. 
 
 

 MYTHICAL MONSTERS 
 
THE FUNG WANG 
 
 ACCORDING TO 
 FANG HENG. 
 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES GOULD, B.A., 
 
 MEMBER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA; LATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEYOR 
 
 OF TASMANIA. 
 
 WITH NINETY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATEKLOO PLACE. S.W, 
 
 PUBLISHERS TO THE INDIA OFFICE. 
 
 1886. 
 
 (All rights reserved.) 
 
LONDON : 
 PRINTED BY W H ALLEN AND CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL. S.W. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE Author has to express his great obligations to many 
 gentlemen who have assisted him in the preparation of this 
 volume, either by affording access to their libraries, or by 
 furnishing or revising translations from the Chinese, &c. ; 
 and he must especially tender them to J. Haas, Esq., the 
 Austro-Hungarian Vice- Consul at Shanghai, to Mr. Thomas 
 Kingsmill and the Rev. 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 the romanised representations of Chinese sounds 
 to the system adopted by S. W. Williams, whose invaluable 
 dictionary is the most available one for students. No alte- 
 ration, however, has been made when quotations from 
 eminent sinologues like Legge have been inserted. 
 
 Should the present volume prove sufficiently interesting to 
 attract readers, a second one will be issued at a future date, 
 in continuation of the subject. 
 
 June, 1884. 
 
 NOTE BY THE PUBLISHEES. 
 
 THE Publishers think it right to state that, owing to the Author's 
 absence in China, the work has not had the advantage of his supervision 
 in its passage through the press. It is also proper to mention that the 
 MS. left the Author's hands eighteen months ago. 
 
 13, WATERLOO PLACE. S.W. 
 January, 1886. 
 
 39425K 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION 1 
 
 LIST OP AUTHORS CITED ........ 27 
 
 CHAPTEE I. ON SOME REMARKABLE ANIMAL FORMS . . 31 
 
 CHAPTER II. EXTINCTION OF SPECIES 42 
 
 CHAPTEE in. ANTIQUITY or MAN 78 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH . . . .101 
 CHAPTEE Y. ON THE TRANSLATION OF MYTHS BETWEEN THE 
 
 OLD AND THE NEW WORLD . . . .137 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. THE DRAGON 159 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. THE CHINESE DRAGON 212 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. THE JAPANESE DRAGON . . . .248 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. THE SEA-SERPENT 260 
 
 CHAPTEE X. THE UNICORN 338 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. THE CHINESE PHCENIX 366 
 
 APPENDICES . . . 375 
 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 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 stones ordinarily reputed fabulous, and of claim- 
 ing for them the consideration due to genuine realities, or 
 to have advocated tales, time-honoured as fictions, as actual 
 facts ; and those of the nursery as being, in many instances, 
 legends, more or less distorted, descriptive of real beings or 
 events. 
 
 Now-a-days it is a less hazardous proceeding. The great 
 era of advanced opinion, initiated by Darwin, which has seen, 
 in the course of a few years, a larger progress in knowledge 
 in all departments of science than decades of centuries pre- 
 ceding it, has, among other changes, worked a complete 
 revolution in the estimation of the value of folk-lore ; and 
 speculations on it, which in the days of our boyhood would 
 have been considered as puerile, are now admitted to be not 
 merely interesting but necessary to those who endeavour to 
 gather up the skeins of unwritten history, and to trace the 
 antecedents and early migrations from parent sources of 
 nations long since alienated from each other by customs, 
 speech, and space. 
 
 i 
 
MONSTERS. 
 
 I have, therefore, but little hesitation in gravely proposing 
 to submit that many of the so-called mythical animals, which 
 throughout long ages and in all nations have been the fertile 
 subjects of fiction and fable, come legitimately within the 
 scope of plain matter-of-fact Natural History, and that they 
 may be considered, not as the outcome of exuberant fancy, 
 but as creatures which really once existed, and of which, 
 unfortunately, only imperfect and inaccurate descriptions have 
 filtered down to us, probably very much refracted, through 
 the mists of time. 
 
 I propose to follow, for a certain distance only, the path 
 which has been pursued 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 stories which in 
 their later dress are incredible ; deviating from it to dwell 
 upon the possibility of their having preserved to us, through 
 the medium of unwritten Natural History, traditions of crea- 
 tures once co-existing with man, some of which are so weird 
 and terrible as to appear at first sight to be impossible. I 
 propose stripping them of those supernatural characters with 
 which a mysteriously implanted love of the wonderful has 
 invested them, and to examine them, as at the present day 
 we are fortunately 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 of rational study. The dragon, in place of being 
 a creature evolved out of the imagination of Aryan man by 
 the contemplation of lightning flashing through the caverns 
 which he tenanted, as is held by some mythologists, is an 
 animal which once lived and dragged its ponderous coils, and 
 perhaps flew ; which devastated herds, and on occasions swal- 
 lowed their shepherd; which, establishing its lair in some 
 cavern overlooking the fertile plain, spread terror and 
 destruction around, and, protected from assault by dread or 
 superstitious feeling, may even have been subsidised by the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 terror-stricken peasantry, who, failing the power to destroy 
 it, may have preferred tethering offerings of cattle adjacent 
 to its cavern to having it come down to seek supplies from 
 amongst their midst.* 
 
