Plinics Naturall Hiftorie, 



fo flop their wind, and withall, fret and gnaw the tendereft parts that they find there. Uovv iti tale 

 thefe two mortall enemies chaunce to reencounter upon the way, they brittle and bridle one 

 againft another;,and addrefle themlelves to fights but the principal! thing the dragons make at^ 

 is the eye : whereby it commeth to paflejthat many times the Elephants are found blind j pined 

 for hunger, and wornc away, and after much languifhing,for very anguifh & forrow die of their 

 venime. What reafon {hould a man alleadgc of this fo mortall warrc bctweene them, if it be not 

 a verie Iport of Nature and pleafure that ftiee takes, in matching thefe two fo great enemies to- 

 gither * and fo even and equall in every refped ? But fome report this mutuall war between them 

 after another fort : and that the occafion thereof arifeth from a naturall caufc. For(fay they)thc 

 Elephants bloud is exceeding cold,and therefore the dragons be wonderful! defirous thereof to 

 B refrefh and coole themfelves therewith, during the parching and bote jleafon of theyeere. And 

 to this purpofc they lie under the water, waiting their time to take the Elephants at a vantage 

 when they are drinking. Where they catch faft hold firft of their trunke : and they have not fo 

 Iboneclafped and entangled it with their tailc, but they fet their venomous teeth in the Ele- 

 phants earej(the onely part of all their bodie, which they cannot reach unto with their trunke) 

 ' and fo bite it hard. Now thefe dragons are fo big withalljthat they be able to receive all the Ele- 

 phants bloud.Thus are they fucked drie,untill they fall down dead ; and the dragons again,drun- 

 ken with their bloud,arc fquifcd under them,and die both together. 



Chap, xiii, 



C ^ of Dragons, 



t. T N iEthyopia there be as great dragons bred^as in India,namely, twentie cubitcs long . But I 

 Imarvell much at this one thing, why king/z/^^ihould thinke that they were crefted.They are 

 bredmoftinacountreyofiEthyopia,wherethcAfacha2iinhabite. It is reported, that upon 

 their coafts they are enwrapped foure or five of them togethcr,one within another,ljke to a hur- 

 dle or latcife worke,and thuspafle thefeas, for to find better pafluragein Arabia, cutting the 

 waves,and bearing up their heads aloft,which ferve them in fteed of failes. 



Chap, xiiii. 



D "^of monflroHs great Serpents ^mdnamly of thofe called Bo^, 



[A 71 ^g^Pj^f'^^ writeth, that there be ferpents among the Indians grown to that bigncffe^thac 

 I V I they are able to fwallow flags or buls all whole. OMetrodorm faith,That about the river 

 Rhyndacus in Pontus,there be Serpents that catch and devour the foules of the aire,bce 

 they never fo good and flight of wings,and fore they never fo high.Well knowneit is,that Atti- 

 Im Regulmfia\zn\\ under the R6manes,during the warres againft the Carthaginians, affailed 

 a Serpent neere the river Bagrada,whichcaried in length i2ofoot:and before he could conquer 

 him,was driven to difcharge upon him arroweSjquarrelsjftoneSjbulletSjand fuch like fhotjOut of 

 brakes,{lings,and other engines of artillerie,as if he had given the affault to fome ftrong towne 

 E of warre.And the proofe of this was to befeeneby the markes remaining inhis skin andchaws, 

 whichjUntill the warre of 2iuma?3tia remained in a temple or conipicuous place of Rome. And 

 this is the more credible,for that wee fee in Italie other ferpents namedlBox, fo big and huge, 

 that in the dales of the Emperour Claudm there was one of them killed in the Vaticane, within 

 the belliewhereofthere was found an infant all whole. This Serpent liveth at the firft of kines 

 railke,and thereupon taketh the name of Boce. As for other beafts, which ordinarily of latc,are 

 brought from allpartsintoItalie,and oftentimes have there been feeneaneedleifeitis for mee ta 

 defcribe their formes in particularcurioufly. 



Chap. xv. 



F ^ of Scythian beafts, and thofe that are bred in the North farts, 



VEry few favage beafts are cngendred in Scythia,forwantof trees and pafturage. Few like- 

 wife in Germanie,bordering thereupon.Howbeit3that country bringeth forth certain kinds 

 of goodly great wild boeufes : to wit, the Bifontes,mained with a collar, like Lions ; and the 

 • ^ Vri, 



