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BY
CHARLES GOULD, B.A.,
MEMBER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA; LATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEYOR
OF TASMANIA.

LONDON:
W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE. S.W.
PUBLISHERS TO THE INDIA OFFICE.

1886.

(All rights reserved.)

PREFACE.

The Author has to express his great obligations to many gentlemen who haveassisted him in the preparation of this volume, either by affording accessto their libraries, or by furnishing or revising translations from theChinese, &c.; and he must especially tender them to J. Haas, Esq., theAustro-Hungarian Vice-Consul at Shanghai, to Mr. Thomas Kingsmill and theRev. W. Holt of Shanghai, to Mr. Falconer of Hong-Kong, and to Dr. N. B.Dennys of Singapore.

For the sake of uniformity, the author has endeavoured to reduce all theromanised representations of Chinese sounds to the system adopted by S. W.Williams, whose invaluable dictionary is the most available one forstudents. No alteration, however, has been made when quotations fromeminent sinologues like Legge have been inserted.

Should the present volume prove sufficiently interesting to attractreaders, a second one will be issued at a future date, in continuation ofthe subject.

The Publishers think it right to state that, owing to the Author’s absencein China, the work has not had the advantage of his supervision in itspassage through the press. It is also proper to mention that the MS. leftthe Author’s hands eighteen months ago.

INTRODUCTION.

It would have been a bold step indeed for anyone, some thirty years ago,to have thought of treating the public to a collection of storiesordinarily reputed fabulous, and of claiming for them the considerationdue to genuine realities, or to have advocated tales, time-honoured asfictions, as actual facts; and those of the nursery as being, in manyinstances, legends, more or less distorted, descriptive of real beings orevents.

Now-a-days it is a less hazardous proceeding. The great era of advancedopinion, initiated by Darwin, which has seen, in the course of a fewyears, a larger progress in knowledge in all departments of science thandecades of centuries preceding it, has, among other changes, worked acomplete revolution in the estimation of the value of folk-lore; andspeculations on it, which in the days of our boyhood would have beenconsidered as puerile, are now admitted to be not merely interesting butnecessary to those who endeavour to gather up the skeins of unwrittenhistory, and to trace the antecedents and early migrations from parentsources of nations long since alienated from each other by customs,speech, and space.

[Pg 2]I have, therefore, but little hesitation in gravely proposing to submitthat many of the so-called mythical animals, which throughout long agesand in all nations have been the fertile subjects of fiction and fable,come legitimately within the scope of plain matter-of-fact NaturalHistory, and that they may be considered, not as the outcome of exuberantfancy, but as creatures which really once existed, and of which,unfortunately, only imperfect and inaccurate descriptions have filtereddown to us, probably very much refracted, through the mists of time.

I propose to follow, for a certain distance only, the path which has beenpursued in the treatment of myths by mythologists, so far only, in fact,as may be necessary to trace out the homes and origin of those storieswhich in their later dress are incredible; deviating from it to dwell uponthe possibility of their having preserved to us, through the medium ofunwritten Natural History, traditions of creatures once co-existing withman, some of which are so weird and terrible as to appear at first sightto be impossible. I propose stripping them of those supernaturalcharacters with which a mysteriously implanted love of the wonderful hasinvested them, and to examine them, as at the present day we arefortunately able to do, by the lights of the modern sciences of Geology,Evolution, and Philology.

For me the major part of these creatures are not chimeras but objects ofrational study. The dragon, in place of being a creature evolved out ofthe imagination of Aryan man by the contemplation of lightning flashingthrough the caverns which he tenanted, as is held by some mythologists, isan animal which once lived and dragged its ponderous coils, and perhapsflew; which devastated herds, and on occasions swallowed their shepherd;which, establishing its lair in some cavern overlooking the fertile plain,spread terror and destruction around, and, protected from assault by dreador superstitious feeling, may even have been subsidised by the[Pg 3]terror-stricken peasantry, who, failing the power to destroy it, may havepreferred tethering offerings of cattle adjacent to its cavern to havingit come down to seek supplies from amongst their midst.[1]

To me the specific existence of the unicorn seems not incredible, and, infact, more probable than that theory which assigns its origin to a lunarmyth.[2]

Again, believing as I do in the existence of some great undescribedinhabitant of the ocean depths, the much-derided sea-serpent, whose homeseems especially to be adjacent to Norway, I recognise this monster asoriginating the myths of the midgard serpent which the Norse Elder Eddashave collected, this being the contrary view to that taken bymythologists, who invert the derivation, and suppose the stories currentamong the Norwegian fishermen to be modified versions of this importantelement of Norse mythology.[3]

[Pg 4]I must admit that, for my part, I doubt the general derivation of mythsfrom “the contemplation of the visible workings of external nature.”[4] Itseems to me easier to suppose that the palsy of time has enfeebled theutterance of these oft-told tales until their original appearance isalmost unrecognisable, than that uncultured savages should possess powersof imagination and poetical invention far beyond those enjoyed by the mostinstructed nations of the present day; less hard to believe that thesewonderful stories of gods and demigods, of giants and dwarfs, of dragonsand monsters of all descriptions, are transformations than to believe themto be inventions.[5]

The author ofAtlantis,[6] indeed, claims that the gods and goddesses ofthe ancient Greeks, the Phœnicians, the Hindoos, and the Scandinavianswere simply the kings, queens, and heroes of Atlantis, and the actsattributed to them in mythology a confused recollection of real historicalevents. Without conceding thelocus of the originals, which requiresmuch greater examination than I am able to make at the[Pg 5] present time, Iquite agree with him as to the principle. I believe that the mythologicaldeities represent a confused chronology of far-distant times, and that thedestruction of the Nemean lion, the Lernean hydra, and the Minotaur aresimply the records of acts of unusual bravery in combating ferociousanimals.

On the first landing of Pizarro the Mexicans entertained the opinion thatman and horse were parts of one strange animal,[7] and we have thus a clueto the explanation of the origin of the belief in centaurs from a distantview of horsemen, a view possibly followed by the immediate flight of theobserver, which rendered a solution of the extraordinary phenomenonimpossible.

Ferdinand Mendez Pinto quaintly observes, in one of his earlier chapters,“I will not speak of the Palace Royal, because I saw it but on theoutside, howbeit the Chinese tell such wonders of it as would amaze a man;for it is my intent to relate nothing save what we beheld here with ourown eyes, and that was so much as that I am afraid to write it; not thatit would seem strange to those who have seen and read the marvels of thekingdom of China, but because I doubt that they which would compare thosewondrous things that are in the countries they have not seen, with thatlittle they have seen in their own, will make some question[Pg 6] of it, or, itmay be, give no credit at all to these truths, because they are notconformable to their understanding and small experience.”[8]

[Pg 7]Now as some of the creatures whose existence I shall have to contend forin these volumes are objects of derision to a large proportion of mankind,and of reasonable doubt to another, I cannot help fortifying myself withsome such outwork of reasoning as the pith of Pinto’s remarks affords, andsupplementing it by adding that, while the balance between scepticism andcredulity is undoubtedly always difficult to hold, yet, as Lord Bacon wellremarks, “There is nothing makes a man suspect much more than to knowlittle; and therefore men should remedy suspicion by procuring to knowmore.”

Whately extends Bacon’s proposition by adding, “This is equally true ofthe suspicions that have reference to things as persons”; in other words,ignorance and suspicion go hand-in-hand, and so travellers’ tales, evenwhen supported by good evidence, are mostly denied credence or acceptedwith repugnance, when they offend the experience of those who, remainingat home, are thus only partially educated. Hence it is, not to go too farback for examples, that we have seen Bruce, Mungo Park, Du Chaillu, GordonCumming, Schliemann,[9] and Stanley treated with the most ungenerouscriticism and contemptuous disbelief by persons who, however well informedin many subjects, lacked the extended and appreciative views which canonly be acquired by travel.

Nor is this incredulity limited to travellers’ tales about savage life. Itis just as often displayed in reference to the[Pg 8] surroundings of uneventfullife, provided they are different from those with which we are familiar.

Saladin rebuked the Knight of the Leopard for falsehood when the latterassured him that the waters of lakes in his own country became at timessolidified, so that armed and mounted knights could cross them as if ondry land. And the wise Indian who was taken down to see the large Americancities, with the expectation that, being convinced of the resources andirresistible power of civilization he would influence his tribe tosubmission on his return, to the surprise of the commissioners who hadconveyed him, spoke in directly contrary terms to those expected of him,privately explaining in reply to their remonstrances, that had he told thetruth to his tribe he would have been indelibly branded for the remainderof his life as an outrageous and contemptible liar. Chinese students,despatched for education in American or European capitals, are compelledon their return to make similar reservations, under pain of incurring alike penalty; and officials who, from contact with Europeans at the openports, get their ideas expanded too quickly, are said to be liable toisolation in distant regions, where their advanced and fantastic opinionsmay do as little harm to right-thinking people as possible.[10]

Even scientific men are sometimes as crassly incredulous as the unculturedmasses. On this point hear Mr. A. R. Wallace.[11] “Many now livingremember the time (for it is[Pg 9] little more than twenty years ago) when theantiquity of man, as now understood, was universally discredited. Not onlytheologians, but even geologists taught us that man belonged to theexisting state of things; that the extinct animals of the tertiary periodhad finally disappeared, and that the earth’s surface had assumed itspresent condition before the human race first came into existence. Soprepossessed were scientific men with this idea, which yet rested onpurely negative evidence, and could not be supported by any argument ofscientific value, that numerous facts which had been presented atintervals for half a century, all tending to prove the existence of man atvery remote epochs, were silently ignored, and, more than this, thedetailed statements of three distinct and careful observers confirmingeach other were rejected by a great scientific society as too improbablefor publication, only because they proved (if they were true) theco-existence of man with extinct animals.”[12]

The travels of that faithful historian, Marco Polo, were for a long timeconsidered as fables, and the graphic descriptions of the Abbé Huc evenstill find detractors continuing therôle of those who maintained thathe had never even visited the countries which he described.

Gordon Cumming was disbelieved when he asserted that he had killed anantelope, out of a herd, with a rifle-shot at a distance of eight hundredyards.

Madame Merian[13] was accused of deliberate falsehood in reference to herdescription of a bird-eating spider nearly[Pg 10] two hundred years ago. Butnow-a-days Mr. Bates and other reliable observers have confirmed it inregard to South America, India, and elsewhere.

Audubon was similarly accused by botanists of having invented the yellowwater-lily, which he figured in hisBirds of the South under the name ofNymphæa lutea, and after having lain under the imputation for years, wasconfirmed at last by the discovery of the long-lost flower, in Florida, byMrs. Mary Trent, in the summer of 1876;[14] and this encourages us to hopethat some day or other a fortunate sportsman may rediscover the HaliætusWashingtonii, in regard to which Dr. Cover says: “That famous bird ofWashington was a myth; either Audubon was mistaken, or else, as some donot hesitate to affirm, he lied about it.”

(Facsimile from a drawing by Hokusai, a celebrated Japanese artist
who lived about the beginning of the present century.)

Victor Hugo was ridiculed for having exceeded the bounds of poetic licensewhen he produced his marvellous word-painting of the devil-fish, anddescribed a man as becoming its helpless victim. The thing was derided asa monstrous[Pg 11] impossibility; yet within a few years were discovered, on theshores of Newfoundland, cuttle-fishes with arms extending to thirty feetin length, and capable of dragging a good-sized boat beneath the surface;and their action has been reproduced for centuries past, as therepresentation of a well-known fact, innet sukes (ivory carvings) andillustrations by Japanese artists.[15]

[Pg 12]Before the days of Darwinism, what courage was requisite in a man whopropounded any theory a little bit extravagant! Hark how, even less thantwenty years ago, the ghost of the unfortunate Lord Monboddo had bricks ofcriticism pelted at it, half earnestly, half contemptuously, by one of ourgreatest thinkers, whose thought happened to run in grooves different fromthose travelled in by the mind of the unfortunate Scotchman.

“Lord Monboddo[16] had just finished his great work, by which he derivesall mankind from a couple of apes, and all the dialects of the world froma language originally framed by some Egyptian gods, when the discovery ofSanskrit came on him like a thunderbolt. It must be said, however, to hiscredit, that he at once perceived the immense importance of the discovery.He could not be expected to sacrifice his primordial monkeys or hisEgyptian idols, &c.”

And again: “It may be of interest to give one other extract in order toshow how well, apart from his men with, and his monkeys without, tails,Lord Monboddo could sift and handle the evidence that was placed beforehim.”

Max Müller also furnishes us with an amazing example of scepticism on thepart of Dugald Stewart. He says[17]: “However, if the facts about Sanskritwere true, Dugald Stewart was too wise not to see that the conclusionsdrawn from them were inevitable. He therefore denied the reality of such alanguage as Sanskrit altogether, and wrote his famous essay to prove thatSanskrit had been put together, after the model of Greek and Latin, bythose archforgers and liars, the Brahmans, and that the whole of Sanskritliterature was an imposition.”

So Ctesias attacked Herodotus. The very existence of[Pg 13] Homer has beendenied, and even the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays questioned.[18]

We are all familiar enough now with the black swan, but Ovid[19]considered it as so utterly impossible that he clinched, as it were, anaffirmation by saying, “If I doubted, O Maximus, of thy approval of thesewords, I could believe that there are swans of the colour of Memnon”[i.e. black]; and even so late as the days of Sir Thomas Browne, we findthem classed by him with flying horses, hydras, centaurs, harpies, andsatyrs, as monstrosities, rarities, or else poetical fancies.[20]

Now that we have all seen the great hippopotamus disport himself in histank in the gardens of the Zoological Society, we can smile at the gravearguments of the savant who, while admitting the existence of the animal,disputed the possibility of his walking about on the bed of a river,because his great bulk would prevent his rising again.[21] But I daresay[Pg 14]it passed muster in his days as a very sound and shrewd observation, justas, possibly, but for the inconvenient waggery of Peter Pindar, might havedone the intelligent inquiry, which he records, after the seam in theapple-dumpling.

Poor Fray Gaspar de Jan Bernardine who, in 1611, undertook the journey byland from India to Portugal, was unfortunate enough to describe the modein which the captain of the caravan communicated intelligence to Bagdad bycarrier pigeon. “He had pigeons whose young and nests were at his house inthat city, and every two days he let fly a pigeon with a letter tied toits foot containing the news of his journey. This account met with butlittle belief in Europe, and was treated there as a matter ofmerriment.”[22]

The discredit under which this traveller fell is the more surprisingbecause the same custom had already been noted by Sir John Mandeville,who, in speaking of Syria and adjacent countries, says: “In that contree,and other contrees beyond, thei have custom, whan thei schulle usen warre,and when men holden sege abouten Cytee or Castelle, and thei withinen durnot senden messagers with lettres frō Lord to Lord for to ask Sokour,thei maken here Lettres and bynden hem to the Nekke of a Colver and letenthe Colver flee, and the Colveren ben so taughte, that thei flun with theLettres to the very place that men wolde send hem to. For the Colveres[Pg 15]ben norrysscht in the Places Where thei been sent to, and thei senden themthere, for to beren here Lettres, and the Colveres retournen agen, whereas thei ben norrischt, and so thei dou commonly.”

While, long before, Pliny had referred to it in hisNatural History[23]as follows: “In addition to this, pigeons have acted as messengers inaffairs of importance. During the siege of Mutina, Decimus Brutus, who wasin the town, sent despatches to the camp of the Consuls, fastened topigeons’ feet. Of what use to Antony, then, were his entrenchments? andall the vigilance of the besieging army? his nets, too, which he hadspread in the river, while the messenger of the besieged was cleaving theair?”

The pace of railways; steam communication across the Atlantic; the SuezCanal[24]; were not all these considered in former days to be impossible?With these examples of failure of judgment before us, it may be fairlyasked whether, in applying our minds to the investigation of the realityof creatures apparently monstrous, we duly reflect upon the extraordinary,almost miraculous, events which incessantly occur in the course of theshort existence of all animated nature? Supposing the history of insectswere unknown to us, could the wildest imagination conceive such amarvellous transformation as that which takes place continually around usin the passage from the larva through the chrysalis to the butterfly? orhuman ingenuity invent one so bizarre as that recorded by Steenstrup inhis theory of the alternation of generation?

We accept as nothing marvellous, only because we see them daily, theorganization and the polity of a community[Pg 16] of ants; their collaboration,their wars, and their slaveries have been so often stated that they ceaseto astonish. The same may be said of the marvellous architecture of birds,their construction of houses to live in, of bowers to play in, and even ofgardens to gratify their sense of beauty.[25]

We admire the ingenious imagination of Swift, and essayists dwell upon hishappy conceits and upon the ability with which, in his celebrated work, hehas ordered all things to harmonise in dimensions with the enlarged andreduced scales on which he has conceived the men and animals of Brobdignagand Lilliput. So much even has this quaint idea been appreciated, that hisstory has achieved a small immortality, and proved one of the numeroussprings from which new words have been imported into our language. Yet thepeculiar and essential singularities of the story are quite equalled, oreven surpassed, by creatures which are, or have been, found in nature. Theimaginary diminutive cows which Gulliver brought back from Lilliput, andplaced in the meadows at Dulwich, are not one bit more remarkable, inrespect to relative size, than the pigmy elephant (E. Falconeri) whoseremains have been found in the cave-deposits of Malta, associated withthose of pigmy hippopotami, and which was only two feet six inches high;or the still existingHippopotamus (Chæropsis)liberiensis, which M.Milne Edwardes[26] figures as little more than two feet in height.

The lilliputian forests from which the royal navy was constructedcontained even large trees in comparison with the dwarf oaks ofMexico,[27] or with the allied, even smaller[Pg 17] species, which crawls likeheather about the hill-slopes of China and Japan, and still more so incomparison with that singular pine, the most diminutive known (Dacrydiumtaxifolium), fruiting specimens of which, according to Kirk, aresometimes only two inches high, while the average height is only six toten inches; while even among the forests of Brobdignag, a very respectableposition could be held by the mammoth trees of California (Sequoiagigantea), or by the loftier white gums of Australia (Eucalyptusamygdalina), which occasionally reach, according to Von Mueller,[28] theenormous height of 480 feet. Nor could more adequate tenants (in point ofsize) be found to occupy them than the gigantic reptilian forms latelydiscovered by Marsh among the deposits of Colorado and Texas.

Surely a profound acquaintance with the different branches of naturalhistory should render a man credulous rather than incredulous, for thereis hardly conceivable a creature so monstrous that it may not beparalleled by existing ones in every-day life.[29]

Are the composite creatures of Chaldæan mythology so very much morewonderful than the marsupial kangaroo, the duck-billed platypus, and theflying lizard of Malaysia which are, or the pterodactylus, rhamphorynchus,and archæopteryx which have been? Does not geological science, day by day,trace one formation by easy gradation to another, bridge over the gapswhich formerly separated them, carry the proofs of the existence of manconstantly further and further back into remote time, and disclose theprevious existence of[Pg 19]intermediate types (satisfying the requirements ofthe Darwinian theory) connecting the great divisions of the animalkingdom, of reptile-like birds and bird-like reptiles? Can we suppose thatwe have at all exhausted the great museum of nature? Have we, in fact,penetrated yet beyond its ante-chambers?

Does the written history of man, comprising a few thousand years, embracethe whole course of his intelligent existence? or have we in the longmythical eras, extending over hundreds of thousands of years and recordedin the chronologies of Chaldæa and of China, shadowy mementoes ofpre-historic man, handed down by tradition, and perhaps transported by afew survivors to existing lands from others which, like the fabled (?)Atlantis of Plato, may have been submerged, or the scene of some greatcatastrophe which destroyed them with all their civilization.

The six or eight thousand years which the various interpreters of theBiblical record assign for the creation of the world and the duration ofman upon the earth, allow little enough space for the development of hiscivilization—a civilization which documental evidence carries almost tothe verge of the limit—for the expansion and divergence of stocks, or theobliteration of the branches connecting them.

[Pg 20]But, fortunately, we are no more compelled to fetter our belief withinsuch limits as regards man than to suppose that his appearance on theglobe was coeval with or immediately successive to its own creation atthat late date. For while geological science, on the one hand, carriesback the creation of the world and the appearance of life upon its surfaceto a period so remote that it is impossible to estimate it, and difficulteven to faintly approximate to it, so, upon the other, the researches ofpalæontologists have successively traced back the existence of man toperiods variously estimated at from thirty thousand to one millionyears—to periods when he co-existed with animals which have long sincebecome extinct, and which even excelled in magnitude and ferocity most ofthose which in savage countries dispute his empire at the present day. Isit not reasonable to suppose that his combats with these would form themost important topic of conversation, of tradition, and of primitive song,and that graphic accounts of such struggles, and of the terrible nature ofthe foes encountered, would be handed down from father to son, with afidelity of description and an accuracy of memory unsuspected by us, who,being acquainted with reading and writing, are led to depend upon theirartificial assistance, and thus in a measure fail to cultivate a facultywhich, in common with those of keenness of vision and hearing, areessential to the existence of man in a savage or semi-savagecondition?[30]

The illiterate backwoodsman or trapper (and hence by inference the savageor semi-civilized man), whose mind is[Pg 21] occupied merely by hissurroundings, and whose range of thought, in place of being diffused overan illimitable horizon, is confined within very moderate limits, developsremarkable powers of observation and an accuracy of memory in regard tolocalities, and the details of his daily life, surprising to the scholarwho has mentally to travel over so much more ground, and, receiving dailyso many and so far more complex ideas, can naturally grasp each lessfirmly, and is apt to lose them entirely in the haze of a period of timewhich would still leave those of the uneducated man distinguishable oreven prominent landmarks.[31] Variations in traditions must, of course,occur in time, and the same histories, radiating in all directions fromcentres, vary from the original ones by increments dependent onproportionately altered phases of temperament and character, induced bychange of climate, associations and conditions of life; so that the earlywritten history of every country reproduces under its own garb, and with aclaim to originality, attenuated, enriched, or deformed versions oftraditions common in their origin to many or all.[32]

[Pg 22]Stories of divine progenitors, demigods, heroes, mighty hunters, slayersof monsters, giants, dwarfs, gigantic serpents, dragons, frightful beastsof prey, supernatural beings, and myths of all kinds, appear to have beencarried into all corners of the world with as much fidelity as the sacredArk of the Israelites, acquiring a moulding—graceful, weird oruncouth—according to the genius of the people or their capacity forsuperstitious belief; and these would appear to have been materiallyaffected by the varied nature of their respective countries. For example,the long-continuing dwellers in the open plains of a semi-tropical region,relieved to a great extent from the cares of watchfulness, and nurtured inthe grateful rays of a genial but not oppressive sun, must have a morebuoyant disposition and more open temperament than those inhabiting vastforests, the matted overgrowth of which rarely allows the passage of asingle ray, bathes all in gloom, and leaves on every side undiscovereddepths, filled with shapeless shadows, objects of vigilant dread, fromwhich some ferocious monster may emerge at any moment. Again, on the onehand, the nomad roaming in isolation over vast solitudes, having muchleisure for contemplative reflection, and on the other, the hardy dwellerson storm-beaten coasts, by turns fishermen, mariners, and pirates, mustequally develop traits which affect their religion, polity, and customs,and stamp their influences on mythology and tradition.

The Greek, the Celt, and the Viking, descended from the same Aryanancestors, though all drawing from the same sources their inspirations ofreligious belief and tradition, quickly diverged, and respectively settledinto a generous martial race—martial in support of their independencerather than from any lust of conquest—polite, skilled, and learned; onebrave but irritable, suspicious, haughty, impatient of control; and thelast, the berserker, with a ruling passion for maritime adventure, piracy,and hand-to-hand heroic[Pg 23] struggles, to be terminated in due course by ahero’s death and a welcome to the banqueting halls of Odin in Walhalla.

The beautiful mythology of the Greek nation, comprising a pantheon of godsand demigods, benign for the most part, and often interesting themselvesdirectly in the welfare of individual men, was surely due to, or at leastgreatly induced by, the plastic influences of a delicious climate, asemi-insular position in a sea comparatively free from stormy weather, andan open mountainous country, moderately fertile. Again, the gloomy andsanguinary religion of the Druids was doubtless moulded by the depressinginfluences of the seclusion, twilight haze, and dangers of the denseforests in which they hid themselves—forests which, as we know fromCæsar, spread over the greater part of Gaul, Britain, and Spain; while theViking, having from the chance or choice of his ancestors, inherited arugged seaboard, lashed by tempestuous waves and swept by howling winds, aseaboard with only a rugged country shrouded with unsubdued forests at itsback, exposed during the major portion of the year to great severity ofclimate, and yielding at the best but a niggard and precarious harvest,became perforce a bold and skilful mariner, and, translating his beliefinto a language symbolic of his new surroundings, believed that he saw andheard Thor in the midst of the howling tempests, revealed majestic andterrible through rents in the storm-cloud. Pursuing our consideration ofthe effects produced by climatic conditions, may we not assume, forexample, that some at least of the Chaldæans, inhabiting a pastoralcountry, and being descended from ancestors who had pursued, for hundredsor thousands of years, a nomadic existence in the vast open steppes in thehighlands of Central Asia, were indebted to those circumstances for theadvance which they are credited with having made in astronomy and kindredsciences. Is it not possible that their acquaintance with climatology wasas exact or even more so than our own? The habit of solitude[Pg 24] would inducereflection, the subject of which would naturally be the causes influencingthe vicissitudes of weather. The possibilities of rain or sunshine, windor storm, would be with them a prominent object of solicitude; and thenecessity, in an unfenced country, of extending their watch over theirflocks and herds throughout the night, would perforce more or less rivettheir attention upon the glorious constellations of the heavens above, andlead to habits of observation which, systematized and long continued bythe priesthood, might have produced deductions accurate in the result evenif faulty in the process.

The vast treasures of ancient knowledge tombed in the ruins of Babylon andAssyria, of which the recovery and deciphering is as yet only initiated,may, to our surprise, reveal that certain secrets of philosophy were knownto the ancients equally with ourselves, but lost through intervening agesby the destruction of the empire, and the fact of their conservancy havingbeen entrusted to a privileged and limited order, with which itperished.[33]

[Pg 25]We hail as a new discovery the knowledge of the existence of the so-calledspots upon the surface of the sun, and scientists, from long-continuedobservations, profess to distinguish a connection between the character ofthese and atmospheric phenomena; they even venture to predict floods anddroughts, and that for some years in anticipation; while pestilences orsome great disturbance are supposed to be likely to follow the period whenthree or four planets attain their apogee within one year, a suppositionbased on the observations extended over numerous years, that similarevents had accompanied the occurrence of even one only of those positionsat previous periods.

May we not speculate on the possibility of similar or parallel knowledgehaving been possessed by the old Chaldæan and Egyptian priesthood; and maynot Joseph have been able, by superior ability in its exercise, to haveanticipated the seven years’ drought, or Noah, from an acquaintance withmeteorological science, to have made an accurate forecast of the greatdisturbances which resulted in the Deluge and the destruction of a largeportion of mankind?[34]

[Pg 26]Without further digression in a path which opens the most pleasingspeculations, and could be pursued into endless ramifications, I willmerely, in conclusion, suggest that the same influences which, as I haveshown above, affect so largely the very nature of a people, must similarlyaffect its traditions and myths, and that due consideration will have tobe given to such influences, in the case of some at least of theremarkable animals which I propose to discuss in this and future volumes.

Chronological List of some Authors writing on, and Works relating toNatural History, to which References are made in the present Volume;extracted to a great extent, as to the Western Authors, from Knight’s “Cyclopædia of Biography.”

The Shan Hai King—According to the commentator Kwoh P’oh (A.D.276-324), this work was compiled three thousand years before this time, orat seven dynasties’ distance. Yang Sun of the Ming dynasty (commencingA.D. 1368), states that it was compiled by Kung Chia (and Chung Ku?) fromengravings on nine urns made by the Emperor Yü,B.C. 2255. Chung Ku was anhistoriographer, and at the time of the last Emperor of the Hia dynasty(B.C. 1818), fearing that the Emperor might destroy the books treating ofthe ancient and present time, carried them in flight to Yin.

The ’Rh Ya—Initiated according to tradition, by Chow Kung; uncle of WuWang, the first Emperor of the Chow dynasty,B.C. 1122. Ascribed also toTsze Hea, the disciple of Confucius.

The Bamboo Books—Containing the Ancient Annals of China, said to havebeen foundA.D. 279, on opening the grave of King Seang of Wei [diedB.C.295]. Age prior to last date, undetermined. Authenticity disputed,favoured by Legge.

Megasthenes—AboutB.C. 300. In time of Seleucus Nicator. His workentitledIndica is only known by extracts in those of Strabo, Arrian,and Ælian.

Posidonius—Born aboutB.C. 140. Besides philosophical treatises, wroteworks on geography, history, and astronomy, fragments of which arepreserved in the works of Cicero, Strabo, and others.

Nicander—AboutB.C. 135. Wrote theTheriaca, a poem of 1,000 lines,in hexameter, on the wounds caused by venomous animals, and the treatment.Is followed in many of his errors by Pliny. Plutarch says theTheriacacannot be called a poem, because there is in it nothing of fable orfalsehood.

Diodorus Siculus—Wrote theBibliotheca Historica (in Greek), afterthe death of Julius Cæsar (B.C. 44). Of the 40 books composing it only 15remain, viz. Books 1 to 5 and 11 to 20.

Lucan—A.D. 38. The only work of his extant is thePharsalia, a poemon the civil war between Cæsar and Pompey.

Ignatius—Either an early Patriarch,A.D. 50, or Patriarch ofConstantinople, 799.

Isidorus—Isidorus of Charaux lived probably in the first century of ourera. He wrote an account of the Parthian empire.

Arrian—Born aboutA.D. 100. His work on the Natural History, &c. ofIndia is founded on the authority of Eratosthenes and Megasthenes.

Pausanias—Author of the Description or Itinerary of Greece. In the 2ndcentury.

Solinus, Caius Julius—Did not write in the Augustan age, for his workentitledPolyhistor is merely a compilation from Pliny’sNaturalHistory. According to Salmasius, he lived about two hundred years afterPliny.

Printing invented in China, according to Du Halde,A.D. 924.Block-printing used inA.D. 593.

Mandeville, Sir John de—Travelled for thirty-three years in Asia datingfromA.D. 1327. As he resided for three years in Peking, it is probablethat many of his fables are derived from Chinese sources.

Scaliger, Julius Cæsar—Born April 23rd, 1484. WroteAristotelis Hist.Anim. liber decimus cum vers. et comment. 8vo. Lyon, 1584, &c.

CHAPTER I.

The reasoning upon the question whether dragons, winged snakes,sea-serpents, unicorns, and other so-called fabulous monsters have inreality existed, and at dates coeval with man, diverges in severalindependent directions.

1.—Whether the characters attributed to these creatures are or are not soabnormal in comparison with those of known types, as to render a belief intheir existence impossible or the reverse.

2.—Whether it is rational to suppose that creatures so formidable, andapparently so capable of self-protection, should disappear entirely, whilemuch more defenceless species continue to survive them.

3.—The myths, traditions, and historical allusions from which theirreality may be inferred require to be classified and annotated, and fullweight given to the evidence which has accumulated of the presence of manupon the earth during ages long prior to the historic period, and whichmay have been ages of slowly progressive civilization, or perhaps cyclesof alternate light and darkness, of knowledge and barbarism.

4.—Lastly, some inquiry may be made into the geographical conditionsobtaining at the time of their possible existence.

[Pg 32]It is immaterial which of these investigations is first entered upon, andit will, in fact, be more convenient to defer a portion of them until wearrive at the sections of this volume treating specifically of thedifferent objects to which it is devoted, and to confine our attention forthe present to those subjects which, from their nature, are common and ina sense prefatory to the whole subject.

I shall therefore commence with a short examination of some of the mostremarkable reptilian forms which are known to have existed, and for thatpurpose, and to show their general relations, annex the accompanyingtables, compiled from the anatomy of vertebrated animals by ProfessorHuxley:—

The most bird-like of reptiles, the Pterosauria, appear to have possessedtrue powers of flight; they were provided with wings formed by anexpansion of the integument, and supported by an enormous elongation ofthe ulnar finger of the[Pg 34] anterior limb. The generic differences are basedupon the comparative lengths of the tail, and upon the dentition. InPterodactylus (see Fig. 2,p. 18), the tail is very short, and the jawsstrong, pointed, and toothed to their anterior extremities. InRhamphorynchus (see Fig. 8,p. 18), the tail is very long and the teethare not continuous to the extremities of the jaws, which are produced intotoothless beaks. The majority of the species are small, and they aregenerally considered to have been inoffensive creatures, having much thehabits and insectivorous mode of living of bats. One British species,however, from the white chalk of Maidstone, measures more than sixteenfeet across the outstretched wings; and other forms recently discovered byProfessor Marsh in the Upper Cretaceous deposits of Kansas, attain thegigantic proportions of nearly twenty-five feet for the same measurements;and although these were devoid of teeth (thus approaching the class Avesstill more closely), they could hardly fail, from their magnitude andpowers of flight, to have been formidable, and must, with their weirdaspects, and long outstretched necks and pointed heads, have been at leastsufficiently alarming.

We need go no farther than these in search of creatures which wouldrealise the popular notion of the winged dragon.

The harmless little flying lizards, belonging to the genus Draco,abounding in the East Indian archipelago, which have many of theirposterior ribs prolonged into an expansion of the integument, unconnectedwith the limbs, and have a limited and parachute-like flight, need onlythe element of size, to render them also sufficiently to be dreaded, andcapable of rivalling the Pterodactyls in suggesting the general idea ofthe same monster.

It is, however, when we pass to some of the other groups, that we findourselves in the presence of forms so vast and terrible, as to more thanrealise the most exaggerated[Pg 35]impression of reptilian power and ferocitywhich the florid imagination of man can conceive.

We have long been acquainted with numerous gigantic terrestrial Saurians,ranging throughout the whole of the Mesozoic formations, such asIguanodon (characteristic of the Wealden),Megalosaurus (GreatSaurian), andHylæosaurus (Forest Saurian), huge bulky creatures, thelast of which, at least, was protected by dermal armour partially producedinto prodigious spines; as well as with remarkable forms essentiallymarine, such asIcthyosaurus (Fish-like Saurian),Plesiosaurus, &c.,adapted to an oceanic existence and propelling themselves by means ofpaddles. The latter, it may be remarked, was furnished with a long slenderswan-like neck, which, carried above the surface of the water, wouldpresent the appearance of the anterior portion of a serpent.

To the related land forms the collective term Dinosauria (from δεινός“terrible”) has been applied, in signification of the power whichtheir structure and magnitude imply that they possessed; and to the othersthat of Enaliosauria, as expressive of their adaptation to a maritimeexistence. Yet, wonderful to relate, those creatures which have for somany years commanded our admiration fade into insignificance in comparisonwith others which are proved, by the discoveries of the last few years, tohave existed abundantly upon, or near to, the American continent duringthe Cretaceous and Jurassic periods, by which they are surpassed, in pointof magnitude, as much as they themselves exceed the mass of the largerVertebrata.

Take, for example, those referred to by Professor Marsh in the course ofan address to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in1877, in the following terms:—“The reptiles most characteristic of ourAmerican cretaceous strata are the Mososauria, a group with very fewrepresentatives in other parts of the world. In our cretaceous seas[Pg 36] theyrule supreme, as their numbers, size, and carnivorous habits enabled themto easily vanquish all rivals. Some were at least sixty feet in length,and the smallest ten or twelve. In the inland cretaceous sea from whichthe Rocky Mountains were beginning to emerge, these ancient ‘sea-serpents’abounded, and many were entombed in its muddy bottom; on one occasion, asI rode through a valley washed out of this old ocean-bed, I saw no lessthan seven different skeletons of these monsters in sight at once. TheMososauria were essentially swimming lizards with four well-developedpaddles, and they had little affinity with modern serpents, to which theyhave been compared.”

Or, again, notice the specimens of the genus Cidastes, which are alsodescribed as veritable sea-serpents of those ancient seas, whose hugebones and almost incredible number of vertebræ show them to have attaineda length of nearly two hundred feet. The remains of no less than ten ofthese monsters were seen by Professor Mudge, while riding through theMauvaise Terres of Colorado, strewn upon the plains, their whitened bonesbleached in the suns of centuries, and their gaping jaws armed withferocious teeth, telling a wonderful tale of their power when alive.

The same deposits have been equally fertile in the remains of terrestrialanimals of gigantic size. TheTitanosaurus montanus, believed to havebeen herbivorous, is estimated to have reached fifty or sixty feet inlength; while other Dinosaurians of still more gigantic proportions, fromthe Jurassic beds of the Rocky Mountains, have been described by ProfessorMarsh. Among the discovered remains ofAtlantosaurus immanis is a femurover six feet in length, and it is estimated from a comparison of thisspecimen with the same bone in living reptiles that this species, ifsimilar in proportions to the crocodile, would have been over one hundredfeet in length.

But even yet the limit has not been reached, and we hear[Pg 37] of the discoveryof the remains of another form, of such Titanic proportions as to possessa thigh-bone over twelve feet in length.

Fig. 5.—Monster bones of extinct gigantic Saurians
fromColorado, showing relative proportions
to corresponding bone in the Crocodile (A).
(From the “Scientific American.”)

[Pg 38]From these considerations it is evident that, on account of the dimensionsusually assigned to them, no discredit can be attached to the existence ofthe fabulous monsters of which we shall speak hereafter; for these, in thevarious myths, rarely or never equal in size creatures which science showsto have existed in a comparatively recent geological age, while thequaintest conception could hardly equal the reality of yet another of theAmerican Dinosaurs,Stegosaurus, which appears to have been herbivorous,and more or less aquatic in habit, adapted for sitting upon its hinderextremities, and protected by bony plate and numerous spines. It reachedthirty feet in length. Professor Marsh considers that this, when alive,must have presented the strangest appearance of all the Dinosaurs yetdiscovered.

The affinities of birds and reptiles have been so clearly demonstrated oflate years, as to cause Professor Huxley and many other comparativeanatomists to bridge over the wide gap which was formerly considered todivide the two classes, and to bracket them together in one class, towhich the name Sauropsidæ has been given.[35]

There are, indeed, not a few remarkable forms, as to the class position ofwhich, whether they should be assigned to[Pg 39] birds or reptiles, opinion wasfor a long time, and is in a few instances still, divided. It is, forexample, only of late years that the fossil form Archæopteryx[36] (Fig. 4,p. 19) from the Solenhofen slates, has been definitely relegated to theformer, but arguments against this disposal of it have been based upon thebeak or jaws being furnished with true teeth, and the feather of the tailattached to a series of vertebræ, instead of a single flattened one as inbirds. It appears to have been entirely plumed, and to have had a moderatepower of flight.

Fig. 6.—Sivatherium (restored), from the Upper Miocene
deposits of the Siwalik Hills. (After Figuier.)

On the other hand, the Ornithopterus is only provisionally[Pg 40] classed withreptiles, while the connection between the two classes is drawn stillcloser by the copious discovery of the birds from the Cretaceousformations of America, for which we are indebted to Professor Marsh.

The Lepidosiren, also, is placed mid-way between reptiles and fishes.Professor Owen and other eminent physiologists consider it a fish;Professor Bischoff and others, an amphibian reptile. It has a two-foldapparatus for respiration, partly aquatic, consisting of gills, and partlyaerial, of true lungs.

So far, then, as abnormality of type is concerned, we have here instancesquite as remarkable as those presented by most of the strange monsterswith the creation of which mythological fancy has been credited.

Among mammals I shall only refer to the Megatherium, which appears to havebeen created to burrow in the earth and to feed upon the roots of treesand shrubs, for which purpose every organ of its heavy frame was adapted.This[Pg 41] Hercules among animals was as large as an elephant or rhinoceros ofthe largest species, and might well, as it has existed until a late date,have originated the myths, current among the Indians of South America, ofa gigantic tunnelling or burrowing creature, incapable of supporting thelight of day.[37]

CHAPTER II.

In reviewing the past succession of different forms of ancient life uponthe globe, we are reminded of a series of dissolving views, in which eachspecies evolves itself by an imperceptible gradation from somepre-existing one, arrives at its maximum of individuality, and then slowlyfades away, while another type, either higher or lower, evolved in turnfrom it, emerges from obscurity, and succeeds it on the field of view.

Specific individuality has in all cases a natural term, dependent onphysical causes, but that term is in many cases abruptly anticipated by acombination of unfavourable conditions.

Alteration of climate, isolation by geological changes, such as thesubmergence of continents and islands, and the competition of otherspecies, are among the causes which have at all times operated towards itsdestruction; while, since the evolution of man, his agency, so far as wecan judge by what we know of his later history, has been especially activein the same direction.

The limited distribution of many species, even when not enforced byinsular conditions, is remarkable, and, of course, highly favourable totheir destruction. A multiplicity of examples are familiar to naturalists,and possibly not a few may have attracted the attention of the ordinaryobserver.

[Pg 43]For instance, it is probably generally known, that in our own island, thered grouse (which, by the way, is a species peculiar to Great Britain) isconfined to certain moorlands, the ruffs and reeves to fen districts, andthe nightingale,[38] chough, and other species to a few counties; whileIreland is devoid of almost all the species of reptiles common to GreatBritain. In the former cases, the need of or predilection for certainfoods probably determines the favourite locality, and there are fewcountries which would not furnish similar examples. In the latter, theexplanation depends on biological conditions dating prior to theseparation of Ireland from the main continent. Among birds, it mightfairly be presumed that the power of flight would produce unlimitedterritorial expansion, but in many instances the reverse is found to bethe case: a remarkable example being afforded by the island of Tasmania, aportion of which is called the unsettled waste lands, or Western Country.This district, which comprises about one-third of the island upon thewestern side, and is mainly composed of mountain chains of granites,quartzite, and mica schists, is entirely devoid of the numerous species ofgarrulous and gay-plumaged birds, such as the Mynah mocking-bird, whitecockatoo, wattle bird, and Rosella parrot, though these abundantly enliventhe eastern districts, which are fertilized by rich soils due to thepresence of ranges of basalt, greenstone, and other trappean rocks.

Another equally striking instance is given by my late father, Mr. J.Gould, in his work on the humming-birds. Of two species, inhabitingrespectively the adjacent[Pg 44]mountains of Pichincha and Chimborazo atcertain elevations, each is strictly confined to its own mountain; and, ifmy memory serves me correctly, he mentions similar instances of speciespeculiar to different peaks of the Andes.

Limitation by insular isolation is intelligible, especially in the case ofmammals and reptiles, and of birds possessing but small power of flight;and we are, therefore, not surprised to find Mr. Gosse indicating, amongother examples, that even the smallest of the Antilles has each a fauna ofits own, while the humming-birds, some of the parrots, cuckoos, andpigeons, and many of the smaller birds are peculiar to Jamaica. He statesstill further, that in the latter instance many of the animals are notdistributed over the whole island, but confined to a single smalldistrict.

Continental limitation is effected by mountain barriers. Thus, accordingto Mr. Wallace, almost all the mammalia, birds, and insects on one side ofthe Andes and Rocky Mountains are distinct in species from those on theother; while a similar difference, but smaller in degree, exists withreference to regions adjacent to the Alps and Pyrenees.

Climate, broad rivers, seas, oceans, forests, and even large desertwastes, like the Sahara or the great desert of Gobi, also act more or lesseffectively as girdles which confine species within certain limits.

Dependence on each other or on supplies of appropriate food also formminor yet practical factors in the sum of limitation; and a curiousexample of the first is given by Dr. Van Lennep with reference to thesmall migratory birds that are unable to perform the flight of threehundred and fifty miles across the Mediterranean. He states that these arecarried across on the backs of cranes.[39]

The question of food-supply is involved in the more extended subject ofgeological structure, as controlling the flora and the insect lifedependent on it. As an example we may cite the disappearance of thecapercailzie from Denmark with the decay of the pine forests abundantduring late Tertiary periods.

Collision, direct or indirect, with inimical species often has a fatalending. Thus the dodo was exterminated by the swine which the earlyvisitors introduced to the Mauritius and permitted to run wild there;while the indigenous insects, mollusca, and perhaps some of the birds ofSt. Helena, disappeared as soon as the introduction of goats caused thedestruction of the whole flora of forest trees.

The Tsetse fly extirpates all horses, dogs, and cattle, from certaindistricts of South Africa, and a representative species in Paraguay isequally fatal to new-born cattle and horses.

Mr. Darwin[40] shows that the struggle is more severe between species ofthe same genus, when they come into competition with each other, thanbetween species of distinct genera. Thus one species of swallow hasrecently expelled another from part of the United States; and themissel-thrush has driven the song-thrush from part of Scotland. InAustralia the imported hive-bee is rapidly exterminating the smallstingless native bee, and similar cases might be found in any number.

Mr. Wallace, in quoting Mr. Darwin as to these facts, points theconclusion that “any slight change, therefore,[Pg 46] of physical geography orof climate, which allows allied species hitherto inhabiting distinct areasto come into contact, will often lead to the extermination of one ofthem.”

It is the province of the palæontologist to enumerate the many remarkableforms which have passed away since man’s first appearance upon the globe,and to trace their fluctuations over both hemispheres as determined by theadvance and retreat of glacial conditions, and by the protean formsassumed by past and existing continents under oscillations of elevationand depression. Many interesting points, such as the dates of thesuccessive separation of Ireland and Great Britain from the maincontinent, can be determined with accuracy from the record furnished bythe fossil remains of animals of those times; and many interestingassociations of animals with man at various dates, in our present islandhome and in other countries, have been traced by the discovery of theirremains in connection with his, in bone deposits in caverns and elsewhere.

Conversely, most valuable deductions are drawn by the zoologist from thereview which he is enabled to take, through the connected labours of hiscolleagues in all departments, of the distinct life regions now mapped outupon the face of the globe. These, after the application of the necessarycorrections for various disturbing or controlling influences referred toabove, afford proof reaching far back into past periods, of successivealterations in the disposition of continents and oceans, and ofconnections long since obliterated between distant lands.

The palæontologist reasons from the past to the present, the zoologistfrom the present to the past; and their mutual labours explain theevolution of existing forms, and the causes of the disparity or connectionbetween those at present characterizing the different portions of thesurface of the globe.

The palæontologist, for example, traces the descent of the[Pg 47] horse, which,until its reintroduction by the Spaniards was unknown in the New World,through a variety of intermediate forms, to the genus Orohippus occurringin Eocene deposits in Utah and Wyoming. This animal was no larger than afox, and possessed four separated toes in front, and three behind.Domestic cattle he refers to the Bos primigenius, and many existingCarnivora to Tertiary forms such as the cave-bear, cave-lion, sabre-tiger,and the like.

The zoologist groups the existing fauna into distinct provinces, anddemands, in explanation of the anomalies which these exhibit, thereconstruction of large areas, of which only small outlying districtsremain at the present date, in many instances widely separated by oceans,though once forming parts of the same continent; and so, for the similereadily suggests itself, the workers in another branch of science,Philology, argue from words and roots scattered like fossils through thevarious dialects of very distant countries, a mutual descent from a commonAryan language: the language of a race of which no historical recordexists, though in regard to its habits, customs, and distribution much maybe affirmed from the large collection of word specimens stored inphilological museums.

Thus Mr. Sclater, on zoological grounds, claims the late existence of acontinent which he calls Lemuria, extending from Madagascar to Ceylon andSumatra; and for similar reasons Mr. Wallace extends the Australia ofTertiary periods to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and perhaps toFiji, and from its marsupial types infers a connection with the northerncontinent during the Secondary period.

Again, the connection of Europe with North Africa during a late geologicalperiod is inferred by many zoologists from the number of identical speciesof mammalia inhabiting the opposite sides of the Mediterranean, andpalæontologists confirm this by the discovery of the remains of elephantsin cave-deposits in Malta, and of hippopotami in[Pg 48] Gibraltar; whilehydrographers furnish the supplemental suggestive evidence that anelevation of only fifteen hundred feet would be sufficient to establishtwo broad connections between the two continents—so as to unite Italywith Tripoli and Spain with Morocco, and to convert the Mediterranean Seainto two great lakes, which appears, in fact, to have been its conditionduring the Pliocene and Post Pliocene periods.

It was by means of these causeways that the large pachyderms enteredBritain, then united to the continent; and it was over them they retreatedwhen driven back by glacial conditions, their migration northward beingeffectually prevented by the destruction of the connecting arms of land.

Some difference of opinion exists among naturalists as to the extent towhich zoological regions should be subdivided, and as to their respectivelimitations.

But Mr. A. R. Wallace, who has most recently written on the subject, is ofopinion that the original division proposed by Mr. Sclater in 1857 is themost tenable, and he therefore adopts it in the very exhaustive work uponthe geographical distribution of animals which he has recently issued. Mr.Sclater’s Six Regions are as follows:—

[Pg 49]This arrangement is based upon a detailed examination of the chief generaand families of birds, and also very nearly represents the distribution ofmammals and of reptiles. Its regions are not, as in other subsequentlyproposed and more artificial systems, controlled by climate; for theyrange, in some instances, from the pole to the tropics. It probablyapproaches more nearly than any other yet proposed to that desideratum, adivision of the earth into regions, founded on a collation of the groupsof forms indigenous to or typical of them, and upon a selection of thosepeculiar to them; with a disregard of, or only admitting with caution, anywhich, though common to and apparently establishing connection between twoor more regions, may have in fact but little value for the purpose of suchcomparison; from the fact of its being possible to account for theirextended range by their capability of easy transport from one region toanother by common natural agencies.[41]

Such an arrangement should be consistent with the retrospectiveinformation afforded by palæontology; and, taking an extended view of thesubject, be not merely a catalogue[Pg 50] of the present, but also an index ofthe past. It should afford an illustration of an existing phase of thedistribution of animal life, considered as the last of a long series ofsimilar phases which have successively resulted from changes in thedisposition of land and water, and from other controlling agencies,throughout all time. A reconstruction of the areas respectively occupiedby the sea and the land at different geological periods will be possible,or at least greatly facilitated, when a complete system of similargroupings, illustrative of each successive period, has been compiled.

It is obvious that any great cosmical change, affecting to a wide extentany of the regions, might determine a destruction of specific existence;and this on a large scale, in comparison with the change which is alwaysprogressing in a smaller degree in the different and isolated divisions.

The brief remarks which I have made on this subject are intended tosuggest, rather than to demonstrate—which could only be done by a lengthyseries of examples—the causes influencing specific existence and its inmany cases extreme frailty of tenure. And I shall now conclude by citingfrom the works of Lyell and Wallace a short list of notable species, nowextinct, whose remains have been collected from late Tertiary, and PostTertiary deposits—that is to say, at a time subsequent to the appearanceof man. From other authors I have extracted an enumeration of specieswhich have become locally or entirely extinct within the historic period.

These instances will, I think, be sufficient to show that, as similardestructive causes must have been in action during pre-historic times, itis probable that, besides those remarkable animals of which remains havebeen discovered, many others which then existed may have perished withoutleaving any trace of their existence. There is, consequently, apossibility that some at least of the so-calledmyths respectingextraordinary creatures, hitherto considered fabulous,[Pg 51] may merely bedistorted accounts—traditions—of species as yet unrecognised byScience, which have actually existed, and that not remotely, as man’scongener.

The Mammoth.—Among other remarkable forms whose remains have beendiscovered in those later deposits, in which geologists are generallyagreed that remains of man or traces of his handicraft have also beenrecognised, there is one which stands out prominently both for itsmagnitude and extensive range in time and space. Although the animalitself is now entirely extinct, delineations by the hand of Palæolithicman have been preserved, and even frozen carcases, with the fleshuncorrupted and fit for food, have been occasionally discovered.

This is the mammoth, theElephas primigenius of Blumenbach, a giganticelephant nearly a third taller than the largest modern species, and twiceits weight. Its body was[Pg 52] protected from the severity of the semi-arcticconditions under which it flourished by a dense covering of reddish wool,and long black hair, and its head was armed or ornamented with tusksexceeding twelve feet in length, and curiously curved into three parts ofa circle. Its ivory has long been, and still is, a valuable article ofcommerce, more especially in North-eastern Asia, and in Eschscholtz Bay inNorth America, near Behring’s straits, where entire skeletons areoccasionally discovered, and where even the nature of its food has beenascertained from the undigested contents of its stomach.

There is a well-known case recorded of a specimen found (1799), frozen andencased in ice, at the mouth of the Lena. It was sixteen feet long, andthe flesh was so well preserved that the Yakuts used it as food for theirdogs. But similar instances occurred previously, for we find theillustrious savant and Emperor Kang Hi [A.D. 1662 to 1723] penning thefollowing note[42] upon what could only have been this species:—

“The cold is extreme, and nearly continuous on the coasts of the northernsea beyond Tai-Tong-Kiang. It is on this coast that the animal called FenChou is found, the form of which resembles that of a rat, but which equalsan elephant in size. It lives in obscure caverns, and flies from thelight. There is obtained from it an ivory as white as that of theelephant, but easier to work, and which will not split. Its flesh is verycold and excellent for refreshing the blood. The ancient work Chin-y-kingspeaks of this animal in these terms: ‘There is in the depths of the northa rat which weighs as much as a thousand pounds; its flesh is very goodfor those who are heated.’ The Tsée-Chou calls it Tai-Chou and speaks ofanother species which is not so large. It[Pg 53] says that this is as big as abuffalo, buries itself like a mole, flies the light, and remains nearlyalways under ground; it is said that it would die if it saw the light ofthe sun or even that of the moon.”

It seems probable that discoveries of mammoth tusks formed in part thebasis for the story which Pliny tells in reference to fossil ivory. Hesays[43]:—“These animals [elephants] are well aware that the only spoilthat we are anxious to procure of them is the part which forms theirweapon of defence, by Juba called their horns, but by Herodotus, a mucholder writer, as well as by general usage, and more appropriately, theirteeth. Hence it is that, when these tusks have fallen off, either fromaccident or old age, they bury them in the earth.”

Nordenskjöld[44] states that the savages with whom he came in contactfrequently offered to him very fine mammoth tusks, and tools made ofmammoth ivory. He computes that since the conquest of Siberia, usefultusks from more than twenty thousand animals have been collected.

Mr. Boyd Dawkins,[45] in a very exhaustive memoir on this animal, quotesan interesting notice of its fossil ivory having[Pg 54] been brought for sale toKhiva. He derives[46] this account from an Arabian traveller,Abou-el-Cassim, who lived in the middle of the tenth century.

Figuier[47] says: “New Siberia and the Isle of Lachon are for the mostpart only an agglomeration of sand, of ice, and of elephants’ teeth. Atevery tempest the sea casts ashore new quantities of mammoth’s tusks, andthe inhabitants of New Siberia carry on a profitable commerce in thisfossil ivory. Every year during the summer innumerable fishermen’s barksdirect their course to this isle of bones, and during winter immensecaravans take the same route, all the convoys drawn by dogs, returningcharged with the tusks of the mammoth, weighing each from one hundred andfifty to two hundred pounds. The fossil ivory thus withdrawn from thefrozen north is imported into China and Europe.”

In addition to its elimination by the thawing of the frozen grounds of thenorth, remains of the mammoth are procured from bogs, alluvial deposits,and from the destruction of submarine beds.[48] They are also found incave deposits, associated with the remains of other mammals, and with[Pg 55]flint implements. This creature appears to have been an object of thechase with Palæolithic man.

Mr. Dawkins, reviewing all the discoveries, considers that its range, atvarious periods, extended over the whole of Northern Europe, and as farsouth as Spain; over Northern Asia, and North America down to the Isthmusof Darien. Dr. Falconer believes it to have had an elastic constitution,which enabled it to adapt itself to great change of climate.

Murchison, De Verneuil, and Keyserling believed that this species, as wellas the woolly rhinoceros, belonged to the Tertiary fauna of Northern Asia,though not appearing until the Quaternary period in Europe.

Mr. Dawkins shows it to have been pre-glacial, glacial, and post-glacialin Britain and in Europe, and, from its relation to the intermediatespeciesElephas armeniacus, accepts it as the ancestor of the existingIndian elephant. Its disappearance was rapid, but not in the opinion ofmost geologists cataclysmic, as suggested by Mr. Howorth.

Another widely distributed species was theRhinoceros tichorhinus—thesmooth-skinned rhinoceros—also called the woolly rhinoceros and theSiberian rhinoceros, which had two horns, and, like the mammoth, wascovered with woolly hair. It attained a great size; a specimen, thecarcase of which was found by Pallas imbedded in frozen soil near Wilui,in Siberia (1772), was eleven and a half feet in length. Its horns areconsidered by some of the native tribes of northern Asia to have been thetalons of gigantic birds; and Ermann and Middendorf suppose that theirdiscovery may have originated the accounts by Herodotus of thegold-bearing griffons and the arimaspi.

Its food, ascertained by Von Brandt, and others, from portions remainingin the hollows of its teeth, consisted of leaves and needles of treesstill existing in Siberia. The range of this species northwards was asextensive as that of[Pg 56] the mammoth, but its remains have not yet beendiscovered south of the Alps and Pyrenees.

The investigation,[49] made by M. E. Lartet in 1860, of the contents ofthe Grotto of Aurignac, in the department of the Haute Garonne, from whichnumerous human skeletons had been previously removed in 1852, shows thatthis animal was included among the species used as ordinary articles offood, or as exceptional items at the funeral feasts of the Palæolithictroglodytes. In the layers of charcoal and ashes immediately outside theentrance to the grotto, and surrounding what is supposed to have been thehearth, the bones of a youngRhinoceros tichorhinus were found, whichhad been split open for the extraction of the marrow. Numerous otherspecies had been dealt with in the same manner; and all these havingreceived this treatment, and showing marks of the action of fire, hadevidently been carried to the cave for banqueting purposes. The remains ofHerbivora associated with those of this rhinoceros, consisted of bones ofthe mammoth, the horse (Equus caballus), stag (Cervus elaphus), elk(Megaceros hibernicus), roebuck (C. capreolus), reindeer (C.tarandus), auroch (Bison europæus). Among carnivora were found remainsofUrsus spelæus (cave-bear),Ursus arctos? (brown bear),Melestaxus (badger),Putorius vulgaris (polecat),Hyæna spelæa(cave-hyæna),Felis spelæa (cave-lion),Felis catus ferus (wild cat),Canis lupus (wolf),Canis vulpis (fox). Within the grotto were alsofound remains ofFelis spelæa (cave-lion) andSus scrofa (pig). Thecave-bear, the fox, and indeed most of these, probably also formedarticles of diet, but the hyæna seems to have been a post attendant at thefeast, and to have rooted out and gnawed off the spongy parts of thethrown-away bones after the departure of the company.

In the Pleistocene deposits at Würzburg, in Franconia,[Pg 57] a humanfinger-bone occurs with bones of this species, and also of other largemammalia, such as the mammoth, cave-bear, and the like.

And flint implements, and pointed javelin-heads made of reindeer horn, arefound associated with it in the vicinity of the old hearths established byPalæolithic man in the cave called the Trou du Sureau, on the riverMalignée in Belgium.

In the cavern of Goyet, also in Belgium, there are five bone layers,alternating with six beds of alluvial deposits, showing that the cave hadbeen inhabited by different species at various periods. The lion wassucceeded by the cave-bear, and this by hyænas; then Palæolithic manbecame a tenant and has left his bones there, together with flintimplements and remains of numerous species, including those alreadyenumerated as his contemporaries.

The Sabre-toothed Tiger or Lion.—This species,Machairodus[50]latifrons of Owen, was remarkable for having long sabre-shaped canines.It belongs to an extinct genus, of which four other species are known,characterised by the possession of serrated teeth. The genus is known tobe represented in the Auvergne beds between the Eocene and Miocene, in theMiocene of Greece and India, in the Pliocene of South America and Europe,and in the Pleistocene. Mr. Dawkins believes that this species survived topost-glacial times. It is one of the numerous animals whose remains havebeen found with traces of man and flint implements in cave deposits atKent’s Hole, near Torquay, and elsewhere.

The Cave-Bear,Ursus spelæus, of Rosenmüller.—The appearance of thisspecies has been preserved to us in the drawing by Palæolithic man foundin the cave of Massat (Arieze).

[Pg 58]It occurs in the Cromer Forest Bed, a deposit referred by Mr. Boyd Dawkinsto the early part of the Glacial period, and generally regarded astransitional between the Pliocene and Quaternary. It is also found in thecaves of Perigaud, which are considered to belong to the reindeer era ofM. Lartet or the opening part of the Recent period, and numerousdiscoveries of its remains at dates intermediate to these have been madein Britain and in Europe. Carl Vogt, indeed, is of opinion that thisspecies is the progenitor of our living brown bear,Ursus arctos, andMr. Boyd Dawkins also says that those “who have compared the French,German, and British specimens, gradually realize the fact that the fossilremains of the bears form a graduated series, in which all the variationsthat at first sight appear specific vanish away.”

It has been identified by Mr. Busk among the associated mammalian bones ofthe Brixham cave. Its remains are very abundant in the bone deposit of theTrou de Sureau in Belgium, and in the cavern of Goyet, which it tenantedalternately with the lion and hyæna, and, like them, appears to havepreyed on man and the larger mammalia.

Mr. Prestwich has obtained it in low-level deposits of river gravels inthe valleys of the north of France and south of England, and it has beenobtained from the Löss, a loamy, usually unstratified deposit, which isextensively distributed over central Europe, in the valleys of the Rhine,Rhone, Danube, and other great rivers. This deposit is considered by Mr.Prestwich to be equivalent to other high-level gravels of the Pleistoceneperiod.

The Mastodon.—The generic title Mastodon has been applied to a number ofspecies allied to the elephants, but distinguished from them by a peculiarstructure of the molar teeth; these are rectangular, and in their uppersurfaces exhibit a number of great conical tuberosities with roundedpoints disposed in pairs, to the number of four or five,[Pg 59] according to thespecies; whereas in the elephants they are broad and uniform, andregularly marked with furrows of large curvature. The mastodons, inaddition to large tusks in the premaxillæ, like those of the elephant, hadalso in most instances, a pair of shorter ones in the mandible.

Cuvier established the name Mastodon,[51] or teat-like toothed animals,for the gigantic species from America which Buffon had already describedunder the name of the animal or elephant of the Ohio.

The form first appears in the Upper Miocene of Europe, five species beingknown, two of them from Pikermi, near Athens, and one,M. angustidens,from the Miocene beds of[Pg 60] Malta. Mastodon remains have also been found inthe beds of the Sivalik hills, and four species of mastodon in all areknown to have ranged over India during those periods.

In Pliocene deposits we have abundant remains ofM. arvernensis, andM.longirostris from the Val d’Arno in Italy, and theM. Borsoni fromcentral France.

TheM. arvernensis may be considered as a characteristic Pliocenespecies in Italy, France, and Europe generally. In Britain it occurs inthe Norwich Crag and the Red Crag of Suffolk.

Species of mastodon occur in the Pliocene of La Plata, and of thetemperate regions of South America; on the Pampas, and in the Andes ofChili.

TheMastodon mirificus of Leidy is the earliest known species inAmerica; this occurs in Pliocene deposits on the Niobrara and the Loupfork, west of the Mississippi.

The remains of theMastodon americanus of Cuvier occur abundantly in thePost Pliocene deposits throughout the United States, but more especiallyin the northern half; they are also found in Canada and Nova Scotia.

Perfect skeletons are occasionally procured from marshes, where theanimals had become mired. In life this species appears to have measuredfrom twelve to thirteen feet in[Pg 61] height and twenty-four to twenty-fivefeet in length, including seven feet for the tusks. Undigested food foundwith its remains show that it lived partly on spruce and fir-trees. Adistinct species characterised the Quaternary deposits of South America.

The Irish Elk.—The species (Megaceros hibernicus), commonly buterroneously called the Irish Elk, was, as professor Owen[52] has pointedout, a true deer, whose place is between the fallow and reindeer.

Though now extinct, it survived the Palæolithic period, and may possiblyhave existed down to historic times. Mr. Gosse adduces some very strongtestimony on this point, and is of opinion that its extinction cannot havetaken place more than a thousand years ago.

It had a flattened and expanded form of antler, with peculiarities unknownamong existing deer, and was, in comparison with these, of gigantic size;the height to the summit of the antlers being from ten to eleven feet inthe largest individuals, and the span of the antlers, in one case, overtwelve feet.

Although its remains have been found most abundantly in Ireland, it waswidely distributed over Britain and middle Europe. It has been found inpeat swamps, lacustrine marls, bone caverns, fen deposits, and the Cornishgravels. It has been obtained from the cavern of Goyet in Belgium, andfrom the burial-place at Aurignac, in the department of the Haute Garonne.Its known range in time is from the early part of the Glacial period downto, possibly, historic periods.

TheCave-Hyæna.—Hyæna spelæa of Goldfuss—is, like the cave-bear,characteristic of Europe during the Palæolithic age. It has been found innumerous caves in Britain, such as Kent’s Hole, the Brixham cave, and onenear Wells in[Pg 62] Somersetshire, explored by Dawkins in 1859; in all of thesethe remains are associated with those of man, or with his implements. Thisspecies is closely related to theH. crocuta of Zimm, at presentexisting in South Africa, and is by some geologists considered identicalwith it. It is, however, larger.

It appears to have to some extent replaced the cave-bear in Britain; weare also, doubtless, greatly indebted to it for some of the extensivecollections of bones in caverns, resulting from the carcases which it haddragged thither, and imperfectly destroyed.

In a cave at Kirkdale, in the vale of Pickering, the bones of about threehundred individuals—hyænas—were found mingled with the remains of themammoth, bear, rhinoceros, deer, cave-lion, brown bear, horse, hare, andother species. Mr. Dawkins,[53] in describing it, says: “The pack ofhyænas fell upon reindeer in the winter, and at other times on horses andbisons, and were able to master the hippopotamus, the lion, theslender-nosed rhinoceros, or the straight-tusked elephant, and to carrytheir bones to their den, where they were found by Dr. Buckland. Thehyænas also inhabiting the ‘Dukeries,’ dragged back to their densfragments of lion.”

Notable Quaternary forms (now extinct) on the American continent are thegigantic sloth-like animalsMegatherium, which reached eighteen feet inlength, andMylodon, one species of which (M. robustus) was elevenfeet in length; Armadillos, such asGlyptodon, with a total length ofnine feet;Chlamydotherium, as big as a rhinoceros; andPachytherium,equalling an ox.

In Australia we find marsupial forms as at the present day; but they weregigantic in comparison with the latter. As for example, theDiprotodon,which equalled in size a hippopotamus, and theNototherium, as large asa bullock.

[Pg 63]I may mention a few other species, the remains of which are associatedwith some of those commented on in the last few pages; but which, as theyhave undoubtedly continued in existence down to the present period, areexternal to the present portion of my argument, and are either treated ofelsewhere, or need only to be referred to in a few words.

It must also be borne in mind that the linking together of species by thediscovery of intermediate graduated forms, is daily proceeding; so thatsome even of those spoken of in greater detail may shortly be generallyrecognised, as at present they are held by a few, to be identical withexisting forms.

TheHippopotamus.—TheHippopotamus major, now considered identical withthe larger of the two African species—H. amphibia, has been foundassociated withE. antiquus andR. hemitæchus of Falc in Durdham Downand Kirkdale caves,[Pg 64] and in those at Kent’s Hole and Ravenscliff. It hasalso been found in river gravels at Grays, Ilford, and elsewhere, in thelower part of the river-border deposits of Amiens with flint implements,and in Quaternary deposits on the continent of Europe.

The Cave-Lion—Felis spelæa—is now considered to be merely a variety ofthe African lion (Felis leo), although of larger size; it had a verywide range over Britain and Europe during the Post Pliocene period, asalso did the leopard (F. pardus) and probably the lynx (Lyncus).

TheReindeer orCariboo—Cervus tarandus—which still exists, bothdomesticated and wild, in northern Europe and America, is adapted fornorthern latitudes. It formerly extended over Europe, and in the BritishIsles probably survived in the north of Scotland until the twelfthcentury.

Its remains have been found in Pleistocene deposits in numerouslocalities, but most abundantly in those which M. Lartet has assigned tothe period which he calls the Reindeer age.

Other Pleistocene mammals still existing, but whose range is muchrestricted, are the musk ox (Ovibos moschatus), familiar to us, from theaccounts of arctic expeditions, as occurring in the circumpolar regions ofNorth America; the glutton (Gulo luscus), the auroch (Bison europæus),the wild horse (E. fossilis), the arctic fox (Canis lagopus), thebison (Bison priscus), the elk or moose (Alces malchis), found inNorway and North America, the lemming, the lagomys or tail-less hare, &c.

As examples of total extinction in late years, we may mention the dodo,the solitaire, and species allied to them, in the islands of Mauritius,Bourbon, and Reunion; the moa in New Zealand; theÆpiornis inMadagascar; the great auk,Alca impennis, in northern seas, and theRhytina Stelleri, common once in the latitude of Behring’s Straits, anddescribed by Steller in 1742.

Fig. 15.—Skeleton of Rhytina Stelleri. (From “The Voyage of the ‘Vega.’”)

The Dodo, a native of the island of Mauritius, was about 50 lbs. inweight, and covered with loose downy plumage, it[Pg 66] was unable to rise fromthe ground in consequence of the imperfect development of its wings; itwas minutely described by Sir Thomas Herbert in 1634, and specimens of theliving bird and of its skin were brought to Europe. Its unwieldiness ledto its speedy destruction by the early voyagers.

The Solitaire was confined to the island of Mascaregue or Bourbon. It isfully described by Francis Leguat, who, having fled from France intoHolland in 1689, to escape religious persecution consequent on therevocation of the Edict of Nantes, engaged under the Marquis de Quesne inan expedition for the purpose of settlement on that island. This bird alsospeedily became extinct.

