Chap. 28.] THE CHAMA. 277 



CHAP. 27. THE CAMELEOPAKI) ; WHEW IT WAS PIBST SEEN AT 



EOME. 



Ttere are ,two otter*' animals, which, have some resemblance 

 to the camel. One of these is called, by the ..^Ethiopians, the 

 nabun;^ It has a neck like that of the horse, feet and legs 

 like those of the ox, a head like that of the camel, and is 

 covered with white spots upon a red ground ; from which pe- 

 culiarities it has been called the cameleopard.^' It was first 

 seen at Eome ia the Circensian games held by Csesar, the 

 Dictator.'' Since that time too, it has been occasionally seen. 

 It is more remarkable for the singularity of its appearance 

 than for its fierceness ; for which reason it has obtained the 

 name of the wUd sheep .^'' 



CHAP. 28. (19.) THE CHAMA, AND THE CBPCTS. 



It was at the games of Pompeius Magnus that the chama*' 



'^ He speaks here of only one of the animals -which resemble the camel ; 

 the giraffe, namely. The other, which he for the present omits, is the 

 ostrich. 



s' The description of the giraffe; here given, is sufficiently correct, but 

 we have a more minute account of it by Dion Cassius, B. xliii. In the 

 time of the Emperor Gordian, ten of these animals were exhibited at 

 Eome at once ; a remarkable fact, when we bear in mind that -so few, have 

 been imported into Europe for many centuries past. The giraffe is 

 figured in the mosaic at Praeneste, and under it is inscribed its name, 

 nabi. — B. It has been found that it is unable to bear the winters of 

 Europe. 



^ Its form being like that of the camel, while its spote resemble those 

 of the leopard. Horace refers to it, when speaking of an object calculated 

 to excite the vulgar gaze ; " Diversum confusa genus panthera camelo" — 

 " The race of the panther mingled with the camel," Ep. B. ii. ; Ep. i. 

 1. 195. 



39 According to Dion Cassius, B. xliii., these games were celebrated 

 A.n.c. 708.— B. 



*" This comparison can only be employed to indicate the mild nature of 

 the giraffe. — B. 



" In the older editions, the names here given to this animal were 

 "chaus" and "ruphius;" the alteration was made by Hardouin from a 

 MS. in the Eoyal Library of Paris, which he deemed of high authority, 

 and has been adopted by all the modern editors. There is considerable 

 doubt respecting the animal here designated by the name of " chama ;" it 

 appears to have been an inhabitant of Gaul, and in c. 34, is styled "lupus 

 cervarius ;" but the account does not enable us to identify it with any 



