It was at the games of Pompeius Magnus that the chama[1709] was first exhibited; an animal called rufius by the Gauls; having the figure of a wolf, with the spots of the pard. There were also exhibited some animals from Æthiopia, which they called by the Greek name, κήποι,[1710] the hinder extremities of which resembled the human feet and legs, while the fore-feet were like hands. These animals have not been seen at Rome since that time.
CHAP. 29. (20.)—THE RHINOCEROS.
At the same games the rhinoceros was also exhibited, an animal which has a single horn projecting from the nose;[1711] it has been frequently seen since then. This too is another natural-born enemy of the elephant.[1712] It prepares itself for the combat by sharpening its horn against the rocks; and in fighting directs it chiefly against the belly of its adversary, which it knows to be the softest part. The two animals are of equal length, but the legs of the rhinoceros are much the shorter: its skin is the colour of box-wood.
CHAP. 30. (21.)—THE LYNX, THE SPHINX, THE CROCOTTA, AND THE MONKEY.
Æthiopia produces the lynx[1713] in abundance, and the sphinx, which has brown hair and two mammæ on the breast,[1714] as well as many monstrous kinds of a similar nature; horses with wings, and armed with horns, which are called pegasi;[1715] the crocotta, an animal which looks as though it had been produced by the union of the wolf and the dog,[1716] for it can break any thing with its teeth, and instantly on swallowing it digest it with the stomach; monkeys, too, with black heads, the hair of the ass, and a voice quite unlike that of any other animal.[1717] There are oxen, too, like those of India, some with one horn, and others with three; the leucrocotta, a wild beast of extraordinary swiftness, the size of the wild ass, with the legs of a stag, the neck, tail, and breast of a lion, the head of a badger, a cloven hoof, the mouth slit up as far as the ears, and one continuous bone instead of teeth;[1718] it is said, too, that this animal can imitate the human voice. Among the same people, there is also found an animal called eale; it is the size of the river-horse, has the tail of the elephant, and is of a black or tawny colour.[1719] It has also the jaws of the wild boar, and horns that are moveable, and more than a cubit in length, so that, in fighting, it can employ them alternately, and vary their position by presenting them directly or obliquely, according as necessity may dictate. But the wild bulls which this country produces are the fiercest of all; they are larger than our domestic bull, and exceed all the others in swiftness; are of a tawny colour, with azure eyes, and the hair turned the contrary way; while the jaws open as far as the ears, and the horns are as moveable as those of the eale. The hide of this animal is as hard as flint, and effectually resists all wounds. These creatures pursue all the other wild beasts, while they themselves can only be taken in pitfalls, where they always perish from excess of rage. Ctesias informs us, that among these same Æthiopians, there is an animal found, which he calls the mantichora;[1720] it has a triple row of teeth, which fit into each other like those of a comb, the face and ears of a man, and azure eyes, is of the colour of blood, has the body of the lion, and a tail ending in a sting, like that of the scorpion. Its voice resembles the union of the sound of the flute and the trumpet; it is of excessive swiftness, and is particularly fond of human flesh.
CHAP. 31.—THE TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS OF INDIA.
There are in India oxen also with solid hoofs[1721] and a single horn;[1722] and a wild beast called the axis, which has a skin like that of a fawn, but with numerous spots on it, and whiter;[1723] this animal is looked upon as sacred to Bacchus. The Orsæan Indians hunt down a kind of ape, which has the body white[1724] all over; as well as a very fierce animal called the monoceros,[1725] which has the head of the stag, the feet of the elephant, and the tail of the boar, while the rest of the body is like that of the horse; it makes a deep lowing noise, and has a single black horn, which projects from the middle of its forehead, two cubits in length.[1726] This animal, it is said, cannot be taken alive.
CHAP. 32.—THE ANIMALS OF ÆTHIOPIA; A WILD BEAST WHICH KILLS WITH ITS EYE.
Among the Hesperian Æthiopians is the fountain of Nigris, by many, supposed to be the head of the Nile. I have already mentioned the arguments by which this opinion is supported.[1727] Near this fountain, there is found a wild beast, which is called the catoblepas;[1728] an animal of moderate size, and in other respects sluggish in the movement of the rest of its limbs; its head is remarkably heavy, and it only carries it with the greatest difficulty, being always bent down towards the earth. Were it not for this circumstance, it would prove the destruction of the human race; for all who behold its eyes, fall dead upon the spot.[1729]