FROM CHINA: DRAGON AND PH\u0152NIX.]\n\nThe earliest notice of it is contained in the _'Rh Ya_, which, with its\nusual brevity, simply informs us that the male is called Fung and the\nfemale Hwang; the commentator, Kwoh P\u2018oh, adding that the Shui Ying bird\n(felicitous and perfect--a synonym for it) has a cock's head, a snake's\nneck, a swallow's beak, a tortoise's back, is of five different colours,\nand more than six feet high. The _'Rh Ya Chen I_, a later and\nsupplementary edition of the former work, quotes the _Shwoh Wan_ to the\neffect that the united name of the male and female bird is Fung Hwang, and\nthat Tso's commentary on the 17th year of the Chao, says one appeared in\nthe time of the Emperor Che (dynastic title, Shaou Haou). The original\npassage in the _Tso Chuen_ is so interesting that I quote _in extenso_ Dr.\nLegge's translation of it:--\n\n\"When my ancestor, Shaou-Haou Che, succeeded to the kingdom, there\nappeared at that time a ph\u0153nix, and therefore he arranged his government\nunder the nomenclature of birds, making bird officers, and naming them\nafter birds. There were so and so Ph\u0153nix bird, minister of the calendar;\nso and so Dark bird [the swallow], master of the equinoxes; so and so Pih\nChaou [the shrike], master of the solstices; so and so Green bird [a kind\nof sparrow], master of the beginning (of spring and autumn); and so and so\nCarnation bird [the golden pheasant], master of the close (of spring and\nautumn).... The five Che [Pheasants] presided over the five classes of\nmechanics.\n\n\"So in previous reigns there had been cloud officers, fire officers, water\nofficers, and dragon officers, according to omens.\"\n\nI think there is some connection between this old usage and the present or\nlate system of tribe totems among the North American Indians. Thus we have\nSnake, Tortoise, Hare Indians, &c., and I hope some day to explain some of\nthe obscure and apparently impossible passages of the _Shan Hai King_, in\nreference to strange tribes, upon what I may call the totem theory.\n\nThe _Kin King_, a small work devoted to ornithology, and professing to\ndate back to the Tsin dynasty [A.D. 265 to 317], opens its pages with a\ndescription of the Fung Hwang, because, as it states, the Fung is the\nprincipal of the three hundred and sixty different species of birds.\nAccording to it, the Fung is like a swan in front and like a Lin behind;\nit enumerates its resemblances pretty much as the commentator in the _'Rh\nYa_ gives them; but we now find a commencement of extraordinary\nattributes. Thus the head is supposed to have impressed on it the Chinese\ncharacter expressing virtue, the poll that for uprightness, the back that\nfor humanity; the heart is supposed to contain that of sincerity, and the\nwings to enfold in their clasp that of integrity; its foot imprints\nintegrity; its low notes are like a bell, its high notes are like a drum.\nIt is said that it will not peck living grass, and that it contains all\nthe five colours.[312]\n\nWhen it flies crowds of birds follow. When it appears, the monarch is an\nequitable ruler, and the kingdom has moral principles. It has a synonym,\n\"the felicitous _yen_.\" According to the _King Shun_ commentary upon the\n_'Rh Ya_, it is about six feet in height. The young are called Yoh Shoh,\nand it is said that the markings of the five colours only appear when it\nis three years of age.[313]\n\nThere appears to have been another bird closely related to it, which is\ncalled the Lwan Shui. This, when first hatched, resembles the young Fung,\nbut when of mature age it changes the five colours.\n\nThe _Sh\u0103ng Li Teu Wei I_ says of this, that when the world is peaceful its\nnotes will be heard like the tolling of a bell, Pien Lwan [answering to\nour \"ding-dong\"]. During the Chao dynasty it was customary to hang a bell\non the tops of vehicles, with a sound like that of the Lwan.[314] From\nanother passage we learn that it was supposed to have different names\naccording to a difference in colour. Thus, when the head and wings were\nred it was called the red Fung; when blue, the Yu Siang; when white, the\nHwa Yih; when black, the Yin Chu; when yellow, the To Fu. Another\nquotation is to the effect that, when the Fung soars and the Lwan flies\nupwards, one hundred birds follow them. It is also stated that when either\nthe Lwan or the Fung dies, one hundred birds peck up the earth and bury\nthem.\n\nAnother author amplifies the fancied resemblances of the Fung, for in the\n_Lun Y\u00fc Tseh Shwai Shing_ we find it stated that it has six resemblances\nand nine qualities. The former are: 1st, the head is like heaven; 2nd, the\neye like the sun; 3rd, the back is like the moon; 4th, the wings like the\nwind; 5th, the foot is like the ground; 6th, the tail is like the woof.\nThe latter are: 1st, the mouth contains commands; 2nd, the heart is\nconformable to regulations; 3rd, the ear is thoroughly acute in hearing;\n4th, the tongue utters sincerity; 5th, the colour is luminous; 6th, the\ncomb resembles uprightness; 7th, the spur is sharp and curved; 8th, the\nvoice is sonorous; 9th, the belly is the treasure of literature.\n\nWhen it crows, in walking, it utters \"Quai she\" [returning joyously]; when\nit stops crowing, \"T\u2018i fee\" [I carry assistance?]; when it crows at night\nit exclaims \"Sin\" [goodness]; when in the morning, \"Ho si\" [I congratulate\nthe world]; when during its flight, \"Long Tu che wo\" [Long Tu knows me]\nand \"Hwang che chu sz si\" [truly Hwang has come with the Bamboos].[315]\nHence it was that Confucius wished to live among the nine I [barbarian\nfrontier countries] following the Fung's pleasure.\n\nThe Fung appears to have been fond of music, for, according to the _Shu\nKing_, when you play the flute, in nine cases out of ten the Fung Wang\ncomes to bear you company; while, according to the _Odes_, or Classic of\nPoetry, the Fung, in flying, makes the sound _hwui hwui_, and its wings\ncarry it up to the heavens; and when it sings on the lofty mountain called\nKwang, the Wu Tung tree flourishes,[316] and its fame spreads over the\nworld.\n\nThe presence of the Fung was always an auspicious augury, and it was\nsupposed that when heaven showed its displeasure at the conduct of the\npeople during times of drought, of destruction of crops by insects\n(locusts), of disastrous famines, and of pestilence, the Fung Wang retired\nfrom the civilised country into the desert and forest regions.\n\nIt was classed with the dragon, the tortoise, and the unicorn as a\nspiritual creature, and its appearance in the gardens and groves denoted\nthat the princes and monarch were equitable, and the people submissive and\nobedient.\n\nIts indigenous home is variously indicated. Thus, in the _Shan Hai King_,\nit is stated to dwell in the Ta Hueh mountains, a range included in the\nthird list of the southern mountains; it is also, in the third portion of\nthe same work (treating of the Great Desert), placed in the south and in\nthe west of the Great Desert, and more specifically as west of Kwan Lun.\n\nThere is also a tradition that it came from Corea; and the celebrated\nChinese general, Sieh Jan Kw\u00e9i, who invaded and conquered that country in\nA.D. 668, is said to have ascended the Fung Hwang mountain there and seen\nthe ph\u0153nix.\n\nAccording to the Annals of the Bamboo Books ph\u0153nixes, male and female,\narrived in the autumn, in the seventh month, in the fiftieth year of the\nreign of Hwang Ti (B.C. 2647), and the commentary states that some of them\nabode in the Emperor's eastern garden; some built their nests about the\ncorniced galleries (of the palaces), and some sung in the courtyard, the\nfemales gambolling to the notes of the males.\n\nThe commentary of the same work adds that (among a variety of prodigies)\nthe ph\u0153nix appeared in the seventieth year of the reign of Yaou (B.C.\n2286), and again in the first year of Shun (B.C. 2255).\n\nKwoh P\u2018oh states that, during the times of the Han dynasty (commencing\nB.C. 206 and lasting until A.D. 23), the ph\u0153nixes appeared constantly.\n\nIn these later passages I have adopted the word ph\u0153nix, after Legge and\nother Sinologues, as a conventional admission; but, as will be seen from\nall the extracts given, there are but few grounds for identifying it,\nwhether fabulous or not, with the ph\u0153nix of Greek mythology. It reappears\nin Japanese tradition under the name of the Ho and O (male and female),\nand, according to Kempfer, who calls it the Foo, \"it is a chimerical but\nbeautiful large bird of paradise, of near akin to the ph\u0153nix of the\nancients. It dwells in the high regions of the air, and it hath this in\ncommon with the Ki-Rin (the equivalent of the Chinese Ki-Lin), that it\nnever comes down from thence but upon the birth of a _sesin_ (a man of\nincomparable understanding, penetration, and benevolence) or that of a\ngreat emperor, or upon some such other extraordinary occasion.\"\n\nIt is a common ornamentation in the Japanese temples; and I select, as an\nexample, figures from some very beautiful panels in the Nichi-hong-wanji\ntemple in Kioto. They depart widely from the original (Chinese) tradition,\nevery individual presenting a different combination of gorgeous colours;\nthey only agree in having two long central tail feathers projecting from a\nplumose, bird-of-paradise-like arrangement.\n\nThese can only be accepted as the evolution of an artist's fancy; nor can\nany opinion be arrived at from the figure of it illustrating the _'Rh Ya_,\nof which I reproduce a _fac-simile_. I have already stated that Kwoh\nP\u2018oh's illustrations have been lost.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 91.--THE FUNG HWANG. (_From the 'Rh Ya._)]\n\nThe frontispiece to this volume is reduced from a large and very beautiful\npainting on silk, which I was fortunate enough to procure in Shanghai, by\nan artist named Fang Heng, otherwise styled Sien Tang; it professes to be\nmade according to the designs of ancient books. The original is, I\nbelieve, of some antiquity.\n\nIn this case the delineation of the bird shows a combination of the\ncharacters of the peacock, the pheasant, and the bird of paradise; the\ncomb is like that of a pheasant. The tail is adorned with gorgeous eyes,\nlike a peacock's, but fashioned more like that of an argus pheasant, the\ntwo middle tail feathers projecting beyond the others, while stiffened\nplumes, as I interpret the intention of the drawing, are made to project\nfrom the sides of the back, and above the wings, recalling those of the\n_Semioptera Wallacii_. The bird perches, in accordance with tradition, on\nthe Wu-Tung tree. Without pretending to assert that this is an exact\nrepresentation of the Tung, I fancy that it comes nearer to it than the\nordinary Chinese and Japanese representations.\n\nLooking to the history of the appearance of the Fung, the general\ndescription of its characteristics, and disregarding the supernatural\nqualities with which, probably, Taouist priests have invested it, I can\nonly regard it as another example of an interesting and beautiful species\nof bird which has become extinct, as the dodo and so many others have,\nwithin historic times.\n\nIts rare appearance and gorgeousness of plumage would cause its advent on\nany occasion to be chronicled, and a servile court would only too readily\nseize upon this pretext to flatter the reigning monarch and ascribe to his\nvirtues a phenomenon which, after all, was purely natural.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDICES.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX I.\n\nTHE DELUGE TRADITION ACCORDING TO BEROSUS.[317]\n\n\n\"Obart\u00e9s Elbaratutu being dead, his son Xisuthros (Khasisatra) reigned\neighteen sares (64,800 years). It was under him that the great Deluge took\nplace, the history of which is told in the sacred documents as follows:\nCronos (Ea) appeared to him in his sleep, and announced that on the\nfifteenth of the month of Daisios--the Assyrian month Sivan--a little\nbefore the summer (solstice) all men should perish by a flood. He\ntherefore commanded him to take the beginning, the middle, and the end of\nwhatever was consigned to writing, and to bury it in the city of the Sun,\nat Sippara; then to build a vessel and to enter it with his family and\ndearest friends; to place in this vessel provisions to eat and drink, and\nto cause animals, birds, and quadrupeds to enter it; lastly, to prepare\neverything for navigation. And when Xisuthros inquired in what direction\nhe should steer his bark, he was answered 'Toward the gods,' and enjoined\nto pray that good might come of it for men.\n\n\"Xisuthros obeyed, and constructed a vessel five stadia long and five\nbroad; he collected all that had been prescribed to him, and embarked his\nwife, his children, and his intimate friends.\n\n\"The Deluge having come, and soon going down, Xisuthros loosed some of the\nbirds. These, finding no food nor place to alight on, returned to the\nship. A few days later Xisuthros again let them free, but they returned\nagain to the vessel, their feet full of mud. Finally, loosed the third\ntime, the birds came no more back.\n\n\"Then Xisuthros understood that the earth was bare. He made an opening in\nthe roof of the ship, and saw that it had grounded on the top of a\nmountain. He then descended with his wife, his daughter, and his pilot,\nwho worshipped the earth, raised an altar, and there sacrificed to the\ngods; at the same moment he vanished with those who accompanied him.\n\n\"Meanwhile those who had remained in the vessel, not seeing Xisuthros\nreturn, descended too, and began to seek him, calling him by his name.\nThey saw Xisuthros no more; but a voice from heaven was heard commanding\nthem piety towards the gods; that he, indeed, was receiving the reward of\nhis piety in being carried away to dwell thenceforth in the midst of the\ngods, and that his wife, his daughter, and the pilot of the ship shared\nthe same honour. The voice further said that they were to return to\nBabylon, and, conformably to the decrees of fate, disinter the writings\nburied at Sippara, in order to transmit them to men. It added that the\ncountry in which they found themselves was Armenia. These, then, having\nheard the voice, sacrificed to the gods and returned on foot to Babylon.\nOf the vessel of Xisuthros, which had finally landed in Armenia, a portion\nis still to be found in the Gordyan mountains in Armenia, and pilgrims\nbring thence asphalte that they have scraped from its fragments. It is\nused to keep off the influence of witchcraft. As to the companions of\nXisuthros, they came to Babylon, disinterred the writings left at Sippara,\nfounded numerous cities, built temples, and restored Babylon.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe large amount of work done by the few followers of Xisuthros, seems\nvery surprising, but easily accounted for if we take the version of the\nDeluge given by Nicolaus Damascenus (a philosopher and historian of the\nage of Augustus, and a friend of Herod the Great).\n\n\"He mentions that there is a large mountain in Armenia, which stands above\nthe country of the Miny\u00e6, called Baris. To this it was said that many\npeople betook themselves in the time of the Deluge, and were saved. And\nthere is a tradition of one person in particular floating in an ark, and\narriving at the summit of the mountain.\"[318]\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX II.\n\nTHE DRAGON.\n\n\u00c6LIANUS DE NATUR\u00c2 ANIMALIUM.\n\n\nBOOK II. ch. 26.\n\nThe dragon [which is perfectly fearless of beasts], when it hears the\nnoise of the wings of an eagle, immediately conceals itself in\nhiding-places.\n\n\nBOOK II. ch. 21.\n\n\u00c6thiopia generates dragons reaching thirty paces long; they have no proper\nname, but they merely call them slayers of elephants, and they attain a\ngreat age. So far do the \u00c6thiopian accounts narrate. The Phrygian history\nalso states that dragons are born which reach ten paces in length; which\ndaily in midsummer, at the hour when the forum is full of men in assembly,\nare wont to proceed from their caverns, and [near the river Rhyndacus],\nwith part of the body on the ground, and the rest erect, with the neck\ngently stretched out, and gaping mouth, attract birds, either by their\ninspiration, or by some fascination, and that those which are drawn down\nby the inhalation of their breath glide down into their stomach--[and that\nthey continue this until sunset,] but that after that, concealing\nthemselves, they lay in ambush for the herds returning from the pasture to\nthe stable, and inflict much injury, often killing the herdsmen and\ngorging themselves with food.\n\n\nBOOK VI. ch. 4.\n\nWhen dragons are about to eat fruit they suck the juice of the wild\nchicory, because this affords them a sovereign remedy against inflation.\nWhen they purpose lying in wait for a man or a beast, they eat deadly\nroots and herbs; a thing not unknown to Homer, for he makes mention of the\ndragon, who, lingering and twisting himself in front of his den, devoured\nnoxious herbs.\n\n\nBOOK VI. ch. 21.\n\nIn India, as I am told, there is great enmity between the dragon and\nelephant. Wherefore the dragons, aware that elephants are accustomed to\npluck off boughs from trees for food, coil themselves beforehand in these\ntrees, folding the tail half of their body round the limbs, and leaving\nthe front half hanging like a rope. When an elephant approaches for the\npurpose of browsing on the young branches, the dragon leaping on him,\ntears out his eyes, and then squeezing his neck with his front part and\nlashing him with his tail, strangles him in this strange kind of noose.\n\n\nBOOK VI. ch. 22.\n\nThe elephant has a great horror of the dragon.\n\n\nBOOK VI. ch. 17.\n\nIn Idumea, or Jud\u00e6a, during Herod's power, according to the statement of\nthe natives of the country, a very beautiful, and just adolescent, woman,\nwas beloved by a dragon of exceptional magnitude; who visited her betimes\nand slept with her as a lover. She, indeed, although her lover crept\ntowards her as gently and quietly as lay in his power, yet utterly\nalarmed, withdrew herself from him; and to the end that a forgetfulness of\nhis passion might result from the absence of his mistress, absented\nherself for the space of a month.\n\nBut the desire of the absent one was increased in him, and his amatory\ndisposition was daily so far aggravated that he frequently came both by\nday and night to that spot, where he had been wont to be with the maiden,\nand when unable to meet with his inamorata, was afflicted with a terrible\ngrief. After the girl returned, angry at being, as it were spurned, he\ncoiled himself round her body, and softly and gently chastised her on the\nlegs.\n\n\nBOOK VI. ch. 63.\n\nA dragon whelp, born in Arcadia, was brought up with an Arcadian child;\nand in process of time, when both were older, they entertained a mutual\naffection for one another. The friends of the boy, seeing how the dragon\nhad increased in magnitude in so short a time, carried him, while sleeping\nwith the boy in the same bed, to a remote spot, and, leaving him there,\nbrought the boy back. The dragon thereon remained in the wood [feeding on\ngrowing plants and poisons], preferring a solitary life to one in towns\nand [human] habitations. Time having rolled on, and the boy having\nattained youth, and the dragon maturity, the former, while travelling upon\none occasion through the wilds in the neighbourhood of his friend, fell\namong robbers, who attacked him with drawn swords, and being struck,\neither from pain, or in the hopes of assistance, cried out. The dragon\nbeing a beast of acute hearing and sharp vision, as soon as he heard the\nlad with whom he had been brought up, gave a hiss in expression of his\nanger, and so struck them with fear, that the trembling robbers dispersed\nin different directions, whom having caught, he destroyed by a terrible\ndeath. Afterwards, having cared for the wounds of his ancient friend, and\nescorted him through the places infested with serpents, he returned to the\nspot where he himself had been exposed--not showing any anger towards him\non account of his having been expelled into solitude, nor because\nill-feeling men had abandoned an old friend in danger.\n\n\nBOOK VIII. ch. 11.\n\nHegemon, in his Dardanic verses, among other things mentions, concerning\nthe Thessalian Alevus, that a dragon conceived an affection for him.\nAlevus possessed, as Hegemon states, golden hair, which I should call\nyellow, and pastured cattle upon Ossa near the Thessalian spring called\nH\u00e6monium [as Anchises formerly did on Ida]. A dragon of great size fell\nviolently in love with him, and used to crawl up gently to him, kiss his\nhair, cleanse his face by licking it with his tongue, and bring him\nvarious spoils from the chase.\n\n\nBOOK X. ch. 25.\n\nBeyond the Oasis of Egypt there is a great desert which extends for seven\ndays' journey, succeeded by a region inhabited by the Cynoprosopi, on the\nway to \u00c6thiopia. These live by the chase of goats and antelopes. They are\nblack, with the head and teeth of a dog, of which animal, in this\nconnection, the mention is not to be looked upon as absurd, for they lack\nthe power of speech, and utter a shrill hissing sound, and have a beard\nabove and below the mouth like a dragon; their hands are armed with strong\nand sharp nails, and the body is equally hairy with that of dogs.\n\n\nBOOK X. ch. 48.\n\nLycaonus, King of Emathia, had a son named Macedon, from whom eventually\nthe country was called, the old name becoming obsolete. Now, one of\nMacedon's sons, named Pindus, was indued both with strength of mind and\ninnate probity, as well as a handsome person, whereas his other children\nwere constituted with mean minds and less vigorous bodies.