The Moa (Dinornis giganteus, Owen) reached from twelve to fourteen feetin height, and survived for a long period after the migration of theMaories to New Zealand. Bones of it have been found along with charredwood, showing that it had been killed and eaten by the natives; and itsmemory is preserved in many of their traditions, which also record theexistence of a much larger bird, a species of eagle or hawk, which used toprey upon it.[54]

[Pg 67]Rapidly approaching total extinction are the several species ofApteryxin the same country—remarkable birds with merely rudimentary wings: asalso theNotornis, a large Rail—at first, and for a long time, onlyknown in the fossil state, but of which a living specimen was secured byMr. Walter Mantell in 1849: and theKapapo (Strigops habroptilus) ofG. R. Gray—a strange owl-faced nocturnal ground-parrot.

TheÆpyornis maximus was almost as large as the Moa; of this numerousfossil bones and a few eggs have been discovered, but there are not, Ibelieve, any traditions extant among the natives of Madagascar of itshaving survived to a late period.

The Great Auk (Alca impennis) is now believed to be extinct. It formerlyoccurred in the British Isles, but more abundantly in high latitudes; andits remains occur in great numbers on the shores of Iceland, Greenland,and Denmark, as also of Labrador and Newfoundland.

Steller’s Sea-cow (Rhytina Stelleri of Cuvier) was a mammal allied tothe Manatees and Dugongs; it was discovered by Behring in 1768 on a smallisland lying off the Kamtchatkan coast. It measured as much as fromtwenty-eight to thirty-five feet in length, and was soon nearlyexterminated by Behring’s party and other voyagers who visited the island.The last one of which there is any record was killed in 1854.[55]

[Pg 68]To the above may be added theDidunculus, a species of ground-pigeonpeculiar to the Samoa Islands, and theNestor productus, a parrot ofNorfolk Island. An extended list might be prepared, from fossil evidences,of other species which were at one time associated with those I haveenumerated.

In conclusion, I may point out that that excellent naturalist Pliny[56]records the disappearance, in his days, of certain species formerly known.He mentions the Incendiary, the Clivia, and the Subis (species of birds),and states that there were many other birds mentioned in the Etruscanritual, which were no longer to be found in his time. He also says thatthere had been a bird in Sardinia resembling the crane, and called theGromphæna, which was no longer known even by the people of the country.

Of local extinction we may note in our own island the cases of the beaver,the bear, the wolf, the wild cattle, the elk, the wild boar, the bustard,and the capercailzie; of these the beaver survived in Wales and Scotlanduntil the time of Giraldus Cambrensis in 1188, and Pennant notesindications of its former existence in the names of several streams andlakes in Wales. It was not uncommon throughout the greater part of Europedown to the Middle Ages.

[Pg 69]The bear, still common in Norway and the Pyrenees, is alluded to, as Mr.Gosse points out, in the Welsh Triads,[57] which are supposed to have beencompiled in the seventh century. They say that “the Kymri, a Celtic tribe,first inhabited Britain; before them were no men here, but only bears,wolves, beavers, and oxen with high prominences.” Mr. Gosse adds, “TheRoman poets knew of its existence here. Martial speaks of the robberLaureolis being exposed on the cross to the fangs of the Caledonian bear;and Claudian alludes to British bears. The Emperor Claudius, on his returnto Rome after the conquest of this island, exhibited, as trophies, combatsof British bears in the Arena. In the Penitential of Archbishop Egbert,said to have been compiled aboutA.D. 750, bears are mentioned asinhabiting the English forests, and the city of Norwich is said to havebeen required to furnish a bear annually to Edward the Confessor, togetherwith six dogs, no doubt for baiting him.”

The wolf, though greatly reduced in numbers during the Heptarchy, whenEdgar laid an annual tribute of three hundred wolf-skins upon the Welsh,still occurred in formidable numbers in England in 1281, and notunfrequently until the reign of Henry VII. The last wolf was killed inScotland in the year 1743, and in Ireland in 1770.[58]

The wild cattle are now only represented by the small herds in ChartleyCastle, Chillingham, and Cadgow parks; the spare survivors probably of thespecies referred to by Herodotus when he speaks of “large ferocious andfleet white bulls” which abounded in the country south of Thrace, andcontinued in Poland, Lithuania, and Muscovy until the fifteenth century,or perhaps of the Urus described by Cæsar as little inferior to theelephant in size, and inhabiting the[Pg 70] Hercynian forest, and believed to beidentical with theBos primigenius found in a fossil state in Britain.

The wild boar was once abundant in Scotland and England. The family ofBaird derives its heraldic crest from a grant of David I. of Scotland, inrecognition of his being saved from an infuriated boar which had turned onhim. In England only nobles and gentry were allowed to hunt it, and theslaughter of one by an unauthorized person within the demesnes of Williamthe Conqueror was punished by the loss of both eyes.[59]

The bustard, once abundant, is now extinct in Britain, so far as theindigenous race is concerned. Occasionally a chance visitant from thecontinent is seen; but there, also, its numbers have been greatlydiminished. It was common in Buffon’s time in the plains of Poitou andChampagne, though now extremely rare, and is still common in Eastern Asia.

The capercailzie, or cock of the woods, after complete extinction, hasbeen reintroduced from Norway, and, under protection, is moderatelyabundant in parts of Scotland.

In America, the process of extermination marches with the settlement ofthe various states. W. J. J. Allen records the absolute disappearance ofthe walrus from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and of the moose, the elk, andthe Virginian deer, from many of the states in which they formerlyabounded. This also is true, to some extent, of the bear, the beaver, thegrey wolf, the panther, and the lynx.

The buffalo (Bos americanus) is being destroyed at the rate of twohundred and fifty thousand annually, and it is estimated that the numberslain by hunters for their hides during the last forty years amounts tofour millions. It has disappeared in the eastern part of the continentfrom many extensive tracts which it formerly inhabited.

Among the ocean whales, both the right and the sperm[Pg 71] have only beenpreserved from extinction by the fortunate discovery of petroleum, whichhas reduced the value of their oil, and thus lessened considerably thenumber of vessels equipped for the whale fishery.

In South Africa, elephants and all other large game are being steadilyexterminated within the several colonies.

In Australia, we find that the seals which thronged the islands of Bass’sStraits in countless thousands, at the period when Bass made hisexplorations there, have utterly disappeared. The bulk of them weredestroyed by seal-hunters from Sydney within a few years after hisdiscovery. The lamentable records of theSydney Gazette of that periodshow this, for they detail the return to port, after a short cruise, ofschooners laden with from twelve to sixteen thousand skins each. Theresult of this has been that for many years past the number of seals hasbeen limited to a few individuals, to be found on one or two isolatedrocks off Clarke’s Island, and on Hogan’s group.

The great sea-elephant, which, in Peron’s time, still migrated forbreeding purposes from antarctic regions to the shores of King’s Island,where it is described by him as lining the long sandy beaches by hundreds,has been almost unseen there since the date of his visit, and its memoryis only preserved in the names of Sea-Elephant Bay, Elephant Rock, &c.which are still inscribed on our charts.

The introduction of the Dingo, by the Australian blacks in their southwardmigration, is supposed to have caused the extinction of the Thylacinus(T. cynocephalus), or striped Australian wolf, on the main land ofAustralia, where it was once abundant; it is now only to be found in theremote portions of the island of Tasmania. This destruction of one speciesby another is paralleled in our own country by the approaching extinctionof the indigenous and now very rare black rat, which has been almostentirely displaced by the fierce grey rat from Norway.

[Pg 72]We learn from incidental passages in theBamboo Books[60] that therhinoceros, which is now unknown in China, formerly extended throughoutthat country. We read of King Ch’aou, named Hĕa (B.C. 980), that “inhis sixteenth year [of reign] the king attacked Ts’oo, and in crossing theriver Han met with a large rhinoceros.” And, again, of King E, namedSëĕ (B.C. 860), that “in his sixth year, when hunting in the forest ofShay, he captured a rhinoceros and carried it home.” There is also mentionmade—though this is less conclusive—that in the time of King Yiu, namedYeu (B.C. 313), the King of Yueh sent Kung-sze Yu with a present of threehundred boats, five million arrows, together with rhinoceros’ horns andelephants’ teeth.

Elephants are now unknown in China except in a domesticated state, butthey probably disputed its thick forest and jungly plains with theMiaotsz, Lolos, and other tribes which held the country before its presentoccupants. This may be inferred from the incidental references to them intheShan Hai King, a work reputed to be of great antiquity, of whichmore mention will be made hereafter, and from evidence contained in otherancient Chinese works which has been summarized by Mr. Kingsmill[61] asfollows:—

“The rhinoceros and elephant certainly lived in HonanB.C. 600. TheTso-chuen, commenting on the C‘hun T‘siu of the second year of the DukeSiuen (B.C. 605), describes the former as being in sufficient abundance tosupply skins for armour. The want, according to the popular saying, wasnot of rhinoceroses to supply skins, but of courage to animate thewearers. From the same authority (Duke Hi XIII.,B.C. 636) we learn thatwhile T‘soo (Hukwang) produced ivory and rhinoceros’ skins in abundance,Tsin, lying[Pg 73] north of the Yellow River, on the most elevated part of theLoess, was dependent on the other for its supplies of those commodities.TheTribute of Yu tells the same tale. Yang-chow and King (Kiangpeh andHukwang), we are told, sent tribute of ivory and rhinoceros’ hide, whileLiang (Shensi) sent the skins of foxes and bears. Going back to mythicaltimes, we find Mencius (III. ii. 9) telling how Chow Kung expelled from Lu(Shantung) the elephants and rhinoceroses, the tigers and leopards.”

Mr. Kingsmill even suggests that the species referred to were the mammothand the Siberian rhinoceros (R. tichorhinus).

M. Chabas[62] publishes an Egyptian inscription showing that the elephantexisted in a feral state in the Euphrates Valley in the time of ThothmesIII. (16th centuryB.C.). The inscription records a great hunting ofelephants in the neighbourhood of Nineveh.

Tigers still abound in Manchuria and Corea, their skins forming a regulararticle of commerce in Vladivostock, Newchwang, and Seoul. They are saidto attain larger dimensions in these northern latitudes than theirsouthern congener, the better-known Bengal tiger. They are generallyextinct in China Proper; but Père David states that he has seen them inthe neighbourhood of Pekin, in Mongolia, and at Moupin, and they arereported to have been seen near Amoy. Within the last few years[63] alarge specimen was killed by Chinese soldiery within a few miles of thecity of Ningpo; and it is probable that at no distant date they rangedover the whole country from Hindostan to Eastern Siberia, as they areincidentally referred to in various Chinese works—theUrh Yah speciallyrecording the capture of a white tiger[Pg 74] in the time of the Emperor Süen ofthe Han dynasty, and of a black one, in the fourth year of the reign ofYung Kia, in a netted surround in Kien Ping Fu in the district of TszKwei.

The tailed deer or Mi-lu (Cervus Davidianus of Milne Edwardes), whichChinese literature[64] indicates as having once been of common occurrencethroughout China, is now only to be found in the Imperial hunting groundssouth of Peking, where it is restricted to an enclosure of fifty miles incircumference. It is believed to exist no longer in a wild state, as notrace of it has been found in any of the recent explorations of Asia. TheCh‘un ts‘iu (B.C. 676) states that this species appeared in the winterof that year, in such numbers that it was chronicled in the records of Lu(Shantung), and that in the following autumn it was followed by an inroadof “Yih,” which Mr. Kingsmill believes to be the wolf.

There also appears reason to suppose that the ostrich had a much moreextended range than at present; for we find references in theShi-Ki,[65] or book of history of Szema Tsien, to “large birds with eggsas big as water-jars” as inhabiting T‘iaou-chi, identified by Mr.Kingsmill as Sarangia or Drangia; and, in speaking of Parthia, it says,“On the return of the mission he sent envoys with it that they might seethe extent and power of China. He sent with them, as presents to theEmperor, eggs of the great bird of the country, and a curiously deformedman from Samarkand.”

The gigantic Chelonians which once abounded in India[Pg 75] and the Indian seasare now entirely extinct; but we have had little difficulty in believingthe accounts of their actual and late existence contained in the works ofPliny and Ælian since the discovery of the Colossochelys, described by Dr.Falconer, in the Upper Miocene deposits of the Siwalik Hills inNorth-Western India. The shell ofColossochelys Atlas (Falconer andCautley) measured twelve feet, and the whole animal nearly twenty.

Pliny,[66] who published his work on Natural History aboutA.D. 77, statesthat the turtles of the Indian Sea are of such vast size that a singleshell is sufficient to roof a habitable cottage, and that among theislands of the Red Sea the navigation is mostly carried on in boats formedfrom this shell.

Ælian,[67] about the middle of the third century of our era, is morespecific in his statement, and says that the Indian river-tortoise is verylarge, and in size not less than a boat of fair magnitude; also, inspeaking of the Great Sea, in which is Taprobana (Ceylon), he says: “Thereare very large tortoises generated in this sea, the shell of which islarge enough to make an entire roof; for a single one reaches the lengthof fifteen cubits, so that not a few people are able to live beneath it,and certainly secure themselves from the vehement rays of the sun; theymake a broad shade, and so resist rain that they are preferable for thispurpose to tiles, nor does the rain beating against them sound otherwisethan if it were falling on tiles. Nor, indeed, do those who inhabit themhave any necessity for repairing them, as in the case of broken tiles, forthe whole roof is made out of a solid shell so that it has the appearanceof a cavernous or undermined rock, and of a natural roof.”

[Pg 76]El Edrisi, in his great geographical work,[68]completedA.D. 1154, speaksof them as existing down to his day, but as his book is admitted to be acompilation from all preceding geographical works, he may have been simplyquoting, without special acknowledgment, the statements given above. Hesays, speaking of the Sea of Herkend (the Indian Ocean west of Ceylon),“It contains turtles twenty cubits long, containing within them as many asone thousand eggs.” Large tortoises formerly inhabited the Mascareneislands, but have been destroyed on all of them, with the exception of thesmall uninhabited Aldabra islands, north of the Seychelle group; and thoseformerly abundant on the Galapagos islands are now represented by only afew survivors, and the species rapidly approaches extinction.

I shall close this chapter with a reference to a creature which, if it maynot be entitled to be called “the dragon,” may at least be considered asfirst cousin to it. This is a lacertilian of large size, at least twentyfeet in length, panoplied with the most horrifying armour, which roamedover the Australian continent during Pleistocene times, and probably untilthe introduction of the aborigines.

Its remains have been described by Professor Owen in severalcommunications to the Royal Society,[69] under the name ofMegalaniaprisca. They were procured by Mr. G. F. Bennett from the drift-beds ofKing’s Creek, a tributary of the Condamine River in Australia. It wasassociated with correspondingly large marsupial mammals, now also extinct.

From the portions transmitted to him Professor Owen determined that itpresented in some respects a magnified resemblance of the miniatureexisting lizard,Moloch horridus,[Pg 77] found in Western Australia,[70] ofwhich Dr. Gray remarks, “The external appearance of this lizard is themost ferocious of any that I know.” In Megalania the head was renderedhorrible and menacing by horns projecting from its sides, and from the tipof the nose, which would be “as available against the attacks ofThylacoleo as the buffalo’s horns are against those of the South Africanlion.” The tail consisted of a series of annular segments armed with hornyspikes, represented by the less perfectly developed ones in the existingspeciesUromastix princeps from Zanzibar, or in the above-mentionedmoloch. In regard to these the Professor says, “That the horny sheaths ofthe above-described supports or cores arming the end of the tail may havebeen applied to deliver blows upon an assailant, seems not improbable, andthis part of the organization of the great extinct Australian dragon maybe regarded, with the cranial horn, as parts of both an offensive anddefensive apparatus.”

The gavial of the Ganges is reported to be a fish-eater only, and isconsidered harmless to man. The Indian museums, however, have largespecimens, which are said to have been captured after they had destroyedseveral human beings; and so we may imagine that this structurallyherbivorous lizard (the Megalania having a horny edentate upper jaw) mayhave occasionally varied his diet, and have proved an importunateneighbour to aboriginal encampments in which toothsome children abounded,and that it may, in fact, have been one of the sources from which the mythof the Bunyip, of which I shall speak hereafter, has been derived.

CHAPTER III.

I do not propose to bestow any large amount of space upon the enumerationof the palæontological evidence of the antiquity of man. The works of thevarious eminent authors who have devoted themselves to the specialconsideration of this subject exhaust all that can be said upon it withour present data, and to these I must refer the reader who is desirous ofacquainting himself critically with its details, confining myself to a fewgeneral statements based on these labours.

In the early days of geological science when observers were few, greatgroups of strata were arranged under an artificial classification, which,while it has lost to a certain extent the specific value which it thenassumed to possess, is still retained for purposes of convenientreference. Masters of the science acquired, so to say, a possessiveinterest in certain regions of it, and the names of Sedgwick, Murchison,Jukes, Phillips, Lyell, and others became, and will remain, inseparablyassociated with the history of those great divisions of the materials ofthe earth’s crust, which, under the names of the Cambrian, Silurian,Devonian, Carboniferous, and Tertiary formations, have become familiar tous.

In those days, when observations were limited to a comparatively smallarea, the lines separating most of these formations were supposed to behard and definite; forms of life which characterized one, were presumed tohave become[Pg 79] entirely extinct before the inauguration of those whichsucceeded them, and breaks in the stratigraphical succession appeared tojustify the opinion, held by a large and influential section, that greatcataclysms or catastrophes had marked the time when one age or formationterminated and another commenced to succeed it.

By degrees, and with the increase of observers, both in England and inevery portion of the world, modifications of these views obtained; passagebeds were discovered, connecting by insensible gradations formations whichhad hitherto been supposed to present the most abrupt separations;transitional forms of life connecting them were unearthed; and an opinionwas advanced, and steadily confirmed, which at the present day it isprobable no one would be found to dispute, that not all in one place orcountry, but discoverable in some part or other of the world, a perfectsequence exists, from the very earliest formations of which we have anycognizance, up to the alluvial and marine deposits in process of formationat the present day.[71]

[Pg 80]Correlatively it was deduced that the same phenomena of nature have beenin action since the earliest period when organic existence can beaffirmed. The gradual degradation of pre-existing continents by normaldestructive agencies, the upheaval and subsidence of large areas, theeffusion from volcanic vents, into the air or sea, of ashes and lavas, theaction of frost and ice, of heat, rain, and sunshine—all these have actedin the past as they are still acting before our eyes.

In earlier days, arguing from limited data, a progressive creation wasclaimed which confined the appearance of the higher form of vertebratelife to a successive and widely-stepped gradation.

Hugh Miller, and other able thinkers, noted with satisfaction theappearance, first of fish, then of reptiles, next of birds and mammals,and finally, as the crowning work of all, both geologically and actually,quite recently of man.

This wonderful confirmation of the Biblical history of creation appealedso gratefully to many, that it caused for a time a disposition to crampdiscovery, and even to warp the facts of science, in order to make themharmonize with the statements of Revelation. The alleged proofs of theexistence of pre-historic man were for a long time jealously disputed, andit was only by slow degrees that they were admitted, that the tenets ofthe Darwinian school gained ground, and that the full meaning wasappreciated of such anomalies as the existence at the present day ofGanoid fishes both in America and Europe, of true Palæozoic type, or ofOolitic forms on the Australian continent and in the adjacent seas.

But step by step marvellous palæontological discoveries were made, and thepillars which mark the advent of each great form of life have had to beset back, until now no one would, I think, be entirely safe in affirmingthat even in the Cambrian, the oldest of all fossiliferous formations,vestiges of mammals, that is to say, of the highest forms of life, may[Pg 81]not at a future day be found, or that the records contained between theCambrian and the present day, may not in fact be but a few pages ascompared with the whole volume of the world’s history.[72]

[Pg 82]It is with the later of these records that we have to deal, in whichdiscoveries have been made sufficiently progressive to justify theexpectation that they have by no means reached their limit, andsufficiently ample in themselves to open the widest fields for philosophicspeculation and deduction.

Before stating these, it may be premised that estimates have beenattempted by various geologists of the collective age of the differentgroups of formations.[73] These are based on reasonings which for the mostpart it is unnecessary to give in detail, in so much as these can scarcelyyet be considered to have passed the bounds of speculation, and verydifferent results can be arrived at by theorists according to the relativeimportance which they attach to the data employed in the calculation.

Thus Mr. T. Mellard Reade, in a paper communicated to the Royal Society in1878, concludes that the formation of the sedimentary strata must haveoccupied at least six hundred million years: which he divides in roundnumbers as follows:—

He estimates the average thickness of the sedimentary crust of the earthto be at least one mile, and from a[Pg 83]computation of the proportion ofcarbonate and sulphate of lime to materials held in suspension in variousriver-waters from a variety of formations, infers that one-tenth of thiscrust is calcareous.

He estimates the annual flow of water in all the great river-basins, theproportion of rain-water running off the granitic and trappean rocks, thepercentage of lime in solution which they carry down, and arrives at theconclusion that the minimum time requisite for the elimination of thecalcareous matter contained in the sedimentary crust of the earth, is atleast six hundred millions of years.

A writer in theGentleman’s Magazine[74] (Professor Huxley?), whosearticle I am only able to quote at second-hand, makes an estimate which,though much lower than the above, is still of enormous magnitude, asfollows:—

Mr. Darwin, arguing upon Sir W. Thompson’s estimate of a minimum ofninety-eight and maximum of two hundred millions of years since theconsolidation of the crust, and on Mr. Croll’s estimate of sixty millions,as the time elapsed since the Cambrian period, considers that the latteris quite insufficient to permit of the many and great mutations of lifewhich have certainly occurred since then. He judges[Pg 84] from the small amountof organic change since the commencement of the glacial epoch, and addsthat the previous one hundred and forty million years can hardly beconsidered as sufficient for the development of the varied forms of lifewhich certainly existed towards the close of the Cambrian period.

On the other hand, Mr. Croll considers that it is utterly impossible thatthe existing order of things, as regards our globe, can date so far backas anything like five hundred millions of years, and, starting withreferring the commencement of the Glacial epoch to two hundred and fiftythousand years ago, allows fifteen millions since the beginning of theEocene period, and sixty millions of years in all since the beginning ofthe Cambrian period. He bases his arguments on the limit to the age of thesun’s heat as detailed by Sir William Thompson.

Sir Charles Lyell and Professor Haughton respectively estimated theexpiration of time from the commencement of the Cambrian at two hundredand forty and two hundred millions of years, basing their calculations onthe rate of modification of the species of mollusca, in the one case, andon the rate of formation of rocks and their maximum thickness, in theother.

This, moreover, is irrespective of the vast periods during which life musthave existed, which on the development theory necessarily preceded theCambrian, and, according to Mr. Darwin, should not be less than in theproportion of five to two.

In fine, one school of geologists and zoologists demand the maximumperiods quoted above, to account for the amount of sedimentary deposit,and the specific developments which have occurred; the other considers theperiods claimed as requisite for these actions to be unnecessary, and tobe in excess of the limits which, according to their views, the physicalelements of the case permit.

[Pg 85]Mr. Wallace, in reviewing the question, dwells on the probability of therate of geological changes having been greater in very remote times thanit is at present, and thus opens a way to the reconciliation of theopposing views so far as one half the question is concerned.

Having thus adverted to the principles upon which various theorists havein part based their attacks on the problem of the estimation of theduration of geological ages, I may now make a few more detailedobservations upon those later periods during which man is, now, generallyadmitted to have existed, and refer lightly to the earlier times whichsome, but not all, geologists consider to have furnished evidences of hispresence.

I omit discussing the doubtful assertions of the extreme antiquity of man,which come to us from American observers, such as are based on supposedfootprints in rocks of secondary age, figured in a semi-scientific andexceedingly valuable popular journal. There are other theories which Iomit, both because they need further confirmation by scientificinvestigators, and because they deal with periods so remote as to betotally devoid of significance for the argument of this work.

Nor, up to the present time, are the evidences of the existence of manduring Miocene and Pliocene times admitted as conclusive. ProfessorCapellini has discovered, in deposits recognised by Italian geologists asof Pliocene age, cetacean bones, which are marked with incisions such asonly a sharp instrument could have produced, and which, in his opinion,must be ascribed to human agency. To this view it is objected that theincisions might have been made by the teeth of fishes, and furtherevidence is waited for.

Not a few discoveries have been made, apparently extending the existenceof man to a much more remote antiquity, that of Miocene times. M. l’AbbéBourgeois has collected, from undoubted Miocene strata at Thenay, supposedflint[Pg 86] implements which he conceives to exhibit evidences of having beenfashioned by man, as well as stones showing in some cases traces of theaction of fire, and which he supposes to have been used as pot-boilers. M.Carlos Ribeiro has made similar discoveries of worked flints andquartzites in the Pliocene and Miocene of the Tagus; worked flint has beenfound in the Miocene of Aurillac (Auvergne) by M. Tardy, and a cut rib ofHalitherium fossile, a Miocene species, by M. Delaunay at Pouancé.

Very divided opinions are entertained as to the interpretation of thesupposed implements discovered by M. l’Abbé Bourgeois. M. Quatrefages,after a period of doubt, has espoused the view of their being of humanorigin, and of Miocene age. “Since then,” he says, “fresh specimensdiscovered have removed my last doubts. A small knife or scraper, amongothers, which shows a fine regular finish, can, in my opinion, only havebeen shaped by man. Nevertheless, I do not blame those of my colleagueswho deny or still doubt. In such a matter there is no very great urgency,and, doubtless, the existence of Miocene man will be proved, as that ofGlacial and Pliocene has been, by facts.” Mr. Geikie, from whosework—Prehistoric Europe—I have summarized the above statements, says,in reference to this question: “There is unquestionably much force in whatM. Quatrefages says; nevertheless, most geologists will agree with himthat the question of man’s Miocene age still remains to be demonstrated byunequivocal evidence. At present, all that we can safely say is, that manwas probably living in Europe near the close of the Pliocene period, andthat he was certainly an occupant of our continent during glacial andinterglacial times.”

Professor Marsh considers that the evidence, as it stands to-day, althoughnot conclusive, “seems to place the first appearance of man [in America]in the Pliocene, and that the best proofs of this are to be found on thePacific coast.”[Pg 87] He adds: “During several visits to that region many factswere brought to my knowledge which render this more than probable. Man, atthis time, was a savage, and was doubtless forced by the great volcanicoutbreaks to continue his migration. This was at first to the south, sincemountain chains were barriers on the east,” and “he doubtless first cameacross Behring’s Straits.”

I have hitherto assumed a certain acquaintance, upon the part of thegeneral reader, with the terms Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene, happilyinvented by Sir Charles Lyell to designate three of the four greatdivisions of the Tertiary age. These, from their universal acceptation andconstant use, have “become familiar in our mouths as household words.” Butit will be well, before further elaborating points in the history of thesegroups, bearing upon our argument, to take into consideration theirsubdivisions, and the equivalent or contemporary deposits composing themin various countries. This can be most conveniently done by displayingthese, in descending order, in a tabular form, which I accordingly annexbelow. This is the more desirable as there are few departments ingeological science which have received more attention than this; or inwhich greater returns, in the shape of important and interestingdiscoveries relative to man’s existence, have been made.

Comparatively recent—comparatively, that is to say, with regard to thevast æons that preceded them, but extending back over enormous spaces oftime when contrasted with the limited duration of written history,—theyembrace the period during which the mainly existing distribution of landand ocean has obtained, and the present forms of life have appeared byevolution from preceding species, or, as some few still maintain, byseparate and special creation.

The subdivisions of the Eocene have been worked out in great detail inBritain, France, and America. Those of most other countries have eithernot yet been fully studied or their exact equivalence remainsundetermined.

[Pg 91]We learn, both from the nature of these deposits and from their organiccontents, that climatic oscillations have been passing during the wholeperiod of their deposition over the surface of the globe, and inducingcorresponding fluctuations in the character of the vegetable and animallife abounding on it. A complete collation of these varying conditions atsynchronous periods remains to be achieved, but the study of our owncountry, and those adjacent to it, shows that alternations of tropical,boreal, and temperate climate have occurred in it; a remarkable series ofconditions which has only lately been thoroughly and satisfactorilyaccounted for.

Thus, during a portion of the Eocene period a tropical climate prevailed,as is evidenced by deposits containing remains of palms of an equatorialtype, crocodiles, turtles, tropical shells, and other remains attestingthe existence of a high temperature. The converse is proved of thePleistocene by the existence of a boreal fauna, and the widespreadevidences of glacial action. The gradations of climate during the Mioceneand Pliocene, and the amelioration subsequent to the glacial period, haveresulted in the gradual development or appearance of specific life as itexists at present.

Corresponding indications of secular variability of climate are derivedfrom all quarters: during the Miocene age, Greenland (in N. Lat. 70°)developed an abundance of trees, such as the yew, the Redwood, a Sequoiaallied to the Californian species, beeches, planes, willows, oaks,poplars, and walnuts, as well as a Magnolia and a Zamia. In Spitzbergen(N. Lat. 78° 56′) flourished yews, hazels, poplars, alders, beeches, andlimes. At the present day, a dwarf willow and a few herbaceous plants formthe only vegetation, and the ground is covered with almost perpetual iceand snow.

Many similar fluctuations of climate have been traced right back throughthe geological record; but this fact, though interesting in relation tothe general solution of the causes, has little bearing on the presentpurpose.

[Pg 92]Sir Charles Lyell conceived that all cosmical changes of climate in thepast might be accounted for by the varying preponderance of land in thevicinity of the equator or near the poles, supplemented, of course, in asubordinate degree by alteration of level and the influence of oceancurrents. When, for example, at any geological period the excess of landwas equatorial, the ascent and passage northwards of currents of heatedair would, according to his view, render the poles habitable; while,percontrâ, the excessive massing of land around the pole, and absence of itfrom the equator, would cause an arctic climate to spread far over the nowtemperate latitudes.

The correctness of these inferences has been objected to by Mr. JamesGeikie and Dr. Croll, who doubt whether the northward currents of airwould act as successful carriers of heat to the polar regions, or whetherthey would not rather dissipate it into space upon the road. On the otherhand, Mr. Geikie, though admitting that the temperature of a largeunbroken arctic continent would be low, suggests that, as the windswould be stripped of all moisture on its fringes, the interior wouldtherefore be without accumulations of snow and ice; and in the moreprobable event of its being deeply indented by fjords and bays, warmsea-currents (the representatives of our present Gulf and Japan streams,but possessing a higher temperature than either, from the greater extentof equatorial sea-surface originating them, and exposed to the sun’sinfluence) would flow northward, and, ramifying, carry with them warm andheated atmospheres far into its interior, though even these, he thinks,would be insufficient in their effects under any circumstances to producethe sub-tropical climates which are known to have existed in highlatitudes.

Mr. John Evans[75] has thrownout the idea that possibly a[Pg 93] completetranslation of geographical position with respect to polar axes may havebeen produced by a sliding of the whole surface crust of the globe about afluid nucleus. This, he considers, would be induced by disturbances ofequilibrium of the whole mass from geological causes. He further pointsout that the difference between the polar and equatorial diameters of theglobe, which constitutes an important objection to his theory, ismaterially reduced when we take into consideration the enormous depth ofthe ocean over a large portion of the equator, and the great tracts ofland elevated considerably above the sea-level in higher latitudes. Healso speculates on the general average of the surface having in bygonegeological epochs approached much more nearly to that of a sphere than itdoes at the present time.

Sir John Lubbock favoured the idea of a change in the position of the axisof rotation, and this view has been supported by Sir H. James[76] and manylater geologists.[77] If I apprehend their arguments correctly, thischange could only have been produced by what may be termed geologicalrevolutions. These are great outbursts of volcanic matter, elevations,subsidences, and the like. These having probably been almost continuousthroughout geological time, incessant changes, small or great, would bedemanded in the position of the axis, and the world must be considered asa globe rolling over in space with every alteration of its centre ofgravity. The possibility of this view must be left for mathematicians andastronomers to determine.

Sounder arguments sustain the theory propounded by Dr. Croll (though this,again, is not universally accepted), that all these alterations of climatecan be accounted for by the effects of nutation, and the precession of theequinoxes.[Pg 94] From these changes, combined with the eccentricity of theecliptic from the first, it results that at intervals of ten thousand fivehundred years, the northern and southern hemispheres are alternately inaphelion during the winter, and in perihelion during the summer months,andvice versâ; or, in other words, that if at any given period theinclination of the earth’s axis produces winter in the northernhemisphere, while the earth is at a maximum distance from that focus ofits orbit in which the sun is situated, then, after an interval of tenthousand five hundred years, and as a result of the sum of the backwardmotion of the equinoxes along the ecliptic, at the rate of 50′ annually,the converse will obtain, and it will be winter in the northern hemispherewhile the earth is at a minimum distance from the sun.

The amount of eccentricity of the ecliptic varies greatly during longperiods, and has been calculated for several million years back. Mr.Croll[78] has demonstrated a theory explaining all great secularvariations of climate as indirectly the result of this, through the actionof sundry physical agencies, such as the accumulation of snow and ice, andespecially the deflection of ocean currents. From a consideration of thetables which he has computed of the eccentricity and longitude of theearth’s orbit, he refers the glacial epoch to a period commencing abouttwo hundred and forty thousand years back, and extending down to abouteighty thousand years ago, and he describes it as “consisting of a longsuccession of cold and warm periods; the warm periods of the onehemisphere corresponding in time with the cold periods of the other, andvice versâ.”

Having thus spoken of the processes adopted for estimating the duration ofgeological ages, and the results which have been arrived at, with greatprobability of accuracy, in regard[Pg 95] to some of the more recent, it nowonly remains to briefly state the facts from which the existence of man,during these latter periods, has been demonstrated. The literature of thissubject already extends to volumes, and it is therefore obviouslyimpossible, in the course of the few pages which the limits of this workadmit, to give anything but the shortest abstract, or to assign the creditrelatively due to the numerous progressive workers in this rich field ofresearch. I therefore content myself with taking as my text-book Mr. JamesGeikie’sPrehistoric Europe, the latest and most exhaustive work uponthe subject, and summarizing from it the statements essential to mypurpose.

From it we learn that, long prior to the ages when men were acquaintedwith the uses of bronze and iron, there existed nations or tribes,ignorant of the means by which these metals are utilized, whose weaponsand implements were formed of stone, horn, bone, and wood.

These, again, may be divided into an earlier and a later race, stronglycharacterized by the marked differences in the nature of the stoneimplements which they respectively manufactured, both in respect to thematerial employed and the amount of finish bestowed upon it. To the twoperiods in which these people lived the terms Palæolithic and Neolithichave been respectively applied, and a vast era is supposed to haveintervened between the retiring from Europe of the one and the appearancethere of the other.

Palæolithic man was contemporaneous with the mammoth (Elephasprimigenius), the woolly rhinoceros (Rhinoceros primigenius), theHippopotamus major, and a variety of other species, now quite extinct,as well as with many which, though still existing in other regions, are nolonger found in Europe; whereas the animals contemporaneous with Neolithicman were essentially the same as those still occupying it.

The stone implements of Palæolithic man had but little variety of form,were very rudely fashioned, being merely[Pg 97] chipped into shape, and neverground or polished; they were worked nearly entirely out of flint andchert. Those of Neolithic man were made of many varieties of hard stone,often beautifully finished, frequently ground to a sharp point or edge,and polished all over.

Palæolithic men were unacquainted with pottery and the art of weaving, andapparently had no domesticated animals or system of cultivation; but theNeolithic lake dwellers of Switzerland had looms, pottery, cereals, anddomesticated animals, such as swine, sheep, horses, dogs, &c.

Implements of horn, bone, and wood were in common use among both races,but those of the older are frequently distinguished by their beingsculptured with great ability or ornamented with life-like engravings ofthe various animals living at the period; whereas there appears to havebeen a marked absence of any similar artistic ability on the part ofNeolithic man.

Again, it is noticeable that, while the passage from the Neolithic ageinto the succeeding bronze age was gradual, and, indeed, that the use ofstone implements and, in some[Pg 98] parts, weapons, was contemporaneous withthat of bronze in other places, no evidence exists of a transition fromPalæolithic into Neolithic times. On the contrary, the examination of bonedeposits, such as those of Kent’s Cave and Victoria Cave in England, andnumerous others in Belgium and France, attest “beyond doubt that aconsiderable period must have supervened after the departure ofPalæolithic man and before the arrival of his Neolithic successor.” Thediscovery of remains of Palæolithic man and animals in river deposits inEngland and on the Continent, often at considerable elevations[80] abovethe existing valley bottoms, and in Löss, and the identification of thePleistocene or Quaternary period with Preglacial and Glacial times, offera means of estimating what that lapse of time must have been.[81]

[Pg 99]Skeletons or portions of the skeletons of human beings, of admittedPalæolithic age, have been found in caverns in the vicinity of Liege inBelgium, by Schmerling, and probably the same date may be assigned thosefrom the Neanderthal Cave near Düsseldorf. A complete skeleton, of tallstature, of probable but not unquestioned Palæolithic age, has also beendiscovered in the Cave of Mentone on the Riviera.

These positive remains yield us further inferences than can be drawn fromthe mere discovery of implements or fragmentary bones associated withremains of extinct animals.

The Mentone man, according to M. Rivière, had a rather long but largehead, a high and well-made forehead, and the very large facial angle of85°. In the Liege man the cranium was high and short, and of goodCaucasian type; “a fair average human skull,” according to Huxley.

Other remains, such as the jaw-bone from the cave of the Naulette inBelgium, and the Neanderthal skeleton, show marks of inferiority; but evenin the latter, which was the lowest in grade, the cranial capacity isseventy-five cubic inches or “nearly on a level with the mean between thetwo human extremes.”

We may, therefore, sum up by saying that evidences have been accumulatedof the existence of man, and intelligent man, from a period which even themost conservative among geologists are unable to place at less than thirtythousand[Pg 100] years; while most of them are convinced both of his existencefrom at least later Pliocene times, and of the long duration of ages whichhas necessarily elapsed since his appearance—a duration to be numbered,not by tens, but by hundreds of thousands of years.

CHAPTER IV.

If we assume that the antiquity of man is as great, or even approximatelyas great, as Sir Charles Lyell and his followers affirm, the questionnaturally arises, what has he been doing during those countless ages,prior to historic times? what evidences has he afforded of the possessionof an intelligence superior to that of the brute creation by which he hasbeen surrounded? what great monuments of his fancy and skill remain? orhas the sea of time engulphed any that he erected, in abysses so deep thatnot even the bleached masts project from the surface, to testify to theexistence of the good craft buried below?

These questions have been only partially asked, and but slightly answered.They will, however, assume greater proportions as the science ofarchæology extends itself, and perhaps receive more definite replies whenfresh fields for investigation are thrown open in those portions of theold world which Asiatic reserve has hitherto maintained inviolable againstscientific prospectors.

If man has existed for fifty thousand years, as some demand, or for twohundred thousand, as others imagine, has his intelligence gone onincreasing thoughout the period? and if so, in what ratio? Are the termsof the series which involve the unknown quantity stated with sufficientprecision to enable us to determine whether his development has been slow,gradual, and more or less uniform, as in arithmetical, or gaining at arapidly increasing rate, as in geometric progression. Or, to pursue thesimile, could it be more[Pg 102] accurately expressed by the equation to a curvewhich traces an ascending and descending path, and, though controlled inreality by an absolute law, appears to exhibit an unaccountable andcapricious variety of positive and negative phases, ofpoints d’arrêt,nodes, and cusps.

These questions cannot yet be definitely answered; they may be proposedand argued on, but for a time the result will doubtless be a variety ofopinions, without the possibility of solution by a competent arbiter.

For example, it is a matter of opinion whether the intelligence of thepresent day is or is not of a higher order than that which animated thesavans of ancient Greece. It is probable that most would answer in theaffirmative, so far as the question pertains to the culture of the massesonly, but how will scholars decide, who are competent to compare the worksof our present poets, sculptors, dramatists, logicians, philosophers,historians, and statesmen, with those of Homer, Pindar, Œschylus,Euripides, Herodotus, Aristotle, Euclid, Phidias, Plato, Solon, and thelike? Will they, in a word, consider the champions of intellect of thepresent day so much more robust than their competitors of three thousandyears ago as to render them easy victors? This would demonstrate a decidedadvance in human intelligence during that period; but, if this is thecase, how is it that all the great schools and universities still cling tothe reverential study of the old masters, and have, until quite recently,almost ignored modern arts, sciences, and languages.

We must remember that the ravages of time have put out of court many ofthe witnesses for the one party to the suit, and that natural decay,calamity, and wanton destruction[82][Pg 103] have obliterated the bulk of thephilosophy of past ages. With the exceptions of the application of steam,the employment of moveable type in printing,[83] and the utilization ofelectricity, there are few arts and inventions which have not descended tous from remote antiquity, lost, many of them, for a time, some of them forages, and then re-discovered and paraded as being, really and truly,something new under the sun.

Neither must we forget the oratory and poetry, the masterpieces of logicalargument, the unequalled sculptures, and the exquisitely proportionedarchitecture of Greece, or the thorough acquaintance with mechanicalprinciples and engineering skill evinced by the Egyptians, in theconstruction of the pyramids, vast temples, canals[84] and hydraulicworks.[85]

Notice, also, the high condition of civilization possessed[Pg 104] by the Chinesefour thousand years ago, their enlightened and humane polity, theirengineering works,[86] their provision for the proper administration ofdifferent departments of the State, and their clear and intelligentdocuments.[87]

Fig. 24.—Cyathus or Cup for Libations.
Shang Dynasty,B.C.1766toB.C. 1122.
(From the Poh Ku T’u.)

In looking back upon these, I think we can hardly distinguish any suchdeficiency of intellect, in comparison with ours, on the part of these ourhistorical predecessors as to indicate so rapid a change of intelligenceas would, if we were able to carry our comparison back for another similarperiod, inevitably land us among a lot of savages similar to[Pg 106] those whofringe the civilization of the present period. Intellectually measured,the civilized men of eight or ten thousand years ago must, I think, havebeen but little inferior to ourselves, and we should have to peer very farback indeed before we reached a status or condition in which the highesttype of humanity was the congener of the cave lion, disputing with him amiserable existence, shielded only from the elements by an overhangingrock, or the fortuitous discovery of some convenient cavern.

If this be so, we are forced back again to the consideration of thequestions with which this section opened; where are the evidences of man’searly intellectual superiority? are they limited to those deduced from thediscovery of certain stone implements of the early rude, and laterpolished ages? and, if so, can we offer any feasible explanation either oftheir non-existence or disappearance?

In the first place, it may be considered as admitted by archæologists thatno exact line can be drawn between the later of the two stone-weaponepochs, the polished Neolithic stone epoch, and the succeeding age ofbronze. They are agreed that these overlap each other, and that the rudehunters, who contented themselves with stone implements of war and thechase, were coeval with people existing in other places, acquainted withthe metallurgical art, and therefore of a high order of intelligence. Theformer are, in fact, brought within the limit of historic times.

Fig. 25.—Incense Burner(?).
Chen Dynasty,B.C. 1122toB.C. 255.
(From the Poh Ku T’u.)

Fig. 26.—Tripod of the Shang Dynasty.
Probable date,B.C. 1649.
(From the Poh Ku T’u.)

Fig. 28.—Tripod of Kwai Wan,
Chen Dynasty,B.C. 1122toB.C. 255
(From the Poh Ku T’u.)

A similar inference might not unfairly be drawn with regard to thosenumerous discoveries of proofs of the existence of ruder man, at stillearlier periods. The flint-headed arrow of the North American Indian, andthe stone hatchet of the Australian black-fellow exist to the present day;and but a century or two back, would have been the sole representatives ofthe constructive intelligence of humanity over nearly one half theinhabited surface of the world. No philosopher, with these alone to reasonon, could have[Pg 109]imagined the settled existence, busy industry, andsuperior intelligence which animated the other half; and a parallelsuggestive argument may be supported by the discovery of human relics,implements, and artistic delineations such as those of the hairy mammothor the cave-bear. These may possibly be the traces of an outlying savagewho co-existed with a far more highly-organized people elsewhere,[88] justas at the present day the Esquimaux, who are by some geologists consideredas the descendants of Palæolithic man, co-exist with ourselves. They, liketheir reputed ancestors, have great ability in carving on bone, &c.; andas an example of their capacity not only to conceive in their own minds a[Pg 110]correct notion of the relative bearings of localities, but also to impartthe idea lucidly to others, I annex a wood-cut of a chart drawn by them,impromptu, at the request of Sir J. Ross, who, inferentially, vouches forits accuracy.

There is but a little step between carving the figure of a mammoth orhorse, and using them as symbols. Multiply them, and you have the earlyhieroglyphic written language of the Chinese and Egyptians. It is not anunfair presumption that at no great distance, in time or space, eithersome generations later among his own descendants, or so many nations’distance among his coevals, the initiative faculty of the Palæolithicsavage was usefully applied to the communication of ideas, just as at amuch later date the Kououen symbolic language was developed or made use ofamong the early Chinese.[89]

Such is, necessarily, the first stage of any written language, and it may,as I think, perhaps have occurred, been developed into higher stages,culminated, and perished at many successive epochs during man’s existence,presuming it to have been so extended as the progress of geology tends toaffirm.

May not the meandering of the tide of civilization westward during thelast three thousand years, bearing on its crest fortune and empire, andleaving in its hollow decay and oblivion, possibly be the sequel of manysuccessive waves which have preceded it in the past, rising, some higher,some lower, as waves will.

In comparison with the vast epochs of which we treat how[Pg 113] near to us areNineveh, Babylon, and Carthage! Yet the very sites of the former two havebecome uncertain, and of the last we only know by the presence of the fewscattered ruins on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Tyre, the vastentrepôt of commerce in the days of Solomon, was stated, rightly orwrongly, by Benjamin of Tudela, to be but barely discernible (in 1173) inruins beneath the waves; and the glory of the world, the temple of KingSolomon, was represented at the same date by two copper columns which hadbeen carried off and preserved in Rome. It is needless to quote the casesof Persia, Greece, and Rome, and of many once famous cities, which havedissolved in ruin; except as assisting to point the moral that conquest,which is always recurring, means to a great extent obliteration, thevictor having no sympathy with the preservation of the time-honouredrelics of the vanquished.

When decay and neglect are once initiated, the hand of man largely assiststhe ravages of time. The peasant carts the marbles of an emperor’s palaceto his lime-kiln,[90] or an Egyptian monarch strips the casing of apyramid[91] to furnish the material for a royal residence.

Nor is it beyond the limits of possibility that the arrogant caprice ofsome, perhaps Mongol, invader in the future, may level the imperishablepyramids themselves for the purpose of constructing some defensive work,or the gratification of an inordinate vanity.

[Pg 114]In later dates how many comfortable modern residences have been erectedfrom the pillage of mediæval abbey, keep, or castle? and how many faircities[92] must have fallen to decay, in Central and Eastern Asia, and howmany numerous populations dwindled to insignificance since the days whenGhenghis and Timour led forth their conquering hordes, and Nadun couldraise four hundred thousand horsemen[93] to contest the victory withKublai Khan.

The unconscious ploughman in Britain has for centuries guided his shareabove the remains of Roman villas, and the inhabitants of the later cityof Hissarlik were probably as ignorant that a series of lost and buriedcities lay below them, as they would have been incredulous that within athousand years their own existence would have passed from the memory ofman, and their re-discovery been due only to the tentative researches ofan enthusiastic admirer of Homer. Men live by books and bards longer thanby the works of their hands, and impalpable tradition often survives thematerial vehicle which was destined to perpetuate it. The name of Priamwas still a household word when the site of his palace had been longforgotten.

The vaster a city is, the more likely is it to be constructed upon thesite of its own grave, or, in other words, to occupy the broad valley ofsome important river beneath whose gravels it is destined to be buried.

Perched on an eminence, and based on solid rock, it may escape entombment,but more swiftly and more certainly will[Pg 115] it be destroyed by theelements,[94] and by the decomposition of its own material furnish theshroud for its envelopment.[95] It is not altogether surprising then thatno older discoveries than those already quoted have yet been made, forthese would probably never have resulted if tradition had not bothstimulated and guided the fortunate explorer.

It is, therefore, no unfair inference that the remains of equallyimportant, but very much more ancient cities and memorials of civilizationmay have hitherto entirely escaped our observation, presuming that we canshow some reasonable grounds for belief that, subsequent to theircompletion, a catastrophe has occurred of sufficiently universal acharacter to have obliterated entirely the annals of the past, and to haveleft in the possession of its few survivors but meagre and fragmentaryrecollections of all that had preceded them.

Now this is precisely what the history and traditions of all nationsaffirm to have occurred. However, as a variance of opinion exists as tothe credence which should be attached to these traditions, I shall, beforeexpressing my own views upon the subject, briefly epitomize thoseentertained by two authors of sufficient eminence to warrant their beingselected as representatives of two widely opposite schools.

These gentlemen, to whom we are indebted for exhaustive papers,[96]embracing the pith of all the information extant[Pg 116] upon the subject, havetapped the same sources of information, consulted the same authorities,ranged their information in almost identical order, argued from the samedata, and arrived at diametrically opposite conclusions.

Mr. Cheyne, following the lead of Continental mythologists, deduces thatthe Deluge stories were on the whole propagated from several independentcentres, and adopts the theory of Schirrer and Gerland that they are ethermyths, without any historical foundation, which have been transferred fromthe sky to the earth.

M. Lenormant, upon the other hand, eliminating from the inquiry the greatinundation of China in the reign of Yao, and some others, as purely localevents, concludes as the result of his researches that the story of theDeluge “is a universal tradition among all branches of the human race,”with the one exception of the black. He further argues: “Now arecollection thus precise and concordant cannot be a myth voluntarilyinvented. No religious or cosmogenic myth presents this character ofuniversality. It must arise from the reminiscences of a real and terribleevent, so powerfully impressing the imagination of the first ancestors ofour race, as never to have been forgotten by their descendants. Thiscataclysm must have occurred near the first cradle of mankind and beforethe dispersion of families from which the different races of men were tospring.”

Lord Arundel of Wardour adopts a similar view in many respects to that ofM. Lenormant, but argues for the existence of a Deluge tradition in Egypt,and the identity of the Deluge of Yu (in China) with the generalcatastrophe of which the tradition is current in other countries.

The subject is in itself so inviting, and has so direct a bearing upon theargument of this work that I propose to re-examine the same materials andendeavour to show from them that the possible solutions of the questionhave not yet been exhausted.

It is unnecessary to travel in detail over the well-worn ground of themyths and traditions prevalent among European nations, the presumedidentity of Noah with Saturn, Janus, and the like, or the Grecian storiesof Ogyges and Deucalion. Nor is anyone, I think, disposed to dispute theidentity of the cause originating the Deluge legends in Persia and inIndia. How far these may have descended from independent sources it is nowdifficult to determine, though it is more than probable that theirvitality is due to the written Semitic records. Nor is it necessary todiscuss any unimportant differences which may exist between the text ofJosephus and that of the Bible, which agree sufficiently closely, but aremere abstracts (with the omission of many important details) in comparisonwith the Chaldæan account. This may be accounted for by their having beenonly derived from oral tradition through the hands of Abraham. TheBiblical narrative shows us that Abraham left Chaldæa on a nomadicenterprise, just as a squatter leaves the settled districts of Australiaor America at the present day, and strikes out with a small following andscanty herd to search for, discover, and occupy new country; his destinyleading him, may be for a few hundred, may be for a thousand miles. Insuch a train there is no room for heavy baggage, and the stone tabletscontaining the detailed history of the Deluge would equally with all therest of such heavy literature be left behind.

[Pg 118]The tradition, however reverenced and faithfully preserved at first,would, under such circumstances, soon get mutilated and dwarfed. We may,therefore, pass at once to the much more detailed accounts presented inthe text of Berosus, and in the more ancient Chaldæan tablets decipheredby the late Mr. G. Smith from the collation of three separate copies.

The account by Berosus (see Appendix) was taken from the sacred books ofBabylon, and is, therefore, of less value than the last-mentioned as beingsecond-hand. The leading incidents in his narrative are similar to thosecontained in that of Genesis, but it terminates with the vanishing ofXisuthros (Noah) with his wife, daughter, and the pilot, after they haddescended from the vessel and sacrificed to the gods, and with the returnof his followers to Babylon. They restored it, and disinterred thewritings left (by the pious obedience of Xisuthros) in Shurippak, the cityof the Sun.

The great majority of mythologists appear to agree in assigning a muchearlier date to the Deluge, than that which has hitherto been generallyaccepted as the soundest interpretation of the chronological evidenceafforded by the Bible.

I have never had the advantage of finding the arguments on which thisopinion is based, formulated in association, although, as incidentallyreferred to by various authors, they appear to be mainly deduced from thereferences made, both by sacred and profane writers, to large populationsand important cities existing subsequently to the Deluge, but at so earlya date, as to imply the necessity of a very long interval indeed betweenthe general annihilation caused by the catastrophe, and the attainment ofso high a pitch of civilization and so numerous a population as theirexistence implies.

Philologists at the same time declare that a similar inference may bedrawn from the vast periods requisite for the divergence[Pg 119] of differentlanguages from the parent stock,[97] while the testimony of the monumentsand sculptures of ancient Egypt assures us that race distinction of asmarked a type as occurs at the present day existed at so early a date[98]as to preclude the possibility of the derivation of present nations fromthe descendants of Noah within the limited period usually allowed.

These difficulties vanish, if we consider the Biblical and Chaldeannarratives as records of a local catastrophe, of vast extent perhaps, andresulting in general but not total destruction, whose sphere may haveembraced the greater portion of Western Asia, and perhaps Europe; butwhich, while wrecking the great centres of northern civilization, did notextend southwards to Africa and Egypt.[99] The Deluge legends indigenousin Mexico at the date of the Spanish conquest, combining the Biblicalincidents of the despatch of birds from a vessel with the conception offour consecutive ages terminating in general destruction, andcorresponding with the four ages or Yugas of India, supply in themselvesthe testimony of their probable origin from Asia. The cataclysm whichcaused what is called the Deluge may or may not have extended to America,probably not. In a future page[Pg 120] I shall enumerate a few of theresemblances between the inhabitants of the New World and of the Oldindicative of their community of origin.

I refer the reader to M. Lenormant’s valuable essay[100] for his criticalnotice on the dual composition of the account in Genesis, derived as itappears to be from two documents, one of which has been called theElohistic and the other the Jehovistic account, and for his comparison ofit with the Chaldean narrative exhumed by the late Mr. George Smith fromthe Royal Library of Nineveh, the original of which is probably ofanterior date to Moses, and nearly contemporaneous with Abraham.

I transcribe from M. Lenormant the text of the Chaldean narrative, becausethere are points in it which have not yet been commented on, and which, asit appears to me, assist in the solution of the Deluge story:—

I will reveal to thee, O Izdhubar, the history of my preservation—andtell to thee the decision of the gods.

The town of Shurippak, a town which thou knowest, is situated on theEuphrates. It was ancient, and in it [men did not honour] the gods. [Ialone, I was] their servant, to the great gods—[The gods took counselon the appeal of] Anu—[a deluge was proposed by] Bel—[and approvedby Nabon, Nergal and] Adar.

And the god [Êa,] the immutable lord,—repeated this command in adream.—I listened to the decree of fate that he announced, and hesaid to me:—“Man of Shurippak, son of Ubaratutu—thou, build a vesseland finish it [quickly].—By a [deluge] I will destroy substance andlife.—Cause thou to go up into the vessel the substance of all thathas life.—The vessel thou shalt build—600 cubits shall be themeasure of its length—and 60 cubits the amount of its breadth and ofits height.—[Launch it] thus on the ocean and cover it with aroof.”—I understood, and I said to Êa, my lord:—“[The vessel] thatthou commandest me to build thus,—[when] I shall do it—young and old[shall laugh at me].”—[Êa opened his mouth and] spoke.—He said tome, his servant:—“[If they laugh at thee] thou shalt say to them:[Shall be punished] he who has insulted me, [for the protection of thegods] is over me.— .... like to caverns .... —— .... I will exercise myjudgment[Pg 121]on that which is on high and that which is below .... ——.... Close the vessel .... —— .... At a given moment that I shallcause thee to know,—enter into it, and draw the door of the shiptowards thee.—Within it, thy grains, thy furniture, thyprovisions,—thy riches, thy men-servants, and thy maid-servants, andthy young people—the cattle of the field and the wild beasts of theplain that I will assemble—and that I will send thee, shall be keptbehind thy door.”—Khasisatra opened his mouth and spoke;—he said toÊa, his lord:—“No one has made [such a] ship.—On the prow I will fix.... —I shall see .... and the vessel .... —the vessel thou commandestme to build [thus]—which in ....[101]

On the fifth day [the two sides of the bark] were raised.—In itscovering fourteen in all were its rafters—fourteen in all did itcount above.—I placed its roof and I covered it.—I embarked in it onthe sixth day; I divided its floors on the seventh;—I divided theinterior compartments on the eighth. I stopped up the chinks throughwhich the water entered in;—I visited the chinks and added what waswanting.—I poured on the exterior three times 3,600 measures ofasphalte,—and three times 3,600 measures of asphalte within.—Threetimes 3,600 men, porters, brought on their heads the chests ofprovisions.—I kept 3,600 chests for the nourishment of myfamily,—and the mariners divided amongst themselves twice 3,600chests.—For [provisioning] I had oxen slain;—I instituted [rations]for each day.—In [anticipation of the need of] drinks, of barrels andof wine—[I collected in quantity] like to the waters of a river, [ofprovisions] in quantity like to the dust of the earth.—[To arrangethem in] the chests I set my hand to.— .... of the sun .... the vesselwas completed.— .... strong and—I had carried above and below thefurniture of the ship.—[This lading filled the two-thirds.]

All that I possessed I gathered together; all I possessed of silver Igathered together; all that I possessed of gold I gathered—all that Ipossessed of the substance of life of every kind I gatheredtogether.—I made all ascend into the vessel; my servants male andfemale,—the cattle of the fields, the wild beasts of the plains, andthe sons of the people, I made them all ascend.

Shamash (the sun) made the moment determined, and—he announced it inthese terms:—“In the evening I will cause it to rain abundantly fromheaven; enter into the vessel and close the door.”—The fixed momenthad arrived, which he announced in these terms: “In the evening I willcause it to rain abundantly from heaven.”—When the evening of thatday arrived, I was afraid,—I entered into the vessel and shut mydoor.—In shutting the vessel, to Buzurshadirabi, the pilot,—Iconfided this dwelling with all that it contained.

[Pg 122]Mu-sheri-ina-namari[102]—rose from the foundations of heaven in ablack cloud;—Ramman[103] thundered in the midst of the cloud—andNabon and Sharru marched before;—they marched, devastating themountain and the plain;—Nergal[104] the powerful, draggedchastisements after him;—Adar[105] advanced, overthrowing beforehim;—the archangels of the abyss brought destruction,—in theirterrors they agitated the earth.—The inundation of Ramman swelled upto the sky,—and [the earth] became without lustre, was changed into adesert.

They broke .... of the surface of the [earth] like .... ;—[theydestroyed] the living beings of the surface of the earth.—Theterrible [Deluge] on men swelled up to [heaven].—The brother nolonger saw his brother; men no longer knew each other. In heaven—thegods became afraid of the waterspout, and—sought a refuge; theymounted up to the heaven of Anu.[106]—The gods were stretched outmotionless, pressing one against another like dogs.—Ishtar wailedlike a child,—the great goddess pronounced her discourse:—“Here ishumanity returned into mud, and—this is the misfortune that I haveannounced in the presence of the gods. So I announced the misfortunein the presence of the gods,—for the evil I announced the terrible[chastisement] of men who are mine.—I am the mother who gave birth tomen, and—like to the race of fishes, there they are filling thesea;—and the gods by reason of that—which the archangels of theabyss are doing, weep with me.”—The gods on their seats were seatedin tears,—and they held their lips closed, [revolving] future things.

Six days and as many nights passed; the wind, the waterspout, and thediluvian rain were in all their strength. At the approach of theseventh day the diluvian rain grew weaker, the terriblewaterspout—which had assailed after the fashion of anearthquake—grew calm, the sea inclined to dry up, and the wind andthe waterspout came to an end. I looked at the sea, attentivelyobserving—and the whole of humanity had returned to mud; like untosea-weeds the corpses floated. I opened the window, and the lightsmote on my face. I was seized with sadness; I sat down and Iwept;—and my tears came over my face.

I looked at the regions bounding the sea; towards the twelve points ofthe horizon; not any continent.—The vessel was borne above the landof Nizir,—the mountain of Nizir arrested the vessel, and did notpermit it to pass over.—A day and a second day the mountain of Nizirarrested the vessel, and did not permit it to pass over;—the thirdand[Pg 123]fourth day the mountain of Nizir arrested the vessel, and did notpermit it to pass over;—the fifth and sixth day the mountain of Nizirarrested the vessel, and did not permit it to pass over.—At theapproach of the seventh day, I sent out and loosed a dove. The dovewent, turned, and—found no place to light on, and it came back. Isent out and loosed a swallow; the swallow went, turned, and—found noplace to light on, and it came back. I sent out and loosed a raven;the raven went, and saw the corpses on the waters; it ate, rested,turned, and came not back.

I then sent out (what was in the vessel) towards the four winds, and Ioffered a sacrifice. I raised the pile of my burnt-offering on thepeak of the mountain; seven by seven I disposed the measuredvases,[107]—and beneath I spread rushes, cedar, and juniper wood. Thegods were seized with the desire of it,—the gods were seized with abenevolent desire of it;—and the gods assembled like flies above themaster of the sacrifice. From afar, in approaching, the great goddessraised the great zones that Anu has made for their glory (thegods’).[108] These gods, luminous crystal before me, I will neverleave them; in that day I prayed that I might never leave them. “Letthe gods come to my sacrificial pile!—but never may Bel come to mysacrificial pile! for he did not master himself, and he has made thewaterspout for the Deluge, and he has numbered my men for the pit.”

From far, in drawing near, Bel—saw the vessel, and Bel stopped;—hewas filled with anger against the gods and the celestialarchangels:—“No one shall come out alive! No man shall be preservedfrom the abyss!”—Adar opened his mouth and said; he said to thewarrior Bel:—“What other than Ea should have formed thisresolution?—for Ea possesses knowledge and [he foresees] all.”—Eaopened his mouth and spake; he said to the warrior Bel:—“O thou,herald of the gods, warrior,—as thou didst not master thyself, thouhast made the waterspout of the deluge.—Let the sinner carry theweight of his sins, the blasphemer the weight of hisblasphemy.—Please thyself with this good pleasure, and it shall neverbe infringed; faith in it never [shall be violated].—Instead of thymaking a new deluge, let hyænas appear and reduce the number of men;instead of thy making a new deluge, let there be famine, and let theearth be [devastated];—instead of thy making a new deluge, letDibbara[109] appear, and let men be [mown down].—I have not revealedthe decision of the great gods;—it is Khasisatra who interpreted adream and comprehended what the gods had decided.”

Then, when his resolve was arrested, Bel entered into the vessel.—He[Pg 124]took my hand and made me rise.—He made my wife rise, and made herplace herself at my side.—He turned around us and stopped short; heapproached our group.—“Until now Khasisatra has made part ofperishable humanity;—but lo, now, Khasisatra and his wife are goingto be carried away to live like the gods,—and Khasisatra will resideafar at the mouth of the rivers.”—They carried me away andestablished me in a remote place at the mouth of the streams.

This narrative agrees with the Biblical one in ascribing the inundation toa deluge of rain; but adds further details which connect it with intenseatmospheric disturbance, similar to that which would be produced by aseries of cyclones, or typhoons, of unusual severity and duration.

The intense gloom, the deluge of rain, terrific violence of wind, and thehavoc both on sea and land, which accompany the normal cyclones occurringannually on the eastern coast of China, and elsewhere, and lasting but afew hours in any one locality, can hardly be credited, except by those whohave experienced them. They are, however, sufficient to render explicablethe general devastation and loss of life which would result from theduration of typhoons, or analogous tempests, of abnormal intensity, foreven the limited period of six days and nights allotted in the text above,and much more so for that of one hundred and fifty days assigned to it inthe Biblical account.

As illustrating this I may refer to a few calamities of recent date,which, though of trivial importance in comparison with the stupendousevent under our consideration, bring home to us the terribly devastatingpower latent in the elements.

In Bengal, a cyclone on October 31, 1876, laid under water three thousandand ninety-three square miles, and destroyed two hundred and fifteenthousand lives.

A typhoon which raged in Canton, Hongkong, and Macao on September 22,1874, besides much other destruction, destroyed several thousand people inMacao and the adjacent villages, the number of corpses in the town beingso numerous that they had to be gathered in heaps and burnt withkerosene,[Pg 125] the population, without the Chinese who refused to lendassistance, being insufficient to bury them.

A tornado in Canton, on April 11, 1878, destroyed, in the course of a fewminutes, two thousand houses and ten thousand lives.

In view of these few historical facts, which might be greatlysupplemented, there appears to my mind to be no difficulty in believingthat the continuance, during even only six days and six nights, ofextraordinarily violent circular storms over a given area, would,especially if accompanied by so-called tidal or earthquake waves, besufficient to wreck all sea-going and coasting craft, all river boats,inundate every country embraced within it to a very great extent, submergeeach metropolis, city, or village, situate either in the deltas of rivers,or higher up their course, sap, unroof, batter down, and destroy alldwellings on the highlands, level forests, destroy all domestic animals,sweep away all cultivated soil, or bury it beneath an enormous thicknessofdébris, tear away the soil from the declivities of hills andmountains, destroy all shelter, and hence, by exposure, most of thosewretched human beings who might have escaped drowning on the lower levels.The few survivors would with difficulty escape starvation, or death fromsubsequent exposure to the deadly malaria which would be liberated by therooting up of the accumulateddébris of centuries. This lattersupposition appears to me to be directly indicated by the passage towardsthe end of the extract referring to famine, and to the devastation of theearth by Dibbara (the god of epidemics).

It is noticeable that in this account there is no suggestion of completeimmersion, Khasisatra simply says there is not any continent (i.e. allthe hill ranges within sight would stand out from the inundation likeislands), while he speaks of his vessel being arrested by the mountain ofNizir, which must consequently have been above the surface of the water.

Neither is there any such close limitation of the number[Pg 126] of personspreserved, as in the Biblical story, for Khasisatra took with him hismen-servants, maid-servants, and his young people, while the versiontransmitted by Berosus (see Appendix to this Chapter), states thatXisuthros embarked his wife, children, and his intimate friends, and thatthese latter subsequently founded numerous cities, built temples, andrestored Babylon.

We have thus a fair nucleus for starting a fresh population in theEuphrates valley, which may have received accessions from the gradualconcentration of scattered survivors, and from the enterprise of maritimeadventurers from the African coast and elsewhere, possibly also nomadsfrom the north, east, and west may have swelled the numbers, and apolyglot community have been established, which subsequently, through racedistinctions, jealousies, and incompatibility of language, became againdismembered, as recorded in the history of the attempted erection of theTower of Babel.

Confining our attention for the moment to this one locality, we mayimagine that the young population would not be deterred by anyapprehension of physical danger from reinhabiting such of the old citiesas remained recognizable; since we see that men do not hesitate torecommence the building of cities overthrown by earthquake shocks almostbefore the last tremblings are over; or, as in the case of Herculaneum andPompeii, within the range of volcanoes which may have already repeatedlyvomited destroying floods of lava. Yet, in this instance, they wouldprobably invest the calamity with a supernatural horror, and regard it, asthe text expresses it, as a chastisement from the gods for their impiety.If this were so, the very memory of such cities would soon be lost, andwith it all the treasures of art and literature which theycontained.[110]

[Pg 127]The Hindu account is taken from theS’atapatha-Brâhmana, a work ofconsiderable antiquity, being one of a series which Professor Max Müllerbelieves to have been written eight hundred years before Christ. A literaltranslation of the legend, as given in this venerable work, is asfollows:—

“To Manu in the morning they brought water for washing, just as they bringit for washing the hands. As he was using the water, a fish came into hishand. This (fish) said to him, ‘Preserve me, and I will save thee.’ (Manusaid), ‘From what wilt thou preserve me?’ (The fish replied), ‘A floodwill carry away all these creatures; from that I will preserve thee.’(Manu said), ‘How is thy preservation (to be effected)?’ (The fishreplied), ‘As long as we are small, there is great danger of ourdestruction; fish even devours fish: at first preserve me in a jar. When Igrow too big for that, cut a trench, and preserve me in that. When Ioutgrow that, carry me to the sea; then I shall be beyond (the reach of)danger.’ Soon it became a great fish; it increased greatly. (The fishsaid), ‘In so many years the flood will come; make a ship and worship me.On the rising of the flood enter the ship, then I will preserve thee.’Having preserved the fish he brought it to the sea. In the same yearindicated by the fish (Manu) made a ship and worshipped the fish. When theflood rose he entered the ship; the fish swam near him: he attached thecable of the ship to his (the fish’s) horn. By this means the fish carriedhim over the northern mountain (Himalayas). (The fish said),[Pg 128] ‘I havepreserved thee: fasten the ship to a tree. But lest the water cut thee offwhilst thou art on the mountain, as fast as the water subsides thou wiltdescend with it.’ Accordingly he descended (with the water); hence thisbecame ‘Manu’s Descent’ from the northern mountain. The flood had carriedaway all those creatures, Manu alone was left. He being desirous ofoffspring performed a sacred rite; there also he offered apâka-sacrifice. With clarified butter, coagulated milk, whey, and curds,he made an offering to the waters. In a year a female was produced; andshe arose unctuous from the moisture, with clarified butter under herfeet. Mitra and Varuna came to her; and said to her, ‘Who art thou?’ (Shesaid), ‘The daughter of Manu.’ (They said), ‘Say (thou art) our(daughter).’ ‘No,’ she replied, ‘I am verily (the daughter) of him whobegot me.’ They desired a share in her; she agreed and did not agree. Shewent on and came to Manu. Manu said to her, ‘Who art thou?’ ‘Thydaughter,’ she replied. ‘How, revered one, art thou my daughter?’ (Shereplied), ‘The offerings which thou hast cast upon the waters,—clarifiedbutter, coagulated milk, whey, and curds,—from them thou hast generatedme. I am a blessing. Do thou introduce me into the sacrifice. If thou wiltintroduce me into the sacrifice, thou wilt be (blessed) with abundance ofoffspring and cattle. Whatever blessing thou shalt ask through me, willall be given to thee.’ Thus he introduced her in the middle of thesacrifice; for the middle of the sacrifice is that which comes between thefinal and the introductory prayers. He, desirous of offspring, meditatingand toiling, went with her. By her he begot this (offspring), which is(called) ‘The offspring of Manu.’”

