322 CURIOUS CREATURES. 



body, he giveth forth his voyce : at the first hearing 

 whereof, all the Serpents hide themselves in the neare 

 adjoyning sandes, or else runne into theyr holes, not 

 daring to come forth againe, untill the Cockatrice have 

 well dyned and satisfied himselfe. At which time he 

 giveth another signall by his voyce of his departure : 

 then come they forth, but never dare meddle with the 

 remnants of the dead beast, but go away to seeke some 

 other prey. And if it happen that any other pestifer- 

 ous beast cometh unto the waters to drinke neare the 

 place wherein the Cockatrice is lodged, so soone as 

 he perceiveth the presence thereof, although it be not 

 heard nor scene, yet it departeth back againe, without 

 drinking, neglecting his owne nutriment, to save itselfe 

 from further danger : whereupon Lucanus saith, 



Late sibi submovet omne 



S) et in vacua regnat Basiliscus arena, 



Which may be thus englished ; 



He makes the "vulgar farre from him to stand, 

 While Cockatrice alone raignes on the sand. 



11 Now we are to intreate of the poyson of this serpent, 

 for it is a hot and a venemous poyson, infecting the Ayre 

 round about, so as no other Creature can live neare 

 him, for it killeth, not onely by his hissing, and by his 

 sight, (as is sayd of the Gorgons) but also by his touch- 

 ing, both immediately, and mediately; that is to say, 

 not onely when a man toucheth the body it selfe, but 

 also by touching a Weapon wherewith the body was 

 slayne, or any other dead beast slaine by it, and there 

 is a common fame, that a Horseman taking a Speare in 

 his hand, which had bcene thrust through a Cockatrice, 



