concerning the Scripture -Animals. 77 



I loft the Lerwee\ in tanning,) were depofited, fometime ago, 

 in the Mufeum of the Ro/al Societj', where they may be con- 

 fulted by the curious. 



VI. We come now to the Sixth Species, the Thau, which , The 7*4«, 



. ™^ Oryx or 



has been generally rendred the Oryx. Now this Quadruped ^"Z"^"- 

 is defcribed to be of the Goat Kind ' ; to have the Hair grow- 

 ing backward or towards the Head ; and to be of the Size of 

 an Ox, according to Herodotus \ It is furtlier noted to be a 

 fierce Animal \ contrary to what is obferved of the Goat or 

 Deer Kind; qy even o^thQ Bu^alus or Bekker et wajh; which, 

 unlefs they are irritated and highly provoked, are all of them 

 wild and timorous Creatures. Now, the only Creature that we 

 are acquainted with, to which thefe Signatures will, in any 

 Manner, appertain, is the Bufalo * ; which is well known in 

 Afia and Eg/pt, as well as in fome Parts of Chriflendom, The 

 Bufalo then may be 'io far reckoned of the Goat Kind, as the 

 Horns are not fmooth and even, as in the Ox, but rough and 

 "wrinkled. The Hair, particularly about the Head and Neck, 

 (for the other Parts are thinly cloathed,) lyes ufually in a 

 rough, curled, irregular Manner. It is of the Size of, or rather 

 bigger than, a common Ox ; agreeing fo far with the Defcrip- 

 tion Qti Herodotus. It is alfo a fullen, malevolent, fpiteful 

 Animal, being often known to purfue the unwary Traveller, 

 whom it will voluntarily attack and fall upon with great Fierce- 

 nefs. If the Bufalo then, as being naturally of too wild and 

 untradable a Difpofition, was originally excluded from their 

 Flocks ', (however it may have been afterwards rendred more 

 tame and domefticated , ) the Thau or Oryx may not impro- 

 perly be taken for that very Creature. 



VII. Thus far we are well acquainted with the Animals that The zomn 

 ftill continue, as it may be prefumed they have always been, loparMS"ot 

 Natives of thefe Countries. There is no fmall Probability ^'^''•^''* 



1 Caprarum fylvcftiium generis funt & Orjges ; foli quibufdam didi comrario pilo 

 veftiri & ad caput verfo. Pim. I. 8. c. J3. 



2 MtjtS®- crt 71 ^eUr T»7B )(st7« /3« eji. Herod, de Orjge in M.elp. 



Apf;o%/>t@' OPTS, iw-tc}f StfeoJl (taiMstt. Opp'un, Cyn. 1. 4 J. 



4 Buffelum ex bourn (ferorum pociffimum) genere effe, tota ipfius corporis figura loqui- 

 tur. Buffclus audax, ferufque & infenfus homini Antiqua hujus Quadrupedis nomen 



later. Aldrov. de C^^adr. Bifulcis. p. ^6^. 



J ColumcUu places the Orjx, amongll his Fera pecudes ; an Expreflion that may rather 

 denote the Creature to be of a wild, than of a fierce Nature. Fer£ fatA pecudes ut capreoli, 

 dammque nee minus Orjgum, Ccrvorumque genera. 



\J therefore, 