\n\nWhen, therefore, these latter perceived Pindus's virtue and other gifts,\nthey not only oppressed him, but in the end ruined themselves in\npunishment for so great a crime.\n\nPindus, perceiving that plots were laid for him by his brothers,\nabandoning the kingdom which he had received from his father, and being\nrobust and taking pleasure in hunting, not only took to it himself, but\nled the others to follow his example.\n\nUpon one occasion he was pursuing some young mules, and, spurring his\nhorse to the top of its powers, drew away a long distance from those who\nwere hunting with him. The mules passing into a deep cavern, escaped the\nsight of their pursuer, and preserved themselves from danger. He leaped\ndown from the horse, which he tied to the nearest tree, and whilst he was\nseeking with his utmost ability to discover the mules, and probing the\ndens with his hands, heard a voice warning him not to touch the mules.\nWherefore, when he had long and carefully looked about, and could see no\none, he feared that the voice was the result of some greater cause, and,\nmounting his horse, left the place. On the next day he returned to the\nspot, but, deterred by the remembrance of the voice he had heard, he did\nnot enter the place where they had concealed themselves.\n\nWhen, therefore, he was cogitating as to who had warned him from following\nhis prey, and, as it appeared, was looking out for mountain shepherds, or\nhunters, or some cottage--a dragon of unusual magnitude appeared to him,\ncreeping softly with a great part of its body, but raising up its neck and\nhead a little way, as if stretching himself--but his neck and head were of\nsuch height as to equal that of the tallest man.\n\nAlthough Pindus was alarmed at the sight, he did not take to flight, but,\nrallying himself from his great terror, wisely endeavoured to appease the\nbeast by giving him to eat the birds he had caught, as the price of his\nredemption.\n\nHe, cajoled by the gifts and baits, or, as I may say, touched, left the\nspot. This was so pleasing to Pindus, that, as an honourable man, and\ngrateful for his escape, he carried to the dragon, as a thank-offering,\nwhatever he could procure from his mountain chases, or by fowling.\n\nNor were these gifts from his booty without return, for fortune became\nimmediately more favourable to him, and he achieved success in all his\nhunting, whether he pursued ground or winged game.\n\nWherefore he achieved a great reputation, both for finding and quickly\ncatching game.\n\nNow, he was so tall that he caused terror from his bulk, while from his\nexcellent constitution and beautiful countenance he inflamed women with so\nviolent an affection for him, that the unmarried, as if they were furious\nand bacchantes, joined his hunting expeditions; and married women, under\nthe guardianship of husbands, preferred passing their time with him, to\nbeing reported among the number of goddesses. And, for the most part, men\nalso esteemed him highly, as his virtue and appearance attracted universal\nadmiration. His brothers only held a hostile and inimical feeling towards\nhim. Wherefore upon a certain occasion they attacked him from an ambush,\nwhen he was hunting alone, and having driven him into the defiles of a\nriver close by, when he was removed from all help, attacked him with drawn\nswords and slew him.\n\nWhen the dragon heard its friend's outcries (for it is an animal with as\nsharp a sense of hearing as it has quickness of vision), it issued from\nits lair, and at once, casting its coils round the impious wretches,\nsuffocated them.\n\nIt did not desist from watching over its slain [friend] with the utmost\ncare, until those nearest related to the deceased came to him, as he was\nlying on the ground; but nevertheless, although clad in proper mourning,\nthey were prevented through fear of the custodian from approaching and\ninterring the dead with proper rites, until it, understanding from its\nprofound and wonderful nature, that it was keeping them at a distance,\nquietly departed from its guard and station near the body, in order that\nit might receive the last tokens of esteem from the bystanders without any\ninterruption.\n\nSplendid obsequies were performed, and the river where the murder was\neffected received its name from the dead man.\n\nIt is therefore a peculiarity of these beasts to be grateful to those from\nwhom they may have received favours.\n\n\nBOOK XI. ch. 2.--_Dragon Sacred to Apollo._\n\nThe Epirotes, both at home and abroad, sacrifice to Apollo, and solemnise\nwith extreme magnificence a feast yearly in his honour, There is a grove\namong them sacred to the god, and inclosed with a wall, within which are\ndragons, pleasing to the god. Hither a sacred virgin comes alone, naked,\nand presents food to the dragons. The Epirotes say that these are\ndescended from the Delphic python. If they regarded the virgin ministering\nto them with favour, and took the food promptly, they were believed to\nportend a fertile and healthful year; if they were rude towards her, and\nwould not accept the proffered food, some predicted, or at least expected,\nthe contrary for the coming year.\n\n\nBOOK II. ch. 16.--_Dragon in Lavinium._\n\nThere is a peculiar divination of the dragon, for in Lavinium, a town of\nthe Latins but in Lavinium, there is a large and dense sacred grove, and\nnear it the shrine of the Argolic Juno. Within the grove is a cave and\ndeep den, the lair of a dragon.\n\nSacred virgins enter this grove on stated days, who carry a barley cake in\ntheir hands, with bandaged eyes. A certain divine afflatus leads them\naccurately to the den, and gently, and step by step, they proceed without\nhindrance, and as if their eyes were uncovered. If they are virgins, the\ndragon admits the food as pure and fit for a deity. If otherwise, it does\nnot touch it, perceiving and divining them to be impure.\n\nAnts, for the sake of cleansing the place, carry from the grove the cake\nleft by the vitiated virgin, broken into little pieces, so that they may\neasily carry it. When this happens, it is perceived by the inhabitants,\nand those who have entered are pointed out and examined, and whoever\nproves to have forfeited her virginity is punished with the penalties\nappointed by the laws.\n\n\"The masculine sex also seems to be privileged by nature among brutes,\ninasmuch as the male dragon is distinguished by a crest and hairs, with a\nbeard.\"\n\n\nBOOK XVI. ch. 39.\n\nOnesicritus Astypal\u00e6us writes that there were two dragons in India\n[nurtured by an Indian dancer], one of forty-six and the other of eighty\ncubits, and that Alexander (Philip's son) earnestly endeavoured to see\nthem. It is affirmed in Egyptian books that, during the reign of\nPhiladelphus, two dragons were brought from \u00c6thiopia into Philadelphia\nalive, one forty, the other thirty cubits in magnitude.\n\nThree were also brought in the time of King Evergetis, one nine and\nanother seven cubits. The Egyptians say that the third was preserved with\ngreat care in the temple of \u00c6sculapius.\n\nIt is also said that there are asps of four cubits in length. Those who\nwrite the history of the affairs of Chios say that a dragon of extreme\nmagnitude was produced in a valley, densely crowded and gloomy with tall\ntrees, of the Mount Pelien\u00e6us in that island, whose hissing struck the\nChians with horror.\n\nAs none either of the husbandmen or shepherds dare, by approaching near,\nestimate its magnitude, but from its hissing judged it to be a large and\nformidable beast, at length its size became known by a remarkable\naccident. For the trees of the valley being struck by a very strong wind,\nand the branches ignited by the friction, a great fire thence arising,\nembraced the whole spot, and surrounded the beast, which, being unable to\nescape, was consumed by the ardour of the flame. By these means all things\nwere rendered visible in the denuded place, and the Chians freed, from\ntheir alarms, came to investigate, and lighted on bones of unusual\nmagnitude, and an immense head, from which they were enabled to conjecture\nits dimensions when living.\n\n\nBOOK XI. ch. 17.\n\nHomer was not rash in his line,\n\n  Terrible are the gods when they manifest themselves.\n\nFor the dragon, while sacred and to be worshipped, has within himself\nsomething still more of the divine nature of which it is better to remain\nin ignorance.\n\nIndeed, a dragon received divine honours in a certain tower in Melita in\nEgypt. He had his priests and ministers, his table and bowl. Every day\nthey filled the bowl with flour kneaded with honey, and went away;\nreturning on the following day, they found the bowl empty.\n\nUpon one occasion, a man of illustrious birth, who entertained an intense\ndesire of seeing the dragon, having entered alone, and placed the food,\nwent out; and when the dragon commenced to feed at the table, he opened\nsuddenly and noisily the doors, which according to custom he had closed.\n\nThe dragon indignantly left; but he who had desired to see him, to his own\ndestruction, being seized with an affliction of the mind, and having\nconfessed his crime, presently lost his speech, and shortly after died.\n\n\nBOOK XII. ch. 39.\n\nWhen Halia, the daughter of Sybasis, had entered the grove of Diana in\nPhrygia, a certain sacred dragon of large size appeared and copulated with\nher; whence the Ophiogen\u00e6 deduce the origin of their race.\n\n\nBOOK XV. ch. 21.--_Concerning the Indian Dragon._\n\nAlexander (while he attacked or devastated some portions of India, and\nalso seized others), lighted on, among other numerous animals, a dragon,\nwhich the Indians, because they considered it to be sacred, and worshipped\nit with great reverence, in a certain cave, besought him with many\nentreaties to let alone, which he agreed to. However, when the dragon\nheard the noise made by the passing army (for it is an animal endowed with\na very acute sense of hearing as well as of vision), it frightened and\nalarmed them all with a great hissing and blowing. It was said to be\nseventy cubits long.\n\nIt did not, however, show the whole of itself, but only exposed its head\nfrom the cave. Its eyes were said to have been of the size (and rotundity)\nof a Macedonian shield.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX III.\n\nORIGINAL PREFACE TO \"WONDERS BY LAND AND SEA\" (\"SHAN HAI KING\").\n\n\nThe Classic containing \"Wonders by Land and Sea\" has been praised by all\nwho have read it, for its depth, greatness, far sightedness and\ncompleteness; since the narratives therein contained are all wonderful and\ndifferent from ordinary things. Moreover, the truth or veracity of the\nbook is a matter of doubt to nearly all men, and I therefore think it fit\nthat I should give my opinion on the subject. It has been said by the\nphilosopher Chuang that \"the things that men do know can in no way be\ncompared, numerically speaking, to the things that are unknown,\" thus in\nreading \"Wonders by Land and Sea,\" the force of his remark becomes\napparent to me.\n\nNow, since heaven and earth are vast, it follows that the beings which\ninhabit them must reasonably be numerous. The positive and negative\nelements being heated by vernal warmth, produce myriads of living beings\nof classes innumerable. When the essence of ether combines, motion becomes\napparent and generates into wondrous and roving spirits, which, floating\nabout and coming into contact with anything, enter into it and thus create\nwonderful beings, whether they be inhabitants of mountain or sea, or wood\nor stone; yea, so numerous are they, that it is an impossible task for me\nto give them in detail.\n\nThe evolution of the essence of the elements generates sound, which by\ndevelopment produces a certain image. When we call a thing wonderful, it\nis because we do not know the reasons attending its origin, and what we do\nnot call wonderful, we still are unaware why it is not so. And why? A\nthing is, _per se_, not wonderful, it is because we wish to consider it\nso; the wonder is in ourselves and not in the thing. For instance, when a\nsavage looks at the cotton cloth we wear, he calls it hemp; and when an\ninhabitant of Y\u00fcch (Soochow and vicinity) sees a rug, he calls it fur or\nhair. The reason may be found in this: we believe only those things to\nwhich we have been educated, and anything which might not be perfectly\nunderstood by us we deem wonderful. Hence the shortsightedness of human\nnature. I will now give a passing remark of what is known amongst us. A\nplace called Ping Shui (?) produces fire, while the Yen mountain produces\nrats. Now all men know these facts, and yet when we read and speak of the\nclassic treating of the \"Wonders by Land and Sea,\" we call it wonderful!\nWhen a thing is really wonderful, we do not consider it so; and what is\nnot wonderful, we persist in considering it to be so. Such being the case,\nif, what should be wondered at, we do not call it so, then there cannot be\na single wonder in the whole Universe; and if we call a thing wonderful\nwhich in truth is not so, then up to the present time there can be nothing\nwonderful. Moreover, if what is unknowable appears clear to our minds, it\nfollows that all things on earth should be understood by us.\n\nAccording to the Bamboo Annals of Chi Chuen, and the records of King M\u00fch,\nit is said that when that King went to visit the Fairy Queen of the West,\nhe took with him as gifts to her, beautiful jade stones, and the best of\nraw and embroidered silks; while, on the other hand, the Fairy Queen gave\na banquet in honour of the King, on the banks of the lake formed by white\njade stones. During the banquet they composed and spoke their thoughts in\nverse, and the sentiments embodied therein were beautiful. Then the royal\npair repaired to the hillock adjoining the K\u00fcen Lun mountain, and roamed\nover the palaces of King Hs\u00fcen Y\u00fcan, which were situated there, and thence\nto the artificial terraces of the Chung hill, and gazed on the precious\nand wonderful things collected by that king. Returning to the residence of\nthe Fairy Queen, King M\u00fch had a stone tablet engraved recording the event,\nand erected it in the Queen's magic garden. On King M\u00fch's return home, he\nbrought with him to the Middle Kingdom beautiful wood and magnificent\nflowers, precious stones and elegant jades, golden oils and silver\ncandles. In his travels, King M\u00fch rode in a chariot drawn by eight\nsplendid horses; the right-hand horses were of a dark colour, while those\non the left hand were greenish. Tsao Fu was the charioteer, and Pen Yung,\nwho stood on the King's right, was the body-guard. Myriads of _lis_ could\nthus be traversed. They went over barren wastes and over celebrated\nmountains and large rivers, yet none of them barred their onward course.\nTo the east they came across the Halls of the Giants; to the west they\narrived at the mansions of the Fairy Queen; to the south they crossed over\na bridge composed of immense tortoises; and to the north they drove over\nstreets made of layers of feathers. Traversing these, then, King M\u00fch\ncommenced his journey homeward full of joy. History informs us that \"King\nM\u00fch, riding in a chariot drawn by eight magnificent horses, with Tsao Fu\nas charioteer, made a journey to the west, in search of adventures in\nhunting, and, coming to the Fairy Queen of the West, was so happy, that\nhe almost forgot to return home.\" These words are similar to those\nrecorded in the \"Bamboo Annals\" of Chi Chuen. The classic called \"Spring\nand Autumn,\" says that \"King M\u00fch was a man of vast ambition, and desired\nthat the whole world should bear the tracks of his cart-wheels, and\nreceive the imprints of his horse's hoof,\" and the \"Bamboo Annals\"\nillustrate this ambition.\n\nThe disciples of Ts'ian Chow were all eminent scholars of famous\nattainments, but they were all sceptical as to the veracity of the\nadventures of King M\u00fch, and say that in looking over history they are\nconvinced of their fallacy. Sz Ma Tseen also, in writing the preface to\nthe \"Records of Ta Wan,\" says that when Chang Ch'ien went on his mission\nto Ta Hsia, he traversed the whole length of the Huang Ho up to its very\nsource, but never came across the K\u00fcen Lun mountain. Moreover, Sz Ma Ts\u00eben\nin his own history also says, in referring to the \"Book of Wonders by Land\nand Sea,\" that, \"As to the wonders described in that work, I, for my part,\ndare not vouch for their truth.\" In the face, therefore, of all these\nauthorities, is it not a hard task for me to prove the contrary? If the\n\"Bamboo Annals\" of a thousand years ago be not taken at the present day as\na truthful record of the past, then, indeed, most of the narratives\ncontained in the \"Book of Wonders by Land and Sea\" must be false. Now,\nTung Fang Shun knew of Pe Fang; Lin Tsz Chen proved satisfactorily the\nexistence of Tao Chea by a corpse from that kingdom. Wang Ch'i had an\ninterview with men having two distinct faces on their heads, and a man\nfrom the sea coast picked up a dress having two very long sleeves. In\ncarefully studying, therefore, these books, I am convinced that their\nstories mainly coincide with the tales in the \"Book of Wonders by Land and\nSea.\" Behold these evidences then, ye who doubt, and place some credence\nin the narrations contained in this book.\n\nThe Sage King made exhaustive researches into these wondrous beings, and\nthen drew their images. It is indeed impossible to hide the existence of\nthese wonders! The \"Book of Wonders by Land and Sea\" was compiled seven\ndynasties ago (up to the Tsin dynasty), a space of 3,000 years. During the\nHan dynasty this book received the closest attention, and was elucidated\nfor the benefit of its readers; but shortly after it again fell into\nneglect. Moreover, since then, the names of some mountains and rivers have\nundergone changes. At the present day, teachers and expounders are unable\nto explain these wonders, and hence through disuse their reasons given at\nan earlier age have almost sunk into oblivion. Alas, for the loss of\nReason! Fearing, therefore, that it will be entirely lost, I have written\nthe accompanying work, making lucid the points that are obscure, and\nerasing those that are useless; pointing out what would not be noticeable,\nand explaining the parts that are deep. I shall endeavour to reclaim what\nhas almost become obsolete, that it may stand for thousand of ages, and\nthe wonders herein recorded shall not, from the present day, be lost. Thus\nthe works of the Emperor Y\u00fc of the Hsia dynasty will not be lost in the\nfuture, and the records of the Barren Wastes beyond the boundaries of this\nEmpire will be transmitted to posterity. Will not this be a laudable\nobject?\n\nInsects that spring from grassy ground cannot soar as high as the birds of\nthe air, nor can the living beings that inhabit the sea rise up\nheavenwards like the dragon. A man of medium abilities in music can never\nbe a member of the Orchestra in the Halls of Chuen Tien, nor can the\nwater-buffalo traverse the watery deeps to which even ships dare not\nventure. Hence, unless a person be of the highest understanding, it would\nbe a hard task to converse with him intelligently of the \"Wonders by Land\nand Sea.\" And I sigh because it is only the learned and intelligent man\nthat can read understandingly the tales in this work.\n\n  KWOH P'OH,\n  Assistant Secretary and an Official of the 6th Rank,\n  of the Tsin Dynasty.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX IV.\n\nA MEMORIAL PRESENTED BY LIU HSIU, BY ORDER OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY THE\nEMPEROR, ON THE \"BOOK OF WONDERS BY LAND AND SEA.\"\n\n\nThe Memorialist, an officer of the Fourth Rank and Charioteer to His\nMajesty the Emperor, having received commands to comment upon and make\nright wonderful books, now reports that an officer named Wang, a\nsubordinate in the Board of Civil Office, had already made comments and\nset right thirty-two chapters of the \"Book of Wonders by Land and Sea,\"\nbut which the memorialist has reduced to eighteen chapters. This book was\ncompiled during the time of the three Emperors (Yao, Shun, and Y\u00fc). At\nthat time there was a great flood, insomuch that the people had no places\nto live, but only in caves and holes in the rocks, and upon the tops of\ntrees.\n\nThe father of Y\u00fc, by name K'un, being ordered by the Emperor to assuage\nthe floods, was unable to do so; the Emperor Yao therefore ordered Y\u00fc, the\nson, to do so. Y\u00fc used four things in his journey around to make the\nfloods flow away. He first cut away the trees on high mountains to obtain\na view of the surrounding country; and having settled as to which was the\nhighest mountain, and which the largest river, Yih and Peh Ye undertook to\ndrive away the wild beasts and birds abounding in the country, and named\nthe mountains and rivers, and classified the fauna of the country, and\npointed out which was water and which was land. The feudal lords assisted\nY\u00fc in his work, and thus he traversed the four quarters of the Empire,\nwhere footprint of man seldom could be found, and where boats and carts\nscarcely reached. He named the five mountain divisions of the Empire and\neight seas that bound it. He noted where each kind of precious stone could\nbe found, and the wonderful things he had seen. The abode of animals of\nland and sea, flora of the country, birds of the air, and beasts of the\nfield, worms, the unicorn, and the ph\u0153nix, all these he fixed, and also\nmade known their hiding-places; also the furthest removed kingdom of the\nearth, and men who were different from human beings. Y\u00fc divided the\nEmpire into nine divisions, and determined upon the tribute to be given by\neach division, and Yih and his comrade noted which was hurtful and which\nwas harmless for the \"Book of Wonders by Land and Sea.