40 History of Nature. [ BOOK VIII. 



Horn ; also a Wild Beast named Axis, 1 with its Skin like a 

 Fawn, but marked with more Spots, and those whiter. This 

 Creature is sacred to Liber Pater. The Orsians of India 

 hunt Apes, which are white all over the Body. But the most 

 furious Beast is the Monoceros: 2 his Body resembleth an 

 Horse, his Head a Stag, his Feet an Elephant, his Tail a 

 Boar; the Sound he utters is deep ; there is one black Horn 

 in the Middle of his Forehead, projecting two Cubits in 

 Length : by Report, this Wild Beast cannot possibly be 

 caught alive. Among the Hesperian Ethiopians there is a 

 Fountain named Nigris, the Head (as many have thought) 

 of the Nilus, and good Reasons there are for it, as we have 

 alleged before. 3 Near this Spring there is found a Wild Beast 

 called Catoblepas, 4 of small Size otherwise, and heavy in all 

 his other Limbs ; but his Head is so great that his Body is 

 hardly able to bear it ; it is always carried downwards to- 

 ward the Earth, for otherwise he would destroy all Man- 

 kind : for every one that looketh upon his Eyes immediately 

 dieth. The like Property hath the Serpent called a Basilisk, 5 



1 Cervus Axis, of Authors. The Spotted Axis Deer. This beautiful 

 animal is found in India, and the larger islands of the Indian Archipelago. 

 Wern. Club. 



3 If credit is given to the ancient writers on natural history, nothing 

 can be more clear than that there once existed a creature which answered 

 to the modern idea of what is termed the Unicorn, and is represented as 

 one of the supporters of the royal arms of Britain. JElian, book xvi. 

 ch. 20, describes it under the name of Cartazonos, as inhabiting a limited 

 district in the interior of India ; where, however, modern research has 

 failed to discover it. For a long time the tooth of the Narwahl was sup- 

 posed to be the horn that projected from between the eyes of the Uni- 

 corn ; although it did not exactly answer to the description, being white 

 instead of black. See note on the Oryx, Book xi. ch. 46 ; and Vol. i. 

 p. 75 ; Book ii. note. Wern. Club. 



3 Lib. v. c. 9. Wern. Club. 



4 Antelope Gnu. GMELIN. The Gnu. This animal, which inhabits 

 the plains of South Africa, is generally supposed to be the Katoblepas of 

 the ancients. JEi,iAN, Book vii. ch. 5. Wern. Club. 



5 This fabulous creature is often referred to by ancient authors, and 

 also by some comparatively modern ; by the latter of whom even its eyes 

 were supposed to convey poison. Thus, Shakspeare makes the Lady 