The correspondence of this legend with the Biblical and the other accountsis remarkable. We have the announcement of the Deluge, the construction ofa ship, the preservation therein of a representative man, the settlementof[Pg 129] the vessel on a mountain, the gradual subsidence of the water, and thesubsequent re-peopling of the world by the man thus preserved. The veryscene of the cataclysm is in singular agreement with the other accounts;for the flood is said to carry Manu “over the northern mountain.” Thisplaces the scene of the Deluge in Central Asia, beyond the Himalayamountains, and it proves that the legend embodies a genuine traditionbrought by the progenitors of the Hindus from their primæval home, whencealso radiated the Semitic and Sinitic branches of mankind.

There has been much discussion as to whether the great inundation whichoccurred in China during the reign of Yao is identical with that ofGenesis or not. The close proximity of date lends a strong support to theassumption, and the supposition that the scene of the Biblical Deluge waslocal in its origin, but possibly widespread in its results, furtherfavours the view.

As the rise of the Nile at Cairo is the only intimation which theinhabitants of Lower Egypt have of the tropical rains of Central Africa,so the inundation of the countries adjacent to the head waters of thegreat rivers of China may alone have informed the inhabitants of thatcountry of serious elemental disturbances, only reaching, and in amodified form, their western frontier; and it may well have been that thedeluge which caused a national annihilation in Western Asia was only anational calamity in the eastern portion of it.

This view is strengthened if we consider that Chinese history has norecord of any deluge prior to this, which could hardly have been the casehad the Chinese migrated from their parent stock subsequent to an event ofsuch importance; assuming that it had occurred, as there seems validreason to suppose, within the limits of written history. The anachronismbetween the two dates assigned by Chinese authors (2297B.C.)[Pg 130] and theJewish historian’s calculation (2104B.C.) is only one hundred andninety-three years, and this is not so great but that we may anticipateits being explained at some future date. Strauchius’ computation of 2293B.C. for the date of the Biblical deluge is within four years, andUssher’s (2349-2348) within fifty-one of the Chinese one. The reason forsupposing the deluge of Yao to be historically true, will be inferred fromthe arguments borrowed from Mr. Legge on the subject of theShu-king, inanother portion of this volume. It is detailed in the great Chinese workon history, theT‘ung-këen-kang-muh, by Choo He, of which De Mailla’sHistory of China professes to be a translation.

This states that the inundation happened in the sixty-first year of thereign of Yao (2297B.C.), and that the waters of the Yellow River mingledwith those of the Ho-hi-ho and the Yangtsze, ruining all the agriculturalcountry, which was converted into one vast sea.

But neither in the Bamboo Books nor in theShu-king do we find that anylocal phenomena of importance occurred, with the exception of theinundation. In fact, the first work is singularly silent on the subject,and simply says that in his sixty-first year Yao ordered K‘wan of Ts‘ungto regulate the Ho, and degraded him in his sixty-ninth for being unableto effect it, as we learn elsewhere.

TheShu is more explicit. The Emperor, consulting one of his chiefofficials on the calamity, says: “O chief of the four mountains,destructive in their overflow are the waters of the inundation. In theirvast extent they embrace the mountains and overtop the hills, threateningthe heavens with their floods, so that the inferior people groan andmurmur.”

According to De Mailla’s translation, K‘wan laboured uselessly for nineyears, the whole country was overrun with briars and brushwood, the peoplehad almost forgotten the art of cultivating the ground—they were withoutthe necessary[Pg 131] seeds—and wild animals and birds destroyed all theirattempts at agriculture.

In this extremity Yao consulted Shun, his subsequent successor, whorecommended the appointment of Yu, the son of K‘wan, in his father’splace.

“The inundating waters seemed to assail the heavens, and in their vastextent embraced the mountains and over-topped the hills, so that peoplewere bewildered and overwhelmed. I mounted my four conveyances,[111] andall along the hills hewed down the woods, at the same time, along withYih, showing the multitudes how to get flesh to eat.

“I also opened passages for the streams throughout the nine provinces, andconducted them to the sea. I deepened, moreover, the channels and canals,and conducted them to the streams, at the same time, along with Tseih,sowinggrain, and showing the multitudes how to procure the food of toilin addition to flesh meat.”

Yu’s success is simply chronicled in the Bamboo Books as, “In hisseventy-fifth year Yu, the Superintendent of Works, regulated the Ho.”

There was a legend extant in China in the times of Pinto, which he givesin his book, of the original Chinese having migrated from a region in theWest, and, following the course of the Ho in boats, finally settling inthe country adjacent to Pekin. That some such event took place is notunlikely. Its acceptance would explain much that is difficult.

The pioneers, pushing through a country infested with[Pg 132] hostile aborigines,who would immediately after their passage close up the road ofcommunication behind them—pioneers who may have been fugitives from theirkindred through political commotions, or expelled by successfulenemies—would have a further barrier against return, even were theydisposed to attempt it, in the strong opposing current which had bornethem safely to their new homes.

It is probable that such a journey would form an entirely new departurefor their history, and that a few generations later it would resemble anebulous chronological zone, on the far side of which could be dimly seenmyths of persons and events representing in reality the history of the notvery remote ancestors from whom they had become separated. The earlyarrivals would have been too much occupied with establishing themselves intheir new dominions to be able to give much attention to keeping recordsor preserving other than the most utilitarian branches of knowledge whichthey had brought with them. The volumes of their ancestors were probably,like the clay tablets of the royal library of Babylon, not of a portablenature, at all events to fugitives, whose knowledge would, therefore, berather of a practical than of a cultivated nature, and this would soonbecome limited for a while to their chiefs and religious instructors, theexigencies of a colony menaced with danger prohibiting any generalacquisition or extension of learning.

In this way we can account for the community of the fables relating to theremote antiquity of the Chinese with those of Chaldean and Indianmythology, and with the highly civilized administration and astrologicalknowledge possessed by Yao and Shun as herediton of Fuh Hi, &c.

We can account for their possession of accurate delineations of thedragon, which would form an important decoration of the standards androbes of ceremony which were[Pg 133] companions of their flight, while theirdescriptions of the animal and its qualities would have already enteredinto the realms of fanciful exaggeration and myth.

The dragon of Yao and Shun’s time, and of Yu’s time was, in my opinion, anaquatic creature, an alligator; but the dragon of their ancestors was aland lizard, which may even have existed down to the time of the greatcataclysm which we call the Deluge, and the memory of which is bestpreserved in the Chinese drawings which have been handed down from remoteantiquity, and have travelled from the great Central Asian centre, whichwas once alike its habitat and that of their ancestors. Its history mayperhaps become evolved when the great store of book knowledge contained inthe cuneiform tablets, representing the culture of the other branch oftheir great ethnological family, has been more extensively explored.

Geologists of the present day have a great objection to the bringing in ofcataclysms to account for any considerable natural changes, but this one Iconceive to have been of so stupendous a nature as to have been quitecapable of both extinguishing a species and confusing the recollection ofit. The mere fact of the story of the dragon having survived such a periodargues greatly, in my mind, for the reality of its previous existence.

Extending our consideration, we are brought face to face with another veryimportant fact, namely, that a large proportion of the human race contentthemselves with ephemeral structures. Thus, for example, the Chineseneither have now, nor at any time have had, any great architectural works.“The finest building in China is a reproduction, on a large scale, of thetent; and the wooden construction is always imitated where the materialsare stone or marble. The supports, often magnificent logs, brought, atgreat expense, specially from the Straits, represent tent-poles; and theroof has always the peaked ends and the curves that recall the[Pg 134] droopingcanvas of the marquee. Architecture evidently died early; it never hadlife enough to assimilate the new material which it found when it migratedinto China Proper. The yamen is a slightly glorified cottage; the templeis an improved yamen. Sculpture is equally neglected in this(æsthetically) benighted country. The human form is as dignified andsightly, to Chinese eyes at least, in China as in the West; but it neverseems to have occurred, throughout so many hundreds of years, to anyChinaman to perpetuate it in marble or bronze, or to beautify a city withstatues of its deities or great men.”[112]

What holds good of the Chinese now, probably holds good of their ancestorsand the race from which they parted company in Central Asia five thousandyears ago, when they pierced their way eastwards through the savageaborigines of Thibet and Mongolia, pushing aside tribes which closed inagain behind them, so as to intercept their return or communication withtheir mother country—a country which may have been equally careless ofelaborating stupendous and permanent works of architecture such as othernations glory in possessing, and which, like the pyramids of Egypt and ofCentral America, stand forth for thousands of years as landmarks of thepast.

We must, therefore, not be surprised if we do not immediately discover thevestiges of the people of ten, fifteen, or twenty thousand years ago. Withan ephemeral architecture (which, as we have seen, is all that a highlypopulous and long civilized race actually possess), the sites of vastcities may have become entirely lost to recollection in a few thousands ofyears from natural decay, and how much more so would this be the case if,as we may reasonably argue, minor cataclysms have intervened, such aslocal inundations, earthquakes, deposition of volcanic ashes from evendistant[Pg 135] sources, the spread of sandy deserts, destruction of life byexceptionally deadly pestilence, by miasma, or by the outpour ofsulphurous fumes.

We have shown in another chapter how the process of extinction of speciescontinues to the present day, and from the nature of this process we maydeduce that the number of species which became extinct during the four orfive thousand years preceding the era of exact history must have beenconsiderable.

The less remarkable of these would expire unnoticed; and only thosedistinguished by their size, ferocity, and dangerous qualities, or by somestriking peculiarity, would leave their impress on the mythology of theirhabitat. Their exact history would be lost as the cities of their epochcrumbled away, and during the passage through dark ages of the people oftheir period and their descendants, and by conquest or catastrophes suchas we have referred to elsewhere; while the slow dispersion which appearsto have obtained among all nations would render the record of theirqualities the more confused as the myth which embalmed it spread incircling waves farther and farther from its original centre.

Amongst the most fell destroyer both of species and of their history musthave been the widespread, although not universal, inundation known as theBiblical Deluge; a deluge which we think the evidence given in theforegoing pages, and gathered from divers nations, justifies us inbelieving to have really taken place, and not to be, as mythologistsclaim, a mere ether myth. As to its date, allowance being made fortrifling errors, there is no reason for disputing the computation ofJewish chronology, especially as that is closely confirmed by the entirelyindependent testimony of Chinese history.

This interposes a vast barrier between us and the knowledge of the past, abarrier round which we pass for a short[Pg 136] distance at either end when westudy the history of the two great streams of nations which have divergedfrom a common centre, the Chinese towards the East, the Accadian Chaldæansand Semites towards the West; a barrier which we may hope to surmount whenwe are able to discover and explore the lost cities of that common centre,with the treasures of art and literature which they must undoubtedlypossess.

CHAPTER V.

Intercourse between various parts of the old world and the new wasprobably much more intimate even three or four thousand years ago than we,or at all events our immediate ancestors, have credited. The DelugeTablets referred to in another chapter contain items from which we gatherthat sea-going vessels, well equipped and with skilled pilots, were invogue in the time of Noah, and there is wanting no better proof of theirseaworthiness than the fact that his particular craft was able to weathera long-continued tempest which would probably have sunk the greater partof those which keep the seas at the present time. The older Chineseclassics make constant allusions to maritime adventure, and the discoveryby Schliemann in ancient Troy[113] of vases with[Pg 138] Chinese inscriptionsconfirms the notion that, at that date at least, commercial exchange waseffected between these two widely-distant countries, either directly or bytransfer through different entrepôts.

A more striking example, and one which carries us back to a still earlierepoch, will be afforded if the reported discovery of Chinese vestigia inEgyptian tombs is confirmed by further investigation.

The fleets of King Solomon penetrated at least to India, and detachedsquadrons[114] probably coasted from island to island along the Malayarchipelago; while to descend by gradation to modern times, we may quotethe circumnavigation of Africa by Hanno the Carthaginian,[115] thediscovery[Pg 139] of America prior to Columbus by the Chinese in the fifthcentury, from the Asiatic side, and by the Norsemen under Leif Ericsson inthe year 1001, from the European; and the anticipation of the so-calleddiscoveries of Van Diemen and Tasman by the voyages of Arab and othernavigators, from whose records El Edrisi,[116] in the twelfth century, wasenabled to indicate the existence of New Guinea, and, I think, of thenorthern coast of Australia. For although the identity with Mexico of thecountry called Fu-sang, visited prior toA.D. 499[Pg 140] by the Buddhist priestHoei-shiu, has been disputed, yet the arguments in favour of it seem topreponderate. These were adduced primarily by Deguignes, and subsequentlyby C. F. Neumann, Leland and others, and are based on the facts stated inthe short narrative in regard to distance, description of the Magueyplant, or great aloe,[117] the absence of iron, and abundance of copper,gold, and silver.

While there can be little question that the islands and land of Wák Wákare respectively some of the Sunda islands, New Guinea, and the adjacentportion of Australia, it does not appear to have struck any of thecommentators on this question that the name “islands of Wák Wák” may beassumed to signify simply “Bird of Paradise islands.” Wallace, in hisMalay Archipelago, emphatically remarks that in the interior of theforests of New Guinea the most striking sound is the cry “Wok Wok” of thegreat Bird of Paradise, and we may therefore reasonably speculate on thebird having been known as the Wok Wok, and the islands as the Wok Wokislands, just as we ourselves use the imitative names of Cuckoo, Morepork,or Hoopoe for birds, or Snake islands, Ape Hill, &c. for places.

This view is to an extent strengthened by Wák Wák being the home of thelovely maiden captured by Hasan (in the charming story of Hasan of ElBasrah in theArabian Nights), after she had divested herself of herbird skin, and to which he had to make so weary a pilgrimage from islandto island, and sea to sea, in search of her after her escape from him. Itis evident that among the wonders related by navigators of islands soremote and unfrequented, not the least would be the superavian lovelinessof the Birds of Paradise, and from the exaggerated narratives oftravellers may have[Pg 141] arisen the beautiful fable incorporated in theArabian Nights, as well as that other recorded by Eesa or Moosa the sonof El Mubarak Es Serafee.[118] “Here, too, is a tree that bears fruit likewomen with bodies, eyes, limbs, &c. like those of women; they havebeautiful faces, and are suspended by the hair; they come forth frominteguments like large leathern bags; and when they feel the air and thesun they cry out ‘Wák Wák’ until their hair is cut, and when it is cutthey die; and the people of these islands understand their cry, and augurill from it.” This, after all, is not more absurd than the story of theorigin of the barnacle duck, extant and believed in Europe until withinthe last century or so.

El Edrisi, who, in common with the geographers of the period, believed ina great antarctic continent, after describing Sofala with its mines ofgold, abundance of iron, &c., jumps at once to the mainland of Wák Wák,which he describes as possessing two towns situated on a great gulf(Carpentaria?), and a savage population.[119]

The two small towns may very well have been encampments of the aborigines,or trading stations of Malay merchants.

It may be noted that this identification of Wák Wák is in opposition tothe view entertained by some commentators; for example, Professor de Goejeof Leyden has recently identified the Silâ islands (which had previouslybeen[Pg 142]considered as being Japan) with Corea, and Wák Wák with Japan; butthis does not agree with El Edrisi’s account of the people being black,unclothed, and living on fish, shell, and tortoises (turtles), withoutgold, commerce, ships, or beasts of burden. Elsewhere El Edrisi says thewomen are entirely naked, and only wear combs of ivory ornamented withmother of pearl.

Lane thinks the Arabs applied the name of Wák Wák to all the islands withwhich they were acquainted on the east and south-east of Borneo. EsSerafee, beside the details given in a previous note, also says, “From oneof these islands of Wák Wák there issueth a great torrent like pitch,which floweth into the sea, and the fish are burnt thereby, and float uponthe water.” And Hasan, in the story quoted above, has, in order to reachthe last of the seven islands of Wák Wák, to pass over the third island,the land of the Jinn, “where by reason of the vehemence of the cries ofthe Jánn, and the rising of the flames about, of the sparks and the smokefrom their mouths, and the harsh sounds from their throats, and theirinsolence, they will obstruct the way before us,” &c. &c. I think that ineach of these latter instances, the volcanic islands of Java, and other ofthe Sunda islands are indicated.

The information in our possession is as yet too meagre to permit of ourindulging in any profitable consideration of the sources from whichoriginated those nations which peopled America during the very earlypre-traditional ages, of which geological evidence is accumulating daily.In fact, the theories on this point have advanced so little beyond thelimits of speculation that I feel it unnecessary to do more than quote oneof them, as summarized in the ensuing extract. “Professor Flowers, inremarking upon recent palæontological investigations, which prove that animmense number of forms of terrestrial animals that were formerly supposedto be peculiar to the Old World are abundant in[Pg 143] the New; and that many,such as the horse, rhinoceros, and the camel, are more numerous in speciesand varieties in the latter, infers that the means of land communicationmust have been very different to what it is now, and that it is quite aslikely that Asiatic man may have been derived from America as the reverse,or both may have had their source in a common centre, in some region ofthe earth now covered with sea.”[120]

The most commonly accepted theory with regard to the origin of those whohave peopled the American continent, within the limits of tradition, isthat they are of Asiatic descent, and that the migration has been effectedin comparatively recent times by way of Behring Straits, and supplementedby chance passages from Southern Asia by way of the Polynesian islands, orfrom the north of Africa, across the Atlantic. There are, however, somewho elaborate Professor Flowers’ suggestion, and contend, in opposition tothe more generally received opinion, that the peopling of the presentcountries of the Old World has in fact been effected from the New.

For instance, a proficient Aztec scholar, Senor Altamirano[121] of Mexico,argues that the Aztecs were a race, originating in the unsubmerged partsof America, as old as the Asiatics themselves, and that Asia may in facthave been peopled from Mexico; while Mr. E. J. Elliott, in quoting him,says: “From the ruins recently found, the most northern of any yetdiscovered, the indications of improved architecture, the work ofdifferent ages, can be traced in a continual chain to Mexico, when theyculminate in massive and imposing structures, thus giving some proof bycircumstantial evidence to Altamirano’s reasoning.”

[Pg 144]Again, “Dr. Rudolf Falb[122] discovers that the language spoken by theIndians in Peru and Bolivia, especially in Quichua and Aymara, exhibitsthe most astounding affinities with the Semitic languages, andparticularly with the Arabic—in which tongue Dr. Falb himself has beenskilled from his boyhood. Following up the links of this discovery, he hasfirst found a connecting link with the Aryan roots, and, secondly, hasarrived face to face with the surprising revelation that the Semitic rootsare universally Aryan. The common stems of all the variants are found intheir purest condition in Quichua and Aymara, from which fact Dr. Falbderives the conclusion that the high plains of Peru and Bolivia must beregarded as the point of exit of the present human race.”

On the other hand, Mr. E. B. Tylor, in the course of an article uponBackgammon among the Aztecs,[123] which he argues must have reached themfrom Asia, and very likely through Mexico, points out that the myths andreligion of the North American tribes contain many fancies well known toAsia, which they were hardly likely to have hit upon independently, andwhich they had not learned from white men: “Such as the quaint belief thatthe world is a monstrous tortoise floating on the waters; and an ideawhich the Sioux have in common with the Tartars, that it is sinful to chopor poke with a sharp instrument the burning log on the fire.” He quotesAlexander von Humboldt as having “argued years ago that the Mexicans didand believed things which were at once so fanciful and so like the fanciesof the Asiatics that there must have been communication. Would twonations,” he asks, “have taken independently to forming calendars of daysand years by repeating and combining cycles of animals, such as tiger,dog, ape, hare, &c.? Would they have[Pg 145]developed independently similarastrological fancies about these signs governing the periods they began,and being influential each over a particular limb or organ of men’sbodies? Would they, again, have evolved separately out of thisconsciousness the myths of the world and its inhabitants having, at theend of several successive periods, been destroyed by elementalcatastrophes?”

He adds, “It may very well have been the same agency which transported toMexico the art of bronze-making, the computation of time by periods ofdogs and apes, the casting of nativity, and the playing of backgammon.”

Then, again, we have the theory of those, now indeed few in number, whohold that the present Indian inhabitants of America were a distinctlyindigenous race. Lord Kaimes, in hisSketches of the History of Man,says, “I venture still further, which is to conjecture that America hasnot been peopled from any part of the Old World.” Voltaire had precededhim in this line of argument, relying on ridicule rather than on reason.“The same persons that readily admit that the beavers of Canada are ofCanadian origin, assert that the men must have come there in boats, andthat Mexico must have been peopled by some of the descendants ofMagog.”[124]

Missionaries of various sects have endeavoured to identify the Red manwith the lost ten tribes. Adair conceived the language of the SouthernIndians to be a corruption of Hebrew, and the Jesuit Lafitan, in hishistory of the savages of America, maintained that the Caribee languagewas radically Hebrew.

Mr. John Josselyn,[125] in an account of the Mohawks, states that theirlanguage is a dialect of the Tartars, and Dr. Williamson, in his historyof North Carolina, considers it[Pg 146] can hardly be questioned that the Indiansof South America are descended from a class of the Hindoos in the southernpart of Asia.

Amongst others, Captain Don Antonio del Rio, who described the ruins of anancient city in Guatemala, believed that they were the relics of acivilization founded by Phœnician colonists who had crossed theAtlantic ocean; and yet another theory is propounded by Mr. Knox,[126] whoconsiders the extinct Guanches, formerly inhabiting the Canary and Cape deVerde islands, to have closely resembled the Egyptians in certainparticulars. He goes on to observe, “Now cross the Atlantic, and in anearly parallel zone of the earth, or at least in one not far removed, westumble all at once upon the ruined cities of Copan and Central America.To our astonishment, notwithstanding the breadth of the Atlantic,vestiges, of a nature not to be doubted, of a thoroughly Egyptiancharacter reappear—hieroglyphics, monolithic temples, pyramids; whoerected these monuments on the American continent? Perhaps at some remoteperiod the continents were not so far apart, they might have been united,thus forming a zone or circle of the earth occupied by a pyramid-buildingpeople.”

It is not impossible that all of these theories may be correct, and thatnumerous migrations may have been made at various periods by differentnations, the most facile would of course be that from North-Eastern Asiaby way of the Aleutian islands, for, as the author ofFu-sang wellremarks, a sailor in an open boat might cross from Asia to America by thatroute in summer time, and hardly ever be out of sight of land; and this ina part of the sea generally abounding in fish, as is proved by thefishermen who inhabit many of these islands, on which fresh water isalways to be found. But it is more than likely that the direct route,[Pg 147]from the islands of Japan to the coast of California or Mexico, was alsooccasionally followed, voluntarily or involuntarily, by mariners impelledby enterprise, religious motives, or stress of weather.

Colonel B. Kennon, as an evidence of the possibility of junks performinglong ocean voyages, adduces the instance of a Japanese junk picked up byan American whaler two thousand three hundred miles south-east of Japan,and of others which had drifted among the Aleutian islands nearly half-wayover to San Francisco; and in noting the resemblance and probableco-origin of the Sandwich Islanders with the Japanese, he adverts to the“ancient and confirmed habit of both Japanese and Chinese of taking womento sea with them, or of traders keeping their families on board, whichwould fully account for the population of those islands,” or, to extendthe argument, of points on the American continent. The Jewish elementmight easily be introduced through this channel, for the occasionaladmixture of Jewish blood both among the Chinese and Japanese is sostrongly marked, as to have induced some authors to contend for theabsolute descent of the latter people at least from Jewish parentage.

It must also be remembered that the waters of both the North and SouthPacific are peculiarly favourable to the navigation of small craft, andthat Captain Bligh, after the mutiny on board theBounty, was able tosafely perform a journey of two thousand miles in an open boat; while allthe islands both in North and South Polynesia must necessarily have beengradually peopled by the drifting over the ocean of stray canoes.

Again, as the tradition of the existence of a large continent west of theAfrican coast was extant amongst the Egyptian priests long before the daysof Solon, and, as I shall show hereafter, among the Carthaginians andTyrrhenians, it is, I think, more than probable that both Phœnician[Pg 148]and Egyptian mariners, either acting under a Royal Commission, orinfluenced by mercantile considerations, would endeavour to discover it,and, as in the case of Columbus, would have no difficulty in stretchingacross the Atlantic before a fair trade wind, though they might be lesssuccessful than him on their return.

The possibility of the existence of a large island or continent, midwaybetween the Old and New World, within the traditional period, is includedin the important question, which is stillsub judice amongst geologists,whether the general disposition of land and water has or has not beenvariable during past ages. Sir Charles Lyell held the first view, and wasof opinion[127] that complete alternations of the positions of continentand ocean had repeatedly occurred in geological time.

The opposite idea has been suggested at various dates by eminentauthorities, suggested rather than sustained by elaborate arguments, untilrecently, when the question has been re-examined by Mr. Wallace and Dr.Carpenter.

The former, in that chapter of island life devoted to the permanence ofcontinents, dwells forcibly upon Dr. Darwin’s inference from the paucityof oceanic islands affording fragments of either Palæozoic or Secondaryformations “thatperhaps during the Palæozoic and Secondary periodsneither continents nor continental islands existed where our oceans nowextend; for, had they existed, Palæozoic and Secondary formations would inall probability have been accumulated from sediment derived from theirwear and tear; and these would have been at least partially upheaved bythe oscillations of level which must have intervened during theseenormously long periods. If, then, we may infer anything from these facts,we may infer that, where our oceans now extend, oceans have extended fromthe remotest period of which we[Pg 149] have any record; and, on the other hand,that where continents now exist, large tracts of land have existed,subjected no doubt to great oscillations of level, since the Cambrianperiod.”

I am not aware whether Dr. Darwin has expressed himself moreauthoritatively on this point in later works, or whether the wholequestion has been discussed in detail otherwise than by Mr. Wallace in thechapter referred to, in which he quotes what must, I think, after all,only be taken in the light of a suggestion as an auxiliary to the powerfularguments which he himself has enunciated in favour of a similarconclusion. There is no doubt that the paucity of any but volcanic orcoralline islands throughout the greatest extent of existing oceans has acertain but not absolute significance, so far as recent geological epochsare concerned.

There is another line of reasoning, debated by Mr. Wallace, based on theformation of the Palæozoic and Secondary strata from the waste of brokencontinents and islands occupying generally the site of the existingcontinents, and separated by insignificant distances of inland sea orextensions from the adjacent oceans. It is soundly based on theirlithological structure, as generally indicative of a littoral and shallowwater origin, but it seems to me to be only positive so far as it showsthat, throughout geological time, some land has existed somewhere withinthe limits of the present upheaval, and simply negative as to what may ormay not have been the condition of what are now the great ocean spaces ofthe world. Indeed, it would at first sight seem only reasonable to infer,that the very depressions which caused the inundations of Europe and Asia,during the deposition of any important formation, would imply acorresponding elevation elsewhere, in order that the same relative areasof land and water might be maintained.

This view has, however, been reduced in its proportions by Dr. Carpenter,who has levelled the results of the recent[Pg 150] researches by theChallengerexpedition against the advocates of the intermutations of land and ocean,and, in pursuing another line of reasoning from Mr. Wallace, has estimatedthe solid contents of ocean and land above the sea-level respectively, asbearing the proportion of thirty-six to one. So that, supposing all theexisting land of the globe to sink down to the sea-level, this subsidencewould be balanced by the elevation of only one thirty-sixth part of theexisting ocean floor from its present depth to the same level.

It must be admitted that the balance of argument was until latelyconsiderably against the former existence of the country of Atlantis,whose ghostly outlines, however, we could almost imagine to be sketchedout by faint contours in the chart illustrative of the North Atlanticportion of theChallenger investigations. But it was not so overwhelmingas to entitle us to ignore the story entirely as a fable. I do notconceive it impossible that some centrally situated and perhaps volcanicisland may once have existed, sufficiently important to have served as thebasis of simple legends, which, under the enchantment of distance and timebecame metamorphosed and enriched.

Mr. A. R. Grote suggests that it is simply a myth founded on theobservation of low-lying clouds in a sun-flushed sky, which gave theappearance like islands on a golden sea.

Mr. Donelly, on the other hand, in a very exhaustive and able volume,contends first, that Atlantis actually existed, and secondly, that it wasthe origin of our present civilization, that its kings are represented bythe gods of Greek mythology, and that its destruction originated ourDeluge story.

The well-known story is contained in an epic of Plato, of which twofragments only remain, found in two dialogues (the Timæus and theCritias). Critias is represented as telling an old-world story, handeddown in his family from[Pg 151] his great-grandfather Dropidas, who had heard itfrom Solon, who had it from the Egyptian priests of Sais.[129]

Ælian, again, contains an extract from Theophrastus, who wrote in the timeof Alexander the Great, which can hardly imply anything else than anacquaintance with America. It is in the form of a dialogue between Midasthe Phrygian and Silenus.

The latter informs Midas that Europe, Asia, and Africa were but islandssurrounded on all sides by sea, but that there was a continent situatedbeyond these which was of immense dimensions, even without limits, andthat it was so luxuriant as to produce animals of prodigious magnitude.That there men grew to double the size of themselves, and that they livedto a far greater age, that they had many cities, and their usages and lawswere different from their own; that in one city there was more than amillion of inhabitants, and that gold and silver were there in vastquantities.

Diodorus Siculus gives an account of what could only have been themainland of America, or one of the West Indian islands; it is as follows.

“After cursorily mentioning the islands within the Pillars of Hercules,let us treat of those further ones in the open ocean, for towards Africathere is a very large island in the great ocean sea, situated many days’sail from Libya towards the west.

“Its soil is fruitful, a great part rising in mountains, but still with noscarcity of level expanse, which excels in pleasantness, for navigablerivers flow through and irrigate it. Gardens abound, stored with varioustrees and numerous orchards, intersected by pleasant streams.

“The towns are adorned with sumptuous edifices, and[Pg 152] drinking taverns,beautifully situated in gardens, are everywhere met with; as theconvenient situation of these largely invites to pleasure, they arefrequented during the summer season.

“The mountain region possesses numerous and large forests, and variouskinds of fruitful trees. It everywhere presents deep valleys and springssuitable for mountain recreations.

“Indeed the whole of this island is watered with springs of sweet water,which gives rise not merely to the pleasure of its inhabitants, but alsoto an accession of their health and strength.

“Hunting furnishes all kinds of game, the abundance of which in theirbanquets leaves nothing to be desired.

“Moreover, the sea which washes against this island abounds with fish,since the ocean, from its nature everywhere, affords a variety of fish.

“Finally, the temperature is very genial, from which it results that thetrees bear fruit throughout the greater part of the year.

“Lastly, it excels so much in felicity as to resemble the habitations ofthe gods rather than of men.

“Formerly it was unknown, on account of the remoteness of its situationfrom the rest of the world, but accident disclosed its position. ThePhœnicians have been in the habit of making frequent passages, for thesake of commerce, from the very oldest dates, from whence it resulted thatthey were the founders of many of the African colonies, and of not a fewof those European ones situated to the west; and when they had yielded tothe idea which had entered their minds, of enriching themselves greatly,they passed out beyond the Pillars of Hercules into the sea which iscalled the Ocean, and they first founded a city called Gades, on theEuropean peninsula, and near the straits of the Pillars [of Hercules] inwhich, when others had flocked to it, they instituted a[Pg 153] sumptuous templeto Hercules. This temple has been held in the utmost veneration both inancient times and during later periods up to the present day; thereforemany Romans of illustrious nobility and reputation pronounce their vows tothat god, and happily discharge their obligations.

“The Phœnicians for this reason continued their exploration beyond thePillars, and when they were sailing along the African coast, being carriedoff by a tempest to a distant part of the ocean, were driven by theviolence of the storm, after a period of many days, to the island of whichI have spoken, and having first acquainted themselves with its nature andpleasing characters, introduced it to the notice of others. On thataccount, the Tyrrhenians, also obtaining the empire of the sea, determinedon a colony there, but the Carthaginians prevented them, both because theyfeared lest many of their citizens, being allured by the advantages of theisland, might migrate there, and because they wished to have a refugeprepared for themselves against a sudden stroke of fortune, if by chancethe Carthaginian Republic should receive any deadly blow, for theycontemplated that they would be able, while yet powerful at sea, totransport themselves and their families to the island unknown to thevictors.”[130]

Among the many proofs which may be cited of community of origin betweenthe Asiatics and certainly a large proportion of the American populationis the practice of scalping enemies, quoted by Herodotus as prevalentamongst the Scythians, and universally existing amongst all tribes ofNorth American Indians; the discovery of jade ornaments amongst Mexicanremains, and the general esteem in which that material is held by theChinese; the use of the Quipos among the Peruvians, and the assertion intheI-king, or Book[Pg 154] of Change, one of the oldest of the ChineseClassics, that “The ancients knotted cords to express their meaning, butin the next age the sages renounced the custom and adopted a system ofwritten characters;”[131] the discovery of the meander pattern amongPeruvian relics, and the common use of this ornamentation on Chinese vasesand tripods, at dates long preceding the Trojan era, in which it iscommonly supposed to have originated; the similarity of the features ofChinese, and other Mongols, with those of various Indian tribes; theresemblance of masks and various other remains to Chinese patternsdiscovered recently by Desirée de Charnay in Central America; and thereserve and stolid demeanour of both races. A good illustration of this isafforded by the story told of the celebrated statesman Sieh Ngan (A.D.320-385), in Mayer’sChinese Reader’s Manual; it could be imagined toapply to any Indian sachem.

It is related of Sieh Ngan that, at the time when the capital was menacedby the advancing forces of Fukien, he sat one day over a game of chesswith a friend, when a despatch was handed to him, which he calmly read andthen continued the game. On being asked what the news was, he replied: “Itis merely an announcement that my young people have beaten the enemy.” Theintelligence was, in fact, of the decisive rout of the invaders by thearmy under his brother Sieh She and his nephew Sieh Hüan. Only whenretired within the seclusion of his private apartments did he give himselfup to an outburst of joy. The very expression “my young people” is theequivalent of “my young men” which the Indian chief would have employed.

A singular custom prevails among the Petivaces, an Indian[Pg 155] tribe ofBrazil.[132] “When they are delivered of a child, and ought to have allthe ceremony and attendance proper to a lying-in woman, the husbandpresently lies down in his hammock (as if he had been brought to bedhimself), and all his wives and neighbours come about and serve him. Thisis a pleasant fancy indeed, that the woman must take all the pains tobring the child into the world, and then the man lie down and gruntle uponit.”

Compare with this the account given by Marco Polo of the same customprevalent among the Miau-tze, or aborigines of China, as distinguishedfrom their present occupants. Their reduction to submission is recorded inthe early works on the country.

“Proceeding five days’ journey, in a westerly direction from Karazan, youenter the province of Kardandan belonging to the dominion of the greatKhan, and of which the principal city is named Vochang (probablyYung-chang in the western part of Yunnan). These people have the followingsingular usage. As soon as a woman has been delivered of a child, andrising from her bed, has washed and swathed the infant, her husbandimmediately takes the place she has left, has the child beside him, andnurses it for forty days. In the meantime the friends and relations of thefamily pay to him their visits of congratulation; whilst the woman attendsto the business of the house, carries victuals and drink to the husband inhis bed, and suckles the infant at his side.”[133]

We find a reference inHudibras to this grotesque practice, in which itis imputed, but erroneously, to the Chinese themselves, and it reappearson the western side of Europe, among those singular people the Basques,who have their[Pg 156] own especial Deluge tradition, and use a language which,according to Humboldt, approaches some of the dialects of the NorthAmerican Indians more nearly than any other. They profess to trace thecustom up to Aïtor or Noah, whose wife bore a son to him when they were inexile, and, being afraid to stay by herself for fear of being discoveredand murdered, bade her husband take care of the child, while she went outto search for food and firing.

The change of name which prevails among the Chinese and Japanese in bothsexes, at different periods of life, is also found upon the othercontinent,[134] where males and females when they come to years ofdiscretion do not retain the names they had when young, and, if they doany remarkable deed, assume a new name upon it.

Less importance is to be attached to the coincidence of sun worship,Deluge tradition, and the preservation of ancestral ashes.[135] These,though probably not, might have been indigenous; but we can hardlyconceive this of serpent worship, which Mr. Fergusson suggests arose amonga people of Turanian origin, from which it spread to every country or landof the Old World in which a Turanian settled. The coincidence between theserpent mounds of North America and such an one as is described by M.Phené in Argyllshire[136] is remarkable; and still more so is that betweenthe Mexican myth of the fourfold destruction of the world by fire andwater, with those current among the Egyptians and that of the four ages inthe Hindu mythology.

Another coincidence, although perhaps of minor value, will be seen in thedresses of the soldiers of China and Mexico, as noted in the passagesannexed. “Thus, in our[Pg 157] own time, the Chinese soldiers wear a dressresembling the tiger skin, and the cap, which nearly covers the face, isformed to represent the head of a tiger”;[137] while the Mexican warriors,according to Spanish historians, “wore enormous wooden helmets in the formof a tiger’s head, the jaws of which were armed with the teeth of thisanimal.”[138]

Mr. C. Wolcott-Brooks, in an address to the California Academy of Science,has pointed out that, according to Chinese annals, Tai Ko Fo Kee, thegreat stranger-king, ruled the kingdom of China, and that he is alwaysrepresented in pictures with two small horns like those associated withthe representation of Moses. He and his successors are said to haveintroduced into China “picture writing” like that in use in CentralAmerica at the time of the Spanish conquest. Now there has been found atCopan, in Central America, a figure strikingly like the Chinese symbol ofFo Kee, with his two horns. “Either,” says Mr. Brooks, “one people learnedfrom the other, or both acquired their forms from a common source.”

In reviewing all these cases we cannot fail to perceive that early andfrequent communication must have taken place between the two worlds, andthat the myths of one have probably been carried with them by the migrantsto the other.

CHAPTER VI.

The dragon is defined in theEncyclopædia Britannica for 1877 as “thename given by the ancients to a huge winged lizard or serpent (fabulous).”

The text also goes on to state that “they (the ancients) regarded it asthe enemy of mankind, and its overthrow is made to figure among thegreatest exploits of the gods and heroes of heathen mythology. A dragonwatched the gardens of the Hesperides, and its destruction formed one ofthe seven labours of Hercules. Its existence does not seem to have beencalled in question by the older naturalists; figures of the dragonappearing in the works of Gesner and Aldrovandus, and even specimens ofthe monster, evidently formed artificially of portions of differentanimals,[Pg 160] have been exhibited.” A reference is also made to the genusDraco, comprising eighteen specimens of winged lizards, all small, andpeculiar to India and the islands of the Malay archipelago.

Such is the meagre account of a creature which figures in the history andmythology of all nations, which in its different forms has been worshippedas a god, endowed with beneficent and malevolent attributes, combatted asa monster, or supposed to have possessed supernatural power, exercisedalternately for the benefit or chastisement of mankind.

Its existence is inseparably wedded to the history, from the most remoteantiquity, of a nation which possesses connected and authentic memoirsstretching uninterruptedly from the present day far into the remote past;on which the belief in its existence has been so strongly impressed, thatit retains its emblem in its insignia of office, in its ornamentation offurniture, utensils, and dwellings, and commemorates it annually in thecompetition of dragon boats, and the processions of dragon images; whichbelieves, or affects to believe, in its continued existence in the poolsof the deep, and the clouds of the sky; which propitiates it withsacrifices and ceremonies, builds temples in its honour, and cultivatesits worship; whose legends and traditions teem with anecdotes of itsinterposition in the affairs of man, and whose scientific works, ofantiquity rivalling that of our oldest Western Classics, treat of itsexistence as a sober and accepted fact, and differentiate its species withsome exactness. It is, moreover, though not very frequently, occasionallyreferred to in the Biblical history of that other ancient, and almostequally conservative branch of the human race, the Jews, not as a myth, ordoubtfully existent supernatural monster, but as a tangible reality, anexact terrible creature.

Equally do we find it noticed in those other valuable records of the pastwhich throw cross lights upon the Bible narrative, and confirm bycollateral facts the value of its[Pg 161]historic truth; such as the fragmentsof Chaldæan history handed down by the reverent care of later historians,the careful narrative of Josephus, and the grand resurrection of Chaldæanand Assyrian lore effected by the marvellously well directed and fortunatelabour of G. H. Smith and those who follow in his train.

Among the earliest classics of Europe, its existence is asserted as ascientific fact, and accepted by poets as a sound basis for analogies,comparisons, allegories, and fable; it appears in the mythology of theGoth, and is continued through the tradition and fable of every country ofEurope; nor does it fail to appear even in the imperfect traditions of theNew World,[139] where its presence may be considered as comparativelyindigenous, and undetermined by the communications dependent on theso-called discovery of later days.

Turning to other popular accounts, we find equally limited and incredibleversions of it. All consider it sufficiently disposed of by calling itfabulous,[140] and that a sufficient explanation of any possible belief init is afforded by a reference[141] to the harmless genus of existingflying lizards referred to above.

[Pg 163]Some consider it an evolution of the fancy, typifying noxious principles;thus, Chambers[142] says, “The dragon appears in the mythical history andlegendary poetry of almost every nation as the emblem of the destructiveand anarchical principle; ... as misdirected physical force and untamableanimal passions.... The dragon proceeds openly to work, running on itsfeet with expanded wings, and head and tail erect, violently andruthlessly outraging decency and propriety, spouting fire and fury bothfrom mouth and tail, and wasting and devastating the whole land.”

The point which strikes me as most interesting in this passage is thereference to the legendary theory of the mode of the dragon’s progress,which curiously calls to mind the semi-erect attitude of the existingsmall Australian frilled lizard (Chlamydosaurus). This attitude is alsoascribed to some of the extinct American Dinosaurs, such as theStegosaurus.

No one, so far as I am aware, in late days has hitherto ventured to upholdthe claims of this terrible monster to be accepted as a real contemporaryof primitive man,[143] which[Pg 164] may even have been co-existent with him to acomparatively recent date, and but lately passed away into the cohort ofextinct species, leaving behind it only the traditions of its ferocity andterrors, to stamp their impression on the tongues of all countries.

No one has endeavoured to collate the vast bulk of materials shrouded inthe stories of all lands. If this were perfectly effected, a diagnosis ofthe real nature of the dragon might perhaps be made, and the chapter ofits characteristics, alliances, and habits completed like that of anyother well-established species.

The following sketch purposes only to initiate the task here propounded,the author’s access to materials being limited, and only sufficient toenable him, as he thinks, to establish generally the proposition which itinvolves, to grasp as it were some of the broader and salient features ofthe investigation, while leaving a rich gleaning of corroborativeinformation for the hand of any other who may please to continue andextend his observations.

At the outset it will be necessary to assign a much more extendedsignification to the word dragon than that which is contained in thedefinition at the head of this chapter. The popular mind of the presentday doubtless associates it always with the idea of a creature possessingwings; but theLung of the Chinese, the δράκων of the Greeks,the[Pg 165]Draco of the Romans, the Egyptian dragon, and theNâga of theSanscrit have no such limited signification, and appear to have beensometimes applied to any serpent, lacertian, or saurian, of extraordinarydimensions, nor is it always easy to determine from the passages in whichthese several terms occur what kind of monster is specially indicated.

Thus the dragon referred to by Propertius in the quotation annexed mayhave been a large python. “Lanuvium[144] is, of old, protected by an ageddragon; here, where the occasion of an amusement so seldom occurring isnot lost, where is the abrupt descent into a dark and hollowed cave; whereis let down—maiden, beware of every such journey—the honorary tribute tothe fasting snake, when he demands his yearly food, and hisses and twistsdeep down in the earth. Maidens, let down for such a rite, grow pale, whentheir hand is unprotectedly trusted in the snake’s mouth. He snatches atthe delicacies if offered by a maid; the very baskets tremble in thevirgin’s hands; if they are chaste, they return and fall on the necks oftheir parents, and the farmers cry ‘We shall have a fruitful year.’”[145]

To the same class may probably be ascribed the dragon referred to byAristotle.[146] “The eagle and the dragon are enemies, for the eagle feedson serpents”; and again,[147] “the Glanis in shallow water is oftendestroyed by the dragon serpent.” It might perhaps be supposed that thecrocodile is here referred to, but this is specially spoken of in anotherpassage, as follows[148]: “But there are others which, though they liveand feed in the water, do not take in water but air, and produce theiryoung out of the water; many of these[Pg 166] animals are furnished with feet, asthe otter and crocodile, and others are without feet, as thewater-serpent.”

A somewhat inexplicable habit is ascribed to the dragon in Book ix.[149]:“When the draco has eaten much fruit, it seeks the juice of the bitterlettuce; it has been seen to do this.”

Pliny, probably quoting Aristotle,[150] also states that the dragonrelieves the nausea which affects it in spring with the juices of thelettuce; and Ælian[151] repeats the story.

It is also probable that some large serpent is intended by Pliny in thestory which he relates,[152] after Democritus, that a man called Thoas waspreserved in Arcadia by a dragon. When a boy, he had become attached to itand had reared it very tenderly; but his father, being alarmed at thenature and monstrous size of the reptile, had taken and left it in thedesert. Thoas being here attacked by robbers who lay in ambush, he wasdelivered from them by the dragon, which recognized his voice and came tohis assistance. It may be noted in regard to this that there are manyauthenticated instances of snakes evidencing considerable affection forthose who have treated them with kindness.[153]

The impression that Pliny’s dragon was intended to represent[Pg 167] some largeboa or python is strengthened by his statement:[154] “The dragon is aserpent destitute of venom; its head placed beneath the threshold of adoor, the gods being duly propitiated by prayers, will ensure good fortuneto the house, it is said.”

It is remarkable that he attributes to the dragon the same desire andcapacity to attack the elephant as is attributed to the Pa snake inWestern China, and by the old Arabian voyagers to serpents in Borneo.

TheShan-hai-king, a Chinese work of extreme antiquity, of which specialmention will be made hereafter, says: “The Pa snake swallows elephants,after three years it ejects the bones; well-to-do people, eating it, arecured of consumption.”

Diodorus Siculus, in speaking of the region of the Nile in Libya, saysthat, according to report, very large serpents are produced there and ingreat numbers, and that these attack elephants when they gather around thewatering places, involve them in their folds till they fall exhausted, andthen devour them.

Diodorus, in another passage referring to the crocodiles and hippopotamiof Egypt, speaking of Ethiopia and Libya, mentions a variety of serpentsas well as of other wild beasts, including dragons of unusual size andferocity.

While El Edrisi says: “On peut encore citer le serpent de Zaledj dontparlent Ben Khordadébe, l’auteur du Livre des Merveilles, et divers autresécrivains qui s’accordent à dire qu’il existe dans les montagnes de l’ilede Zaledj une espèce de serpent qui attaque l’elephant et le buffle, etqui ne les abandonnent qu’après les avoir vaincu.”[155]

[Pg 168]Artemidorus, also, according to Strabo,[156] “mentions serpents of thirtycubits in length, which can master elephants and bulls. In this he doesnot exaggerate; but the Indian and African serpents are of a more fabuloussize, and are said to have grass growing on their backs.”

Iphicrates, according to Bryant, “related that in Mauritania there weredragons of such extent that grass grew upon their backs.”

It is doubtful whether large serpents, or real dragons, are referred to byPliny in the following interesting passages which I give at length: thesurprise which he expresses at Juba’s believing that they had crests,leads me to suspect that there was possibly some confusion of speciesinvolved; that Juba might have been perfectly accurate so far as thecrests are concerned, and that the beasts in question, in place of beingpythons of magnitude, were rather some gigantic lizard-like creature, ofgreat length and little bulk, corresponding with the Chinese idea of thedragon, and, therefore, naturally bearing horny crests, similar to thosewith which the monster is usually represented by the latter people.

It must be noticed here, that if we postulate the existence of the dragon,we are not bound to limit ourselves to a single species, or even two, asthe same causes which effected the gradual destruction of one would beexceedingly likely to effect that of another; we must not, therefore, betoo critical in comparing descriptions of different authors in different[Pg 169]countries and epochs, since they may refer only to allied, but notidentical, animals.

“Africa produces elephants, but it is India that produces the largest, aswell as thedragon, who is perpetually at war with the elephant, and isitself of so enormous a size, as easily to envelop the elephants with itsfolds, and encircle them in its coils. The contest is equally fatal toboth; the elephant, vanquished, falls to the earth, and by its weightcrushes the dragon which is entwined around it.[158]

“The sagacity which every animal exhibits in its own behalf is wonderful,but in these it is remarkably so. The dragon has much difficulty inclimbing up to so great a height, and therefore, watching the road, whichbears marks of their footsteps, when going to feed, it darts down uponthem from a lofty tree. The elephant knows that it is quite unable tostruggle against the folds of the serpent, and so seeks for trees or rocksagainst which to rub itself.

“The dragon is on its guard against this, and tries to prevent it, byfirst of all confining the legs of the elephant with the folds of itstail; while the elephant, on the other hand, tries to disengage itselfwith its trunk. The dragon, however, thrusts its head into its nostrils,and thus, at the same moment, stops the breath, and wounds the most tenderparts. When it is met unexpectedly, the dragon raises itself up, faces itsopponent, and flies more especially at the eyes; this is the reason whyelephants are so often found blind, and worn to a skeleton with hunger andmisery.

“There is another story, too, told in relation to these combats. The bloodof the elephant, it is said, is remarkably cold; for which reason, in theparching heats of summer, it is sought by the dragon with remarkableavidity. It lies, therefore, coiled up and concealed in the river, in waitfor[Pg 170] the elephants when they come to drink; upon which it darts out,fastens itself around the trunk, and then fixes its teeth behind the ear,that being the only place which the elephant cannot protect with thetrunk. The dragons, it is said, are of such vast size that they canswallow the whole of the blood; consequently the elephant, being drainedof its blood, falls to the earth exhausted; while the dragon, intoxicatedwith the draught, is crushed beneath it, and so shares its fate.[159]

“Æthiopia produces dragons, not so large as those of India, but stilltwenty cubits in length. The only thing that surprises me is, how Jubacame to believe that they have crests. The Æthiopians are known as theAsachæi, among whom they most abound; and we are told that on those coastsfour or five of them are found twisted and interlaced together like somany osiers in a hurdle, and thus setting sail, with their heads erect,they are borne along upon the waves to find better sources of nourishmentin Arabia.”[160]

Pliny then goes on to describe, asseparate from dragons, large serpentsin India, as follows.

“Megasthenes[161] informs us that in India serpents grow to such animmense size as to swallow stags and bulls; while Metrodorus says thatabout the river Rhyndacus, in Pontus, they seize and swallow the birdsthat are flying above them, however high and however rapid their flight.

“It is a well-known fact that during the Punic war, at the river Bagrada,a serpent one hundred and twenty feet in length was taken by the Romanarmy under Regulus, being besieged, like a fortress, by means of balistæand other engines of war.Its skin and jaws were preserved in a templeat Rome down to the time of the Numantine war.

“The serpents, which in Italy are known by the name of[Pg 171] boa, render theseaccounts far from incredible, for they grow to such vast size that a childwas found entire in the stomach of one of them which was killed on theVaticanian Hill during the reign of Emperor Claudius.”[162]

Aristotle tells us that “in Libya, the serpents, as it has been alreadyremarked, are very large. For some persons say that as they sailed alongthe coast, they saw the bones of many oxen, and that it was evident tothem that they had been devoured by serpents. And, as the ships passed on,the serpents attacked the triremes, and some of them threw themselves uponone of the triremes and overturned it.”[163]

It is doubtful whether the dragons described by Benjamin of Tudela, whotravelled through Europe and the East and returned to Castille in1173,[164] as infesting the ruins of the palace of Nebuchodonosor atBabylon, so as to render them inaccessible, were creatures of theimagination such as the mediæval mind seems to have loved to dress up, orvenomous serpents. But there is little doubt that the so-called dragons oflater voyages were simply boas, pythons, or other large serpents, such asthose described by John Leo, in his description[Pg 172] of a voyage to Africa, asexisting in the caverns of Atlas. He says, “There are many monstrousdragons which are thick about the middle, but have slender necks andtails, so that their motion is but slow.[165] They are so venomous, thatwhatever they bite or touch, certain death ensues.” There is also thestatement of Job Ludolphus that (in Æthiopia) “the dragons are of thelargest size, very voracious, but not venomous.”[166]

I fancy that at the present day the numbers, magnitude, and terrifyingnature of serpents but feebly represent the power which they asserted inthe early days of man’s existence, or the terror which they then inspired.This subject has been so ably dealt with by a writer of the lastcentury[167] that I feel no hesitation in transcribing his remarks atlength.

“It is probable, in early times, when the arts were little known andmankind were but thinly scattered over the earth, that serpents,continuing undisturbed possessors of the forest, grew to an amazingmagnitude, and every other tribe of animals fell before them. It thenmight have happened that the serpents reigned tyrants of the district forcenturies together. To animals of this kind, grown by time and rapacity toone hundred or one hundred and fifty feet long, the lion, the tiger, andeven the elephant itself were but feeble opponents. That horrible fetor,which even the commonest and the most harmless snakes are still found todiffuse, might in these larger ones become too powerful for any livingbeing to withstand, and while they preyed without distinction, they mightalso have poisoned the atmosphere round them. In this manner, having forages lived in the hidden and unpeopled forest, and finding, as theirappetites were more powerful, the quantity of their prey decreasing, it ispossible[Pg 173] they might venture boldly from their retreats into the morecultivated parts of the country, and carry consternation among mankind, asthey had before desolation among the lower ranks of nature.

“We have many histories of antiquity presenting us such a picture, andexhibiting a whole nation sinking under the ravages of a single serpent.At that time man had not learned the art of uniting the efforts of many toeffect one great purpose. Opposing multitudes only added new victims tothe general calamity, and increased mutual embarrassment and terror. Theanimal, therefore, was to be singly opposed by him who had the greateststrength, the best armour, and the most undaunted courage. In such anencounter hundreds must have fallen, till one more lucky than the rest, bya fortunate blow, or by taking the monster in its torpid interval andsurcharged with spoil, might kill and thus rid his country of thedestroyer. Such was the original occupation of heroes.

“But as we descend into more enlightened antiquity we find these animalsless formidable, as being attacked in a more successful manner.

“We are told that while Regulus led his army along the banks of the riverBagrada in Africa, an enormous serpent disputed his passage over. We areassured by Pliny that it was one hundred and twenty feet long, and that ithad destroyed many of the army. At last, however, the battering engineswere brought out against it, and then, assailing it at a distance, it wasdestroyed. Its spoils were carried to Rome, and the general was decreed anovation for his success.

“There are, perhaps, few facts better ascertained in history than this: anovation was a remarkable honour, and was only given for some signalexploit that did not deserve a triumph. No historian would offer to inventthat part of the story, at least, without being subject to the mostshameful detection.

[Pg 174]“The skin was kept for several years after, in the Capitol, and Pliny sayshe saw it there.

“This tribe of animals, like that of fishes, seem to have no bounds put totheir growth; their bones are in a great measure cartilaginous, and theyare consequently capable of great extension.

“The older, therefore, a serpent becomes, the larger it grows, and, asthey live to a great age, they arrive at an enormous size. Leguat assuresus that he saw one in Java that was fifty feet long.[168] Carli mentionstheir growing to above forty feet, and there is now in the British Museumone that measures thirty-two feet.

“Mr. Wentworth, who had large concerns in the Berbice in America, assuresus that in that country they grow to an enormous length. He describes anIndian mistaking one for a log, and proceeding to sit down on it, when itbegan to move. A soldier with him shot the snake, but the Indian died offright. It measured thirty-six feet. It was sent to the Hague.

“A life of savage hostility in the forest offers the imagination one ofthe most tremendous pictures in nature. In those burning countries wherethe sun dries up every brook for hundreds of miles round: where what hadthe appearance of a great river in the rainy season becomes in summer onedreary bed of sand; in those countries a lake that is never dry, or abrook that is perennial, is considered by every animal as the greatestconvenience of nature. When they have discovered this, no dangers candeter them from attempting to slake their thirst. Thus the neighbourhoodof a rivulet, in the heart of the tropical continents, is generally[Pg 175] theplace where all the hostile tribes of nature draw up for the engagement.

“On the banks of this little envied spot, thousands of animals of variouskinds are seen venturing to quench their thirst, or preparing to seizetheir prey. The elephants are perceived in a long line, marching from thedarker parts of the forest. The buffaloes are there, depending uponnumbers for security; the gazelles relying solely upon their swiftness;the lion and tiger waiting a proper opportunity to seize.

“But chiefly the larger serpents are upon guard there, and defend theaccesses of the lake. Not an hour passes without some dreadful combat, butthe serpent, defended by its scales, and naturally capable of sustaining amultitude of wounds, is of all others the most formidable. It is the mostwakeful also, for the whole tribe sleep with their eyes open, and areconsequently for ever upon the watch; so that, till their rapacity issatisfied, few other animals will venture to approach their station.”

We read of a serpent exhibited in the time of Augustus at Rome, which,Suetonius tells us, “was fifty cubits in length.”[169] But at the presentday there are few authentic accounts of snakes exceeding thirty feet inlength; and there are some people who discredit any which profess to speakof snakes of greater dimensions than this. There are some, however, amongthe annexed stories, which I think demand belief, and apparently we mayconclude that the python and boa exceptionally attain as much as fortyfeet in length, or even more.

Wallace[170] merely reports by hearsay that the pythons in thePhillipines, which destroy young cattle, are said to reach more than fortyfeet.

Captain Sherard Osborn,[171] in his description of Quedah in[Pg 176] the Malaypeninsula, says, also, as a matter of popular belief: “The natives ofTamelan declared most of them to be of the boa-constrictor species, butspoke of monsters in the deep forests, which might, if they came out,clear off the whole village. A pleasant feat, for which Jadie, with a wagof his sagacious head, assured me that an ‘oular Bessar’ or big snake wasquite competent.

“It was strange but interesting to find amongst all Malays a strong beliefin the extraordinary size to which the boa-constrictors or pythons wouldgrow; they all maintained that in the secluded forests of Sumatra orBorneo, as well as on some of the smaller islands which were notinhabited, these snakes were occasionally found of forty or fifty feet inlength.”

Major McNair says[172]: “One of the keenest sportsmen in Singapore givesan account of a monster that he encountered. He had wounded a boar in thejungle, and was following its tracks with his dogs, when, in penetratingfurther into the forest, he found the dogs at bay, and, advancingcautiously, prepared for another shot at the boar; to his surprise,however, he found that the dogs were baying a huge python, which hadseized the boar, thrown its coils round the unfortunate beast, and wascrushing it to death. A well-directed shot laid the reptile writhing onthe ground, and it proved to be about thirty feet long. But such instancesof extreme length are rare.”

Unfortunately the exciting story of a serpent, between forty and fiftyfeet in length, which I extract from theNorth China Daily News ofNovember 10th, 1880, the scene of which is also laid in the Malaypeninsula, lacks the authenticity of the narrator’s name. It is asfollows:—

“TheStraits Times tells the following exciting python story: ‘Asportsman, who a few days ago penetrated into the[Pg 177] jungle lying betweenBuddoh and Sirangoon, came upon a lone hut in a district called CampongBatta, upon the roof of which the skin of an enormous boa or python(whichever may be the correct name) was spread out. The hut was occupiedby a Malay and his wife, from whom our informant gathered the followingextraordinary account. One night, about a week previously, the Malay wasawakened by the cries of his wife for assistance. Being in perfectdarkness, and supposing the alarm to be on account of thieves, he seizedhis sharp parang, and groped his way to her sleeping place, where his handfell upon a slimy reptile. It was fully a minute before he couldcomprehend the entire situation, and when he did, he discovered that thewhole of his wife’s arm had been drawn down the monster’s throat, whitherthe upper part of her body was slowly but surely following. Not daring toattack the monster at once for fear of causing his wife’s death, thehusband, with great presence of mind, seized two bags within reach, andcommenced stuffing them into the corner of the snake’s jaws, by means ofwhich he succeeded in forcing them wider open and releasing his wife’sarm. No sooner had the boa lost his prey than he attacked the husband,whom he began encircling in his fatal coils; but holding out both arms,and watching his opportunity, he attacked the monster so vigorously withhis parang that it suddenly unwound itself and vanished through an openingbeneath the attap sides of the hut. His clothes were covered with blood,as was also the floor of the hut, and his wife’s arm was blue with thesqueezing it received between the boa’s jaws. At daylight the husbanddiscovered his patch of plaintain trees nearly ruined, where the boa,writhing in agony, had broken off the trees at the roots, and in the midstof the debris lay the monster itself, dead. The Malay assured ourinformant that he had received no less than sixty dollars from Chinese,who came from long distances to purchase pieces of the flesh on account ofits supposed medical[Pg 178] properties, and that he had refused six dollars forthe skin, which he preferred to retain as a trophy. It was greatlydecomposed, having been some days exposed in the open air, and useless forcuring. There is no telling what may have been the measurement of thislarge reptile, but the skin, probably greatly stretched by unskilfulremoval, measured between seven and eight fathoms.’”

Bontius speaks of serpents in the Asiatic Isles. “The great ones,” hesays, “sometimes exceed thirty-six feet; and have such capacity of throatand stomach that they swallow whole boars.”

Mr. McLeod, in theVoyage of the Alceste, states that during a captivityof some months at Whidah, on the coast of Africa, he had opportunities ofobserving serpents double this length.[173]

Broderip, in hisLeaves from the Note-book of a Naturalist (Parker,1852), speaks of a serpent thirty feet in length, which attacked the crewof a Malay proa anchored for the night close to the island of Celebes.

Mr. C. Collingwood inRambles of a Naturalist, states that “Mr. Lowassured me that he had seen one [python] killed measuring twenty-six feet,and I heard on good authority of one of twenty-nine feet having beenkilled there. In Borneo they were said to attain forty feet, but for thisI cannot vouch.”

That large pythons still exist in South and Western China, although ofvery reduced dimensions as compared with those described in ancient works,is affirmed by many writers, from whom I think it is sufficient to extracta notice by one of the early missionaries who explored that country.

“Pour ce qui est des serpens qu’on trouve dans Chine l’Atlas raconte quela Province de Quansi, en produit de si grands et d’une longueur siextrême, qu’il est presque incroyable; et il nous assure, qu’il s’en esttrouvé, qui étaient plus[Pg 179] longs que ne seraient pas dix perches attachéesles unes avec les autres, c’est-à-dire, qu’ils avaient plus de trentepieds géométriques. Flore Sienois dit, ‘Gento est le plus grand de tousceux qui sont dans les provinces de Quansi, de Haynan, et de Quantun ...il dévore les cerfs.... Il s’élève droit sur sa queue, et combatvigoureusement, en cette posture, contre les hommes et les bêtesfarouches.’”[174]

We have unfortunately no clue to the actual length of the serpent Bomma,described by J. M. da Sorrento inA Voyage to Congo in 1682, containedin Churchill’s collection of voyages published in 1732.[175] “The fleshthey eat is generally that of wild creatures, and especially of a sort ofserpent called Bomma. At a certain feast in Baia, I observed the windows,instead of tapestry and arras, adorned with the skin of these serpents aswide as that of a large ox, and long in proportion.”

That harmless snakes of from twelve to fourteen feet in length occurabundantly in Northern Australia is generally known; but it is only oflate years that I have been made acquainted with a firm belief,entertained by the natives in the interior, of the existence near thejunction of the Darling and Murray, south of the centre of the continent,of a serpent of great magnitude.

I learn from Mr. G. R. Moffat that on the Lower Murray, between Swan Hilland the Darling junction—at the time of his acquaintance with thedistrict (about 1857 to 1867)—the black fellows had numerous stories ofthe existence of a large serpent in the Mallee scrub. It was conspicuousfor its size, thirty to forty feet in length, and especially for its greatgirth, swiftness, and intensely disgusting odour; this latter, in fact,constituted the great protection from it, insomuch[Pg 180] as it would beimpossible to approach without recognising its presence.

Mr. Moffatt learnt personally from a Mr. Beveridge, son of Mr. PeterBeveridge, of Swan Hill station, that he had actually seen one, and thathis account quite tallied with those of the blacks. In answer to aninquiry which I addressed to Australia, I received the note attachedbelow.[176]

Mr. Henry Liddell, who was resident on the Darling River in 1871-72,informs me that he has heard from stock-riders and ration-carriers similaraccounts to that of Mr. Moffatt, with reference to the existence of largeserpents of the boa species in an adjacent locality, viz. the tract ofcountry lying to the east of Darling and Murray junction, in the backcountry belonging to Pooncaira station.

They described them as being numerous, in barren and rocky places, amongbig boulders; fully forty feet long; as thick as a man’s thigh; and ashaving the same remarkable odour described by Mr. Moffatt. They spoke ofthem as quite common, and not at all phenomenal, between Wentworth andPooncaira.

The Anaconda, in regard to which so much myth and superstition prevailsamong the Indians of Brazil, is thus spoken of by Condamine, in hisTravels in South America. “The most rare and singular of all is a largeamphibious serpent from twenty-five to thirty feet long and more than afoot thick, according to report. It is called Jacumama, or ‘the mother ofthe waters,’ by the Americans of Maynas,[Pg 181] and commonly inhabits the largelakes formed by the river-water after flood.”[177]

Ulloa, also, in hisVoyage to South America,[178] says: “In thecountries watered by that vast river (the Maranon) is bred a serpent of afrightful magnitude, and of a most deleterious nature. Some, in order togive an idea of its largeness, affirm that it will swallow any beastwhole, and that this has been the miserable end of many a man. But whatseems still a greater wonder is the attractive quality attributed to itsbreath,[179] which irresistibly draws any creature to it which happens tobe within the sphere of its attraction. The Indians call it Jacumama,i.e. ‘mother of water’; for, as it delights in lakes and marshy places,it may in some sense be considered as amphibious. I have taken a greatdeal of pains to inquire into this particular, and all I can say is thatthe reptile’s magnitude is really surprising.”

John Nieuhoff, in his Voyages to Brazil,[180] speaking of the serpentGuaku or Liboya, says: “It is questionless the biggest of all serpents,some being eighteen, twenty-four, nay thirty feet long, and of thethickness of a man in his middle. The Portuguese call it Kobra Detrado, orthe roebuck serpent, because it will swallow a whole roebuck, or any otherdeer it meets with; after they have swallowed such a deer, they fallasleep, and so are catched. Such a one I saw at Paraiba, which was thirtyfeet long, and as big as a barrel. This serpent, being a very devouringcreature, greedy of prey, leaps from amongst the hedges and woods, andstanding upright upon its tail, wrestles both with men and wild[Pg 182] beasts;sometimes it leaps from the trees upon the traveller, whom it fastensupon, and beats the breath out of his body with its tail.”

The largest (water boa) ever met with by a European appears to be thatdescribed by a botanist, Dr. Gardiner, in hisTravels in Brazil. It haddevoured a horse, and was found dead, entangled in the branches of a treeoverhanging a river, into which it had been carried by a flood; it wasnearly forty feet long.

The next section relates to winged serpents, a belief in which wasprevalent in early ages, and is strongly supported by several independentworks.

Fig. 35.—Egyptian Four-winged Serpent, Chanuphis, or Bait.
(From “Serpent Myths of Ancient Egypt,” by W. R. Cooper.)

To my mind, Herodotus speaks without the slightest doubt upon the subjectin the following passages. “Arabia[181] is the last of inhabited landstowards the south, and it is the only country which produces frankincense,myrrh, cassia, cinnamon, and ledanum.” “The frankincense they procure bymeans of the gum styrax, which the Greeks get from the Phœnicians. Thisthey burn, and thereby obtain the spice; for the trees which bear thefrankincense are guarded by[Pg 183] winged serpents, small in size, and ofvarious colours, whereof vast numbers hang about every tree. They are ofthe same kind as the serpents that invade Egypt, and there is nothing butthe smoke of the styrax which will drive them from the trees.”

Fig. 36.—The Symbolic Winged Serpent of the Goddess
Mersokar or Melsokar. (After W. R. Cooper.)

Again,[182] “the Arabians say that the whole world would swarm with theseserpents, if they were not kept in check, in the way in which I know thatvipers are.” “Now, with respect to the vipers and the winged snakes ofArabia, if they increased as fast as their nature would allow, impossiblewere it for man to maintain himself upon the earth. Accordingly, it isfound that when the male and female come together, at the very moment ofimpregnation, the female seizes the male by the neck, and having oncefastened cannot be brought to leave go till she has bit the neck entirelythrough, and so the male perishes; but after a while he is avenged uponthe female by means of the young, which, while still unborn, gnaw apassage through the womb and then through the belly of their mother.Contrariwise, other snakes, which are harmless, lay eggs and hatch a vastnumber of young. Vipers are found in all parts of the world, but thewinged serpents are nowhere seen except in Arabia, where they are allcongregated together; this makes them appear so numerous.”

[Pg 184]Herodotus had so far interested himself in ascertaining the probability oftheir existence as to visit Arabia for the purpose of inquiry; hesays,[183] “I went once to a certain place in Arabia, almost exactlyopposite the city of Buto, to make inquiries concerning the wingedserpents. On my arrival I saw the back-bones and ribs of serpents in suchnumbers as it is impossible to describe; of the ribs there were amultitude of heaps, some great, some small, some middle-sized. The placewhere the bones lie is at the entrance of a narrow gorge between steepmountains, which there open upon a spacious plain communicating with thegreat plains of Egypt. The story goes, that with the spring the snakescome flying from Arabia towards Egypt, but are met in this gorge by thebirds called ibises, who forbid their entrance and destroy them all. TheArabians assert, and the Egyptians also admit, that it is on account ofthe service thus rendered that the Egyptians hold the ibis in so muchreverence.” He further[184] describes the winged serpent as being shapedlike the water-snake, and states that its wings are not feathered, butresemble very closely those of the bat.

Fig. 37.—The Symbolic Winged Serpent of the
Goddess Eileithya. (After W. R. Cooper.)