\"\n\nAll the deeds handed down to us of the sages are clearly noted in the\nMaxims of the Ancients. The work therein expressed is a matter that can be\nbelieved in. During the reign of Shiao Wu there was commonly seen a rare\nbird, which would eat nothing. Tung Fang Suh saw this bird, and gave its\nname; he also told what it would eat. His words being attended to, the\nbird ate what was given it. Someone asked Suh how he knew of it; he said\nhe had read of the bird in the \"Book of Wonders by Land and Sea.\" During\nthe reign of Shiao Hs\u00fcen, a large stone was broken in Shang Chuen, which\nthen sank into the ground and displayed a house of stone; in the house was\na man of Tao Chia, with his arms tied. At that time the memorialist's\nfather, named Hsiang, was a Censor, and he said that this Tao Chia man was\na traitor to his king. Being questioned by the Emperor how he could know\nit, he said that he had read of it in the \"Book of Wonders by Land and\nSea,\" which says, \"A traitor having killed his king in Tao Y\u00fc, he was\nchained and confined in a mountain, his right leg was cut off, and both\nhis arms tied behind his back.\" The Emperor was much surprised at this.\nAll scholars acknowledge that this book is perfectly wonderful, and all\nintelligent men should read it, and be able to speak upon these wonderful\nbeings and things, and learn the customs of far-off kingdoms and their\ninhabitants. Hence the Yi King says, \"In speaking of the products of the\nempire, care should be taken to avoid confusion,\" and learned men,\ntherefore, may not be doubtful.\n\nA memorial presented to the Throne by\n\n  LIU HSIU.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX V.\n\nAFTER PREFACE TO THE \"BOOK OF WONDERS BY LAND AND SEA.\"\n\n\nIn the sayings of the philosopher Tso, the following remarks may be found:\n\"Virtue existed during the times of the Hsia dynasty; drawings of all\nanimals far and wide were made, and the metal from which the urn was made,\nfor the purpose of engraving thereon the images of these animals, was\npresented as tribute by the feudal lords of the Nine Kingdoms. This urn\ncontained the images of all manner and kinds of animals. This was for the\npurpose of letting the people know about their existence, so that they\nmight avoid them in entering the mountains and forests, and the genii of\nthe mountains and rivers. Hence the object of the classic treating on the\n'Wonders by Land and Sea.'\" When Y\u00fc assuaged the floods, the Emperor\npresented him with a red-coloured wand made of jadestones, and then\nabdicated his throne in his favour; on this account he ordered a tribute\nof metals from the feudal lords of the Nine Kingdoms, wherewith to cast\nthe urn, on which were engraved all kinds of animals from far and wide,\nsuch as the wonderful animals and beings of mountains, rivers, grass, and\nwood, as well as the wonders to be found among walking animals and\ninhabitants of the air. Y\u00fc, when Emperor, caused the forms of these\nwonders to be described, how produced, and their natures; he also had them\nclassified. When he had described those wonders, whether seen or heard of,\nor common or uncommon, or rarely heard of, all these he had described\nminutely, whereby, when the people heard of them, an exceeding fear fell\non them. All animals and beings that were common in those days were\ndescribed in the Annals of Y\u00fc, but such as were wonderful and rare were\nengraved on the nine urns. These urns when completed were placed in those\nparts of the empire where these wonders originally came from, in order\nthat the people of that age might learn and see daily the things that were\neither heard of or seen by others.\n\nThe things brought by tribute-bearers from afar were also added unto the\nnine urns. Indeed, this made wonders an ordinary matter. That the people\nmight learn these things was the idea of the sage King Y\u00fc. Hence, even\nthough at that time all things were described honestly, still the works of\nthat period are far deeper than those of the Chow dynasty. At the time of\nthe last Emperor of the Hsia dynasty, the historiographer Chung Ku,\nfearing that that Emperor might destroy the books treating of the ancient\nand present time, carried them in flight to Yin. History also says that\nK\u2018ung Kiah compiled into a book all the things that were engraved on the\nvases and dishes from the time of Hwang Ti and his ministers, Yao and Sz.\nAnd the Annals treating on the animals described on the nine urns were due\nto such men as Chung Ku and K\u2018ung Kiah. These Annals are now known as the\nclassic treating on \"Wonders by Land and Sea.\" The nine urns were extinct\nat the time of Tsing, but the pictures and classic still existed. During\nthe Tsin dynasty, T'ao Chang and his school of poets gazed upon the\npictures of the \"Wonders of Land and Sea.\" In the \"Seven Commentaries\" of\nthe Yuen family, there is observed a case of Chang Sun Yao's pictures of\nthese wonders. These cases may be cited as proofs of the authenticity of\nthe wonders. At the present time, the classic treating on these wonders\nstill exists, but the pictures have become extinct. This classic has been\ntreated upon and commented on and made intelligent by the people that have\ncome after it, insomuch that the names of different districts of the Tsing\nand Han dynasties have been made to correspond with some of the names\nmentioned in the \"Book of Wonders by Land and Sea.\" Hence the readers of\nthis book are divided into the believing and the doubting. The believers\nbase their belief upon the fact that it was the Emperor Y\u00fc who compiled it\nand explained its origin. The doubtful base their doubt on the probable\nfact of the book having been written by people who existed after Y\u00fc, and\ntherefore unreasonable. This is indeed a base calumny. Liu Hsiu of the Han\ndynasty makes mention of the book in his seven chapters treating on it.\nAnd his style of composition might be said to be very ancient. Kwoh P'oh\nof the Tsin dynasty in his preface and notes on this book, states these\nwonders. The honour of transmitting this book to posterity is due to Liu\nHsiu and Kwoh P'oh; but, to prevent learners from considering that the\nnotes made by the two scholars are of no importance, I have therefore\nwritten this preface.\n\n  YANG SUN,\n  Of the Ming Dynasty.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX VI.\n\nEXTRACTS FROM \"SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHINESE,\"\n\nBY JUSTUS DOOLITTLE.\n\n\nCh. II., p. 264.\n\n\"The dragon holds a remarkable position in the history and government of\nChina. It also enjoys an ominous eminence in the affections of the Chinese\npeople. It is frequently represented as the great benefactor of mankind.\nIt is the dragon which causes the clouds to form and the rain to fall. The\nChinese delight in praising its wonderful properties and powers. It is the\nvenerated symbol of good.\n\n\"The Emperor appropriates to himself the use of the _true_ dragon, the one\nwhich has five claws on each of its four feet. On his dress of state is\nembroidered a likeness of the dragon. His throne is styled 'the dragon's\nseat.' His bedstead is the 'dragon's bedstead.' His countenance is 'the\ndragon's face.' His eyes are 'the dragon's eyes.' His beard is 'the\ndragon's beard.'\n\n\"The true dragon, it is affirmed, never renders itself visible to mortal\nvision wholly at once. If its head is seen, its tail is obscured or\nhidden. If it exposes its tail to the eyes of man, it is careful to keep\nits head out of sight. It is always accompanied by or enshrouded in,\nclouds, when it becomes visible in any of its parts. Water-spouts are\nbelieved by some Chinese to be occasioned by the ascent and descent of the\ndragon. Fishermen and residents on the border of the ocean are reported to\ncatch occasional glimpses of the dragon ascending from the water and\ndescending to it.\n\n\"It is represented as having scales, and without ears; from its forehead\ntwo horns project upwards. Its organ of hearing seems to be located in\nthese horns, for it is asserted that it hears through them. It is regarded\nas the king of fishes.\n\nProclamations emanating directly from the Emperor, and published on yellow\npaper, sometimes have the likenesses of two dragons facing each other, and\ngrasping or playing with a pearl, of which the dragon is believed to be\nvery fond.\n\n\nCh. II. p. 338.\n\n\"The sagacious geomancer is also careful to observe the mountain or hill\non the right and left sides of the spot for a lucky grave. The left-hand\nside is called the black dragon; the right-hand side is called the white\ntiger. The lucky prospects, in a Chinese sense, on the hills situated to\nthe left, should clearly surpass the prospects of the hills on the right.\nAnd the reason for this is manifest, for the _black dragon_ is naturally\nweaker than the _white tiger_.\n\n\nCh. I. p. 275.\n\n\"The common belief is that the dragon and the tiger always fight when they\nmeet; and that when the dragon moves, the clouds will ascend and rain will\nsoon fall.\n\n\"Hence, in a time of drought, if the bones of a tiger should be let down\ninto this well called the 'dragon's well,' and kept there for three days\nat the most, there will, it is sagely affirmed, most likely be rain soon.\n\n\"The tiger's bones are used to stir up or excite the dragon.\"\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX VII.\n\nEXTRACTS FROM THE \"PAN TSAOU KANG MU.\"\n\n\nTHE KIAO-LUNG. (The four-footed coiled Dragon. The Iguanodon.--_Eitel._)\n\nThis animal, according to Shi Chan, belongs to the dragon family. Its\neye-brows are crossed, hence its name signifies \"the crossed reptile.\" The\nscaled variety is called the _Kiao-Lung_, the winged the _Ying-Lung_. The\nhorned kind are called _K\u2018iu_, the hornless kind _Li_. In Indian books it\nis called _Kwan-P'i-Lo_.\n\nShi Chan, quoting from the _Kwan Cheu Ki_, says: \"The Iguanodon (?) is\nmore than twelve feet long; it resembles a snake, it has four feet, and is\nbroad like a shield. It has a small head and a slender neck, the latter\nbeing covered with numerous protuberances. The front of its breast is of a\nred colour, its back is variegated with green, and its sides as if\nembroidered. Its tail is composed of fleshy rings; the larger ones are\nseveral. Its eggs are also large. It can induce fish to fly, but if a\nturtle is present they will not do so.\n\n\"The Emperor Chao, of the Han, when fishing in the river W\u00e9i, caught a\nwhite Iguanodon. It resembled a snake, but was without scales. Its head\nwas composed of soft flesh, and tusks issued from the mouth. The Emperor\nordered his ministers to get it preserved. Its flesh is delicious; bones\ngreen, flesh red.\"\n\nFrom the above it may be seen the Iguanodon is edible.\n\n\nTHE CROCODILE.\n\n\"The _T'o_ Fish, we call it the Earth Dragon, and have correctly written\nthe character. It resembles the dragon, its voice is terrible, and its\nlength is a _ch'ang_ (a hundred and forty-one English inches). When it\nbreathes it forms clouds, which condense into rain. Being a dragon, the\nterm 'fish' should be done away with.\"\n\nShi Chan says the _T'o_ character in appearance resembles the head, the\nbelly, and the tail. One author says that an animal, which is identified\nwith the crocodile, is found in the lagoons and marshes of the Southern\nSea, at no fixed time. Its skin is made into drums. It is very tenacious\nof life. Before it can be flayed quantities of boiling water have to be\npoured down its throat. Another author states that the crocodile is of a\nsleepy disposition, with the eyes (nearly) always shut. It is of immense\nstrength. It frequently dashes itself against the river bank. Men dig them\nout of their caves. If a hundred men dig them out, a hundred men will be\nrequired to pull them out; but if one man dig, one man may pull them out;\nbut the event in either case is very uncertain. Another author states that\nrecently there were found in the lakes and estuaries many animals\nresembling lizards and pangolins in appearance, which utter dreadful cries\nduring the night, to the great terror of sailors. Shi Chan says\ncrocodiles' dens are very deep, and that bamboo ropes are baited in order\nto catch him; after he has swallowed the bait he is gradually pulled out.\nHe flies zigzag, but cannot fly upwards. His roar is like a drum's, and he\nresponds to the striking of the watches of the night, which is called the\ncrocodile drum, or the crocodile watch. The common people, when they hear\nit, predict rain. The nape of the neck is bright and glistening, more\nbrilliant than those of fish. It lays a large number of eggs, as many as a\nhundred, which it sometimes eats. The people of the South appreciate the\nflesh, and use it at marriage festivities. One author states that the\ncrocodile has twelve different varieties of delicious flesh; but the tail,\nlike serpent's flesh, is very poisonous. The crocodile's flesh cures quite\na host of diseases.\n\n\nTHE J\u0102N SH\u00c9, or SOUTHERN SNAKE. (_Mai-Teu-Sh\u00e9_ = closed up (concealed)\nhead snake.)\n\nShi Chan says: \"This snake is a reptile (having a wriggling motion). Its\nbody is immense, and its motion is wrig-wriggling (_j\u0103n-j\u0103n_)[319] and\nslow; hence its name, _J\u0103n-Sh\u00e9_. Another author says its scales have hair\nlike moustaches (_j\u0103n_). It lives in Kwangtung and Kwangsi (literally,\nSouth of the Hills). Those that do not lift their head are the true kind;\nin this way they were called the 'Concealed Head Snake.'\"\n\nSung quotes T'ao Hung King to the effect that its habitat is in Tsin-ngan\n(Fukien), and also Su Kung, who says that it is found in Kw\u00e9icheu and\nKwangcheu, towards the south, at Kaocheu and Ho\u00fcn. At several places in\nthe south of the Hills they are still found. Hung King says the large ones\n(in their coils?) are several fathoms in circumference. Those that walk\nwithout raising their heads are the genuine ones. Those that conceal their\nheads are not genuine. Its fat and gall can be mixed together. The large\nones are more than a foot in diameter and more than twelve feet long. It\nis a snake, but it is short and bulky. Su Kung remarks that its form\nresembles a mullet's and its head a crocodile's. Its tail is round and\nwithout scales. It is very tenacious of life. The natives cut up its flesh\ninto slices, and esteem it as a great delicacy. Another says: When steeped\nin vinegar the slices curl round the chop-sticks, and cannot be released;\nbut when the chop-sticks are made of grass stems (_mong'tso_), then it is\npracticable.\n\nAnother says: \"This snake is a hundred and forty-four feet long; it often\nswallows a deer. When the deer is completely digested, then it coils round\na tree, when the bones of the deer in the stomach protrude through the\ninterstices of the scales.... If a woman's dress is thrown towards it, it\nwill coil round and will not stir.\"\n\nShi Chan, quoting \"The Wonderful Records,\" says: \"The boa is sixty to\nseventy feet long, and four to five feet in circumference; the smaller\nones from thirty-six to forty-eight feet long. Their bodies are striped\nlike a piece of embroidery. In spring and summer it frequents the recesses\nof forests, waiting for the deer, to devour them. When the deer is\ndigested the boa becomes fat. Someone says that it will eat a deer every\nyear.\"\n\nAnother author says: \"The boa, when it devours a deer or wild boar, begins\nwith the hind legs. The poisonous breath of the boa comes in contact with\nthe horns; these fall off. The galls, the smaller they are the better they\nare.\" Another says: \"Boas abound in Wang Cheu (Kwangsi). The large ones\nare more than a hundred and forty feet long. They devour deer, reducing\nthe horns and bones to a pulp. The natives use the dolishos and rattans to\nfill up the entrance to its den. The snake, when it smells them, becomes\ntorpid. They then dig him out. Its flesh is a great delicacy. Its skin may\nbe made into a drum, and for ornamenting swords, and for making musical\ninstruments.\"\n\nThe _Yu H\u0103ng Chi_ says: \"Rustic soldiers in Kwangsi, when capturing boas,\nstick flowers in their heads, which when the snake observes, it cannot\nmove. They then come up to it and cut off its head. They then wait till it\nexhausts itself by its jumping about and dies. They then take it home and\nfeast on it.\" Compare \u00c6lian [_De Natur\u00e2 Animalium_, lib. vi. chap., xxi.]:\n\"They hung before the mouth of the Dragon's den a piece of stuff flowered\nwith gold, which attracted the eyes of the beast, till by the sound of\nsoft music they lulled him to sleep, and then cut off his head.\"\n\nThe _Shan Hai King_ says: \"The _Pa_ snake can eat an elephant, the bones\nof which, after three years, are got rid of. Gentlemen that eat of this\nsnake will be proof against consumption.\" Kwoh P'oh, in his commentary,\nsays the boa of to-day is identical with the _Pa_ snake.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX VIII.\n\nEXTRACT FROM THE \"YUEN KEEN LEI HAN.\"\n\n\nTHE DRAGON.--CHAP. I.\n\nThe _Shwoh W\u0103n_ says: \"The dragon is the chief of scaly reptiles: in the\nspring he mounts the heavens, in the autumn he frequents the streams. This\nis favourable.\" Again, \"When the dragon walks he is called _sah_, when he\nflies he is a _yao_.\"\n\nThe _Kwang Ya_ says: \"When he has scales he is a _Kiao_,[320] when he has\nwings a _Ying-Lung_,[321] when horns a _Kiu-Lung_,[322] without horns a\n_Chih-Lung_.\"\n\nThe _Ming Wuh Kiai_ of the _Odes_ says the dragon has horns at five\nhundred years, at one thousand years he is a _Ying-Lung_.\n\nThe _P\u2018i Ya Kwang Yao_ says: \"The dragon has eighty-one scales. This is\nnine times nine, nine is the _yang_ (male principle). The dragon is\nproduced from an egg, in which he is enfolded.\" Again, it says that the\n_N\u00e9i Tien_ says: \"Dragon-fire comes in contact with moisture and there is\nsmoke, with water and it is consumed (_i.e._ a man may extinguish it with\nwater).\"\n\nThe _Fang Yen_ says: \"Before the dragon has ascended to heaven he is a\n_P\u2018an[323] Lung_.\" The Yih King says: \"When his clouds move the rain\nfalls, and the various things put forth their forms at the time he rides\nupon the six dragons and ascends the heavens.\" \"The first nine: The hidden\ndragon is inactive. The diagram indicates that the subtile ether is below.\nThe second nine: When the dragon is seen in the fields it is profitable\nto meet the great man. The diagram indicates that virtue is extended.\nFifth nine: The flying dragon appears in the heavens: The diagram\nindicates the great man creates.\" Again, \"The dragons contend in the\nwilds, their blood is azure and yellow.\" Again, \"Thunder is a dragon.\"\n\nThe Yuen-Ming-Pao section of the _Ch\u2018un ts\u2018iu_ says: \"The dragons begin to\nspeak, _yin_ and _yang_[324] are commingled\"; thence, it is said, the\ndragon ascends and clouds are multiplied. The _Yih King_, in all the\ndiagrams, clearly says: \"The summer winds arise and the dragon mounts the\nskies.\"\n\nIn the _Yuen-Sh\u0103n-K\u2018i_ of the _Hiao King_ it is said: \"Virtue approaches\nthe fountains and the yellow dragon appears. It is the Prince's image.\"\n\nIn the \"_Tso-K\u2018i_\" of the _Hiao King_ it is said: \"The Emperor is filial,\nthe heavenly dragon bears the plans and the earthly tortoise issues a\nbook.\" The _Ho-t\u2018u_ says: \"Yellow gold after one thousand years produces a\nyellow dragon, azure gold after one thousand years, the azure dragon; red\nand white dragon is also thus. Black gold after one thousand years\nproduces the black dragon.\"\n\nThe _Twan-ying-t\u2018u_ says: \"The yellow dragon is the chief of the four\ndragons, the true beauty of the four regions. He can be large or small,\nobscure or manifest, short or long, alive or dead; the king cannot drain\nthe pool and catch him. His intelligence and virtue are unfathomable;\nmoreover he ensures the peaceful air, and sports in the pools.\" Again, it\nsays: \"The yellow dragon does not go in company, and does not live in\nherds. He certainly waits for the wind and rain, and disports himself in\nthe azure air. He wanders in the wilds beyond the heavens. He goes and\ncomes, fulfilling the decree; at the proper seasons if there is perfection\nhe comes forth, if not he remains (unseen).\"\n\nThe _Shi Ki_ says: \"The bright moon pearl is concealed in the oyster, the\ndragon is there.\"\n\nBooks of the after Wei dynasty say, \"Persia has three pools.\" They narrate\nthat a dragon lives in the largest, his wife in the second, and his child\nin the third. If travellers sacrifice, they can pass; if they do not\nsacrifice they encounter many storms of wind and rain.\n\nL\u00fc-lan asserts that Confucius said, \"The dragon feeds in the pure (water)\nand disports in the clear (water).\"\n\nSun-k\u2018ing-tsz says: \"The accumulated waters form the streams, the\n_Kiao-Lung_ is brought forth.\" Han-F\u00e9i-shwoh-nan says: \"Now as the dragon\nis a reptile he can be brought under control and ridden.[325] But below\nhis throat are tremendous scales, projecting a foot. If a man should come\nin contact with them he would be killed.