474 
51 he Difcovery, Settlement, and Commerce Book I. 
rich, the Hefh of the whole Animal is taken chopped to 
Pieces, and feat in' a Mortar into a kind of Fade, which 
is afterwards moiftened with the Blood, and fb put up into 
Paries made of the Skin of the Beaft, as the former. The 
third Sort, which is alfo tolerably good, though much fliorfc 
in Value to either of the former, is made only of the Fore- 
part of the Animal, from the Reins to the Head ; and 
thus no Fart of this valuable Creature is ever loft m . In 
China, where all Preparations of this Kind are beft under- 
flood, it Is managed’ in quite a different Manner. They 
take from the Animal a little Cod or Bag, which lies un- 
der its Belly, about thrice as big as a Man’s Thumb ; it 
contains a Subftance not much unlike Tallow, which is 
dried till it Is fit to powder, and then it appears of a light 
Yellow, and has a Smell that is exceedingly agreeable. 
It is fold even In Cbim itfelf for its Weight in Silver; but 
they are prohibited from felling it net to Strangers, and 
therefore, for common Sale, they make a counterfeit Mufk 
in the following Manner. They take rotten Wood, 
which they fteep In the Blood and Juices of the Animal, 
and then few it up in Purfes made of its Skin, and having 
dried it, vend it for the true Mufk n . They afcribe to it 
many Virtues in that Country, and amongft the reft 
one that is very fmgular, which is this ; they fay, that 
being worn under the Stocking when People are obliged 
to travel through Woods or Mountains where there are 
abundance of Serpents, they are preferved thereby from 
being attacked by them ; and the Reafon affigned for this 
feems to be natural and probable enough : The Animal, 
fay they, which produces Mufk, feeds chiefly upon Ser- 
pents, and therefore the Smell makes them quit the Place, 
from an Apprehenfion of their own Danger °. This rich 
Perfume has loft much of its Credit in this Part of the 
World, and is confequently much funk in its Price ; the 
very beft Mufk from China is fold at Amfierdam for about 
nine Florins an Ounce by the Eafi-India Company ; and 
that of Bengal^ which is efteemed the fecond Sort, is not 
worth above five Florins: The Ruffian Mufk, which 
has the ftrongeft Smell, but lofes its Scent in a fmall Space 
of Time, may be had for lefs than a Florin an Ounce?. 
' There are fome People who have ftill a high Opinion of 
the Virtues of this Drug. They fay that it is an excellent 
Remedy for almoft all nervous Diforders ; and to confirm 
this, they affure us, that though in their own Country, the 
Dutch are frequently attacked by Apoplexies, yet at 
Batavia , and other Places in the Eaft- Indies, where Mufk 
is very much ufed *, they do not find themfelves fubjeft 
to thefe Diforders. It is upon this Principle that they at- 
tribute the Increafe of nervous Complaints within fifty or 
fixty Years paft in thefe Parts of Europe , to the quitting 
the Ufe of this Perfume, which is laid to have been owing 
to the Averfion which the Queen of France, Confort to 
Davis XIV. had to the Smell of Mufk, which firft drove 
it out of that Court, and by Degrees made it unfafhion- 
able every where elfe r . I do not pretend to anfwer for 
the Truth of this Obfervation ; but as it is certainly very 
curious, and the Examination of it may poffibly be of Ufe 
to Mankind, I thought it might not be amifs to report it. 
After this Hiftory of the Beafts of India, it is natural to 
fay fomewhat of the Reptiles and Infects there, of which 
we have a very large Account from the Ancients, and 
tfiofe not at all lefs remarkable than what has been already 
taken Notice of with regard to other Animals, the rather 
becaufe in their Kind they appeared much more furprizing, 
and withal more terrible to Strangers : For as there is a 
Kind of innate Diflike to the Reptiles of our own Coun- 
tries, which are generally in our Eye ; fo when we fee 
Creatures to which we have fuch an Averfion, of a Size 
infinitely beyond what we have beheld before, it naturally 
infpires us with Horror, our Antipathy rifing in the 
fame Proportion that the Object becomes more dreadful; 
efpecially if the Creature be fierce or venomous in its 
Nature, and capable as well of hurting as of frighting 
us. From hence, very probably, it comes to pafs, that' 
Fuch extraordinary Relations of thefe frightful Creatures 
have been, .in all Ages, well received ; becaufe it is natu- 
ral for us to hear , with Jjjeafure, of Mifchiefs to which we 
are not expofed, the Profped of cliftani Dangers, adding 
to the Senfe of our own Safety, and gratifying our Cun- 
ofity at the fame Time. 