Aristotle briefly states, as a matter of common report, that there were inhis time winged serpents in Ethiopia.[185] Both two and four winged snakesare depicted among the Egyptian[Pg 185] sculptures, considered by Mr. Cooper tobe emblematic of deities, and to signify that the four corners of theearth are embraced and sheltered by the supreme Providence.

Josephus[186] unmistakably affirms his belief in the existence of flyingserpents, in his account of the stratagem which Moses adopted in attackingthe Ethiopians, who had invaded Egypt and penetrated as far as Memphis.From this we may infer that in his time flying serpents were by no meanspeculiar to Arabia, but, as might have been expected, equally infested thedesert lands bordering the fertile strip of the Nile.

In Whiston’s translation we read that “Moses prevented the enemies, andtook and led his army before those enemies were apprised of his attackingthem; for he did not march by the river, but by land, where he gave awonderful demonstration of his sagacity; for when the ground was difficultto be passed over, because of the multitude of serpents (which it producesin vast numbers, and indeed is singular in some of those productions,which other countries do not breed, and yet such as are worse than othersin power and mischief, and an unusual fierceness of sight, some of whichascend out of the ground unseen, and also fly in the air, and so come uponmen at unawares, and do them a mischief), Moses invented a wonderfulstratagem to preserve the army safe and without hurt; for he made baskets,like unto arks, of sedge, and filled them with ibes, and carried themalong with them; which animal is the greatest enemy to serpentsimaginable, for they fly from them when they come near them; and as theyfly they are caught and devoured by them, as if it were done by the harts;but the ibes are tame creatures, and only enemies to the serpentine kind;but about these ibes I say no more at present, since the Greeks themselvesare not unacquainted with this sort of bird. As soon, therefore, as Moseswas come to the land,[Pg 186] which was the breeder of these serpents, he letloose the ibes, and by their means repelled the serpentine kind, and usedthem for his assistants before the army came upon that ground.”

These statements of Herodotus and Josephus are both too precise to beexplicable on the theory that they refer to the darting or jumpingserpents which Nieuhoff describes, in his day, as infesting the palm treesof Arabia and springing from tree to tree; or to the jaculus ofPliny,[187] which darts from the branches of trees, and flies through theair as though it were hurled by an engine, and which is described by Ælianand graphically figured by Lucan[188] in the passage—“Behold! afar,around the trunk of a barren tree, a fierce serpent—Africa calls it thejaculus—wreathes itself, and then darts forth, and through the head andpierced temples of Paulus it takes its flight: nothing does venom thereeffect, death seizes him through the wound. It was then understood howslowly fly the stones which the sling hurls, how sluggishly whizzes theflight of the Scythian arrow.”

Solinus, whose work,Polyhistor, is mainly a compilation from Pliny’sNatural History, gives a similar account of the swarms of winged serpentsabout the Arabian marshes, and states that their bite was so deadly thatdeath followed the bite before pain could be felt; he also refers to theirdestruction by the ibises, and is probably only quoting other authorsrather than speaking of his own knowledge.

Cicero, again, speaks of the ibis as being a very large bird, with stronglegs, and a horny long beak, which destroys a great number of serpents,and keeps Egypt free from pestilential diseases, by killing and devouringthe flying serpents, brought from the deserts of Lybia by the south-westwind, and so preventing the mischief which might[Pg 187] attend their bitingwhile alive, or from any infection when dead.

There are not unfrequent allusions in ancient history to serpents havingbecome so numerous as to constitute a perfect plague; the dreadfulmortality caused among the Israelites by the fiery serpents spoken of inNumbers is a case in point, and another[189] is the migration of the Neurifrom their own country into that of the Budini, one generation before theattack of Darius, in consequence of the incursion of a huge multitude ofserpents. It is stated that some of these were produced in their owncountry, but for the most part they came in from the deserts of the north.The home of the Neuri appears to have been to the north-west of the PontusEuxinus, pretty much in the position of Poland, and I believe that at thepresent day the only harmful reptile occurring in it is the viper commonto the rest of Europe. Diodorus Siculus[190] mentions a tradition that theCerastes had once made an irruption into Egypt in such numbers as to havedepopulated a great portion of the inhabited districts.

These stories are interesting as showing a migratory instinct occurring incertain serpents, either periodically or occasionally, and are thus tosome extent corroborative of the account of the annual invasion of Egyptby serpents, referred to in a previous page. They also, I think, confirmthe impression that serpents were more numerous in the days of earlyhistory, and had a larger area of distribution than they have now, andthat possibly some species, such as the Arabian and flying serpents, whichhave since become extinct, then existed. Thus the boa is spoken of byPliny as occurring commonly in Italy, and growing to such a vast size thata child was found entire in one of them, which was killed on the VaticanHill during the reign of the[Pg 188] Emperor Claudius. Yet at the present daythere are no snakes existing there at all corresponding to thisdescription.

Parallel instances of invasions of animals materially affecting theprosperity of man are doubtless familiar to my readers, such as theoccasional migration of lemmings, passage of rats, flights of locusts, orthe ravages caused by the Colorado beetle; but many are perhaps quiteunaware what a terrible plague can be established, in the course of a veryfew years, by the prolific unchecked multiplication of even so harmless,innocent, and useful an animal as the common rabbit. The descendants of afew imported pairs have laid waste extensive districts of Australia andNew Zealand, necessitated an enormous expenditure for their extirpation,and have at the present day[191] caused such a widespread destruction[Pg 189] ofproperty in the latter country, that large areas of ground have actuallyhad to be abandoned and entirely surrendered to them.

It is interesting to find in the work of the Arabic geographer El Edrisi atradition of an island in the Atlantic, called Laca, off the north-westcoast of Africa, having been formerly inhabited, but abandoned on accountof the excessive multiplication of serpents on it. According toScaligerus, the mountains dividing the kingdom of Narsinga from Malabarproduce many wild beasts, among which may be enumerated winged dragons,who are able to destroy any one approaching their breath.

Megasthenes (tradente Æliano) relates that winged serpents are found inIndia; where it is stated that they are noxious, fly only by night, andthat contact with their urine destroys portions of animals.

[Pg 190]Ammianus Marcellinus (who wrote about the fourthcenturyA.D.) states thatthe ibis is one among the countless varieties of the birds of Egypt,sacred, amiable, and valuable as storing up the eggs of serpents in hisnest for food and so diminishing their number. He also refers to theirencountering flocks of winged snakes, coming laden with poison from themarshes of Arabia, and overcoming them in the air, and devouring thembefore they quit their own region. And Strabo,[192] in his geographicaldescription of India, speaks of serpents of two cubits in length, withmembraneous wings like bats: “They fly at night, and let fall drops ofurine or sweat, which occasions the skins of persons who are not on theirguard to putrefy.” Isaiah speaks of fiery flying serpents, the term“fiery” being otherwise rendered in the Alexandrine edition of theSeptuagint by θανατοῦντες “deadly,” while the term “fiery” isexplained by other authorities as referring to the burning sensationproduced by the bite, and to the bright colour of the serpents.[193]Collateral evidence of the belief in winged serpents is afforded byincidental allusions to them in the classics. Thus Virgil alludes tosnakes with strident wings in the line

Lucan[195] refers to the winged serpents of Arabia as forming one of theingredients of an incantation broth brewed by a Thessalian witch, Erictho,with the object of resuscitating a corpse, and procuring replies to thequeries of Sextus, son of Pompey. There are other passages in Ovid andother poets, in which the words “winged serpents” are made use of, but[Pg 191]which I omit to render here, since from the context it seems doubtfulwhether they were not intended as poetic appellations of the monster towhich, by popular consent, the term dragon has been generally restricted.

I feel bound to refer, although of course without attaching any very greatweight of evidence to them, to the numerous stories popular in the East,in which flying serpents play a conspicuous part, the serpents alwayshaving something magical or supernatural in their nature. Such tales arefound in the entrancing pages of theArabian Nights, or in the veryentertaining folk-lore of China, as given to us by Dr. N. P. Dennys ofSingapore.[196]

The latest notice of the flying serpent that we find is in a work by P.Belon du Mans, published in 1557, entitled,Portraits de quelquesanimaux, poissons, serpents, herbes et arbres, hommes et femmes d’Arabie,Égypte, et Asie, observés par P. Belon du Mans. It contains a drawing ofa biped winged dragon, with the notice “Portrait du serpent ailé” and thequatrain—

Dangereuse est du serpent la nature
Qu’on voit voler près le mont Sinai
Qui ne serait, de la voir, esbahy,
Si on a peur, voyant sa pourtraiture?

This is copied by Gesner, who repeats the story of its flying out ofArabia into Egypt.[197] I attach considerable importance to the shortextract which I shall give in a future page from the celebrated Chinesework on geography and natural history, theShan Hai King, or Mountainand Sea Classic. TheShan Hai King claims to be of great antiquity, and,as Mr. Wylie remarks, though long looked on with distrust, has beeninvestigated recently by scholars of great[Pg 192] ability, who have come to theconclusion that it is at least as old as the Chow dynasty, and probablyolder. Now, as the Chow dynasty commenced in 1122B.C., it is, if thislatter supposition be correct, of a prior age to the works of Aristotle,Herodotus, and all the other authors we have been quoting, and thereforeis the earliest work on natural history extant, and the description of theflying serpent of the Sien mountains (vide infrà) the earliest record ofthe existence of such creatures.

While the flying serpents of which we have just treated, will, if weassent to the reality of their former existence, assist greatly in theexplanation of the belief in a winged dragon so far as Egypt, Arabia, andadjacent countries are concerned, it seems hardly probable that they aresufficient to account for the wide-spread belief in it. This we havealready glanced at; but we now propose to examine it in greater detail,with reference to countries so distant from their habitat as to render itunlikely that their description had penetrated there.

The poets of Greece and Rome introduce the dragon into their fables, as anillustration, when the type of power and ferocity is sought for. Homer, inhis description of the shield of Hercules, speaks of “The scaly horror ofa dragon coiled full in the central field, unspeakable, with eyes oblique,retorted, that askant shot gleaming fire.” So Hesiod[198] (750 to 700B.C., Grote), describing the same object, says: “On its centre was theunspeakable terror of a dragon glancing backward with eyes gleaming withfire. His mouth, too, was filled with teeth running in a white line, dreadand unapproachable; and above his terrible forehead, dread strife[Pg 193] washovering, as he raises the battle rout. On it likewise were heads ofterrible serpents, unspeakable, twelve in number, who were wont to scarethe race of men on earth, whosoever chanced to wage war against the son ofJove.”

Ovid[199] locates the dragon slain by Cadmus in Bœotia, near the riverCephisus. He speaks of it as being hid in a cavern, adorned with crests,and of a golden colour. He, like the other poets, makes special referenceto the eyes sparkling with fire, and it may be noted that a similarbrilliancy is mentioned by those who have observed pythons in their nativecondition. He speaks of the dragon asblue,[200] and terriblydestructive owing to the possession of a sting, long constricting folds,and venomous breath.

The story of Ceres flying to heaven in a chariot drawn by two dragons, andof her subsequently lending it to Triptolemus, to enable him to travel allover the earth and distribute corn to its inhabitants, is detailed oralluded to by numerous poets, as well as the tale of Medea flying fromJason in a chariot drawn by winged dragons. Ceres[201] is[Pg 194] further made toskim the waves of the ocean, much after the fashion of mythical personagesdepicted in the wood-cuts illustrating passages in theShan HaiKing.[202] Ammianus Marcellinus, whose history ends with the death ofValerius inA.D. 378, refers, as a remarkable instance of credulity, to avulgar rumour that the chariot of Triptolemus was still extant, and hadenabled Julian, who had rendered himself formidable both by sea and land,to pass over the walls of, and enter into the city of Heraclea. Thoughrational explanations are afforded by the theory of Bochart and Le Clerc,that the story is based upon the equivocal meaning of a Phœnician word,signifying either a winged dragon or a ship fastened with iron nails orbolts; or by that of Philodorus, as cited by Eusebius, who says that hisship was called a flying dragon, from its carrying the figure of a dragonon its prow; yet either simply transposes into another phase the currentbelief in a dragon, without prejudicing it.

Diodorus Siculus disposes of the Colchian dragon and the golden-fleecedram in a very summary manner, as follows:—

“It is said that Phryxus, the son of Athamas and Nephele, in order toescape the snares of his stepmother, fled from Greece with his half-sisterHellen, and that whilst they were being carried, under the advice of thegods, by the ram with a golden fleece out of Europe into Asia, the girlaccidentally fell off into the sea, which on that account has been calledHellespont. Phryxus, however, being carried safely into Colchis,sacrificed the ram by the order of an oracle, and hung up its skin in ashrine dedicated to Mars.

“After this the king learnt from an oracle that he would meet his deathwhen strangers, arriving there by ship, should have carried off the goldenfleece. On this account,[Pg 195] as well as from innate cruelty, the man wasinduced to offer sacrifice with the slaughter of his guests; in orderthat, the report of such an atrocity being spread everywhere, no one mightdare to set foot within his dominions. He also surrounded the temple witha wall, and placed there a strong guard of Taurian soldiery; which gaverise to a prodigious fiction among the Greeks, for it was reported by themthat bulls, breathing fire from their nostrils, kept watch over theshrine, and that a dragon guarded the skin, for by ambiguity the name ofthe Taurians was twisted into that of bulls, and the slaughter of guestsfurnished the fiction of the expiation of fire. In like manner theytranslated the name of the prefect Draco, to whom the custody of thetemple had been assigned, into that of the monstrous and horrible creatureof the poets.”

Nor do others fail to give a similar explanation of the fable of Phryxus,for they say that Phryxus was conveyed in a ship which bore on its prowthe image of a ram, and that Hellen, who was leaning over the side underthe misery of sea-sickness, tumbled into the water.

Among other subjects of poetry are the dragon which guarded the goldenapples of the Hesperides, and the two which licked the eyes of Plutus atthe temple of Æsculapius with such happy effect that he began to see.

Philostratus[203] separates dragons into Mountain dragons and Marshdragons. The former had a moderate crest, which increased as they grewolder, when a beard of saffron colour was appended to their chins; themarsh dragons had no crests. He speaks of their attaining a size soenormous that they easily killed elephants. Ælian describes their lengthas being from thirty or forty to a hundred cubits; and Posidonius mentionsone, a hundred and forty feet long, that haunted the neighbourhood ofDamascus; and another, whose[Pg 196] lair was at Macra, near Jordan, was an acrein length, and of such bulk that two men on horseback, with the monsterbetween them, could not see each other.

Ignatius states that there was in the library of Constantinople theintestine of a dragon one hundred and twenty feet long, on which werewritten theIliad andOdyssey in letters of gold. There is noambiguity in Lucan’s[204] description of the Æthiopian dragon: “You also,the dragon, shining with golden brightness, who crawl in all (other) landsas innoxious divinities, scorching Africa render deadly with wings; youmove the air on high, and following whole herds, you burst asunder vastbulls, embracing them with your folds. Nor is the elephant safe throughhis size; everything you devote to death, and no need have you of venomfor a deadly fate.” Whereas the dragon referred to by Pliny (vide ante,p. 169), as also combating the elephant, is evidently without wings, andmay either have been a very gigantic serpent, or a lacertian correspondingto the Chinese idea of the dragon.

Descending to later periods, we learn from Marcellinus[205] that in hisday dragon standards were among the chief insignia of the Roman army; for,speaking of the triumphal entry of Constantine into Rome after his triumphover Magnentius, he mentions that numbers of the chief officers whopreceded him were surrounded by dragons embroidered on various points oftissue, fastened to the golden or jewelled points of spears; the mouths ofthe dragons being open so as to catch the wind, which made them hiss asthough they were inflamed with anger, while the coils of their tails werealso contrived to be agitated by the breeze. And again he speaks ofSilvanus[206] tearing the purple silk from the insignia[Pg 197] of the dragonsand standards, and so assuming the title of Emperor.

Several nations, as the Persians, Parthians, Scythians, &c., bore dragonson their standards: whence the standards themselves were called draconesor dragons.

It is probable that the Romans borrowed this custom from the Parthians,or, as Casaubon has it, from the Dacae, or Codin, from the Assyrians; butwhile the Roman dracones were, as we learn from Ammianus Marcellinus,figures of dragons painted in red on their flags, among the Persians andParthians they were, like the Roman eagles, figures in relievo, so thatthe Romans were frequently deceived and took them for real dragons.

The dragon plays an important part in Celtic mythology. Among the Celts,as with the Romans, it was the national standard.

While Cymri’s dragon, from the Roman’s hold
Spread with calm wing o’er Carduel’s domes of gold.[207]

The fables of Merllin, Nennius, and Geoffry describe it as red in colour,and so differing from the Saxon dragon which was white. The hero Arthurcarried a dragon on his helm, and the tradition of it is moulded intoimperishable form in theFaerie Queen. A dragon infested Lludd’sdominion, and made every heath in England resound with shrieks on eachMay-day eve. A dragon of vast size and pestiferous breath lay hidden in acavern in Wales, and destroyed two districts with its venom, before theholy St. Samson seized and threw it into the sea.

In Celtic chivalry, the word dragon came to be used for chief, a Pendragonbeing a sort of dictator created in times of danger; and as the knightswho slew a chief in battle were said to slay a dragon, this doubtlesshelped to keep alive the popular tradition regarding the monster whichhad[Pg 198] been carried with them westward in their migration from the commonAryan centre.

The Teutonic tribes who invaded and settled in England bore the effigiesof dragons on their shields and banners, and these were also depicted onthe ensigns of various German tribes.[208] We also find that Thor himselfwas a slayer of dragons,[209] and both Siegfried and Beowulf weresimilarly engaged in the Niebelungen-lied and the epic bearing the name ofthe latter.[210] The Berserkers not only named their boats after thedragon, but also had the prow ornamented with a dragon figure-head; afashion which obtains to the present day among the Chinese, who have anannualdragon-boat festival, in which long snaky boats with a ferociousdragon prow run races for prizes, and paddle in processions.

So deeply associated was the dragon with the popular legends, that we findstories of encounters with it passing down into the literature of theMiddle Ages; and, like the heroes of old, the Christian saints won theirprincipal renown by dragon achievements. Thus among thedragon-slayers[211] we find that—

6. St. Michael, St. George, St. Margaret, Pope Sylvester, St. Samson,Archbishop of Dol, Donatus (fourth century), St. Clement of Metz, killeddragons.

7. St. Romain of Rouen destroyed the huge dragon called La Gargouille,which ravaged the Seine.

Moreover, the fossil remains of animals discovered from time to time, andnow relegated to their true position in the zoological series, weresupposed to be the genuine remains of either dragons or giants, accordingto the bent of the mind of the individual who stumbled on them: much as inthe present day large fossil bones of extinct animals of all kinds are inChina ascribed to dragons, and form an important item in the Chinesepharmacopœia. (Vide extract on[Pg 200] Dragon bones from thePen-tsaou-kang-mu, given onpp. 244-246.)

The annexed wood-cut of the skeleton of an Iguanodon, found in a coal-mineat Bernissant, exactly illustrates the semi-erect position which thedragon of fable is reported to have assumed.

Among the latest surviving beliefs of this nature may be cited the dragonof Wantley (Wharncliffe, Yorkshire), who was slain by More of More Hall.He procured a suit of armour studded with spikes, and, proceeding to thewell where the dragon had his lair, kicked him in the mouth, where alonehe was vulnerable. The Lambton worm is another instance.

The explanations of these legends attempted by mythologists, based on thesupposition that the dragons which are their subjects are simply symbolicof natural phenomena, are ingenious, and perhaps in many instancessufficient, but do not affect, as I have before remarked, the primitiveand conserved belief in their previous existence as a reality.

Thus, the author ofBritish Goblins suggests that for the prototype ofthe red dragon, which haunted caverns and guarded treasures in Wales, wemust look in the lightning caverns of old Aryan fable, and deduces thefire-darting dragons of modern lore from the shining hammer of Thor, andthe lightning spear of Odin.

The stories of ladies guarded by dragons are explained on thesupposition[212] that the ladies were kept in the secured part of thefeudal castles, round which the walls wound, and that an adventurer had toscale the walls to gain access to the ladies; when there were two walls,the authors of romance said that the assaulter overcame two dragons, andso on. St. Romain, when he delivered the city of Rouen from a dragon whichlived in the river Seine, simply[Pg 201]protected the city from an overflow,just as Apollo (the sun) is symbolically said to have destroyed theserpent Python, or, in other words, dried up an overflow. And the dragonof Wantley is supposed by Dr. Percy to have been an overgrown rascallyattorney, who cheated some children of their estates, but was compelled todisgorge by a gentleman named More, who went against him armed with the“spikes of the law,” whereupon the attorney died of vexation.

Furthermore, our dragoons were so denominated because they were armed withdragons, that is, with short muskets, which spouted fire like dragons, andhad the head of a dragon wrought upon their muzzle.

This fanciful device occurs also among the Chinese, for a Jesuit, whoaccompanied the Emperor of China on a journey into Western Tartary in1683, says, “This was the reason of his coming into their country with sogreat an army, and such vast military preparations; he having commandedseveral pieces of cannon to be brought, in order for them to be dischargedfrom time to time in the valleys; purposely that the noise and fire,issuing from the mouths of the dragons, with which they were adorned,might spread terror around.”

Though dragons have completely dropped out of all modern works on naturalhistory, they were still retained and regarded as quite orthodox until alittle before the time of Cuvier; specimens, doubtless fabricated like theingeniously constructed mermaid of Mr. Barnum, were exhibited in themuseums; and voyagers occasionally brought back, as authentic stories oftheir existence, fables which had percolated through time and nationsuntil they had found a home in people so remote from their starting pointas to cause a complete obliteration of their passage and origin.

For instance, Pigafetta, in a report of the kingdom of Congo,[213]“gathered out of the discourses of Mr. E. Lopes, a[Pg 202] Portuguese,” speakingof the province of Bemba, which he defines as “on the sea coast from theriver Ambrize, until the river Coanza towards the south,” says ofserpents, “There are also certain other creatures which, being as big asrams, have wings like dragons, with long tails, and long chaps, and diversrows of teeth, and feed upon raw flesh. Their colour is blue and green,their skin painted like scales, and they havetwo feet but no more.[214]The Pagan negroes used to worship them as gods, and at this day you maysee divers of them that are kept for a marvel. And because they are veryrare, the chief lords there curiously preserve them, and suffer the peopleto worship them, which tendeth greatly to their profits by reason of thegifts and oblations which the people offer unto them.”

And John Barbot, Agent-General of the Royal Company of Africa, in hisdescription of the coasts of South Guinea,[215] says: “Some blacksassuring me that they (i.e. snakes) were thirty feet long. They alsotold me there are winged serpents or dragons having a forked tail and aprodigious wide mouth, full of sharp teeth, extremely mischievous tomankind, and more particularly to small children. If we may credit thisaccount of the blacks, they are of the same sort of winged serpents whichsome authors tell us are to be found in Abyssinia, being very greatenemies to the elephants. Some such serpents have been seen about theriver Senegal, and they are adorned and worshipped as snakes are at Widaor Fida, that is, in a most religious manner.”

Ulysses Aldrovandus,[216] who published a large folio volume on serpentsand dragons, entirely believed in the existence of the latter, and givestwo wood engravings of a specimen[Pg 203] which he professes to have received inthe year 1551, of a true dried Æthiopian dragon.

He describes it as having two feet armed with claws, and two ears, withfive prominent and conspicuous tubercles on the back. The whole wasornamented with green and dusky scales. Above, it bore wings fit forflight, and had a long and flexible tail, coloured with yellowish scales,such as shone on the belly and throat. The mouth was provided with sharpteeth, the inferior part of the head, towards the ears, was even, thepupil of the eye black, with a tawny surrounding, and the nostrils weretwo in number, and open.

He criticises Ammianus Marcellinus for his disbelief in winged dragons,and states in further justification of his censure that he had heard, frommen worthy of confidence, that in that portion of Pistorian territorycalled Cotone, a great dragon was seen whose wings were interwoven withsinews a cubit in length, and were of considerable width; this beast alsopossessed two short feet provided with claws like those of an eagle. Thewhole animal was covered with scales. The gaping mouth was furnished withbig teeth, it had ears, and was as big as a hairy bear. Aldrovandussustains his argument by quotations from the classics and reference tomore recent authors. He quotes Isidorus as stating that the winged Arabianserpents were called Sirens, while their venom was so effective that theirbite was attended by death rather than pain; this confirms the account ofSolinus.

He instances Gesner as saying that, in 1543, he understood that a kind ofdragon appeared near Styria, within the confines of Germany, which hadfeet like lizards, and wings after the fashion of a bat, with an incurablebite, and says these statements are confirmed by Froschonerus in his workon Styria (idque Froschonerus ex Bibliophila Stirio narrabat). Heclasses dragons (which he considers as essentially winged animals) eitheras footless or possessing two or four feet.

[Pg 204]He refers to a description by Scaliger[217] of a species of serpent fourfeet long, and as thick as a man’s arm, with cartilaginous wings pendentfrom the sides. He also mentions an account by Brodeus, of a winged dragonwhich was brought to Francis, the invincible King of the Gauls, by acountryman who had killed it with a mattock near Sanctones, and which wasstated to have been seen by many men of approved reputation, who thoughtit had migrated from transmarine regions by the assistance of the wind.

Cardan[218] states that whilst he resided in Paris he saw five wingeddragons in the William Museum; these were biped, and possessed of wings soslender that it was hardly possible that they could fly with them. Cardandoubted their having been fabricated, since they had been sent in vesselsat different times, and yet all presented the same remarkable form.Bellonius states that he had seen whole carcases of winged dragons,carefully prepared, which he considered to be of the same kind as thosewhich fly out of Arabia into Egypt; they were thick about the belly, hadtwo feet, and two wings, whole like those of a bat, and a snake’s tail.

It would be useless to multiply examples of the stories, no doubt fables,current in mediæval times, and I shall therefore only add here two ofthose which, though little known, are probably fair samples of the whole.It is amusing to find the story of Sindbad’s escape from the Valley ofDiamonds reappearing in Europe during the Middle Ages, with a substitutionof the dragon for the roc. Athanasius Kircher, in theMundusSubterraneus, gives the story of a Lucerne man who, in wandering overMount Pilate, tumbled into a cavern from which there was no exit, and, insearching round, discovered the lair of two dragons, who proved[Pg 205]moretender than their reputation. Unharmed by them he remained for the sixwinter months, without any other sustenance than that which he derivedfrom licking the moisture off the rock, in which he followed theirexample. Noticing the dragons preparing for flying out on the approach ofspring, by stretching and unfolding their wings, he attached himself byhis girdle to the tail of one of them, and so was restored to the upperworld, where, unfortunately, the return to the diet to which he had beenso long unaccustomed killed him. In memory, however, of the event, he lefthis goods to the Church, and a monument illustrative of his escape waserected in the Ecclesiastical College of St. Leodegaris at Lucerne.Kircher had himself seen this, and it was accepted as an irrefragableproof of the story.

Fig. 39.—The Dragons of Mount Pilate.
(From the “Mundus Subterraneus” of Athanasius Kircher.)

Another story is an account also given by A. Kircher,[219] of the fightbetween a dragon and a knight named Gozione, in the island of Rhodes, inthe year 1349A.D. This monster is described as of the bulk of a horse orox, with a long neck and serpent’s head—tipped with mule’s ears—themouth widely gaping and furnished with sharp teeth, eyes sparkling asthough they flashed fire, four feet provided with claws like a bear, and atail like a crocodile, the whole body being coated with hard scales. Ithad two wings, blue above, but blood-coloured and yellow underneath; itwas swifter than a horse, progressing partly by flight and partly byrunning. The knight, being solicited by the chief magistrate, retired intothe country, when he constructed an imitation dragon of paper and tow, andpurchased a charger and two courageous English dogs; he ordered slaves tosnap the jaws and twist the tail about by means of cords, while he urgedhis horse and dogs on to the attack. After practising for two months,these latter could scarcely retain their frenzy at the mere sight of theimage. He then proceeded to[Pg 207] Rhodes, and after offering his vows in theChurch of St. Stephen, repaired to the fatal cave, instructing his slavesto witness the combat from a lofty rock, and hasten to him with remedies,if after slaying the dragon he should be overcome by the poisonousexhalations, or to save themselves, in the event of his being slain.Entering the lair he excited the beast with shouts and cries, and thenawaited it outside. The dragon appearing, allured by the expectation of aneasy prey, rushed on him, both running and flying; the knight shatteredhis spear at the first onset on the scaly carcase, and leaping from hishorse continued the contest with sword and shield. The dragon, raisingitself on its hind legs, endeavoured to grasp the knight with his foreones, giving the latter an opportunity of striking him in the softer partsof the neck. At last both fell together, the knight being exhausted by thefatigue of the conflict, or by mephitic exhalations. The slaves, accordingto instruction, rushed forward, dragged off the monster from their master,and fetched water in their caps to restore him; after which he mounted hishorse and returned in triumph to the city, where he was at firstungratefully received, but afterwards rewarded with[Pg 208] the highest ranks ofthe order, and created magistrate of the province.[220]

Kircher had a very pious belief in dragons. He says: “Since monstrousanimals of this kind for the most part select their lairs andbreeding-places in subterraneous caverns, I have considered it proper toinclude them under the head of subterraneous beasts. I am aware that twokinds of this animal have been distinguished by authors, the one with, theother without, wings. No one either can or ought to doubt concerning thelatter kind of creature, unless perchance he dares to contradict the HolyScripture, for it would be an impious thing to say it when Daniel makesmention of the divine worship accorded to the dragon Bel by theBabylonians, and after the mention of the dragon made in other parts ofthe sacred writings.”

Harris, in hisCollection of Voyages,[221] gives a singularresumé. Hesays:—“We have, in an ancient author, a very large and circumstantialaccount of the taking of a dragon on the frontiers of Ethiopia, which wasone and twenty feet in length, and was carried to Ptolemy Philadelphus,who very bountifully rewarded such as ran the hazard of procuring him thisbeast.—Diodorus Siculus, lib. iii.... Yet terrible as these were theyfall abundantly short of monsters of the same species in India, withrespect to which St. Ambrose[222] tells us that there were dragons seen inthe neighbourhood of the Ganges nearly seventy cubits in length. It wasone of this size that Alexander and his army saw in a cave, where it wasfed, either out of reverence or from curiosity, by the inhabitants; andthe first lightning of its[Pg 209] eyes, together with its terrible hissing, madea strong impression on the Macedonians, who, with all their courage, couldnot help being frighted at so horrid a spectacle.[223] The dragon isnothing more than a serpent of enormous size; and they formerlydistinguished three sorts of them in the Indies, viz. such as were foundin the mountains, such as were bred in caves or in the flat country, andsuch as were found in fens and marshes.

“The first is the largest of all, and are covered with scales asresplendent as polished gold.[224] These have a kind of beard hanging fromtheir lower jaw, their eyebrows large, and very exactly arched; theiraspect the most frightful that can be imagined, and their cry loud andshrill;[225] their crests of a bright yellow, and a protuberance on theirheads of the colour of a burning coal.

“Those of the flat country differ from the former in nothing but in havingtheir scales of a silver colour,[226] and in their frequenting rivers, towhich the former never come.

“Those that live in marshes and fens are of a dark colour, approaching toa black, move slowly, have no crest, or any rising upon their heads.[227]Strabo says that the painting them with wings is the effect of fancy, anddirectly contrary to truth, but other naturalists and travellers bothancient and modern affirm that there are some of these specieswinged.[228][Pg 210] Pliny says their bite is not venomous, other authors denythis. Pliny gives a long catalogue of medical and magical properties,which he ascribes to the skin, flesh, bones, eyes, and teeth of thedragon, also a valuable stone in its head. ‘They hung before the mouth ofthe dragon den a piece of stuff flowered with gold, which attracted theeyes of the beast, till by the sound of soft music they lulled him tosleep, and then cut off his head.’”

I do not find Harris’s statement in Diodorus Siculus, the author quoted,but there is the very circumstantial description of a serpent thirtycubits (say forty-five feet) in length, which was captured alive bystratagem, the first attempt by force having resulted in the death ofseveral of the party. This was conveyed to Ptolemy II. at Alexandria,where it was placed in a den or chamber suitable for exhibition, andbecame an object of general admiration. Diodorus says: “When, therefore,so enormous a serpent was open for all to see, credence could no longer berefused the Ethiopians, or their statements be received as fables; forthey say that they have seen in their country serpents so vast that theycan not only swallow cattle and other beasts of the same size, but thatthey also fight with the elephant, embracing his limbs so tightly in thefold of their coils that he is unable to move, and, raising their neck upunderneath his trunk, direct their head against the elephant’s eyes;having destroyed his sight by fiery rays like lightning, they dash him tothe ground, and, having done so, tear him to pieces.”

In an account of the castle of Fahender, formerly one of the mostconsiderable castles ofFars, it is stated—“Such is the historicalfoundation of an opinion generally prevalent, that the subterraneanrecesses of this deserted edifice are still replete with riches. Thetalisman has not been forgotten; and tradition adds another guardian tothe previous deposit, a dragon or winged serpent; this sits for everbrooding over the treasure which it cannot enjoy.”

[Pg 211]I shall examine, on a future occasion, how far those figures correspond tothe Persian ideas of dragons and serpents, theazhdaha (اژدها =dragon) andmár (مار = snake), which, as various poets relate, areconstant guardians of every subterraneousganj (گنج = treasure).

Themár at least may be supposed the same as that serpent which guardsthe golden fruit in the garden of the Hesperides.

CHAPTER VII.

We now approach the consideration of a country in which the belief in theexistence of the dragon is thoroughly woven into the life of the wholenation. Yet at the same time it has developed into such a medley ofmythology and superstition as to materially strengthen our conviction ofthe reality of the basis upon which the belief has been founded, though itinvolves us in a mass of intricate perplexities in connection with thedetermination of its actual period of existence.

There is no country so conservative as China, no nation which can boast ofsuch high antiquity, as a collective people permanently occupying the sameregions, and preserving records of their polity, manners, and surroundingsfrom the earliest date of their occupation of the territory which stillremains the centre of their civilization; and there is none in whichdragon culture has been more persistently maintained down to the presentday.

Its mythologies, histories, religions, popular stories, and proverbs, allteem with references to a mysterious being who has a physical nature andspiritual attributes. Gifted with an accepted form, which he has thesupernatural power of casting off for the assumption of others, he has thepower of influencing the weather, producing droughts or fertilizing[Pg 213] rainsat pleasure, of raising tempests and allaying them. Volumes could becompiled from the scattered legends which everywhere abound relating tothis subject; but as they are, for the most part, like our mediævallegends, echoes of each other, no useful purpose would be served by doingso, and I therefore content myself with drawing, somewhat copiously, fromone or two of the chief sources of information.

As, however, Chinese literature is but little known or valued in England,it is desirable that I should devote some space to the consideration ofthe authority which may be fairly claimed for the several works from whichI shall make quotations, bearing on the Chinese testimony of the pastexistence, and date of existence, of the dragon and other so-calledmythical animals.

Incidental comments on natural history form a usual part of every Chinesegeographical work, but collective descriptions of animals are rare in theliterature of the present, and almost unique in that of the past. We are,therefore, forced to rely on the side-lights occasionally afforded by theolder classics, and on one or two works of more than doubtful authenticitywhich claim, equally with them, to be of high antiquity. The works towhich I propose to refer more immediately are theYih King, theBambooBooks, theShu King, the’Rh Ya, theShan Hai King, thePănTs’ao Kang Muh, and theYuen Kien Léi Han.

As it is well known that all the ancient books, with the exception ofthose on medicine, divination, and husbandry, were ordered to be destroyedin the yearB.C. 212 by the Emperor Tsin Shi Hwang Ti, under thethreatened penalty for non-compliance of branding and labour on the wallsfor four years, and that a persecution of theliterati was commenced byhim in the succeeding year, which resulted in the burying alive in pits offour hundred and sixty of their number, it may be reasonably objected thatthe claims to high antiquity which some of the Chinese classics putforth,[Pg 214] are, to say the least, doubtful, and, in some instances, highlyimprobable.

This question has been well considered by Mr. Legge in his valuabletranslation of the Chinese Classics. He points out that the tyrant diedwithin three years after the burning of the books, and that the Handynasty was founded only eleven years after that date, inB.C. 201,shortly after which attempts were commenced to recover the ancientliterature. He concludes that vigorous efforts to carry out the edictwould not be continued longer than the life of its author—that is, notfor more than three years—and that the materials from which the classics,as they come down to us, were compiled and edited in the two centuriespreceding the Christian era, were genuine remains, going back to a stillmore remote period.

TheYih King is one of those books specially excepted from the generaldestruction of the books. References in it to the dragon are not numerous,and will be found as quotations in the extracts from the largeencyclopædiaYuen Kien Léi Han, given hereafter. This work has hithertobeen very imperfectly understood even by the Chinese themselves, but therecent researches of M. Terrien de la Couperie lead us to suppose that ourtranslations have been imperfect, from the fact that many symbols havedifferent significations in the present day to those which they had invery ancient times, and that a special dictionary of archaic meanings mustbe prepared before an accurate translation can be arrived at, aconsummation which may shortly be expected from his labours. I find in mynotes, taken from the manuscript of a lecture given before the Ningpo BookClub in 1870, by the Rev. J. Butler, of the Presbyterian Mission, that“the way in which the dragon came to represent the Emperor and the Throne[Pg 215]of China[229] is accounted for in theYih King as follows:—The chiefdragon has his abode in the sky, and all clouds and vapours, winds andrains are under his control. He can send rain or withhold it at hispleasure, and hence all vegetable life is dependent on him. So theEmperor, from his exalted throne, watches over the interests of hispeople, and confers on them those temporal and spiritual blessings withoutwhich they would perish.” I abstain from dwelling on this or any otherpassages in theYih King, pending the translation promised by M. De laCouperie, the nature of whose views on it are condensed in the note[230]attached, being extracts from his papers on the subject.

These are annals from which a great part of Chinese chronology is derived.Mr. Legge gives the history of their[Pg 217] discovery, as related in the historyof the Emperor Woo, the first of the sovereigns of Tsin, as follows:

“In the fifth year of his reign, under title of Hëen-ning[231] [=A.D.279], some lawless parties, in the department of Keih, dug open the graveof King Sëang of Wei [diedB.C. 295] and found a number of bamboo tablets,written over, in the small seal character, with more than one hundredthousand words, which were deposited in the imperial library.”

Mr. Legge adds, “The Emperor referred them to the principal scholars inthe service of the Government, to adjust the tables in order, having firsttranscribed them in modern characters. Among them were a copy of theYihKing, in two books, agreeing with that generally received, and a book ofannals, in twelve or thirteen chapters, beginning with the reign ofHwang-te, and coming down to the sixteenth year of the last emperor of theChow dynasty,B.C. 298.”

“The reader will be conscious of a disposition to reject at once theaccount of the discovery of the Bamboo Books. He has read so much of therecovery of portions of the Shoo from the walls of houses that he must betired of this[Pg 218] mode of finding lost treasures, and smiles when he is nowcalled on to believe that an old tomb opened and yielded its literarystores long after the human remains that had been laid in it had mingledwith the dust. From the death of King Sëang toA.D. 279 were 574 years.”

Against this, however, which is not a very weighty objection, if weconsider the length of time that Egyptian papyri have been entombed beforetheir restoration to the light, Mr. Legge ranges preponderating evidencein favour of their authenticity, and concludes that “they had, no doubt,been lying for nearly six centuries in the tomb in which they had beenfirst deposited when they were then brought anew to light.”

The annals consist of two portions, one forming what is undoubtedly theoriginal text, and consisting of short notices of occurrences, such as,“In his fiftieth year, in the autumn, in the seventh month, on the dayKang shin [fifty-seventh of cycle] phœnixes, male and female, arrived,”&c. &c. It also records earthquakes, obituaries, accessions, andremarkable natural phenomena. The other portion is interspersed betweenthese, in the form of rather diffuse, though not very numerous, notes,which by some are supposed to be a portion of the original text, byothers, to have been added by the commentator Shin Yo [A.D. 502-557].

In the latter, frequent references are made to the appearance ofphœnixes (thefung wang),ki-lins (unicorns), and dragons.

In the former we find only incidental references to either of these, suchas, “XIV. The Emperor K‘ung-kea. In his first year (B.C. 1611), when hecame to the throne, he dwelt on the west of the Ho. He displaced the chiefof Ch‘e-wei,[232] and appointed Lew-luy[233] to feed the dragons.”

[Pg 219]According to the latter, Hwang Ti (B.C. 2697) had a dragon-likecountenance; while the mother of Yaou (B.C. 2356) conceived him by adragon. The legend is: “After she was grown up, whenever she looked intoany of the three Ho, there was a dragon following her. One morning thedragon came with a picture and writing. The substance of the writingwas—the Red one has received the favour of Heaven.... The red dragon madeK‘ing-teo pregnant.”

Again, when Yaou had been on the throne seventy years, a dragon-horseappeared bearing a scheme, which he laid on the table and went away.

It is also said of Yu (the first emperor of the Hia dynasty) that when thefortunes of Hia were about to rise, all vegetation was luxuriant, andgreen dragons lay in the borders; and that “on his way to the south, whencrossing the Kiang, in the middle of the stream, two yellow dragons tookthe boat on their backs. The people were all afraid; but Yu laughed, andsaid, ‘I received my appointment from Heaven, and labour with all mystrength to nourish men. To be born is the course of nature; to die is byHeaven’s decree. Why be troubled by the dragons?’ On this the dragonswent away, dragging their tails.”

From these extracts it will be seen that the dragon, although universallybelieved in, was already mythical and legendary, so far as the Chinesewere concerned.

is, according to Dr. Legge, simply a collection of historic memorials,extending over a space of one thousand seven hundred years, but on noconnected method, and with great gaps between them.

[Pg 220]It opens with the reign of Yaou (B.C. 2357), and contains interestingdetails of the polity of those remote ages.

It contains a record of the great inundation occurring during his reign,which Mr. Legge does not identify with the Deluge of Genesis, but whichDr. Gutzlaff and other missionary Sinologues consider to be the same.

It is interesting to find in this work, claiming so high an antiquity,references to an antiquity which had preceded it—a bygone civilization,perhaps—as follows, in the book calledYih and Ts‘ih.[235] The emperor(Shun,B.C. 2255 to 2205) says, “I wish to see the emblematic figures ofthe ancients—the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountain, the dragon, andthe flowery fowl, which are depictedon the upper garment; the templecup, the aquatic grass, the flames, the grains of rice, the hatchet, andthe symbol of distinction, which are embroideredon the lower garment.I wish to see all these displayed with the five colours, so as to formthe official robes; it is yours to adjust them clearly.” Here the dragonis chosen as an emblematic figure, in association with eleven others,which are objects of every-day knowledge, and this, I think, establishes apresumption that it itself was not at that date considered an object ofdoubtful credibility.

Similarly, we find the twelve symbolical animals, representing the twelvebranches of the Horary characters (dating, see Williams’ Dictionary, fromB.C. 2637), to be the rat, the ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse,sheep, monkey, cock, dog, boar, where the dragon is the only one aboutwhose existence a question can be raised.From this latter we learn thatthere was no confusion of meaning then between dragons and serpents; thedistinction of the two creatures was clearly recognized, just as it wasmany centuries afterwards by Mencius (4th centuryB.C.), who, in writingof these early periods, says, “In the time of Yaou, the waters,[Pg 221] flowingout of their channels, inundated the Middle Kingdom. Snakes and dragonsoccupied it, and the people had no place where they could settlethemselves”; and again, “Yu dug open their obstructed channels, andconducted them to the sea. He drove away the snakes and dragons,[236] andforced them into the grassy marshes.”

The’Rh Ya orUrh Ya,[237] also transliteratedEul Ya andŒlYa, a dictionary of terms used in the Chinese classics, but moreespecially of those in theShi King, or “Book of Odes,” a collection ofancient ballads compiled and arranged by Confucius.

There is a tradition that it was commenced by the Duke of Chow 1100B.C.,and completed or enlarged by Tsz Hia, a disciple of Confucius.

Dr. Bretschneider suggests that each heading or phrase in the originalbook merely represents the book names and the popular names of the plantsand animals.

The bulk of the work at present extant consists of the commentary by KwohP‘oh (aboutA.D. 300) and, in some editions, of additional commentaries byother authors.

The illustrations selected from it for the present volume are reduced fromthose in a very fine folio copy, for the loan[Pg 222] of which I am indebted toMr. Thomas Kingsmill, of Shanghai.

These profess to date back so far as the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960 toA.D.1127), and it is interesting to observe that the representations of toolsof husbandry then in use (Fig. 50,p. 232), and of the methods of hawking(Fig. 46,p. 225), fishing (Fig. 47,p. 227), and the like, are such asmight be taken without alteration from those of the present day.

[Pg 223]The drawings made by Kwoh P‘oh appear to have been lost in the sixthcenturyA.D.

Notices of the dragon only appear incidentally in the’Rh Ya as formingpart of the decoration of banners, &c.; but descriptions and figures ofthe Chinese unicorn are given, and of other remarkable animals, of which Ishall eventually take notice.

These figures of dragons in the drawings of banners (Figs. 41-44) areespecially interesting; as there is fair reason to suppose that they atleast have been reproduced[Pg 224] time after time from pre-existing ones withtolerable accuracy; and that they give us a good notion of the generalcharacter of the animal they purport to represent.

I have appended a fewfac-similes of wood engravings from the’Rh Yaon general subjects, in anticipation of others dealing with specialities,which will be found in their appropriate positions; they will serve tocorrect the notion that the Chinese are entirely devoid of artistic powerand imagination (Figs. 46-49).

Short notices of this remarkable work are given by Mr. AlexanderWylie[238] and Dr. Bretschneider,[239] and a more exhaustive one by M.Bazin.[240]

Fig. 45.—One of the Eave Tiles from the Old ImperialPalace of Nankin,
showing the Five-clawed or Imperial Dragon, an emblemwhich cannot be borne by
any outside of the Imperial service, under thepenalty of death. Commoners have to
be satisfied with a four-clawed dragon.

[Pg 226]It is also largely quoted by Williams in his valuable Chinese dictionary.Otherwise Sinologues appear to have entirely ignored it.

Mr. Wylie remarks that “it has long been looked upon with distrust; butsome scholars of great ability have recently investigated its contents,and come to the conclusion that it is at least as old as the Chow dynasty,and probably of a date even anterior to that period.”

M. Bazin speaks of it as a fabulous description of the world, andattributes it to Taouist writers in the fourth century of our era, whoforged the authority of the great Yü and Peh Yi. He thinks it would beuseless to attempt the identification of the localities given in it, andoffers a translation of a portion of the first chapter in support of hisviews.

The value of his translation is impaired by his making no distinctionbetween the text and the commentary, and he appears to have possessed aninferior and incomplete version.

In an editorial article in theNorth China Herald of May 9, 1884(presumably by Mr. Balfour, an excellent Sinologue), it is referred to thedate of Ch’in Shih Huang, who connected the Heptarchy into a singlekingdom, and conquered Cochin China aboutB.C. 222.

Kwoh Po‘h[241] (A.D. 276-324), who prepared an edition which has descendedto us, ascribes a date to it 3,000 years anterior to his time.

Liu Hsiu,[241] of the Han dynasty (B.C. 206 toA.D. 25), states that theEmperor Yü, the founder of the Hia dynasty (B.C. 2205), employed Yih andPeh Yi as geographers and natural historians, who produced the “Book ofWonders by Land and Sea.” While Yang Sun,[241] of the Ming dynasty(commencingA.D. 1368), states in his after-preface that the Emperor Yühad nine metal vases cast, on which all wonderful or rare animals wereengraved, the commoner ones being recorded in the annals of Yü; and thatK‘ung Kiah (of the Hia dynasty,B.C. 1879), included this variedinformation in the present work.

[Pg 229]It is to be hoped that at no distant date some competent Sinologue will beinduced to furnish a full translation of this remarkable work, with anadequate commentary.

There is no doubt that many would be deterred from doing so by animpression that a collection of fabulous stories, treating of supernaturalbeings and apparently impossible monsters, is unworthy the considerationof mature intellect, and only fit to be relegated to the domain of Jackthe Giant Killer and other childish stories. After a close examination ofthe book, I apprehend that this view of it can hardly be maintained. Thatsuch stories or descriptions are interspersed throughout the work is notto be disputed; but a large proportion of it consists of apparentlyauthentic geographical records, including, as is customary with all worksof a similar nature in China, descriptions of the most remarkable objectsof natural history occurring in the different regions. I think it will befound possible to identify many of these at the present day, some may beconjectured at, and the residue are not more numerous in proportion thanthe similar fables or perverted accounts which figure in the westernclassic volumes of Ctesias, Aristotle, Pliny, and even much later writers.So far as the supernatural portions are concerned, it must be rememberedthat, even so late as the days of the childhood of Sir Humphrey Davy,pixies were still supposed by the lower classes to trace the fairy ringsin Cornwall; that quite lately, and perhaps among certain classes to thepresent day, the existence of the banshee in Ireland, of the kelpie inScotland, and of persons gifted with the mysterious and awe-inspiringpower of second sight,[Pg 230]was religiously believed in. There are fewimportant houses in England whose ancestral walls have not concealed anapparition connected with the destinies of the family, appearing only onfatal or eventful occasions; and in the days of the sapient James I. inEngland, and among the Pilgrim Fathers in the American States, theexistence of wizards and witches was universally accepted as an undeniablefact, proved by hundreds of instances of extorted or voluntary confession,and supplemented by the concurrent testimony of a still greater number ofwitnesses who genuinely believed themselves to have been the spectators orvictims of the supernatural powers of the accused.

An historian of these later times might well have described such things asrealities, and we should not be disposed, on account of his having doneso, to question the validity of his description of other objects orcreatures existing at the period, presuming them to be more consistentwith our present notions of possibility.

No one, now-a-days, would discredit the veracity of Marco Polo because hespeaks of enormous serpents in Carajan, possessing two feet, each armedwith a single claw. That there was a solid foundation for his story isadmitted, and commentators are only at variance as to whether the basiswas a large species of python, such as still exists in Southern China, ora gigantic alligator, of which he might have seen a mutilated specimen.

It must also be borne in mind that the existence of some gigantic saurian,now extinct, possessing two limbs only, in place of four, is not animpossibility; as the small lizard, Chirotes, is in that condition, andalso the North American genusSiren, belonging to the Newts.

I notice that Retzoch, in his designs to illustrate Schiller’s poem, “TheFight with the Dragon,” makes the monster have only two fore-legs, andthis appears to have been a common mediæval conception of it. Aldrovandusand Gesner[Pg 233]both give figures of biped dragons. There is also a curiousdrawing in theGentleman’s Magazine for 1749—which is transferred intothe pages of theEncyclopædia of Philadelphia, apparently a piracy of anEnglish Cyclopædia, of what is styled a sea-dragon, four feet long, whichstands bolt upright on two legs, and, like Barnum’s mermaid, was probablya triumph of art.

Aldrovandus was probably imposed on by some waggish friend, in referenceto the biped dragon without wings, two cubits long, which was said to havebeen killed by a countryman near Bonn in 1572A.D., and which he firstfigured and then placed in his museum; and he evidently fully believed inthe Ethiopian winged biped dragon, of which he gives two figures, butwithout quoting his authority.

Gesner gives a similar figure, after Belon, of the winged dragon of MountSinai; but Athanasius Kircher is more liberal, and gives his dragon notonly wings but four legs.

In poetry we find Ashtaroth described as appearing to Faust in the form ofa serpent with two little feet.

As to the mysterious powers imputed throughout theShan Hai King todifferent creatures, of controlling drought, rain, and fire, or acting,when partaken of, as remedies for sundry ills and ailments, it may beasked whether we ourselves are free from analogous superstitious beliefs?Will a sailor view without uneasiness the destruction of a Mother Carey’schicken, or a Dutchman, of a stork? Or is the Chinese pharmacopœia ofthe present day much more trustworthy as to many of its items?

As to the human-visaged creatures, both snakes and four-footed beasts, maywe not perhaps put them on a par with other fancied resemblances, whichhold to the present day, of (for example) the hippopotamus, to ariver-horse, of the pipe-fish, known as the hippocampus, to a sea-horse;of the manatee to a merman, and the like?

And, lastly, are the composite creatures, partly bird and partlyreptilian, occasionally referred to, so entirely incredible? Is it notbarely possible that some of those intervening types which we know fromthe teaching of Darwin, must have existed; which we know, from theresearches of palæontology have existed; types intermediate to theStruthionidæ, the most reptilian of birds, and theChlamydæ, the mostavian of reptiles—is it not possible that some of these may havecontinued their existence down to a late date, and[Pg 235] that the tradition ofthese existing as the descendants or the analogues of the Archæopteryx,and the toothed birds of America, may be embalmed in the pages inquestion? Is it impossible? Do not the Trigonias, the Terebratulas, theMarsupials, and, in part, the vegetation of Australia, form the sparesurviving descendants of the forms which characterised the oolitic periodon our own shores? Why, then, may not a few cretaceous and early tertiaryforms have struggled on, through a happy combination of circumstances, toan aged and late existence in other lands.

After long, repeated, and careful examination of theShan Hai King, Iarrive at a very different conclusion from M. Bazin. I hold it to be anauthentic and precious memorial which has been handed down to us fromremote antiquity, the value of which has been unrecognised owing to thebook being unfortunately a fusion of two and perhaps three distinct works.

[Pg 236]The oldest was theShan King, and consists of five volumes, devotedrespectively to the northern, southern, eastern, western, and centralmountain ranges. This is devoid of all reference to persons and habitedplaces. It is simply an abstract of the results of a topographical surveywhich may not impossibly have been, as it claims, the one conducted by Yü.

It contains lists of mountains and rivers, with valuable notes on theirmineral productions, fauna and flora. It also gives lists of thedivinities controlling or belonging to each mountain range, and thesacrifices suitable to them. There are few extravagances in this portionof the work.

The remainder is devoted to a history of the regions without and withinthe fourhai or seas bounding the empire, and those constituting what iscalled the Great Desert. Here extravagant stories, myths, accounts ofwonderful people, references to states, cities, and tribes are mingledwith geographical notices which, from their repetition, show that thisportion is itself resolvable into two distinct works of more modern date,whose origin was probably posterior to the wave of Taouist superstitionwhich swept over China in the first six centuries of our era. I must addthat the term, “within the four seas” does not imply the arrogant belief,as is generally supposed, that this Empire extended to the ocean on everyside, the archaic meaning being the very different one of frontier orboundary region; while the word “desert” has a similar signification.

In that more credible portion of the work which I believe to have been theoriginalShan King, references to dragons are infrequent. In someinstances thekiao (which I interpret as the gavial) is specificallyreferred to; in others the wordlung is used; thus, it speaks of dragonsand turtles abounding in the Ti River, flowing from one of the northernmountains east of the Ho. From the context, however, an aquatic creature,and probably an alligator, is indicated.[Pg 237]From the entire text I gatherthat the true terrestrial dragon was not an inmate of China, at all eventsafter the period of Yü. I further infer that it was a feared and muchrespected denizen of the more or less arid highlands, whence the earlyChinese either migrated or were driven, and from which point the dragontraditions flowed pretty evenly east and west, beat against the Himalayanchain on the south, and only penetrated India in a later and modifiedform.

Fig. 55.—Flying Snakes from the Sien
Mountains (Central Mountains).
(Shan Hai King.)

There is a short reference to the Ying Lung or winged dragon; it is asfollows:—

“In the north-east corner of the Great Desert are mountains calledHiung-li and T’u K’iu. The Ying Lung lives at the south extremity.

“When there is a drought, the form of the Ying dragon is made, and thenthere is much rain.

The better printed copies of this work are illustrated with a verytruculent-looking dragon with outspread wings. A stone delineation of adragon with wings forms the ornamentation of the bridge at Nincheang Foo.In the interior of China, it was observed by Mr. Cooper, and is given inhisTravels of a Pioneer of Commerce. These are the only cases in Chinain which I have come across illustrations of dragons with genuine wings.As a rule, the dragon appears to be represented as having the power oftranslating itself without mechanical agency, sailing among the clouds, orrising from the sea at pleasure.

Fig. 56.—Ping I (Icy Exterminator), A River Divinity (?).
From within the Sea and North. (Shan Hai King.)

Fig. 57.—The Emperor K’i, of the Hia Dynasty.
From withoutthe Sea and West. (Shan Hai King.)

[Pg 241]TheShan Hai King contains valuable notices of winged snakes andgigantic serpents, as, for example, the so-called singing snakes. Speakingof the Sien mountain (one of the Central Mountains), it says: “Gold andjade abound. It is barren. The Sien river issues and flows north into theI river. On it are many singing snakes. They look like snakes, but havefour wings. Their voice is like the beating of stones. When they appearthere will be great drought in the city.”

The Pa snake, already spoken of, is described as capable of gorging anelephant. The Ta Hien mountains were reputed uninhabitable on account ofthe presence of gigantic serpents (pythons?), which were said to have beenof the colour of mugwort, to have possessed hairs like pig’s bristlesprojecting between the lines of their riband-like markings. Rumour hadmagnified their length to one hundred fathoms, and they made a noise likethe beating of a drum or the striking of a watchman’s wooden clapper. TheSiong Jan mountains were infested by serpents, also gigantic, but of adifferent species.

The annexed wood-cuts (Figs. 56, 57) of Ping I (Icy exterminator), and theEmperor K’i (B.C. 2197), each in cars, driving two dragons, areinteresting in connection[Pg 242] with the later fable of Medea and Triptolemus.The two stories were probably derived from a common source; the Chineseversion, however, being much the older of the two.

The text as to K’i is:—“K’i of the Hia dynasty danced with Kiutai at theTayoh common. He drove two dragons. The clouds overhung in three layers.In his left hand he grasped a screen; in his right hand he held earornaments; at his girdle dangled jade crescents. It is north of Tayunmount; one author calls it Tai common.” The commentator says Kiutai is thename of a horse, and “dance” means to dance in a circle. [Probably this isthe earliest reference extant to a circus performance.]

Ping I is supposed to dwell in Tsung Ki pool near the fairy region ofKwa-Sun, to have a human face, and to drive two dragons.

Cursorily examined, theShan Hai King is a farrago of falsehood; readwith intelligence, it is a mine of historical wealth.

Descending to late times, we have the great Chinese Materia Medica, infifty-two volumes, entitledPăn Tsao Kang[Pg 243] Mu, made up of extractsfrom upwards of eight hundred preceding authors, and including threevolumes of illustrations by Li Shechin, of the Ming dynasty (probably bornearly in the sixteenth centuryA.D.). It was first printed in theWăn-leih period (1573 to 1620). I give its article upon the dragoninextenso.

“According to the dictionary of Hü Shăn, the character lung in theantique form of writing represents the shape of the animal. According totheShang Siao Lun, the dragon is deaf, hence its name oflung (deaf).In Western books the dragon is callednake (naga). Shi-Chăn says thatin the’Rh Ya Yih of Lo-Yuen the dragon is described as the largest ofscaled animals (literally, insects). Wang Fu says that the dragon has nine(characteristics) resemblances. Its head is like a camel’s, its horns likea deer’s, its eyes like a hare’s,[243] its ears like a bull’s, its necklike a snake’s, its belly like an iguanodon’s (?), its scales like acarp’s, its claws like an eagle’s, and its paws like a tiger’s. Its scalesnumber eighty-one, being nine by nine, the extreme (odd or) lucky number.Its voice resembles the beating of a gong. On each side of its mouth arewhiskers, under its chin is a bright pearl, under its throat the scalesare reversed, on the top of its head is thepoh shan, which others callthe wooden foot-rule. A dragon without a foot-rule cannot ascend theskies. When its breath escapes it forms clouds, sometimes changing intorain, at other times into fire. Luh Tien in theP’i Ya remarks, whendragon-breath meets with damp it becomes bright, when it gets wet it goeson fire. It is extinguished by ordinary fire.

“The dragon comes from an egg, it being desirable to keep it folded up.When the male calls out there is a breeze above, when the female calls outthere is a breeze below, in[Pg 244] consequence of which there is conception. TheShih Tien states, when the dragons come together they are changed intotwo small serpents. In theSiao Shwoh it is said that the disposition ofthe dragon is very fierce, and it is fond of beautiful gems and jade (?).It is extremely fond of swallow’s flesh; it dreads iron, themong plant,the centipede, the leaves of the Pride of India, and silk dyed ofdifferent (five) colours. A man, therefore, who eats swallow’s fleshshould fear to cross the water. When rain is wanted a swallow should beoffered (used); when floods are to be restrained, then iron; to stir upthe dragon, themong plant should be employed; to sacrifice toKühYuen, the leaves of the Pride of India bound with coloured silk should beused (see Mayers, p. 107, § 326) and thrown into the river. Physicians whouse dragons’ bones ought to know the likes and dislikes of dragons asgiven above.”

“Dragons’ Bones.[244]—In thePieh luh it is said that these are foundin the watercourses in Tsin (Southern Shansi) and in the earth-holes whichexist along the banks of the streams running in the caves of the T’ai Shan(Great Hill), Shantung. For seeking dead dragons’ graves there is no fixedtime. Hung King says that now they are largely found in Leung-yih (inShansi?) and Pa-chung (in Szchuen). Of all the bones, dragon’s spine isthe best; the brains make the white earthstriæ, which when applied tothe tongue is of great virtue. The small teeth are hard, and of the usualappearance of teeth. The horns are hard and solid. All the dragons castoff their bodies without really dying. Han says the dragon-bones fromYea-cheu, Ts‘ang-cheu[Pg 245] and T’ai-yuen (all in Shansi) are the best. Thesmaller bones marked with wider lines are the female dragon’s; the rougherbones with narrower lines are those of the male dragon; those which aremarked with variegated colours are esteemed the best. Those that areeither yellow or white are of medium value; the black are inferior. If anyof the bones are impure, or are gathered by women, they should not beused.

“P’u says dragons’ bones of a light white colour possess great virtue.Kung says the bones found in Tsin (South Shansi) that are hard are notgood; the variegated ones possess virtue. The light, the yellow, theflesh-coloured, the white, and the black, are efficacious in curingdiseases in the internal organs having their respective colours, just asthe five varieties of thechi[245] plant, the five kinds of limestone,and the five kinds of mineral oil (literally, fat), which remain still fordiscussion in this work.

“Su-chung states: ‘In the prefecture of Cheu kiün, to the “East of theRiver” (Shansi), dragons’ bones are still found in large quantities.’

“Li-chao, in theKwoh-shi-pu, says: ‘In the spring floods the fish leapinto the Dragon’s Gate, and the number of cast-off bones there is verynumerous. These men seek for medicinal purposes. They are of the fivecolours. This Dragon’s Gate is in Tsin (Shansi), where this work(Kwoh-shi-pu) is published. Are not, then, these so-called dragons’bones the bones of fish?’

“Again, quoting from Sun Kwang-hien in thePoh-mung Legends: ‘In thetime of the five dynasties there was a contest between two dragons; whenone was slain, a village hero, Kw’an, got both its horns. In the front ofthe horns was an object of a bluish colour, marked with confused lines,[Pg 246]which no one knew anything about, as the dragon was completely dead.’

“Tsung Shih says: ‘All statements [concerning dragons’ bones] disagree;they are merely speculations, for when a mountain cavern has disclosed toview a skeleton head, horns and all, who is to know whether they areexuviæ or that the dragon has been killed? Those who say they areexuviæ, or that the dragon is dead, then have the form of the animal,but have never seen it alive. Now, how can one see the thing (as it reallyis) when it is dead? Some also say that it is a transformation, but how isit only in its appearance that it cannot be transformed?’

“Ki, in the present work, says that they are really dead dragons’ bones;for one to say that they areexuviæ is a mere speculation.

“Shi Chăn says: ‘The present work considers that these are really deaddragons’ bones, but To Shi thinks they areexuviæ. Su and Kan doubt boththese statements. They submit that dragons are divine beings, and resemblethe principle of immortality (never-in-themselves-dying principle); butthere is the statement of the dragon fighting and getting killed; andfurther, in theTso-chw‘en, in which it is stated that there was acertain rearer of dragons who pickled dragons for food [for the imperialtable?].’

“TheI-ki says: ‘In the time of the Emperor Hwo, of the Han dynasty,during a heavy shower a dragon fell in the palace grounds, which theEmperor ordered to be made into soup and given to his Ministers.’

“ThePoh-wuh-chi states that a certain Chang Hwa ‘got dragon’s flesh todry, for it is said that when seasoning was applied the five coloursappeared, &c. These facts prove that the dragon does die, an opinion whichis considered correct by [the writers of] the present work.’”

This is an encyclopædia in four hundred and fifty books or volumes,completed in 1710. More than eighty pages are devoted to the dragon.These, with all similar publications in China, consist entirely ofextracts from old works, many of which have perished, and of whichfragments alone remain preserved as above.

I have had the whole of this carefully translated, but think itunnecessary to trouble the reader, in the present volume, with more thanthe first chapter, which I give in the Appendix. There is also adescription of the Kiao, of which I give extracts in the Appendix,together with others relating to the same creature, and to the T‘o lung,from thePăn Tsao Kang Mu.

CHAPTER VIII.

There is but little additional information as to the dragon to be gainedfrom Japan, the traditions relating to it in that country having beenobviously derived from China. In functions and qualities it is alwaysrepresented as identical with the Chinese dragon. In Japan, however, it isinvariably figured as possessing three claws, whereas in China it has fouror five, according as it is an ordinary or an imperial emblem. Thepeasantry are still influenced by a belief in its supernatural powers, orin those of some large or multiple-headed snake, supposed to be atransformation of it, and to be the tenant of deep lakes or of springsissuing from mountains.

I give, as examples of dragon stories, two selected from the narratives ofmythical history,[246] and one extracted from a native journal of theday.

[Pg 249]The first states that “Hi-koho-ho-da-mi no mikoto (a god) went outhunting, and his eldest brother Hono-sa-su-ri no mikoto went out fishing.They were very successful, and proposed to one another to changeoccupations. They did so.

“Hono-sa-su-ri no mikoto went out to the mountain hunting, but gotnothing, therefore he gave back his bow and arrow; but Hi-ko-hoho-da-mi nomikoto lost his hook in the sea; he therefore tried to return a new one,but his brother would not receive it, and wanted the old one; and themikoto was greatly grieved, and, wandering on the shore, met with an oldman called Si-wo-tsu-chino-gi, and told him what had happened.

“The latter made a cage called mé-na-shi-kogo, enclosed him in it, andsank it to the bottom of the sea. The mikoto proceeded to the temple ofthe sea-god, who gave him a girl, Toyotama, in marriage. He remained therethree years, and recovered the hook which he had lost, as well asreceiving two pieces of precious jade called ‘ebb’ and ‘flood.’ He thenreturned. After some years he died. His son,Hi-ko-na-gi-sa-ta-k‘e-ouga-ya-fu-ki-ayā-dzu no mikoto, succeeded to thecrown.

“When his father first proposed to return, his wife told him that she wasenciente, and that she would come out to the shore during the roughweather and heavy sea, saying, ‘I hope you will wait until you havecompleted a house for my confinement.’ After some time Toyotama came thereand begged him never to come to her bed when she was sleeping. He,however, crept up and peeped at her. He saw a dragon holding a child inthe midst of its coils. It suddenly jumped up and darted into the sea.”

[Pg 251]The second legend is: “When the So-sa-no-o no mikoto went to the sourcesof the river Hi-no-ka-mi at Idzumo, he heard lamentations from a house; hetherefore approached it and inquired the cause. He saw an old man andwoman clasping a young girl. They told him that in that country there wasa very large serpent, which had eight[247] heads and eight tails, and cameannually and swallowed one person. ‘We had eight children, and we havealready lost seven, and now have only one left, who will be swallowed;hence our grief.’ The mikoto said, ‘If you will give that girl to me, Iwill save her.’ The old man and woman were rejoiced. The mikoto changedhis form, and assumed that of the young girl. He divided the room intoeight partitions, and in each placed one saki tub and waited its approach.The serpent arrived, drank the saki, got intoxicated, and fell asleep.

“Then the mikoto drew his sword and cut the serpent into small pieces.When he was cutting the tail his sword was a little broken; therefore hesplit open the tail to find the reason, and found in it a valuable sword,and offered it to the god O-mi-ka-mi, at Taka-maga-hara.

“He called the sword Ama no mourakoumo no tsurogi,[248] because there wasa cloud up in the heaven where the serpent lies. Finally he married thegirl, and built a house at Suga in Idzumo.”

“There is a very large pond at the eastern part ofFu-si-mī-shi-ro-yama, at Yama-shiro (near Kioto); it is called[Pg 252]Ukisima. In the fine weather little waves rise up on account of its size.There are many turtles in it. In the summertime many boys go to the pondto swim, but never go out into the middle or far from the shore. No one isaware how deep the centre of the pond is, and it is said that a whitedragon lives in that pond, and can transform itself into a bird, which thepeople of the district call O-gon-cho,i.e. golden bird, because, when itbecomes a bird, it has a yellow plumage. The bird flies once in fiftyyears, and its voice is like the howling of a wolf. In that year there isfamine and pestilence, and many people die. Just one hundred years ago,when this bird flew and uttered its cry, there was a famine and droughtand disease, and many people died. Again, at Tempo-go-nen (i.e. in thefifth year of Tempo), fifty years back from the present time, the birdflew as before, and there was once again disease and famine. Hence thepeople in that district were much alarmed, as it is now just fifty yearsagain. They hoped, however, that the bird would not fly and cry. But at 2A.M. of the 19th April it is said that it was seen to do so. The people,therefore, were surprised, and now are worshipping God in order to avertthe famine and disease. The old farmers say, in the fine weather the whitedragon may occasionally be seen floating on the water, but that if it seespeople it sinks down beneath the surface.”[249]

As a pendant to this I now quote a memorial from thePekin Gazette ofApril 3rd, 1884, of which a translation is given in theNorth ChinaHerald for May 16th, 1884.

