BOOK VIII.] History of Nature. 2 1 



People call Bubalus : whereas the Bubalus 1 is bred in Africa, 

 and beareth some Resemblance to a Calf, or rather to a Stag. 

 The Northern Regions also bring forth Troops of Wild 

 Horses ; 2 as in Asia and Africa there are of Wild Asses. 3 

 Besides these there is the Alee, 4 very like a Beast of Burden, 

 but that the Height of its Ears and Neck distinguishes it. 

 Also, in the Island Scandinavia, but nowhere else in the 

 World, though spoken of by many, there is a Beast called 

 Machlis, not much unlike the Alee abovenamed, but without 

 any Bending of the Pastern, and therefore he never lieth 

 down, but Sleepeth leaning against a Tree; and when that is 

 cut down, they are taken in the Snare, for otherwise they 

 are too swift to be caught. Their upper Lip is exceeding 

 Great, and therefore as they Feed they go backward ; for if 

 they passed forward, it would be folded double. There is 

 (they say) a Wild Beast in Paeonia, which is called Bonasus, 

 with a Mane like an Horse, but otherwise resembling a 

 Bull ; arid his Horns bend so inwardly, with their Tips 

 toward the Head, that they are of no Service for Fight, and 

 therefore he hath recourse to Flight for Safety ; and in it 

 throwing out his Dung at intervals to the Distance of three 

 Acres, the Contact of which burneth them that follow, like so 

 much Fire. It is a strange thing that Leopards, Panthers, 

 Lions and such Animals, as they go, draw the Points of their 



1 Antelope bubalus. PALLAS. The Harte-beest. Wern. Club. 



3 A race of wild horses was common to the northern and other regions 

 of the earth in Pliny's time, but they appear to have been derived from a 

 domesticated stock. Like that of most other animals, and even plants, 

 that have yielded to the sway of man, the original country of the horse 

 cannot be traced with a certainty ; but as the sacred writings inform us that 

 the Egyptians were the first to train him for the use of man, it is pro- 

 bably to the northern parts of Africa that we are to look for its native 

 locality. Wern. Club. 



3 The ass still exists in a state of nature in Persia, India, and in some 

 parts of Africa ; it is larger, stronger, and more beautiful than the same 

 animal in a domestic state. Wern. Club. 



4 Alee, the Elk, Cervus Alee, of Linnaeus. What is to be understood 

 by the Machlis appears to be doubtful. The description applies only to 

 the Elk ; but part of it is clearly an error. Wern. Club. 



