Lib. 2. cap. 17.
Strange Hunting.
Strange accident of two Leopards.
Adv. Jovin. l. 2.
Lampridius relates, That Heliogabalus the Roman Emperor, took great pleasure in Domestick Lions, and Leopards, to frighten his Guests withal; for with the third Course, they were all brought in, and sate betwixt the Invited, a Man and a Beast. The great Cham, as Paulus Venetus an Eye-witness attests, Rides on Hunting, attended in couples with tame Leopards. The King of Camboja in like manner is serv’d with Panthers: Scaliger adds also, That they went not unprovided of a Lamb or Goat, to give the Panther, lest falling into his natural ferocity, provok’d by hunger, he should make the Huntsmen his Quarry, if he had no other Prey. But notwithstanding some wilde Beasts seem to forget their Voracious Nature, yet there ought great care to be taken in the Transporting of them, because they oftentimes grow wild again, which France can witness, where two Leopards, a Male and a Female being tam’d, presently after the death of King Francis, whether negligently or on purpose, let loose, ran into the Woods, and near Orleans devour’d a great number of People, and Cattel: Gesner saith, That some Womens bodies were found, who were untouch’d, onely their Breasts eaten by the Leopards, as if they took them for the daintiest part; which is not unlike the antient Jeres, who according to Saint Hierom, entertain’d their Guests as a most delicious Dish, with Womens Breasts, and Mens Buttocks Roasted. Besides, the devouring nature of these Wilde Beasts, what profit could Tygers, Lions, Wolves, Bears, and the like advantage the Transporter? And how came Serpents, Adders, and other Reptiles, thither over the Ocean, that with no Art whatsoever can be made tame? Were the small Vessels just laden with such terrible Creatures, when against their wills, they were by Storm driven on a new Coast? By these impossibilities we may easily judge, that the Americans came thither by Land, and no other way, but how, and upon what occasion must be our next enquiry.
Sect. II.
Two reasons wherefore the people remove from their Countreys.
¶ Histories generally gives us onely two accounts, Why People remov’d from one Countrey to another, either not, or thinly inhabited; whether driven by force, or of their own accord, so to unburthen and give ease to their too Plethorick Countreys.
The Flood acknowledg’d by the Americans and other Heathens but mysteriously.