“A Postscript Memorial of P‘an Yü requests that an additional title ofrank, and a tablet written by His Majesty’s[Pg 253] own hand, may be conferred ona dragon spirit, who has manifested himself and answered the prayers madeto him.

“In the Ang-shan mountains, a hundredli from the town of Kuei-hai,there are three wells, of which one is on the mountain top, in a spotseldom visited. It has long been handed down that a dragon inhabits thiswell. If pieces of metal are thrown into the well they float, but lightthings, as silk or paper, will sink. If the offerings are accepted, fruitscome floating up in exchange. Anything not perfectly pure and clean isrejected and sent whirling up again. The spirit dwells in the blackestdepths of the water, in form like a strange fish, with golden scales andfour paws, red eyes and long body. He ordinarily remains deep in the waterwithout stirring. But in times of great drought, if the local authoritiespurify themselves, and sincerely worship him, he rises to the top. He isthen solemnly conveyed to the city, and prayers for rain are offered tohim, which are immediately answered. His temple is in the district city,on the To‘ang-hai Ling. The provincial and local histories record thattablets to him have been erected from the times of the Mongol and the Mingdynasties. During the present dynasty, on several occasions, as, forinstance, in the years 1845 and 1863, he has been carried into the city,and rain has fallen immediately. Last year a dreadful drought occurred, inwhich the ponds and tanks dried up, to the great terror of the people. Onthe 15th day of the eighth month, the magistrate conducted the spirit intothe city, and, with the assembled multitude, prayed to him fervently;thereupon a gentle rain, falling throughout the country, brought plenty inthe place of scarcity, and gladdened the hearts of all. At about the sametime, the people of a district in the vicinity, called Chin-yü, also hadrecourse to the spirit, with equally favourable results. These arewell-known events, which have happened quite recently.

[Pg 254]“It is the desire of the people of the district that some mark ofdistinction should be conferred on the spirit; and the memorialist findssuch a proceeding to be sanctioned both by law and precedent; he thereforehumbly lays the wishes of the people before His Majesty, who, perhaps,will be pleased to confer a title and an autograph tablet as abovesuggested. The Rescript has already been recorded.

The idea of the transformation of a sea-monster or dragon into a bird iscommon both to China and Japan; for instance, inThe Works of ChuangTsze, ch. i. p. 1, by F. H. Balfour, F.R.G.S., we read that—

“In the Northern Sea there was a fish, whose name waskw‘ên. It is notknown how many thousandli this fish was in length. It was afterwardstransformed into a bird calledp‘êng, the size of whose back isuncertain by some thousands ofli. Suddenly it would dart upwards withrapid flight, its[Pg 255] wings overspreading the sky like clouds. When thewaters were agitated [in the sixth moon] the bird moved its abode to theSouthern Sea, the Pool of Heaven. In the book calledTs‘i Hieh, whichtreats of strange and marvellous things, it is said that when thep‘êngflew south, it first rushed over three thousandli of water, and thenmounted to the height of ninety thousandli, riding upon the wind thatblows in the sixth moon. The wild horses,i.e. the clouds and dust ofheaven, were driven along by the zephyrs. The colour of the sky was blue;yet, is that the real colour of the sky, or only the appearance producedby infinite, illimitable depths? For the bird, as it looked downwards, theview was just the same as it is to us when we look upwards.”

On the screens decorating the Chi-on-in monastery in Kioto, are depictedseveral composite creatures, half-dragon, half-bird, which appear torepresent the Japanese rendering of the Chinese Ying Lung or wingeddragon. They have dragons’ heads, plumose wings, and birds’ claws, andhave been variously designated to me by Japanese as theHai Riyo (Fig.62), theTobi Tatsu, and theSchachi Hoko.

The numerous quotations given in the above pages, or in the Appendix, aremerely a selection, and by no means profess to be so extensive as theyshould be were this work a monograph on the dragon alone. Having a specialobject in view, I have forborne to diverge into those interestingspeculations which relate to its religious significance; these I leave tothose who deal specially with this portion of its history. I thereforepass over the many traditions and legends regarding it contained in thepages of theMemoirs of Hiouen-Thsang,[250] ofFoĕ Kouĕ Ki,[251]and similar narratives, and[Pg 257] omit quoting folk-lore from the pages ofDennys, Eitel, and others who have written on the subject.

For my purpose it would be profitless to collate legends such as thatgiven in the Apocrypha, in the story of Bel and the Dragon, andreappearing in the pages of El Edrisi as an Arab legend, with Alexanderthe Great as the hero, and the Canaries as the scene, or to dwell on theCorean and Japanese versions of dragon stories, which are merely borrowed,and corrupted in borrowing, from the Chinese. Nor shall I do more thanallude to the fact that dragons are represented in the Brahminical cavesat Ellora, and among the sculptures of Ancoar Wat in Cambodia.

The rude diagrams, Figs. 64, 65, 66, are facsimiles from a manuscript offolio size in the possession of J. Haas, Esq., Imperial Austro-HungarianVice-Consul for Shanghai, which he kindly placed at my disposal. Thisunique volume is at present, unfortunately, unintelligible. It comes fromthe western confines of China, and is believed to be an example of thewritten Lolo language, that is, of[Pg 258] the language of the aboriginal tribesof China. They suffice to show that the same respect for the dragon isshown among these people as in China; but no opinion can be offered as towhether this belief and respect is original or imported, until theirliterature has been examined.

I regret that I am unable to give in this volume, as I had wished, anaccount of the Persian dragon, which, I am informed, is contained in arare Persian work.

In conclusion, I must hope that the reader who has had the patience towade through the medley of extracts which I have selected, and to analysethe suggestive reasoning of the introductory chapters, will agree with methat there is nothing impossible in the ordinary notion of the traditionaldragon; that such being the case, it is more likely to have once had areal existence than to be a mere offspring of fancy; and that from theaccident of direct transmission of delineations of it on robes andstandards, we have probably[Pg 259] a not very incorrect notion of it in thedepicted dragon of the Chinese.

We may infer that it was a long terrestrial lizard, hibernating, andcarnivorous, with the power of constricting with its snake-like body andtail; possibly furnished with wing-like expansions of its integument,after the fashion ofDraco volans, and capable of occasional progress onits hind legs alone, when excited in attack. It appears to have beenprotected by armour and projecting spikes, like those found inMolochhorridus andMegalania prisca, and was possibly more nearly allied tothis last form than to any other which has yet come to our knowledge.Probably it preferred sandy, open country to forest land, its habitat wasthe highlands of Central Asia, and the time of its disappearance aboutthat of the Biblical Deluge discussed in a previous chapter.

Although terrestrial, it probably, in common with most reptiles, enjoyedfrequent bathing, and when not so engaged, or basking in the sun, secludeditself under some overhanging bank or cavern.

The idea of its fondness for swallows, and power of attracting them,mentioned in some traditions, may not impossibly have been derived fromthese birds hawking round and through its open jaws in the pursuit of theflies attracted by the viscid humours of its mouth. We know that at thepresent day a bird, the trochilus of the ancients, freely enters the openmouth of the crocodile, and rids it of the parasites affecting its teethand jaws.

CHAPTER IX.

“Yet on the other side it is a sottish presumption to disdaine andcondemne that for false, which unto us seemeth to beare no show oflikelihood or truth: which is an ordinarie fault in those who perswadethemselves to be of more sufficiencie than the vulgar sort.

“But reason hath taught me, that so resolutely to condemne a thing forfalse, and impossible, is to assume unto himself the advantage, to havethe bounds and limits of God’s will, and of the power of our common motherNature tied to his sleeve: and that there is no greater folly in theworld, than to reduce them to the measure of our capacitie, and bounds ofour sufficiencie.

“If we term those things monsters or miracles to which our reason cannotattain, how many such doe daily present[Pg 261] themselves unto our sight? let usconsider through what cloudes, and how blinde-folde we are led to theknowledge of most things, that passe our hands: verily we shall finde, itis rather custome, than Science that removeth the strangenesse of themfrom us: and that those things, were they newly presented unto us, weeshould doubtless deeme them, as much, or more unlikely, and incredible,than any other.”

Montaigne’s remarks seem to me to apply as aptly to the much-vexedquestion of the existence or non-existence of the sea-serpent as thoughthey had been specially written in reference to it.

The sea-serpent, at once the belief and the denied of scientific men; theaccepted and ignored, according to their estimation of the evidence, ofreasoners, not scientific perhaps, but intelligent and educated; thevalued basis for items to the journalist, and the quintain for everyself-sufficient gobemouche to tilt against; appearing mysteriously at longintervals and in distant places; the sea-serpent has as yet avoidedcapture and the honourable distinction of being catalogued and labelled inour museums.

Yet I do believe this weird creature to be a real solid fact, and not afanciful hallucination. This assertion, however, has to be sustained undermany difficulties. The dread of ridicule closes the mouths of many men whocould speak upon the subject, while their dependent position forces themto submit to the half-bantering, half-warning expostulations of theiremployers. When, for example, an unimaginative shipowner breaks jests overhis unfortunate shipmaster’s head, and significantly hints his hope (as Iknow to have been the case) that on his next voyage he will see no moresea-serpents, or, in other words, that the great monster belongs to thesame genus as the snakes seen in the boots of a western dram-drinker, wemay be sure that an important barrier is put to any further communicationon the subject[Pg 262] from that source, at least;[253] or when, again, some knotof idle youngsters enliven the monotony of a long voyage by preparing adeliberate hoax for publication on their arrival, a certain amount ofdiscredit necessarily attaches to the monster on the ultimate exposure ofthe jest.

[Pg 263]Men also occasionally deceive themselves, and while honestly believingthat they have seen his oceanic majesty, produce a story which, onanalysis, crumbles into atoms and crowns him with disgrace as an impostor.

The hard logic of science, in the hand of one of our master minds, hasalso been arrayed against him, but fortunately weighs rather againstspecial avatars than against his existence absolutely.

Finally, the narratives of different observers disagree so much in detailthat we have a difficulty in reconciling them, except upon the suppositionthat they relate to several distinct creatures, a supposition which Ishall hope to show is not improbable, as well as that the term sea-serpentis an unwarranted specific differentiation of that of sea-monster, thevarious creatures collectively so designated being neither serpents nor,indeed, always mutually related. In commencing my record, I must bear inmind Mrs. Glasse’s proverbially excellent advice, and admit that it issimply a history of the various appearances of a creature or creatures toofugitive to admit of specific examination, and that until, by someremarkable stroke of fortune, specimens are secured, their zoologicalstatus must remain an unsolved, although closely guessed at, problem.

I have elsewhere stated my conviction that the serpent Midgard is only acorruption of accounts of the sea-serpent handed down from times when asupernatural existence was attributed to it; and we have in the Sagasprobably the earliest references to it, unless, perhaps, the serpentsmentioned by Aristotle, which attacked and overset the galleys off theLibyan coast, may have been of this species.

The coast of Norway, deeply indented by fjords, the channels of which, fora certain breadth, have a depth equal to that of the sea outside, seldomless than four hundred fathoms, and corresponding in some degree with theheight of the precipitous cliffs which enclose them, abounding in[Pg 264] allkinds of fish, and in the season with whales, which at one time used tonumber thousands in a shoal, appears, until within the last thirty years,to have been peculiarly the favourite haunt of the serpent. Paddle andscrew are probably answerable for his non-appearance on the surfacelately.

The west coast of the Isle of Skye is another locality from which severalreports of it have been received during this century; less frequently ithas been observed upon the eastern American coast-line, upon the sea-boardof China, and in various portions of the broad ocean. It generally followsthe track of whales, and in two instances observers affirm that it hasbeen seen in combat with them.

I have no doubt but that the literature of Norway contains frequentreferences to it of olden date, but the earliest notice of it in thatcountry which I have been able to procure is one contained inA Narrativeof the North-East Frosty Seas, declared by the Duke of Mosconia hisambassadors to a learned gentlemen of Italy, named Galeatius Butrigarius,as follows[254]:—

“The lake called Mos, and the Island of Hoffusen in myddest thereof is inthe degree 45.30 and 61. In this lake appeareth a strange monster, whichis a serpent of huge bigness; and as, to all other places of the world,blazing stars do portend alteration, so doth this to Norway. It was seenof late in the year of Christ 1522, appearing far above the water, rowlinglike a great pillar, and was by conjecture far off esteemed to be of fiftycubits in length.”

Pontoppidan, the Bishop of Bergen, who published his celebratedNaturalHistory of Norway in 1755, and who had at one time discredited itsexistence “till that suspicion was removed by full and sufficient evidencefrom[Pg 265] creditable and experienced fishermen and sailors in Norway, of whichthere are hundreds, who can testify that they have annually seen them,”states that the North traders, who came to Bergen every year with theirmerchandise, thought it a very strange question, when they were seriouslyasked whether there were any such creatures, as ridiculous, in fact, as ifthe question had been put to them whether there be such fish as eel orcod.

According to Pontoppidan, these creatures continually keep at the bottomof the sea, excepting in the months of July and August, which is theirspawning time, and then they come to the surface in calm weather, butplunge into the water again so soon as the wind raises the least wave.

It was supposed by the Norway fishermen to have a great objection tocastor, with which they provided themselves when going out to sea,shutting it up in a hole in the stern, and throwing a little overboardwhen apprehensive of meeting the sea-snake. The Faroe fisherman had thesame idea with reference to the Tvold whale, which was supposed to have agreat aversion to castor and to shavings of juniper wood.

Olaus Magnus, in hisHistor. Septentrion, chap. xxvii., writing not frompersonal observation but from the relations of others, speaks of it asbeing two hundred feet in length and twenty feet round, having a mane twofeet long, being covered with scales, having fiery eyes, disturbing ships,and raising itself up like a mast, and sometimes snapping some of the menfrom the deck.

Aldrovandus, quoting Olaus Magnus, says that about Norway thereoccasionally appears a serpent reaching to one hundred or two hundred feetin length, dangerous to ships in calm weather, as it sometimes snatches aman from the ship. It is said that merchant ships are involved by it andsunk.

Olaus Magnus also figures another serpent, which is said[Pg 266]to inhabit theBaltic or Swedish Sea; it is from thirty to forty feet in length, and willnot hurt anyone unless provoked.

[Pg 267]Arndt. Bernsen, in his account of the fertility of Denmark and Norway,says that the sea-snake, as well as the Tvold whale, often sinks both menand boats; and Pontoppidan was informed by the North traders that thesea-snake has frequently raised itself up and thrown itself across a boat,and even across a vessel of some hundred tons burthen, and by its weightsunk it to the bottom; and that they would sometimes raise their frightfulheads and snap a man out of a boat; but this Pontoppidan does not vouchfor, and, indeed, says that if anything, however light, be thrown at andtouch them they generally plunge into the water or take another course.

Hans (afterwards Bishop) Egede, in hisFull and Particular Relation of myVoyage to Greenland, as a Missionary, in the year 1734, figures anddescribes a sea-monster which showed itself on his passage. He says: “Onthe 6th of July 1734, when off the south coast of Greenland, a sea-monsterappeared to us, whose head, when raised, was on a level with our main-top.Its snout was long and sharp, and it blew water almost like a whale; ithad large broad paws; its body was covered with scales; its skin was roughand uneven; in other respects it was as a serpent; and when it dived, itstail, which was raised in the air, appeared to be a whole ship’s lengthfrom its body.”

In another work,The New Survey of Old Greenland, Egede speaks of thesame monster, with the addition that the body was full as thick and as bigin circumference as the ship that he sailed in. The drawing (which Ireproduce, Fig. 68) appears to have been taken by another missionary, Mr.Bing, who stated that the creature’s eyes seemed red, and like burningfire. The paws mentioned by Egede were probably paddles like those of theLiassic Saurians.

Fig. 68.—Sea-Serpent seen by Hans Egede, in 1734, off the South Coast of Greenland.

[Pg 269]Pontoppidan considers this to be a different monster from the Norwaysea-serpent, of which he gives a figure furnished him by the Rev. HansStrom, made from descriptions of two of his neighbours at Herroe, who hadbeen eye-witnesses of its appearance.

Lawrance de Ferry, a captain in the Norwegian Navy, and commander inBergen in Pontoppidan’s time, actually wounded one of the Norwegianserpents, and made two of his men, who were with him in the boat at thetime, testify upon oath in court to the truth of the statement which hehimself made, as follows:—

“The latter end of August, in the year 1746, as I was on a voyage, in myreturn from Trundheim, in a very calm and hot day, having a mind to put inat Molde, it happened that when we were arrived with my vessel within sixEnglish miles of the aforesaid Molde, being at a place called Jule-Næfs,as I was reading in a book, I heard a kind of murmuring voice from amongstthe men at the oars, who were eight in number, and observed that the manat the helm kept off from the land. Upon this I inquired what was thematter; and was informed that there was a sea-snake before us. I thenordered the man at the helm to keep to the land again, and to come up withthis creature, of which I had heard so many stories. Though the fellowswere under some apprehensions, they were obliged to obey my orders. In themeantime this sea-snake passed by us, and we were obliged to tack thevessel about, in order to get nearer to it. As the snake swam faster thanwe could row, I took my gun, that was ready charged, and fired at it; onthis he immediately plunged under the water. We rowed to the place whereit sank down (which in the calm might be easily observed) and lay upon ouroars, thinking it would come up again to the surface; however, it did not.When the snake plunged down, the water appeared thick and red; perhapssome of the shot might wound it, the distance being very[Pg 270] little. The headof this snake, which it held more than two feet above the surface of thewater, resembled that of a horse. It was of a greyish colour, and themouth was quite black and very large. It had black eyes and a long whitemane,[255] that hung down from the neck to the surface of the water.Besides the head and neck, we saw seven or eight folds or coils of thissnake, which were very thick, and, as far as we could guess, there wasabout a fathom distance between each fold.—Bergen, 1751.”

Pontoppidan remarks on the peculiarity of spouting water from the nostrilsexhibited by the creature seen by Hans Egede, and states that he had notknown it spoken of in any other instance.

He also remarks that the Norway sea-snakes differ from the Greenland oneswith regard to the skin, which in the former is as smooth as glass, andhas not the least wrinkle, except about the neck, where there is a kind ofmane, which looks like a parcel of sea-weeds hanging down to the water.Summarising the accounts which had reached him, he estimates the length atabout one hundred fathoms or six hundred English feet. He states that itlies on the surface of the water (when it is very calm) in many folds, andthat these are in a line with the head; some small parts of the back areto be seen above the surface of the water when it moves or bends, which ata distance appear like so many[Pg 271] casks or hogsheads floating in a line,with a considerable distance between each of them.

“The creature does not, like the eel or land-snake, taper gradually to apoint, but the body, which looks to be as big as two hogsheads, growsremarkably small at once just where the tail begins. The head in all thekinds has a high and broad forehead, but in some a pointed snout, thoughin others that is flat, like that of a cow or horse, with large nostrils,and several stiff hairs standing out on each side like whiskers.”

“They add that the eyes of this creature are very large, and of a bluecolour, and look like a couple of bright pewter plates. The whole animalis of a dark brown colour, but it is speckled and variegated with lightstreaks or spots that shine like tortoise-shell. It is of a darker hueabout the eyes and mouth than elsewhere, and appears in that part a gooddeal like those horses which we call Moors-heads.”

He mentions two places, one at Amunds Vaagen in Nordfiord, the other atthe island of Karmen, where carcases of it had been left at high water. Hesupposes it to be viviparous.

In an account of the Laplanders of Finmark, by Knud Leems, with the notesof Gunner, Bishop of Drontheim, (Copenhagen, 1767, 4to., in Danish andLatin),[256] I find, “The Sea of Finmark also generates the snake ormarine serpent, forty paces long, equalling in the size of the head thewhale, in form the serpent. This monster has a maned neck, resembling ahorse, a back of a grey colour, the belly inclining to white.

“On the canicular days, when the sea is calm, the marine serpent usuallycomes up, winding into various spirals, of which some are above, theothers below, the water. The seamen very much dread this monster. Norwhile he is[Pg 272] coming up do they easily entrust themselves to the dangers ofthe deep.”

Mr. J. Ramus records a large sea-snake which was seen in 1687 by manypeople in Dramsfiorden. It was in very calm weather, and so soon as thesun appeared, and the wind blew a little, it shot away just like a coiledcable that is suddenly thrown out by the sailors; and they observed thatit was some time in stretching out its many folds.

Captain (afterwards Sir Arthur) de Capell Brooke[257] collected allaccounts he could, during his journey to the North Cape, respecting thesea-serpent, with the following results:—

“As I had determined on arriving at the coast to make every inquiryrespecting the truth of the accounts which had reached England thepreceding year, of the sea-serpent having recently been seen off this partof Norway, I shall simply give the different reports I received during myvoyage to the North Cape, leaving others to their own conclusions, andwithout expressing, at least for the present, my opinion respecting them.

“The fisherman at Pêjerstad said a serpent was seen two years ago in theFolden-Fjord, the length of which, as far as it was visible, was sixtyfeet.”

At Otersoen, the Postmaster, Captain Schielderup, who had formerly been inthe Norwegian sea service, and seemed a quick intelligent man, stated thatthe serpent had actually been off the island for a considerable length oftime during the preceding summer, in the narrow parts of the sound,between this island and the continent, and the description he gave was asfollows:—

“It made its appearance for the first time in the month of July 1849 offOtersoen. Previous to this he had often heard of the existence of thesecreatures, but never before[Pg 273] believed it. During the whole of that monththe weather was excessively sultry and calm; and the serpent was seenevery day nearly in the same part of the Sound.

“It continued there while the warm weather lasted, lying motionless, andas if dozing, in the sunbeams.

“The number of persons living on the island, he said, was about thirty;the whole of whom, from motives of curiosity, went to look at it while itremained. This was confirmed to me by subsequent inquiries among theinhabitants, who gave a similar account of it. The first time that he sawit he was in a boat, at the distance of two hundred yards. The length ofit he supposes to have been about three hundred ells or six hundred feet.Of this he could not speak accurately; but it was of considerable length,and longer than it appeared, as it lay in large coils above the water tothe height of many feet. Its colour was greyish. At the distance at whichhe was, he could not ascertain whether it were covered with scales; butwhen it moved it made a loud crackling noise, which he distinctly heard.Its head was shaped like that of a serpent; but he could not tell whetherit had teeth or not. He said it emitted a very strong odour; and that theboatmen were afraid to approach near it, and looked on its coming as a badsign, as the fish left the coast in consequence! Such were the particularshe related to me.

“The merchant at Krogoën confirmed in every particular the account ofCaptain Schielderup, and that many of the people of Krogoën had witnessedit.

“On the island of Lekö I obtained from the son of Peter Greger, themerchant, a young man who employed himself in the fishery, still furtherinformation respecting the sea-serpent. It was in August of the precedingyear, while fishing with others in the Viig or Veg-Fjord, that he saw it.At that time they were on shore hauling in their nets, and it appearedabout sixty yards distant from them, at[Pg 274] which they were not a littlealarmed, and immediately retreated. What was seen of it above water, hesaid, appeared six times the length of their boat, of a grey colour, andlying in coils a great height above the surface. Their fright preventedthem from attending more accurately to other particulars. In fact, theyall fairly took to their heels when they found the monster so near tothem.

“At Alstahoug I found the Bishop of the Nordlands. The worthy prelate wasa sensible and well-informed man, between fifty and sixty years of age. Tothe testimony of others respecting the existence of the sea-serpent, Ishall now add that of the Bishop himself, who was an eye-witness to theappearance of two in the Bay of Shuresund or Sörsund, on the DrontheimFjord, about eight Norway miles from Drontheim. He was but a shortdistance from them, and saw them plainly. They were swimming in largefolds, part of which were seen above the water, and the length of whatappeared of the largest he judged to be about one hundred feet. They wereof a darkish grey colour; the heads hardly discernible, from their beingalmost under water, and they were visible for only a short time. Beforethat period he had treated the account of them as fabulous; but it was nowimpossible, he said, to doubt their existence, as such numbers ofrespectable people since that time had likewise seen them on severaloccasions. He had never met with any person who had seen the kraken, andwas inclined to think it a fable.

“During the time that I remained at Hundholm, a curious circumstanceoccurred. One day, when at dinner at Mr. Blackhall’s house, and thinkinglittle of the sea-serpent, concerning which I had heard nothing for sometime, a young man, the master of a small fishing-yacht, which had justcome in from Drontheim, joined our party. In the course of conversation hementioned that a few hours before, whilst close to Hundholm, and previousto his entering the harbour,[Pg 275] two sea-snakes passed immediately under hisyacht. When he saw them he was on the deck, and, seizing a handspike, hestruck at them as they came up close to the vessel on the other side, uponwhich they disappeared. Their length was very great, and their colourgreyish, but for the very short time they were visible he could not noticeany further particulars.

“He had no doubt of their being snakes, as he called them, and thecircumstance was related entirely of his own accord.”

Captain Brooke sums up the reports he received with the following generalobservations:—

“Taking upon the whole a fair view of the different accounts related inthe foregoing pages respecting the sea-serpent, no reasonable person candoubt the fact of some marine animal of extraordinary dimensions, and inall probability of the serpent tribe, having been repeatedly seen byvarious persons along the Norway and Finmark coasts. These accounts, forthe most part, have been given verbally from the mouths of the fishermen,a honest and artless class of men, who, having no motive formisrepresentation, cannot be suspected of a wish to deceive; could thisidea, however, be entertained, the circumstance of their assertions havingbeen so fully confirmed by others, in more distant parts, would besufficient to free them from any imputation of this kind.

“The simple facts are these: In traversing a space of full seven hundredmiles of coast, extending to the most northern point, accounts have beenreceived from numerous persons respecting the appearance of an animalcalled by them a sea-serpent. This of itself would induce some degree ofcredit to be given to it; but when these several relations as to thegeneral appearance of the animal, its dimensions, the state of the weatherwhen it was seen, and other particulars, are so fully confirmed, one bythe other, at such[Pg 276]considerable intervening distances, every reasonableman will feel satisfied of the truth of the main fact. Many of theinformants, besides, were of superior rank and education; and the opinionsof such men as the Amtmand (Governor) of Finmark, Mr. Steen, the clergymanof Carlsö, Prosten (Dean) Deinboll of Vadsö, and the Bishop of Nordlandand Finmark, who was even an eye-witness, ought not to be disregarded.

“The Bishop of Nordland has seen two of them about eight miles fromDrontheim, the largest being apparently one hundred feet, and, in 1822,one as bulky as an ox, and a quarter of a mile in length, appeared off theisland of Sorö, near Finmark, and was seen by many people.”

Not having theZoologist at hand, I now quote aresumé of shortnotices extracted from it, contained in theIllustrated London News forOctober 28, 1848, as follows:—

“Our attention has been drawn to theZoologist for the past year,wherein are several communications tending to authenticate the existenceof the great sea-serpent. Thus, in the number for February 1847, we findparagraphs quoted from the Norse newspapers stating that in theneighbourhood of Christiansund and Molde, in the province of Romsdal, inNorway, several highly respectable and credible witnesses have attestedthe seeing of the serpent. In general, they state that it has been seen inthe larger Norwegian fjords, seldom in the open sea. In the large bight ofthe sea at Christiansund it has been seen every year, though only in thewarmest season, in the dog days, and then only in perfectly calm weatherand unruffled water.

“Its length is stated at about forty-four feet, and twice as thick as acommon snake, in proportion to the length. The front of the head wasrather pointed, the eyes sharp, and from the back of the head commenced amane like that of a horse. The colour of the animal was a blackish brown.It swam swiftly, with serpentine movements like a leech. One[Pg 277] of thewitnesses describes the body to be two feet in diameter, the head as longas a brandy anker (ten-gallon cask) and about the same thickness, notpointed, but round. It had no scales, but the body quite smooth. Thewitness acknowledged Pontoppidan’s representation to be like the serpenthe saw.”

“The writer of this article received letters from Mr. Soren Knudtzon,stating that a sea-serpent had been seen in the neighbourhood ofChristiansund by several people; and from Dr. Hoffmann, a respectablesurgeon in Molde, stating that, lying on a considerable fjord to the southof Christiansund, Rector Hammer, Mr. Krabt, curate, and several persons,very clearly saw, while on a journey, a sea-serpent of very considerablesize.

“The next communication, dated Sund’s Parsonage, August 31st, 1846,records the appearance of a supposed sea-serpent, on the 8th, in thecourse between the islands of Sartor Leer and Tös. Early on this day, justas the steamerBiörgvin passed through Rogne Fjord, towing a vessel toBergen, Daniel Solomonson, a cotter, saw a sea-monster swimming from RogneFjord in a westerly direction towards his dwelling at Grönnevigskiæset, inthe northern part of the parish of Sund. The head appeared like a Færingboat (about twenty feet long) keel uppermost; and from behind it raiseditself forward in three, and sometimes four and five undulations, eachapparently about twelve feet long. On the same morning a lad, out fishingin the Rogne Fjord, saw a serpent, which he describes to have been sixtyfeet long.”

For further information on the Norwegian sea-serpent, I am indebted to theexcellent chapter, devoted to the question generally, contained in Mr.Gosse’sRomance of Natural History, First Series, from which I transfer,without[Pg 278]abbreviation, a statement made by the Rev. W. Deinboll,Archdeacon of Molde:—

“On the 28th of July 1845, J. C. Lund, bookseller and printer; G. S.Krogh, merchant; Christian Flang, Lund’s apprentice; and John Elgensen,labourer, were out on Romsdalfjord, fishing. The sea was, after a warmsunshiny day, quite calm. About seven o’clock in the afternoon, a littledistance from shore, near the ballast place and Molde Hove, they saw alarge marine animal which slowly moved itself forward, as it appeared tothem, with the help of two fins on the fore-part of the body nearest thehead, which they judged from the boiling of the water on both sides of it.The visible part of the body appeared to be between forty and fifty feetin length, and moved in undulations like a snake. The body was round andof a dark colour, and seemed to be several ells[258] in thickness. As theydiscerned a waving motion in the water behind the animal, they concludedthat part of the body was concealed under water. That it was one connectedanimal they saw plainly from its movement. When the animal was about onehundred yards from the boat, they noticed tolerably correctly itsfore-part, which ended in a sharp snout; its colossal head raised itselfabove the water in the form of a semi-circle; the lower part was notvisible. The colour of the head was dark brown, and the skin smooth. Theydid not notice the eyes, or any mane or bristles on the throat. When theserpent came about a musket-shot near, Lund fired at it, and was certainthe shots hit it in the head. After the shot he dived but came upimmediately; he raised his head like a snake preparing to dart on itsprey. After he had turned and got his body in a straight line, which heappeared to do with great difficulty, he darted like an arrow against theboat. They reached the shore, and the animal, perceiving it had come intoshallow water, dived immediately, and disappeared in the deep.”

[Pg 279]Mr. Gosse further quotes a statement made by an Englishman, writing underthe signature of “Oxoniensis” in theTimes of November 4th, 1848, to theeffect that—

“A parish priest, residing on Romsdalfjord, about two days’ journey southof Drontheim, an intelligent person, whose veracity I have no reason todoubt, gave me a circumstantial account of one which he had himself seen.It rose within thirty yards of the boat in which he was, and swam parallelwith it for a considerable time. Its head he described as equalling asmall cask in size, and its mouth, which it repeatedly opened and shut,was furnished with formidable teeth; its neck was smaller, but its body,of which he supposed that he saw about half on the surface of the water,was not less in girth than that of a moderate-sized horse. Anothergentleman, in whose house I stayed, had also seen one, and gave a similaraccount of it; it also came near his boat upon the fjord, when it wasfired at, upon which it turned and pursued them to the shore, which wasluckily near, when it disappeared. They expressed great surprise at thegeneral disbelief attached to the existence of these animals amongstnaturalists, and assured me that there was scarcely a sailor accustomed tothose inland lakes who had not seen them at one time or other.”

The Rev. Alfred C. Smith, M.A., a naturalist, who visited Norway in 1850,summarises the result of his investigations in the words: “and I cannotwithhold my belief in the existence of some huge inhabitant of thosenorthern seas, when, to my mind, the fact of his existence has been soclearly proved by numerous eye-witnesses, many of whom were toointelligent to be deceived, and too honest to be doubted.”

Passing from these numerous narratives, which are distinguished for aremarkable agreement in the main characteristic described, I will proceedto some of those whose scene lies on our own coast.

[Pg 280]In 1809, Mr. McLean, the parish minister of Eigg, communicated to Dr.Neil, the Secretary of the Wernerian Society, the followingstatement:—[259]

“I saw the animal of which you inquire, in June 1808, on the coast ofColl. Rowing along that coast, I observed, at about the distance of half amile, an object to windward, which gradually excited astonishment. Atfirst view it appeared like a small rock; but knowing that there was norock in that situation, I fixed my eyes closely upon it. Then I saw itelevated considerably above the level of the sea, and, after a slowmovement, distinctly perceived one of its eyes. Alarmed at the unusualappearance and magnitude of the animal, I steered so as to be at no greatdistance from the shore. When nearly in a line between it and the shore,the monster, directing its head, which still continued above water,towards us, plunged violently under water. Certain that he was in chase ofus, we plied hard to get ashore. Just as we leapt out on a rock, and hadtaken a station as high as we conveniently could, we saw it coming rapidlyunder water towards the stern of our boat. When within a few yards of it,finding the water shallow, it raised its monstrous head above water, and,by a winding course, got, with apparent difficulty, clear of the creekwhere our boat lay, and where the monster seemed in danger of beingembayed. It continued to move off, with its head above water and with thewind, for about half a mile before we lost sight of it. Its head wassomewhat broad, and of form somewhat oval; its neck somewhat smaller; itsshoulders, if I can so term them, considerably broader, and thence ittapered towards the tail, which last it kept pretty low in the water, sothat a view of it could not be taken so distinctly as I wished. It had nofins that I could perceive, and seemed to me to move progressively byundulation up and down. Its length I believed to be[Pg 281] between seventy andeighty feet. When nearest to me it did not raise its head wholly abovewater, so that, the neck being under water, I could perceive no shiningfilaments thereon, if it had any. Its progressive motion under water Itook to be very rapid. About the time I saw it, it was seen near the Isleof Canna. The crews of thirteen fishing-boats, I am told, were so muchterrified at its appearance, that they, in a body, fled from it to thenearest creek for safety. On the passage from Rum to Canna, the crew ofone boat saw it coming towards them, with the wind, and its head highabove water. One of the crew pronounced the head as large as a littleboat, and its eye as large as a plate. The men were much terrified, butthe monster offered them no molestation.”

I next extract, from the pages of theInverness Courier, some verypertinent remarks upon a description of the sea-monster seen by the Rev.Messrs. McRae and Twopeny, contained in theZoologist, and I add thearticle there referred to. I had the advantage of hearing from a gentlemanrelated to Mr. McRae that he could substantiate his statement, havinghimself about the same time, and in that locality, observed the sameappearance, though at a greater distance off.

“We are glad to see that the two gentlemen who favoured us last autumnwith an account of what they believed to be a strange animal seen off thewest coast, Inverness-shire, have published in theZoologist, a monthlyjournal of natural history, a careful description of the creature whichthey saw, and which seems to resemble the engravings of what is called theNorwegian sea-serpent. We subjoin the magazine article entire. There issuch a dread of ridicule in appearing publicly in company with thismysterious and disreputable monster, that we must commend the boldness ofthe two clergymen in putting their names to the narrative; especially aswe observe that other observers have not been so[Pg 282] courageous, and thatthey have been obliged to give some of their information anonymously.

“The huge serpent, if serpent it may be called, invariably appears instill warm weather, and in no other. There are certain Norwegian fjordsand narrow seas which it frequents, and it is scarcely ever seen in theopen sea. In the present case, the limit in which the animal has been seenon our coast, is Lochduich to the north and the Sound of Mull to thesouth, only about a fifth of the space between Cape Wrath and the Mull ofKintyre; and it is in that part it should be most looked for. We beg todraw the attention of our readers on the West Coast to the fact, nowestablished on indubitable evidence, of the supposed animal having beenseen there last year, and to the possibility of its appearing again insimilar weather this year. If it chances to turn up once more, some fulland accurate account of the phenomenon would certainly be most desirable.”

Appearance of an animal, believed to be that which is called theNorwegian Sea-serpent, on the Western Coast of Scotland, in August1872, by the Rev. John McRae, Minister of Glenelg, Inverness-shire,and the Rev. David Twopeny, Vicar of Stockbury, Kent.

On the 20th of August 1872 we started from Glenelg in a small cutter,theLeda, for an excursion to Lochourn. Our party consisted, besidesourselves, of two ladies, F. and K., a gentleman, G. B., and aHighland lad. Our course lay down the Sound of Sleat, which on thatside divides the Isle of Skye from the mainland, the average breadthof the channel in that part being two miles.

It was calm and sunshiny, not a breath of air, and the sea perfectlysmooth. As we were getting the cutter along with oars we perceived adark mass about two hundred yards astern of us, to the north. While wewere looking at it with our glasses (we had three on board) anothersimilar black lump rose to the left of the first, leaving an intervalbetween; then another and another followed, all in regular order. Wedid not doubt its being one living creature: it moved slowly acrossour wake, and disappeared. Presently the first mass, which was[Pg 283]evidently the head, reappeared, and was followed by the rising of theother black lumps, as before. Sometimes three appeared, sometimesfour, five, or six, and then sank again. When they rose, the headappeared first, if it had been down, and the lumps rose after it inregular order, beginning always with that next the head, and risinggently; but when they sank, they sank altogether rather abruptly,sometimes leaving the head visible.

It gave the impression of a creature crooking up its back to sunitself. There was no appearance of undulation; when the lumps sank,other lumps did not rise in the intervals between them. The greatestnumber we counted was seven, making eight with head, as shown insketch No. 1 [two engravings are given]. The parts were separated fromeach other by intervals of about their own length, the head beingrather smaller and flatter than the rest, and the nose being veryslightly visible above the water; but we did not see the head raisedabove the surface either this or the next day, nor could we see theeye. We had no means of measuring the length with any accuracy; buttaking the distance from the centre of one lump to the centre of thenext to be six feet, and it could scarcely be less, the whole lengthof the portion visible, including the intervals submerged, would beforty-five feet.

Presently, as we were watching the creature, it began to approach usrapidly, causing a great agitation in the sea. Nearly the whole of thebody, if not all of it, had now disappeared, and the head advanced ata great rate in the midst of a shower of fine spray, which wasevidently raised in some way by the quick movement of the animal—itdid not appear how—and not by spouting. F. was alarmed and retreatedto the cabin, crying out that the creature was coming down upon us.When within about a hundred yards of us it sank and moved away in thedirection of Syke, just under the surface of the water, for we couldtrace its course by the waves it raised on the still sea to thedistance of a mile or more. After this it continued at intervals toshow itself, careering about at a distance, as long as we were in thatpart of the Sound; the head and a small part only of the body beingvisible on the surface; but we did not again, on that day, see it sonear nor so well as at first.

At one time F. and K. and G. B. saw a fin sticking up at a littledistance back from the head, but neither of us were then observing. Onour return the next day we were again becalmed on the north side ofthe opening of Lochourn, where it is about three miles wide, the daywarm and sunshiny as before. As we were dragging slowly along in theafternoon the creature again appeared over towards the south side, ata greater distance than we saw it the first day. It now showed itselfin three or four rather long lines, as in the sketch No. 2, and lookedconsiderably longer than it did the day before; as nearly as we could[Pg 284]compute, it looked at least sixty feet in length. Soon it begancareering about, showing but a small part of itself, as on the daybefore, and appeared to be going up Lochourn. Later in the afternoon,when we were still becalmed in the mouth of Lochourn, and by using theoars had nearly reached the island of Sandaig, it came rushing past usabout a hundred and fifty yards to the south, on its return fromLochourn. It went with great rapidity, its black head only beingvisible through the clear sea, followed by a long trail of agitatedwater. As it shot along, the noise of its rush through the water couldbe distinctly heard on board. There were no organs of motion to beseen, nor was there any shower of spray as on the day before, butmerely such a commotion in the sea as its quick passage might beexpected to make. Its progress was equable and smooth, like that of alog towed rapidly. For the rest of the day, as we worked our way homenorthwards through the Sound of Sleat, it was occasionally withinsight of us until nightfall, rushing about at a distance, as before,and showing only its head, and a small part of its body on thesurface. It seemed on each day to keep about us, and as we were alwaysthen rowing, we were inclined to think it perhaps might be attractedby the measured sound of the oars. Its only exit in this direction tothe north was by the narrow Strait of Kylerhea, dividing Skye from themainland, and only a third of a mile wide, and we left our boat,wondering whether this strange creature had gone that way or turnedback again to the south. We have only to add to this narrative of whatwe saw ourselves, the following instances of its being seen by otherpeople, of the correctness of which we have no doubt. The ferrymen oneach side of Kylerhea saw it pass rapidly through on the evening ofthe 21st, and heard the rush of the water; they were surprised, andthought it might be a shoal of porpoises, but could not comprehendtheir going so quickly.

Finlay McRae, of Bundaloch, in the parish of Kintail, was within themouth of Lochourn on the 21st, with other men in his boat, and saw thecreature at about the distance of one hundred and fifty yards. Twodays after we saw it, Alexander Macmillan, boat-builder at Dornie, wasfishing in a boat in the entrance of Lochduich, half-way betweenDruidag and Castledonan, when he saw the animal, near enough to hearthe noise, and see the ripple it made in rushing along in the sea. Hesays that what seemed its head was followed by four or more lumps, or“half-rounds,” as he calls them, and that they sometimes rose andsometimes sank altogether. He estimated its length at not less thanbetween sixty and eighty feet. He saw it also on two subsequent daysin Lochduich. On all these occasions his brother, Farquhar, was withhim in the boat, and they were both much alarmed, and pulled to theshore in great haste.

A lady at Duisdale, in Skye, a place overlooking the part of the Soundwhich is opposite the opening of Lochourn, said that she was looking[Pg 285]out with a glass when she saw a strange object on the sea, whichappeared like eight seals in a row. This was just about the time thatwe saw it. We were also informed that about the same time it was seenfrom the island of Eigg, between Eigg and the mainland, about twentymiles to the south-west of the opening of Lochourn. We have notpermission to mention the names in these two last instances.

John McRae.
David Twopeny.

P.S.—The writers of the above account scarcely expect the public tobelieve in the existence of the creature which they saw. Rather thanthat, they look for the disbelief and ridicule to which the subjectalways gives rise, partly on account of the animal having beenpronounced to be a snake, without any sufficient evidence, butprincipally because of the exaggerations and fables with which thewhole subject is beset. Nevertheless, they consider themselves boundto leave a record of what they saw, in order that naturalists mayreceive it as a piece of evidence, or not, according to what theythink it is worth. The animal will very likely turn up on those coastsagain, and it will be always in that “dead season,” so convenient toeditors of newspapers, for it is never seen but in the still warm daysof summer or early autumn. There is a considerable probability that ithas visited the same coasts before.

In the summer of 1871, some large creature was seen for some timerushing about in Lochduich, but it did not show itself sufficientlyfor anyone to ascertain what it was. Also, some years back, awell-known gentleman of the West Coast, now living, was crossing theSound of Mull, from Mull to the mainland, “on a very calm afternoon,when,” as he writes, “our attention was attracted to a monster whichhad come to the surface, not more than fifty yards from our boat. Itrose without causing the slightest disturbance of the sea, or makingthe slightest noise, and floated for some time on the surface, butwithout exhibiting its head or tail, showing only the ridge of theback, which was not that of a whale or any other sea animal that I hadever seen. The back appeared sharp and ridge-like, and in colour verydark, indeed black, or almost so. It rested quietly for a few minutes,and then dropped quietly down into the deep, without causing theslightest agitation. I should say that about forty feet of it,certainly not less, appeared on the surface.”

It should be noticed that the inhabitants of that Western Coast arequite familiar with the appearance of whales, seals, and porpoises,and when they see them they recognise them at once. Whether thecreature which pursued Mr. McLean’s boat off the island of Coll in1808, and of which there is an account in theTransactions of theWernerian Society (vol. i. p. 442), was one of these Norwegiananimals, it is not[Pg 286]easy to say. Survivors who knew Mr. McLean, saythat he could quite be relied upon for truth.

The public are not likely to believe in the creature till it iscaught, and that does not seem likely to happen just yet, for avariety of reasons, one reason being that it has, from all theaccounts given of it, the power of moving very rapidly. On the 20th,while we were becalmed in the mouth of Lochourn, a steam-launch slowlypassed us, and, as we watched it, we reckoned its rate at five or sixmiles an hour. When the animal rushed past us on the next day at aboutthe same distance, and when we were again becalmed nearly in the sameplace, we agreed that it went twice as fast as the steamer, and wethought that its rate could not be less than ten or twelve miles anhour. It might be shot, but would probably sink. There are threeaccounts of its being shot at in Norway; in one instance it sank, andin the other two it pursued the boats, which were near the shore, butdisappeared when it found itself getting into shallow water.

It should be mentioned that when we saw this creature, and made oursketches of it, we had never seen either Pontoppidan’sNaturalHistory or his print of the Norwegian sea-serpent, which has a moststriking resemblance to the first of our own sketches. Considering thegreat body of reasonable Norwegian evidence, extending through anumber of years, which remains after setting aside fables andexaggerations, it seems surprising that no naturalist of that countryhas ever applied himself to make out something about the animal. Inthe meantime, as the public will most probably be dubious aboutquickly giving credit to our account, the following explanations areopen to them, all of which have been proposed to me, viz.:—porpoises,lumps of sea-weed, empty herring-barrels, bladders, logs of wood,waves of the sea, and inflated pig-skins! but as all these theoriespresent to our mind greater difficulties than the existence of theanimal itself, we feel obliged to decline them.

Here, again, we have the same general resemblances, observed under thesame conditions of weather, as in the case of the Norwegian serpent. As tothe pursuit, which may either have been urged from motives of curiosity orof anger, it is curious to find a remarkable account of a similarincident[Pg 287] inKotzebue’s Vogages, where it is stated that M. Kriukoff,while in a boat at Beering’s Island, was pursued by an animal like a redserpent, and immensely long, with a head like that of a sea-lion, but theeyes disproportionately large. “It was fortunate,” observed M. Kriukoff,“we were so near land, or the monster would have swallowed us; he raisedhis head far above the surface, and the sea-lions were so terrified, thatsome rushed into the water, and others concealed themselves on the shore!”

The last notice of its appearance in British waters is extracted fromNature, as follows:—

[Pg 288]It must also be mentioned that Dr. Hibbert[261] states that thesea-serpent has been seen in the Shetland seas, and instances one seen offthe Isle Stonness, Valley Island, and Dunvossness.

The first that we hear of the appearance of the sea-serpent in Americanwaters is of one which appeared on the coast of Maine, in Penobscot Bay,at intervals, during the thirty years preceding 1809. The Rev. AbrahamCummings, who reports this, saw it himself at a distance of about eightyyards, and considered it to be seventy feet long; it was seen by theBritish in their expedition to Bagaduse, during the first American war,and supposed to be three hundred feet long. The next record relates to oneappearing in August 1817, which was frequently seen in the harbour ofGloucester, Cape Aure, about thirty miles from Boston. It is the subjectof a report, published by a committee appointed by the Linnæan Society ofNew England. Dr. Hamilton summarises the results as follows:—

“The affidavits of a great many individuals of unblemished character arecollected, which leaves no room to apprehend anything like deceit. They donot agree in every minute particular, but in regard to its great lengthand snake-like form, they are harmonious.”

Eleven depositions were taken, in which the length was variously estimatedat from fifty to one hundred feet. It was either seen lying perfectlystill, extended upon the surface of the water, or progressing rapidly atthe rate of a mile in two, or at the most three, minutes; the mode ofprogression is generally spoken of as vertical undulation. The tenthdeposition states: “On the 20th of June 1815, my boy informed me of anunusual appearance on the surface of the sea in the Cove. When I viewed itthrough the glass, I was in a moment satisfied that it was some aquaticanimal, with[Pg 289] the form, motions, and appearance of which I was notpreviously acquainted. It was about a quarter of a mile from the shore,and was moving with great rapidity to the southward; it appeared aboutthirty feet in length. Presently it turned about, and then displayed agreater length, I suppose at least one hundred feet. It then came towardsme very rapidly, and lay entirely still on the surface of the water. Hisappearance then was like a string of buoys. I saw thirty or forty of theseprotuberances, or bunches, which were about the size of a barrel. The headappeared six or eight feet long, and tapered off to the size of a horse’shead. He then appeared about one hundred and twenty feet long; the bodyappeared of a uniform size; the colour deep brown. I could not discoverany eye, mane, gills, or breathing holes. I did not see any fins or lips.”

One of the Committee of the Linnæan Society was himself an eye-witness,and Colonel Perkins, of Boston, published in 1848 a communication whichwas a copy of a letter he had written in 1820, detailing his personalexperience in confirmation of the Society’s Report, as follows:—“In a fewmoments after my exclamation, I saw, on the opposite side of the harbour,at about two miles from where I had first seen, or thought I saw, thesnake, the same object, moving with a rapid motion up the harbour, on thewestern shore. As he approached us, it was easy to see that his motion wasnot that of the common snake, either on the land or in the water, butevidently the vertical movement of the caterpillar. As nearly as I couldjudge, there was visible at a time about forty feet of his body. It wasnot, to be sure, a continuity of body, as the form from head to tail(except as the apparent bunches appeared as he moved through the water)was seen only at three or four feet asunder. It was very evident, however,that his length must be much greater than what appeared, as in hismovement he left a considerable wake in his rear. I had a fine glass, andwas within from one-third[Pg 290] to half a mile of him. The head was flat in thewater, and the animal was, as far as I could distinguish, of a chocolatecolour. I was struck with an appearance in front of the head like a singlehorn, about nine inches to a foot in length, and of the form of amarline-spike. There were a great many people collected by this time, manyof whom had before seen the same object, and the same appearance. From thetime I first saw him until he passed by the place where I stood, and soonafter disappeared, was not more than fifteen or twenty minutes.

“Subsequent to the period of which I have been speaking, the snake wasseen by several of the crews of our coasting vessels, and in someinstances within a few yards. Captain Tappan, a person well known to me,saw him with his head above the water two or three feet, at times movingwith great rapidity, and at others slowly. He also saw what explained theappearance, which I have described, of a horn on the front of the head.This was doubtless what was observed by Captain Tappan to be the tongue,thrown in an upright position from the mouth, and having the appearancewhich I have given to it.

“One of the revenue cutters, whilst in the neighbourhood of Cape Ann, hadan excellent view of him at a few yards’ distance. He moved slowly; andupon the approach of the vessel, sank and was seen no more.”

Dr. Hamilton[262] states that an animal of similar appearance was againseen, in August 1819, off Nahant, Boston, and remained in theneighbourhood for some weeks. Two hundred persons witnessed it, thirteenfolds were counted, and the head, which was serpent-shaped, was elevatedtwo feet above the surface. Its eye was remarkably brilliant andglistening. The water was smooth, and the weather calm and serene. When itdisappeared, its motion was undulatory,[Pg 291] making curves perpendicular tothe surface of the water, and giving the appearance of a long movingstring of corks. It appeared again off Nahant in July 1833. “It was firstseen on Saturday afternoon, passing between Egg Rock and the Promontory,winding his way into Lynn Harbour; and again on Sunday morning, headingfor South Shores. It was seen by forty or fifty ladies and gentlemen, whoinsist that they could not have been deceived.”

TheZoologist for May 1847 contains an account of a sea-serpent seen inMahone Bay, about forty miles east of Halifax, by five officers of thegarrison, when on a fishing excursion:—“We were surprised by the sight ofan immense shoal of grampuses, which appeared in an unusual state ofexcitement, and which in their gambols approached so close to our littlecraft that some of the party amused themselves by firing at them withrifles. At this time we were jogging at about five miles an hour, and musthave been crossing Margaret’s Bay, ‘when suddenly,’ at a distance of froma hundred and fifty to two hundred yards on our starboard bow, we saw thehead and neck of some denizen of the deep, precisely like those of acommon snake, in the act of swimming, the head so far elevated and thrownforward by the curve of the neck, as to enable us to see the water underand beyond it. The creature rapidly passed, leaving a regular wake, fromthe commencement of which to the fore part, which was out of water, wejudged in length to be about eighty feet, and this within rather thanbeyond the mark. It is most difficult to give correctly the dimensions ofany object in the water. The head of the creature we set down at about sixfeet in length, and that portion of the neck which we saw the same; theextreme length, as before stated, at between eighty and one hundred feet.The neck in thickness equalled the bole of a moderate-sized tree. The headand neck of a dark brown or nearly black colour, streaked with white inirregular streaks. I do not recollect seeing any part of the body.”

[Pg 292]Considerable interest was excited in 1848 by the account of a sea-serpentseen by the captain and officers of Her Majesty’s shipDædalus while onher passage from the Cape of Good Hope to St. Helena, in lat. 24° 44′ S.and long. 9° 22′ E. In this case the usual concomitants of calm weatherand absence of swell are wanting. The official report to the Admiralty isas follows:—

This drawing was figured in theIllustrated London News in illustrationof a short but very valuable memoir, and is reproduced upon a smallerscale here.

A similar, perhaps the same, monster was fallen in with at a slightlylater date, 20° further south, as described in a letter addressed to theeditor of theGlobe.

The account of the creature seen by the officers and crew of theDædalusexcited more than the usual attention given to these stories; for theprofessional status of the observers guaranteed at once the veracity oftheir statement, and the probability of their judgment being accurate.Considerable correspondence ensued, including a very masterly attack uponthe identification of the creature by Professor Owen, which will be againreferred to further on. It also elicited another sea-serpent story whichappeared in theBombay Bi-monthly Times for January 1849.

Again, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Steele, of the Coldstream Guards, wroteto theZoologist: “I have lately received the following account from mybrother, Captain Steele, 9th Lancers, who, on his way out to India in theBarham, saw the sea-serpent. Thinking it might be interesting to you, ascorroborating the account of theDædalus, I have taken the liberty ofsending you the extract from my brother’s letter:—‘On the 28th of August,in long. 40° E., lat. 37° 16′ S., about half-past two, we had all gonedown below to get ready for dinner, when the first mate called us on deckto see a most extraordinary sight. About five hundred yards from the shipthere was the head and neck of an[Pg 296] enormous snake; we saw about sixteen ortwenty feet out of the water, and hespouted a long way from his head;down his back he had a crest like a cock’s comb,[263] and was going veryslowly through the water, but left a wake of about fifty or sixty feet, asif dragging a long body after him. The captain put the ship off her courseto run down to him, but as we approached him he went down. His colour wasgreen, with light spots.He was seen by everyone on board.’ My brotheris no naturalist; and I think this is the first time the monster has everbeen seen to spout.”

One of the officers of the ship wrote: “On looking over the side of thevessel I saw a most wonderful sight, which I shall recollect as long as Ilive. His head appeared to be about sixteen feet above the water, and hekept moving it up and down, sometimes showing his enormous neck, which wassurmounted with a huge crest in the shape of a saw. It was surrounded byhundreds of birds, and we at first thought it was a dead whale. He left atrack in the water like the wake of a boat, and from what we could see ofhis head and part of his body, we were led to think he must be about sixtyfeet in length, but he might be more. The captain kept the vessel away toget nearer to him; and when we were within a hundred yards he slowly sankinto the depths of the sea. While we were at dinner he was seen again.”

TheTimes, of Feb. 5, 1858, contains a statement made by CaptainHarrington, of the shipCastilian, and certified to by his chief andsecond officers, as follows:—

“ShipCastilian, Dec. 12, 1857; N.E. end of St. Helena, distant tenmiles. At 6.30P.M., strong breezes and cloudy, ship sailing about twelvemiles per hour. While myself and officers were standing on the leeside ofthe poop, looking towards the island, we were startled by the sight of ahuge marine animal, which reared its head out of the water within[Pg 297] twentyyards of the ship, when it suddenly disappeared for about half a minute,and then made its appearance in the same manner again, showing usdistinctly its neck and head about ten or twelve feet out of the water.Its head was shaped like a long nun-buoy, and I suppose the diameter tohave been seven or eight feet in the largest part, with a kind of scroll,or tuft of loose skin, encircling it about two feet from the top; thewater was discoloured for several hundred feet from its head, so much sothat, on its first appearance, my impression was that the ship was inbroken water, produced, as I supposed, by some volcanic agency since thelast time I had passed the island; but the second appearance completelydispelled those fears, and assured us that it was a monster ofextraordinary length, which appeared to be moving slowly towards the land.The ship was going too fast to enable us to reach the masthead in time toform a correct estimate of its extreme length; but from what we saw fromthe deck, we conclude that it must have been over two hundred feet long.The boatswain and several of the crew who observed it from the topgallantforecastle, state that it was more than double the length of the ship, inwhich case it must have been five hundred feet. Be that as it may, I amconvinced that it belonged to the serpent tribe; it was of a dark colourabout the head, and was covered with several white spots.”

A writer in theNew York Sun (I have the clipping, but, unfortunately,not the date), discussing the best authenticated stories, says: “The Lynnsea-serpent appears to be the most authentic, the writer having seenseveral persons who saw it from the beach, and knowing others personallyor by reputation. The first animal of this kind seen about Lynn was in1638, and was seen by Dr. John Josselyn; and again another was observed,in 1819, by Mr. Cabot. Amos Lawrance, one of the pillars of old Boston,said: ‘I have never had any doubt of the existence of the sea-serpent[Pg 298]since the morning he was seen off Nahant by old Marshal Prince through hisfamous masthead spy-glass. For within the next two hours I conversed withSamuel Cabot and Daniel P. Parker, I think, and one or more personsbesides, who had spent a part of that morning in witnessing its movements.In addition, Colonel Harris, the commander at Fort Independence, told methat the creature had been seen by a number of his soldiers while standingsentry at early dawn, some time before this show at Nahant; and ColonelHarris believed it as firmly as though the creature were drawn up beforeus in State Street, where we then were.’ Such is the history of the Lynnsea-serpent; and the following is an extract from the report of theLinnæan Society of Boston, made by Dr. Bigelow and F. C. Gray: ‘Themonster was from eighty to ninety feet long; his head usually carriedabout two feet above the water; the body of a dark brown colour, withthirty or forty more protuberances, compared by some to four-gallon kegs,by others to a string of buoys, and called, by some, bunches on the back.Motions very rapid—faster than those of a whale; swimming a mile in threeminutes, and sometimes more, leaving a wake behind him; chasing mackerel,herrings, and other fish, which were seen jumping out of the water fiftyat a time as he approached. He only came to the surface of the sea in calmand bright weather. A skilful gunner fired at him from our boat, and,having taken good aim, felt sure he must have hit him on the head. Thecreature turned towards him, then dived under the boat, and reappeared ahundred yards on the other side.’ In February of 1846 a letter was printedin the various newspapers, signed by Captain Lawson, giving a descriptionof a monstrous snake seen by him from his vessel off Capes Charles andHenry. The length was stated at one hundred feet, and on the back wereseen sharp projections. The head was small in proportion to the length.”

[Pg 299]I next append a few short statements which have appeared at various datesin the public prints.

TheNews of the World, Sept. 28, 1879, states that Captain J. F. Cox,master of the British shipPrivateer, which arrived at Delawarebreakwater on Sept. 9, from London, says: “On August 5, one hundred mileswest of Brest (France), weather fine and clear, at 5P.M., as I waswalking the quarter-deck, I saw something black rise out of the water,about twenty feet, in shape like an immense snake of three feet diameter.It was about three hundred yards from the ship, coming towards us. Itturned its head partly from us, and went down with a great splash, afterstaying up about five seconds, but rose again three times at intervals often seconds, until it had turned completely from us, and was going from usat a great speed, and making the water boil all round it. I could see itseyes and shape perfectly. It was like a great eel or snake, but as blackas coal tar, and appeared to be making great exertions to get away fromthe ship. I have seen many kinds of fish, in five different oceans, butwas never favoured with a sight of the great sea-snake before.”

TheSingapore Daily News, April 6, 1878, in its Australian news quotesfrom Wellington (New Zealand), Feb. 26 (this month corresponds with Augustnorth of the Line): “The captain of the steamshipDurham reports havingseen a monster serpent off Nerowas Island. Thirty feet of the monster wasvisible out of the water. The crew and passengers corroborate the report.”

Fig. 71.—Sea-Serpent seen from the Ship “Sacramento,” July30, 1877.
(From the “Australian Sketcher.”)

TheAustralian Sketcher for November 24, 1877, states: “Captain W. H.Nelson, of the American shipSacramento, which arrived in this port fromNew York on October 20, reported that he saw the sea-serpent on hisvoyage. TheArgus paragraph on the subject stated: ‘The date on whichthe creature was seen was on July 30, the ship then being in lat. 31° 59′N. and long. 37° W. The man at the wheel was the first to observe themonster, and he at once called Captain[Pg 300] Nelson, telling him what he saw;but the latter, having the same feeling of incredulity with regard to thesea-serpent as most other people, did not hurry from below. On coming ondeck, however, he was rewarded with a distant glimpse of the supposedsea-serpent, which the helmsman, for his part, declared he saw quiteplainly. Some forty feet of the monster was alleged to be observable. Itappeared to be about the size of a flour-barrel in girth, and its colourwas yellowish; the head is described as being flat. The eyes[Pg 301] were plainlyvisible. Captain Nelson is convinced that what he saw was someextraordinary marine monster.’ We have obtained from John Hart, the man atthe wheel, a pencil sketch of the creature, of which we give an engraving.The sketch is accompanied with a further description, in which the writersays: ‘This is a correct sketch of the sea-serpent seen by me while onboard the shipSacramento, on her passage from New York to Melbourne, Ibeing at the wheel at the time. It had the body of a very large snake; itslength appeared to me to be about fifty feet or sixty feet. Its head waslike an alligator’s, with a pair of flippers about ten feet from its head.The colour was of a reddish brown. At the time seen it was lying perfectlystill, with its head raised about three feet above the surface of the sea,and as it got thirty or forty feet astern, it dropped its head.’”

I confess that I do not attach much weight to this last example, from thesuspicious resemblance which the illustration given in theSketcherbears to an alligator, suggesting that possibly such a creature may havebeen blown by winds or carried by currents to the position where it wasseen. It is true that Mr. Gosse quotes the size of the largest alligatoron record as only seventeen feet and a half, whereas the estimated lengthof the supposed sea-serpent in this instance was from forty to sixty. Butagainst that may be argued the difficulty of estimating lengths or heightswhen you have but a short inspection, and no object immediately near withwhich to institute a comparison[264]; while I am by no means certain thatMr. Gosse’s maximum is correct. Dr. Dennys, of Singapore, has assured methat some years back an alligator, approaching thirty feet in length,haunted for some[Pg 302] days the small tidal creek which runs through, and forsome miles above, that town; while I very well remember Mr. Gregory, theSurveyor-General of Queensland, informing me that in the rivers in thenorth of that colony there were alligators equalling in length awhale-boat, say twenty-eight feet.

Fig. 72.—Sea-Serpent seen from the S.S. “City ofBaltimore,” in the Gulf of Aden,
Jan. 28, 1879. (From the “Graphic” of April 19, 1879.)

TheGraphic of April 19th, 1879, contains a drawing of “a marine monsterseen from S.S.City of Baltimore, in the Gulf of Aden, January 28th.”The descriptive letter-press is as follows:—

“The following is an abstract of the account given by our correspondent,Major H. W. I. Senior, of the Bengal Staff Corps, to whom we are indebtedfor the sketch from which our engraving is taken: ‘On the 28th January1879, at about 10A.M., I was on the poop deck of the steamshipCity ofBaltimore, in latitude 12° 28′ N., longitude 43° 52′ E. I observed a longblack object a-beam of the ship’s stern on the starboard side, at adistance of about three-quarters of a mile, darting rapidly out of thewater and splashing in again with a noise distinctly audible, andadvancing nearer and[Pg 303] nearer at a rapid pace. In a minute it had advancedto within half-a-mile, and was distinctly recognisable as the “veritablesea-serpent.” I shouted out “Sea-serpent! sea-serpent! Call the captain!”Dr. C. Hall, the ship’s surgeon, who was reading on deck, jumped up intime to see the monster, as did also Miss Greenfield, one of thepassengers on board. By this time it was only about five hundred yardsoff, and a little in the rear, owing to the vessel then steaming at therate of about ten knots an hour in a westerly direction. On approachingthe wake of the ship, the serpent turned its course a little way, and wassoon lost to view in the blaze of sunlight reflected on the waves of thesea. So rapid were its movements, that when it approached the ship’s wake,I seized a telescope, but could not catch a view, as it darted rapidly outof the field of the glass before I could see it. I was thus prevented fromascertaining whether it had scales or not; but the best view of themonster obtainable, when it was about three cables’ length, that is, aboutfive hundred yards, distant, seemed to show that it was without scales. Icannot, however, speak with certainty. The head and neck, about two feetin diameter, rose out of the water to a height of about twenty or thirtyfeet, and the monster opened its jaws wide as it rose, and closed themagain as it lowered its head and darted forward for a dive, reappearingalmost immediately some hundred yards ahead. The body was not visible atall, and must have been some depth under water, as the disturbance on thesurface was too slight to attract notice, although occasionally a splashwas seen at some distance behind the head. The shape of the head was notunlike pictures of the dragon I have often seen, with a bull-dogappearance of the forehead and eye-brow. When the monster had drawn itshead sufficiently out of the water, it let itself drop, as it were, like ahuge log of wood, prior to darting forward under the water.’”

[Pg 304]Major Senior’s statement is countersigned by the two persons whom hementions as co-witnesses.

When in Singapore, in 1880, I received the personal testimony of CaptainAnderson, at that time chief officer of thePluto (property of theStraits Government) and formerly a commander in the P. and O. Company’sservice.

Captain Anderson assured me that he had twice seen large sea-serpents.Once off Ushant, when he was chief officer of theDelta in 1861. Noaccount was entered in the log nor any notice sent to the newspapers, forfear of ridicule. On that occasion the whole ship’s company saw it; it wasfive (?) miles distant, and showed fifteen feet of its body out of thewater. It resembled a snake with a large fringe round the neck. Itappeared to be travelling, and moved its head to and fro like a snake. Itnever spouted, and was observed for a quarter of an hour.

The second occasion was in the Red Sea, when he was in command of theSumatra, on the outward trip in October or November 1877. Off Mocha hesaw an animal, five miles distant, that lifted the body high out of thewater like a snake. All exclaimed, “There is the sea-serpent!” but noentry was made in the log, or report made of it. The same creature was,however, seen shortly after by a man-of-war close to Suez and reported.

Mr. J. H. Hoar, of the pilot station, Shanghai, China, informed me that hesaw a sea-serpent some years previously, when he was stationed at Ningpo,on the China coast-line, a little south of the embouchure of theYangtse-kiang. He was at the time on the look-out for a vessel, from thetop of the bank of Lowchew Island, Chinsang, on the southern side of theisland fronting the six-mile passage. This island lies east of WorthPoint. The hill he was on was about one hundred and fifty feet high, thesnake distant about two[Pg 305] hundred and fifty yards, the depth of water sevenfathoms. His attention was directed to it by a group of Chinamen callingout “Shê,” which means “snake.” He saw it lying on the surface of thewater, resembling two masts of a junk end to end, but with a slightinterval. Presently it rose slightly, and then appeared all in one,extended flat upon the surface of the water. He examined it with hisglass, and noticed the eye, which appeared to be as big as a coffeesaucer, and slate-coloured. The head was flat on the top. He estimated thelength at from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and forty feet.

He learned that it was the third occasion of its being seen in that placewithin eight years. An account was published in one of the local journals,by Mr. Sloman, from the statements of the Chinese observers. Mr. Hoar wasprevented from doing the same by the fear of being ridiculed. I may notethat there is a bay, not far from this spot, among the Chusan islands,which has long been credited with being the abode of a great sea-dragon,and in passing over which junks take certain superstitious precautions.

I have little doubt of the identity of the sea-serpent with the sea-dragonof the Chinese. Dr. Dennys[265] says: “Of course our old friend, thesea-serpent, turns up on the coasts of China, and the description of himdoes not greatly differ from that recorded elsewhere. According to apopular legend, the Chien Tang river was at one time infested by a greatkiau or sea-serpent, and in 1129A.D., a district graduate is said to haveheroically thrown himself into the flood to encounter and destroy themonster. It has been already noted that most of the river gods aresupposed to appear in the form of water-snakes, and that the sea-serpentsnoticed in Chinese records have always infested the mouths of rivers.”

The Rev. Mr. Butler, of the Presbyterian Mission in Ningpo,[Pg 306] informed methat a dragon which threatened boats was supposed by the Chinese to infesta narrow passage called Quo Mung, outside of Chinaye. Formerly there weretwo of them in the neighbourhood, which were very furious, and frequentlyupset boats. They had to be appeased by a yearly offering of a girl offair appearance and perfect body. At last, one of theliteratidetermined to stop this. He armed himself, and jumped into the water;blood rose to the surface. He had killed one of the dragons. The otherretired to the narrow place. A temple was erected to the hero at PeachBlossom ferry.

It may be noted that both the Malays and the Chinese attribute the originof ambergris to either a sea-dragon or a sea-serpent. Thus, in thedescription of Ambergris Island or Dragon Spittle Island, contained in theHistory of the Ming Dynasty, Book 325, from which an extract is given(in translation) by Mr. W. P. Groeneveldt, in hisNotes on the MalayArchipelago and Malacca, compiled from Chinese sources,[266] we find itstated that “this island has the appearance of a single mountain, and issituated in the Sea of Lambri, at a distance of one day and one night fromSumatra. It rises abruptly out of the sea, which breaks on it with highwaves.”

“Every spring numerous dragons come together to play on this island, andthey leave behind their spittle. The natives afterwards go in canoes tothe spot and collect this spittle, which they take with them.

“The dragon-spittle is at first like fat, of a black and yellow colour,and with a fishy smell; by length of time it contracts into large lumps;and these are also found in the belly of a large fish, of the size of theChinese peck, and also with a fishy smell. When burnt it has a pure anddelicious fragrance.

