Settlement, and Commerce 
I Ioffe of the fineft Make, and overlaid with party- coloured 
Laces or Girts from Head to Tail. It is very clear, from 
this'Defcription and from the Cut, that this Zebra is no other 
than the wild Afs. Pur chas , had his Account from Andrew 
Baiiek who lived long in the Kingdom of Congo, and had 
Slot many of thefe Creatures wild in the Woods ; for they 
were fo little acquainted with Fire-Arms, that, when he 
had fliot one* the reft of the Herd flood gazing at him, 
till he had brought down three or four more : Which Ac- 
count of his is the more credible, inafmuch as it agrees 
perfectly with other Relations concerning this Creature. 
19. The Antients mention, befides the wild Afs, an- 
other Indian Animal, which they called in Greek the Mo- 
noceros ; in Latin , the Li corn, or Unicorn. 1 his Crea- 
ture is thus* defcribed by Pliny : It is, fays he, the fierceft 
and moil furious Beaft in the World; in its Body, refem- 
bling a Horfe ; in his Head, not unlike a Stag ; his Feet 
having fome Likenefs to thofe of art Elephant ; and his 
Tail, refemhling that of a Boar. The Noife made by this 
Creature is hideous and terrible ; in his Forehead he has 
a black Horn, about three Feet in Length* with which 
he fo defends himfelf, that, as it is faid, he cannot poffi- 
biy be taken alive. Another Writer of Antiquity contra- 
dicts the Litter Part of this Account, and affirms, that the 
Indians not only take, but tame them, and make ufe of 
them to draw in Chariots ; but he owns, that this is im- 
practicable, if they are above two Years old when they are 
taken ; and that they are always governed by a fliarp Bit, 
or rather a Bit with little Spikes in it. He mentions alfo 
their black Horns, and fays, that the Cups made of them, 
will not hold any Poifon a . All thefe Stories feem to be 
founded in the admirable Properties of the Horn of the 
Rhiqoceros, which is, perhaps, the only Unicom ghat 
ever exifted. 
The Manticora is another Creature, which all the antient 
Writers have mentioned on the Credit of Ctefias b . But 
Arijlotle c , in fpeaking of it, fays, that if Ctefias be to be 
believed, there is fuch an Animal, and then copies his De- 
fcription ; which is this : The Manticora has a Face and 
Ears refembling a Man, blue Eyes, and the reft of its 
Body red, of the Size and Shape of that of a Lion. It 
is armed with a triple Row of Teeth, and devours both 
Men and Beafts, having a Tail armed with a Sting, like a 
Scorpion; his Voice refembles the Noife of a Piute and 
Trumpet founded together. This Beaft is exceffively 
fvvift, and one of the moil dreadful in the World. If we 
confider this Defcription attentively, and make fome rea- 
lisable Abatements for the Credulity of its Author, and 
the Paffion he had for Wonders, we fhall fee that it is no 
other than a Species of the Tyger ; I mean that kind 
which has a Head like a Monky, and which has been ftiewn 
in Europe under the Name of the Man-tyger ; and it is 
indeed a Creature of a very horrid AfpeCt, fo that, feen at a 
Diftance, it might well enough ftrike the Fancy fo, as to 
give Rife to this Defcription. 
As Ctefias only defcribed the Manticora,- fo Alii an 
alone c! mentions another ftrange Creature in the Indies, cal- 
led Poephagos , of which he gives us the following Account. 
This Animal, which is as big again as an ordinary Horfe, 
is much efteeaied by the Indians, for the exquifite Beauty 
of its Hair. The Tail of this Animal is about three Feet 
in Length, and the Hair of it much finer and fofter than 
that of a Horfe, which makes the Women of that Country 
efteem it for Ilead-dreftes : But few Ornaments are dearer 
or harder to be met with ; for, notwithftanding its large 
Size* there is fcaree any Animal fwifter than the Poephagos , 
or that is taken with greater Difficulty'. It defends itfelf 
againft the Hunters, and their Dogs, with wonderful 
Courage and Obftinacy ; and fometimes, being too hard 
for the Dogs* the Pluntfmen come in to their A fii fiance, 
and, by a Shower of final l poifoned Arrows, quickly de- 
stroy the Beaft. Its Skin is ahnoft as valuable as its Tail- ; 
but, as for its Fleffi, it is abfolutely ufelefs. 