\"\n\nKwan-tsz says: \"The dragon's skin has five colours, and he moves like a\nspirit; he wishes to be small and he becomes like a silkworm; great, and\nhe fills all below heaven; he desires to rise, and he reaches the ether;\nhe desires to sink, and he enters the deep fountains. The times of his\nchanging are not fixed, his rising and descending are undetermined; he is\ncalled a god (or spirit).\"\n\nHwai-nan-tsz says: \"The dragon ascends and the brilliant clouds follow.\"\nAgain, he says: \"This _Kiao-Lung_ is hidden in the streams, and his eggs\nare opened at the mound. The male cries above and the female cries below,\nand he changes; his form and essence are of the most exalted (kind). Man\ncannot see the dragon when he flies aloft. He ascends, and wind and rain\nescort him.\"\n\nThe _Tihing P\u2018ien_ says: \"Wings beautiful grow for the flying dragon; hair\nsoft like that of a calf on the _ying_ dragon; scales only for the\n_Kiao-Lung_. Only in pools is found the _Sien-Lung_.\" Chang-hang said:\n\"How the _Ts\u2018ang-Lung_ meets the summer and aspires to the clouds, and\nshakes his scales, accomplishing the season. He passes the winter in the\nmuddy water, and, concealed, he escapes harm.\" Pan-ku, answering Pin-hi,\nsaid: \"The _Ying-Lung_ hides in the lakes and pools. Fish and turtle\ncontemn him, and he does not observe it. He can exert his skill and\nintelligence, and suddenly the clear sky appears. For this reason the\n_Ying-Lung_, now crouching in the mud, now flying in the heavens, appears\nto be divine.\"\n\nLun-hang says, \"When the dragon is small, all the fish are small; this is\ndivine.\"\n\nPao-p\u00f2h-tz says: \"There are self-existent dragons and there are worms\nwhich are changed into dragons.\" Again, he says: \"Among the hills the\n_Ch\u2018\u0103n day_, called the rain master, is a dragon.\" Hwai-nan-tsz said: \"The\n_Chuh-Lung_ is north of the goose gate concealed in the Wei-\u00dc mountain.\"\nThe _Shan-hai-king_ says the god of the Chung-shan is called _Chuh-Lung_.\nWhen he opens his eyes it is day, when he shuts his eyes it is night. His\nbody is three thousand _li_ long.\n\nThe _Shui-hing-chu_ says: \"The _Yulung_ considers the autumn days as\nnight. But the dragon descends in the autumn and hibernates in the deep\npools; how then can he say that autumn is night?\" It also says: \"There is\na divine dragon in the vermilion pools at Kiao-chew. Whenever there was a\ndrought, the village people obstructed the upper tributaries of the pool,\nand many fish died; the dragon became enraged at such times, and caused\nmuch rain.\"\n\nThe _Kwah-ti-t\u2018u_ says: \"At the dragon pool there is a hill with four\nlofty sides, and within them is a pool seven hundred _li_ square; a herd\nof dragons live there, and feed upon the many different kinds of trees.\nIt is beyond Hwui-ki forty-five thousand _li_.\" Again, it says: \"If you do\nnot ride on a dragon you cannot reach the weak waters[327] of the Kwan-lun\nhill.\"\n\nThe _Poh-Wuh-Chi_ says: \"If you soak the dragon's flesh in an acid (and\neat it), you can write essays.\" Again, it says: \"The Tiao-sheh is in form\nlike a dragon, but smaller. It likes danger; hence it is appointed to\nguard decayed timber.\" Again, it says: \"The dragon lays three eggs. The\nfirst is _Ki-tiao_. He goes ashore and cohabits with the deer or deposits\nhis semen at the water's edge, where it becomes attached to passing boats\nor floating wood and branches. It appears like a walnut, it is called\n_Tsz-chao_ flower, and constitutes what is mentioned in the _Tao-ch\u2018u_ as\ndragon-salt.\" Again, it says: \"Below the dragon-gate every year in the\nthird month of spring, yellow carps, two[328] fish, come from the sea, and\nall the streams, with speed to the contest. But seventy-one can ascend the\ndragon-gate in a year; when the first one ascends the dragon-gate there is\nwind and rain. It is followed by fire which burns his tail, and then he is\na dragon.\"\n\nThe _Shih-I-Ki_ says: \"East of the hills of Fang-chang there is a dragon\nplain where there are dragon skins and bones like a mountain: spread out\nthey would cover one thousand five hundred acres. To meet him when he\nsloughs his bones is like the birth of a dragon. Or it is said the dragons\nconstantly wrangle at this place. It is enriched with blood like flowing\nwater.\"\n\nThe _Shuh-I-Ki_ says: \"In the P\u2018uning district there are the isles where\nthe dragons are buried. Fu-loo says the dragons shed their bones at these\nisles, the water now contains many dragon-bones, in these mountains,\nhills, peaks, and gorges. The dragons make the wind and rain. There are\ndragons' bones everywhere, whether in the deep or shallow places; there\nare many in the ground. Teeth, horns, vertebral columns, feet, it seems as\nthough they are everywhere. The largest measure one hundred feet or exceed\none hundred feet. The smallest are two feet or three or four inches. The\nbones are everywhere. Constantly when looking for anything they are seen.\"\nAgain, it says: \"It is told of the Kuh mountains in Ki-cheu that when the\ndragon is a thousand years old, he enters the mountains and casts his\nbones. Now there is a dragon hill, from the midst of the hill issues the\ndragon's brains.\"\n\nThe _K\u2018i\u00e9-Lan Records at Loh-yang_[329] say: \"You cannot trust the hills\nin the west. They are too cold. There is snow both winter and summer. In\nthe hills there is a pool where a bad dragon lives; long ago some\nmerchants rested near the pool, until the dragon became enraged, abused,\nand killed them. A priest,[330] Pan-T\u2018o, heard of it, and, leaving his\nseat to the pupils, went to the kingdom of Wuchang to learn the Po-lo-man\nincantations; he mastered them in four years, and returned to his seat. He\nwent to the pool and invoked the dragon. The dragon was transformed into a\nman, repented, and followed the king. The king then removed.\" Again, it\nsays: \"To the west of the kingdom of Wuchang there is a pool in which the\ndragon prince dwells. There is a monastery on the banks of the pool, in\nwhich there are more than fifty priests. Whenever the dragon prince does\nanything marvellous, the king comes and beseeches him, using gold,\nprecious stones, pearls, and valuables, throwing them into the pool.\nAfterwards they are cast up and the priests gather them. This monastery\nrelies upon the dragon for food and clothing and the means to assist\npeople. Its name is 'Dragon Prince Monastery.'\"\n\nThe _Ts\u2018i-ti_ records say there is a well in the city of Ch\u2018\u00e1ng-ping at\nthe brambles; when the water is disturbed a spiritual dragon comes and\ngoes. So the city is called the dragon city.\n\nThe _Shi-San-Tsin_ records say Ho-li has also the name Dragon Gate. Great\nfish collect below it, in number one thousand. They cannot ascend. If one\nascends it is a dragon. Those which do not ascend are fish. Hence it is\ncalled the \"Pao-sai-lung-man.\" (Great carp ascend the dragon gate and\nbecome dragons; those which do not ascend prick the forehead and strike\nthe cheek.) Again, it says: \"The Lung-sheu mountains are sixty _li_ long;\nthe head enters the Wei waters, the tail extends to the Fan streams. This\nhead is two hundred feet high; his tail descends gradually to a height of\nfifty or sixty feet. It is said that long ago a strange dragon came out\nfrom south of the mountains to drink the Wei waters. The road he travelled\nbecame mountain. Hence the name.\"\n\nThe _Kiao-Cheu-K\u00ed_ says: \"In Kiao-chi at Fung-ki-hien there is a dyke with\na dragon gate; the water is one hundred fathoms deep. Great fish ascend\nthis gate and become dragons. Those which cannot pass, strike the cheek\nand puncture the forehead, until the blood flows. This water is\ncontinually like the Vermilion pool.\"\n\nThe annals of Hwa-yang say: \"Only at Wu-ch\u2018ing district does the earth\nmeet the gate of heaven; the dragon which mounts to heaven and does not\nreach it, falls dead to this place, hence when excavating you find\ndragon-bones.\"\n\nThe _I-Tung-Chi_ says: \"Twenty _li_ west of Lin-fung-hien is a stone\ndragon, among the cliffs is a rock like a dragon. In a year of drought\nwash it, and it rains.\" Again, it says: \"At Yen-T\u2018ang there is a pond\ncalled Smoky Pond; it is north-east of the city ten _li_. Its depth has\nnever been ascertained. It is reported that long ago a man caught a white\neel, and was about to cook it, when an old man said, 'This is the dragon\nof the river Siang; I fear calamity will follow.' The man was angry, and,\nregarding the words as vain, proceeded. The next day the whole village was\nsubmerged.\"\n\nThe _Kwoh-Shi-Pu_ says: \"At the time of the spring rains the carp springs\nthrough the dragon gate and becomes transformed. At the present time, in\nFan-cheu of Shansi, there is a cave in the mountains; in it are many cast\nbones and horns of dragons. They are collected for medicine, and are of\nfive colours. It is recorded in the _Chw\u2018en_ that north of the Wu-t'ai\nhills, below the terrace, is Azure Dragon Pool, about one-third of an acre\nin extent. The Buddhist books say five hundred evil dragons are confined\n(here). Whenever it is mid-day a thick mist gradually arises. A pure\npriest and candidates for the priesthood may see it. If a nun or females\napproach then there is great thunder, lightning, and tempest. If they come\nnear the pool, he certainly will belch forth poisonous breath and they\nwill die at once. Foreigners say that in Piolosz there is a spiritual\ndragon which goes and comes among the granaries. When a servant comes for\nrice the dragon vanishes. If the servant comes constantly for rice the\ndragon does not suffer it. If there is no rice in the granaries, the\nservant worships the dragon, and the granaries are filled.\"\n\n_Yuin-Chu-Tsih_ records: \"If one sees a dragon's egg in the lake or river\nthere will certainly be a flood.\"\n\nThe _Nan-Pu-Sin-Shu_ says: \"The dragon's disposition is ferocious, and he\nfears bees'-wax, loves jade, and the King-ts\u2018ing delight to eat the flesh\nof cooked sparrows. For this reason men who eat sparrows do not cross the\nsea.\"\n\nThe _Pah-mung-so-yen_ says: \"The perverse dragon, when rain is wanted,\nsneaks away into old trees or into the beams of houses. The thunder god\npulls him out.\"\n\n_Wu-ch\u2018\u0103n-tsah-ch\u2018ao_ says: \"There is a great dragon which sloughed his\nskin on the brink of the Great Lake. Insects come out from his scaly\narmour. Instantly they are transformed into dragon-flies of a red colour.\nIf men gather them they get fever and ague. If men now-a-days see these\nred dragon-flies they call them dragon-armour, also dragons' grandsons,\nand are unwilling to hurt them.\"\n\n_Pi-shu-suh-hwa_ says: \"In Suh-chan and Hang-cheu the twentieth day of the\nfifth month is called the day of the separation of the dragons. Therefore,\nin the fifth and sixth months, whenever there is thunder, and the clouds\ncrowd together, if they see a tail bent down, and stretching to earth from\namong the clouds, moving like a serpent, they say, 'The dragon is\nsuspended.'\"\n\nTsu-tz say: \"The spiritual dragon leaves the water and dwells in the dry\nplace, and the mole, crickets, and ants annoy him.\"\n\nKung Sun Hung replied to Tung Fang Shoh, saying: \"Before the dragon has\nascended he is of a sort with fish and turtles; after he has ascended the\nheavens his scales cannot be seen.\"\n\nSiu Tsung Yuen answered an inquirer, saying: \"The _Kiao-Lung_ ascends to\nthe heavenly fountain. He pervades the six regions (North, South, East,\nWest, Above, Below). He moistens all things. Shrimps and the leech cannot\ndepart one foot from the water.\"\n\nThe _Shwoh-Wan_ says: \"The _Kiao_ belongs to the dragon species. When a\nfish attains three thousand six hundred [years ?] it becomes a _Kiao_; on\nattaining this much the dragon flies away.\" Again, it says: \"[Dragons]\nwithout horns are _Kiao_.\"\n\nThe _P'i-Ya_ says: \"The _Kiao's_ bones are green, and they can bring their\nheads and tails together and constrict anything; hence they are called\n_Kiao_. A popular name for them is 'the horse's lasso.'\" Another author\nsays the _Kiao's_ tail has fleshy rings; they are able to compress any\ncreature, and then tear it with the head.\n\nThe _Shuh-I-Ki_ says the eye-brows of a _Kiao_ unite, and their uniting is\na proof that it is a _Kiao_.\n\nThe _Siang-Shu_ (Book of Physiognomy) says that when the eye-brows unite\nthe epithet _Kiao_ is applied, because the _Kiao Sh\u0103n_ has crossed\neye-brows.\n\nThe _Yueh-kiu_ (Divisions of Seasons) says that the season of autumn is\nunfavourable to the _Kiao_.\n\nThe _Kia-Y\u00fc_ (Family Discourses) says that if a stream contains fish, then\nno _Kiao_ will stay in it.\n\nHwai-nan-tsze says that no two _Kiao_ will dwell in one pool.\n\nThe _Shan-Hai-King_ says the _Kiao_ is like a dragon and snake, with a\nsmall head and fine neck. The neck has white ornamentations on it. The\ngirth (?) is five cubits; the eggs of the capacity of three catties; and\nit can swallow a man.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX IX.\n\nAPPENDIX TO THE CHAPTER ON THE SEA-SERPENT.\n\n\nTHE SHAN.[331]\n\n\"The _Sh\u0103n_ belongs to the snake species.\"\n\n\"The _Tsah Ping Shu_ (Work on Military Science) says: 'In drilling an\narmy,[332] when you arrange it like the _Sh\u0103n_ expelling its breath, its\nappearance is like that of a snake, but the waist is large; below there\nare scales, running backwards.'\n\n\"One says that its form is like that of the Ch\u2018i-lung, which has ears and\nhorns and a mane of a red colour. When it exhales its breath, it forms a\ncloud just like a palace or tower, looking as if its walls are moving in a\ncloud of mist, or like a weary bird flying above. This makes everyone feel\nvery happy until the exhalation or snorting of the breath is finished.\n\n\"There is a popular saying about building a _Sh\u0103n_ tower. When the sky\nappears to rain you can see a resemblance of it.\n\n\"The _Shi-Ki_ (Book of Odes or Classical Poetry) uses the expression, 'The\n_Sh\u0103n's_ breath forms a tower'; it is in allusion to this.\n\n\"At the present day it is said that the _Chi_ (a pheasant or\nfrancolin[333]) and the snake copulate and produce the _Sh\u0103n_.\n\n\"The oily substance of _Sh\u0103n_ combined with wax makes the Chinese wax\ncandles, the fragrance of which, when burning, can be recognized for one\nhundred feet in all directions; and the smoke emitted from the flame forms\nthe appearance of a tower.\"\n\n\"The _Pih T\u2018an_ (Familiar Stories) says that at Tang-cheu (in Shantung),\nin the midst of the sea, there are often clouds arise and appear like the\nimperial palace, or towers of the city walls, and there is also an\nappearance of people, carriages, and horses busily engaged [mirage?].\nThey call this phenomenon 'the market of the sea,' while others say it is\nbut the breath of the _Sh\u0103n Kiao_.\n\n\"The _Wu L\u00e9i Siang Kan Chi_ says the _Sh\u0103n_ is but another sort of dragon,\nand can be found in some of the ponds and wells. They throw out the air,\nforming rain as in the locality of Wu San Yin.\n\n\"The _P\u2018i Ya Kwang Yao_ says, when a snake transforms it becomes a _sh\u0103n_,\nin the likeness of the _Kiao_, but without paws.\"\n\n\nSECTION II.\n\n\"The twelfth chapter of _Ching Ki\u00fcn Chw'en_ says that H\u00fc Ching Ki\u00fcn,\nauthor of the above book, met a youth, quite handsome in his apparel. The\nyouth pretended to be very modest, Hu Ki\u00fcn knowing all the time that he\nwas a _Kiao_ in another form. So he told his followers, 'I regret to think\nthat the province of Kiang-si will often meet with the misfortune of\ninundation if we do not exterminate that _Kiao Sh\u0103n_, and are not careful\nto prevent its escape.' But the _Sh\u0103n_ knew what Hu Ki\u00fcn was saying, and\ngradually slipped away to a place called Sung-sha-cheu, where he\ntransformed himself into a yellow ox. But at the same time Ching Ki\u00fcn also\ntransformed himself into a black ox, tying a handkerchief over his neck to\ndistinguish him from the other ox, and ordered his disciple, Shi Tai Yu,\nto use his sword, and thrust at the left thigh, because he had entered\nwithin the city wall, in the western part of which there is a well. By\njumping this well he found a road to Tau-cheu, and once more transformed\nhimself into a handsome youth, and by so doing got married to the daughter\nof a magistrate called Ku Yu, with plenty of jewels and gold. Then Ching\ncame to see Ku Yu and said, 'I hear that you have a very noble son-in-law.\nMay I see him?' Ku answered 'Yes,' and told him to come out. But he\nexcused himself upon account of sickness, and hid himself. Then Ching\nKi\u00fcn, saying, 'The dangerous things of the rivers and the lake are old\ndevils, and they dare to transform themselves into human beings,' ordered\nthe son-in-law to transform himself into his original form, and hid\nhimself beneath the table. Then the magistrate said, 'Kill this,' and they\ndid so. Then Kiun sprinkled water on the two sons, and they were\nimmediately transformed into _Sh\u0103n_. [There must be children born from the\nmarriage.--_Translator._] He advised Ku Yu that he must put them away\nimmediately, or the whole house would be in danger of breaking.\"\n\n\"The _Tai Ping Kwang Ki_ says that the lake of Wan Tun, at F\u00ec Chi,\ncontains a _Sh\u0103n_ which often fought with the _Sh\u0103n_ of Lake Su. Near this\nlake is a place called Yao, where there lived a man called Ch\u2018ang Sing\nShan, of great bravery, and an expert archer. He once dreamed that a\n_Sh\u0103n_ snake was transformed into a Taouist, and then it said to him: 'I\nam endangered by the _Sh\u0103n_ of the lake of Lu. Can your honour assist me?\nif so I will reward you heavily. The tight white chain is me.' Next day\nSing Shan went with a youth of Yao to the shore of the lake and dreamed.\nHe waited until the waves rose and the surf struck the shore, making a\nnoise like thunder. He saw two oxen coming, one with a white belly and\nlegs; then Sing Shan discharged an arrow at it, and it turned out to be a\n_Sh\u0103n_. The water immediately turned into blood, and the _Sh\u0103n_, after\nreceiving the wound, tried to return to the lake of Lu, but died before it\nreached there.\"\n\n\n_Kang Hi Dictionary._\n\n\"The _Sh\u0103n Kiao_ belongs to the _Kiao_ species, and also has the\nappearance of a snake. It has horns like a dragon; the mane is red below\nthe waist; all the scales are projecting. It eats swallows, and can emit\nan air which appears like a tower.\n\n\"Again, any turtle when old enough may be called a _Sh\u0103n_.\"\n\n\n\n\n  LONDON:\n  PRINTED BY W. H. ALLEN AND CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE. S.W.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] This tributary offering is a common feature in dragon legends. A good\nexample is that given by El Edrisi in his history of the dragon destroyed\nby Alexander the Great in the island of Mostachin (one of the Canaries?).\n\n[2] The latest writer on this point summarizes his views, in his opening\nremarks, as follows:--\"The science of heraldry has faithfully preserved to\nmodern times various phases of some of those remarkable legends which,\nbased upon a study of natural phenomena, exhibit the process whereby the\ngreater part of mythology has come into existence. Thus we find the solar\ngryphon, the solar ph\u0153nix, a demi-eagle displayed issuing from flames of\nfire; the solar lion and the lunar unicorn, which two latter noble\ncreatures now harmoniously support the royal arms. I propose in the\nfollowing pages to examine the myth of the unicorn, the wild, white,\nfierce, chaste, moon, whose two horns, unlike those of mortal creatures,\nare indissolubly twisted into one; the creature that endlessly fights with\nthe lion to gain the crown or summit of heaven, which neither may retain,\nand whose brilliant horn drives away the darkness and evil of the night\neven as we find in the myth, that Venym is defended by the horn of the\nunicorn.\"--_The Unicorn; a Mythological Investigation._ Robert Brown,\njun., F.S.A. London, 1881.\n\n[3] \"The midgard or world-serpent we have already become tolerably well\nacquainted with, and recognise in him the wild tumultuous sea. Thor\ncontended with him; he got him on his hook, but did not succeed in killing\nhim. We also remember how Thor tried to lift him in the form of a cat. The\nNorth abounds in stories about the sea-serpent, which are nothing but\nvariations of the original myths of the Eddas. Odin cast him into the sea,\nwhere he shall remain until he is conquered by Thor in Ragnarok.\"--_Norse\nMythology_, p. 387. R. B. Anderson, Chicago, 1879.\n\n[4] _Vide_ Anderson.\n\n[5] Just as even the greatest masters of fiction adapt but do not\noriginate. Harold Skimpole and Wilkins Micawber sat unconsciously for\ntheir portraits in real life, and the most charming characters and fertile\nplots produced by that most prolific of all writers, A. Dumas, are mere\nelaborations of people and incidents with which historical memoirs\nprovided him.\n\n[6] _Atlantis; the Antediluvian World._ J. Donelly, New York, 1882. The\nauthor has amassed, with untiring labour, a large amount of evidence to\nprove that the island of Atlantis, in place of being a myth or fable of\nPlato, really once existed; was the source of all modern arts and\ncivilization; and was destroyed in a catastrophe which he identifies with\nthe Biblical Deluge.\n\n[7] So also, Father Stanislaus Arlet, of the Society of Jesus, writing to\nthe General of the Society in 1698 respecting a new Mission in Peru, and\nspeaking of a Peruvian tribe calling themselves Canisian, says: \"Having\nnever before seen horses, or men resembling us in colour and dress, the\nastonishment they showed at our first appearance among them was a very\npleasing spectacle to us, the sight of us terrifying them to such a degree\nthat the bows and arrows fell from their hand; imagining, as they\nafterwards owned, that the man, his hat, his clothes, and the horse he\nrode upon, composed but one animal.