[Pg 307]“It is sold in the market of Sumatra, one tael, official weight, costingtwelve golden coins of that country, and one cati,[267] one hundred andninety-two of such pieces, equal to about nine thousand Chinese coppercash; and so it is not very cheap.”

Dr. F. Porter Smith[268] states that there can be no doubt that thecostly, odorous, light yellow, gummy substance, found floating on the sea,or procured from the belly of some large fish in the Indian Ocean, andknown by the Chinese of the present day aslung sin, or dragon’sspittle, is actually ambergris. The dragon is said to cough it up.

“A similar substance, calledkih-tiau-chi, brought from Canton andFoochow in former days, is said to be the egg of the dragon or a kind ofsea-serpent namedkih tiau. The namekih tiau is singularly like theGreek name for a sea-monster.”

One of the most remarkable accounts of sea-monsters, which I believe to bethoroughly trustworthy, is of an animal seen in the Malacca Straits in1876.

The first notice of it appeared in theStraits Times Overland Journalfor September 18th, 1876, in the form of a short editorial.

“Our friend Mr. Henry Lee, ofLand and Water, who in his late work hastaken so much trouble to enter into and describe the habits andpeculiarities of the sea-serpent,[269] will[Pg 308] be glad to hear that thepassengers and officers of the S.S.Nestor, which arrived here thismorning, are unanimous in the conclusion, and vouch for the fact, that anextraordinary sea-monster was seen by them between Malacca and Penang ontheir voyage to this port, on Monday, about noon. It was about two hundredand fifty feet long, about fifty feet broad, square-headed, with black andyellow stripes, closely resembling a salamander.”

Mr. Cameron, proprietor of the journal, subsequently informed me that hehad specially warned Captain Webster of the certain doubt that would becast upon his statement,[Pg 309] but he still insisted on its publication. It wasconfirmed by Mr. H. R. Beaver, a merchant of Singapore, and other personswho were passengers by the boat.

The same newspaper (Straits Times Overland Journal), on November 2,1876, had the following extract from theChina Mail:—

“It is more than probable that Captain Webster, of the steamerNestor,will be ‘interviewed’ very extensively when he reaches a berth in LondonDocks. A genuine sea-serpent is not met with every day, and as theobservations made by the officers of the ship have, we understand, beenset down in some formal way before Consul Medhurst at Shanghai, to beforwarded to theField, the naturalists will be in a position to pursuetheir researches when the captain arrives. Competent authorities are nowof opinion that the part of the monster formerly supposed to have been itshead, must have been a hump; and that its head’s being under water wouldaccount for the supreme contempt with which it treated the passage of thesteamer. The undulating motion of the huge animal would explain thestatement that this knob or hump rose occasionally about six feet out ofthe water. The alternate yellow and black stripes which covered all thatcould be seen of the body, appear to have conveyed the impression that thetail was like that of a dragon covered with scales, although thatconclusion need not necessarily be looked upon as certain. If the head ofthis unknown ‘shape’ was actually under water, then the length becomesproportionately greater. It was over two hundred feet long before, it mustnow be regarded as measuring, say, two hundred and fifty feet, which, withforty-five or fifty feet beam, gives a leviathan of something like thedimensions of an old-fashioned frigate.”

A correspondent of theCelestial Empire, of Shanghai, wrote thus to thejournal:—

Mr. Stephen Cave, M.P. for Shoreham, in 1861, communicated to Mr. Gosse ashort statement, which throws some light upon the food of the monster. Itis in the form of an[Pg 311] extract from his journal written during a voyage tothe West Indies, in 1846, as follows:—

“Thursday, December 10, off Madeira, on board R.M.S.Thomas, madeacquaintance with a Captain Christmas, of the Danish Navy, a proprietor inSanta Cruz, and holding some office about the Danish court. He told me heonce saw a sea-serpent between Iceland and the Faroe islands. He waslying-to in a gale of wind, in a frigate of which he had the command, whenan immense shoal of porpoises rushed by the ship as if pursued; and, loand behold, a creature with a neck moving like that of a swan, about thethickness of a man’s waist, with a head like a horse, raised itself slowlyand gracefully from the deep, and, seeing the ship, it immediatelydisappeared again, head foremost, like a duck diving. He only saw it for afew seconds. The part above the water seemed about eighteen feet inlength. He is a singularly intelligent man, and by no means one to allowhis imagination to run away with him.”

Witty journalists had a good time over the publication of the story of theserpent seen by Captain Drevar, with which I shall wind up my list ofapparitions. As will be seen, however, the captain stuck manfully to hisguns, and I, for one, am of the belief that he really saw the incidentwhich he narrates. I have not met the captain himself, but I did, inSingapore, meet with many who had heard the whole story from his own lips,and whose impression was that he was a truthful man.

Fig. 73.—Sea-Serpent attacking Whale, as seen by
Capt. Drevar, of the Barque “Pauline,” in 1876.

BarquePauline, January 8th, 1875, lat. 5° 13′ S., long. 35° W.,Cape Roque, north-east corner of Brazil distant twenty miles, at 11A.M.

The weather fine and clear, the wind and sea moderate. Observed someblack spots on the water, and a whitish pillar, about thirty-five feethigh, above them. At the first glance I took all to be breakers, asthe sea was splashing up fountain-like about them, and the pillar, a[Pg 313]pinnacle rock bleached with the sun; but the pillar fell with asplash, and a similar one rose. They rose and fell alternately inquick succession, and good glasses showed me it was a monstersea-serpent coiled twice round a large sperm whale. The head and tailparts, each about thirty feet long, were acting as levers, twistingitself and victim around with great velocity. They sank out of sightabout every two minutes, coming to the surface still revolving, andthe struggles of the whale and two other whales that were near,frantic with excitement, made the sea in this vicinity like a boilingcauldron; and a loud and confused noise was distinctly heard. Thisstrange occurrence lasted some fifteen minutes, and finished with thetail portion of the whale being elevated straight in the air, thenwaving backwards and forwards, and laving [lashing?] the waterfuriously in the last death-struggle, when the whole body disappearedfrom our view, going down head-foremost towards the bottom, where, nodoubt, it was gorged at the serpent’s leisure; and that monster ofmonsters may have been many months in a state of coma, digesting thehuge mouthful. Then two of the largest sperm whales that I have everseen moved slowly thence towards the vessel, their bodies more thanusually elevated out of the water, and not spouting or making theleast noise, but seeming quite paralysed with fear; indeed, a coldshiver went through my own frame on beholding the last agonisingstruggle of the poor whale that had seemed as helpless in the coils ofthe vicious monster as a small bird in the talons of a hawk. Allowingfor two coils round the whale, I think the serpent was about onehundred and sixty or one hundred and seventy feet long, and seven oreight in girth. It was in colour much like a conger eel, and the head,from the mouth being always open, appeared the largest part of thebody.... I think Cape San Roque is a landmark for whales leaving thesouth for the North Atlantic.... I wrote thus far, little thinking Iwould ever see the serpent again; but at 7A.M., July 13th, in thesame latitude, and some eighty miles east of San Roque, I wasastonished to see the same or a similar monster. It was throwing itshead and about forty feet of its body in a horizontal position out[Pg 314] ofthe water as it passed onwards by the stern of our vessel. I beganmusing why we were so much favoured with such a strange visitor, andconcluded that the band of white paint, two feet wide above thecopper, might have looked like a fellow-serpent to it, and, no doubt,attracted its attention.... While thus thinking, I was startled by thecry of “There it is again,” and a short distance to leeward, elevatedsome sixty feet in the air, was the great leviathan, grimly lookingtowards the vessel. As I was not sure it was only our free board itwas viewing, we had all our axes ready, and were fully determined,should the brute embrace thePauline, to chop away for its backbonewith all our might, and the wretch might have found for once in itslife that it had caught a Tartar. This statement is strictly true, andthe occurrence was witnessed by my officers, half the crew, andmyself; and we are ready, at any time, to testify on oath that it isso, and that we are not in the least mistaken.... A vessel, aboutthree years ago, was dragged over by some sea-monster in the IndianOcean.

George Drevar,
Master of thePauline.

Chittagong, January 15, 1876.

Captain George Drevar, of the barquePauline, appeared on Wednesdaymorning at the Police-court, Dale-street, before Mr. Raffles,stipendiary magistrate, accompanied by some of his officers and partof the crew of the barque, when they made the following declaration:—

“We, the undersigned, captain, officers, and crew of the barquePauline, of London, do solemnly and sincerely declare that on July8th, 1875, in latitude 5° 13′, longitude 35° W., we observed threelarge sperm whales, and one of them was gripped round the body withtwo turns of what appeared to be a large serpent. The head and tailappeared to have a length beyond the coils of about thirty feet, andits girth eight or nine feet. The serpent whirled its victim round andround for about fifteen minutes, and then suddenly dragged the whaleto the bottom, head first.

“George Drevar,Master,
“Horatio Thompson,
“Henderson Landello,
“Owen Baker,
“William Lewan.

“Again, on July 13th, a similar serpent was seen about two hundredyards off, shooting itself along the surface, head and neck being outof the water several feet. This was seen only by the captain and oneordinary seaman.

“George Drevar,Master.

[Pg 315]“A few moments after, it was seen elevated some sixty feetperpendicularly in the air by the chief officer and the following ableseamen, Horatio Thompson, Owen Baker, William Lewan. And we make thissolemn declaration, conscientiously believing the same to be true.

“George Drevar,Master,
“William Lewan,Steward,
“Horatio Thompson,Chief Officer,
“John Henderson Landello,2nd Officer,
“Owen Baker.”

Some confirmation of Captain Drevar’s story is afforded by one quoted bythe Rev. Henry T. Cheeves, inThe Whale and his Captors. The authorsays:—

“From a statement made by a Kinebeck shipmaster in 1818, and sworn tobefore a justice of the peace in Kinebeck county, Maine, it would seemthat the notable sea-serpent and whale are sometimes found in conflict. Atsix o’clock in the afternoon of June 21st, in the packetDelia, plyingbetween Boston and Hallowell, when Cape Ann bore west-south-west about twomiles, steering north-north-east, Captain Shuback West and fifteen otherson board with him saw an object directly ahead, which he had no doubt wasthe sea-serpent, or the creature so often described under that name,engaged in fight with a large whale....

“The serpent threw up its tail from twenty-five to thirty feet in aperpendicular direction, striking the whale by it with tremendous blows,rapidly repeated, which were distinctly heard, and very loud, for two orthree minutes; they then both disappeared, moving in a south-westdirection; but after a few minutes reappeared in-shore of the packet, andabout under the sun, the reflection of which was so strong as to preventtheir seeing so distinctly as at first, when the serpent’s fearful blowswith his tail were repeated and clearly heard as before. They again wentdown for a short time, and then came up to the surface under the packet’slarboard quarter, the whale appearing first, and the serpent in pursuit,who was again seen to shoot up his tail as before, which[Pg 316] he held out ofwater for some time, waving it in the air before striking, and at the sametime his head fifteen or twenty feet, as if taking a view of the surfaceof the sea. After being seen in this position a few minutes, the serpentand whale again disappeared, and neither was seen after by any on board.It was Captain West’s opinion that the whale was trying to escape, as hespouted but once at a time on coming to the surface, and the last time heappeared he went down before the serpent came up.”

Fig. 75.—Sea-Serpent attacking Whale.
(From Sketches by Capt. Davidson, S.S. “Kiushiu-maru.”)

A remarkable and independent corroboration of modern date comes from theJapan seas. It was reported both in[Pg 317] local papers and in theSanFrancisco Californian Mail-Bag for 1879, from which I extract the noticeand the illustrative cuts (Fig. 75).

“The accompanying engravings arefac-similes of a sketch sent to us byCaptain Davidson, of the steamshipKiushiu-maru,[271] and is inserted asa specimen of the curious drawings which are frequently forwarded to usfor insertion. Captain Davidson’s statement, which is countersigned by hischief officer, Mr. McKechnie, is as follows:—

“‘Saturday, April 5th, at 11.15A.M., Cape Satano distant about ninemiles, the chief officer and myself observed a whale jump clear out of thesea, about a quarter of a mile away.

“‘Shortly after it leaped out again, when I saw there was somethingattached to it. Got glasses, and on the next leap distinctly saw somethingholding on to the belly of the whale. The latter gave one more springclear of the water, and myself and chief officer then observed whatappeared to be a creature of the snake species rear itself about thirtyfeet out of the water. It appeared to be about the thickness of a junk’smast, and after standing about ten seconds in an erect position, itdescended into the water, the upper end going first. With my glasses Imade out the colour of the beast to resemble that of a pilot fish.’”

There is an interesting story[272] of a fight between a water-snake and atrout, by Mr. A. W. Chase, Assistant United States Coast Survey, which,magnis componere parva, may be accepted as an illustration of how acreature of serpentine form would have to deal with a whale; only, as onthe surface or in mid-water it would be prevented from grasping any rocksby which to anchor itself, we may readily conceive it[Pg 318] holding on with atenacious grip of its extended jaws, and drawing itself up to the enemyuntil it could either embrace it in its coils or stun it with violentblows of the tail.[273]

“The trout, at first sight, was lying in mid-water, heading up stream. Itwas, as afterwards appeared, fully nine inches in length.... This newenemy of the trout was a large water-snake of the common variety, stripedblack and yellow. He swam up the pool on the surface until over the trout,when he made a dive, and by a dexterous movement seized the trout in sucha fashion that the jaws of the snake closed its mouth. The fight thencommenced. The trout had the use of its tail and fins, and could drag thesnake from the surface; when near the bottom, however, the snake made useof its tail by winding it round every stone or root that it could reach.After securing this tail-hold, it could drag the trout towards the bank,but on letting go the trout would have a new advantage. This battle wascontinued for full twenty minutes, when the snake managed to get its tailout of the water and clasped around the root of one of the willowsmentioned as overhanging the pool. The battle was then up, for the snakegradually put coil after coil around the root, with each one dragging thefish toward the land. When half its body was coiled it unloosed the firsthold, and stretched the end of its tail out in every direction, andfinding another root, made fast; and now, using both, dragged the trout onthe gravel bank. It now had it under control, and, uncoiling, the snakedragged the fish fully ten feet up on the bank, and, I suppose would havegorged him,” &c. &c.

[Pg 319]Captain Drevar follows Pontoppidan (probably unwittingly) in identifyingthe sea-serpent with the leviathan of Scripture, quoting Isaiah xxvii. 1,“In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shallpunish leviathan, the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crookedserpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.” As I read theabove passage, it is the dragon that is in the sea, and not the leviathan,which should be identified with the sea-serpent, unless the two, dragonand leviathan, are in apposition, which does not seem to be the case.

These various narratives which I have collected are, for the most part,well attested by the signature, or declaration on oath, of well-known andresponsible people. Captain Drevar, in the small pamphlet which he hadprinted for private circulation, says: “Does any thinking person imagine Icould keep command over men with a deliberate lie in our mouths?” and asimilar question may be asked, with, I think, the possibility of only onereply, in the case of the narratives of Captain M’Quhœ and otherofficers and commanders in various navies and merchant vessels, and of thenumerous other reputable witnesses who have affirmed, either as a simplestatement or on oath, that they have seen sundry remarkable sea-monsters.I used the expression, “I think,” because, of course, there is thepossibility of scepticism.

“Authority, in matters of opinion, divides itself (say) into threeprincipal classes: there is the authority of witnesses; they testify tomatters of fact. The judgment upon these is commonly, though not always,easy; but this testimony is always the substitution of the faculties ofothers for our own, which, taken largely, constitutes the essence ofauthority.

“This is the kind which we justly admit with the smallest jealousy. Yetnot always; one man admits, another refuses,[Pg 320] the authority of asea-captain and a sailor or two on the existence of a sea-serpent.”[274]

I, for my part, belong to the former of these two categories. I believe inthe statements that I have recorded, and in the following reasoningaddress only those who do likewise.

That mistakes have occasionally occurred is undoubted. Mr. Gosse recordstwo instances in which long patches of sea-weed so far excited theimagination of captains of vessels as to cause them to lower boats andproceed to the attack.

The credibility of ghost stories generally is much affected when supposedapparitions are investigated and traced to some simple cause; and thehypersceptical may argue on parallel grounds that the transformation, insome few instances, of a supposed sea-serpent into sea-weed, or theadmission of the plausible suggestion that it has been simulated by aseal, a string of porpoises, or some other very ordinary animals, largelyaffects the whole question.

And this would undoubtedly be the case if the conditions of the severalexamples were at all similar. But the hesitation or temporarymisapprehension of captains or crews, in a thousand instances, as to thenature of a string of weed, supine on the surface, and lashed intofantastic motion by the surge of the ocean waves, has absolutely nobearing on the positive stories of a creature which is seen in calm fjordsand bays to roll itself coil after coil, uplift its head high above thewater, exhibit capacious jaws armed with teeth, conspicuous eyes, and pawsor paddles, which pursues and menaces boats, presents a tangible object toa marksman, and when struck disappears with a mighty splash.

The probability of a gigantic seal, or of a string of[Pg 321]porpoises, beingmistaken for a sea-serpent by post-captains and their officers in the Navyis small, but becomes almost, if not quite, impossible when the observersare fishermen on coasts like those of Norway, who have been in the habitof seeing seals and porpoises almost every day of their lives. We may,therefore, freely grant that occasional mistakes have arisen, just as wehave admitted that undoubtedly many hoaxes have been indulged in.

A rational and commonplace explanation is quite possible in some cases,as, for example, in that of a creature of abnormal appearance seen by thecrew of Her Majesty’s yacht, theOsborne, in the Mediterranean, whichwas suggested, with great probability, to have been, if I remembercorrectly, some species of shark; while the supposed sea-serpent, washedup on the Isle of Stronsa, in 1808, proved, on scientific examination, tobe a shark of the genus Selache, probably belonging to the species knownas “the barking shark.”

The great oceanic bone shark, known to few except whalers, which has beenstated to reach as much as sixty feet in length, may also occasionallyhave originated a misconception; and there must be still remaining in thedepths of the ocean undescribed species of fish, of bizarre form, andprobably gigantic size, the occasional appearance of which would puzzle anobserver.

For example, in November 1879, an illustration was given in theGraphicof “another marine monster,” professing to be a sketch in the Gulf of Suezfrom H.M.S.Philomel, accompanied by the following descriptiveletter-press:—

“This strange monster,” says Mr. W. J. Andrews, Assistant Paymaster,H.M.S.Philomel, “was seen by the officers and ship’s company of thisship at about 5.30P.M. on October 14, when in the gulf of Suez, CapeZafarana bearing at the time N.W. seventeen miles, lat. 28° 56′ N., long.32° 54′ E.

[Pg 322]“When first observed it was rather more than a mile distant on the portbow, its snout projecting from the surface of the water, and stronglymarked ripples showing the position of the body. It then opened its jaws,as shown in the sketch, and shut them again several times, forcing thewater from between them as it did so in all directions in large jets. Fromtime to time a portion of the back and dorsal fin appeared at somedistance from the head. After remaining some little time in theabove-described position, it disappeared, and on coming to the surfaceagain it repeated the action of elevating the head and opening the jawsseveral times, turning slowly from side to side as it did so.

Fig. 76.—Another Marine Monster. A Sketch in the Gulf ofSuez, from
H.M.S. “Philomel,” Oct. 14, 1879. (From the “Graphic,” Nov. 1879.)

“On the approach of the ship the monster swam swiftly away, leaving abroad track like the wake of a ship, and disappeared beneath the waves.

“The colour of that portion of the body that was seen was black, as wasalso the upper jaw. The lower jaw was grey round the mouth, but of abright salmon colour underneath, like the belly of some kinds of lizard,becoming redder as it approached the throat. The inside of the mouthappeared to[Pg 323] be grey with white stripes, parallel to the edges of the jaw,very distinctly marked. These might have been rows of teeth or of somesubstance resembling whalebone. The height the snout was elevated abovethe surface of the water was at least fifteen feet, and the spread of thejaws quite twenty-five feet.”

Strangely enough, a proximate counterpart of this fish, but of mimic size,was made known to science in 1882. My attention was called by Mr. Streich,of the German Consulate in Shanghai, to a description of this in theDaheim, an illustrated family paper, published in Leipzig, with anillustrative figure, from which I inferred that the monster seen by thecrew of thePhilomel was only a gigantic and adult specimen of a speciesbelonging to the same order, perhaps to the same genus, as theEurypharynx, adapted to live in the depths of the ocean, and onlyappearing upon the surface rarely and as the result of some abnormalconditions. I givefac-similes of both engravings, in order that myreaders may draw their own comparison. The letter-press of the Daheim isas follows:—

“The deep-sea explorations of last year, which extended over eightthousand metres in depth, brought to light some very extraordinaryanimals, of which, up to the present date, we have no idea. The mostcurious one was found by the French steamerLe Travailleur, on whichthere was a staff of naturalists, and of the number was M. Milne Edwards.They were entirely devoted to deep-sea dredging.

“Between Morocco and the Canary Islands, at two thousand three hundredmetres depth, the dredge caught a most wonderful animal, which at thefirst glance nobody thought[Pg 324]to be a fish. This fish, of which we givehere a picture, dwells on the bottom of the sea where the water is +5°Celsius,[276] in a kind of red slime composed of the shells of smallGlobigerinæ. On account of its curious mouth it has been calledEurypharynx Pelicanoides,i.e. the Pelican-like Broad-jaws. Thiscreature is distinguished from all its class by the peculiar constructionof its mouth, its under jaw being of a structure different from that ofany other fish, possessing only two small teeth and a big pouch of mostexpansible skin, similar to the sac which a pelican has on its under jaw.In this sac it (the Broad-jaw) collects its food, and as its stomach is ofvery small dimensions, we may, from analogy with other fishes, concludethat it digests partly in this sac.

“The swimming apparatus of this fish is not much developed, and reduced toa number of spines erect from the back and the belly.

[Pg 325]“The pectoral fins, which are immediately behind the eye, are also verysmall, so that we may conclude from this that this fish does not movemuch, and is not a good swimmer.

“It only inhabits the bottom of the sea. Its body decreases graduallybackwards till it finishes in a string-like tail. The organs for breathingare not much developed. Six slits (gill apertures?) allow the water toenter.

“The colour of the fish (the size of which we do not find in ourauthority) is velvet black.”

Before proceeding further I must point out that we may dismiss from ourminds the possibility of the so-called sea-serpent being merely a largeexample of those marine serpents of which several species and numerousindividuals are known to exist on the coast of many tropical countries,for these are rarely more than from four to six feet in length, althoughDampier[277] mentions one which he saw on the northern coast of Australia,which was long (but the length is not specified) and as big as a man’sleg. He gives a curious instance of these biters being bit, which heobserved not far from Scoutens Island, off New Guinea:—

“On the 23rd we saw two snakes, and the next morning another passing byus, which was furiously assaulted by two fishes that had kept in companyfive or six days. They were shaped like mackerel, and were about thatbigness and length, and of a yellow-greenish colour. The snake swam awayfrom them very fast, keeping his head above water. The fish snapped at histail; but when he turned himself that fish would withdraw and anotherwould snap; so that by turns they kept him employed. Yet he still defendedhimself, and swam away at a great pace, till they were out of sight.”

[Pg 326]Leguat[278] speaks of a marine serpent, over sixty pounds in weight, whichhe and his comrades in misfortune captured and tasted, when marooned byorder of the Governor of the Mauritius on some small island off theharbour, about six miles from the shore. He says:—

“It was a frightful sea-serpent, which we in our great simplicity took fora large lamprey or eel. This animal seemed to us very extraordinary, forit had fins, and we knew not that there were any such creatures assea-serpents. Moreover, we had been so accustomed to discover creaturesthat were new to us, both at land and at sea, that we did not think thisto be any other than an odd sort of eel that we never had seen before, yetwhich we could not but think more resembled a snake than an eel. In aword, the monster had a serpent or crocodile’s head, and a mouth full ofhooked, long and sharp teeth.... When our purveyors came we related tothem what had happened to us, and showed them the eel’s head, but theyonly said they had never seen the like.”

In spite of Leguat’s impression, I think it was only some species ofconger eel.

Marine serpents are abundant on the Malay coast, and particularly so inthe Indian Ocean. Niebuhr says:—

“In the Indian Ocean, at a certain distance from land, a great manywater-serpents, from twelve to fifteen inches in length, are to be seenrising above the surface of the water. When these serpents are seen theyare an indication that the coast is exactly two degrees distant. We sawsome of these serpents, for the first time, on the evening of the 9th ofSeptember; on the 11th we landed in the harbour of Bombay.”[279]

[Pg 327]These sea-snakes are reputed to be mostly, if not entirely, venomous.Their motion in the water is by undulation in a horizontal, not in avertical, direction; they breathe with lungs; their home is on thesurface, and they would perish if confined for any considerable periodbeneath it.

Fig. 78.—Scoliophis Atlanticus. Killed on the Sea-shorenear Boston, in 1817,
and at that time supposed to be the young of the Sea-Serpent.

It is an open question whether conger eels may not exist, in the oceandepths, of far greater dimensions than those of the largest individualswith which we are acquainted. Major Wolf, who was stationed at Singaporewhile I was there in 1880, gave me information which seems to corroboratethis idea. He stated that when dining some years before with a retiredcaptain of the 39th Regiment, then resident at Wicklow, the latterinformed him that, having upon one occasion gone to the coast with hisservant in attendance on him, the latter asked permission to ceasecontinuing on with the captain in order that he might bathe. Havingreceived permission, he proceeded to do so, and swam out beyond the edgeof the shallow water into the deep. A coastguardsman, who was watching himfrom the cliff above, was horrified to see something like a huge fishpursuing the man after he had turned round towards the shore. He wasafraid to call out lest the man should be perplexed. The man,[Pg 328] however,heard some splash or noise behind him, and looked round and saw a largehead, like a bull-dog’s head, projecting out of the water as if to seizehim. He made a frantic rush shoreways, and striking the shallow ground,clambered out as quickly as possible, but broke one of his toes from theviolence with which he struck the ground. This story was confirmed by aMr. Burbidge, a farmer, who stated that on one occasion when he himselfwas bathing within a mile or so of the same spot, the water commencedswirling around him, and that, being alarmed, he swam rapidly in, and waspursued by something perfectly corresponding with that described by theother narrator, and which he supposed to be a large conger eel. In eachcase the length was estimated at twenty feet. Mr. Gosse gives the greatestlength recorded at ten feet.

Were we only acquainted with a small and certain proportion of thesea-serpent stories, we might readily imagine that they had beenoriginated by a sight of some monstrous conger, but there are detailsexhibited by them, taken as a whole, which forbid that idea. We musttherefore search elsewhere for the affinities of the sea-serpent.

And first as to those authorities who believe and who disbelieve in itsexistence.

Professor Owen, in 1848, attacked theDædalus story in a very masterlymanner, and extended his arguments so as to embrace the generalnon-probability of other stories which had previously affirmed it. He was,in fact, its main scientific opponent.

Sir Charles Lyell, upon the other hand, was, I believe, persuaded of itsexistence from the numerous accounts which he accumulated on the occasionof his second visit to America, especially evidence procured for him byMr. J. W. Dawson, of Pictou, as to one seen, in 1844, at Arisaig, near thenorth-east end of Nova Scotia, and as to[Pg 329] another, in August 1845, atMerigomish, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Agassiz also gave in his adhesion to it. “I have asked myself, inconnection with this subject, whether there is not such an animal as thesea-serpent. There are many who will doubt the existence of such acreature until it can be brought under the dissecting knife; but it hasbeen seen by so many on whom we may rely, that it is wrong to doubt anylonger. The truth is, however, that if a naturalist had to sketch theoutlines of an icthyosaurus or plesiosaurus from the remains we have ofthem, he would make a drawing very similar to the sea-serpent as it hasbeen described. There is reason to think that the parts are soft andperishable, but I still consider it probable that it will be the goodfortune of some person on the coast of Norway or North America to find aliving representative of this type of reptile, which is thought to havedied out.”

Mr. Z. Newman was the first scientific man to absolutely affirm his beliefin its existence, and to indicate its probable zoological affinities; andhe was ably followed by Mr. Gosse, who, in the charming work[280] alreadyfrequently quoted, exhaustively discusses the whole question.

Mr. Gosse, however, to my mind, forgoes a great portion of the advantageof his argument by a too limited acceptance of authorities, and leavesuntouched, as have all who preceded him, the question of the breathingapparatus of the creature, and also omits insisting, as he might well havedone, on the remarkable coincidence of the seasons and climatic conditionsat and under which the creature ordinarily exhibits itself, which may bequoted first as an argument in favour of the reality of the differentstories, and, secondly, as affording indications[Pg 330] of the nature and habitsof the creature to which they relate.

Both Mr. Newman and Mr. Gosse, moreover, laboured under the disadvantageof being unacquainted with some of the later stories, such as that of theNestor sea-serpent seen in the Straits of Malacca, which appears toamply substantiate the general conclusion at which they had already,happily, as I conceive, arrived.

In nearly all the cases quoted, and in all of those where the creature hasappeared in the deep fjords of Norway or in the bays of other coasts, thedate of its appearance has been some time during the months of July andAugust, and the weather calm and hot. These last summer conditions, inhigh latitudes, do not obtain for long together, so that the auspicesfavourable to the appearance of the creature would probably not exist formore than a few weeks in each season, and during the remainder of the yearit would rest secluded in the depths of the fjords, presuming those to beits permanent habitation, or in some oceanic home, if, as would seem morelikely to be the case, its appearance in the bays and fjords was simplydue to a temporary visit, made possibly in connection with itsreproduction; for, were its habitation in the fjords constant, we shouldexpect it to make its appearance annually, instead of at irregular anddistant intervals.

Professor Owen, in his very able discussion of theDædalus story, baseshis main argument against the serpentine character of the creature seen inthis and other instances on there being either no undulation at all of thebody, or a vertical one, which is not a characteristic of serpents, and onthe fact of no remains having ever been discovered washed up on the Norwaycoasts. He says:—

“Now, a serpent, being an air-breathing animal, with long vesicular andreceptacular lungs, dives with an effort, and[Pg 331] commonly floats when dead,and so would the sea-serpent, until decomposition or accident had openedthe tough integument and let out the imprisoned gases.... During life theexigencies of the respiration of the great sea-serpent would always compelhim frequently to the surface; and, when dead and swollen, it would

Such a spectacle, demonstrative of the species if it existed, has nothitherto met the gaze of any of the countless voyagers who have traversedthe seas in so many directions.”

But, assuming it to be neither a serpent nor an air-breathing creature,the very cogent arguments which he applied so powerfully fall to theground, and I may at once state that a review of the whole of the reportedcases of its appearance entirely favours the first assumption, while alittle reflection will show the necessity of the latter. No air-breathingcreature, or rather a creature furnished with lungs, could possibly exist,even for a season only, in the inland bays of populous countries likeNorway and Scotland without continually exposing itself to observation;but this is not the case. Whereas there is no difficulty in conceivingthat a creature adapted to live in the depths of the ocean could breathereadily enough at the surface, even for considerable periods; for we knowthat fish of many kinds, and notably carp, can retain life for days, andeven weeks, when removed from the water, provided they happen to be in amoist situation.

Again, a power of constriction, a characteristic of boas and pythons, andtherefore implying an alliance with them, is not necessarily indicated, asmight be supposed, even by the action affirmed in Captain Drevar’s story;for a creature of serpentine form, attacking another, might coil itselfround for the mere purpose of maintaining a hold while it tore its[Pg 332] victimopen with its powerful jaws and teeth. This action is simply that of aneel which, on being hooked, grasps weeds at the bottom to resist capture.

Nor are we bound to accept in any way the captain’s suggestion that themonster gorged its victim after the fashion of a land-serpent. It may asreadily have torn it open and fed on it as an eel might; and it is,indeed, not unreasonable to suppose that so powerful a monster would findits prey among large creatures, such as seals, porpoises, and the smallercetaceæ.

That the sea-serpent was formerly more frequently seen on the Norwegiancoasts than now I consider probable, as also that its visits wereconnected with its breeding season, and discontinued in consequence of thegreater number and larger size of vessels, and especially of theintroduction of steam. As a parallel instance, I may mention that, in theearly days of the settlement of Australia, sperm whales resorted to theharbours along its coasts for calving purposes, and were sufficientlynumerous to cause the maintenance of what were called “bay whalingstations” at Hobart Town, Spring Bay, and many other harbours of Tasmaniaand South Australia. At the present time, the sperm whale rarelyapproaches within ten miles of the coast, and the small whaling fleetfinds scanty occupation in the ocean extending south from the greatAustralian bight to the south cape of Tasmania. Mr. Gosse eliminates fromhis concluding analysis of sea-serpent stories all those recorded byNorwegian and American observers, and argues only upon a selected numberresting on British evidence.

By this contraction he loses as a basis of argument a number of accountswhich I consider as credible as those he quotes, and from which positivedeductions might be drawn, more weighty than those of similar, but merelyinferential, character which he employs.

The account of the monster seen by Hans Egede, for[Pg 333] example, where thecreature exhibited itself more completely than it did in any of theinstances selected by Mr. Gosse, specifically indicated the possession ofpaws, flippers, fins or paddles, while this can only be surmised at, inthe latter cases to which I refer, from the progressive steady motion ofthe creature, with the head and neck elevated above the surface, andapparently unaffected by any undulatory motion of the body. This at onceremoves it from the serpent class, without any necessity for theadditional confirmation which the enlarged proportions of the body incomparison with those of the neck, as given in Egede’s amended version,afford us.

The creature seen in the Straits of Malacca, and one quoted by Mr. Newman,in theZoologist, exhibit characters which confirm Egede’s story. In thelatter instance, “Captain the Hon. George Hope states that, when in H.M.S.Fly, in the Gulf of California, the sea being perfectly calm andtransparent, he saw at the moment a large marine animal, with the head andgeneral figure of an alligator, except that the neck was much longer, andthat instead of legs the creature had four large flappers, somewhat likethose of turtles, the anterior pair being larger than those of theposterior. The creature was distinctly visible, and all its movementscould be observed with ease. It appeared to be pursuing its prey at thebottom of the sea. Its movements were somewhat serpentine, and anappearance of annulations or ring-like divisions of the body weredistinctly perceptible.” Mr. Gosse, commenting on this story, says: “Now,unless this officer was egregiously deceived, he saw an animal which couldhave been no other than an Enaliosaur, a marine reptile of large size, ofsauroid figure, with turtle-like paddles.”

In the former case the creature was far more gigantic and robust, incontradistinction to the slender and serpentine form more usuallyobserved, and we must consequently infer that there is not merely one butseveral distinct species of[Pg 334] marine monster, unknown and rarely exhibitingthemselves, belonging to different genera, and perhaps orders, but allpopularly included under the title of “sea-serpent.”

The attempt to classify these presents difficulties. Mr. Gosse, however,has very ably reviewed the somewhat scanty materials at his command, and,agreeing with the suggestion made originally by Mr. Newman, has elaboratedthe argument that one of the old Enaliosaurs exists to the present day.This form, Palæontology tells us, commenced in the Carboniferous, attainedits maximum specific development in the Jurassic, and continued to theclose of the Cretaceous periods. This rational suggestion is supported bythe collateral argument that some few Ganoid fishes and species ofTerebratula, have continuously existed to the present time; that certainPlacoid fishes, of which we have no trace, and which consequently musthave been very scarce during Tertiary periods, reappear abundantly asrecent species; that the Iguanodon is represented by the Iguana of theAmerican tropics, and that the Trionychidæ, or river tortoises, whichcommenced during the Wealden, and disappeared from thence until thepresent period, are now abundantly represented in the rivers of the Oldand the New World.

The points of resemblance between the northern and most often seen form ofthe sea-serpent and certain genera of the Enaliosaurs, such asPlesiosaurus, are a long swan-like neck, a flattened lizard-like head andprogress by means of paddles. A difficulty in this connection arises,however, in respect to the breathing apparatus. Palæontologists favour theidea that the Plesiosaurus and its allies were air-breathing creatureswith long necks, adapted to habitual projection above the surface. Such aconstruction and habit is, as I have before said, to my mind, impossiblein the case of an animal of so scarce an appearance as the sea-serpent;and I am incapable of estimating how far the theory is inflexible inregard to the old forms that I have mentioned. May[Pg 335] there not be somelarge marine form combining some of the characters of the salamander andthe saurians; may not the pigmy newt of Europe, the large salamandertenanting the depths of Lake Biwa in Japan, and the famous fossil form,theHomo Diluvii Testis of Sheuzberg, have a marine cousin linking themwith the gigantic forms which battled in the Oolitic seas? May not thetuft of loose skin or scroll encircling its head have some connection witha branchial apparatus analagous to that of the Amphibia; and was not thelarge fringe round the neck, like a beard, noticed on the one seen byCaptain Anderson when in the Delta in 1861, of a similar nature?

In conclusion, I must strongly express my own conviction, which I hope,after the perusal of the evidence contained in the foregoing pages, willbe shared by my readers, that, let the relations of the sea-serpent bewhat they may; let it be serpent, saurian, or fish, or some formintermediate to them; and even granting that those relations may never bedetermined, or only at some very distant date; yet, nevertheless, thecreature must now be removed from the regions of myth, and credited withhaving a real existence, and that its name includes not one only, butprobably several very distinct gigantic species, allied more or lessclosely, and constructed to dwell in the depths of the ocean, and whichonly occasionally exhibit themselves to a fortune-favoured wonder-gazingcrew.

It is with great pleasure that I add the following testimony of a beliefin the existence of the sea-serpent, from a country which has not hithertobeen supposed to have any traditions relating to it. My inquiries inBurmah, as to a belief among its inhabitants in sundry so-called mythicalbeings, led me unexpectedly on the track of the following information, forwhich I am indebted to the scholarship and[Pg 336]courtesy of F. Ripley, Esq.,Government Translator in the Secretariat Department, Rangoon.

“The creature Nyan is called in the Mágadha languageTanti-gáha, in theBengáliGara; in the Sakkata,Gráha orAvagráh; and in the Burmese,Nyan.

“From these works, which contain definitions of two words designative ofthe creature Nyan, it will be gathered that there does exist a predatorymonster in the form of an earthworm, which inhabits estuaries and themouths of great rivers.

“Regarding the predatory instincts of this creature, it should beunderstood that it attacks even such animals as elephants. Hence theDhammathats, in dealing with the decision of cases of hire oflive-stock, wishing to point out that no fault lies through losses owingto natural accidents, make the following remarks:—

“From such passages it will be seen that there is a frightful monster ofextraordinary strength, which is capable of capturing even such animals aselephants.”

[Pg 337]“In the form of oath of fealty administered by successive kings to theirfeudatories and vassals, the following imprecation is to be found:—

“In the reign of King Alaung-mindara-gyé, the founder of the city ofRatana Singha—when he went on an expedition against Ayudhara or Yodhaya(Siam) and was crossing the Martaban river, he lost some two or threeelephants, which were destroyed as soon as they had entered the water. TheKing ascertained from the lower country inhabitants that they had beencaptured and bitten by the creature Nyan. Two or three elephants weresimilarly lost in Ava, when it was also ascertained that they had beencaptured by the Nyan. There goes a saying that the Nyan is some one to twohundred fathoms long. The form of oath of fealty contains an imprecationin which the Nyan is to fulfil a part. And there are writings which makemention of its existence.”

CHAPTER X.

A belief in the unicorn, like that in the dragon, appears to have obtainedamong both Eastern and Western authors, at a very early period. In thiscase, however, it has survived the revulsion from a fatuous confidence inthe fables and concocted specimens of the Middle Ages, and even now theexistence or non-existence of this remarkable animal remains a debateablequestion.

Until within a late period occasional correspondents of the South Africanjournals continued to assert its existence, basing their communications onthe reports of hunters from the interior, while but a few hundred yearssince travellers spoke of actually seeing it or of passing throughcountries in which its existence was absolutely affirmed to them. Horns,generally those of the narwhal, but occasionally of one species ofrhinoceros, were brought home and deposited in museums as those of theveritable unicorn, or sold, under the same pretext, for large sums, onaccount of their reputed valuable medicinal properties.[281] The animal isvariously described as resembling a horse or some kind of deer; thisdescription[Pg 339] may possibly refer to some animal of a type intermediate tothem, now almost, if not quite, extinct. In some instances it is supposedthat a species of rhinoceros is indicated.

There has been much discussion as to the identity of the animal referredto in many passages of the Bible, the Hebrew name of which,Reem, hasbeen translated “unicorn.” Mr. W. Smith considers that a species ofrhinoceros could not have been indicated, as it is spoken of in onepassage as a sacrificial animal, whereas the ceremonial ritual of the Jewsforbade the use of any animal not possessing the double qualifications ofchewing the cud and being cloven-footed. The qualities attributed to itare great strength, an indomitable disposition, fierce nature, and anactive and playful disposition when young. He considers that the passage,Deut. xxxiii. 17, should be rendered “his horns are like the horns of aunicorn,” and not, as it is given, “horns of unicorns”; and is of opinionthat some species of wild ox is intended.

Among profane Western authors we first find the unicorn referred to byCtesias, who describes it as having one horn, a cubit long. Herodotus alsomentions it in the passage,[282] “For the eastern side of Libya, where thewanderers dwell, is low and sandy, as far as the river Triton; butwestward of that, the land of the husbandmen is very hilly and aboundswith forests and wild beasts, for this is the tract in which the hugeserpents are found, and the lions, the elephants, the bears, the aspicks,and the horned asses”; and again, “Among the wanderers are none of these,but quite other animals, as antelopes, &c. &c., and asses, not of thehorned sort, but of a kind which does not need to drink.”

Aristotle[283] mentions two unicorn animals. “There are only a few[animals] that have a solid hoof and one horn, as the Indian ass and theoryx.”

[Pg 340]Pliny[284] tells us that the Orsæan Indians hunt down a very fierce animalcalled the monoceros, which has the head of the stag, the feet of theelephant, and the tail of the boar, while the rest of the body is likethat of the horse. It makes a deep lowing noise, and has a single blackhorn, projecting from the middle of its forehead, and two cubits inlength. This animal, it is said, cannot be taken alive. In speaking of theIndian ass, he says,[285] “the Indian ass is only a one-horned animal”;and of the oryx of Africa,[286] “the oryx is both one-horned andcloven-footed.”

Ælian[287] transfers the locality back again from Africa to Asia, and itmay be presumed, in the following quotation, that he indicates the countrynorth of the Himalaya, Thibet, and Tartary, which still has the reputationof being one of the homes of the unicorn.

“They say that there are mountains in the innermost regions of Indiainaccessible to men, and full of wild beasts; where those creatures whichwith us are domesticated, such as sheep, dogs, goats, and cattle, rangeabout at their own free will, free from any charge by a shepherd orherdsman.

“Both historians, and the more learned of the Indians, among whom theBrahmins may be specified, declare that there is a countless number ofthese beasts. Among them they enumerate the unicorn, which they callcartazonon, and say that it reaches the size of a horse of mature age,possesses a mane and reddish yellow hair, and that it excels in swiftnessthrough the excellence of its feet and of its whole body. Like theelephant, it has inarticulate feet, and it has a boar’s tail; one blackhorn projects between the eyebrows,[Pg 341] not awkwardly, but with a certainnatural twist, and terminating in a sharp point.

“It has, of all animals, the harshest and most contentious voice. It issaid to be gentle to other beasts approaching it, but to fight with itsfellows. Not only are the males at variance in natural contention amongstthemselves, but they also fight with the females, and carry their combatsto the length of killing the conquered; for not only are their bodiesgenerally indued with great strength, but also they are armed with aninvincible horn. It frequents desert regions and wanders alone andsolitary. In the breeding season it is of gentle demeanour towards thefemale, and they feed together; when this has passed and the female hasbecome gravid, it again becomes fierce and wanders alone.

“They say that the young, while still of tender age, are carried to theKing of the Prasians for exhibition of their strength, and exposed incombats on festivals; for no one remembers them to have been captured ofmature age.”

Cæsar[288] records the reputed existence in his day, within the bounds ofthe great Hercynian Forest, of a bull, shaped like a stag, with one hornprojecting from the middle of its forehead and between the ears.

Cosmas,[289] surnamed Indicopleustes, a merchant of Alexandria, who livedin the sixth century, and made a voyage to India, and subsequently wroteworks on cosmography, gives a figure of the unicorn, not, as he says, fromactual sight of it, but reproduced from four figures of it in brasscontained in the palace of the King of Ethiopia. He states, from report,that “it is impossible to take this ferocious beast alive; and that allits strength lies in its horn. When it finds itself pursued and in dangerof capture, it throws[Pg 342] itself from a precipice, and turns so aptly infalling, that it receives all the shock upon the horn, and so escapes safeand sound.” It is noteworthy that this mode of escape is attributed, atthe present day, to both the musk ox and the Ovis Ammon.

Marco Polo may or may not indicate a rhinoceros in the passage, “Aprèsavoir descendu ces deux journées et demie, on trouve une province au midiqui est sur les confins de l’Inde, on l’appelle Amien—on marche quinzejournées par des lieux desertes et par de grands bois où il y a beaucoupd’éléphants et de licornes et d’autres bêtes sauvages. Il n’y a ni hommesni habitations aussi, nous laisserons ce lieu.”

But no such inference can be attached to the descriptions of the Ethiopianunicorn by Leo and Ludolphus.

“The unicorn is found in the mountains of high Ethiopia. It is of an ashcolour and resembles a colt of two years old, excepting that it has thehead of a goat, and in the middle of its forehead a horn three feet long,which is smooth and white like ivory, and has yellow streaks running alongfrom top to bottom.

“This horn is an antidote against poison, and it is reported that otheranimals delay drinking till it has soaked its horn in the water to purifyit. This animal is so nimble that it can neither be killed nor taken. Butit casts its horn like a stag, and the hunters find it in the deserts. Butthe truth of this is called in question by some authors.”

“Here is also another beast, called arucharis, with one horn, fierce andstrong, of which unicorn several have been seen feeding in the woods.”

[Pg 343]Coming down to later days we find the unicorn described by LewesVertomannus[292]—he who, having visited, among other places, the site ofthe legend of St. George and the Dragon,[293] and undergone a variety ofadventures, visits, in the course of them, the temple of Mecca, and, asfollows, gives a description “of the unicorns of the Temple of Mecha,which are not seen in any other place.”

“On the other part of the temple are parks or places enclosed, where areseen two unicorns, named of the Greeks monocerotæ, and are there showed tothe people for a miracle, and not without good reason, for the seldomnessand strange nature. The one of them, which is much higher than the other,yet not much unlike to a colt of thirty months of age; in the foreheadgroweth only one horn, in manner right foorth, of the length of threecubits. The other is much younger, of the age of one year, and like ayoung colt; the horn of this is of the length of four handfulls.

“This beast is of the colour of a horse of weesell colour, and hath thehead like a hart, but no long neck, a thynne mane hanging only on the oneside. Their leggs are thin and slender like a fawn or hind. The hoofs ofthe fore-feet are divided in two, much like the feet of a goat. The outerpart of the hinder feet is very full of hair.

“This beast doubtless seemeth wild and fierce, yet tempereth thatfierceness with a certain comeliness.

“These unicorns one gave to the Sultan of Mecha as a most precious andrare gift. They were sent him out of Ethiope by a king of that country whodesired by that present to gratify the Sultan of Mecha.”

Visiting the interior of Arabia from Aden, and afterwards[Pg 344] starting forPersia, Vertomannus was driven back by a contrary wind to Zeila (inAfrica), which he describes as being an important city with muchmerchandise—when again he says, “I saw there also certain kyne, havingonly one horn in the middle of the forehead, as hath the unicorn, andabout a span in length, but the horn bendeth backwards. They are of brightshining red colour.”

In an account of the travels of Johann Grueber, Jesuit (about 1661),contained in Astley’s collection of voyages, we find:—

“Sining[294] is a great and populous city, built at the vast wall ofChina, through the gate of which the merchants from India enter Katay orChina. There are stairs to go a-top of the wall, and many travel on itfrom the gate at Sining to the next at Soochew, which is eighteen days’journey, having a delightful prospect all the way, from the wall, of theinnumerable habitations on one side, and the various wild beasts whichrange the desert on the other side.

“Besides wild bulls, here are tigers, lions, elephants, rhinoceroses, andmonoceroses, which are a kind of horned asses.

“Thus the merchants view the beasts free from danger, especially from thatpart of the wall which, running southward, approaches Quang-si, Yunnan,and Tibet; for at certain times of the year they betake themselves to theYellow River, and parts near the wall which abound with thickets, in orderto get pasture and seek their prey.”

Father Jerome Lobo, a Portuguese Jesuit, who embarked for Abyssinia in theyear 1622,[295] states that—

“In the province of Agaus has been seen the unicorn; that beast so muchtalked of and so little known. The prodigious swiftness with which thecreature runs from one[Pg 345] wood into another has given me no opportunity ofexamining it particularly; yet I have had so near a sight of it as to beable to give some description of it.

“The shape is the same with that of a beautiful horse, exact and nicelyproportioned, of a bay colour, with a black tail, which in some provincesis long, in others very short; some have long manes hanging to the ground.They are so timorous that they never feed but surrounded with other beaststhat defend them.

“Deer and other defenceless animals often herd about the elephant, which,contenting himself with roots and leaves, preserves the beasts that placethemselves, as it were, under his protection, from the others that woulddevour them.”

There is a somewhat doubtful story contained in theNarrative of aJourney from St. Petersburg, in Russia, to Peking, in China, in1719,[296] to the effect that between Tobolsky and Tomski—

“Our baggage having waited at Tara till our arrival, we left that place onthe 18th, and next came to a large Russian village sixty versts from Tara,and the last inhabited by Russians till you pass the Baraba and come tothe river Oby.... One of these hunters told me the following story, whichwas confirmed by several of his neighbours, that in the year 1713, in themonth of March, being out a-hunting, he discovered the track of a stag,which he pursued. At overtaking the animal he was somewhat startled onobserving it had only one horn, stuck in the middle of its forehead. Beingnear this village, he drove it home, and showed it, to the greatadmiration of the spectators. He afterwards killed it, and ate the flesh,and sold the horn to a comb-maker in the town of Tara, for ten alteens,about fifteen pence sterling.

“I inquired carefully about the shape and size of this[Pg 346] unicorn, as Ishall call it, and was told that it exactly resembled a stag.

“The horn was of a brownish colour, about one archæon or twenty-eightinches long, and twisted from the root till within a finger’s length ofthe tip, where it was divided, like a fork, into two points, very sharp.”

One of the most trustworthy of observers, the Abbé Huc, speaks verypositively on the subject of the unicorn.[297] He says: “The unicornreally exists in Thibet.... We had for a long time a small Mongol Treatiseon Natural History, for the use of children, in which a unicorn formed oneof the pictorial illustrations.... The Chinese Itinerary says, on thesubject of the lake you see before your arrival at Atzder (going from eastto west), ‘The unicorn, a very curious animal, is found in the vicinity ofthis lake, which is fortyli long.’”

The unicorn is known in Thibet by the name of serou; in Mongolia, by thatofkere; while in a Thibetan manuscript examined by the late MajorLattre, it is called the one-hornedtsopo.

Mr. Hazlitt, in his notes appended to the statement by Huc as to theunicorn, states that Mr. Hodgson, of Nepaul, sent to Calcutta the skin andhorn of a unicorn that died in the menagerie of the Rajah of Nepaul.

It was described as being very fierce, and abundant in the plains ofTingri, in the southern part of the Thibetan province of Tsang, watered bythe Arroun; it assembled round salt beds. The form is graceful, colourreddish, two tufts of hair project from the exterior of each nostril, andthere is much down round the hair and mouth. The hair is rough and seemshollow. Doctor Able designated itAntelope Hodgsonii.

Baron von Müller described,[298] through the medium of M.[Pg 347] Antoined’Abbadie, a unicorn animal which he had received when at Melpes inKordofan:—

“I met, on the 17th of April 1848, a man who was in the habit of sellingto me specimens of animals. One day he asked me if I wished also for ana’nasa, which he described thus: ‘It is the size of a small donkey, hasa thick body and thin bones, coarse hair, and tail like a boar. It has along horn on its forehead, and lets it hang when alone, but erects itimmediately on seeing an enemy. It is a formidable weapon, but I do notknow its exact length. Thea’nasa is found not far from here (Melpes),towards the south-southwest. I have seen it often in the wild grounds,where the negroes kill it, and carry it home to make shields from itsskin.’N.B.—This man was well acquainted with the rhinoceros, which hedistinguished, under the name offetit, from thea’nasa.

“On June the 14th I was at Kursi, also in Kordofan, and met there a slavemerchant who was not acquainted with my first informer, and gave mespontaneously the same description of thea’nasa, adding that he hadkilled and eaten one long ago, and that its flesh was well flavoured.”

This creature is mentioned by Rupell, under the name ofNillekma orArase, as indigenous to Kordofan, and, by Cavassi, as known in Congounder that ofAbada.

Mr. Freeman, in theSouth African Christian Recorder (vol. i.), givesthe native account of an animal not uncommon in Makooa, and called theNdzoodzoo, described as being about the size of a horse, extremely fleetand strong, with a single horn from two feet to two and a half feet inlength, projecting from its forehead, which is said to be flexible whenthe animal is asleep, and capable of being curled up at pleasure, butbecoming stiff and hard under the excitement of rage. It is extremelyfierce, and invariably attacks a man when it discerns him. The female iswithout a horn.

Our latest information as to this species comes from[Pg 348]Prejevalski,[299]who, speaking of it as the orongo, says that it has elegant black hornsstanding vertically above the head; the back is dun-coloured; the middleof the breast, stomach, and rump, white; seen at a distance it appearswhite; it is very numerous in Northern Thibet. He adds: “Another prevalentsuperstition is that the orongo has only one horn growing vertically fromthe centre of the head. In Kansu and Kokonor we were told that unicornswere rare, one or two in a thousand. The Mongols in Tsaidan deny it, butsay it may be so in south-west Thibet.”

Turning to the Chinese classics and books of antiquity, we findreferences, sometimes vague and mythical, sometimes exact, to severaldistinct unicorn animals. These may be enumerated as:—

Besides these there are clear descriptions of the rhinoceros, which cannotin any way be confounded with the above. The only one of these popularlyfamiliar is the Ki-Lin, the history of which is interwoven with that ofremote ages. The first mention of it is made in the Bamboo Books—only inthat part, however, of them which is apparently a commentary, note, orsubsequent addition, though some authorities hold it to be a portion ofthe actual text. The work states that, during the reign of Hwang-Ti (B.C.2697), Ki-Lins appeared in the parks.

Their appearance was generally supposed to signalise the reign of anupright monarch, and Confucius considered that[Pg 349] the appearance of oneduring his epoch was a bad omen, as it did not harmonise with the troubledstate of the times. The name Ki-Lin is a generic or dual word, composed ofthose of the Ki and the Lin, the respective male and female of thecreature.

This peculiar species of word formation is adopted in other instances inreference to birds and animals; thus we have the male Fung and the femaleHwang united in the Fung Hwang, or so-called Chinese phœnix, and theYuen and Yang in the Yuen Yang, or mandarin duck.

The’Rh Ya, in the original text, defines the Lin as having a Kiun’sbody (the Kiun is a kind of muntjack or deer), an ox’s tail, and one horn.The commentary states that the[Pg 350] tip of the horn is fleshy, and that theKing Yang chapter of the “Spring and Autumn Annals” of Confucius definesit as a horned Kiun.

The preface to theShi Shu quotes Li Siün to the effect that the Lin isan auspicious and perfect beast.

Sun Yen says it is a spiritual beast. TheShwoh Wan says[Pg 351] the Lin is thefemale of the K‘i and the K‘i is a beast endowed with goodness, possessinga Kiun’s body, an ox’s tail, and one horn. According to theShwoh Wan,the Lin may be considered as a large female deer. Now theShu Kingconsiders that many of these beasts are comprised under the Ki-Lin, onlythe characters, though retaining the sound, have become altered in form.

Cheu Nau calls it Lin-che-chi and Man Chw‘en says that the Lin istruthful, and reducible to rule.

TheLi Yuen says: “If the unicorn can once be tamed, then the otherbeasts will not show terror.”

Ta Tai, in theLi Ki, quoting theYih [King], says there are 360 kindsof hairy creatures, and the Ki-Lin is the chief of them.

TheLi Ki, commenting on theKing Fang I Chw‘en, says: “The Lin has aKiun’s body, an ox’s tail, a horse’s hoof, and is of five colours. It istwelve feet high.”[301]

Again, in commenting on Fuh Kien’sHo Chwen, it says: “The Lin springsfrom the earth’s central regions. It is a beast of superior integrity, isattached to its mother, and reducible to rule. TheShu King, quoting LuhLi, says the Lin has a Kiun’s body, an ox’s tail, a horse’s feet, and ayellow colour, round hoofs, and one horn; the tip of the horn is erect andfleshy.

“Its call in the middle part thereof is like a monastery bell. Its pace isregular; it rambles only on selected grounds and after it has examined thelocality. It will not live in herds, or be accompanied in its movements.It cannot be beguiled into pitfalls, or captured in snares. When themonarch is virtuous, this beast appears.”

At present there are Lin existing on the frontiers of Ping[Pg 352] Cheu. Even thelarge or small Lin are always like deer, so that this species is not theauspicious Ying Lin; although Tsz Ma Siang Su,[302] in his odes on theshooting of the Mi and trapping Lin, says that it is.

The top of the horn being fleshy is a characteristic of the Lin, and MaoChw‘en says that the Lin’s horn is an emblem of goodness. Ching Tsien saysthat the horn has a fleshy termination, indicating the peaceful characterof the beast, and that it has no use for it.

The “Book of Rites,” quoting theKwang Ya, says that on account of itselegant style it takes place,par excellence, among the large-hornedbeasts; the existing edition of theKwang Ya omits this.

Kung Ssun Tsz, in the annals of the fourteenth year of the Duke Ngai(State of Lu), says that the Kiun has fleshy horns.

The’Rh Ya gives the drawing of a unicorn animal called the Ki; but noreference to the horn is given in the text, which simply describes it as alarge Kiun with a yak’s tail and dog’s feet.

The Ki is not defined in the’Rh Ya, and the only information I have asto it is derived from Williams’ dictionary, where it is stated to be “afabulous auspicious animal, which appears when sages are born; the male ofthe Chinese unicorn. It is drawn like a piebald scaly horse, with one hornand a cow’s tail, and may have had a living original in some extinctequine animal.” But there is a very full account of an animal called theKing. It is not impossible that it is identical with the King which, inthe usual brief[Pg 353] style of the original text of the’Rh Ya, is epitomisedas a large Biao (a kind of stag), with an ox’s tail and one horn; and theseveral commentaries on it are as follows:—

“In the time of the Emperor Wu, of the Han dynasty, during the worship ofheaven and earth at the solstices at Yung, there was captured a unicornbeast like a Piao; it[Pg 354] was at that time designated the Lin; it was,however, a Piao related to the Chang (a kind of deer).”

TheShwoh Wan says: “The King is a large stag with an ox’s tail and onehorn.” It may be a large form of the Piao. The Wang Hwu Analects say thatthe Piao is an object of the chase, and that it is as swift as a stag.

[Pg 355]Kwan Tsz, in theTi Yuen volume, says that as there are Mi and Piao andmany species of deer, so also the Piao is a species of deer.

The “Shi Ki,” in the bookFung Shen, says that during the worship at thesolstices at Yung, there was captured a one-horned beast like a Piao, andthat the local authorities assert that as His Majesty was makingreverential invocations on the country altar to the Supreme Being, he wasrecompensed for the sacrifice by a beast which was a unicorn.

Wu Chao’s preface to theLoh Yiu says: “The body is like that of amuntjack, and it has one horn”; while the Spring and Autumn (Annals)allude to this animal in speaking of the horned Kiun.

The inhabitants of Ch‘u say the Kiun is a Piao. Kwoh, in his preface, saysthat the capture made in the time of Wu, of the Han dynasty, was actuallya Piao, as demonstrated by the Han books. TheChung Kiun narrativestates that in Shang Yung was captured a white Lin bearing one horn, ofwhich the tip was fleshy. At the present day nothing has been heard of aPiao with a fleshy tip, therefore these must be different beasts.

Kwoh also says that the Piao is identical with the Chang, and the Changwith the Kiun. This corresponds with what Wei Chao So had already stated,that the people of Ch‘u assert that the Kiun is a Piao, and that the Piaois certainly a kind of deer.

Yeu Shi states in theKiao Sz annals (“Sacrifices to Heaven and Earth”),that the Piao is a kind of deer. Its body exactly resembles that of theChang.

Finally, the explanatory prefaces of many classical works, when commentingon the’Rh Ya, say that the Piao is[Pg 356]identical with the Chang and of ablack colour; and they confirm Kwoh’s opinion, although the’Rh Yaforgets to allude to the three characters denoting the black colour.

[Pg 357]It was probably some unicorn animal which is referred to in the GeneralHistory of China, called theTong Kien Kang Mu (vide Père de Mailla’stranslation), as having been presented to the Emperor Yung Loh of the Mingdynasty, inA.D. 1415, by envoys from Bengal. De Mailla says it was calleda Ki-Lin by the Chinese out of flattery.

Again, the same History says that in the succeeding year the kingdom ofMalin sent as tribute a Ki-Lin similar to that from Bengal.

The Ki-Rin, a Japanese version of the Ki-Lin, is simply borrowed fromChinese sources. It is figured in the illustrated edition of the greatJapanese EncyclopædiaKasira gaki zou vo Sin mou dzu wi tai sei,[303]and represented, as in the Chinese drawings, as covered with scales; butit must be noted that nothing in any of the texts of either countrywarrants this furniture of the body.[304]

The same encyclopædia figures another unicorn beast under the name of theKai Tsi, and describes it as being an animal of foreign countries,resembling a lion, and having a single horn. It is also called the Sin Youor divine sheep. It is able to distinguish between right and wrong. WhenKau You exercised criminal jurisdiction, he handed over those whose crimewas doubtful to the Kai Tsu, and it is said that this animal destroyed theguilty and spared the innocent.

[Pg 358]This is described in the Chinese workYuen Kien Léi Han,[305] under thename of the Hiai Chai, and similar powers of discrimination are thereattributed to it.

[Pg 359]A synonym for it was the Chiai Tung. It states that, according to theSiYang Y Shu, a one-horned spiritual lamb was born in the Ping Shendistrict, and in the twenty-first year of Kai Yuen. The horn was fleshy,and the top of the head covered with white hair. The second chapter on thesame subject says that, in ancient times, if parties were at law, thejudge brought this animal out, and it would gore at the guilty one.

The Kioh Twan is yet another unicorn animal described in theYuen KienLéi Han,[306] which is said to have the appearance of a deer with thetail of a horse, but to be of a greenish colour, with one horn above thenose, and to be capable of traversing eighteen thousandli in one day.

TheLi Kau Sing Sha Shao says that the Emperor Yuen Ti Su sent hisambassadors to the western part of India, who procured animals severaltens of feet in height,[307] unicorn, like the rhinoceros. The rumour wentthat these were inauspicious for the Emperor, and they were immediatelyreturned.

TheShan Hai King describes an animal as existing among the plains ofMongolia, having the appearance of a horse, with a white body, black tail,one horn, teeth and claws like a tiger, which howls like the roll of adrum, devours tigers and leopards, and is capable of being used instead ofsoldiers; it is called Poh.

The’Rh Ya describes the same animal as like a horse, with saw teeth,existing on tigers and leopards.

The “History of the North” says that in the Kingdom of Peh Chi (?) amagistrate named Chung Wa held office,[Pg 360] who was very equitable in hisrule. His district was invaded by some ferocious animals. Suddenly six ofthe Poh came and killed and devoured them as a reward for his good rule.

The Sung History says that a man named Leu Chang, an ambassador, arrivedat a district called Shen Su, where the mountains contained a strangeanimal, in appearance like a horse, but capable of eating tigers andleopards. The people were unacquainted with it, and asked Leu Chang whatit was, who said it was called the Poh, and referred them to theShan HaiKing for a description of it.

Fig. 85.—Target in the form of a Sphynx. (From the Sun LiT’u.).
The arrows were discharged upwards and fell into the cylinder behind the figure.

Among other remarkable and interesting drawings which have come down fromantiquity in theSan Li T’u,[308] or illustrated edition of the three(ceremonial) rituals, are some representing the various targets used byofficials of different[Pg 361] ranks in the military examinations, in which thearrows had to be lodged by shooting upwards from a distance. These arefashioned in the form of animals, one realising the idea of the sphynx,and two representing unicorn animals, called respectively the Lu—which,according to some, is like an ass with one horn, but, according to others,differing from a donkey in having a cleft hoof—and the Sz, which is saidto be like an ox with one horn.

The Too Jou Shen is the name of an animal with a lion-like body and head,cloven hoofs, and a blunt short horn projecting from the centre of theforehead. Two pairs of these form a portion of the avenue of stone figuresof animals leading up to the Ming tombs, about eighty miles north ofPekin. I have not found it described in any book.

A writer in theChina Review[309] endeavours to prove that the Ki-Lin isa reminiscence of the giraffe, which he supposes may once have spread overAsia, and, in addition to various passages included among those which Ihave quoted above, adduces one from theWu Tsah Tsu, which states that,“In the period Yung Loh of the Ming dynasty (1403-1425) a Ki-Lin wascaught, and a painter was ordered to make a sketch and hand it up to thehigh magistrates. According to the picture, the body was perfectly shapedlike that of a[Pg 363] deer,but the neck was very long, perhaps three or fourfeet.” I must admit that I cannot agree with him in his conclusions.Harris[310] has given much better arguments in favour of the unicorn beingmerely a species of oryx. He appears to me, however, to speak tooabsolutely, to make his facts too pliant, and to base his main belief onthe untenable theory that the myth, tradition, or theory is based on theprofile drawing of an oryx, exhibiting one horn only. We might[Pg 364] just assoon expect people to start stories of two-legged cows or horses, orone-legged races of men, if so slender a basis for forging a species weresufficient. What the zoological status of the unicorn may be I am notprepared to show, but I find it impossible to believe that a creaturewhose existence has been affirmed by so many authors, at so many differentdates, and from so many different countries, can be, as mythologistsdemand, merely the symbol of a myth. There is a possible solution, whichdoes not appear to have struck previous writers on the subject, viz., thatthe unicorn may be merely a hybrid produced occasionally and at more orless rare intervals.

By accepting this view we could explain the extraordinary combinations ofcharacter assigned to it, and the discrepancy which exists between thequalities of courage and gentleness ascribed to it by Western and Chineseauthors. A valuable chapter remains to be written by naturalists andprogressionists on the limits within which hybridization exists in a stateof nature among the higher animals; its prevalence among the lower andamong plants is, of course, well known. A cross between some equine andcervine species might readily result in a unicorn offspring, and eitherthe courageous qualities of the sire[311] or the gentleness of the dammight preponderate, according to the relations of the species in each ofthe instances.

As an alternative, we may speculate on the unicorn being a generic namefor several distinct species of (probably) now extinct animals; missinglinks between the three families, the Equidæ, Cervidæ, and Bovidæ;creatures which were the contemporaries of prehistoric man, and which,before they[Pg 365] finally expired, attracted the attention of his descendants,during early historic times, by the rare appearance of a few survivingindividuals.

The supernatural qualities ascribed to these by various nations must beconsidered merely the embroidery of fancy, designed to enrich and adorn anarticle esteemed rare and valuable.

CHAPTER XI.

From the date of the earliest examination of the literature of China, ithas been customary among Sinologues to trace a fancied resemblance betweena somewhat remarkable bird, which occupies an important position in theearly traditions of that Empire, and the phœnix of Western authors.Some mythologists have even subsequently concluded that the Fung Hwang ofthe Chinese, the phœnix of the Greeks, the Roc of the Arabs, and theGaruda of the Hindoos, are merely national modifications of the same myth.I do not hold this opinion, and, in opposing it, purpose, in the future,to discuss each of these birds in detail, although in the present volume Itreat only of the Fung Hwang.

The earliest notice of it is contained in the’Rh Ya, which, with itsusual brevity, simply informs us that the male is called Fung and thefemale Hwang; the commentator, Kwoh P‘oh, adding that the Shui Ying bird(felicitous and perfect—a synonym for it) has a cock’s head, a snake’sneck, a swallow’s beak, a tortoise’s back, is of five different colours,and more than six feet high. The’Rh Ya Chen I, a later andsupplementary edition of the former work, quotes theShwoh Wan to theeffect that the united name of the male and female bird is Fung Hwang, andthat Tso’s commentary on the 17th year of the Chao, says one appeared inthe time of the Emperor Che (dynastic title, Shaou Haou). The[Pg 367]originalpassage in theTso Chuen is so interesting that I quotein extenso Dr.Legge’s translation of it:—

“When my ancestor, Shaou-Haou Che, succeeded to the kingdom, thereappeared at that time a phœnix, and therefore he arranged hisgovernment under the nomenclature of birds, making bird officers, andnaming them after birds. There were so and so Phœnix bird, minister ofthe calendar; so and so Dark bird [the swallow], master of the equinoxes;so and so Pih Chaou [the shrike], master of the solstices; so and so Greenbird [a kind of sparrow], master of the beginning (of spring and autumn);and so and so Carnation bird [the golden pheasant], master of the close(of spring and autumn).... The five Che [Pheasants] presided over the fiveclasses of mechanics.

[Pg 368]“So in previous reigns there had been cloud officers, fire officers, waterofficers, and dragon officers, according to omens.”

I think there is some connection between this old usage and the present orlate system of tribe totems among the North American Indians. Thus we haveSnake, Tortoise, Hare Indians, &c., and I hope some day to explain some ofthe obscure and apparently impossible passages of theShan Hai King, inreference to strange tribes, upon what I may call the totem theory.