No modern Writer mentions any Creature in the Indies, 
that has the lefc Refemblance to this Defcription ; and, 
a Pliny Nat. Hifi. lib .V iii. c. 21. JElian de Anhtial. lib. xiii.- e, 9. lit 
Pliny Nat, Hiji, lib. viii. f. 21. JElian Hi ft. jfnim , lib, iW c* 21, 
fen if tion du -hap dc ‘Botin c tffpevancs^ Vol » iii® p* 21* 
one might have imagined, that It was durely a Creature of 
Fancy, if Mr. Ko 'lben, whom we have fo often mentioned" 
had not allured us, that a Creature of this Kind had been 
actualiy feen in Africa , not far from' the Cape of Good 
Hope. The Story, in his own Words, runs thus e • « j 
■ remember to have feen, in the Lodgings of Captain 
4 Olofberg , the Picture of an Animal which exactly re- 
fi fernbled the Defcription given of the Poephagos. I took 
c aft Opportunity of inquiring after the Beaft itfelf, and 
1 received from the Captain the following Account: Thar 
‘ travelling once in the Country of the Hottentots , at" a 
‘ confiderable Diftance from the Cape, he faw an Animal 
‘ exaCtly like that reprefented in the Picture ; and, havino- 
‘ 'never feen, or indeed heard. of, any thing like it before^ 
‘ he took fome time to confider it, with fingular Atten- 
‘ tion ; by which means, he fo effectually fixed in his 
4 Mind the Shape, Size, and Look, of the Creature 
c that, at his Return, he drew this Picture of it. As to 
4 this Reprefentation, continues Mr. Kolben, it does not 
4 make it altogether fo big as the Poephagos is repre- 
4 fented ; and there are befides fome other little Differences 
4 which I fhall remark : In the firft place, this Picture 
4 give the Creature a Mane, like that of a Horfe ; in the 
4 next, the Shape and Size of it refembles that of a laro-e 
4 Buffalo. I could not obtain any farther Accounts of this 
4 Animal from any other Perfon, there having been no- 
4 body that remembered the feeing any fuch Creature in 
4 the Country of the Hottentots , except the Gentleman I 
4 have before-mentioned/ 
It is requifite to inform the Reader, that molt of the 
Animals found in the Indies are likewife found in Africa , 
and more efpecially in Ethiopia , and in the Neighbourhood 
of the Cape of Good Hope ; and though it be true, that the 
proving fuch Creatures, as the Antients mention are found 
in thefe Parts, is no direCt Proof of their being found in. 
the Indies ; yet, it certainly demonftrates, that many of 
the Animals, mentioned by the Antients, are not Creatures 
of Imagination, but have a real Exiftence. We ougSt 
likewife to remember, that, as the Romans extended their 
Dominions to the Fronties of Perfia, fo they had an Op- 
portunity thereby of being well acquainted with the Cu- 
riofities of the moft inland Parts of the Northern Indies to- 
wards the Frontiers of Hartary, in which moft of thefe 
wild Beafts are bred ; for, as moft of our modern Tra- 
vellers have not gone any very great Diftance from the Sea 
Coaft, and, confequently, have not had much Opportu- 
nity to make themfelves fo throughly acquainted with thofe 
Parts, as that, on their Reports, we fhould be able to 
determine pofitively, whether there are fuch Creatures in 
the Indies or not. Add to this, that many of them are 
but very indifferent Judges of what they relate, as appears 
from their contradicting each other in their Defcriptions* 
as the Reader will eafily perceive from thofe of the Rhi- 
noceros. On the Whole, where the Accounts ©f the An- 
tients are equally irreconcileable to Reafon, and unfup- 
ported by modern Teftimonies, we may very reafonably 
give them up ; but otherwife, it is certainly as advifeable 
to preferve them in Collections of this Nature, that, in 
proportion as our Difcoveries increafe, we may be the 
better able to difeern how far they are contradicted or con- 
firmed by thofe Difcoveries,-. which is a Point of great 
Confequence towards perfecting natural Hiftofy ; the Con- 
fideration of which was what chiefly determined me to- 
take fo much Pains about it. The Reader will likewife 
find, that the Perufal- of this Chapter will greatly con- 
tribute to the perfect Underftanding of the, fucceeding 
Voyages. 
2 o, There was nothing contributed more to miflead and 
diftraCt the Antients, in what they have delivered concern- 
ing the- Animals in the Indies , than the vaft Number of 
Apes and Monkeys that were Natives of that Country,- , 
and of fuch different Shapes and Sizes, that it was a very 
difficult- thing to diftinguifh their various Sorts ; and, for ? 
want of doing which, it was very eafy to miftake them i 
for different kinds of Beafts. There are in the Indies of i 
xvi. c. 9- b Ctefias in Indicts,- Arifiot. de Anim. lib. if. c. t. 
« Arifiot. dt Anim. lib. ii< c- i, d i-io. xv:. c. 1 1. * De- 
ffi e fe I 
