ft 
471 
more than to fhew, that we are in much greater Danger of caufe he delighted much in the hunting of thefe Animals,’ 
bemcr impofed on by. the Criiicifnis of the Moderns, than by afid was, at laft, killed by one of them c . The Circuni- 
either the Credulity or the Negligence of the Antients ; ftance, however, of this Creature’s fighting with a Lion § 
for, before we can accufe Pliny of having paffed llightly is very lingular, and fhews the Opinion entertained in the 
oy e r fo extraordinary a Creature as this Ethiopian Giraffe Eaft of the Courage and Strength of the wild Afs* We 
is fuppofed to be, we muff firft be fure, that this was may add to this another Proof of the fame Nature, viz , 
really the Creature he faw •, whereas, I think, I have that one, indeed the laft of the Khaliffs, of xhtOmpiades i 
made it more than, probable, that it was not : After all, if was called Mervan Hemar d , or Mervan the Afs, (for the 
there be, as it is certain there is, a Creature called a Giraffa , Arabians ufe the Word Hemar both for a wild and tame 
cr Giraffe , in the Indies , which agrees exaftly with the Afs) on account of his great Courage and Strength. This 
Defcription of the Animal feen at Confiantinople between lingular Animal is not, however, particularly defcribed by 
four and fivehundred Years ago, and which was then allowed any who have travelled in the Indies. But it is alfd a Na- 
to be the Giraffe of the Antients, I cannot apprehend, tive of various Countries in Africa. And this affords us 
why we fhould not admit this to be the Creature men- an Opportunity of obliging the Reader with an exaft De~ 
tioned by Pliny , which involves us neither in Abfurdity fcriptiori and Print of it, from an Author of unqueftion- 
nor Contradiction, rather than agree with Bellonius and able Credit e . He defcribes it thus : 
Ludolf in fuppofing this prodigious Animal, which Father The wild Afs is one of the lovelieft Animals I have ever 
Mendez , and many other Travellers, have feen in Ethi - feen ; he is of the Size of an ordinary Saddle-PIorfe ; his 
opia, to be the Camelopardus of the Antients •, though it Limbs finely turned, and well proportioned ; his Coat 
does not, in any refpeft, agree with the Defcriptidns they very foft, and clofe 5 from his Main to his Tail, there runs 
have given of this Creature. a large black Lift, from whence proceeds abundance of 
18= The wild Afs, as we find it defcribed by the An- Streaks, which, falling regularly down on both Sides, meet 
tients, is undoubtedly an imaginary Creature ; and the under his Belly •, thefe Streaks are of different Colours, 
very Defcription of it, is, in a manner, a fufficient Proof, fome white, fome yellow, others of a Chefnur, which are 
Ctejias tells us, that it is of the Size of a Horfe ; that it has a blended and mixed on their Sides, fo as to ftrike the Eye 
fine white Front, and on it a Horn, of the Length of a Cu- exceedingly by their beautiful Mixture : The Plead and 
bit ; the Upper-part of which is red, and the lower black : the Ears are in like manner ftreaked with very beautiful 
The Head of a purple Colour, the Eye of a bright blue, Colours : The Hair of his Mane and Tail, for the moft 
and the Body white, but ftreaked withfeveral Colours ; and part, either white or of a Chefnut- colour, with a fmall In- 
the Coat of a moft exquifite Beauty. When firft purfued termixture of Yellow. This Creature is fo fwiit, that no 
by the Hunters, it does not move at any great Rate Plorfe can come near him ; fo that it is with infinite Dirfi- 
but, increafing its Speed by degrees, it flies, at laft, with culty he is overtaken ; and whenever they are fo lucky as 
fuch prodigious Swiitnefs, that no Horfe can come near it. to catch one, it is fold at a very extravagant Rate. , 
The only Method of taking it, is by watching when it goes Father Tellez 1 informs us, that the Great Mogul gave 
Into the Meadows to feed its Young ; of which it is fo two thoufand Ducats for one of them. Abundance of 
tender, that it will never abandon them, however di- Pains have been taken at the Cape of Good Hope to tame 
ftreflfed ; it expofes itfelf, in their Defence, to all Dangers, them, but to no purpofe ; though they have been taken 
with a moft defperate Courage, combating the Plunters very young : And it is reported, that, of ail Creatures in 
both with its Horn and Heels, till, in the .End, being ftuck the World, it has the ftrongeft and moft ungovernable 
full of Darts, it dies through Lofs of Blood :• The Indians , Paffion for Liberty. The Reader, after reading this De-^ 
as foon as it tails, cut off its Plorn, and its Hoofs, which fcription, which agrees exadly with that given us by an- 