TheKin King, a small work devoted to ornithology, and professing todate back to the Tsin dynasty [A.D. 265 to 317], opens its pages with adescription of the Fung Hwang, because, as it states, the Fung is theprincipal of the three hundred and sixty different species of birds.According to it, the Fung is like a swan in front and like a Lin behind;it enumerates its resemblances pretty much as the commentator in the’RhYa gives them; but we now find a commencement of extraordinaryattributes. Thus the head is supposed to have impressed on it the Chinesecharacter expressing virtue, the poll that for uprightness, the back[Pg 369] thatfor humanity; the heart is supposed to contain that of sincerity, and thewings to enfold in their clasp that of integrity; its foot imprintsintegrity; its low notes are like a bell, its high notes are like a drum.It is said that it will not peck living grass, and that it contains allthe five colours.[312]

When it flies crowds of birds follow. When it appears, the monarch is anequitable ruler, and the kingdom has moral principles. It has a synonym,“the felicitousyen.” According to theKing Shun commentary upon the’Rh Ya, it is about six feet in height. The young are called Yoh Shoh,and it is said that the markings of the five colours only appear when itis three years of age.[313]

There appears to have been another bird closely related to it, which iscalled the Lwan Shui. This, when first hatched, resembles the young Fung,but when of mature age it changes the five colours.

TheShăng Li Teu Wei I says of this, that when the world is peacefulits notes will be heard like the tolling of a bell, Pien Lwan [answeringto our “ding-dong”]. During the Chao dynasty it was customary to hang abell on the tops of vehicles, with a sound like that of the Lwan.[314]From another passage we learn that it was supposed to have different namesaccording to a difference in colour. Thus, when the head[Pg 370] and wings werered it was called the red Fung; when blue, the Yu Siang; when white, theHwa Yih; when black, the Yin Chu; when yellow, the To Fu. Anotherquotation is to the effect that, when the Fung soars and the Lwan fliesupwards, one hundred birds follow them. It is also stated that when eitherthe Lwan or the Fung dies, one hundred birds peck up the earth and burythem.

Another author amplifies the fancied resemblances of the Fung, for in theLun Yü Tseh Shwai Shing we find it stated that it has six resemblancesand nine qualities. The former are: 1st, the head is like heaven; 2nd, theeye like the sun; 3rd, the back is like the moon; 4th, the wings like thewind; 5th, the foot is like the ground; 6th, the tail is like the woof.The latter are: 1st, the mouth contains commands; 2nd, the heart isconformable to regulations; 3rd, the ear is thoroughly acute in hearing;4th, the tongue utters sincerity; 5th, the colour is luminous; 6th, thecomb resembles uprightness; 7th, the spur is sharp and curved; 8th, thevoice is sonorous; 9th, the belly is the treasure of literature.

When it crows, in walking, it utters “Quai she” [returning joyously]; whenit stops crowing, “T‘i fee” [I carry assistance?]; when it crows at nightit exclaims “Sin” [goodness]; when in the morning, “Ho si” [I congratulatethe world]; when during its flight, “Long Tu che wo” [Long Tu knows me]and “Hwang che chu sz si” [truly Hwang has come with the Bamboos].[315]Hence it was that Confucius wished to live among the nine I [barbarianfrontier countries] following the Fung’s pleasure.

The Fung appears to have been fond of music, for, according to theShuKing, when you play the flute, in nine cases out of ten the Fung Wangcomes to bear you company; while, according to theOdes, or Classic ofPoetry, the Fung,[Pg 371] in flying, makes the soundhwui hwui, and its wingscarry it up to the heavens; and when it sings on the lofty mountain calledKwang, the Wu Tung tree flourishes,[316] and its fame spreads over theworld.

The presence of the Fung was always an auspicious augury, and it wassupposed that when heaven showed its displeasure at the conduct of thepeople during times of drought, of destruction of crops by insects(locusts), of disastrous famines, and of pestilence, the Fung Wang retiredfrom the civilised country into the desert and forest regions.

It was classed with the dragon, the tortoise, and the unicorn as aspiritual creature, and its appearance in the gardens and groves denotedthat the princes and monarch were equitable, and the people submissive andobedient.

Its indigenous home is variously indicated. Thus, in theShan Hai King,it is stated to dwell in the Ta Hueh mountains, a range included in thethird list of the southern mountains; it is also, in the third portion ofthe same work (treating of the Great Desert), placed in the south and inthe west of the Great Desert, and more specifically as west of Kwan Lun.

There is also a tradition that it came from Corea; and the celebratedChinese general, Sieh Jan Kwéi, who invaded and conquered that country inA.D. 668, is said to have ascended the Fung Hwang mountain there and seenthe phœnix.

According to the Annals of the Bamboo Books phœnixes, male and female,arrived in the autumn, in the seventh month, in the fiftieth year of thereign of Hwang Ti (B.C. 2647), and the commentary states that some of themabode[Pg 372] in the Emperor’s eastern garden; some built their nests about thecorniced galleries (of the palaces), and some sung in the courtyard, thefemales gambolling to the notes of the males.

The commentary of the same work adds that (among a variety of prodigies)the phœnix appeared in the seventieth year of the reign of Yaou (B.C.2286), and again in the first year of Shun (B.C. 2255).

Kwoh P‘oh states that, during the times of the Han dynasty (commencingB.C. 206 and lasting untilA.D. 23), the phœnixes appeared constantly.

In these later passages I have adopted the word phœnix, after Legge andother Sinologues, as a conventional admission; but, as will be seen fromall the extracts given, there are but few grounds for identifying it,whether fabulous or not, with the phœnix of Greek mythology. Itreappears in Japanese tradition under the name of the Ho and O (male andfemale), and, according to Kempfer, who calls it the Foo, “it is achimerical but beautiful large bird of paradise, of near akin to thephœnix of the ancients. It dwells in the high regions of the air, andit hath this in common with the Ki-Rin (the equivalent of the ChineseKi-Lin), that it never comes down from thence but upon the birth of asesin (a man of incomparable understanding, penetration, andbenevolence) or that of a great emperor, or upon some such otherextraordinary occasion.”

It is a common ornamentation in the Japanese temples; and I select, as anexample, figures from some very beautiful panels in the Nichi-hong-wanjitemple in Kioto. They depart widely from the original (Chinese) tradition,every individual presenting a different combination of gorgeous colours;they only agree in having two long central tail feathers projecting from aplumose, bird-of-paradise-like arrangement.

These can only be accepted as the evolution of an artist’s[Pg 373] fancy; nor canany opinion be arrived at from the figure of it illustrating the’Rh Ya,of which I reproduce afac-simile. I have already stated that KwohP‘oh’s illustrations have been lost.

Thefrontispiece to this volume is reduced from a large and very beautifulpainting on silk, which I was fortunate enough to procure in Shanghai, byan artist named Fang[Pg 374] Heng, otherwise styled Sien Tang; it professes to bemade according to the designs of ancient books. The original is, Ibelieve, of some antiquity.

In this case the delineation of the bird shows a combination of thecharacters of the peacock, the pheasant, and the bird of paradise; thecomb is like that of a pheasant. The tail is adorned with gorgeous eyes,like a peacock’s, but fashioned more like that of an argus pheasant, thetwo middle tail feathers projecting beyond the others, while stiffenedplumes, as I interpret the intention of the drawing, are made to projectfrom the sides of the back, and above the wings, recalling those of theSemioptera Wallacii. The bird perches, in accordance with tradition, onthe Wu-Tung tree. Without pretending to assert that this is an exactrepresentation of the Tung, I fancy that it comes nearer to it than theordinary Chinese and Japanese representations.

Looking to the history of the appearance of the Fung, the generaldescription of its characteristics, and disregarding the supernaturalqualities with which, probably, Taouist priests have invested it, I canonly regard it as another example of an interesting and beautiful speciesof bird which has become extinct, as the dodo and so many others have,within historic times.

Its rare appearance and gorgeousness of plumage would cause its advent onany occasion to be chronicled, and a servile court would only too readilyseize upon this pretext to flatter the reigning monarch and ascribe to hisvirtues a phenomenon which, after all, was purely natural.

APPENDIX I.

“Obartés Elbaratutu being dead, his son Xisuthros (Khasisatra) reignedeighteen sares (64,800 years). It was under him that the great Deluge tookplace, the history of which is told in the sacred documents as follows:Cronos (Ea) appeared to him in his sleep, and announced that on thefifteenth of the month of Daisios—the Assyrian month Sivan—a littlebefore the summer (solstice) all men should perish by a flood. Hetherefore commanded him to take the beginning, the middle, and the end ofwhatever was consigned to writing, and to bury it in the city of the Sun,at Sippara; then to build a vessel and to enter it with his family anddearest friends; to place in this vessel provisions to eat and drink, andto cause animals, birds, and quadrupeds to enter it; lastly, to prepareeverything for navigation. And when Xisuthros inquired in what directionhe should steer his bark, he was answered ‘Toward the gods,’ and enjoinedto pray that good might come of it for men.

“Xisuthros obeyed, and constructed a vessel five stadia long and fivebroad; he collected all that had been prescribed to him, and embarked hiswife, his children, and his intimate friends.

“The Deluge having come, and soon going down, Xisuthros loosed some of thebirds. These, finding no food nor place to alight on, returned to theship. A few days later Xisuthros again let them free, but they returnedagain to the vessel, their feet full of mud. Finally, loosed the thirdtime, the birds came no more back.

“Then Xisuthros understood that the earth was bare. He made an[Pg 376] opening inthe roof of the ship, and saw that it had grounded on the top of amountain. He then descended with his wife, his daughter, and his pilot,who worshipped the earth, raised an altar, and there sacrificed to thegods; at the same moment he vanished with those who accompanied him.

“Meanwhile those who had remained in the vessel, not seeing Xisuthrosreturn, descended too, and began to seek him, calling him by his name.They saw Xisuthros no more; but a voice from heaven was heard commandingthem piety towards the gods; that he, indeed, was receiving the reward ofhis piety in being carried away to dwell thenceforth in the midst of thegods, and that his wife, his daughter, and the pilot of the ship sharedthe same honour. The voice further said that they were to return toBabylon, and, conformably to the decrees of fate, disinter the writingsburied at Sippara, in order to transmit them to men. It added that thecountry in which they found themselves was Armenia. These, then, havingheard the voice, sacrificed to the gods and returned on foot to Babylon.Of the vessel of Xisuthros, which had finally landed in Armenia, a portionis still to be found in the Gordyan mountains in Armenia, and pilgrimsbring thence asphalte that they have scraped from its fragments. It isused to keep off the influence of witchcraft. As to the companions ofXisuthros, they came to Babylon, disinterred the writings left at Sippara,founded numerous cities, built temples, and restored Babylon.”

The large amount of work done by the few followers of Xisuthros, seemsvery surprising, but easily accounted for if we take the version of theDeluge given by Nicolaus Damascenus (a philosopher and historian of theage of Augustus, and a friend of Herod the Great).

“He mentions that there is a large mountain in Armenia, which stands abovethe country of the Minyæ, called Baris. To this it was said that manypeople betook themselves in the time of the Deluge, and were saved. Andthere is a tradition of one person in particular floating in an ark, andarriving at the summit of the mountain.”[318]

APPENDIX II.

The dragon [which is perfectly fearless of beasts], when it hears thenoise of the wings of an eagle, immediately conceals itself inhiding-places.

Æthiopia generates dragons reaching thirty paces long; they have no propername, but they merely call them slayers of elephants, and they attain agreat age. So far do the Æthiopian accounts narrate. The Phrygian historyalso states that dragons are born which reach ten paces in length; whichdaily in midsummer, at the hour when the forum is full of men in assembly,are wont to proceed from their caverns, and [near the river Rhyndacus],with part of the body on the ground, and the rest erect, with the neckgently stretched out, and gaping mouth, attract birds, either by theirinspiration, or by some fascination, and that those which are drawn downby the inhalation of their breath glide down into their stomach—[and thatthey continue this until sunset,] but that after that, concealingthemselves, they lay in ambush for the herds returning from the pasture tothe stable, and inflict much injury, often killing the herdsmen andgorging themselves with food.

When dragons are about to eat fruit they suck the juice of the wildchicory, because this affords them a sovereign remedy against inflation.When they purpose lying in wait for a man or a beast, they eat deadlyroots and herbs; a thing not unknown to Homer, for he makes mention of thedragon, who, lingering and twisting himself in front of his den, devourednoxious herbs.

In India, as I am told, there is great enmity between the dragon andelephant. Wherefore the dragons, aware that elephants are accustomed topluck off boughs from trees for food, coil themselves beforehand in thesetrees, folding the tail half of their body round the limbs, and leavingthe front half hanging like a rope. When an elephant approaches for thepurpose of browsing on the young branches, the dragon leaping on him,tears out his eyes, and then squeezing his neck with his front part andlashing him with his tail, strangles him in this strange kind of noose.

In Idumea, or Judæa, during Herod’s power, according to the statement ofthe natives of the country, a very beautiful, and just adolescent, woman,was beloved by a dragon of exceptional magnitude; who visited her betimesand slept with her as a lover. She, indeed, although her lover crepttowards her as gently and quietly as lay in his power, yet utterlyalarmed, withdrew herself from him; and to the end that a forgetfulness ofhis passion might result from the absence of his mistress, absentedherself for the space of a month.

But the desire of the absent one was increased in him, and his amatorydisposition was daily so far aggravated that he frequently came both byday and night to that spot, where he had been wont to be with the maiden,and when unable to meet with his inamorata, was afflicted with a terriblegrief. After the girl returned, angry at being, as it were spurned, hecoiled himself round her body, and softly and gently chastised her on thelegs.

A dragon whelp, born in Arcadia, was brought up with an Arcadian child;and in process of time, when both were older, they entertained a mutualaffection for one another. The friends of the boy, seeing how the dragonhad increased in magnitude in so short a time, carried him, while sleepingwith the boy in the same bed, to a remote spot, and, leaving him there,brought the boy back. The dragon thereon remained in the wood [feeding ongrowing plants and poisons], preferring a solitary life to one in townsand [human] habitations. Time having rolled on, and the boy havingattained youth, and the dragon maturity, the former, while travelling uponone occasion through the wilds in the neighbourhood of his friend, fellamong robbers, who attacked him with drawn swords, and being struck,either from pain, or in the hopes[Pg 379] of assistance, cried out. The dragonbeing a beast of acute hearing and sharp vision, as soon as he heard thelad with whom he had been brought up, gave a hiss in expression of hisanger, and so struck them with fear, that the trembling robbers dispersedin different directions, whom having caught, he destroyed by a terribledeath. Afterwards, having cared for the wounds of his ancient friend, andescorted him through the places infested with serpents, he returned to thespot where he himself had been exposed—not showing any anger towards himon account of his having been expelled into solitude, nor becauseill-feeling men had abandoned an old friend in danger.

Hegemon, in his Dardanic verses, among other things mentions, concerningthe Thessalian Alevus, that a dragon conceived an affection for him.Alevus possessed, as Hegemon states, golden hair, which I should callyellow, and pastured cattle upon Ossa near the Thessalian spring calledHæmonium [as Anchises formerly did on Ida]. A dragon of great size fellviolently in love with him, and used to crawl up gently to him, kiss hishair, cleanse his face by licking it with his tongue, and bring himvarious spoils from the chase.

Beyond the Oasis of Egypt there is a great desert which extends for sevendays’ journey, succeeded by a region inhabited by the Cynoprosopi, on theway to Æthiopia. These live by the chase of goats and antelopes. They areblack, with the head and teeth of a dog, of which animal, in thisconnection, the mention is not to be looked upon as absurd, for they lackthe power of speech, and utter a shrill hissing sound, and have a beardabove and below the mouth like a dragon; their hands are armed with strongand sharp nails, and the body is equally hairy with that of dogs.

Lycaonus, King of Emathia, had a son named Macedon, from whom eventuallythe country was called, the old name becoming obsolete. Now, one ofMacedon’s sons, named Pindus, was indued both with strength of mind andinnate probity, as well as a handsome person, whereas his other childrenwere constituted with mean minds and less vigorous bodies.

When, therefore, these latter perceived Pindus’s virtue and other gifts,they not only oppressed him, but in the end ruined themselves inpunishment for so great a crime.

Pindus, perceiving that plots were laid for him by his brothers,abandoning the kingdom which he had received from his father, and[Pg 380] beingrobust and taking pleasure in hunting, not only took to it himself, butled the others to follow his example.

Upon one occasion he was pursuing some young mules, and, spurring hishorse to the top of its powers, drew away a long distance from those whowere hunting with him. The mules passing into a deep cavern, escaped thesight of their pursuer, and preserved themselves from danger. He leapeddown from the horse, which he tied to the nearest tree, and whilst he wasseeking with his utmost ability to discover the mules, and probing thedens with his hands, heard a voice warning him not to touch the mules.Wherefore, when he had long and carefully looked about, and could see noone, he feared that the voice was the result of some greater cause, and,mounting his horse, left the place. On the next day he returned to thespot, but, deterred by the remembrance of the voice he had heard, he didnot enter the place where they had concealed themselves.

When, therefore, he was cogitating as to who had warned him from followinghis prey, and, as it appeared, was looking out for mountain shepherds, orhunters, or some cottage—a dragon of unusual magnitude appeared to him,creeping softly with a great part of its body, but raising up its neck andhead a little way, as if stretching himself—but his neck and head were ofsuch height as to equal that of the tallest man.

Although Pindus was alarmed at the sight, he did not take to flight, but,rallying himself from his great terror, wisely endeavoured to appease thebeast by giving him to eat the birds he had caught, as the price of hisredemption.

He, cajoled by the gifts and baits, or, as I may say, touched, left thespot. This was so pleasing to Pindus, that, as an honourable man, andgrateful for his escape, he carried to the dragon, as a thank-offering,whatever he could procure from his mountain chases, or by fowling.

Nor were these gifts from his booty without return, for fortune becameimmediately more favourable to him, and he achieved success in all hishunting, whether he pursued ground or winged game.

Wherefore he achieved a great reputation, both for finding and quicklycatching game.

Now, he was so tall that he caused terror from his bulk, while from hisexcellent constitution and beautiful countenance he inflamed women with soviolent an affection for him, that the unmarried, as if they were furiousand bacchantes, joined his hunting expeditions; and married women, underthe guardianship of husbands, preferred passing their time with him, tobeing reported among the number of goddesses. And, for the most part, menalso esteemed him highly, as his virtue and appearance attracted universaladmiration. His brothers only held a hostile and inimical feeling towardshim. Wherefore upon a certain[Pg 381] occasion they attacked him from an ambush,when he was hunting alone, and having driven him into the defiles of ariver close by, when he was removed from all help, attacked him with drawnswords and slew him.

When the dragon heard its friend’s outcries (for it is an animal with assharp a sense of hearing as it has quickness of vision), it issued fromits lair, and at once, casting its coils round the impious wretches,suffocated them.

It did not desist from watching over its slain [friend] with the utmostcare, until those nearest related to the deceased came to him, as he waslying on the ground; but nevertheless, although clad in proper mourning,they were prevented through fear of the custodian from approaching andinterring the dead with proper rites, until it, understanding from itsprofound and wonderful nature, that it was keeping them at a distance,quietly departed from its guard and station near the body, in order thatit might receive the last tokens of esteem from the bystanders without anyinterruption.

Splendid obsequies were performed, and the river where the murder waseffected received its name from the dead man.

It is therefore a peculiarity of these beasts to be grateful to those fromwhom they may have received favours.

The Epirotes, both at home and abroad, sacrifice to Apollo, and solemnisewith extreme magnificence a feast yearly in his honour, There is a groveamong them sacred to the god, and inclosed with a wall, within which aredragons, pleasing to the god. Hither a sacred virgin comes alone, naked,and presents food to the dragons. The Epirotes say that these aredescended from the Delphic python. If they regarded the virgin ministeringto them with favour, and took the food promptly, they were believed toportend a fertile and healthful year; if they were rude towards her, andwould not accept the proffered food, some predicted, or at least expected,the contrary for the coming year.

There is a peculiar divination of the dragon, for in Lavinium, a town ofthe Latins but in Lavinium, there is a large and dense sacred grove, andnear it the shrine of the Argolic Juno. Within the grove is a cave anddeep den, the lair of a dragon.

Sacred virgins enter this grove on stated days, who carry a barley cake intheir hands, with bandaged eyes. A certain divine afflatus leads themaccurately to the den, and gently, and step by step, they proceed withouthindrance, and as if their eyes were uncovered. If they are virgins, thedragon admits the food as pure and fit for a deity.[Pg 382] If otherwise, it doesnot touch it, perceiving and divining them to be impure.

Ants, for the sake of cleansing the place, carry from the grove the cakeleft by the vitiated virgin, broken into little pieces, so that they mayeasily carry it. When this happens, it is perceived by the inhabitants,and those who have entered are pointed out and examined, and whoeverproves to have forfeited her virginity is punished with the penaltiesappointed by the laws.

“The masculine sex also seems to be privileged by nature among brutes,inasmuch as the male dragon is distinguished by a crest and hairs, with abeard.”

Onesicritus Astypalæus writes that there were two dragons in India[nurtured by an Indian dancer], one of forty-six and the other of eightycubits, and that Alexander (Philip’s son) earnestly endeavoured to seethem. It is affirmed in Egyptian books that, during the reign ofPhiladelphus, two dragons were brought from Æthiopia into Philadelphiaalive, one forty, the other thirty cubits in magnitude.

Three were also brought in the time of King Evergetis, one nine andanother seven cubits. The Egyptians say that the third was preserved withgreat care in the temple of Æsculapius.

It is also said that there are asps of four cubits in length. Those whowrite the history of the affairs of Chios say that a dragon of extrememagnitude was produced in a valley, densely crowded and gloomy with talltrees, of the Mount Pelienæus in that island, whose hissing struck theChians with horror.

As none either of the husbandmen or shepherds dare, by approaching near,estimate its magnitude, but from its hissing judged it to be a large andformidable beast, at length its size became known by a remarkableaccident. For the trees of the valley being struck by a very strong wind,and the branches ignited by the friction, a great fire thence arising,embraced the whole spot, and surrounded the beast, which, being unable toescape, was consumed by the ardour of the flame. By these means all thingswere rendered visible in the denuded place, and the Chians freed, fromtheir alarms, came to investigate, and lighted on bones of unusualmagnitude, and an immense head, from which they were enabled to conjectureits dimensions when living.

For the dragon, while sacred and to be worshipped, has within himselfsomething still more of the divine nature of which it is better to remainin ignorance.

[Pg 383]Indeed, a dragon received divine honours in a certain tower in Melita inEgypt. He had his priests and ministers, his table and bowl. Every daythey filled the bowl with flour kneaded with honey, and went away;returning on the following day, they found the bowl empty.

Upon one occasion, a man of illustrious birth, who entertained an intensedesire of seeing the dragon, having entered alone, and placed the food,went out; and when the dragon commenced to feed at the table, he openedsuddenly and noisily the doors, which according to custom he had closed.

The dragon indignantly left; but he who had desired to see him, to his owndestruction, being seized with an affliction of the mind, and havingconfessed his crime, presently lost his speech, and shortly after died.

When Halia, the daughter of Sybasis, had entered the grove of Diana inPhrygia, a certain sacred dragon of large size appeared and copulated withher; whence the Ophiogenæ deduce the origin of their race.

Alexander (while he attacked or devastated some portions of India, andalso seized others), lighted on, among other numerous animals, a dragon,which the Indians, because they considered it to be sacred, and worshippedit with great reverence, in a certain cave, besought him with manyentreaties to let alone, which he agreed to. However, when the dragonheard the noise made by the passing army (for it is an animal endowed witha very acute sense of hearing as well as of vision), it frightened andalarmed them all with a great hissing and blowing. It was said to beseventy cubits long.

It did not, however, show the whole of itself, but only exposed its headfrom the cave. Its eyes were said to have been of the size (and rotundity)of a Macedonian shield.

APPENDIX III.

The Classic containing “Wonders by Land and Sea” has been praised by allwho have read it, for its depth, greatness, far sightedness andcompleteness; since the narratives therein contained are all wonderful anddifferent from ordinary things. Moreover, the truth or veracity of thebook is a matter of doubt to nearly all men, and I therefore think it fitthat I should give my opinion on the subject. It has been said by thephilosopher Chuang that “the things that men do know can in no way becompared, numerically speaking, to the things that are unknown,” thus inreading “Wonders by Land and Sea,” the force of his remark becomesapparent to me.

Now, since heaven and earth are vast, it follows that the beings whichinhabit them must reasonably be numerous. The positive and negativeelements being heated by vernal warmth, produce myriads of living beingsof classes innumerable. When the essence of ether combines, motion becomesapparent and generates into wondrous and roving spirits, which, floatingabout and coming into contact with anything, enter into it and thus createwonderful beings, whether they be inhabitants of mountain or sea, or woodor stone; yea, so numerous are they, that it is an impossible task for meto give them in detail.

The evolution of the essence of the elements generates sound, which bydevelopment produces a certain image. When we call a thing wonderful, itis because we do not know the reasons attending its origin, and what we donot call wonderful, we still are unaware why it is not so. And why? Athing is,per se, not wonderful, it is because we wish to consider itso; the wonder is in ourselves and not in the thing. For instance, when asavage looks at the cotton cloth we wear, he calls it hemp; and when aninhabitant of Yüch (Soochow and vicinity) sees a rug, he calls it fur orhair. The reason may be found in this: we believe only those things towhich we have been educated, and[Pg 385]anything which might not be perfectlyunderstood by us we deem wonderful. Hence the shortsightedness of humannature. I will now give a passing remark of what is known amongst us. Aplace called Ping Shui (?) produces fire, while the Yen mountain producesrats. Now all men know these facts, and yet when we read and speak of theclassic treating of the “Wonders by Land and Sea,” we call it wonderful!When a thing is really wonderful, we do not consider it so; and what isnot wonderful, we persist in considering it to be so. Such being the case,if, what should be wondered at, we do not call it so, then there cannot bea single wonder in the whole Universe; and if we call a thing wonderfulwhich in truth is not so, then up to the present time there can be nothingwonderful. Moreover, if what is unknowable appears clear to our minds, itfollows that all things on earth should be understood by us.

According to the Bamboo Annals of Chi Chuen, and the records of King Müh,it is said that when that King went to visit the Fairy Queen of the West,he took with him as gifts to her, beautiful jade stones, and the best ofraw and embroidered silks; while, on the other hand, the Fairy Queen gavea banquet in honour of the King, on the banks of the lake formed by whitejade stones. During the banquet they composed and spoke their thoughts inverse, and the sentiments embodied therein were beautiful. Then the royalpair repaired to the hillock adjoining the Küen Lun mountain, and roamedover the palaces of King Hsüen Yüan, which were situated there, and thenceto the artificial terraces of the Chung hill, and gazed on the preciousand wonderful things collected by that king. Returning to the residence ofthe Fairy Queen, King Müh had a stone tablet engraved recording the event,and erected it in the Queen’s magic garden. On King Müh’s return home, hebrought with him to the Middle Kingdom beautiful wood and magnificentflowers, precious stones and elegant jades, golden oils and silvercandles. In his travels, King Müh rode in a chariot drawn by eightsplendid horses; the right-hand horses were of a dark colour, while thoseon the left hand were greenish. Tsao Fu was the charioteer, and Pen Yung,who stood on the King’s right, was the body-guard. Myriads oflis couldthus be traversed. They went over barren wastes and over celebratedmountains and large rivers, yet none of them barred their onward course.To the east they came across the Halls of the Giants; to the west theyarrived at the mansions of the Fairy Queen; to the south they crossed overa bridge composed of immense tortoises; and to the north they drove overstreets made of layers of feathers. Traversing these, then, King Mühcommenced his journey homeward full of joy. History informs us that “KingMüh, riding in a chariot drawn by eight magnificent horses, with Tsao Fuas charioteer, made a journey to the west, in search of adventures inhunting, and, coming to the Fairy Queen of[Pg 386] the West, was so happy, thathe almost forgot to return home.” These words are similar to thoserecorded in the “Bamboo Annals” of Chi Chuen. The classic called “Springand Autumn,” says that “King Müh was a man of vast ambition, and desiredthat the whole world should bear the tracks of his cart-wheels, andreceive the imprints of his horse’s hoof,” and the “Bamboo Annals”illustrate this ambition.

The disciples of Ts’ian Chow were all eminent scholars of famousattainments, but they were all sceptical as to the veracity of theadventures of King Müh, and say that in looking over history they areconvinced of their fallacy. Sz Ma Tseen also, in writing the preface tothe “Records of Ta Wan,” says that when Chang Ch’ien went on his missionto Ta Hsia, he traversed the whole length of the Huang Ho up to its verysource, but never came across the Küen Lun mountain. Moreover, Sz Ma Tsëenin his own history also says, in referring to the “Book of Wonders by Landand Sea,” that, “As to the wonders described in that work, I, for my part,dare not vouch for their truth.” In the face, therefore, of all theseauthorities, is it not a hard task for me to prove the contrary? If the“Bamboo Annals” of a thousand years ago be not taken at the present day asa truthful record of the past, then, indeed, most of the narrativescontained in the “Book of Wonders by Land and Sea” must be false. Now,Tung Fang Shun knew of Pe Fang; Lin Tsz Chen proved satisfactorily theexistence of Tao Chea by a corpse from that kingdom. Wang Ch’i had aninterview with men having two distinct faces on their heads, and a manfrom the sea coast picked up a dress having two very long sleeves. Incarefully studying, therefore, these books, I am convinced that theirstories mainly coincide with the tales in the “Book of Wonders by Land andSea.” Behold these evidences then, ye who doubt, and place some credencein the narrations contained in this book.

The Sage King made exhaustive researches into these wondrous beings, andthen drew their images. It is indeed impossible to hide the existence ofthese wonders! The “Book of Wonders by Land and Sea” was compiled sevendynasties ago (up to the Tsin dynasty), a space of 3,000 years. During theHan dynasty this book received the closest attention, and was elucidatedfor the benefit of its readers; but shortly after it again fell intoneglect. Moreover, since then, the names of some mountains and rivers haveundergone changes. At the present day, teachers and expounders are unableto explain these wonders, and hence through disuse their reasons given atan earlier age have almost sunk into oblivion. Alas, for the loss ofReason! Fearing, therefore, that it will be entirely lost, I have writtenthe accompanying work, making lucid the points that are obscure, anderasing those that are useless; pointing out what would not be noticeable,and explaining the parts that are deep. I shall endeavour to reclaim whathas almost become obsolete, that it may stand for[Pg 387] thousand of ages, andthe wonders herein recorded shall not, from the present day, be lost. Thusthe works of the Emperor Yü of the Hsia dynasty will not be lost in thefuture, and the records of the Barren Wastes beyond the boundaries of thisEmpire will be transmitted to posterity. Will not this be a laudableobject?

Insects that spring from grassy ground cannot soar as high as the birds ofthe air, nor can the living beings that inhabit the sea rise upheavenwards like the dragon. A man of medium abilities in music can neverbe a member of the Orchestra in the Halls of Chuen Tien, nor can thewater-buffalo traverse the watery deeps to which even ships dare notventure. Hence, unless a person be of the highest understanding, it wouldbe a hard task to converse with him intelligently of the “Wonders by Landand Sea.” And I sigh because it is only the learned and intelligent manthat can read understandingly the tales in this work.

KWOH P’OH,
Assistant Secretary and an Official of the 6th Rank,
of the Tsin Dynasty.

APPENDIX IV.

A MEMORIAL PRESENTED BY LIU HSIU, BY ORDER OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY THEEMPEROR, ON THE “BOOK OF WONDERS BY LAND AND SEA.”

The Memorialist, an officer of the Fourth Rank and Charioteer to HisMajesty the Emperor, having received commands to comment upon and makeright wonderful books, now reports that an officer named Wang, asubordinate in the Board of Civil Office, had already made comments andset right thirty-two chapters of the “Book of Wonders by Land and Sea,”but which the memorialist has reduced to eighteen chapters. This book wascompiled during the time of the three Emperors (Yao, Shun, and Yü). Atthat time there was a great flood, insomuch that the people had no placesto live, but only in caves and holes in the rocks, and upon the tops oftrees.

The father of Yü, by name K’un, being ordered by the Emperor to assuagethe floods, was unable to do so; the Emperor Yao therefore ordered Yü, theson, to do so. Yü used four things in his journey around to make thefloods flow away. He first cut away the trees on high mountains to obtaina view of the surrounding country; and having settled as to which was thehighest mountain, and which the largest river, Yih and Peh Ye undertook todrive away the wild beasts and birds abounding in the country, and namedthe mountains and rivers, and classified the fauna of the country, andpointed out which was water and which was land. The feudal lords assistedYü in his work, and thus he traversed the four quarters of the Empire,where footprint of man seldom could be found, and where boats and cartsscarcely reached. He named the five mountain divisions of the Empire andeight seas that bound it. He noted where each kind of precious stone couldbe found, and the wonderful things he had seen. The abode of animals ofland and sea, flora of the country, birds of the air, and beasts of thefield, worms, the unicorn, and the phœnix, all these he fixed, and alsomade known their hiding-places; also the furthest removed kingdom of theearth, and men who were different from[Pg 389] human beings. Yü divided theEmpire into nine divisions, and determined upon the tribute to be given byeach division, and Yih and his comrade noted which was hurtful and whichwas harmless for the “Book of Wonders by Land and Sea.”

All the deeds handed down to us of the sages are clearly noted in theMaxims of the Ancients. The work therein expressed is a matter that can bebelieved in. During the reign of Shiao Wu there was commonly seen a rarebird, which would eat nothing. Tung Fang Suh saw this bird, and gave itsname; he also told what it would eat. His words being attended to, thebird ate what was given it. Someone asked Suh how he knew of it; he saidhe had read of the bird in the “Book of Wonders by Land and Sea.” Duringthe reign of Shiao Hsüen, a large stone was broken in Shang Chuen, whichthen sank into the ground and displayed a house of stone; in the house wasa man of Tao Chia, with his arms tied. At that time the memorialist’sfather, named Hsiang, was a Censor, and he said that this Tao Chia man wasa traitor to his king. Being questioned by the Emperor how he could knowit, he said that he had read of it in the “Book of Wonders by Land andSea,” which says, “A traitor having killed his king in Tao Yü, he waschained and confined in a mountain, his right leg was cut off, and bothhis arms tied behind his back.” The Emperor was much surprised at this.All scholars acknowledge that this book is perfectly wonderful, and allintelligent men should read it, and be able to speak upon these wonderfulbeings and things, and learn the customs of far-off kingdoms and theirinhabitants. Hence the Yi King says, “In speaking of the products of theempire, care should be taken to avoid confusion,” and learned men,therefore, may not be doubtful.

APPENDIX V.

In the sayings of the philosopher Tso, the following remarks may be found:“Virtue existed during the times of the Hsia dynasty; drawings of allanimals far and wide were made, and the metal from which the urn was made,for the purpose of engraving thereon the images of these animals, waspresented as tribute by the feudal lords of the Nine Kingdoms. This urncontained the images of all manner and kinds of animals. This was for thepurpose of letting the people know about their existence, so that theymight avoid them in entering the mountains and forests, and the genii ofthe mountains and rivers. Hence the object of the classic treating on the‘Wonders by Land and Sea.’” When Yü assuaged the floods, the Emperorpresented him with a red-coloured wand made of jadestones, and thenabdicated his throne in his favour; on this account he ordered a tributeof metals from the feudal lords of the Nine Kingdoms, wherewith to castthe urn, on which were engraved all kinds of animals from far and wide,such as the wonderful animals and beings of mountains, rivers, grass, andwood, as well as the wonders to be found among walking animals andinhabitants of the air. Yü, when Emperor, caused the forms of thesewonders to be described, how produced, and their natures; he also had themclassified. When he had described those wonders, whether seen or heard of,or common or uncommon, or rarely heard of, all these he had describedminutely, whereby, when the people heard of them, an exceeding fear fellon them. All animals and beings that were common in those days weredescribed in the Annals of Yü, but such as were wonderful and rare wereengraved on the nine urns. These urns when completed were placed in thoseparts of the empire where these wonders originally came from, in orderthat the people of that age might learn and see daily the things that wereeither heard of or seen by others.

The things brought by tribute-bearers from afar were also added[Pg 391] unto thenine urns. Indeed, this made wonders an ordinary matter. That the peoplemight learn these things was the idea of the sage King Yü. Hence, eventhough at that time all things were described honestly, still the works ofthat period are far deeper than those of the Chow dynasty. At the time ofthe last Emperor of the Hsia dynasty, the historiographer Chung Ku,fearing that that Emperor might destroy the books treating of the ancientand present time, carried them in flight to Yin. History also says thatK‘ung Kiah compiled into a book all the things that were engraved on thevases and dishes from the time of Hwang Ti and his ministers, Yao and Sz.And the Annals treating on the animals described on the nine urns were dueto such men as Chung Ku and K‘ung Kiah. These Annals are now known as theclassic treating on “Wonders by Land and Sea.” The nine urns were extinctat the time of Tsing, but the pictures and classic still existed. Duringthe Tsin dynasty, T’ao Chang and his school of poets gazed upon thepictures of the “Wonders of Land and Sea.” In the “Seven Commentaries” ofthe Yuen family, there is observed a case of Chang Sun Yao’s pictures ofthese wonders. These cases may be cited as proofs of the authenticity ofthe wonders. At the present time, the classic treating on these wondersstill exists, but the pictures have become extinct. This classic has beentreated upon and commented on and made intelligent by the people that havecome after it, insomuch that the names of different districts of the Tsingand Han dynasties have been made to correspond with some of the namesmentioned in the “Book of Wonders by Land and Sea.” Hence the readers ofthis book are divided into the believing and the doubting. The believersbase their belief upon the fact that it was the Emperor Yü who compiled itand explained its origin. The doubtful base their doubt on the probablefact of the book having been written by people who existed after Yü, andtherefore unreasonable. This is indeed a base calumny. Liu Hsiu of the Handynasty makes mention of the book in his seven chapters treating on it.And his style of composition might be said to be very ancient. Kwoh P’ohof the Tsin dynasty in his preface and notes on this book, states thesewonders. The honour of transmitting this book to posterity is due to LiuHsiu and Kwoh P’oh; but, to prevent learners from considering that thenotes made by the two scholars are of no importance, I have thereforewritten this preface.

APPENDIX VI.

“The dragon holds a remarkable position in the history and government ofChina. It also enjoys an ominous eminence in the affections of the Chinesepeople. It is frequently represented as the great benefactor of mankind.It is the dragon which causes the clouds to form and the rain to fall. TheChinese delight in praising its wonderful properties and powers. It is thevenerated symbol of good.

“The Emperor appropriates to himself the use of thetrue dragon, the onewhich has five claws on each of its four feet. On his dress of state isembroidered a likeness of the dragon. His throne is styled ‘the dragon’sseat.’ His bedstead is the ‘dragon’s bedstead.’ His countenance is ‘thedragon’s face.’ His eyes are ‘the dragon’s eyes.’ His beard is ‘thedragon’s beard.’

“The true dragon, it is affirmed, never renders itself visible to mortalvision wholly at once. If its head is seen, its tail is obscured orhidden. If it exposes its tail to the eyes of man, it is careful to keepits head out of sight. It is always accompanied by or enshrouded in,clouds, when it becomes visible in any of its parts. Water-spouts arebelieved by some Chinese to be occasioned by the ascent and descent of thedragon. Fishermen and residents on the border of the ocean are reported tocatch occasional glimpses of the dragon ascending from the water anddescending to it.

“It is represented as having scales, and without ears; from its foreheadtwo horns project upwards. Its organ of hearing seems to be located inthese horns, for it is asserted that it hears through them. It is regardedas the king of fishes.

Proclamations emanating directly from the Emperor, and published on yellowpaper, sometimes have the likenesses of two dragons facing each other, andgrasping or playing with a pearl, of which the dragon is believed to bevery fond.

“The sagacious geomancer is also careful to observe the mountain or hillon the right and left sides of the spot for a lucky grave. The left-handside is called the black dragon; the right-hand side is called the whitetiger. The lucky prospects, in a Chinese sense, on the hills situated tothe left, should clearly surpass the prospects of the hills on the right.And the reason for this is manifest, for theblack dragon is naturallyweaker than thewhite tiger.

“The common belief is that the dragon and the tiger always fight when theymeet; and that when the dragon moves, the clouds will ascend and rain willsoon fall.

“Hence, in a time of drought, if the bones of a tiger should be let downinto this well called the ‘dragon’s well,’ and kept there for three daysat the most, there will, it is sagely affirmed, most likely be rain soon.

APPENDIX VII.

This animal, according to Shi Chan, belongs to the dragon family. Itseye-brows are crossed, hence its name signifies “the crossed reptile.” Thescaled variety is called theKiao-Lung, the winged theYing-Lung. Thehorned kind are calledK‘iu, the hornless kindLi. In Indian books itis calledKwan-P’i-Lo.

Shi Chan, quoting from theKwan Cheu Ki, says: “The Iguanodon (?) ismore than twelve feet long; it resembles a snake, it has four feet, and isbroad like a shield. It has a small head and a slender neck, the latterbeing covered with numerous protuberances. The front of its breast is of ared colour, its back is variegated with green, and its sides as ifembroidered. Its tail is composed of fleshy rings; the larger ones areseveral. Its eggs are also large. It can induce fish to fly, but if aturtle is present they will not do so.

“The Emperor Chao, of the Han, when fishing in the river Wéi, caught awhite Iguanodon. It resembled a snake, but was without scales. Its headwas composed of soft flesh, and tusks issued from the mouth. The Emperorordered his ministers to get it preserved. Its flesh is delicious; bonesgreen, flesh red.”

“TheT’o Fish, we call it the Earth Dragon, and have correctly writtenthe character. It resembles the dragon, its voice is terrible,[Pg 395] and itslength is ach’ang (a hundred and forty-one English inches). When itbreathes it forms clouds, which condense into rain. Being a dragon, theterm ‘fish’ should be done away with.”

Shi Chan says theT’o character in appearance resembles the head, thebelly, and the tail. One author says that an animal, which is identifiedwith the crocodile, is found in the lagoons and marshes of the SouthernSea, at no fixed time. Its skin is made into drums. It is very tenaciousof life. Before it can be flayed quantities of boiling water have to bepoured down its throat. Another author states that the crocodile is of asleepy disposition, with the eyes (nearly) always shut. It is of immensestrength. It frequently dashes itself against the river bank. Men dig themout of their caves. If a hundred men dig them out, a hundred men will berequired to pull them out; but if one man dig, one man may pull them out;but the event in either case is very uncertain. Another author states thatrecently there were found in the lakes and estuaries many animalsresembling lizards and pangolins in appearance, which utter dreadful criesduring the night, to the great terror of sailors. Shi Chan sayscrocodiles’ dens are very deep, and that bamboo ropes are baited in orderto catch him; after he has swallowed the bait he is gradually pulled out.He flies zigzag, but cannot fly upwards. His roar is like a drum’s, and heresponds to the striking of the watches of the night, which is called thecrocodile drum, or the crocodile watch. The common people, when they hearit, predict rain. The nape of the neck is bright and glistening, morebrilliant than those of fish. It lays a large number of eggs, as many as ahundred, which it sometimes eats. The people of the South appreciate theflesh, and use it at marriage festivities. One author states that thecrocodile has twelve different varieties of delicious flesh; but the tail,like serpent’s flesh, is very poisonous. The crocodile’s flesh cures quitea host of diseases.

The Jăn Shé, orSouthern Snake. (Mai-Teu-Shé = closed up (concealed)head snake.)

Shi Chan says: “This snake is a reptile (having a wriggling motion). Itsbody is immense, and its motion is wrig-wriggling (jăn-jăn)[319]and slow; hence its name,Jăn-Shé. Another author says its scaleshave hair like moustaches (jăn). It lives in Kwangtung and Kwangsi(literally, South of the Hills). Those that do not lift their head are thetrue kind; in this way they were called the ‘Concealed Head Snake.’”

[Pg 396]Sung quotes T’ao Hung King to the effect that its habitat is in Tsin-ngan(Fukien), and also Su Kung, who says that it is found in Kwéicheu andKwangcheu, towards the south, at Kaocheu and Hoün. At several places inthe south of the Hills they are still found. Hung King says the large ones(in their coils?) are several fathoms in circumference. Those that walkwithout raising their heads are the genuine ones. Those that conceal theirheads are not genuine. Its fat and gall can be mixed together. The largeones are more than a foot in diameter and more than twelve feet long. Itis a snake, but it is short and bulky. Su Kung remarks that its formresembles a mullet’s and its head a crocodile’s. Its tail is round andwithout scales. It is very tenacious of life. The natives cut up its fleshinto slices, and esteem it as a great delicacy. Another says: When steepedin vinegar the slices curl round the chop-sticks, and cannot be released;but when the chop-sticks are made of grass stems (mong’tso), then it ispracticable.

Another says: “This snake is a hundred and forty-four feet long; it oftenswallows a deer. When the deer is completely digested, then it coils rounda tree, when the bones of the deer in the stomach protrude through theinterstices of the scales.... If a woman’s dress is thrown towards it, itwill coil round and will not stir.”

Shi Chan, quoting “The Wonderful Records,” says: “The boa is sixty toseventy feet long, and four to five feet in circumference; the smallerones from thirty-six to forty-eight feet long. Their bodies are stripedlike a piece of embroidery. In spring and summer it frequents the recessesof forests, waiting for the deer, to devour them. When the deer isdigested the boa becomes fat. Someone says that it will eat a deer everyyear.”

Another author says: “The boa, when it devours a deer or wild boar, beginswith the hind legs. The poisonous breath of the boa comes in contact withthe horns; these fall off. The galls, the smaller they are the better theyare.” Another says: “Boas abound in Wang Cheu (Kwangsi). The large onesare more than a hundred and forty feet long. They devour deer, reducingthe horns and bones to a pulp. The natives use the dolishos and rattans tofill up the entrance to its den. The snake, when it smells them, becomestorpid. They then dig him out. Its flesh is a great delicacy. Its skin maybe made into a drum, and for ornamenting swords, and for making musicalinstruments.”

TheYu Hăng Chi says: “Rustic soldiers in Kwangsi, when capturingboas, stick flowers in their heads, which when the snake observes, itcannot move. They then come up to it and cut off its head. They then waittill it exhausts itself by its jumping about and dies. They then take ithome and feast on it.” Compare Ælian [De Naturâ Animalium, lib. vi.chap., xxi.]: “They hung before the mouth of the Dragon’s den a[Pg 397] piece ofstuff flowered with gold, which attracted the eyes of the beast, till bythe sound of soft music they lulled him to sleep, and then cut off hishead.”

TheShan Hai King says: “ThePa snake can eat an elephant, the bonesof which, after three years, are got rid of. Gentlemen that eat of thissnake will be proof against consumption.” Kwoh P’oh, in his commentary,says the boa of to-day is identical with thePa snake.

APPENDIX VIII.

TheShwoh Wăn says: “The dragon is the chief of scaly reptiles: inthe spring he mounts the heavens, in the autumn he frequents the streams.This is favourable.” Again, “When the dragon walks he is calledsah,when he flies he is ayao.”

TheKwang Ya says: “When he has scales he is aKiao,[320] when he haswings aYing-Lung,[321] when horns aKiu-Lung,[322] without horns aChih-Lung.”

TheMing Wuh Kiai of theOdes says the dragon has horns at fivehundred years, at one thousand years he is aYing-Lung.

TheP‘i Ya Kwang Yao says: “The dragon has eighty-one scales. This isnine times nine, nine is theyang (male principle). The dragon isproduced from an egg, in which he is enfolded.” Again, it says that theNéi Tien says: “Dragon-fire comes in contact with moisture and there issmoke, with water and it is consumed (i.e. a man may extinguish it withwater).”

TheFang Yen says: “Before the dragon has ascended to heaven he is aP‘an[323]Lung.” The Yih King says: “When his clouds move the rainfalls, and the various things put forth their forms at the time he ridesupon the six dragons and ascends the heavens.” “The first nine: The hiddendragon is inactive. The diagram indicates that the subtile ether is below.The second nine: When the dragon is seen in the[Pg 399] fields it is profitableto meet the great man. The diagram indicates that virtue is extended.Fifth nine: The flying dragon appears in the heavens: The diagramindicates the great man creates.” Again, “The dragons contend in thewilds, their blood is azure and yellow.” Again, “Thunder is a dragon.”

The Yuen-Ming-Pao section of theCh‘un ts‘iu says: “The dragons begin tospeak,yin andyang[324] are commingled”; thence, it is said, thedragon ascends and clouds are multiplied. TheYih King, in all thediagrams, clearly says: “The summer winds arise and the dragon mounts theskies.”

In theYuen-Shăn-K‘i of theHiao King it is said: “Virtueapproaches the fountains and the yellow dragon appears. It is the Prince’simage.”

In the “Tso-K‘i” of theHiao King it is said: “The Emperor is filial,the heavenly dragon bears the plans and the earthly tortoise issues abook.” TheHo-t‘u says: “Yellow gold after one thousand years produces ayellow dragon, azure gold after one thousand years, the azure dragon; redand white dragon is also thus. Black gold after one thousand yearsproduces the black dragon.”

TheTwan-ying-t‘u says: “The yellow dragon is the chief of the fourdragons, the true beauty of the four regions. He can be large or small,obscure or manifest, short or long, alive or dead; the king cannot drainthe pool and catch him. His intelligence and virtue are unfathomable;moreover he ensures the peaceful air, and sports in the pools.” Again, itsays: “The yellow dragon does not go in company, and does not live inherds. He certainly waits for the wind and rain, and disports himself inthe azure air. He wanders in the wilds beyond the heavens. He goes andcomes, fulfilling the decree; at the proper seasons if there is perfectionhe comes forth, if not he remains (unseen).”

TheShi Ki says: “The bright moon pearl is concealed in the oyster, thedragon is there.”

Books of the after Wei dynasty say, “Persia has three pools.” They narratethat a dragon lives in the largest, his wife in the second, and his childin the third. If travellers sacrifice, they can pass; if they do notsacrifice they encounter many storms of wind and rain.

Lü-lan asserts that Confucius said, “The dragon feeds in the pure (water)and disports in the clear (water).”

Sun-k‘ing-tsz says: “The accumulated waters form the streams, theKiao-Lung is brought forth.” Han-Féi-shwoh-nan says: “Now as the dragonis a reptile he can be brought under control and ridden.[325] But belowhis throat are tremendous scales, projecting a foot. If a man should comein contact with them he would be killed.”

[Pg 400]Kwan-tsz says: “The dragon’s skin has five colours, and he moves like aspirit; he wishes to be small and he becomes like a silkworm; great, andhe fills all below heaven; he desires to rise, and he reaches the ether;he desires to sink, and he enters the deep fountains. The times of hischanging are not fixed, his rising and descending are undetermined; he iscalled a god (or spirit).”

Hwai-nan-tsz says: “The dragon ascends and the brilliant clouds follow.”Again, he says: “ThisKiao-Lung is hidden in the streams, and his eggsare opened at the mound. The male cries above and the female cries below,and he changes; his form and essence are of the most exalted (kind). Mancannot see the dragon when he flies aloft. He ascends, and wind and rainescort him.”

TheTihing P‘ien says: “Wings beautiful grow for the flying dragon; hairsoft like that of a calf on theying dragon; scales only for theKiao-Lung. Only in pools is found theSien-Lung.” Chang-hang said:“How theTs‘ang-Lung meets the summer and aspires to the clouds, andshakes his scales, accomplishing the season. He passes the winter in themuddy water, and, concealed, he escapes harm.” Pan-ku, answering Pin-hi,said: “TheYing-Lung hides in the lakes and pools. Fish and turtlecontemn him, and he does not observe it. He can exert his skill andintelligence, and suddenly the clear sky appears. For this reason theYing-Lung, now crouching in the mud, now flying in the heavens, appearsto be divine.”

Lun-hang says, “When the dragon is small, all the fish are small; this isdivine.”

Pao-pòh-tz says: “There are self-existent dragons and there are wormswhich are changed into dragons.” Again, he says: “Among the hills theCh‘ăn day, called the rain master, is a dragon.” Hwai-nan-tsz said:“TheChuh-Lung is north of the goose gate concealed in the Wei-Ümountain.” TheShan-hai-king says the god of the Chung-shan is calledChuh-Lung. When he opens his eyes it is day, when he shuts his eyes itis night. His body is three thousandli long.

TheShui-hing-chu says: “TheYulung considers the autumn days asnight. But the dragon descends in the autumn and hibernates in the deeppools; how then can he say that autumn is night?” It also says: “There isa divine dragon in the vermilion pools at Kiao-chew. Whenever there was adrought, the village people obstructed the upper tributaries of the pool,and many fish died; the dragon became enraged at such times, and causedmuch rain.”

TheKwah-ti-t‘u says: “At the dragon pool there is a hill with fourlofty sides, and within them is a pool seven hundredli square; a herdof dragons live there, and feed upon the many different kinds of trees.[Pg 401]It is beyond Hwui-ki forty-five thousandli.” Again, it says: “If you donot ride on a dragon you cannot reach the weak waters[327] of the Kwan-lunhill.”

ThePoh-Wuh-Chi says: “If you soak the dragon’s flesh in an acid (andeat it), you can write essays.” Again, it says: “The Tiao-sheh is in formlike a dragon, but smaller. It likes danger; hence it is appointed toguard decayed timber.” Again, it says: “The dragon lays three eggs. Thefirst isKi-tiao. He goes ashore and cohabits with the deer or depositshis semen at the water’s edge, where it becomes attached to passing boatsor floating wood and branches. It appears like a walnut, it is calledTsz-chao flower, and constitutes what is mentioned in theTao-ch‘u asdragon-salt.” Again, it says: “Below the dragon-gate every year in thethird month of spring, yellow carps, two[328] fish, come from the sea, andall the streams, with speed to the contest. But seventy-one can ascend thedragon-gate in a year; when the first one ascends the dragon-gate there iswind and rain. It is followed by fire which burns his tail, and then he isa dragon.”

TheShih-I-Ki says: “East of the hills of Fang-chang there is a dragonplain where there are dragon skins and bones like a mountain: spread outthey would cover one thousand five hundred acres. To meet him when hesloughs his bones is like the birth of a dragon. Or it is said the dragonsconstantly wrangle at this place. It is enriched with blood like flowingwater.”

TheShuh-I-Ki says: “In the P‘uning district there are the isles wherethe dragons are buried. Fu-loo says the dragons shed their bones at theseisles, the water now contains many dragon-bones, in these mountains,hills, peaks, and gorges. The dragons make the wind and rain. There aredragons’ bones everywhere, whether in the deep or shallow places; thereare many in the ground. Teeth, horns, vertebral columns, feet, it seems asthough they are everywhere. The largest measure one hundred feet or exceedone hundred feet. The smallest are two feet or three or four inches. Thebones are everywhere. Constantly when looking for anything they are seen.”Again, it says: “It is told of the Kuh mountains in Ki-cheu that when thedragon is a thousand years old, he enters the mountains and casts hisbones. Now there is a dragon hill, from the midst of the hill issues thedragon’s brains.”

TheK‘ié-Lan Records at Loh-yang[329] say: “You cannot trust the hillsin the west. They are too cold. There is snow both winter and summer. Inthe hills there is a pool where a bad dragon lives; long ago somemerchants rested near the pool, until the dragon became enraged, abused,and killed them. A priest,[330] Pan-T‘o, heard of it, and, leaving hisseat to the pupils, went to the kingdom of Wuchang to[Pg 402] learn the Po-lo-manincantations; he mastered them in four years, and returned to his seat. Hewent to the pool and invoked the dragon. The dragon was transformed intoa man, repented, and followed the king. The king then removed.” Again, itsays: “To the west of the kingdom of Wuchang there is a pool in which thedragon prince dwells. There is a monastery on the banks of the pool, inwhich there are more than fifty priests. Whenever the dragon prince doesanything marvellous, the king comes and beseeches him, using gold,precious stones, pearls, and valuables, throwing them into the pool.Afterwards they are cast up and the priests gather them. This monasteryrelies upon the dragon for food and clothing and the means to assistpeople. Its name is ‘Dragon Prince Monastery.’”

TheTs‘i-ti records say there is a well in the city of Ch‘áng-ping atthe brambles; when the water is disturbed a spiritual dragon comes andgoes. So the city is called the dragon city.

TheShi-San-Tsin records say Ho-li has also the name Dragon Gate. Greatfish collect below it, in number one thousand. They cannot ascend. If oneascends it is a dragon. Those which do not ascend are fish. Hence it iscalled the “Pao-sai-lung-man.” (Great carp ascend the dragon gate andbecome dragons; those which do not ascend prick the forehead and strikethe cheek.) Again, it says: “The Lung-sheu mountains are sixtyli long;the head enters the Wei waters, the tail extends to the Fan streams. Thishead is two hundred feet high; his tail descends gradually to a height offifty or sixty feet. It is said that long ago a strange dragon came outfrom south of the mountains to drink the Wei waters. The road he travelledbecame mountain. Hence the name.”

TheKiao-Cheu-Kí says: “In Kiao-chi at Fung-ki-hien there is a dyke witha dragon gate; the water is one hundred fathoms deep. Great fish ascendthis gate and become dragons. Those which cannot pass, strike the cheekand puncture the forehead, until the blood flows. This water iscontinually like the Vermilion pool.”

The annals of Hwa-yang say: “Only at Wu-ch‘ing district does the earthmeet the gate of heaven; the dragon which mounts to heaven and does notreach it, falls dead to this place, hence when excavating you finddragon-bones.”

TheI-Tung-Chi says: “Twentyli west of Lin-fung-hien is a stonedragon, among the cliffs is a rock like a dragon. In a year of droughtwash it, and it rains.” Again, it says: “At Yen-T‘ang there is a pondcalled Smoky Pond; it is north-east of the city tenli. Its depth hasnever been ascertained. It is reported that long ago a man caught a whiteeel, and was about to cook it, when an old man said, ‘This is the dragonof the river Siang; I fear calamity will follow.’ The man was angry, and,regarding the words as vain, proceeded. The next day the whole village wassubmerged.”

[Pg 403]TheKwoh-Shi-Pu says: “At the time of the spring rains the carp springsthrough the dragon gate and becomes transformed. At the present time, inFan-cheu of Shansi, there is a cave in the mountains; in it are many castbones and horns of dragons. They are collected for medicine, and are offive colours. It is recorded in theChw‘en that north of the Wu-t’aihills, below the terrace, is Azure Dragon Pool, about one-third of an acrein extent. The Buddhist books say five hundred evil dragons are confined(here). Whenever it is mid-day a thick mist gradually arises. A purepriest and candidates for the priesthood may see it. If a nun or femalesapproach then there is great thunder, lightning, and tempest. If they comenear the pool, he certainly will belch forth poisonous breath and theywill die at once. Foreigners say that in Piolosz there is a spiritualdragon which goes and comes among the granaries. When a servant comes forrice the dragon vanishes. If the servant comes constantly for rice thedragon does not suffer it. If there is no rice in the granaries, theservant worships the dragon, and the granaries are filled.”

Yuin-Chu-Tsih records: “If one sees a dragon’s egg in the lake or riverthere will certainly be a flood.”

TheNan-Pu-Sin-Shu says: “The dragon’s disposition is ferocious, and hefears bees’-wax, loves jade, and the King-ts‘ing delight to eat the fleshof cooked sparrows. For this reason men who eat sparrows do not cross thesea.”

ThePah-mung-so-yen says: “The perverse dragon, when rain is wanted,sneaks away into old trees or into the beams of houses. The thunder godpulls him out.”

Wu-ch‘ăn-tsah-ch‘ao says: “There is a great dragon which sloughed hisskin on the brink of the Great Lake. Insects come out from his scalyarmour. Instantly they are transformed into dragon-flies of a red colour.If men gather them they get fever and ague. If men now-a-days see thesered dragon-flies they call them dragon-armour, also dragons’ grandsons,and are unwilling to hurt them.”

Pi-shu-suh-hwa says: “In Suh-chan and Hang-cheu the twentieth day of thefifth month is called the day of the separation of the dragons. Therefore,in the fifth and sixth months, whenever there is thunder, and the cloudscrowd together, if they see a tail bent down, and stretching to earth fromamong the clouds, moving like a serpent, they say, ‘The dragon issuspended.’”

Tsu-tz say: “The spiritual dragon leaves the water and dwells in the dryplace, and the mole, crickets, and ants annoy him.”

Kung Sun Hung replied to Tung Fang Shoh, saying: “Before the dragon hasascended he is of a sort with fish and turtles; after he has ascended theheavens his scales cannot be seen.”

Siu Tsung Yuen answered an inquirer, saying: “TheKiao-Lung ascends tothe heavenly fountain. He pervades the six regions (North,[Pg 404] South, East,West, Above, Below). He moistens all things. Shrimps and the leech cannotdepart one foot from the water.”

TheShwoh-Wan says: “TheKiao belongs to the dragon species. When afish attains three thousand six hundred [years ?] it becomes aKiao; onattaining this much the dragon flies away.” Again, it says: “[Dragons]without horns areKiao.”

TheP’i-Ya says: “TheKiao’s bones are green, and they can bring theirheads and tails together and constrict anything; hence they are calledKiao. A popular name for them is ‘the horse’s lasso.’” Another authorsays theKiao’s tail has fleshy rings; they are able to compress anycreature, and then tear it with the head.

TheShuh-I-Ki says the eye-brows of aKiao unite, and their uniting isa proof that it is aKiao.

TheSiang-Shu (Book of Physiognomy) says that when the eye-brows unitethe epithetKiao is applied, because theKiao Shăn has crossedeye-brows.

TheYueh-kiu (Divisions of Seasons) says that the season of autumn isunfavourable to theKiao.

TheKia-Yü (Family Discourses) says that if a stream contains fish, thennoKiao will stay in it.

TheShan-Hai-King says theKiao is like a dragon and snake, with asmall head and fine neck. The neck has white ornamentations on it. Thegirth (?) is five cubits; the eggs of the capacity of three catties; andit can swallow a man.

APPENDIX IX.

“TheTsah Ping Shu (Work on Military Science) says: ‘In drilling anarmy,[332] when you arrange it like theShăn expelling its breath,its appearance is like that of a snake, but the waist is large; belowthere are scales, running backwards.’

“One says that its form is like that of the Ch‘i-lung, which has ears andhorns and a mane of a red colour. When it exhales its breath, it forms acloud just like a palace or tower, looking as if its walls are moving in acloud of mist, or like a weary bird flying above. This makes everyone feelvery happy until the exhalation or snorting of the breath is finished.

“There is a popular saying about building aShăn tower. When the skyappears to rain you can see a resemblance of it.

“TheShi-Ki (Book of Odes or Classical Poetry) uses the expression, ‘TheShăn’s breath forms a tower’; it is in allusion to this.

“At the present day it is said that theChi (a pheasant orfrancolin[333]) and the snake copulate and produce theShăn.

“The oily substance ofShăn combined with wax makes the Chinese waxcandles, the fragrance of which, when burning, can be recognized for onehundred feet in all directions; and the smoke emitted from the flame formsthe appearance of a tower.”

“ThePih T‘an (Familiar Stories) says that at Tang-cheu (in Shantung),in the midst of the sea, there are often clouds arise and appear[Pg 406] like theimperial palace, or towers of the city walls, and there is also anappearance of people, carriages, and horses busily engaged [mirage?].They call this phenomenon ‘the market of the sea,’ while others say it isbut the breath of theShăn Kiao.

“TheWu Léi Siang Kan Chi says theShăn is but another sort ofdragon, and can be found in some of the ponds and wells. They throw outthe air, forming rain as in the locality of Wu San Yin.

“TheP‘i Ya Kwang Yao says, when a snake transforms it becomes ashăn, in the likeness of theKiao, but without paws.”

“The twelfth chapter ofChing Kiün Chw’en says that Hü Ching Kiün,author of the above book, met a youth, quite handsome in his apparel. Theyouth pretended to be very modest, Hu Kiün knowing all the time that hewas aKiao in another form. So he told his followers, ‘I regret to thinkthat the province of Kiang-si will often meet with the misfortune ofinundation if we do not exterminate thatKiao Shăn, and are notcareful to prevent its escape.’ But theShăn knew what Hu Kiün wassaying, and gradually slipped away to a place called Sung-sha-cheu, wherehe transformed himself into a yellow ox. But at the same time Ching Kiünalso transformed himself into a black ox, tying a handkerchief over hisneck to distinguish him from the other ox, and ordered his disciple, ShiTai Yu, to use his sword, and thrust at the left thigh, because he hadentered within the city wall, in the western part of which there is awell. By jumping this well he found a road to Tau-cheu, and once moretransformed himself into a handsome youth, and by so doing got married tothe daughter of a magistrate called Ku Yu, with plenty of jewels and gold.Then Ching came to see Ku Yu and said, ‘I hear that you have a very nobleson-in-law. May I see him?’ Ku answered ‘Yes,’ and told him to come out.But he excused himself upon account of sickness, and hid himself. ThenChing Kiün, saying, ‘The dangerous things of the rivers and the lake areold devils, and they dare to transform themselves into human beings,’ordered the son-in-law to transform himself into his original form, andhid himself beneath the table. Then the magistrate said, ‘Kill this,’ andthey did so. Then Kiun sprinkled water on the two sons, and they wereimmediately transformed intoShăn. [There must be children born fromthe marriage.—Translator.] He advised Ku Yu that he must put them awayimmediately, or the whole house would be in danger of breaking.”

“TheTai Ping Kwang Ki says that the lake of Wan Tun, at Fì Chi,contains aShăn which often fought with theShăn of Lake Su.Near this lake is a place called Yao, where there lived a man calledCh‘ang Sing Shan, of great bravery, and an expert archer. He once dreamedthat aShăn snake was transformed into a Taouist, and then it saidto[Pg 407] him: ‘I am endangered by theShăn of the lake of Lu. Can yourhonour assist me? if so I will reward you heavily. The tight white chainis me.’ Next day Sing Shan went with a youth of Yao to the shore of thelake and dreamed. He waited until the waves rose and the surf struck theshore, making a noise like thunder. He saw two oxen coming, one with awhite belly and legs; then Sing Shan discharged an arrow at it, and itturned out to be aShăn. The water immediately turned into blood, andtheShăn, after receiving the wound, tried to return to the lake ofLu, but died before it reached there.”

“TheShăn Kiao belongs to theKiao species, and also has theappearance of a snake. It has horns like a dragon; the mane is red belowthe waist; all the scales are projecting. It eats swallows, and can emitan air which appears like a tower.

[1] This tributary offering is a common feature in dragon legends. A goodexample is that given by El Edrisi in his history of the dragon destroyedby Alexander the Great in the island of Mostachin (one of the Canaries?).

[2] The latest writer on this point summarizes his views, in his openingremarks, as follows:—“The science of heraldry has faithfully preserved tomodern times various phases of some of those remarkable legends which,based upon a study of natural phenomena, exhibit the process whereby thegreater part of mythology has come into existence. Thus we find the solargryphon, the solar phœnix, a demi-eagle displayed issuing from flamesof fire; the solar lion and the lunar unicorn, which two latter noblecreatures now harmoniously support the royal arms. I propose in thefollowing pages to examine the myth of the unicorn, the wild, white,fierce, chaste, moon, whose two horns, unlike those of mortal creatures,are indissolubly twisted into one; the creature that endlessly fights withthe lion to gain the crown or summit of heaven, which neither may retain,and whose brilliant horn drives away the darkness and evil of the nighteven as we find in the myth, that Venym is defended by the horn of theunicorn.”—The Unicorn; a Mythological Investigation. Robert Brown,jun., F.S.A. London, 1881.

[3] “The midgard or world-serpent we have already become tolerably wellacquainted with, and recognise in him the wild tumultuous sea. Thorcontended with him; he got him on his hook, but did not succeed in killinghim. We also remember how Thor tried to lift him in the form of a cat. TheNorth abounds in stories about the sea-serpent, which are nothing butvariations of the original myths of the Eddas. Odin cast him into the sea,where he shall remain until he is conquered by Thor in Ragnarok.”—NorseMythology, p. 387. R. B. Anderson, Chicago, 1879.

[5] Just as even the greatest masters of fiction adapt but do notoriginate. Harold Skimpole and Wilkins Micawber sat unconsciously fortheir portraits in real life, and the most charming characters and fertileplots produced by that most prolific of all writers, A. Dumas, are mereelaborations of people and incidents with which historical memoirsprovided him.

[6]Atlantis; the Antediluvian World. J. Donelly, New York, 1882. Theauthor has amassed, with untiring labour, a large amount of evidence toprove that the island of Atlantis, in place of being a myth or fable ofPlato, really once existed; was the source of all modern arts andcivilization; and was destroyed in a catastrophe which he identifies withthe Biblical Deluge.

[7] So also, Father Stanislaus Arlet, of the Society of Jesus, writing tothe General of the Society in 1698 respecting a new Mission in Peru, andspeaking of a Peruvian tribe calling themselves Canisian, says: “Havingnever before seen horses, or men resembling us in colour and dress, theastonishment they showed at our first appearance among them was a verypleasing spectacle to us, the sight of us terrifying them to such a degreethat the bows and arrows fell from their hand; imagining, as theyafterwards owned, that the man, his hat, his clothes, and the horse herode upon, composed but one animal.”

