614 Fabulous Animals. 



THE WIVEEN, WOLVEBINE. 



THIS fabulous animal somewhat resembles the dragon, 

 only that, instead of four, it has two legs, which are 

 webbed, and armed with claws. There is no doubt that 

 this imaginary being was originally conceived in the 

 brains of the poets and romancers, in times of chivalry, 

 when the Crusaders overran the plains of Palestine and 

 Assyria. The heat of the climate in some vales at the 

 foot of the mountains, which intersect the deserts of those 

 countries, was favourable to the breeding of all sorts of 

 serpents, some of an immense size. The European sol- 

 diers of Godfrey and liichard, unaccustomed to such 

 flights, were easily i'rightened, whenever they met those 

 monsters on the sedgy banks of small lakes, under the 

 shade of cedars and palm-trees, where they appeared as 

 if posted to guard the sacred waters, so precious in so 

 hot a country ; and magnified in their idle tales, when 

 inactive in camps, the bulk of the serpent they had seen. 

 The castle of Lusignan, in the province of Poitou, was 

 supposed to contain one of those winged serpents. It is 

 a very ancient armorial bearing, and now stands as sup- 

 porter to the arms of several illustrious houses. 



