Ancient Africana. 309 



hath already wrought life in the fore-parts, head 

 and brest, the hinder joynts yet remaining in the 

 forme of earth. Thus I suppose they wo d have 

 man at first growne out of their soyle without the 

 immediate hand of Grod in his creation . . . and 

 it hath bene the opinion of some vaine Philosophers 

 . . . that there the sunne by his propinquitie 

 wrought soonest upon the moisture of the ground 

 and made it fit for mortalitie to sprout in." With 

 regard to the stories of " monstrous people without 

 heads, with their eyes and mouthes in their 

 breasts," he was of opinion that though "main- 

 tained to this day by some Authors of good 

 esteeme," they were but idle fables invented by 

 those who told them, " either out of their owne 

 error, or else a desire of glory more then they had 

 deserved; or perhaps a Travailors tricke to cheat 

 the ignorant world that could not confute their 

 reports." However, he apparently believed all the 

 wonderful tales extant in his time of ravening 

 beasts and other horrible monsters, for he tells us 

 that beside other " annoyances," the country was 

 "so full of a venomous kind of Serpent that in 

 some places they dare not dresse their Land, 

 unlesse they first fence their leggs with bootes 

 against the sting. Other wild creatures there are 

 which range about, and preserve to themselves a 

 great portion of this Country, and make a wilder- 

 nesse of Lyons, Leopards, Elephants, and in some 

 places Crocodiles, Hyaenas, Basilisks, and, indeed, 

 monsters without number or name." After this 



