po Of the Mofaic Pavement 



one of thefe Birds painted ; which^ being different from this, 

 in having red and yellow Feathers, appears to be no other than 

 the Manucodiata or Bird of Paradife : which therefore may be 

 well fufpeded to be the very Thoenix of the Ancients. But I 

 fhould rather take That, which is here difplayed, to be ihtTea- 

 cock, which was a Native o^ Ethiopia, and brought, with other 

 Animals and Curiofities, from the South Eaft Parts of that 

 Country, to King Solomon, r Chron. 9. ai. 



The Tcrto,fe. Tlicrc is room to conjecture, from a Couple of Tortoifes (O), 

 that are funning Themfelves, upon a Bank of Sand ; and from 



The Crab, the like Number of Crahs (P), that are fwimming in the Wa- 

 ters ; that the inland Parts of thefe Countries, were produdtive 

 of both thefe Animals. 



Thccerafies, Among the Reptiles, we are entertained with fome few 



no e i.iea ^^^^^^^ ^ ^j^^ Serpentine Kind : though, it is fomewhat extra- 

 ordinary, that none of them iliould have the Marks and Signa- 



The N^trixtuxes of the Ceraftes, which was fo well known in Egypt. The 

 common Snake or Matrix torquata, is called, by the Inhabi- 

 tants of thefe Countries, HanneJ}3\ which, by an eafyTranli- 

 tion and Change of Letters, is of the fame Force and Sound, 

 with the Scripture [s^nj] Rahhejfj. This, Gen. 5. i. is laid to 

 he more Subtle, than all the other Beafts of the Field ; which 

 Character, how applicable foever it may be to the whole Gentts ; 

 yet it appears, in this Text, to be attributed to one particular 

 Species only. The common Snake therefore, the fame with 

 the Natrix, or the Anguis of Efculapius, was the Serpent that 

 beguiled our firft Parent. 



TheA,«'«ms Othcrs of this Family (W), are reprefented of an enormous 

 Size : and were intended, perhaps, for that Branch of this Fa- 

 mily, which are commonly called ^c^-^-m by the Greeks, and 

 [D*rjn] Tanninim by the facred Writers. The largeft of thefe 

 'Dragons (X), has feized upon a Bird, an Ibis, or one at leaft, 

 as it appears to be, of the CraneKind. If then, the common 

 Fame be true , that the Rattle Snake ' , and other Serpents, 



I I am abundantly fatisfied, from many witnefTes both Englifl} and Indian, that a Rattle 

 Snake will charm Squirrels and Birds from a Tree into it's Mouth. Vid. Paul Dudley Efq; 

 his Account of the Rattle Snake. Philof. Tranf. N°.^76. p. 292. Dr. Mead on Poyfons. p. 82. 

 Others imagine, that the Rattle Snake, by fome Artifice or other, had before bitten them j and /vs the 

 Poifon might not immediately operate, the Squirrel or Bird might, in the Surprize, betake themfelves 

 to fome neighbouring Tree, from whence they might afterwards fall do%un dead ; or into the Mouth 

 of the Rattle Snake ; which, fenfible of the mortal Wound that had been given, was impatiently 

 waiting for them, Vid. Le Voyage de I'Amhique du P. Labat. & Sahn. Mod. Hift. Vol.xxx. 



have 