\"\n\n[8] _The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto_, done into\nEnglish by H. C. Gent, London, 1653, p. 109. The vindication of Pinto's\nreputation for veracity will doubtless one day be, to a great extent,\neffected, for although his interesting narrative is undoubtedly\nembroidered with a rich tissue of falsity, due apparently to an\nexaggerated credulity upon his part, and systematic deception upon that of\nhis Chinese informants, he certainly is undeserving of the wholesale\ncondemnation of which Congreve was the reflex when he made Foresight,\naddressing Sir Sampson Legend, say: \"Thou modern Mandeville, Ferdinand\nMendez Pinto was but a type of thee, thou liar of the first\nmagnitude.\"--_Love for Love_, Act. 2, Scene 1. There are many points in\nhis narrative which are corroborated by history and the accounts of other\nvoyages; and it must be remembered that, although the major part of the\nnames of places and persons which he gives are now unrecognisable, yet\nthis may be due to alterations from the lapse of time, and from the\ndifficulty of recognising the true original Chinese or Japanese word under\nthose produced by the foreign mode of transliteration in vogue in those\ndays. Thus the Port Liampoo of Pinto is now and has been for many years\npast only known as Ningpo, the first name being a term of convenience,\nused by the early Portuguese voyagers, and long since abandoned. Just as\nthe wonderful Quinsay of Marco Polo (still known by that name in Pinto's\ntime) has been only successfully identified (with Hangchow-fu) through the\nantiquarian research of Colonel Yule. So also the titles of Chaems,\nTutons, Chumbins, Aytons, Anchacy's, which Pinto refers to (p. 108), are\nonly with difficulty recognisable in those respectively of Tsi\u2018ang (a\nManchu governor), Tu-tung (Lieutenant-General), Tsung-ping\n(Brigadier-General), Tao-tai [??] (Intendant of Circuit) and Ngan-ch\u2018a\nShe-sze (Provincial Judge), as rendered by the modern sinologue Mayers in\nhis Essay on the Chinese Government, Shanghai, 1878. The incidental\nreferences to the country, people, habits, and products, contained in the\nchapter describing his passage in captivity from Nanquin to Pequin are\ntrue to nature, and the apparently obviously untruthful statement which he\nmakes of the employment by the King of Tartary of thousands of rhinoceri\nboth as beasts of burthen and articles of food (p. 158) is explicable, I\nthink, on the supposition that some confusion has arisen, either in\ntranslation or transcription, between rhinoceros and camel. Anyone who has\nseen the long strings of camels wending their way to Pekin from the\nvarious northern roads through the passes into Mongolia, would readily\nbelieve that a large transport corps of them could easily be amassed by a\ndespotic monarch; while the vast numbers of troops to which Pinto makes\nreference are confirmed by more or less authentic histories.\n\n[9] \"I was myself an eye-witness of two such discoveries and helped to\ngather the articles together. The slanderers have long since been\nsilenced, who were not ashamed to charge the discoverer with an\nimposture.\"--Prof. Virchow, in Appendix I. to Schliemann's _Ilios_.\nMurray, 1880.\n\n[10] \"But ask them to credit an electric telegram, to understand a\nsteam-engine, to acknowledge the microscopic revelations spread out before\ntheir eyes, to put faith in the Atlantic cable or the East India House,\nand they will tell you that you are a barbarian with blue eyes, a fan\nkwai, and a sayer of that which is not. The dragon and the ph\u0153nix are\ntrue, but the rotifer and the message, the sixty miles an hour, the cable,\nand the captive kings are false.\"--_Household Words_, October 30th, 1855.\n\n[11] Address delivered to the Biological Section of the British\nAssociation. Glasgow, 1876.\n\n[12] In 1854 a communication from the Torquay Natural History Society,\nconfirming previous accounts by Mr. Goodwin Austen, Mr. Vivian, and the\nRev. Mr. McEnery, \"that worked flints occurred in Kents Hole with remains\nof extinct species,\" was rejected as too improbable for publication.\n\n[13] \"She is set down a thorough heretic, not at all to be believed, a\nmanufacturer of unsound natural history, an inventor of false facts in\nscience.\"--Gosse, _Romance of Nat. Hist._, 2nd Series, p. 227.\n\n[14] _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, No. 60, April 1877.\n\n[15] \"By the kindness of my friend, Mr. Bartlett, I have been enabled to\nexamine a most beautiful Japanese carving in ivory, said to be one hundred\nand fifty years old, and called by the Japanese _net suke_ or _togle_.\nThese togles are handed down from one generation to the next, and they\nrecord any remarkable event that happens to any member of a family. This\ncarving is an inch and a half long, and about as big as a walnut. It\nrepresents a lady in a quasi-leaning attitude, and at first sight it is\ndifficult to perceive what she is doing; but after a while the details\ncome out magnificently. The unfortunate lady has been seized by an octopus\nwhen bathing--for the lady wears a bathing-dress. One extended arm of the\noctopus is in the act of coiling round the lady's neck, and she is\nendeavouring to pull it off with her right hand; another arm of the\nsea-monster is entwined round the left wrist, while the hand is fiercely\ntearing at the mouth of the brute. The other arms of the octopus are\ntwined round, grasping the lady's body and waist--in fact, her position\nreminds one very much of Laocoon in the celebrated statue of the snakes\nseizing him and his two sons. The sucking discs of the octopus are carved\nexactly as they are in nature, and the colour of the body of the creature,\ntogether with the formidable aspect of the eye, are wonderfully\nrepresented. The face of this Japanese lady is most admirably done; it\nexpresses the utmost terror and alarm, and possibly may be a portrait. So\ncarefully is the carving executed that the lady's white teeth can be seen\nbetween her lips. The hair is a perfect gem of work; it is jet black,\nextended down the back, and tied at the end in a knot; in fact, it is so\nwell done that I can hardly bring myself to think that it is not real\nhair, fastened on in some most ingenious manner; but by examining it under\na powerful magnifying glass I find it is not so--it is the result of\nextraordinary cleverness in carving. The back of the little white comb\nfixed into the thick of the black hair adds to the effect of this\nmagnificent carving of the hair. I congratulate Mr. Bartlett on the\nacquisition of this most beautiful curiosity. There is an inscription in\nJapanese characters on the underneath part of the carving, and Mr.\nBartlett and myself would, of course, only be too glad to get this\ntranslated.\"--Frank Buckland, in _Land and Water_.\n\n[16] Max M\u00fcller, _Science of Language_, 4th edition, p. 163-165. London,\n1864.\n\n[17] _Science of Language_, p. 168.\n\n[18] \"When a naturalist, either by visiting such spots of earth as are\nstill out of the way, or by his good fortune, finds a very queer plant or\nanimal, he is forthwith accused of inventing his game, the word not being\nused in its old sense of _discovery_ but in its modern of _creation_. As\nsoon as the creature is found to sin against preconception, the great\n(mis?) guiding spirit, _\u00e0 priori_ by name, who furnishes philosophers with\ntheir omniscience _pro re nat\u00e2_, whispers that no such thing _can_ be, and\nforthwith there is a charge of hoax. The heavens themselves have been\ncharged with hoaxes. When Leverrier and Adams predicted a planet by\ncalculation, it was gravely asserted in some quarters that the planet\nwhich had been calculated was not _the_ planet but another which had\nclandestinely and improperly got into the neighbourhood of the true body.\nThe disposition to suspect hoax is stronger than the disposition to hoax.\nWho was it that first announced that the classical writings of Greece and\nRome were one huge hoax perpetrated by the monks in what the announcer\nwould be as little or less inclined than Dr. Maitland to call the dark\nages?\"--_Macmillan_, 1860.\n\n[19] _Poetic Epistles_, Bk. iii., Ep. 3.\n\n[20] _Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cygno._\n\n[21] \"Having showed the foregoing description of the mountain cow, called\nby the Spaniards _ante_ [_manatee_?], to a person of honour, he was\npleased to send it to a learned person in Holland.\" This learned person\ndiscusses it and compares it with the hippopotamus, and winds up by\nsaying, in reference to a description of the habits of the hippopotamus,\nas noticed at Loango by Captain Rogers, to the effect that when they are\nin the water they will sink to the bottom, and then walk as on dry ground,\n\"but what he says of her sinking to the bottom in deep rivers, and walking\nthere, if he adds, what I think he supposes, that it rises again, and\ncomes on the land, I much question; for that such a huge body should raise\nitself up again (though I know whales and great fish can do) transcends\nthe faith of J. H.\"--F. J. Knapton, _Collection of Voyages_, vol. ii.,\npart ii. p. 13. 4 vols., London, 1729.\n\n[22] _Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Asia._ Hugh Murray,\nF.R.S.E., 3 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1820.\n\n[23] Bk. x., chap. 53.\n\n[24] A writer in _Macmillan's Magazine_ in 1860 concludes a series of\nobjections to the canal as follows: \"And the Emperor must hesitate to\nidentify himself with an operation which might not impossibly come to be\ndesignated by posterity as 'Napoleon's Folly.'\"\n\n[25] The Bower Bird, _Ptilonorhyncus holosericeus_, and the\nGarden-building Bird of New Guinea, _Amblyornis inornara_.\n\n[26] _Recherches, &c. des Mammiferes_, plate 1. Paris, 1868 to 1874.\n\n[27] \"This obstacle was a forest of oaks, not giant oaks, but the very\nreverse, a forest of dwarf oaks (_Quercus nana_). Far as the eye could\nreach extended the singular wood, in which no tree rose above thirty\ninches in height. Yet was it no thicket, no undergrowth of shrubs, but a\ntrue forest of oaks, each tree having its separate stem, its boughs, its\nlobed leaves, and its bunches of brown acorns.\"--Capt. Mayne Reid, _The\nWar Trail_, chap. lxiv.\n\n[28] Respecting the timber trees of this tract, Dr. Ferdinand von Mueller,\nthe Government botanist, thus writes:--\"At the desire of the writer of\nthese pages, Mr. D. Bogle measured a fallen tree of _Eucalyptus\namygdalina_, in the deep recesses of Dandenong, and obtained for it a\nlength of 420 feet, with proportions of width, indicated in a design of a\nmonumental structure placed in the exhibition; while Mr. G. Klein took the\nmeasurement of a _Eucalyptus_ on the Black Spur, ten miles distant from\nHealesville, 480 feet high! In the State forest of Dandenong, it was found\nby actual measurement that an acre of ground contained twenty large trees\nof an apparent average height of about 350 feet.\"--R. Brough Smyth, _The\nGold Fields of Victoria_. Melbourne, 1869.\n\n[29] \"In the next place, we must remember how impossible it is for the\nmind to invent an entirely new fact. There is nothing in the mind of man\nthat has not pre-existed in nature. Can we imagine a person, who never saw\nor heard of an elephant, drawing a picture of such a two-tailed\ncreature?\"--J. Donelly, _Rangarok_, p. 119. New York, 1883.\n\n[30] \"I conceive that quite a large proportion of the most profound\nthinkers are satisfied to exert their memory very moderately. It is, in\nfact, a distraction from close thought to exert the memory overmuch, and a\nman engaged in the study of an abstruse subject will commonly rather turn\nto his book-shelves for the information he requires than tax his memory to\nsupply it.\"--R. A. Proctor, _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, Jan. 1874.\n\n[31] \"It was through one of these happy chances (so the Brothers Grimm\nwrote in 1819) that we came to make the acquaintance of a peasant woman of\nthe village of Nieder-Zwehrn, near Cassel, who told us the greater part of\nthe M\u00e4rchen of the second volume, and the most beautiful of it too. She\nheld the old tales firmly in her memory, and would sometimes say that this\ngift was not granted to everyone, and that many a one could not keep\nanything in its proper connection. Anyone inclined to believe that\ntradition is easily corrupted or carelessly kept, and that therefore it\ncould not possibly last long, should have heard how steadily she always\nabided by her record, and how she stuck to its accuracy. She never altered\nanything in repeating it, and if she made a slip, at once righted herself\nas soon as she became aware of it, in the very midst of her tale. The\nattachment to tradition among people living on in the same kind of life\nwith unbroken regularity, is stronger than we, who are fond of change, can\nunderstand.\"--_Odinic Songs in Shetland._ Karl Blind, _Nineteenth\nCentury_, June 1879.\n\n[32] See quotation from Gladstone, _Nineteenth Century_, Oct. 1879.\n\n[33] Mr. C. P. Daly, President of the American Geographical Society,\ninforms us, in his Annual Address [for 1880], that in one book found in\nthe royal library at Nineveh, of the date 2000 B.C., there is--\n\n1. A catalogue of stars.\n\n2. Enumeration of twelve constellations forming our present zodiac.\n\n3. The intimation of a Sabbath.\n\n4. A connection indicated (according to Mr. Perville) between the weather\nand the changes of the moon.\n\n5. A notice of the spots on the sun: a fact they could only have known by\nthe aid of telescopes, which it is supposed they possessed from\nobservations that they have noted down of the rising of Venus, and the\nfact that Layard found a crystal lens in the ruins of Nineveh. (N.B.--As\nto the above, I must say that telescopes are not always necessary to see\nthe spots on the sun: these were distinctly visible with the naked eye, in\nthe early mornings, to myself and the officers of the S.S. _Scotia_, in\nthe Red Sea, in the month of August of 1883, after the great volcanic\ndisturbances near Batavia. The resulting atmospheric effects were very\nmarked in the Red Sea, as elsewhere, the sun, when near the horizon,\nappearing of a pale green colour, and exhibiting the spots distinctly.)\n\n[34] Ammianus Marcellinus (bk. xxii., ch. xv., s. 20), in speaking of the\nPyramids, says: \"There are also subterranean passages and winding\nretreats, which, it is said, men skilful in the ancient mysteries, by\nmeans of which they divined the coming of a flood, constructed in\ndifferent places lest the memory of all their sacred ceremonies should be\nlost.\"\n\nAs affording a minor example of prophesy, I quote a correspondent's\ncommunication, relating to Siam, to the _North China Daily News_ of July\n28th, 1881:--\"Singularly enough the prevalence of cholera in Siam this\nseason has been predicted for some months. The blossoming of the bamboo\n(which in India is considered the invariable forerunner of an epidemic)\nwas looked upon as ominous, while the enormous quantity and high quality\nof the fruit produced was cited as pointing out the overcharge of the\nearth with matter which, though tending to the development of vegetable\nlife, is deleterious to human. From these and other sources of knowledge\nopen to those accustomed to read the book of nature, the prevalence of\ncholera, which, since 1873, has been almost unknown in Siam, was predicted\nand looked for; and, unlike most modern predictions, it has been certainly\nfulfilled. So common was the belief, that when, some months since, a\nforeign official in Siamese employ applied for leave of absence, it was\nopposed by some of the native officials on the ground that he ought to\nstay and take his chance of the cholera with the rest of them.\"\n\n[35] \"It is now generally admitted by biologists who have made a study of\nthe Vertebrata that birds have come down to us through the Dinosaurs, and\nthe close affinity of the latter with recent struthious birds will hardly\nbe questioned. The case amounts almost to a demonstration if we compare\nwith Dinosaurs their contemporaries, the Mesozoic birds. The classes of\nbirds and reptiles as now living are separated by a gulf so profound that\na few years since it was cited by the opponents of evolution as the most\nimportant break in the animal series, and one which that doctrine could\nnot bridge over. Since then, as Huxley has clearly shown, this gap has\nbeen virtually filled by the discoveries of bird-like reptiles and\nreptilian birds. Compsognathus and Arch\u00e6opteryx of the old world, and\nIcthyornis and Hesperornis of the new, are the stepping-stones by which\nthe evolutionist of to-day leads the doubting brother across the shallow\nremnant of the gulf, once thought impassable.\"--_Marsh._\n\n[36] Professor Carl Vogt regards the Arch\u00e6opteryx \"as neither reptile nor\nbird, but as constituting an intermediate type. He points out that there\nis complete homology between the scales or spines of reptiles and the\nfeathers of birds. The feather of the bird is only a reptile's scale\nfurther developed, and the reptile's scale is a feather which has remained\nin the embryonic condition. He considers the reptilian homologies to\npreponderate.\"\n\n[37] A similar habit is ascribed by the Chinese to the mammoth and to the\ngigantic Sivatherium (Fig. 6, p. 39), a four-horned stag, which had the\nbulk of an elephant, and exceeded it in height. It was remarkable for\nbeing in some respects between the stags and the pachyderms. The\nDinotherium (Fig. 8), which had a trunk like an elephant, and two inverted\ntusks, presented in its skull a mixture of the characteristics of the\nelephant, hippopotamus, tapir, and dugong. Its remains occur in the\nMiocene of Europe.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 8.--DINOTHERIUM. (_After Figuier._)]\n\n[38] \"It enters Europe early in April, spreads over France, Britain,\nDenmark, and the south of Sweden, which it reaches by the beginning of\nMay. It does not enter Brittany, the Channel Islands, or the western part\nof England, never visiting Wales, except the extreme south of\nGlamorganshire, and rarely extending farther north than Yorkshire.\"--A. R.\nWallace, _Geographical Distribution of Animals_, vol. i. p. 21. London,\n1876.\n\n[39] _Bible Customs in Bible Lands._ By H. J. Van Lennep, D.D. 1875.\nQuoted in _Nature_, March 24, 1881.\n\n[40] _Origin of Species_, C. Darwin, 5th edit. 1869.\n\n[41] Thus Mr. Wallace considers that the identity of the small fish,\n_Galaxias attenuatus_, which occurs in the mountain streams of Tasmania,\nwith one found in those of New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, and the\ntemperate regions of South America, cannot be considered as demonstrating\na land connection between these places within the period of its specific\nexistence. For there is a possibility that its ova have been transported\nfrom one point to another on floating ice; and for similar reasons\nfresh-water fish generally are unsafe guides to a classification of\nzoological regions. Mr. Darwin has shown (_Origin of Species_, and\n_Nature_, vol. xviii. p. 120 and vol. xxv. p. 529) that mollusca can be\nconveyed attached to or entangled in the claws of migratory birds. Birds\nthemselves are liable to be blown great distances by gales of wind.\nBeetles and other flying insects may be similarly transferred. Reptiles\nare occasionally conveyed on floating logs and uprooted trees. Mammals\nalone appear to be really trustworthy guides towards such a\nclassification, from their being less liable than the other classes to\naccidental dispersion.\n\n[42] _M\u00e9moires concernant l'histoire, &c. des Chinois, par les\nMissionaires de Pekin_, vol. iv. p. 481.\n\n[43] _The Natural History of Pliny_, J. Bostock and H. T. Riley, book\nviii. chap iv.\n\n[44] _The Voyage of the Vega_, A. E. Nordenskj\u00f6ld. London, 1881.\n\n[45] _On the Range of the Mammoth in Space and Time_, by W. B. Dawkins,\n_Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc._, 1879, p. 138.\n\n[46] The notice is taken from _Les Peuples du Caucause, ou Voyage\nd'Abou-el-Cassim_, par M. C. D'Ohsson, p. 80, as follows:--\"On trouve\nsouvent dans la Boulgarie des os (fossils) d'une grandeur prodigieuse.\nJ'ai vu une dent qui avait deux palmes de large sur quatre de long, et un\ncr\u00e2ne qui ressemblait \u00e0 une hutte (Arabe). On y d\u00e9terre des dents\nsemblables aux d\u00e9fenses d'\u00e9l\u00e9phants, blanche comme la neige et pesant\njusqu' \u00e0 deux cents menns. On ne sait pas \u00e0 quel animal elles out\nappartenu, mais on les transporte dans le Khoragur (Kiva), o\u00f9 elles se\nvendent \u00e0 grand prix. On en fait des peignes, des vases, et d'autres\nobjets, comme on fa\u00e7onne l'ivoire; toute fois cette substance est plus\ndure que l'ivoire; jamais elle ne se brise.\"\n\n[47] _The World before the Deluge_, L. Figuier. London, 1865.\n\n[48] According to Woodward, over two thousand grinders were dredged up by\nthe fishermen of Happisburgh in the space of thirteen years; and other\nlocalities in and about England are also noted.--Dana's _Manual of\nGeology_, p. 564.\n\n[49] Lyell, _Antiquity of Man_, p. 185, 2nd edit., 1863.\n\n[50] Fr. \u03bc\u03ac\u03c7\u03b1\u03b9\u03c1\u03b1 \"a sword,\" and \u1f40\u03b4\u03bf\u03cd\u03c2 \"a tooth.\"\n\n[51] From \u03bc\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2 \"a teat,\" and \u1f40\u03b4\u03bf\u03cd\u03c2 \"a tooth.