82 
TRAVELS IN 
not enjoyed by them, un^efs at particiilat fea«^ 
fons, an 1 in certain countries. The ancients 
have defcribfd the ba!ilifk as killing with its 
look. This is certainly a fable ; but is it not 
a fable, ab'urd as it may apr^ear, that originally 
had fome truth for its foundation ? No doubt, 
in remote periods, circumrtances may have 
been obferved fimilar to thofe of my fhrlke 
and my moufe ; or, perhaps, even to that re* 
lated by the captain. Hence they might have 
concluded that a ferpent, impregnable himfelf, 
and always conqueror, fince he could kill by a 
look, could be no other than the king of his 
race. From his royalty they would naturally 
have called himbafilirK; and as a fovereign 
muft have fome particular figu to atteft his pre- 
eminence, the poets, who often exaggerate by 
wifhing to adorn nature, may have added the 
wings, the feet and the crown. 
This digreffion, of which, perhaps, the fuh- 
je£t would have efcaped my memory, was de- 
ferving, I conceived, of a place in my work ; 
and, though it has fomewhat interrupted the 
dramatic effeft, I could not abftain from relat- 
ing it in the order in which it preft nted itfelf 
to my mind. Whatever title may be given to 
my 
