THE UNICORN 



"There are amongst the Indians wild asses which are like horses but 

 bigger ; they have a white body and a red head, and their eyes are blue. And 

 they have a horn a cubit in length, in the middle of the forehead. Now the 

 scrapings of such a horn are put in a drink, and are a safeguard against deadly 

 drugs. And the lower part of the horn, for about a couple of hand-breadths 

 from the forehead, is wholly white ; but the upper part of the horn is pointed, 

 and of a crimson hue, wholly red, and the other part in the middle is black. 

 Those who drink out of these horns (for they are fashioned into drinking 

 cups) are said never to be seized with convulsions, nor epilepsy. Neither are 

 they enslaved by drugs, whether they drink before, or after the drug, wine or 

 water, or anything else out of the cups. 



" All other asses, whether domestic or wild, and all other single-hoofed 

 animals, have no ankle-bone nor have they a gall-bladder on the liver ; 

 but these animals have both an ankle-bone and a gall-bladder on the liver — an 

 ankle-bone indeed, as fine as ever I saw, like that of the ox, both in form and 

 size ; and it is as heavy as lead ; and for colour it is like vermilion, and 

 in depth likewise. 



" Now this creature is very swift and very strong ; and nothing, neither'a 

 horse nor anything else, can pursue and overtake it. It begins running rather 

 slowly, but the longer it runs, the more marvellously it exerts itself, and 

 it runs faster and faster. In other ways, too, this animal is not like other 

 beasts ; for when they lead their young offspring on to the pastures and 

 are surrounded by a body of mounted men, they do not desert their foals and 

 fly ; but they fight with their horns, and with kicks and bites, and destroy 

 often horses and men. But they can also be taken captive, when shot 

 by arrows or javelins ; for you could not take them alive. Their flesh is not 

 to be eaten for its bitter taste ; but they are hunted for the sake of their horns 

 and ankle bones." — Ctesias (400 B.C.) 



"Among the wild animals of India is a creature with a single horn, 

 which is called there ' cartazonos ' ; in size it is equal to a full-grown horse, 

 and it has a mane and chestnut-coloured hair. It is very swift of foot, and its 

 feet are without joints like an elephant's, and it has a tail like that of a pig. 