\"\n\n[52] _Pal\u00e6ontology_, R. Owen. Edinburgh, 1860.\n\n[53] _The British Lion_, W. Boyd Dawkins, _Contemporary Review_, 1882.\n\n[54] The Moa was associated with other species also nearly or totally\nextinct: some belonging to the same genus, others to those of _Papteryx_,\nof _Nestor_, and of _Notornis_. One survivor of the latter was obtained by\nMr. Gideon Mantell, and described by my father, Mr. John Gould, in 1850. I\nbelieve the Nestor is still, rarely, met with. Mr. Mantell is of opinion\nthat the Moa and his congeners continued in existence long after the\nadvent of the aboriginal Maori. Mr. Mantell discovered a gigantic fossil\negg, presumably that of the Moa.\n\n[55] A. E. Nordenskj\u00f6ld, _The Voyage of the 'Vega,'_ vol. i. p. 272, _et\nseq._ London, 1881.\n\n[56] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, Bk. x., chap. xvii., and Bk. xxx., chap. liii.\n\n[57] _The Romance of Natural History_, by P. H. Gosse, 2nd Series, London\n1875.\n\n[58] _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, October 1878.\n\n[59] _Excelsior_, vol. iii. London, 1855.\n\n[60] _The Chinese Classics_, vol. iii. p. 1, by James Legge, B.D.\n\n[61] Inaugural Address by President, T. W. Kingsmill, North China Branch\nof the Royal Asiatic Society, 1877.\n\n[62] Chabas, _\u00c9tudes sur l'Antiquit\u00e9 Historique, d'apr\u00e8s les sources\n\u00c9gyptiennes_.\n\n[63] Subsequently to 1874.\n\n[64] O. F. von Mollendorf, _Journal_ of North China Branch of the Royal\nAsiatic Society, New Series, No. 2, and T. W. Kingsmill, \"The Border Lands\nof Geology and History,\" _Journal_ of North China Branch of the Royal\nAsiatic Society, 1877.\n\n[65] \"Intercourse of China with Eastern Turkestan and the adjacent country\nin the second century B.C.,\" T. W. Kingsmill, _Journal_ of North China\nBranch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series, No. 14.\n\n[66] _The Natural History of Pliny._ Translated by J. Bostock and H. T.\nBiley, 6 vols. Bohn, London, 1857.\n\n[67] _\u00c6liani de Natura Animalium_, F. Jacobs. Jen\u00e6, 1832.\n\n[68] _G\u00e9ographie d'Edrisi, traduite de l'Arabe en Fran\u00e7ais_, P. Am\u00e9d\u00e9e\nJaubert, 2 vols. Paris, 1836.\n\n[69] _Phil. Trans._, vol. cxlix. p. 43, 1859; vol. clxxi. p. 1,037, 1880;\nvol. clxxii. p. 547, 1881.\n\n[70] Description of some New Species and Genera of Reptiles from Western\nAustralia, discovered by John Gould, Esq., _Annals and Magazine of Natural\nHistory_, vol. vii. p. 88, 1841.\n\n[71] \"We shall, I think, eventually more fully recognise that, as is the\ncase with the periods of the day, each of the larger geological divisions\nfollows the other, without any actual break or boundary; and that the\nminor subdivisions are like the hours on the clock, useful and\nconventional rather than absolutely fixed by any general cause in\nNature.\"--Annual Address, President of Geological Society, 1875.\n\n\"With regard to stratigraphical geology, the main foundations are already\nlaid, and a great part of the details filled in. The tendency of modern\ndiscoveries has already been, and will probably still be, to fill up those\nbreaks, which, according to the view of many, though by no means all\ngeologists, are so frequently assumed to exist between different\ngeological periods and to bring about a more full recognition of the\ncontinuity of geological time. As knowledge increases, it will, I think,\nbecome more and more apparent that all existing divisions of time are to a\nconsiderable extent local and arbitrary. But, even when this is fully\nrecognised, it will still be found desirable to retain them, if only for\nthe sake of convenience and approximate precision.\"--Annual Address,\nPresident of Geological Society, 1876.\n\n[72] \"It was not until January 1832, that the second volume of the\n_Principles_ was published, when it was received with as much favour as\nthe first had been. It related more especially to the changes in the\norganic world, while the former volume had treated mainly of the inorganic\nforces of nature. Singularly enough, some of the points which were seized\non by his great fellow-labourer Murchison for his presidential address to\nthis Society in 1832, as subjects for felicitation, are precisely those\nwhich the candid mind of Lyell, ever ready to attach the full value to\ndiscoveries or arguments from time to time brought forward, even when in\nopposition to his own views, ultimately found reason to modify. We can\nnever, I think, more highly appreciate Sir Charles Lyell's freshness of\nmind, his candour and love of truth, than when we compare certain portions\nof the first edition of the _Principles_ with those which occupy the same\nplace in the last, and trace the manner in which his judicial intellect\nwas eventually led to conclusions diametrically opposed to those which he\noriginally held. To those acquainted only with the latest editions of the\n_Principles_, and with his _Antiquity of Man_, it may sound almost\nironical in Murchison to have written, 'I cannot avoid noticing the clear\nand impartial manner in which the untenable parts of the dogmas concerning\nthe alteration and transmutation of species and genera are refuted, and\nhow satisfactorily the author confirms the great truth of the recent\nappearance of man upon our planet.'\n\n\"By the work (_Principles of Geology_, vol. iii.), as a whole, was dealt\nthe most telling blow that had ever fallen upon those to whom it appears\n'more philosophical to speculate on the possibilities of the past than\npatiently to explore the realities of the present,' while the earnest and\ncareful endeavour to reconcile the former indications of change with the\nevidence of gradual mutation now in progress, or _which may be_ in\nprogress, received its greatest encouragement. The doctrines which Hutton\nand Playfair had held and taught assumed new and more vigorous life as\nbetter principles were explained by their eminent successor, and were\nsupported by arguments which, as a whole, were incontrovertible.\"--Annual\nAddress, President of Geological Society, 1876.\n\n\"But, as Sir Roderick Murchison has long ago proved, there are parts of\nthe record which are singularly complete, and in those parts we have the\nproof of creation without any indication of development. The Silurian\nrocks, as regards oceanic life, are perfect and abundant in the forms they\nhave preserved. _Yet there are no fish._ The Devonian age followed\ntranquilly and without a break, and in the Devonian sea, suddenly, fish\nappear, appear in shoals, and in form of the highest and most perfect\ntype.\"--The Duke of Argyll, _Primeval Man_, p. 45, London, 1869.\n\n[73] T. Mellard Reade, \"Limestone as an Index of Geological Time,\"\n_Proceedings_, Royal Society, London, vol. xxviii., p. 281.\n\n[74] _Scientific American_, Supplement, February 1881.\n\n[75] _Proceedings_, Royal Society, vol. xv. No. 82, 1866.\n\n[76] _Athen\u00e6um_, August 25, 1860, &c.\n\n[77] The mass of astronomers, however, deny that this is possible to any\nvery great extent.\n\n[78] James Croll, F.R.S., &c., _Climate and Time in their Geological\nRelations_.\n\n[79] Figs. 19 and 21 are taken, by permission of Edmund Christy, Esq.,\nfrom _Reliqui\u00e6 Aquitanic\u00e6_, &c., London, 1875.\n\n[80] In some cases as much as 150 feet.\n\n[81] \"Starting from the opinion generally accepted among geologists, that\nman was on the earth at the close of the Glacial epoch, Professor B. F.\nMudge adduces evidence to prove that the antiquity of man cannot be less\nthan 200,000 years.\n\n\"His argument, as given in the Kansas City Review of Science, is about as\nfollows:--\n\n\"After the Glacial epoch, geologists fix three distinct epochs, the\nChamplain, the Terrace, and the Delta, all supposed to be of nearly equal\nlengths.\n\n\"Now we have in the delta of the Mississippi a means of measuring the\nduration of the third of these epochs.\n\n\"For a distance of about two hundred miles of this delta are seen forest\ngrowths of large trees, one after the other, with interspaces of sand.\nThere are ten of these distinct forest growths, which have begun and ended\none after the other. The trees are the bald cypress (_Taxodium_) of the\nSouthern States, and some of them were over twenty-five feet in diameter.\nOne contained over five thousand seven hundred annual rings. In some\ninstances these huge trees have grown over the stumps of others equally\nlarge, and such instances occur in all, or nearly all, of the ten forest\nbeds. This gives to each forest a period of 10,000 years.\n\n\"Ten such periods give 100,000 years, to say nothing of the time covered\nby the interval between the ending of one forest and the beginning of\nanother, an interval which in most cases was considerable.\n\n\"'Such evidence,' writes Professor Mudge, 'would be received in any court\nof law as sound and satisfactory. We do not see how such proof is to be\ndiscarded when applied to the antiquity of our race.\n\n\"'There is satisfactory evidence that man lived in the Champlain epoch.\nBut the Terrace epoch, or the greater part of it, intervenes between the\nChamplain and the Delta epochs, thus adding to my 100,000 years.\n\n\"'If only as much time is given to both those epochs as to the Delta\nperiod, 200,000 years is the total result.'\"--_Popular Science Monthly_,\nNo. 91, vol. xvi. No. 1, p. 140, November 1878.\n\n[82] Such as the destruction of the Alexandrine Library on three distinct\noccasions, (1) upon the conquest of Alexandria by Julius C\u00e6sar, B.C. 48;\n(2) in A.D. 390; and, (3) by Amrou, the general of the Caliph Omar, in\n640, who ordered it to be burnt, and so supplied the baths with fuel for\nsix months. Again, the destruction of all Chinese books by order of Tsin\nShi Hwang-ti, the founder of the Imperial branch of the Tsin dynasty, and\nthe first Emperor of United China; the only exceptions allowed being those\nrelating to medicine, divination, and husbandry. This took place in the\nyear 213 B.C.\n\n[83] The Chinese have used composite blocks (wood engraved blocks with\nmany characters, analogous to our stereotype plates) from an early period.\nMay not the brick-clay tablets preserved in the Imperial Library at\nBabylon have been used for striking off impressions on some plastic\nmaterial, just as rubbings may be taken from the stone drums in China: may\nnot the cylinders with inscribed characters have been used in some way or\nother as printing-rollers for propagating knowledge or proclamations?\n\n[84] As, for example, the old canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, in\nreference to which Herodotus says (_Euterpe_, 158), \"Neco was the son of\nPsammitichus, and became King of Egypt: he first set about the canal that\nleads to the Red Sea, which Darius the Persian afterwards completed. Its\nlength is a voyage of four days, and in width it was dug so that two\ntriremes might sail rowed abreast. The water is drawn into it from the\nNile, and it enters it a little above the city Bubastis, passes near the\nArabian city Patumos, and reaches to the Red Sea.\" In the digging of which\none hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians perished in the reign of Neco.\n\n[85] The co-called tanks at Aden, reservoirs constructed one below the\nother, in a gorge near the cantonments, are as perfect now as they were\nwhen they left the hand of the contractor or royal engineer in the time of\nMoses.\n\n[86] In the 29th year of the Emperor Kwei [B.C. 1559] they chiselled\nthrough mountains and tunnelled hills, according to the Bamboo Books.\n\n[87] An interesting line of investigation might be opened up as to the\norigin of inventions and the date of their migrations. The Chinese claim\nthe priority of many discoveries, such as chess, printing, issue of\nbank-notes, sinking of artesian wells, gunpowder, suspension bridges, the\nmariner's compass, &c. &c. I extract two remarkable wood-cuts from the\n_San Li T'u_, one appended here showing the origin of our college cap; the\nother, in the chapter on the Unicorn, appearing to illustrate the fable of\nthe Sphynx.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. 22.--ROYAL DIADEM OF THE CHEN DYNASTY. (_From the San\nLi T'u._)]\n\nI also give a series of engravings, reduced facsimiles of those contained\nin a celebrated Chinese work on antiquities, showing the gradual evolution\nof the so-called Grecian pattern or scroll ornamentation, and origination\nof some of the Greek forms of tripods.\n\n[88] \"The old Troglodytes, pile villagers, and bog people, prove to be\nquite a respectable society. They have heads so large that many a living\nperson would be only too happy to possess such.\"--A. Mitchell, _The Past\nin the Present_, Edinburgh, 1880.\n\n[89] I have given in the annexed plates a few examples of the early\nhieroglyphics on which the modern Chinese system of writing is based,\nselected from a limited number collected by the early Jesuit fathers in\nChina, and contained in the _M\u00e9moirs concernant l'Histoire, &c. des\nChinois, par les Missionaires de Pekin_, vol. i., Paris, 1776. The modern\nChinese characters conveying the same idea are attached, and their\nderivation from the pictorial hieroglyphics, by modification or\ncontraction, is in nearly all cases obvious.\n\n[90] \"The Porcelain Tower of Nankin, once one of the seven wonders of the\nworld, can now only be found piecemeal in walls of peasants'\nhuts.\"--Gutzlaff, _Hist. China_, vol. i. p. 372.\n\n[91] The outer casing of the pyramid of Cheops, which Herodotus\n(_Euterpe_, 125) states to have still exhibited in his time an\ninscription, telling how much was expended (one thousand six hundred\ntalents of silver) in radishes, onions, and garlic for the workmen, has\nentirely disappeared; as also, almost completely, the marble casing of the\nadjacent pyramid of Sen-Saophis. According to tradition the missing\nmarbles in each instance were taken to build palaces with in Cairo.\n\n[92] \"The work of destruction was carried on methodically. From the\nCaspian Sea to the Indus, the Mongols ruined, within four years, more than\nfour centuries of continuous labour have since restored. The most\nflourishing cities became a mass of ruins: Samarkand, Bokhara, Nizabour,\nBalkh, and Kandahar shared in the same destruction.\"--Gutzlaff, _Hist.\nChina_, vol. i. p. 358.\n\n[93] \"An army of 700,000 Mongols met half the number of\nMahommedans.\"--_Ibid._ p. 357.\n\n[94] Those interested in the subject may read with great advantage the\nsection on dynamical geology in Dana's valuable manual. He points out the\nlarge amount of wear accomplished by wind carrying sand in arid regions,\nby seeds falling in some crevice, and bursting rocks open through the\naction of the roots developed from their sprouting, to say nothing of the\nmore ordinarily recognized destructive agencies of frost and rain,\ncarbonic acid resulting from vegetable decomposition, &c.\n\n[95] Darwin, in _Vegetable Mould and Earth-worms_, has shown that\nearthworms play a considerable part in burying old buildings, even to a\ndepth of several feet.\n\n[96] Rev. T. K. Cheyne, Article \"Deluge,\" _Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica_, 1877.\nFran\u00e7ois Lenormant, \"The Deluge, its Traditions in Ancient Histories,\"\n_Contemporary Review_, Nov., 1879.\n\n[97] Bunsen estimates that 20,000 years were requisite for the formation\nof the Chinese language. This, however, is not conceded by other\nphilologists.\n\n[98] Rawlinson quotes the African type on the Egyptian sculptures as being\nidentical with that of the negro of the present day.\n\n[99] \"While the tradition of the Deluge holds so considerable a place in\nthe legendary memories of all branches of the Aryan race, the monuments\nand original texts of Egypt, with their many cosmogenic speculations, have\nnot afforded one, even distant, allusion to this cataclysm. When the\nGreeks told the Egyptian priests of the Deluge of Deucalion, their reply\nwas that they had been preserved from it as well as from the conflagration\nproduced by Phaeton; they even added that the Hellenes were childish in\nattaching so much importance to that event, as there had been several\nlocal catastrophes resembling it.\"--Lenormant, _Contemporary Review_,\nNovember 1879.\n\n[100] Fran\u00e7ois Lenormant, \"The Deluge; its Traditions in Ancient\nHistories,\" _Contemporary Review_, vol. xxxvi. p. 465.\n\n[101] Here several verses are wanting.\n\n[102] \"The water of the twilight at break of day,\" one of the\npersonifications of rain.\n\n[103] The god of thunder.\n\n[104] The god of war and death.\n\n[105] The Chald\u00e6o-Assyrian Hercules.\n\n[106] The superior heaven of the fixed stars.\n\n[107] Vases of the measure called in Hebrew _Se\u00e4h_. This relates to a\ndetail of the ritualistic prescriptions for sacrifice.\n\n[108] These metaphorical expressions appear to designate the rainbow.\n\n[109] The god of epidemics.\n\n[110] It is probably as much from a superstitious sentiment as upon merely\nphysical grounds that many of the deserted cities in Asia have been\nabandoned; while, as a noticeable instance, we may quote Gour, the ruined\ncapital of Bengal, which is computed to have extended from fifteen to\ntwenty miles along the bank of the river, and three in depth. The native\ntradition is that it was struck by the wrath of the gods in the form of an\nepidemic which slew the whole population. Another case is the reputed\npresence of a ruined city, in the vicinity of the populous city of\nNanking, and at some distance from the right bank of the river Yangtsze,\nof which the walls only remain, and of the history of which those in the\nvicinity profess to have lost all record.\n\n[111] _i.e._ (according to the Historical Records) a carriage to travel\nalong the dry land, a boat to travel along the water, a sledge to travel\nthrough miry places, and, by using spikes, to travel on the hills.\n\n[112] Balfour, _North China Daily News_, Feb. 11, 1881.\n\n[113] Dr. Schliemann found a vase in the lowest strata of his excavations\nat Hissarlik with an inscription in an unknown language.\n\nSix years ago the Orientalist E. Burnouf declared it to be in Chinese, for\nwhich he was generally laughed at at the time.\n\nThe Chinese ambassador at Berlin, Li Fang-pau, has read and translated the\ninscription, which states that three pieces of linen gauze are packed in\nthe vase for inspection.\n\nThe Chinese ambassador fixes the date of the inscription at about 1200\nB.C., and further states that the unknown characters so frequently\noccurring on the terra cotta are also in the Chinese language, which would\nshow that at this remote period commercial intercourse existed between\nChina and the eastern shores of Asia Minor and Greece.--_Pop. Sci.\nMonthly_, No. 98, p. 176, June 1880.\n\n[114] Pierre Bergeron suggests that Solomon's fleets, starting from\nEzion-geber (subsequently Berenice and now Alcacu), arrived at\nBabelmandeb, and then divided, one portion going to Malacca, Sumatra, or\nJava, the other to Sofala, round Africa, and returning by way of Cadiz and\nthe Mediterranean to Joppa.\n\n[115] There are various accounts of the circumnavigation of Africa in old\ntimes. For example, Herodotus (_Melpomene_, 42): \"Libya shows itself to be\nsurrounded by water, except so much of it as borders upon Asia. Neco, King\nof Egypt, was the first whom we know of that proved this; he, when he had\nceased digging the canal leading from the Nile to the Arabian gulf, sent\ncertain Ph\u0153nicians in ships with orders to sail back through the pillars\nof Hercules into the Northern Sea, and so to return to Egypt. The\nPh\u0153nicians accordingly, setting out from the Red Sea, navigated the\nSouthern Sea; when autumn came they went ashore, and sowed the land, by\nwhatever part of Libya they happened to be sailing, and waited for\nharvest; then, having reaped the corn, they put to sea again. When two\nyears had thus passed, in the third, having doubled the pillars of\nHercules, they arrived in Egypt, and related what to me does not seem\ncredible, but may to others, that as they sailed round Libya, they had the\nsun on the right hand.\" Again, Pliny tells us (Book ii. chap. lxvii,\nTranslation by Bostock and Riley), \"While the power of Carthage was at its\nheight, Hanno published an account of a voyage which he made from Gades to\nthe extremity of Arabia: besides, we learn from Cornelius Nepos, that one\nEudoxus, a contemporary of his, when he was flying from King Lathyrus, set\nout from the Arabian Gulf, and was carried as far as Gades. And long\nbefore him, C\u0153lius Antipater informs us, that he had seen a person who had\nsailed from Spain to Ethiopia for the purposes of trade. The same\nCornelius Nepos, when speaking of the northern circumnavigation, tells us\nthat Q. Metellus Celer, the colleague of L. Afranius in the consulship,\nbut then proconsul in Gaul, had a present made to him by the King of the\nSuevi, of certain Indians, who, sailing from India for the purposes of\ncommerce, had been driven by tempests into Germany.\"\n\nPtolemy Lathyrus commenced his reign 117 B.C. and reigned for thirty-six\nyears. Cornelius Nepos is supposed to have lived in the century previous\nto the Christian era, and C\u0153lius Antipater to have been born in the middle\nof the second century B.C.\n\n[116] Edrisi compiled, under the instruction of Roger, King of Sicily,\nItaly, Lombardy, and Calabria, an exhaustive geographical treatise\ncomprising information derived from numerous preceding works, principally\nArabic, and from the testimony of all the geographers of the day.\n\n_Vide_ the Translation into French by M. Am\u00e9d\u00e9e Jaubert, 2 vols. 4to,\nParis, 1836, included in the _Recueil de Voyages et de M\u00e9moires publi\u00e9 par\nla Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de G\u00e9ographie_.