[8]The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, done intoEnglish by H. C. Gent, London, 1653, p. 109. The vindication of Pinto’sreputation for veracity will doubtless one day be, to a great extent,effected, for although his interesting narrative is undoubtedlyembroidered with a rich tissue of falsity, due apparently to anexaggerated credulity upon his part, and systematic deception upon that ofhis Chinese informants, he certainly is undeserving of the wholesalecondemnation of which Congreve was the reflex when he made Foresight,addressing Sir Sampson Legend, say: “Thou modern Mandeville, FerdinandMendez Pinto was but a type of thee, thou liar of the firstmagnitude.”—Love for Love, Act. 2, Scene 1. There are many points inhis narrative which are corroborated by history and the accounts of othervoyages; and it must be remembered that, although the major part of thenames of places and persons which he gives are now unrecognisable, yetthis may be due to alterations from the lapse of time, and from thedifficulty of recognising the true original Chinese or Japanese word underthose produced by the foreign mode of transliteration in vogue in thosedays. Thus the Port Liampoo of Pinto is now and has been for many yearspast only known as Ningpo, the first name being a term of convenience,used by the early Portuguese voyagers, and long since abandoned. Just asthe wonderful Quinsay of Marco Polo (still known by that name in Pinto’stime) has been only successfully identified (with Hangchow-fu) through theantiquarian research of Colonel Yule. So also the titles of Chaems,Tutons, Chumbins, Aytons, Anchacy’s, which Pinto refers to (p. 108), areonly with difficulty recognisable in those respectively of Tsi‘ang (aManchu governor), Tu-tung (Lieutenant-General), Tsung-ping(Brigadier-General), Tao-tai [??] (Intendant of Circuit) and Ngan-ch‘aShe-sze (Provincial Judge), as rendered by the modern sinologue Mayers inhis Essay on the Chinese Government, Shanghai, 1878. The incidentalreferences to the country, people, habits, and products, contained in thechapter describing his passage in captivity from Nanquin to Pequin aretrue to nature, and the apparently obviously untruthful statement which hemakes of the employment by the King of Tartary of thousands of rhinoceriboth as beasts of burthen and articles of food (p. 158) is explicable, Ithink, on the supposition that some confusion has arisen, either intranslation or transcription, between rhinoceros and camel. Anyone who hasseen the long strings of camels wending their way to Pekin from thevarious northern roads through the passes into Mongolia, would readilybelieve that a large transport corps of them could easily be amassed by adespotic monarch; while the vast numbers of troops to which Pinto makesreference are confirmed by more or less authentic histories.

[9] “I was myself an eye-witness of two such discoveries and helped togather the articles together. The slanderers have long since beensilenced, who were not ashamed to charge the discoverer with animposture.”—Prof. Virchow, in Appendix I. to Schliemann’sIlios.Murray, 1880.

[10] “But ask them to credit an electric telegram, to understand asteam-engine, to acknowledge the microscopic revelations spread out beforetheir eyes, to put faith in the Atlantic cable or the East India House,and they will tell you that you are a barbarian with blue eyes, a fankwai, and a sayer of that which is not. The dragon and the phœnix aretrue, but the rotifer and the message, the sixty miles an hour, the cable,and the captive kings are false.”—Household Words, October 30th, 1855.

[11] Address delivered to the Biological Section of the BritishAssociation. Glasgow, 1876.

[12] In 1854 a communication from the Torquay Natural History Society,confirming previous accounts by Mr. Goodwin Austen, Mr. Vivian, and theRev. Mr. McEnery, “that worked flints occurred in Kents Hole with remainsof extinct species,” was rejected as too improbable for publication.

[13] “She is set down a thorough heretic, not at all to be believed, amanufacturer of unsound natural history, an inventor of false facts inscience.”—Gosse,Romance of Nat. Hist., 2nd Series, p. 227.

[15] “By the kindness of my friend, Mr. Bartlett, I have been enabled toexamine a most beautiful Japanese carving in ivory, said to be one hundredand fifty years old, and called by the Japanesenet suke ortogle.These togles are handed down from one generation to the next, and theyrecord any remarkable event that happens to any member of a family. Thiscarving is an inch and a half long, and about as big as a walnut. Itrepresents a lady in a quasi-leaning attitude, and at first sight it isdifficult to perceive what she is doing; but after a while the detailscome out magnificently. The unfortunate lady has been seized by an octopuswhen bathing—for the lady wears a bathing-dress. One extended arm of theoctopus is in the act of coiling round the lady’s neck, and she isendeavouring to pull it off with her right hand; another arm of thesea-monster is entwined round the left wrist, while the hand is fiercelytearing at the mouth of the brute. The other arms of the octopus aretwined round, grasping the lady’s body and waist—in fact, her positionreminds one very much of Laocoon in the celebrated statue of the snakesseizing him and his two sons. The sucking discs of the octopus are carvedexactly as they are in nature, and the colour of the body of the creature,together with the formidable aspect of the eye, are wonderfullyrepresented. The face of this Japanese lady is most admirably done; itexpresses the utmost terror and alarm, and possibly may be a portrait. Socarefully is the carving executed that the lady’s white teeth can be seenbetween her lips. The hair is a perfect gem of work; it is jet black,extended down the back, and tied at the end in a knot; in fact, it is sowell done that I can hardly bring myself to think that it is not realhair, fastened on in some most ingenious manner; but by examining it undera powerful magnifying glass I find it is not so—it is the result ofextraordinary cleverness in carving. The back of the little white combfixed into the thick of the black hair adds to the effect of thismagnificent carving of the hair. I congratulate Mr. Bartlett on theacquisition of this most beautiful curiosity. There is an inscription inJapanese characters on the underneath part of the carving, and Mr.Bartlett and myself would, of course, only be too glad to get thistranslated.”—Frank Buckland, inLand and Water.

[18] “When a naturalist, either by visiting such spots of earth as arestill out of the way, or by his good fortune, finds a very queer plant oranimal, he is forthwith accused of inventing his game, the word not beingused in its old sense ofdiscovery but in its modern ofcreation. Assoon as the creature is found to sin against preconception, the great(mis?) guiding spirit,à priori by name, who furnishes philosophers withtheir omnisciencepro re natâ, whispers that no such thingcan be, andforthwith there is a charge of hoax. The heavens themselves have beencharged with hoaxes. When Leverrier and Adams predicted a planet bycalculation, it was gravely asserted in some quarters that the planetwhich had been calculated was notthe planet but another which hadclandestinely and improperly got into the neighbourhood of the true body.The disposition to suspect hoax is stronger than the disposition to hoax.Who was it that first announced that the classical writings of Greece andRome were one huge hoax perpetrated by the monks in what the announcerwould be as little or less inclined than Dr. Maitland to call the darkages?”—Macmillan, 1860.

[21] “Having showed the foregoing description of the mountain cow, calledby the Spaniardsante [manatee?], to a person of honour, he waspleased to send it to a learned person in Holland.” This learned persondiscusses it and compares it with the hippopotamus, and winds up bysaying, in reference to a description of the habits of the hippopotamus,as noticed at Loango by Captain Rogers, to the effect that when they arein the water they will sink to the bottom, and then walk as on dry ground,“but what he says of her sinking to the bottom in deep rivers, and walkingthere, if he adds, what I think he supposes, that it rises again, andcomes on the land, I much question; for that such a huge body should raiseitself up again (though I know whales and great fish can do) transcendsthe faith of J. H.”—F. J. Knapton,Collection of Voyages, vol. ii.,part ii. p. 13. 4 vols., London, 1729.

[22]Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Asia. Hugh Murray,F.R.S.E., 3 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1820.

[24] A writer inMacmillan’s Magazine in 1860 concludes a series ofobjections to the canal as follows: “And the Emperor must hesitate toidentify himself with an operation which might not impossibly come to bedesignated by posterity as ‘Napoleon’s Folly.’”

[25] The Bower Bird,Ptilonorhyncus holosericeus, and theGarden-building Bird of New Guinea,Amblyornis inornara.

[27] “This obstacle was a forest of oaks, not giant oaks, but the veryreverse, a forest of dwarf oaks (Quercus nana). Far as the eye couldreach extended the singular wood, in which no tree rose above thirtyinches in height. Yet was it no thicket, no undergrowth of shrubs, but atrue forest of oaks, each tree having its separate stem, its boughs, itslobed leaves, and its bunches of brown acorns.”—Capt. Mayne Reid,TheWar Trail, chap. lxiv.

[28] Respecting the timber trees of this tract, Dr. Ferdinand von Mueller,the Government botanist, thus writes:—“At the desire of the writer ofthese pages, Mr. D. Bogle measured a fallen tree ofEucalyptusamygdalina, in the deep recesses of Dandenong, and obtained for it alength of 420 feet, with proportions of width, indicated in a design of amonumental structure placed in the exhibition; while Mr. G. Klein took themeasurement of aEucalyptus on the Black Spur, ten miles distant fromHealesville, 480 feet high! In the State forest of Dandenong, it was foundby actual measurement that an acre of ground contained twenty large treesof an apparent average height of about 350 feet.”—R. Brough Smyth,TheGold Fields of Victoria. Melbourne, 1869.

[29] “In the next place, we must remember how impossible it is for themind to invent an entirely new fact. There is nothing in the mind of manthat has not pre-existed in nature. Can we imagine a person, who never sawor heard of an elephant, drawing a picture of such a two-tailedcreature?”—J. Donelly,Rangarok, p. 119. New York, 1883.

[30] “I conceive that quite a large proportion of the most profoundthinkers are satisfied to exert their memory very moderately. It is, infact, a distraction from close thought to exert the memory overmuch, and aman engaged in the study of an abstruse subject will commonly rather turnto his book-shelves for the information he requires than tax his memory tosupply it.”—R. A. Proctor,Pop. Sci. Monthly, Jan. 1874.

[31] “It was through one of these happy chances (so the Brothers Grimmwrote in 1819) that we came to make the acquaintance of a peasant woman ofthe village of Nieder-Zwehrn, near Cassel, who told us the greater part ofthe Märchen of the second volume, and the most beautiful of it too. Sheheld the old tales firmly in her memory, and would sometimes say that thisgift was not granted to everyone, and that many a one could not keepanything in its proper connection. Anyone inclined to believe thattradition is easily corrupted or carelessly kept, and that therefore itcould not possibly last long, should have heard how steadily she alwaysabided by her record, and how she stuck to its accuracy. She never alteredanything in repeating it, and if she made a slip, at once righted herselfas soon as she became aware of it, in the very midst of her tale. Theattachment to tradition among people living on in the same kind of lifewith unbroken regularity, is stronger than we, who are fond of change, canunderstand.”—Odinic Songs in Shetland. Karl Blind,NineteenthCentury, June 1879.

[33] Mr. C. P. Daly, President of the American Geographical Society,informs us, in his Annual Address [for 1880], that in one book found inthe royal library at Nineveh, of the date 2000B.C., there is—

4. A connection indicated (according to Mr. Perville) between the weatherand the changes of the moon.

5. A notice of the spots on the sun: a fact they could only have known bythe aid of telescopes, which it is supposed they possessed fromobservations that they have noted down of the rising of Venus, and thefact that Layard found a crystal lens in the ruins of Nineveh. (N.B.—Asto the above, I must say that telescopes are not always necessary to seethe spots on the sun: these were distinctly visible with the naked eye, inthe early mornings, to myself and the officers of the S.S.Scotia, inthe Red Sea, in the month of August of 1883, after the great volcanicdisturbances near Batavia. The resulting atmospheric effects were verymarked in the Red Sea, as elsewhere, the sun, when near the horizon,appearing of a pale green colour, and exhibiting the spots distinctly.)

[34] Ammianus Marcellinus (bk. xxii., ch. xv., s. 20), in speaking of thePyramids, says: “There are also subterranean passages and windingretreats, which, it is said, men skilful in the ancient mysteries, bymeans of which they divined the coming of a flood, constructed indifferent places lest the memory of all their sacred ceremonies should belost.”

As affording a minor example of prophesy, I quote a correspondent’scommunication, relating to Siam, to theNorth China Daily News of July28th, 1881:—“Singularly enough the prevalence of cholera in Siam thisseason has been predicted for some months. The blossoming of the bamboo(which in India is considered the invariable forerunner of an epidemic)was looked upon as ominous, while the enormous quantity and high qualityof the fruit produced was cited as pointing out the overcharge of theearth with matter which, though tending to the development of vegetablelife, is deleterious to human. From these and other sources of knowledgeopen to those accustomed to read the book of nature, the prevalence ofcholera, which, since 1873, has been almost unknown in Siam, was predictedand looked for; and, unlike most modern predictions, it has been certainlyfulfilled. So common was the belief, that when, some months since, aforeign official in Siamese employ applied for leave of absence, it wasopposed by some of the native officials on the ground that he ought tostay and take his chance of the cholera with the rest of them.”

[35] “It is now generally admitted by biologists who have made a study ofthe Vertebrata that birds have come down to us through the Dinosaurs, andthe close affinity of the latter with recent struthious birds will hardlybe questioned. The case amounts almost to a demonstration if we comparewith Dinosaurs their contemporaries, the Mesozoic birds. The classes ofbirds and reptiles as now living are separated by a gulf so profound thata few years since it was cited by the opponents of evolution as the mostimportant break in the animal series, and one which that doctrine couldnot bridge over. Since then, as Huxley has clearly shown, this gap hasbeen virtually filled by the discoveries of bird-like reptiles andreptilian birds. Compsognathus and Archæopteryx of the old world, andIcthyornis and Hesperornis of the new, are the stepping-stones by whichthe evolutionist of to-day leads the doubting brother across the shallowremnant of the gulf, once thought impassable.”—Marsh.

[36] Professor Carl Vogt regards the Archæopteryx “as neither reptile norbird, but as constituting an intermediate type. He points out that thereis complete homology between the scales or spines of reptiles and thefeathers of birds. The feather of the bird is only a reptile’s scalefurther developed, and the reptile’s scale is a feather which has remainedin the embryonic condition. He considers the reptilian homologies topreponderate.”

[37] A similar habit is ascribed by the Chinese to the mammoth and to thegigantic Sivatherium (Fig. 6,p. 39), a four-horned stag, which had thebulk of an elephant, and exceeded it in height. It was remarkable forbeing in some respects between the stags and the pachyderms. TheDinotherium (Fig. 8), which had a trunk like an elephant, and two invertedtusks, presented in its skull a mixture of the characteristics of theelephant, hippopotamus, tapir, and dugong. Its remains occur in theMiocene of Europe.

[38] “It enters Europe early in April, spreads over France, Britain,Denmark, and the south of Sweden, which it reaches by the beginning ofMay. It does not enter Brittany, the Channel Islands, or the western partof England, never visiting Wales, except the extreme south ofGlamorganshire, and rarely extending farther north than Yorkshire.”—A. R.Wallace,Geographical Distribution of Animals, vol. i. p. 21. London,1876.

[39]Bible Customs in Bible Lands. By H. J. Van Lennep, D.D. 1875.Quoted inNature, March 24, 1881.

[41] Thus Mr. Wallace considers that the identity of the small fish,Galaxias attenuatus, which occurs in the mountain streams of Tasmania,with one found in those of New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, and thetemperate regions of South America, cannot be considered as demonstratinga land connection between these places within the period of its specificexistence. For there is a possibility that its ova have been transportedfrom one point to another on floating ice; and for similar reasonsfresh-water fish generally are unsafe guides to a classification ofzoological regions. Mr. Darwin has shown (Origin of Species, andNature, vol. xviii. p. 120 and vol. xxv. p. 529) that mollusca can beconveyed attached to or entangled in the claws of migratory birds. Birdsthemselves are liable to be blown great distances by gales of wind.Beetles and other flying insects may be similarly transferred. Reptilesare occasionally conveyed on floating logs and uprooted trees. Mammalsalone appear to be really trustworthy guides towards such aclassification, from their being less liable than the other classes toaccidental dispersion.

[42]Mémoires concernant l’histoire, &c. des Chinois, par lesMissionaires de Pekin, vol. iv. p. 481.

[43]The Natural History of Pliny, J. Bostock and H. T. Riley, bookviii. chap iv.

[45]On the Range of the Mammoth in Space and Time, by W. B. Dawkins,Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1879, p. 138.

[46] The notice is taken fromLes Peuples du Caucause, ou Voyaged’Abou-el-Cassim, par M. C. D’Ohsson, p. 80, as follows:—“On trouvesouvent dans la Boulgarie des os (fossils) d’une grandeur prodigieuse.J’ai vu une dent qui avait deux palmes de large sur quatre de long, et uncrâne qui ressemblait à une hutte (Arabe). On y déterre des dentssemblables aux défenses d’éléphants, blanche comme la neige et pesantjusqu’ à deux cents menns. On ne sait pas à quel animal elles outappartenu, mais on les transporte dans le Khoragur (Kiva), où elles sevendent à grand prix. On en fait des peignes, des vases, et d’autresobjets, comme on façonne l’ivoire; toute fois cette substance est plusdure que l’ivoire; jamais elle ne se brise.”

[48] According to Woodward, over two thousand grinders were dredged up bythe fishermen of Happisburgh in the space of thirteen years; and otherlocalities in and about England are also noted.—Dana’sManual ofGeology, p. 564.

[54] The Moa was associated with other species also nearly or totallyextinct: some belonging to the same genus, others to those ofPapteryx,ofNestor, and ofNotornis. One survivor of the latter was obtained byMr. Gideon Mantell, and described by my father, Mr. John Gould, in 1850. Ibelieve the Nestor is still, rarely, met with. Mr. Mantell is of opinionthat the Moa and his congeners continued in existence long after theadvent of the aboriginal Maori. Mr. Mantell discovered a gigantic fossilegg, presumably that of the Moa.

[55] A. E. Nordenskjöld,The Voyage of the ‘Vega,’ vol. i. p. 272,etseq. London, 1881.

[61] Inaugural Address by President, T. W. Kingsmill, North China Branchof the Royal Asiatic Society, 1877.

[62] Chabas,Études sur l’Antiquité Historique, d’après les sourcesÉgyptiennes.

[64] O. F. von Mollendorf,Journal of North China Branch of the RoyalAsiatic Society, New Series, No. 2, and T. W. Kingsmill, “The Border Landsof Geology and History,”Journal of North China Branch of the RoyalAsiatic Society, 1877.

[65] “Intercourse of China with Eastern Turkestan and the adjacent countryin the second centuryB.C.,” T. W. Kingsmill,Journal of North ChinaBranch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series, No. 14.

[66]The Natural History of Pliny. Translated by J. Bostock and H. T.Biley, 6 vols. Bohn, London, 1857.

[68]Géographie d’Edrisi, traduite de l’Arabe en Français, P. AmédéeJaubert, 2 vols. Paris, 1836.

[69]Phil. Trans., vol. cxlix. p. 43, 1859; vol. clxxi. p. 1,037, 1880;vol. clxxii. p. 547, 1881.

[70] Description of some New Species and Genera of Reptiles from WesternAustralia, discovered by John Gould, Esq.,Annals and Magazine of NaturalHistory, vol. vii. p. 88, 1841.

[71] “We shall, I think, eventually more fully recognise that, as is thecase with the periods of the day, each of the larger geological divisionsfollows the other, without any actual break or boundary; and that theminor subdivisions are like the hours on the clock, useful andconventional rather than absolutely fixed by any general cause inNature.”—Annual Address, President of Geological Society, 1875.

“With regard to stratigraphical geology, the main foundations are alreadylaid, and a great part of the details filled in. The tendency of moderndiscoveries has already been, and will probably still be, to fill up thosebreaks, which, according to the view of many, though by no means allgeologists, are so frequently assumed to exist between differentgeological periods and to bring about a more full recognition of thecontinuity of geological time. As knowledge increases, it will, I think,become more and more apparent that all existing divisions of time are to aconsiderable extent local and arbitrary. But, even when this is fullyrecognised, it will still be found desirable to retain them, if only forthe sake of convenience and approximate precision.”—Annual Address,President of Geological Society, 1876.

[72] “It was not until January 1832, that the second volume of thePrinciples was published, when it was received with as much favour asthe first had been. It related more especially to the changes in theorganic world, while the former volume had treated mainly of the inorganicforces of nature. Singularly enough, some of the points which were seizedon by his great fellow-labourer Murchison for his presidential address tothis Society in 1832, as subjects for felicitation, are precisely thosewhich the candid mind of Lyell, ever ready to attach the full value todiscoveries or arguments from time to time brought forward, even when inopposition to his own views, ultimately found reason to modify. We cannever, I think, more highly appreciate Sir Charles Lyell’s freshness ofmind, his candour and love of truth, than when we compare certain portionsof the first edition of thePrinciples with those which occupy the sameplace in the last, and trace the manner in which his judicial intellectwas eventually led to conclusions diametrically opposed to those which heoriginally held. To those acquainted only with the latest editions of thePrinciples, and with hisAntiquity of Man, it may sound almostironical in Murchison to have written, ‘I cannot avoid noticing the clearand impartial manner in which the untenable parts of the dogmas concerningthe alteration and transmutation of species and genera are refuted, andhow satisfactorily the author confirms the great truth of the recentappearance of man upon our planet.’

“By the work (Principles of Geology, vol. iii.), as a whole, was dealtthe most telling blow that had ever fallen upon those to whom it appears‘more philosophical to speculate on the possibilities of the past thanpatiently to explore the realities of the present,’ while the earnest andcareful endeavour to reconcile the former indications of change with theevidence of gradual mutation now in progress, orwhich may be inprogress, received its greatest encouragement. The doctrines which Huttonand Playfair had held and taught assumed new and more vigorous life asbetter principles were explained by their eminent successor, and weresupported by arguments which, as a whole, were incontrovertible.”—AnnualAddress, President of Geological Society, 1876.

“But, as Sir Roderick Murchison has long ago proved, there are parts ofthe record which are singularly complete, and in those parts we have theproof of creation without any indication of development. The Silurianrocks, as regards oceanic life, are perfect and abundant in the forms theyhave preserved.Yet there are no fish. The Devonian age followedtranquilly and without a break, and in the Devonian sea, suddenly, fishappear, appear in shoals, and in form of the highest and most perfecttype.”—The Duke of Argyll,Primeval Man, p. 45, London, 1869.

[73] T. Mellard Reade, “Limestone as an Index of Geological Time,”Proceedings, Royal Society, London, vol. xxviii., p. 281.

[77] The mass of astronomers, however, deny that this is possible to anyvery great extent.

[79] Figs.19 and21 are taken, by permission of Edmund Christy, Esq.,fromReliquiæ Aquitanicæ, &c., London, 1875.

[81] “Starting from the opinion generally accepted among geologists, thatman was on the earth at the close of the Glacial epoch, Professor B. F.Mudge adduces evidence to prove that the antiquity of man cannot be lessthan 200,000 years.

“His argument, as given in the Kansas City Review of Science, is about asfollows:—

“After the Glacial epoch, geologists fix three distinct epochs, theChamplain, the Terrace, and the Delta, all supposed to be of nearly equallengths.

“Now we have in the delta of the Mississippi a means of measuring theduration of the third of these epochs.

“For a distance of about two hundred miles of this delta are seen forestgrowths of large trees, one after the other, with interspaces of sand.There are ten of these distinct forest growths, which have begun and endedone after the other. The trees are the bald cypress (Taxodium) of theSouthern States, and some of them were over twenty-five feet in diameter.One contained over five thousand seven hundred annual rings. In someinstances these huge trees have grown over the stumps of others equallylarge, and such instances occur in all, or nearly all, of the ten forestbeds. This gives to each forest a period of 10,000 years.

“Ten such periods give 100,000 years, to say nothing of the time coveredby the interval between the ending of one forest and the beginning ofanother, an interval which in most cases was considerable.

“‘Such evidence,’ writes Professor Mudge, ‘would be received in any courtof law as sound and satisfactory. We do not see how such proof is to bediscarded when applied to the antiquity of our race.

“‘There is satisfactory evidence that man lived in the Champlain epoch.But the Terrace epoch, or the greater part of it, intervenes between theChamplain and the Delta epochs, thus adding to my 100,000 years.

“‘If only as much time is given to both those epochs as to the Deltaperiod, 200,000 years is the total result.’”—Popular Science Monthly,No. 91, vol. xvi. No. 1, p. 140, November 1878.

[82] Such as the destruction of the Alexandrine Library on three distinctoccasions, (1) upon the conquest of Alexandria by Julius Cæsar,B.C. 48;(2) inA.D. 390; and, (3) by Amrou, the general of the Caliph Omar, in640, who ordered it to be burnt, and so supplied the baths with fuel forsix months. Again, the destruction of all Chinese books by order of TsinShi Hwang-ti, the founder of the Imperial branch of the Tsin dynasty, andthe first Emperor of United China; the only exceptions allowed being thoserelating to medicine, divination, and husbandry. This took place in theyear 213B.C.

[83] The Chinese have used composite blocks (wood engraved blocks withmany characters, analogous to our stereotype plates) from an early period.May not the brick-clay tablets preserved in the Imperial Library atBabylon have been used for striking off impressions on some plasticmaterial, just as rubbings may be taken from the stone drums in China: maynot the cylinders with inscribed characters have been used in some way orother as printing-rollers for propagating knowledge or proclamations?

[84] As, for example, the old canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, inreference to which Herodotus says (Euterpe, 158), “Neco was the son ofPsammitichus, and became King of Egypt: he first set about the canal thatleads to the Red Sea, which Darius the Persian afterwards completed. Itslength is a voyage of four days, and in width it was dug so that twotriremes might sail rowed abreast. The water is drawn into it from theNile, and it enters it a little above the city Bubastis, passes near theArabian city Patumos, and reaches to the Red Sea.” In the digging of whichone hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians perished in the reign of Neco.

[85] The co-called tanks at Aden, reservoirs constructed one below theother, in a gorge near the cantonments, are as perfect now as they werewhen they left the hand of the contractor or royal engineer in the time ofMoses.

[86] In the 29th year of the Emperor Kwei [B.C. 1559] they chiselledthrough mountains and tunnelled hills, according to the Bamboo Books.

[87] An interesting line of investigation might be opened up as to theorigin of inventions and the date of their migrations. The Chinese claimthe priority of many discoveries, such as chess, printing, issue ofbank-notes, sinking of artesian wells, gunpowder, suspension bridges, themariner’s compass, &c. &c. I extract two remarkable wood-cuts from theSan Li T’u, one appended here showing the origin of our college cap; theother, in the chapter on the Unicorn, appearing to illustrate the fable ofthe Sphynx.

I also give a series of engravings, reduced facsimiles of those containedin a celebrated Chinese work on antiquities, showing the gradual evolutionof the so-called Grecian pattern or scroll ornamentation, and originationof some of the Greek forms of tripods.

[88] “The old Troglodytes, pile villagers, and bog people, prove to bequite a respectable society. They have heads so large that many a livingperson would be only too happy to possess such.”—A. Mitchell,The Pastin the Present, Edinburgh, 1880.

[89] I have given in the annexed plates a few examples of the earlyhieroglyphics on which the modern Chinese system of writing is based,selected from a limited number collected by the early Jesuit fathers inChina, and contained in theMémoirs concernant l’Histoire, &c. desChinois, par les Missionaires de Pekin, vol. i., Paris, 1776. The modernChinese characters conveying the same idea are attached, and theirderivation from the pictorial hieroglyphics, by modification orcontraction, is in nearly all cases obvious.

[90] “The Porcelain Tower of Nankin, once one of the seven wonders of theworld, can now only be found piecemeal in walls of peasants’huts.”—Gutzlaff,Hist. China, vol. i. p. 372.

[91] The outer casing of the pyramid of Cheops, which Herodotus(Euterpe, 125) states to have still exhibited in his time aninscription, telling how much was expended (one thousand six hundredtalents of silver) in radishes, onions, and garlic for the workmen, hasentirely disappeared; as also, almost completely, the marble casing of theadjacent pyramid of Sen-Saophis. According to tradition the missingmarbles in each instance were taken to build palaces with in Cairo.

[92] “The work of destruction was carried on methodically. From theCaspian Sea to the Indus, the Mongols ruined, within four years, more thanfour centuries of continuous labour have since restored. The mostflourishing cities became a mass of ruins: Samarkand, Bokhara, Nizabour,Balkh, and Kandahar shared in the same destruction.”—Gutzlaff,Hist.China, vol. i. p. 358.

[93] “An army of 700,000 Mongols met half the number ofMahommedans.”—Ibid. p. 357.

[94] Those interested in the subject may read with great advantage thesection on dynamical geology in Dana’s valuable manual. He points out thelarge amount of wear accomplished by wind carrying sand in arid regions,by seeds falling in some crevice, and bursting rocks open through theaction of the roots developed from their sprouting, to say nothing of themore ordinarily recognized destructive agencies of frost and rain,carbonic acid resulting from vegetable decomposition, &c.

[95] Darwin, inVegetable Mould and Earth-worms, has shown thatearthworms play a considerable part in burying old buildings, even to adepth of several feet.

[96] Rev. T. K. Cheyne, Article “Deluge,”Encyclopædia Britannica, 1877.François Lenormant, “The Deluge, its Traditions in Ancient Histories,”Contemporary Review, Nov., 1879.

[97] Bunsen estimates that 20,000 years were requisite for the formationof the Chinese language. This, however, is not conceded by otherphilologists.

[98] Rawlinson quotes the African type on the Egyptian sculptures as beingidentical with that of the negro of the present day.

[99] “While the tradition of the Deluge holds so considerable a place inthe legendary memories of all branches of the Aryan race, the monumentsand original texts of Egypt, with their many cosmogenic speculations, havenot afforded one, even distant, allusion to this cataclysm. When theGreeks told the Egyptian priests of the Deluge of Deucalion, their replywas that they had been preserved from it as well as from the conflagrationproduced by Phaeton; they even added that the Hellenes were childish inattaching so much importance to that event, as there had been severallocal catastrophes resembling it.”—Lenormant,Contemporary Review,November 1879.

[100] François Lenormant, “The Deluge; its Traditions in AncientHistories,”Contemporary Review, vol. xxxvi. p. 465.

[102] “The water of the twilight at break of day,” one of thepersonifications of rain.

[107] Vases of the measure called in HebrewSeäh. This relates to adetail of the ritualistic prescriptions for sacrifice.

[110] It is probably as much from a superstitious sentiment as upon merelyphysical grounds that many of the deserted cities in Asia have beenabandoned; while, as a noticeable instance, we may quote Gour, the ruinedcapital of Bengal, which is computed to have extended from fifteen totwenty miles along the bank of the river, and three in depth. The nativetradition is that it was struck by the wrath of the gods in the form of anepidemic which slew the whole population. Another case is the reputedpresence of a ruined city, in the vicinity of the populous city ofNanking, and at some distance from the right bank of the river Yangtsze,of which the walls only remain, and of the history of which those in thevicinity profess to have lost all record.

[111]i.e. (according to the Historical Records) a carriage to travelalong the dry land, a boat to travel along the water, a sledge to travelthrough miry places, and, by using spikes, to travel on the hills.

[113] Dr. Schliemann found a vase in the lowest strata of his excavationsat Hissarlik with an inscription in an unknown language.

Six years ago the Orientalist E. Burnouf declared it to be in Chinese, forwhich he was generally laughed at at the time.

The Chinese ambassador at Berlin, Li Fang-pau, has read and translated theinscription, which states that three pieces of linen gauze are packed inthe vase for inspection.

The Chinese ambassador fixes the date of the inscription at about 1200B.C., and further states that the unknown characters so frequentlyoccurring on the terra cotta are also in the Chinese language, which wouldshow that at this remote period commercial intercourse existed betweenChina and the eastern shores of Asia Minor and Greece.—Pop. Sci.Monthly, No. 98, p. 176, June 1880.

[114] Pierre Bergeron suggests that Solomon’s fleets, starting fromEzion-geber (subsequently Berenice and now Alcacu), arrived atBabelmandeb, and then divided, one portion going to Malacca, Sumatra, orJava, the other to Sofala, round Africa, and returning by way of Cadiz andthe Mediterranean to Joppa.

[115] There are various accounts of the circumnavigation of Africa in oldtimes. For example, Herodotus (Melpomene, 42): “Libya shows itself to besurrounded by water, except so much of it as borders upon Asia. Neco, Kingof Egypt, was the first whom we know of that proved this; he, when he hadceased digging the canal leading from the Nile to the Arabian gulf, sentcertain Phœnicians in ships with orders to sail back through thepillars of Hercules into the Northern Sea, and so to return to Egypt. ThePhœnicians accordingly, setting out from the Red Sea, navigated theSouthern Sea; when autumn came they went ashore, and sowed the land, bywhatever part of Libya they happened to be sailing, and waited forharvest; then, having reaped the corn, they put to sea again. When twoyears had thus passed, in the third, having doubled the pillars ofHercules, they arrived in Egypt, and related what to me does not seemcredible, but may to others, that as they sailed round Libya, they had thesun on the right hand.” Again, Pliny tells us (Book ii. chap. lxvii,Translation by Bostock and Riley), “While the power of Carthage was at itsheight, Hanno published an account of a voyage which he made from Gades tothe extremity of Arabia: besides, we learn from Cornelius Nepos, that oneEudoxus, a contemporary of his, when he was flying from King Lathyrus, setout from the Arabian Gulf, and was carried as far as Gades. And longbefore him, Cœlius Antipater informs us, that he had seen a person whohad sailed from Spain to Ethiopia for the purposes of trade. The sameCornelius Nepos, when speaking of the northern circumnavigation, tells usthat Q. Metellus Celer, the colleague of L. Afranius in the consulship,but then proconsul in Gaul, had a present made to him by the King of theSuevi, of certain Indians, who, sailing from India for the purposes ofcommerce, had been driven by tempests into Germany.”

Ptolemy Lathyrus commenced his reign 117B.C. and reigned for thirty-sixyears. Cornelius Nepos is supposed to have lived in the century previousto the Christian era, and Cœlius Antipater to have been born in themiddle of the second centuryB.C.

[116] Edrisi compiled, under the instruction of Roger, King of Sicily,Italy, Lombardy, and Calabria, an exhaustive geographical treatisecomprising information derived from numerous preceding works, principallyArabic, and from the testimony of all the geographers of the day.

Vide the Translation into French by M. Amédée Jaubert, 2 vols. 4to,Paris, 1836, included in theRecueil de Voyages et de Mémoires publié parla Société de Géographie.

“Ce pays touch celui de Wac Wac où sont deux villes misérables et malpeuplées à cause de la rareté des subsistances et du peu de ressource entout genre; l’une se nomme Derou et l’autre Nebhena; dans son voisinageest un grand bourg nommé Da’rgha. Les naturels sont noirs, de figurehideuse, de complexion difformé; leur langage est une espèce desifflement. Ils sont absolument nus et sont peu visités (par lesétrangers). Ils vivent de poissons, de coquillages, et de tortues. Ilssont (comme il vient d’être dit) voisins de l’ile de Wac Wac dont nousreparlerons, s’il plait à Dieu. Chacun de ces pays et de ces iles estsitué sur un grand golfe, on n’y trouve ni or, ni commerce, ni navire, nibêtes de somme.”—El Edrisi, vol. i. p. 79.

[117] TheAgave Americane, which substance has as many uses among theMexicans as the bamboo (the iron of China) among the Chinese, or the camelamong nomads.

[118]The Thousand and One Nights, vol. iii. chap. xxv. p. 480, Note 32,E. W. Lane, London, 1877.

A similar account is given by Quazvini. SeeScriptorum Arabum de RebusIndicis, J. Gildemeister, Bonn, 1838.

[119] The diggings are seventy to one hundred and fifty miles from PortDarwin. There is gold on Victoria River.

Jacks, in his report to the Queensland Government, published March orApril of 1880, reports no paying gold in Yorke’s peninsula.

One hundred miles from Port Darwin and twenty-six miles from the AdelaideRiver a new rush occurred in July 1880: nuggets from 70 to 80 oz. ofcommon occurrence; one found weighed 187 oz.

[121] E. J. Elliott, “The Age of Cave Dwellers in America,”Pop. Sci.Monthly, vol. xv. p. 488.

[129] It is given in great detail by Mr. Donelly; want of space forbids myincluding it.

[130] I use the text of the edition of Diodorus Siculus of L. Rhodomanus,Amsterdam, 1746.

[131] “Professor Virchow considers this an example how certain artisticalor technical forms are developed simultaneously, without any connection orrelation between the artists or craftsmen.”—Preface toIlios,Schliemann. Murray, 1880.

[132] Knivet’s description of the West Indies,Harris’ Voyages, vol. i.p. 705.

[135] Dr. J. le Conte describes a ceremonial of cremation among the CocopaIndians of California, and it is an ancient practice among the Chinese,dating back beyond the Greek and Roman historical periods.

[139] “In turning to the consideration of the primitive works of art ofthe American continent ... when in the bronze work of the later ironperiod, imitative forms at length appear, they are chiefly the snake anddragon shapes and patterns, borrowed seemingly by Celtic and Teutonicwanderers, with the wild fancies of their mythology, from the far easternland of their birth.”—D. Wilson,Prehistoric Man, 1862.

“He had remarked that the Indians of the north-west coast frequentlyrepeat in their well-known blackstone carvings the dragon, the lotusflower, and the alligator.”—C. G. Leland,Fusang, London, 1875.

[140] “Dragon, an imaginary animal something like a crocodile.”—Rev. Dr.Brewer,Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, p. 243.

[141] “In the woods of Java are certain flying snakes, or rather drakes;they have four legs, a long tail, and their skin speckled with many spots,their wings are not unlike those of a bat, which they move in flying, butotherwise keep them almost unperceived close to the body. They fly nimbly,but cannot hold it long, so that they fly from tree to tree at abouttwenty or thirty paces’ distance. On the outside of the throat are twobladders, which, being extended when they fly, serve them instead of asail. They feed upon flies and other insects.”—Mr. John Nieuhoff’s Voyageand Travels to the East Indies, contained in a collection ofVoyages andTravels, in 6 vols., vol. ii. p. 317; Churchill, London, 1732.

[143] The following is the nearest approach to such an assertion I havemet with, but appears from the context to apply to geologic time prior tothe advent of man. “When all those large and monstrous amphibia sinceregarded as fabulous still in reality existed, when the confines of thewater and the land teemed with gigantic saurians, with lizards ofdimensions much exceeding those of the largest crocodiles of the presentday: who to the scaly bodies of fish, added the claws of beasts, and theneck and wings of birds: who to the faculty of swimming in water, addednot only that of moving on the earth but that of sailing in air: and whohad all the characteristics of what we now call chimeras and dragons, andperhaps of such monsters the remains, found among the bones and skeletonsof other animals more resembling those that still exist and propagate, inthe grottos and caverns in which they sought shelter during the delugesthat affected the infancy of the globe, gave first rise to the idea thatthese dens and caves were once retreats whence such monsters watched andin which they devoured other animals.”—Thomas Hope,On the Origin andProspects of Man, vol. ii. p. 346; London, 1831.

Southey, in his Commonplace Book, pityingly alludes to this passage,saying, “He believes in dragons and griffins as having heretoforeexisted.”

[144] From the context, Lanuvium appears to have been on the Appian Road,in Latium, about twenty-fives miles from Rome.

[150]Natural History of Pliny, Book viii., chap. xli., translated by J.Bostock and H. T. Riley; London, 1855.

[153] “On the contrary, towards ourselves they were disappointinglyundemonstrative, and only evinced their consciousness of the presence ofstrangers by entwining themselves about the members of the family as ifsoliciting their protection.... They were very jealous of each other, Mr.Mann said; jealous also of other company, as if unwilling to lose theirshare of attention.... Two sweet little children were equally familiarwith the other boas, that seemed quite to know who were their friends andplayfellows, for the children handled them and petted them and talked tothem as we talk to pet birds and cats.”—Account of Snakes kept by Mr. andMrs. Mann, of Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, inSnakes, by C. C. Hopley; London,1882.

[155] “It is probable that the island of Zanig described by Qazvinius, inhis geographical work (for extracts from which videScriptorum Arabum deRebus Indicis loci et opuscula inedita, by I. Gildemeister, Bonnæ, 1838),as the seat of the empire of the Mahraj, is identical with Zaledj. He saysthat it is a large island on the confines of China towards India, and thatamong other remarkable features is a mountain called Nacan (Kini Balu?),on which are serpents of such magnitude as to be able to swallow oxen,buffaloes, and even elephants. Masudi includes Zanig, Kalah, and Taprobanaamong the islands constituting the territory of the Mahraj.”—P. AmédéeJaubert,Géographie d’Edrisi, vol. i. p. 104; Paris, 1836.

[158]Pliny’s Natural History, Book viii., chap. xi., translated by J.Bostock and H. T. Riley; Bohn, London, 1855.

[162] “At the present day the longest Italian serpents are the Æsculapianserpent (a harmless animal) and theColubes quadrilineatus, neither ofwhich exceeds ten feet in length.”—Nat. Hist., Book viii., chap. xiv.

[163]Aristotle’s History of Animals, Book viii., chap. xxvii. § 6, byR. Cresswell, Bohn’s Series; Bell, London, 1878.

[164] An abridgment of these travels is contained inVoyages par PierreBergeron, à la Haye, 1735. They were originally written in Hebrew,translated into Latin by Benoit Arian Montare, and subsequently intoFrench. [The introduction refers to his return to Castille in 1173,presumably after the termination of his voyages; but in the openingparagraph there is a marginal note giving the same date to his setting outfrom Sarragossa.] Sir John Mandeville gives a similar account in speakingof the tower of Babylon; he says, “but it is full long sithe that any mandurste neyhe to the Tour: for it is all deserte and fulle of Dragouns andgrete serpents, and fulle of dyverse venemous Bestes alle about he.”—TheVoyages of Sir John Mandeville, Kt., p. 40; J. O. Halliwell, London,1839.

[167]Encyclopædia of Arts and Sciences, first American edition,Philadelphia, 1798.

[168] SeeVoyage to the East Indies, by Francis Leguat; London, 1708.Leguat hardly makes the positive affirmation stated in the text. Indescribing Batavia he says there is another sort of serpents which are atleast fifty feet long.

[174]La Chine Illustré, d’Athase Keichere, chap. x. p. 272. Amsterdam,CIↄ ICↄ LXX.

[176] SeeProceedings of Royal Society of Tasmania, September 13, 1880.Mr. C. M. Officer states—“With reference to the Mindi or Mallee snake, ithas often been described to me as a formidable creature of at least thirtyfeet in length, which confined itself to the Mallee scrub. No one,however, has ever seen one, for the simple reason that to see it is todie, so fierce it is, and so great its power of destruction. Like theBunyip, I believe the Mindi to be a myth, a mere tradition.”

[179] It is interesting to compare this belief with stories givenelsewhere, by Pliny, Book viii. chap. xiv., and Ælian, Book ii. chap.xxi., of the power of the serpents or dragons of the river Rhyndacus toattract birds by inhalation.

[191] “It may be some comfort to graziers and selectors who arestruggling, under many discouragements, to suppress the rabbit plague inVictoria, to learn that our condition, bad as it is, is certainly lessserious than that of New Zealand. There, not only is an immense area ofgood country being abandoned in consequence of the inability of lessees tobear the great expense of clearing the land of rabbits, but, owing to theincrease of the pest, the number of sheep depastured is decreasing at aserious rate. Three years ago the number exceeded thirteen millions; butit is estimated that they have since been diminished by two millions,while the exports of the colony have, in consequence, fallen off to theextent of £500,000 per annum. A Rabbit Nuisance Act has been in existencefor some time, but it is obviously inefficient, and it is now proposed tomake its provisions more stringent, and applicable alike to the Governmentas well as to private landowners. A select committee of both Houses of theLegislature, which has recently taken a large amount of evidence upon thissubject, reports in the most emphatic terms its conviction that unlessimmediate and energetic action is taken to arrest the further extensionof, and to suppress the plague, the result will be ruinous to the colony.A perusal of the evidence adduced decidedly supports this opinion. Many ofthe squatters cannot be accused of apathy. Some of them have employedscores of men, and spent thousands of pounds a year in ineffectual effortsto eradicate the rabbits from their runs. One firm last year is believedto have killed no less than 500,000; but the following spring their runwas in as bad a state as if they had never put any poison down. Similarinstances of failure could be easily multiplied. It is found, as with us,that one of the chief causes of non-success is the fact that theGovernment do not take sufficient steps to destroy the rabbits onunoccupied Crown lands. This foolish policy, of course, at once diminishesthe letting value of the adjacent pastoral country—to such an extent,indeed, that instances have occurred in which 34,000 acres have beenleased for £10 a year. Poison is regarded as the most destructive agentthat can be employed, and it is especially effective when mixed with oatsand wheat, a striking testimony to the value of Captain Raymond’sdiscovery. Most of the witnesses examined were strongly of opinion thatthe Administration of the Rabbit Suppression Act should not be left toprivate and, perhaps, interested persons, as at present, but should beconducted by officers of the Government, probably the sheep inspectors, ona principle similar to that by which the scab was eradicated from theflocks of the colony. The joint committee adopted this view, and alsorecommended the Legislature to enact that all unoccupied Crown land, aswell as all native, reserved, or private land, should bear a proportionateshare of the cost of destroying the rabbits, and of administering the act.It is to be hoped that, in the midst of the party conflicts which have soimpeded practical legislation this session, the Parliament will yet findtime to give effect to the useful recommendations of the Rabbit NuisanceCommittee.”—Australasian, 10th September 1881.

Non Arabum volucer serpens, innataque rubris
Æquoribus custos pretiosæ vipera conchæ
Aut viventis adhuc Lybici membrana cerastæ.—
Pharsalia, Book vi. 677.

[196] The popular illustrations of the Story of the Black and White Snakesgiven by him, a favourite story among the Chinese, always represent themas winged.Folk Lore of China, N. P. Dennys, Ph.D.

[198] Compare Shakspeare, “Peace, Kent. Come not between the Dragon andhis wrath.”

[200] In reference to colours so bright as to be inconsistent with ourknowledge of the ordinary colours of reptiles, it may be of interest tocompare the description by D’Argensola—who wrote the history of thesuccessive conquests of the Moluccas, by the Spaniards, Portuguese andDutch—of a blue and golden saurian existing upon a volcanic mountain inTarnate. “Il y a aussi sur cette montagne un grand lac d’eau douce,entouré d’arbres, dans lequel on voit de crocodiles azurés et dorés quiont plus d’un brasse de longueur, et qui se plongent dans l’eau lorsqu’ils entendent des hommes.”—D’Argensola, vol. iii. p. 4, translatedfrom the Spanish, 3 vols.; J. Desbordes, Amsterdam, 1706. And Pliny,Nat.Hist., Book viii. chap. xxviii., speaks of lizards upon Nysa, a mountainof India, twenty-four feet long, their colour being either yellow, purple,or azure blue.

[210] A dragon without wings is called a lintworm or lindworm, which Grimmexplains to mean a beautiful or shining worm (here again we have acorroboration of the idea of the gold and silver dragon givenante.)

[217] Scaliger, lib. iii. Miscell. cap. i. Seeante, p. 182, “WingedSerpents.”

[220] Probably many of my readers are acquainted with Schiller’s poembased on this story, and with the beautiful designs by Retsch illustratingit.

[222]De Moribus Brachmanorum, p. 63. Strabo, lib. 16, p. 75. BochartHieroz, p. 11, lib. 3, cap. 13.

[225] Gosse tells us that it is still a common belief in Jamaica thatcrested snakes exist there which crow like a cock.

[227] Jonston,Theatr. Animal., tome ii. p. 34, “De Serpentibus.”Note.—It is interesting to record that in China, to the present day, thetradition of the gold and silver scaled species of dragons remains alive.Two magnificent dragons, 200 feet and 150 feet long, representingrespectively the gold and silver dragon, formed part of the processions inHongkong in December 1881, in honour of the young princes.

[229] In China the dragon is peculiarly the emblem of imperial power, aswith us the lion is of the kingly. The Emperor is said to be seated on thedragon throne. A five-clawed dragon is embroidered on the Emperor’scourt-robes. It often surrounds his edicts, and the title-pages of bookspublished by his authority, and dragons are inscribed on his banners. Itis drawn stretched out at full length or curled up with two legs pointingforwards and two backwards; sometimes holding a pearl in one hand, andsurrounded by clouds and fire.

[230] TheYih King—extracts from papers by Monsieur De la Couperie, intheJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society.

“TheYih King is the oldest of the Chinese books, and is the mysteriousclassic which requires ‘a prolonged attention to make it reveal itssecrets’; it has peculiarities of style, making it the most difficult ofall the Chinese classics to present in an intelligible version.”

“We have multifarious proofs that the writing, first known in China, wasalready an old one, partially decayed, but also much improved since itsprimitive hieroglyphic stage. We have convincing proofs (vide my ‘EarlyHistory of Chinese Civilization,’ pp. 21-23, and the last section of thepresent paper) that it had been borrowed, by the early leaders of theChinese Bak families [Poh Sing] in Western Asia, from an horizontalwriting traced from left to right, the pre-cuneiform character, whichpreviously had itself undergone several important modifications.

“At that time the Ku-wen was really the phonetic expression of speech. (Byan analysis of the old inscriptions and fragments, and by the help of thenative works on palæography, some most valuable, I have compiled adictionary of this period.)

“If thekwas, which were a survival of the arrows of divination known tothe ancestors of Chinese culture before their emigration eastward,” &c.&c.—Vol. xiv. part 4.

“This mysterious book is still avowedly not understood, and we assist,now-a-days, at a most curious spectacle. There are not a few Chinese ofeducation among those who have picked up some knowledge in Europe or intranslations of European works of our modern sciences, who believe openlythat all these may be found in theirYih. Electricity, steam power,astronomical laws, sphericity of the earth, &c., are all, according totheir views, to be found in theYih King; they firmly believe that thesediscoveries were not ignored by their sages, who have embodied them intheir mysterious classics, of which they will be able to unveil thesecrets when they themselves apply to its study a thorough knowledge ofthe modern sciences. It is unnecessary for any European mind to insistupon the childishness of such an opinion. Even in admitting, what seemsprobable, that the early leaders of the Bak people (Poh Sing) were notwithout some astronomical and mathematical principles, which have beenlong since forgotten, there is no possible comparison between their rudenotions and our sciences.

“It is not a mysterious book of fate and prognostics. It contains avaluable collection of documents of old antiquity, in which is embodiedmuch information on the ethnography, customs, language, and writing ofearly China.

“Proofs of various kinds—similitude of institutions, traditions andknowledge, affinities of words of culture; and, in what concerns thewriting, likenesses of shapes of characters, hieroglyphic and arbitrary,with the same sounds (sometimes polyphons) and meanings attached to them,the same morphology of written words, the same phonetic laws oforthography—had led me, several years ago, to no other conclusion thanthat (as the reverse is proved impossible by numerous reasons), at anearly period of their history, and before their emigration to the farEast, the Chinese Bak families had borrowed the pre-cuneiform writing andelements of their knowledge and institutions from a region connected withthe old focus of culture of south-western Asia.

“Numerous affinities of traditions, institutions, and customs, connect theborrowing of script and culture by the Chinese Bak families with theregion of Elam, the confederation of states of which Susa was the chieftown, and the Kussi the principal population.

“What are the historical facts of this connection we do not know. Has thebreak-up which happened in those states and resulted in the conquest ofBabylonia by the Elamite king, Kudur Nakhunta, at the date, which iscertain, of 2285B.C., been also the cause of an eastern conquest and asettlement in Bactria? and would this account for the old focus of culturecoeval with the earlier period of Assyrian monarchy said to have existedin Central Asia?

“The two ethnic names, which, as we have pointed out, were those of theChinese invaders, Bak and Kutti or Kutta, are not altogether foreign tothose regions. The Chinese Kutti and the Kussi, the Chinese Bak and Bakh,the ethnic of Bakhdi (Bactria), will be, most likely, one day proved to bethe same ethnic names. Had not the Chinese, previous to my researches, andquite on different reasons, been traced back westerly to the regions ofYarkand and Khotan? This is not far distant from the old focus of cultureof Central Asia, and the connection cannot be objected to by geographicalreasons.”—Vol. xv. part 2.

[236] I am under the impression that the dragons to which Mencius referswere probably alligators, of which one small species still exists, thoughrare, in the Yang-tsze-kiang. So also we may regard as alligators thedragons referred to above in the annals of the Bamboo Books on the passageof the Kiang by Yu. Mr. Griffis, in his work on Corea, says, “The creaturecalleda-ke, or alligator, capable of devouring a man, is sometimesfound in the largest rivers.”

[237] For a full account of this work, see an Article by E. C. Bridgman inChinese Repository, xviii. (1849), p. 169; andBotanicon Sinicum, byDr. E. Bretschneider, in theJournal of the North China Branch of theRoyal Asiatic Society, New Series, vol. xvi. 1881.

[241] The three prefaces by these authors are given inextenso in theAppendix to this Chapter.

[242] The reader is referred, for a carefulprécis of the contents ofthis valuable work, to an exhaustive paper entitled “Botanicon Sinicum,”in theJournal of North China Branch Royal Asiatic Society, 1881, by E.Bretschneider, M.D.

[243] The character for a hare is very like the character for a devil. TheJapanese, in quoting this passage, have fallen into this error.

[244] The dragons’ bones sold by apothecaries in China consist of thefossilized teeth and bones of a variety of species, generally in afragmentary condition. The white earth striæ, or dragons’ brains, herereferred to, are probably asbestos. The asbestos sold in Chefoo market,under the name of Lung Ku or dragons’ bones, is procured at O-tzu-kung.

[246] The first two stories are from theKo Ku Shi Riyăh, a recenthistory of Japan, from the earliest periods down to the present time, byMatsunai, with a continuation by a later author. They are contained in thefirst chapter of the first volume. The third is given as an ordinary itemof news in the journal called theChin-jei-Nippo, April 30th, 1884.

[247] The idea of the eight heads probably originated in China; thus, inthe caves in Shantung, near Chi-ning Chou, among carvings of mythologicalfigures and divinities, dating fromA.D. 147, we find a tiger’s body witheight heads, all human.

[248]Mourakoumo means “clouds of clouds”;ama means “heaven”;tsurogi means “sword.”

[249] White snakes are occasionally, although rarely, seen in Japan. Theyare supposed to be messengers from the gods, and are never killed by thepeople, but always taken and carried to some temple. The white snake isworshipped in Nagasaki at a temple called Miyo-ken, at Nishi-yama, whichis the northern part of the city of Nagasaki.

[250]Mémoires sur les Contrées occidentales, traduits du Sanscrit enChinois en l’an 648; et du Chinois en Francais, par M. Stanislas Julien.2 vols., Paris, 1857.

[251]Foĕ Kouĕ Ki, ou Relation des Royaumes Bouddhiques, par ChĕFa Hien. Translated from the Chinese by M. Abel Remusat; Paris, 1836.This volume contains a number of very interesting dragon legends, andquaint conceits about them; but I find nothing in it to supplement mymaterialistic argument.

[253] “I fully believe in this great marine monster. I have as muchevidence as to its existence as of anything not seen. Some years ago,Captain Austin Cooper and the officers and crew of theCarlisle Castle,on a voyage to Melbourne, saw the ‘varmint.’ A description and sketch ofit were published in theArgus. This, when it arrived in London, itbeing the ‘silly season’ in journalism, was seized and torn to pieces byone of the young lions of theDaily Telegraph, in a leading article, inwhich much fun was poked at the gallant sailor. ‘I don’t see any moresea-serpents,’ said my Irish friend to me. ‘It is too much to be told thatone of Green’s commanders can’t tell the difference between a piece ofsea-weed and a live body in the water. If twenty serpents come on thestarboard, all hands shall be ordered to look to port. No Londonpenny-a-liner shall say again that Austin Cooper is a liar and a fool.’After this we softened down over some Coleraine whiskey. Again, some threeyears ago, the monster was plainly seen off the great reef of NewCaledonia by Commandant Villeneuve, and the officers of the Frenchman-of-war, theSeudre. Chassepots were procured to shoot it, but beforeit came within easy range it disappeared. During my late visit to Fiji,Major James Harding, who was an officer in Cakoban’s army when that chief,‘by the grace of God’ was king of Fiji, described exactly the samecreature as passing within a few yards of his canoe on a clear moonlightnight in the Bay of Suva. It swam towards a small island outside the reef,which is known amongst Fijians as the ‘Cave of the Big Snake.’ MajorHarding is a cool, brave soldier, who saw much hot work with Cakoban’s menagainst the hill tribes of Vonua Levu. He was once riddled by bullets, andleft for dead. Accustomed for years to travel about the reefs in canoes,every phase of the aspect of the waters was known to him, and he was notlikely to be frightened with false fire. The extraordinary thing is, thatthe English sailor, the French commander, and the Fijian soldier, all gavethe same account of this monster. It is something with a head slightlyraised out of the water, and with a sort of mane streaming behind it,whilst the back of a long body is seen underneath the water. So, fromthese instances, in which I know the witnesses, I fully believe in thesea-serpent. What is there very wonderful in it, after all? The whale isthe largest living thing. Why shouldn’t the waters produce snakes ofgigantic size.”The Vagabond, in Supplement to theAustralasian,September 10, 1881.

[264] Within a few days of writing these lines I made one of a party offour to visit the waterfalls of Taki-kwannon, near Nagasaki. I asked forestimates of the height of the fall, which was variously guessed, bydifferent members of the party, at from forty-three to one hundred andfifty feet.

[266]Vide Verhandelingen van Het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten enWeten Schappen, Deel xxxix., 1ere Stuk., Batavia, 1877.

[268]Contributions to Materia Medica and Natural History of China, byF. P. Smith, M.B., London; Shanghai and London, 1871.

I give, in the appendix to this chapter, some accounts of a reputedmonster, the Shan, the description of which by Chinese authors, althoughvague, appears to me to point to the sea-serpent. I only insert a portionof the latter part of the legends regarding it which I find in myauthority, as they are perfectly valueless. The sample given may, however,be interesting as an example of how the Taouists compiled their absurdmiraculous stories.

[270] I must also add, on the information of Mr. H. C. Syers, of Selangor,that Captain Douglas, late Resident of Perak, had a large sea-serpent riseclose to him, somewhere off Perak, when in a boat manned by Malays. Mr.Syers had the account both from Captain Douglas and from the crew; and hetells me that there is a universal belief in the existence of some largesea-monster among the Malays of the western coast of the Peninsula.

[271] This is one of the fleet of the important Japanese Mitsu BishCompany, the equivalent of the P. and O. Company in Japan.

[273] It must be remembered that it is with a blow of its powerful tailthat the alligator stuns its prey and knocks it into the water (when anystray animal approaches the bank), and it is with the tail that thedragon, in the fable related by Ælian, chastises, although gently, itsmistress, and constricts, according to Pliny, the elephant in its folds.

[274]Nineteenth Century, March 1877, p. 20. Article on “Authority inMatters of Opinion,” by G. Cornewall Lewis. Reviewed by W. E. Gladstone.

[279] I find the following note inMaclean’s Guide to Bombay, for 1883:“Since the first edition of this Gazette was published, Captain Dundas, ofthe P. and O. Company’s steamerCathay, has informed me that thestatements of old travellers regarding these serpents are quite accurate.The serpents are not seen excepting during the south-west monsoon theseason in which alone voyages used to be made to India. In Horsburgh’sSailing Directions, shipmasters are warned to look out for the serpents,whose presence is a sign that the ship is close to land. Captain Dundassays that the serpents are yellow or copper-coloured. The largest ones arefarthest out to sea. They lie on the surface of the water, and appear toolazy even to get out of a steamer’s way.”

[280] TheRomance of Natural History, P. H. Gosse, F.R.S., First Series,London, 1880, 12th edition; Second Series, 1875, 5th edition.

[281] “At length, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they werethrown open for examination by the desire which then existed in Germany topossess theebur fossile, or ‘unicorn’s horn,’ a supposed infalliblespecific for the cure of many diseases. The unicorn horn was to be foundin the caves, and the search for it revealed the remains of lions, hyænas,elephants, and many other tropical and strange animals.”Pop. Sci.Monthly, No. 32.

[292]The Navigation and Voyage of Lewes Vertomannus, of Rome, intoArabia, Egypt, &c., in 1503, contained in “The History of Travayle inthe East and West Indies,” done into English by Richard Eden. London,1577.

[297]Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China. Huc and Gabet. Translatedby W. Hazlitt, vol. ii. p. 245.

[301] This height will have to be reduced in accordance with thedifference between the magnitude of old and new standards of measurement.

[304] “The Chinese have a tradition that this animal skips, and is so holyor harmless that it won’t even tread upon an insect, and that it is tocome in the shape of an incomparable man, a revealer of mysteries,supernatural and divine, and a great lover of all mankind, who is expectedto come, about the time of a particular constellation in the heavens, on aspecial mission for their benefit. The Japanese unicorn answers thedescription of the animal bearing that name, and supposed to be stillextant in Ethiopia, and which is equal to the size of a small horse,reddish in colour, and slender as a gazelle, the male having one horn. Theunicorn is the ancient crest of the kings of Israel, and is still retainedby the Mikado.”Epitome of the Ancient History of Japan, p. 116; N.McLeod, Nagasaki, 1875.

[307] This will have to be reduced by nearly one-half, to equate it withthe present measures of length.

[308]San Li T’u, vol. viii. p. 3. TheSan Li T’u is an illustrated,modern, edition by Nieh Tsung I. of the oldSan Li; it was writtenduring the reign of the great patron of literature, Kang Hi (A.D. 1661 to1723).

[310] Harris,Game and Wild Animals of Southern Africa. The OryxCapensis—The Gemsbock.

“The figure of the renowned unicorn can be traced in all the ancientear-rings, coins, and Latin heraldic insignia, to some one of the membersof the oryxine family; of all the whimsies of antiquity, whether emanatingfrom the unbridled and fertile fancies of the people of Egypt and Persia,or devised by the more chaste and classic taste which distinguished Greeceand Rome, the unicorn—unquestionably the most celebrated—is the chimerawhich has in modern ages engrossed the largest portion of attention fromthe curious.

“The rhinoceros is supposed to be the animal so often alluded to inScripture under the name ofreem or unicorn, yet the combinationpresented in the oryx of the antelopine and equine characters, the hornsand cloven hoof of the one, blended with the erect mane, general contourand long switch tail of the other, corresponds in all essentialparticulars with the extant delineations and descriptions of the heraldicunicorn, which is universally represented to have been possessed of astraight slender horn, ringed at the base, and to have the hoof divided;to have worn a mane reversed, a black flowing tail, and a turkey-like tufton the larynx, whilst both the size and ground colour were said to bethose of the ass, with the addition of sundry black markings, imparting tothe face and forehead a piebald appearance.

“The alterations required to reduce the African oryx to the standard ofthis model, are slight and simple, nor can it be doubted that they havebeen gradually introduced by successive copyists; the idea of the singlehorn having been derived in the first instance from profilerepresentations of that animal given in bas-relief on the sculpturedmonuments of ancient Egypt and Nubia.... They have in their aspect acertain bovine expression; and Arabs and other natives never consider themas antelopes but as a species of buffalo.... The oryx boldly defendsitself when pressed by the hunters, is quarrelsome during the ruttingseason, and it is said that even the lion dreads an encounter with it.”

[311] Even the patient ass, in a state of nature, is endowed with greatcourage. Baharan, one of the early Persian monarchs, received the surnameBaharan Guz from his transfixing, with one arrow, a wild ass and a lionengaged in active combat.

[313] Many species of bird do not attain their mature plumage until longafter they have attained adult size, as some among the gulls and birds ofprey. I think I am right in saying that some of these latter only becomeperfect in their third year. We all know the story of the ugly duckling,and the little promise which it gave of its future beauty.

[314] According to Dr. Williams, the Lwan was a fabulous bird described asthe essence of divine influence, and regarded as the embodiment of everygrace and beauty, and that the argus pheasant was the type of it.

Dr. Williams says that it was customary to hang little bells from thephœnix that marked the royal cars.

[316] The Wu Tung is theEleococca verrucosa, according to Dr. Williams;others identify it with theSterculia platanifolia. There is a Chineseproverb to the effect that without having Wu Tung trees you cannot expectto see phœnixes in your garden.

[317] Berosus lived in the time of Alexander the Great, or aboutB.C.330-260, or 300 years after the Jews were carried captive to Babylon.

[320] Defined by Williams “as the dragon of morasses and thickets, whichhas scales and no horn, corresponding very nearly to the fossiliguanodon.”Vide the description (ante) from thePan-Tsaou-Kang-mu,&c.

[322] According to Williams, this is a young dragon without a horn,although others, as in the text, say with one.

[332] In drilling an army there are names for all positions of the army.Thus, the general says: “Arrange yourselves like a snake, or like adragon, or any other imaginable shape.”

[333] Williams gives this translation only, but I think there must beanother meaning; probably some sort of reptile is indicated.

Foonote 128 appears on page150 of the text, but there is no corresponding marker on the page.

Foonote 157 appears on page168 of the text, but there is no corresponding marker on the page.

Foonote 326 appears on page400 of the text, but there is no corresponding marker on the page.

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	PAGE
Introduction	1
List of Authors cited	27
CHAPTER I.—On some remarkable Animal Forms	31
CHAPTER II.—Extinction of Species	42
CHAPTER III.—Antiquity of Man	78
CHAPTER IV.—The Deluge not a Myth	101
CHAPTER V.—On the Translation of Myths between the Old and the New World	137
CHAPTER VI.—The Dragon	159
CHAPTER VII.—The Chinese Dragon	212
CHAPTER VIII.—The Japanese Dragon	248
CHAPTER IX.—The Sea-Serpent	260
CHAPTER X.—The Unicorn	338
CHAPTER XI.—The Chinese Phœnix	366
Appendices	375

Amphibia.
Order.	——	Sub-order.	Groups.	Illustrative Genera.	Range of the Order.
Chelonia.	Land tortoises	1. Testudinea		Pyxis, Cinyxis	The Chelonia are first known to occur in the Lias. To recent.
"	River and marsh do.	2. Emydea	a Terrapenes	Emys, Cistudo
			b Chelodines	Chelys, Chelodina
	Mud tortoises	3. Trionychoidea		Gymnopus Cryptopus
"	Turtles	4. Euereta		Sphargis, Chelone

Plesiosauria.		5. . . .	Post Triassic	Plesiosaurus Pliosaurus	Trias to Chalk inclusive.
"		6. . . .	Triassic	Nothosaurus Simosaurus Pistosaurus	Trias to Chalk inclusive.
Lacertilia.	Geckos	7. Ascalabota			recent	Permian to recent.
"		8. Rhynchocephala		Sphenodon or Rhyncocephalus
"		9. Homœosauria			Solenhofen slates to Trias
"		10. Protosauria			Permian
"	Monitor	11. Platynota			recent
"		12. Eunota			"
"		13. Lacertina			"
"		14. Chalcidea			"
[Pg 33]"		15. Scincoidea			Recent
"		16. Dolichosauria		Dolichosaurus	Chalk
"		17. Mosasauria		Mososaurus	Chalk
"		18. Amphisbænoida		Chirotes Amphisbæna
"		19. Chamæleonida
Ophidia.	Non-venemous constricting	20. Aglyphodontia		Python, Tortrix	Older Tertiary to recent.
"		21. Opisthoglyphia
"		22. Proteroglyphia
"	Vipers and Rattlesnakes	23. Solenoglyphia		Crotalus
"		24. Typhlopidæ
Icthyosauria.		. . . .		Icthyosaurus	Trias(?) to chalk inclusive.
Crocodile.	Alligator	26. Alligatoridæ		Alligator Caiman Jacare	Trias to recent.
"	Crocodiles	27. Crocodilidæ		Crocodilus Mecistops
"	Gavials	28. Gavialidæ		Rhynchosuchus Gavialis
"		29. Teleosauidæ		Teleosaurus
"		30. Belodontidæ		Belodon
Dicynodontia.		31. . . .		Dicynodon Oudenodon	Trias.
Ornithoscelida		32. Dinosauria		Thecodontosaurus Scelidosaurus	Trias Lias	Mesozoic formations.
				Megalosaurus Iguanodon	Middle & Upper Mesozoic
		33. Compsognatha			Solenhofen slates
Pterosauria.	Flying reptile	34. Pterodactylidæ		Ornithopterus Pterodactylus Rhamphorynchus Dimorphodon	Lias to Chalk inclusive.
Aves.

	Feet.	Years.
Laurentian	30,000	30,000,000
Cambrian	25,000	25,000,000
Silurian	6,000	6,000,000
Old Red and Devonian	10,000	10,000,000
Carboniferous	12,000	12,000,000
Secondary	10,000	10,000,000
Tertiary and Post Tertiary	1,000	1,000,000
Gaps and unrepresented strata	6,000	6,000,000
	Total	100,000,000

		Britain.
Newer Pliocene.		Norwich Sand loam and gravel Marine, land, and fresh-water shells
Newer Pliocene.	Many shells abundant, such as	Fusus striatus "antiquus Tunitella communis Cardium edule, still existing in adjacent sea. Norwich Crag.

Older Pliocene.	Crag	Red, White, or Coralline

	BRITAIN.	FRANCE.	OTHER COUNTRIES OF EUROPE.		INDIA.	AMERICA.
Upper Miocene.	Ferruginous sands of the North downs.	Faluns of Touraine and Bordeaux.	Edgehem beds Diest sands Boldeberg beds	Belgium	Fresh-water deposits of Siwalik hills with Mastodon Sivatherium Colossochelys Rhinoceros Felis Machairodus Equus Hippotherium Camelopardalis	Fresh-water deposits in Oregon White river group in the Upper Missouri Regions Oreodont Brontetherium. Wind river group (Fresh-water deposit). Miocene deposits over a large part of the Atlantic Tertiary border. In California Miocene marine deposits reach from 4,000 to 5,000 feet in thickness.
		Dinotherium.
	Terebratula grandis.	Mastodon.	Superga beds	Italy
		Lamantine.	Deposits of Pikermé	Greece
	Astarte pyrula with other shells common to the Crag.	Marine shells such as Cypræa, Oliva, Mitra, Conus, indicative of an elevated temperature.	with Mastodon Dinotherium Hipparion Antelope Camelopardalis
		Fresh-water deposits of Gers near the base of the Pyrenees.	Beds above the brown coal with Marine shells	Croatia
		Dinotherium giganteum.
		Mastodon angustidens.	Fresh-water Molasse at Oeningen Abundant flora Marine Molasse	Switzerland

Lower Miocene.	Hempstead beds, Isle of Wight.	Calcaire de la Beauce, fresh-water deposits of Auvergne, Sandstone, indusial limestone of Cantal.	Kleyn Spawn beds and Limburg beds	Belgium
	Marine and fresh water Voluta Cyrena Cerithium	Fluvio-marine strata of Merignac and Bazas?	Marine and Fluvialite shells
	&c. &c.	Cerithium, Pyrula, &c.	Most of the Lignites are Lower Miocene	Germany
	Lignite deposits of Bovey Tracey.	Asterias limestone.
		Nummulites.	Lower (fresh-water) Molasse
	Numerous plants, such asSequoia Nysa Annona, indicating a sub-tropical climate.	Fresh-water strata of Fontainebleau. Grès de Fontainebleau (Marine).