are of the moft bright and beautiful Red ; and next, feiz- other Traveller, of great Reputation, will afk why it is called 
ing the young ones, they carry them home, and breed an Afs ; and the only Anfwer that can be given is, that, with 
them up tame. Experience having taught them, that if all its Beauty, it has the long and large Ears of that Ani- 
this Creature once attains its full Strength, which it does mal, from whence it derives its Name. Mr. Ludolf com- 
in about two Years, it is impoftible, by any Art, to conquer plains of this moft heavily, and wifhes that, to free the 
the Savagenefs of its Nature ri As Ctejias refided at the Animal from this Difgrace, it might have its Ears cut off A 
P erfian Court, and wrote all his Account of the Indies from We owe to this Writer another remarkable Proof of the 
Hearfay, we need not wonder, that he fell into fuch Mif- Beauty and Value of this Creature ; who informs us, that 
takes : Neither is it at (all improbable, that fome of thefe an Abyffmian Embaffador at Batavia having made a Prefect 
Vermilion Horns and Hoofs, which were dyed of this Co- of one of them to the Dutch Governor-General of the 
lour by Art, might be carried to the P erfian Court ; and Indies ; he, by the next Ship, fent it to the Emperor of 
this Story of the wild Afs invented, to make them fell at a Japan ; who was fo charmed with it, that he made the 
dearer Rate; imce many Inftances might be given of Company Returns in Money and in rich Silks, to the Value 
Frauds of the like Nature, pradtifed with the fame View, of one hundred and fixty thoufand Crowns, 
in regard fo other Commodities. Mr. Thevenot tells us, that he faw one in its Paffage 
I his Story, however improbable, feerils to have kept through Egypt, which was a Prefent to the Grand Signor ; 
its Ground for a long time, fince Pliny tells us, that the and was fo exquifitely beautiful, that he could not help 
Indian Afs had only one Plorn ; and that no other Creature, fufpedting there was fome Art ufed in colouring its Coat ; 
that did not divide the Hoof, had Paftern Bones b : But for which, however, there does not appear to be any juft 
he gives us no diftinbt Defcription of this Animal. The Foundation h . Some of our old Travellers to the Indies 
oriental Hiftories fpeak much of the wild Als, and ac- report, that, near the Mouth of the River Ganges , the 
knowledge it to be the fwifteft and moft beautiful of all Natives fliewed them abundance of Horhs, which they af- 
four-footed Animals. In the old Perfian Language, this ferted to be the Horns of wild Affes: Whence it appears. 
Creature was called Gur , or Gour , and Baharam , one of that the Author firft-mentioned did not invent the Story 
the antient Kings of that Country was furnamed Baharam he tells us concerning them V There is a very extraor- 
though Authors do not well agree as to the Reafon dinary Creature, not only defcribed, but expreffed in a 
Some report, that it was becaufe he once ihot, when he' wooden Cut, by Purchas : He tells us, that it is bred in 
was hunting, a Lion, and a wild Afs, that were fighting, the Kingdom of Congo , and is there called Zebra k . It is, 
with the fame Arrow : But others affirm, that it was be- fays he, of all Creatures the moft comely, refembling an 
a Ctejias in Indicts, c. 25. JElian dc Animal, lib.iv. c. 5 2. Jonflon Pbeai. Animal, tom. ii. p. ij. b p/j n y JVhf. Plifi. lib. viii. c. 2 1. 
C CDfoeBtBibliothe^ue Orientals, p. 174. d Idem ibid. p. 447 . e Kolben Defcription du Cap de Bonne Efperance, Vol.'m.p. 22 . 
f *!_' iff i- c - * 4 * 8 Ludolf. Comment ar. ad Hift. ABthiop. p. 150. N 9 79. ‘ Infortunatum Animal, quod tarn pu lebris Coloribks 
pracditum, jfni^ no men in Europa ferre cogatur ! Aures certe, quibus debonefiatur, qbfcindi pbjfunt, quod in Germania faciunt Equisl h FoydH 
v 755 * 1 I find this Paffage in the 5th Volume of Purchases Pilgrims, p. 436, in the Travels of one Mr. Finch, an 
tnglijb Merchant, who paffed through the Territories of the Mogul, in the Beginning of the laft Century ; who fays, that the Indians affirm them 
to be the Unicorn’s Horn : And told him farther, that fome of them were of very great Price ; and that it was only of the lefs valuable Horns that 
they made drinking Cups, and adorned their Bucklers with Pieces of them ; of which he faw many. k See his Pilgrims, VoL ii., p. 984. 
where there is a priiff of the Zebra, or Zabra : But in his Pilgrimage, p. 623. he gives us a. larger Account From the Converfation of Andrew 
f'fff AI 1 ; n j~ Serjeant in a Portuguefe Company, thought fit, on fome QcCaikm or other, to run away from them, and lived nine Months 
in the Woods, which gave him frequent Opportunities of obferving this, and other wild Bealls. 
i Horfe ■ 
of the East Indie 
s. 