\n\n\"Ce pays touch celui de Wac Wac o\u00f9 sont deux villes mis\u00e9rables et mal\npeupl\u00e9es \u00e0 cause de la raret\u00e9 des subsistances et du peu de ressource en\ntout genre; l'une se nomme Derou et l'autre Nebhena; dans son voisinage\nest un grand bourg nomm\u00e9 Da'rgha. Les naturels sont noirs, de figure\nhideuse, de complexion difform\u00e9; leur langage est une esp\u00e8ce de\nsifflement. Ils sont absolument nus et sont peu visit\u00e9s (par les\n\u00e9trangers). Ils vivent de poissons, de coquillages, et de tortues. Ils\nsont (comme il vient d'\u00eatre dit) voisins de l'ile de Wac Wac dont nous\nreparlerons, s'il plait \u00e0 Dieu. Chacun de ces pays et de ces iles est\nsitu\u00e9 sur un grand golfe, on n'y trouve ni or, ni commerce, ni navire, ni\nb\u00eates de somme.\"--_El Edrisi_, vol. i. p. 79.\n\n[117] The _Agave Americane_, which substance has as many uses among the\nMexicans as the bamboo (the iron of China) among the Chinese, or the camel\namong nomads.\n\n[118] _The Thousand and One Nights_, vol. iii. chap. xxv. p. 480, Note 32,\nE. W. Lane, London, 1877.\n\nA similar account is given by Quazvini. See _Scriptorum Arabum de Rebus\nIndicis_, J. Gildemeister, Bonn, 1838.\n\n[119] The diggings are seventy to one hundred and fifty miles from Port\nDarwin. There is gold on Victoria River.\n\nJacks, in his report to the Queensland Government, published March or\nApril of 1880, reports no paying gold in Yorke's peninsula.\n\nOne hundred miles from Port Darwin and twenty-six miles from the Adelaide\nRiver a new rush occurred in July 1880: nuggets from 70 to 80 oz. of\ncommon occurrence; one found weighed 187 oz.\n\n[120] _Scientific American_, Aug. 14, 1880.\n\n[121] E. J. Elliott, \"The Age of Cave Dwellers in America,\" _Pop. Sci.\nMonthly_, vol. xv. p. 488.\n\n[122] _Scientific American_, Jan. 24, 1880.\n\n[123] _Macmillan's Magazine_, quoted in _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, No. 82.\n\n[124] _\u0152uvres_, I. 7, pp. 197, 198.\n\n[125] _Two Voyages to New England_, p. 124; London, 1673.\n\n[126] Robert Knox, _The Races of Men_; London, 1850.\n\n[127] _Principles of Geology_, chap. xii.\n\n[128] _Atlantis_, by Ignatius Donelly; New York, 1882.\n\n[129] It is given in great detail by Mr. Donelly; want of space forbids my\nincluding it.\n\n[130] I use the text of the edition of Diodorus Siculus of L. Rhodomanus,\nAmsterdam, 1746.\n\n[131] \"Professor Virchow considers this an example how certain artistical\nor technical forms are developed simultaneously, without any connection or\nrelation between the artists or craftsmen.\"--Preface to _Ilios_,\nSchliemann. Murray, 1880.\n\n[132] Knivet's description of the West Indies, _Harris' Voyages_, vol. i.\np. 705.\n\n[133] T. Wright, _Marco Polo_, p. 267. Bohn, 1854.\n\n[134] _Harris' Voyages_, vol. i. p. 859.\n\n[135] Dr. J. le Conte describes a ceremonial of cremation among the Cocopa\nIndians of California, and it is an ancient practice among the Chinese,\ndating back beyond the Greek and Roman historical periods.\n\n[136] British Association, 1871.\n\n[137] Staunton, _China_, vol. ii. p. 455.\n\n[138] Humboldt, _Researches in America_, English Translation, vol. i. p.\n133.\n\n[139] \"In turning to the consideration of the primitive works of art of\nthe American continent ... when in the bronze work of the later iron\nperiod, imitative forms at length appear, they are chiefly the snake and\ndragon shapes and patterns, borrowed seemingly by Celtic and Teutonic\nwanderers, with the wild fancies of their mythology, from the far eastern\nland of their birth.\"--D. Wilson, _Prehistoric Man_, 1862.\n\n\"He had remarked that the Indians of the north-west coast frequently\nrepeat in their well-known blackstone carvings the dragon, the lotus\nflower, and the alligator.\"--C. G. Leland, _Fusang_, London, 1875.\n\n[140] \"Dragon, an imaginary animal something like a crocodile.\"--Rev. Dr.\nBrewer, _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_, p. 243.\n\n[141] \"In the woods of Java are certain flying snakes, or rather drakes;\nthey have four legs, a long tail, and their skin speckled with many spots,\ntheir wings are not unlike those of a bat, which they move in flying, but\notherwise keep them almost unperceived close to the body. They fly nimbly,\nbut cannot hold it long, so that they fly from tree to tree at about\ntwenty or thirty paces' distance. On the outside of the throat are two\nbladders, which, being extended when they fly, serve them instead of a\nsail. They feed upon flies and other insects.\"--Mr. John Nieuhoff's Voyage\nand Travels to the East Indies, contained in a collection of _Voyages and\nTravels_, in 6 vols., vol. ii. p. 317; Churchill, London, 1732.\n\n[142] _Chambers' Encyclop\u00e6dia_, vol. iii. p. 635.\n\n[143] The following is the nearest approach to such an assertion I have\nmet with, but appears from the context to apply to geologic time prior to\nthe advent of man. \"When all those large and monstrous amphibia since\nregarded as fabulous still in reality existed, when the confines of the\nwater and the land teemed with gigantic saurians, with lizards of\ndimensions much exceeding those of the largest crocodiles of the present\nday: who to the scaly bodies of fish, added the claws of beasts, and the\nneck and wings of birds: who to the faculty of swimming in water, added\nnot only that of moving on the earth but that of sailing in air: and who\nhad all the characteristics of what we now call chimeras and dragons, and\nperhaps of such monsters the remains, found among the bones and skeletons\nof other animals more resembling those that still exist and propagate, in\nthe grottos and caverns in which they sought shelter during the deluges\nthat affected the infancy of the globe, gave first rise to the idea that\nthese dens and caves were once retreats whence such monsters watched and\nin which they devoured other animals.\"--Thomas Hope, _On the Origin and\nProspects of Man_, vol. ii. p. 346; London, 1831.\n\nSouthey, in his Commonplace Book, pityingly alludes to this passage,\nsaying, \"He believes in dragons and griffins as having heretofore\nexisted.\"\n\n[144] From the context, Lanuvium appears to have been on the Appian Road,\nin Latium, about twenty-fives miles from Rome.\n\n[145] Propertius, _Elegy VIII._; Bohn, 1854.\n\n[146] _History of Animals_, Book ix., chap. ii. \u00a7 3; Bohn.\n\n[147] _Ibid._, Book vi., chap. xx. \u00a7 12.\n\n[148] _Ibid._, Book i., \u00a7 6.\n\n[149] _History of Animals_, Book ix., chap. vii. \u00a7 4.\n\n[150] _Natural History of Pliny_, Book viii., chap. xli., translated by J.\nBostock and H. T. Riley; London, 1855.\n\n[151] _Anim. Nat._, Book vi., chap. iv.\n\n[152] _Natural History_, Book viii., chap. xxii.\n\n[153] \"On the contrary, towards ourselves they were disappointingly\nundemonstrative, and only evinced their consciousness of the presence of\nstrangers by entwining themselves about the members of the family as if\nsoliciting their protection.... They were very jealous of each other, Mr.\nMann said; jealous also of other company, as if unwilling to lose their\nshare of attention.... Two sweet little children were equally familiar\nwith the other boas, that seemed quite to know who were their friends and\nplayfellows, for the children handled them and petted them and talked to\nthem as we talk to pet birds and cats.\"--Account of Snakes kept by Mr. and\nMrs. Mann, of Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, in _Snakes_, by C. C. Hopley; London,\n1882.\n\n[154] _Natural History_, Book xxix., chap. xx.\n\n[155] \"It is probable that the island of Zanig described by Qazvinius, in\nhis geographical work (for extracts from which vide _Scriptorum Arabum de\nRebus Indicis loci et opuscula inedita_, by I. Gildemeister, Bonn\u00e6, 1838),\nas the seat of the empire of the Mahraj, is identical with Zaledj. He says\nthat it is a large island on the confines of China towards India, and that\namong other remarkable features is a mountain called Nacan (Kini Balu?),\non which are serpents of such magnitude as to be able to swallow oxen,\nbuffaloes, and even elephants. Masudi includes Zanig, Kalah, and Taprobana\namong the islands constituting the territory of the Mahraj.\"--P. Am\u00e9d\u00e9e\nJaubert, _G\u00e9ographie d'Edrisi_, vol. i. p. 104; Paris, 1836.\n\n[156] Book vi., chap. iv. \u00a7 16.\n\n[157] _Serpent Worship_, p. 35; Welder, New York, 1877.\n\n[158] _Pliny's Natural History_, Book viii., chap. xi., translated by J.\nBostock and H. T. Riley; Bohn, London, 1855.\n\n[159] _Pliny's Natural History_, Book viii., chap. xii.\n\n[160] _Ibid._, Book viii., chap. xiii.\n\n[161] _Ibid._, Book viii., chap. xiv.\n\n[162] \"At the present day the longest Italian serpents are the \u00c6sculapian\nserpent (a harmless animal) and the _Colubes quadrilineatus_, neither of\nwhich exceeds ten feet in length.\"--_Nat. Hist._, Book viii., chap. xiv.\n\n[163] _Aristotle's History of Animals_, Book viii., chap. xxvii. \u00a7 6, by\nR. Cresswell, Bohn's Series; Bell, London, 1878.\n\n[164] An abridgment of these travels is contained in _Voyages par Pierre\nBergeron_, \u00e0 la Haye, 1735. They were originally written in Hebrew,\ntranslated into Latin by Benoit Arian Montare, and subsequently into\nFrench. [The introduction refers to his return to Castille in 1173,\npresumably after the termination of his voyages; but in the opening\nparagraph there is a marginal note giving the same date to his setting out\nfrom Sarragossa.] Sir John Mandeville gives a similar account in speaking\nof the tower of Babylon; he says, \"but it is full long sithe that any man\ndurste neyhe to the Tour: for it is all deserte and fulle of Dragouns and\ngrete serpents, and fulle of dyverse venemous Bestes alle about he.\"--_The\nVoyages of Sir John Mandeville, Kt._, p. 40; J. O. Halliwell, London,\n1839.\n\n[165] _Harris's Voyages_, vol. i. p. 360.\n\n[166] _Ibid._, vol. i. p. 392.\n\n[167] _Encyclop\u00e6dia of Arts and Sciences_, first American edition,\nPhiladelphia, 1798.\n\n[168] See _Voyage to the East Indies_, by Francis Leguat; London, 1708.\nLeguat hardly makes the positive affirmation stated in the text. In\ndescribing Batavia he says there is another sort of serpents which are at\nleast fifty feet long.\n\n[169] Broderip, _Leaves from the Note Book of a Naturalist_, p. 357.\n\n[170] _Australasia_, p. 273.\n\n[171] _Quedah_; London, 1857.\n\n[172] _Perak and the Malays_, p. 77.\n\n[173] _Figuier, Reptiles and Birds_, p. 51.\n\n[174] _La Chine Illustr\u00e9_, d'Athase Keichere, chap. x. p. 272. Amsterdam,\nCI\u2183 IC\u2183 LXX.\n\n[175] Vol. i. p. 601.\n\n[176] See _Proceedings_ of Royal Society of Tasmania, September 13, 1880.\nMr. C. M. Officer states--\"With reference to the Mindi or Mallee snake, it\nhas often been described to me as a formidable creature of at least thirty\nfeet in length, which confined itself to the Mallee scrub. No one,\nhowever, has ever seen one, for the simple reason that to see it is to\ndie, so fierce it is, and so great its power of destruction. Like the\nBunyip, I believe the Mindi to be a myth, a mere tradition.\"\n\n[177] Pinkerton's _Voyages_, vol. xiv. p. 247.\n\n[178] _Ibid._, vol. xiv. p. 514.\n\n[179] It is interesting to compare this belief with stories given\nelsewhere, by Pliny, Book viii. chap. xiv., and \u00c6lian, Book ii. chap.\nxxi., of the power of the serpents or dragons of the river Rhyndacus to\nattract birds by inhalation.\n\n[180] Pinkerton's _Voyages_, vol. xiv. p. 713.\n\n[181] Herodotus, Book iii. chap. cvii., cviii.\n\n[182] Herodotus, Book iii. chap. cviii.\n\n[183] Herodotus, Book ii., chap. lxxv.\n\n[184] _Ibid._, Book ii., chap. lxxvi.\n\n[185] _Ibid._, Book i., chap. v.\n\n[186] _Antiquities of the Jews_, Book ii., chap. x.\n\n[187] Book viii. chap. xxxv.\n\n[188] _Pharsalia_, Book ix.\n\n[189] Herodotus, Book iv. chap. cv.\n\n[190] Book iii. chap. xx.\n\n[191] \"It may be some comfort to graziers and selectors who are\nstruggling, under many discouragements, to suppress the rabbit plague in\nVictoria, to learn that our condition, bad as it is, is certainly less\nserious than that of New Zealand. There, not only is an immense area of\ngood country being abandoned in consequence of the inability of lessees to\nbear the great expense of clearing the land of rabbits, but, owing to the\nincrease of the pest, the number of sheep depastured is decreasing at a\nserious rate. Three years ago the number exceeded thirteen millions; but\nit is estimated that they have since been diminished by two millions,\nwhile the exports of the colony have, in consequence, fallen off to the\nextent of \u00a3500,000 per annum. A Rabbit Nuisance Act has been in existence\nfor some time, but it is obviously inefficient, and it is now proposed to\nmake its provisions more stringent, and applicable alike to the Government\nas well as to private landowners. A select committee of both Houses of the\nLegislature, which has recently taken a large amount of evidence upon this\nsubject, reports in the most emphatic terms its conviction that unless\nimmediate and energetic action is taken to arrest the further extension\nof, and to suppress the plague, the result will be ruinous to the colony.\nA perusal of the evidence adduced decidedly supports this opinion. Many of\nthe squatters cannot be accused of apathy. Some of them have employed\nscores of men, and spent thousands of pounds a year in ineffectual efforts\nto eradicate the rabbits from their runs. One firm last year is believed\nto have killed no less than 500,000; but the following spring their run\nwas in as bad a state as if they had never put any poison down. Similar\ninstances of failure could be easily multiplied. It is found, as with us,\nthat one of the chief causes of non-success is the fact that the\nGovernment do not take sufficient steps to destroy the rabbits on\nunoccupied Crown lands. This foolish policy, of course, at once diminishes\nthe letting value of the adjacent pastoral country--to such an extent,\nindeed, that instances have occurred in which 34,000 acres have been\nleased for \u00a310 a year. Poison is regarded as the most destructive agent\nthat can be employed, and it is especially effective when mixed with oats\nand wheat, a striking testimony to the value of Captain Raymond's\ndiscovery. Most of the witnesses examined were strongly of opinion that\nthe Administration of the Rabbit Suppression Act should not be left to\nprivate and, perhaps, interested persons, as at present, but should be\nconducted by officers of the Government, probably the sheep inspectors, on\na principle similar to that by which the scab was eradicated from the\nflocks of the colony. The joint committee adopted this view, and also\nrecommended the Legislature to enact that all unoccupied Crown land, as\nwell as all native, reserved, or private land, should bear a proportionate\nshare of the cost of destroying the rabbits, and of administering the act.\nIt is to be hoped that, in the midst of the party conflicts which have so\nimpeded practical legislation this session, the Parliament will yet find\ntime to give effect to the useful recommendations of the Rabbit Nuisance\nCommittee.\"--_Australasian_, 10th September 1881.\n\n[192] Book xv. chap. i. \u00a7 37.\n\n[193] See Smith's _Dictionary of the Bible_, p. 145-47. Murray, 1863.\n\n[194] _\u00c6neid_, Book vii. 561.\n\n[195]\n\n  Non Arabum volucer serpens, innataque rubris\n  \u00c6quoribus custos pretios\u00e6 vipera conch\u00e6\n  Aut viventis adhuc Lybici membrana cerast\u00e6.--\n                                    _Pharsalia_, Book vi. 677.\n\n[196] The popular illustrations of the Story of the Black and White Snakes\ngiven by him, a favourite story among the Chinese, always represent them\nas winged. _Folk Lore of China_, N. P. Dennys, Ph.D.\n\n[197] Broderip, _Zoological Recreations_, p. 333.\n\n[198] Compare Shakspeare, \"Peace, Kent. Come not between the Dragon and\nhis wrath.\"\n\n[199] _Metamorphoses_, Book iii. 35, translated by H. J. Riley; London,\n1872.\n\n[200] In reference to colours so bright as to be inconsistent with our\nknowledge of the ordinary colours of reptiles, it may be of interest to\ncompare the description by D'Argensola--who wrote the history of the\nsuccessive conquests of the Moluccas, by the Spaniards, Portuguese and\nDutch--of a blue and golden saurian existing upon a volcanic mountain in\nTarnate. \"Il y a aussi sur cette montagne un grand lac d'eau douce,\nentour\u00e9 d'arbres, dans lequel on voit de crocodiles azur\u00e9s et dor\u00e9s qui\nont plus d'un brasse de longueur, et qui se plongent dans l'eau lors\nqu'ils entendent des hommes.\"--D'Argensola, vol. iii. p. 4, translated\nfrom the Spanish, 3 vols.; J. Desbordes, Amsterdam, 1706. And Pliny, _Nat.\nHist._, Book viii. chap. xxviii., speaks of lizards upon Nysa, a mountain\nof India, twenty-four feet long, their colour being either yellow, purple,\nor azure blue.\n\n[201] Ovid, _Fasti_, Book iv. 501.\n\n[202] These wood-cuts occur on pp. 239, 240.\n\n[203] Broderip, _Zoological Recreations_, p. 332.\n\n[204] Lucan, _Pharsalia_, Book ix. 726-32.\n\n[205] Book xvi. chap. x.\n\n[206] Book xv. chap. v.; A.D. 355.\n\n[207] Lord Lytton, _King Arthur_, Book i. Stanza 4.\n\n[208] _Chamber's Cyclop\u00e6dia_, 1881.\n\n[209] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, vol. ii. p. 653.\n\n[210] A dragon without wings is called a lintworm or lindworm, which Grimm\nexplains to mean a beautiful or shining worm (here again we have a\ncorroboration of the idea of the gold and silver dragon given _ante_.)\n\n[211] Brewer's _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_.\n\n[212] Rev. Dr. Brewer, _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_, London.\n\n[213] _The Harleian Collection of Travels_, vol. ii. p. 457. 1745.\n\n[214] The italics are mine.\n\n[215] Churchill, _Collection of Voyages_, vol. v. p. 213; London, 1746.\n\n[216] Ulyssis Aldrovandi _Serpentum et Draconum Histori\u00e6_; Bononi\u00e6, 1640.\n\n[217] Scaliger, lib. iii. Miscell. cap. i. See _ante_, p. 182, \"Winged\nSerpents.\"\n\n[218] _De Natur\u00e2 Rerum_, lib. vii., cap. 29.\n\n[219] Athanasii Kircheri _Mundus Subterraneus_, Book viii. 27.\n\n[220] Probably many of my readers are acquainted with Schiller's poem\nbased on this story, and with the beautiful designs by Retsch illustrating\nit.\n\n[221] Harris, _Collection of Voyages_, vol. i. p. 474; London, 1764.\n\n[222] _De Moribus Brachmanorum_, p. 63. Strabo, lib. 16, p. 75. Bochart\nHieroz, p. 11, lib. 3, cap. 13.\n\n[223] \u00c6lian, _De Animal._, lib. xv. cap. 21.\n\n[224] Strabo, lib. xvi.\n\n[225] Gosse tells us that it is still a common belief in Jamaica that\ncrested snakes exist there which crow like a cock.\n\n[226] Strabo, lib. xvi.\n\n[227] Jonston, _Theatr. Animal._, tome ii. p. 34, \"De Serpentibus.\"\nNote.--It is interesting to record that in China, to the present day, the\ntradition of the gold and silver scaled species of dragons remains alive.\nTwo magnificent dragons, 200 feet and 150 feet long, representing\nrespectively the gold and silver dragon, formed part of the processions in\nHongkong in December 1881, in honour of the young princes.\n\n[228] Strabo, lib. xvi.\n\n[229] In China the dragon is peculiarly the emblem of imperial power, as\nwith us the lion is of the kingly. The Emperor is said to be seated on the\ndragon throne. A five-clawed dragon is embroidered on the Emperor's\ncourt-robes. It often surrounds his edicts, and the title-pages of books\npublished by his authority, and dragons are inscribed on his banners. It\nis drawn stretched out at full length or curled up with two legs pointing\nforwards and two backwards; sometimes holding a pearl in one hand, and\nsurrounded by clouds and fire.\n\n[230] The _Yih King_--extracts from papers by Monsieur De la Couperie, in\nthe _Journal_ of the Royal Asiatic Society.\n\n\"The _Yih King_ is the oldest of the Chinese books, and is the mysterious\nclassic which requires '_a prolonged attention to make it reveal its\nsecrets_'; it has peculiarities of style, making it the most difficult of\nall the Chinese classics to present in an intelligible version.\"\n\n\"We have multifarious proofs that the writing, first known in China, was\nalready an old one, partially decayed, but also much improved since its\nprimitive hieroglyphic stage. We have convincing proofs (_vide_ my 'Early\nHistory of Chinese Civilization,' pp. 21-23, and the last section of the\npresent paper) that it had been borrowed, by the early leaders of the\nChinese Bak families [Poh Sing] in Western Asia, from an horizontal\nwriting traced from left to right, the pre-cuneiform character, which\npreviously had itself undergone several important modifications.\n\n\"At that time the Ku-wen was really the phonetic expression of speech. (By\nan analysis of the old inscriptions and fragments, and by the help of the\nnative works on pal\u00e6ography, some most valuable, I have compiled a\ndictionary of this period.)\n\n\"If the _kwas_, which were a survival of the arrows of divination known to\nthe ancestors of Chinese culture before their emigration eastward,\" &c.\n&c.--Vol. xiv. part 4.