166 CRITICAL NOTICES OF NEW PUALICATIONS. 



horned, and thei speken nought, but thei gronten as pigges. And there is 

 also gret plentee of wylde houndes ; and there ben raanye popegayes that 

 they clepen psitakes in hire langage, and thei speken of hire propre nature, 

 and salven men, that gon thorghe the desertes, and speken to hem als ap- 

 pertely as thoughe it were a man. And thei that speken wel han a large 

 tonge and han 5 toos upon a fote : and there ben also of othere manere that 

 han but three toos, and thei speken not, or but lytylle, for thei con not but 

 cryen." 



In conferring farther on the " Lordscipe of Prestre John," our 

 kind instructor favours us with a picture of the " Develes Hed in the 

 Valeye Perilouse in mydde place of the whiche, under a roche, is an 

 hede and the visage of a devyl bodyliche, and he beholdethe everysche 

 man so scharply with dreadfulle eyen that ben evere more mevynge 

 and sparklynge as fuyr, with so horrible countenance, that no man 

 dar not neighen him ; and fro him comethe out smoke and stink and 

 fuyr, and so moche abhomynacioun that unethe no man may there 

 endure." Journeying from the isles of the Lordschipe, of whiche the 

 moral and natural history are briefly sketched, we arrive at the " Yle 

 of Bragman," and are delighted at finding it gret, gode and plenty- 

 fous, where ben gode folk and trewe, and of gode lyvynge aftre hire 

 beleve, and of gode feythe. A neighbouring island is clepen Gno- 

 sophe, and its inhabitants are gode folk and fulle of gode feythe ; but 

 thei gon alle naked. Their wisdom is exemplified in a dialogue be- 

 tween Alexander the Great and the men of that contree. In the fol- 

 lowing section, we read of the " hilles of gold that Pissemyres kepen," 

 and of the four Flomes that issue from the terrestrial paradise. These 

 golden hills, " as men seyn," are in the Yle of Taprobane, and there, 

 in Sir John's diction, 



" Ben grete hilles of gold that Pissemyres keepen fulle diligently i and 

 thei frymen the pured gold and casten away the unpured. And theise Pis- 

 simyres ben grete as houndes, so that no man may get of that gold but be 



frete sleighte ; and therfore whan it is grete hete the Pissemyres resten 

 em in the erthe from pryme of the day in to noon, and than the folk of the 

 contree taken camayles, dromedaries and hors, and othere bestes, and gon 

 thidre and chargen hem in alle haste that thei may ; and aftre that thei 

 fleen awey in alle haste that the bestes may go, or the Pissemyres comen 

 out of the erthe ; and in other tymes whan it is not so bote, and that the 

 Pissemyres ne resten hem not in the erthe, than thei geten gold be this so- 

 tyltee ; thei taken mares that han zonge coltes or foles and leyn upon the 

 mares voyde vesselles made therfore, and thei ben alle open aboven and 

 hangynge lowe to the erthe, and thanne thei sende forth the mares for to 

 pasturen aboute tho hilles, and with holden the foles with hem at home. 

 And whan the pissemyres sen tho vesselles thei lepen in anon, and thei han 

 this kynde that thei lete no thinge ben empty among hem, but anon thei 

 fiUen it, be it what manor of thinge that it be, and so thei fillen tho vesselles 

 with gold. And whan that the folk supposen that the vesselles ben fulle 

 thei putten forthe anon the zonge foles and maken hem to nyzen aftre hire 

 dames, and than anon the mares retornen towardes hire foles with hire 

 charges of gold, and than men dischargen hem and geten gold y now be this 

 sotyltee; for the Pissemyres* wole suffren bestes to gon and pasturen 

 amonges hem, but no man in no wyse." 



• It might be a theme for Naturalists to decide whether or no this orien- 