22. The Dragon was a Creature frequently mentioned 
by the old Naturalifts, and defcribed as one of the moil 
dreadful in the World. Arifiotle mentions the Dragon’s 
living in continual Enmity with the Eagle ; and alfo fays, 
that when the Dragon is furfeited with earing Apples it 
has Recourfe to Lettice for Relief Egypt and Ethiopia 
were Countries the molt famous, next to the Indies , 
for producing Dragons of unufual Size. We have, in an 
ancient Author, a very large and circumftantial Account 
of the taking a Dragon on the Frontiers of Ethiopia, which 
was One and twenty Feet jn Length, and was carried to 
Ptolemy Philadelphia, who very bountifully rewarded fuch 
as ran the Hazard of procuring him this Beaft h Yet, 
terrible as thefe were, they fall abundantly fhort of Man- 
ners of the fame Species in India ; with refped to which, 
St. Ambrofe tells us, that there were Dragons feen in the 
Neighbourhood of the Ganges , near feventy Cubits in 
Length u . It was one of this Size that Alexander and his 
Army faw in a Cave, where it was fed, either out of Re- 
verence or from Curiolity, by the Inhabitants ; and the 
firft Lightening of its Eyes, together with its terrible 
Hilling, made a ftrong Impreffion on the Macedonians , 
who, with all their Courage, could not help being frighted 
at fo horrid a Spectacle w . The Dragon is nothing more 
than a Serpent of enormous Size ; and they formely diftin- 
guifhed three Sorts of them in the Indies , viz. fuch as 
were found in the Mountains, fuch as were bred in Caves, 
or in the flat Country, and fuch as were , found in Fenns 
and Marfhes: The firft is the largeft of all, and are co- 
vered with Scales as refplendent as polifhed Gold. Thefe 
have a Kind of Beard hanging from their lower Jaw, their 
Eye-brows large, and very exadly arched •, their Afped 
the moft frightful that can be imagined, and their Cry 
loud and fhrill ; their Creft of a bright Yellow, and a 
Protuberance on their Heads, of the Colour of a burning 
Coal. Thofe of the flat Country differ from the former 
in nothing but in having their Scales of a filver Colour, 
and in their frequenting Rivers, to which the former never 
come. Thofe that live in Marfhes and Fenns, are of a 
dark Colour, approaching to a Black, move fiowly, have 
no Creft, or any Rifing upon their Heads x . Strabo fays, 
that the painting them with Wings, is the Effed of Fancy, 
and diredly contrary to Truth : But other Naturalifts and 
Travellers, both ancient and modern, affirm, that there 
are fome of thefe Species winged 7 . Yet, after all thefe 
terrifying Accounts, Pliny , and many other Writers, af- 
fure us that both Sorts are rather dreadful than dangerous, 
their Bite having nothing in it venomous z ; the Reverfe 
of which is afferted by later Authors, and feveral Fads 
alledged in Support of their Opinion a . But what makes 
the greateft Figure in the Works of the Ancients with 
relation to this extraordinary Animal, is, the Stone fup- 
pofed to grow in its Head, and reputed of ineftimable 
Value b . It is faid to be naturally divided into Tables like 
a Diamond of the brillant Cut, and to have as high a 
Luftre. But, to preferve this Quality, it is neceffary that 
it fhould be taken out of the Head of the Animal the Mo- 
ment it is killed ; for otherwife it lofes all its Virtues and 
all its Beauty, and yet becomes fo extremely hard, that no 
Tool will touch it. Pliny c gives us a long Catalogue of 
medicinal and magical Properties, which he afcribes to the 
Skin, Flefh, Bones, Eyes, and Teeth of the Dragon, 
which are too ridiculous to be repeated; and, belides, 
fuch Stories have now entirely loft their Credit, fince the 
m Ibid « Account of China before cited. 0 Da Halde's China. p Negoce de Amfierdam, p. 119. ’ All Kinds of high I e*- 
fumes are much in Requeft among the better Sort of People over all the Indies, as appears from their prohibiting the Exportation of any ^adulterated. 
■Memoirs de M. Garcin, who obferves, that our not ufing ourfelves to Perfumes, occafions tneir giving us the Vapours Anfiot. deHifi. Ammol- 
tib fx. f Diodor. Sicul. lib . iii. u De moribus Brachmanorum, p. 63. Strabo, lib. xvi. p. 75. Bochart. Hierooc.fi , 1 1. hb.m. cap. 13- 
* JBImn. * Animal, lib. XV. cap. 2. . - Strobe, lib. xvi. r Id. ibid. * ?&>. U. ™x. c 4 * AmfL Tm. *T 
Halibut, p. 34. * Pbil.fr. lib. iii. f. 8. lfidor.Orig. lib. m. c. 13. S.hn, tap. 30. Marfil. bum. it Iripha vita. . ha. Nat. hifi 
8xvii. cap. 10. XXIX. cap. 4^ 
Indians , 