\n\n\"This mysterious book is still avowedly not understood, and we assist,\nnow-a-days, at a most curious spectacle. There are not a few Chinese of\neducation among those who have picked up some knowledge in Europe or in\ntranslations of European works of our modern sciences, who believe openly\nthat all these may be found in their _Yih_. Electricity, steam power,\nastronomical laws, sphericity of the earth, &c., are all, according to\ntheir views, to be found in the _Yih King_; they firmly believe that these\ndiscoveries were not ignored by their sages, who have embodied them in\ntheir mysterious classics, of which they will be able to unveil the\nsecrets when they themselves apply to its study a thorough knowledge of\nthe modern sciences. It is unnecessary for any European mind to insist\nupon the childishness of such an opinion. Even in admitting, what seems\nprobable, that the early leaders of the Bak people (Poh Sing) were not\nwithout some astronomical and mathematical principles, which have been\nlong since forgotten, there is no possible comparison between their rude\nnotions and our sciences.\n\n\"It is not a mysterious book of fate and prognostics. It contains a\nvaluable collection of documents of old antiquity, in which is embodied\nmuch information on the ethnography, customs, language, and writing of\nearly China.\n\n\"Proofs of various kinds--similitude of institutions, traditions and\nknowledge, affinities of words of culture; and, in what concerns the\nwriting, likenesses of shapes of characters, hieroglyphic and arbitrary,\nwith the same sounds (sometimes polyphons) and meanings attached to them,\nthe same morphology of written words, the same phonetic laws of\northography--had led me, several years ago, to no other conclusion than\nthat (as the reverse is proved impossible by numerous reasons), at an\nearly period of their history, and before their emigration to the far\nEast, the Chinese Bak families had borrowed the pre-cuneiform writing and\nelements of their knowledge and institutions from a region connected with\nthe old focus of culture of south-western Asia.\n\n\"Numerous affinities of traditions, institutions, and customs, connect the\nborrowing of script and culture by the Chinese Bak families with the\nregion of Elam, the confederation of states of which Susa was the chief\ntown, and the Kussi the principal population.\n\n\"What are the historical facts of this connection we do not know. Has the\nbreak-up which happened in those states and resulted in the conquest of\nBabylonia by the Elamite king, Kudur Nakhunta, at the date, which is\ncertain, of 2285 B.C., been also the cause of an eastern conquest and a\nsettlement in Bactria? and would this account for the old focus of culture\ncoeval with the earlier period of Assyrian monarchy said to have existed\nin Central Asia?\n\n\"The two ethnic names, which, as we have pointed out, were those of the\nChinese invaders, Bak and Kutti or Kutta, are not altogether foreign to\nthose regions. The Chinese Kutti and the Kussi, the Chinese Bak and Bakh,\nthe ethnic of Bakhdi (Bactria), will be, most likely, one day proved to be\nthe same ethnic names. Had not the Chinese, previous to my researches, and\nquite on different reasons, been traced back westerly to the regions of\nYarkand and Khotan? This is not far distant from the old focus of culture\nof Central Asia, and the connection cannot be objected to by geographical\nreasons.\"--Vol. xv. part 2.\n\n[231] Dr. Williams, _Hien-ning_.\n\n[232] Williams, _Shi-W\u00e9i_.\n\n[233] Williams, _Liu-L\u00e9i_.\n\n[234] Williams, _Shu King_.\n\n[235] Williams, _Yih and Ts\u2018ih_.\n\n[236] I am under the impression that the dragons to which Mencius refers\nwere probably alligators, of which one small species still exists, though\nrare, in the Yang-tsze-kiang. So also we may regard as alligators the\ndragons referred to above in the annals of the Bamboo Books on the passage\nof the Kiang by Yu. Mr. Griffis, in his work on Corea, says, \"The creature\ncalled _a-ke_, or alligator, capable of devouring a man, is sometimes\nfound in the largest rivers.\"\n\n[237] For a full account of this work, see an Article by E. C. Bridgman in\n_Chinese Repository_, xviii. (1849), p. 169; and _Botanicon Sinicum_, by\nDr. E. Bretschneider, in the _Journal_ of the North China Branch of the\nRoyal Asiatic Society, New Series, vol. xvi. 1881.\n\n[238] _Notes on Chinese Literature_, A. Wylie, Shanghai and London, 1867.\n\n[239] \"Bot. Sin.\" in _Journal_ of N. China Branch R. A. S., 1881.\n\n[240] _Journal Asiatique, Extr._ No. 17 (1839).\n\n[241] The three prefaces by these authors are given in _extenso_ in the\nAppendix to this Chapter.\n\n[242] The reader is referred, for a careful _pr\u00e9cis_ of the contents of\nthis valuable work, to an exhaustive paper entitled \"Botanicon Sinicum,\"\nin the _Journal_ of North China Branch Royal Asiatic Society, 1881, by E.\nBretschneider, M.D.\n\n[243] The character for a hare is very like the character for a devil. The\nJapanese, in quoting this passage, have fallen into this error.\n\n[244] The dragons' bones sold by apothecaries in China consist of the\nfossilized teeth and bones of a variety of species, generally in a\nfragmentary condition. The white earth stri\u00e6, or dragons' brains, here\nreferred to, are probably asbestos. The asbestos sold in Chefoo market,\nunder the name of Lung Ku or dragons' bones, is procured at O-tzu-kung.\n\n[245] The _boletus_, supposed to possess mystic efficacy.\n\n[246] The first two stories are from the _Ko Ku Shi Riy\u0103h_, a recent\nhistory of Japan, from the earliest periods down to the present time, by\nMatsunai, with a continuation by a later author. They are contained in the\nfirst chapter of the first volume. The third is given as an ordinary item\nof news in the journal called the _Chin-jei-Nippo_, April 30th, 1884.\n\n[247] The idea of the eight heads probably originated in China; thus, in\nthe caves in Shantung, near Chi-ning Chou, among carvings of mythological\nfigures and divinities, dating from A.D. 147, we find a tiger's body with\neight heads, all human.\n\n[248] _Mourakoumo_ means \"clouds of clouds\"; _ama_ means \"heaven\";\n_tsurogi_ means \"sword.\"\n\n[249] White snakes are occasionally, although rarely, seen in Japan. They\nare supposed to be messengers from the gods, and are never killed by the\npeople, but always taken and carried to some temple. The white snake is\nworshipped in Nagasaki at a temple called Miyo-ken, at Nishi-yama, which\nis the northern part of the city of Nagasaki.\n\n[250] _M\u00e9moires sur les Contr\u00e9es occidentales, traduits du Sanscrit en\nChinois en l'an 648; et du Chinois en Francais_, par M. Stanislas Julien.\n2 vols., Paris, 1857.\n\n[251] _Fo\u0115 Kou\u0115 Ki, ou Relation des Royaumes Bouddhiques, par Ch\u0115 Fa\nHien._ Translated from the Chinese by M. Abel Remusat; Paris, 1836. This\nvolume contains a number of very interesting dragon legends, and quaint\nconceits about them; but I find nothing in it to supplement my\nmaterialistic argument.\n\n[252] Montaigne, _Essays_, chap. xxvi.\n\n[253] \"I fully believe in this great marine monster. I have as much\nevidence as to its existence as of anything not seen. Some years ago,\nCaptain Austin Cooper and the officers and crew of the _Carlisle Castle_,\non a voyage to Melbourne, saw the 'varmint.' A description and sketch of\nit were published in the _Argus_. This, when it arrived in London, it\nbeing the 'silly season' in journalism, was seized and torn to pieces by\none of the young lions of the _Daily Telegraph_, in a leading article, in\nwhich much fun was poked at the gallant sailor. 'I don't see any more\nsea-serpents,' said my Irish friend to me. 'It is too much to be told that\none of Green's commanders can't tell the difference between a piece of\nsea-weed and a live body in the water. If twenty serpents come on the\nstarboard, all hands shall be ordered to look to port. No London\npenny-a-liner shall say again that Austin Cooper is a liar and a fool.'\nAfter this we softened down over some Coleraine whiskey. Again, some three\nyears ago, the monster was plainly seen off the great reef of New\nCaledonia by Commandant Villeneuve, and the officers of the French\nman-of-war, the _Seudre_. Chassepots were procured to shoot it, but before\nit came within easy range it disappeared. During my late visit to Fiji,\nMajor James Harding, who was an officer in Cakoban's army when that chief,\n'by the grace of God' was king of Fiji, described exactly the same\ncreature as passing within a few yards of his canoe on a clear moonlight\nnight in the Bay of Suva. It swam towards a small island outside the reef,\nwhich is known amongst Fijians as the 'Cave of the Big Snake.' Major\nHarding is a cool, brave soldier, who saw much hot work with Cakoban's men\nagainst the hill tribes of Vonua Levu. He was once riddled by bullets, and\nleft for dead. Accustomed for years to travel about the reefs in canoes,\nevery phase of the aspect of the waters was known to him, and he was not\nlikely to be frightened with false fire. The extraordinary thing is, that\nthe English sailor, the French commander, and the Fijian soldier, all gave\nthe same account of this monster. It is something with a head slightly\nraised out of the water, and with a sort of mane streaming behind it,\nwhilst the back of a long body is seen underneath the water. So, from\nthese instances, in which I know the witnesses, I fully believe in the\nsea-serpent. What is there very wonderful in it, after all? The whale is\nthe largest living thing. Why shouldn't the waters produce snakes of\ngigantic size.\" THE VAGABOND, in Supplement to the _Australasian_,\nSeptember 10, 1881.\n\n[254] Contained in Eden's _Travels_.\n\n[255] Connected with the breathing apparatus?\n\n[256] Pinkerton, _Voyages and Travels_, vol. i. p. 376.\n\n[257] A. de Brooke, _Travels to the North Cape_.\n\n[258] 1 ell = 2 feet.\n\n[259] _Transactions_ of the Wernerian Society, vol. i. p. 442.\n\n[260] No. 92, May 1873; London, Van Voorst.\n\n[261] _Shetland Islands_, p. 565.\n\n[262] Jardine's _Naturalist's Library_, vol. xxv.\n\n[263] How this reminds one of the Chinese dragon.\n\n[264] Within a few days of writing these lines I made one of a party of\nfour to visit the waterfalls of Taki-kwannon, near Nagasaki. I asked for\nestimates of the height of the fall, which was variously guessed, by\ndifferent members of the party, at from forty-three to one hundred and\nfifty feet.\n\n[265] _Folklore of China_, p. 113.\n\n[266] _Vide Verhandelingen van Het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en\nWeten Schappen, Deel_ xxxix., 1ere Stuk., Batavia, 1877.\n\n[267] About 1-1/3 lb. avoirdupois.\n\n[268] _Contributions to Materia Medica and Natural History of China_, by\nF. P. Smith, M.B., London; Shanghai and London, 1871.\n\nI give, in the appendix to this chapter, some accounts of a reputed\nmonster, the Shan, the description of which by Chinese authors, although\nvague, appears to me to point to the sea-serpent. I only insert a portion\nof the latter part of the legends regarding it which I find in my\nauthority, as they are perfectly valueless. The sample given may, however,\nbe interesting as an example of how the Taouists compiled their absurd\nmiraculous stories.\n\n[269] For _sea-serpent_ read _octopus_.\n\n[270] I must also add, on the information of Mr. H. C. Syers, of Selangor,\nthat Captain Douglas, late Resident of Perak, had a large sea-serpent rise\nclose to him, somewhere off Perak, when in a boat manned by Malays. Mr.\nSyers had the account both from Captain Douglas and from the crew; and he\ntells me that there is a universal belief in the existence of some large\nsea-monster among the Malays of the western coast of the Peninsula.\n\n[271] This is one of the fleet of the important Japanese Mitsu Bish\nCompany, the equivalent of the P. and O. Company in Japan.\n\n[272] _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, No. 56, December 1876, p. 234.\n\n[273] It must be remembered that it is with a blow of its powerful tail\nthat the alligator stuns its prey and knocks it into the water (when any\nstray animal approaches the bank), and it is with the tail that the\ndragon, in the fable related by \u00c6lian, chastises, although gently, its\nmistress, and constricts, according to Pliny, the elephant in its folds.\n\n[274] _Nineteenth Century_, March 1877, p. 20. Article on \"Authority in\nMatters of Opinion,\" by G. Cornewall Lewis. Reviewed by W. E. Gladstone.\n\n[275] From the _Daheim_, No. 17, Supplement. January 27th, 1883. Leipzig.\n\n[276] 41\u00b0 Fahrenheit.\n\n[277] _A Collection of Voyages_, in 4 volumes. J. J. Knapton, London,\n1729.\n\n[278] _A Voyage to the East Indies_, by Francis Leguat. London, 1708.\n\n[279] I find the following note in _Maclean's Guide to Bombay_, for 1883:\n\"Since the first edition of this Gazette was published, Captain Dundas, of\nthe P. and O. Company's steamer _Cathay_, has informed me that the\nstatements of old travellers regarding these serpents are quite accurate.\nThe serpents are not seen excepting during the south-west monsoon the\nseason in which alone voyages used to be made to India. In Horsburgh's\n_Sailing Directions_, shipmasters are warned to look out for the serpents,\nwhose presence is a sign that the ship is close to land. Captain Dundas\nsays that the serpents are yellow or copper-coloured. The largest ones are\nfarthest out to sea. They lie on the surface of the water, and appear too\nlazy even to get out of a steamer's way.\"\n\n[280] The _Romance of Natural History_, P. H. Gosse, F.R.S., First Series,\nLondon, 1880, 12th edition; Second Series, 1875, 5th edition.\n\n[281] \"At length, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they were\nthrown open for examination by the desire which then existed in Germany to\npossess the _ebur fossile_, or 'unicorn's horn,' a supposed infallible\nspecific for the cure of many diseases. The unicorn horn was to be found\nin the caves, and the search for it revealed the remains of lions, hy\u00e6nas,\nelephants, and many other tropical and strange animals.\" _Pop. Sci.\nMonthly_, No. 32.\n\n[282] Book iv. ch. cxci. and cxcii.\n\n[283] Book ii. ch. ii. \u00a7 8.\n\n[284] Book viii. ch. xxxii.\n\n[285] Book xi. ch. cvi.\n\n[286] _Ibid._\n\n[287] \u00c6lian, _De Natur\u00e2 Animalium_, Book xvi. ch. xx.\n\n[288] _De Bello Gallico_, ch. ii. p. 26.\n\n[289] _Vide_ Charton's _Voyageurs du Moyen Ages_, vol. ii. p. 25.\n\n[290] Harris' _Voyages_, vol. i. p. 362; \"Africa,\" by John Leo.\n\n[291] Pinkerton's _Voyages_, vol. i. p. 392; \"Ethiopia,\" by Jobus\nLudolphus.\n\n[292] _The Navigation and Voyage of Lewes Vertomannus, of Rome, into\nArabia, Egypt, &c., in 1503_, contained in \"_The History of Travayle in\nthe East and West Indies_,\" done into English by Richard Eden. London,\n1577.\n\n[293] Berynto, a city on the seacoast of Syria, Ph\u0153nicia.\n\n[294] Sining is on the western frontier of Kansuh, towards Kokonor.\n\n[295] Pinkerton's _Voyages_, vol. xv. p. 23.\n\n[296] Pinkerton's _Voyages_, vol. vii. p. 333.\n\n[297] _Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China._ Huc and Gabet. Translated\nby W. Hazlitt, vol. ii. p. 245.\n\n[298] Gosse, _Romance of Natural History_.\n\n[299] Prejevalski's _Mongolia_, vol. ii. p. 207; London, 1876.\n\n[300] See _'Rh Ya_ and _Yuen Keen Luy Han_, vol. ccccxxix. p. 1.\n\n[301] This height will have to be reduced in accordance with the\ndifference between the magnitude of old and new standards of measurement.\n\n[302] A poet, native of Hang Cheu.\n\n[303] _Vide_ the translation into French by L. Serrurier, Leyden, 1875.\n\n[304] \"The Chinese have a tradition that this animal skips, and is so holy\nor harmless that it won't even tread upon an insect, and that it is to\ncome in the shape of an incomparable man, a revealer of mysteries,\nsupernatural and divine, and a great lover of all mankind, who is expected\nto come, about the time of a particular constellation in the heavens, on a\nspecial mission for their benefit. The Japanese unicorn answers the\ndescription of the animal bearing that name, and supposed to be still\nextant in Ethiopia, and which is equal to the size of a small horse,\nreddish in colour, and slender as a gazelle, the male having one horn. The\nunicorn is the ancient crest of the kings of Israel, and is still retained\nby the Mikado.\" _Epitome of the Ancient History of Japan_, p. 116; N.\nMcLeod, Nagasaki, 1875.\n\n[305] Vol. ccccxxx. p. 18.\n\n[306] Vol. ccccxxxii. p. 38.\n\n[307] This will have to be reduced by nearly one-half, to equate it with\nthe present measures of length.\n\n[308] _San Li T'u_, vol. viii. p. 3. The _San Li T'u_ is an illustrated,\nmodern, edition by Nieh Tsung I. of the old _San Li_; it was written\nduring the reign of the great patron of literature, Kang Hi (A.D. 1661 to\n1723).\n\n[309] Vol. vii. No. 1, p. 72.\n\n[310] Harris, _Game and Wild Animals of Southern Africa_. The Oryx\nCapensis--The Gemsbock.\n\n\"The figure of the renowned unicorn can be traced in all the ancient\near-rings, coins, and Latin heraldic insignia, to some one of the members\nof the oryxine family; of all the whimsies of antiquity, whether emanating\nfrom the unbridled and fertile fancies of the people of Egypt and Persia,\nor devised by the more chaste and classic taste which distinguished Greece\nand Rome, the unicorn--unquestionably the most celebrated--is the chimera\nwhich has in modern ages engrossed the largest portion of attention from\nthe curious.\n\n\"The rhinoceros is supposed to be the animal so often alluded to in\nScripture under the name of _reem_ or unicorn, yet the combination\npresented in the oryx of the antelopine and equine characters, the horns\nand cloven hoof of the one, blended with the erect mane, general contour\nand long switch tail of the other, corresponds in all essential\nparticulars with the extant delineations and descriptions of the heraldic\nunicorn, which is universally represented to have been possessed of a\nstraight slender horn, ringed at the base, and to have the hoof divided;\nto have worn a mane reversed, a black flowing tail, and a turkey-like tuft\non the larynx, whilst both the size and ground colour were said to be\nthose of the ass, with the addition of sundry black markings, imparting to\nthe face and forehead a piebald appearance.\n\n\"The alterations required to reduce the African oryx to the standard of\nthis model, are slight and simple, nor can it be doubted that they have\nbeen gradually introduced by successive copyists; the idea of the single\nhorn having been derived in the first instance from profile\nrepresentations of that animal given in bas-relief on the sculptured\nmonuments of ancient Egypt and Nubia.... They have in their aspect a\ncertain bovine expression; and Arabs and other natives never consider them\nas antelopes but as a species of buffalo.... The oryx boldly defends\nitself when pressed by the hunters, is quarrelsome during the rutting\nseason, and it is said that even the lion dreads an encounter with it.\"\n\n[311] Even the patient ass, in a state of nature, is endowed with great\ncourage. Baharan, one of the early Persian monarchs, received the surname\nBaharan Guz from his transfixing, with one arrow, a wild ass and a lion\nengaged in active combat.\n\n[312] Black, red, azure (green, blue, or black), white, yellow.\n\n[313] Many species of bird do not attain their mature plumage until long\nafter they have attained adult size, as some among the gulls and birds of\nprey. I think I am right in saying that some of these latter only become\nperfect in their third year. We all know the story of the ugly duckling,\nand the little promise which it gave of its future beauty.\n\n[314] According to Dr. Williams, the Lwan was a fabulous bird described as\nthe essence of divine influence, and regarded as the embodiment of every\ngrace and beauty, and that the argus pheasant was the type of it.\n\nDr. Williams says that it was customary to hang little bells from the\nph\u0153nix that marked the royal cars.\n\n[315] In reference to Hwang Ti (?) writing the Bamboo Books?\n\n[316] The Wu Tung is the _Eleococca verrucosa_, according to Dr. Williams;\nothers identify it with the _Sterculia platanifolia_. There is a Chinese\nproverb to the effect that without having Wu Tung trees you cannot expect\nto see ph\u0153nixes in your garden.\n\n[317] Berosus lived in the time of Alexander the Great, or about B.C.\n330-260, or 300 years after the Jews were carried captive to Babylon.\n\n[318] _Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica._\n\n[319] _J\u0103n-j\u0103n_ means a gradual but imperceptible advance.\n\n[320] Defined by Williams \"as the dragon of morasses and thickets, which\nhas scales and no horn, corresponding very nearly to the fossil\niguanodon.\" _Vide_ the description (ante) from the _Pan-Tsaou-Kang-mu_,\n&c.\n\n[321] _Ying_--correct, true.\n\n[322] According to Williams, this is a young dragon without a horn,\nalthough others, as in the text, say with one.\n\n[323] _P'an_--to curl up, to coil.\n\n[324] The male and female principle.\n\n[325] See the notices in the body of the work from the _Shan Hai King_.\n\n[326] See the description of the dragon from the _P'au-Tsaou-Kang-mu_.\n\n[327] Waters of such specific gravity that even a feather would sink.\n\n[328] Probably a pair from each stream.\n\n[329] In Foh-kien.\n\n[330] Probably equivalent to \"abbot.\"\n\n[331] Extract from the _Yuen Keen Lei Han_, vol. ccccxxxviii., p. 23.\n\n[332] In drilling an army there are names for all positions of the army.\nThus, the general says: \"Arrange yourselves like a snake, or like a\ndragon, or any other imaginable shape.\"\n\n[333] Williams gives this translation only, but I think there must be\nanother meaning; probably some sort of reptile is indicated.\n\n\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nFootnote 128 appears on page 150 of the text, footnote 157 on page\n168, and footnote 326 on page 400. The original text contains no\ncorresponding markers.\n\nSeveral quotation marks are unmatched, as they were in the original\nbook.","title":"Mythical Monsters","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":122069}