 To me the specific existence of the unicorn seems not in- 
 credible, and, in fact, more probable than that theory which 
 assigns its origin to a lunar myth.f 
 
 Again, believing as I do in the existence of some great 
 undescribed inhabitant of the ocean depths, the much-derided 
 sea-serpent, whose home seems especially to be adjacent to 
 Norway, I recognise this monster as originating the myths 
 of the midgard serpent which the Norse Elder Eddas have 
 collected, this being the contrary view to that taken by 
 mythologists, who invert the derivation, and suppose the 
 stories current among the Norwegian fishermen to be modified 
 versions of this important element of Norse mythology.J 
 
 * This tributary offering is a common feature in dragon legends. A 
 good example is that given by El Edrisi in his history of the dragon 
 destroyed by Alexander the Great in the island of Mostachin (one of 
 the Canaries?). 
 
 t The latest writer on this point summarizes his views, in his opening 
 remarks, as follows : " The science of heraldry has faithfully preserved 
 to modern times various phases of some of those remarkable legends 
 which, based upon a study of natural phenomena, exhibit the process 
 whereby the greater part of mythology has come into existence. Thus 
 we find the solar gryphon, the solar phcenix, a demi-eagle displayed 
 issuing from flames of fire ; the solar lion and the lunar unicorn, which 
 two latter noble creatures now harmoniously support the royal arms. I 
 propose in the following 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 with the lion to gain the crown or summit of heaven, 
 which neither may retain, and whose brilliant horn drives away the dark- 
 ness and evil of the night even as we find in the myth, that Yenym is 
 defended by the horn of the unicorn." The Unicorn; a Mythological 
 Investigation. Eobert Brown, jun., F.S.A. London, 1881. 
 
 J " The midgard or world-serpent we have already become tolerably 
 well acquainted with, and recognise in him the wild tumultuous sea. 
 Thor contended with him ; he got him on his hook, but did not succeed 
 
 1 
 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 I must admit that, for my part, I doubt the general de- 
 rivation of myths from " the contemplation of the visible 
 workings of external nature."* It seems to me easier to 
 suppose that the palsy of time has enfeebled the utterance of 
 these oft-told tales until their original appearance is almost 
 unrecognisable, than that uncultured savages should possess 
 powers of imagination and poetical invention far beyond 
 those enjoyed by the most instructed nations of the present 
 day ; less hard to believe that these wonderful stories of gods 
 and demigods, of giants and dwarfs, of dragons and monsters 
 of all descriptions, are transformations than to believe them 
 to be inventions.! 
 
 The author of Atlantis^ indeed, claims that the gods and 
 goddesses of the ancient Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Hin- 
 doos, and the Scandinavians were simply the kings, queens, 
 and heroes of Atlantis, and the acts attributed to them in 
 mythology a confused recollection of real historical events. 
 Without conceding the locus of the originals, which requires 
 much greater examination than I am able to make at the 
 
 in killing him. We also remember how Thor tried to lift him in the 
 form of a cat. The North abounds in stories about the sea-serpent, 
 which are nothing but variations 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." Norse Mythology, p. 387. E. B. Anderson, 
 Chicago, 1879. 
 
 * Vide Anderson. 
 
 f Just as even the greatest masters of fiction adapt but do not origi- 
 nate. Harold Skimpole and Wilkins Micawber sat unconsciously for 
 their portraits in real life, and the most charming characters and fertile 
 plots produced by that most prolific of all writers, A. Dumas, are mere 
 elaborations of people and incidents with which historical memoirs 
 provided him. 
 
 J Atlantis ; the Antediluvian World. J. Donelly, New York, 1882. 
 The author has amassed, with untiring labour, a large amount of evi- 
 dence to prove that the island of Atlantis, in place of being a myth or 
 fable of Plato, really once existed ; was the source of all modern arts 
 and civilization ; and was destroyed in a catastrophe which he identifies 
 with the Biblical Deluge, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 present time, I quite agree with him as to the principle. I 
 believe that the mythological deities represent a confused 
 chronology of far-distant times, and that the destruction of 
 the Nemean lion, the Lernean hydra, and the Minotaur are 
 simply the records of acts of unusual bravery in combating 
 ferocious animals. 
 
 On the first landing of Pizarro the Mexicans entertained 
 the opinion that man and horse were parts of one strange 
 animal,* and we have thus a clue to the explanation of the 
 origin of the belief in centaurs from a distant view of horse- 
 men, a view possibly followed by the immediate flight of the 
 observer, which rendered a solution of the extraordinary 
 phenomenon impossible. 
 
 ON THE CREDIBILITY OF KEMAEKABLE STOBIES. 
 
 Ferdinand Mendez Pinto quaintly observes, in one of his 
 earlier chapters, " I will not speak of the Palace Koyal, 
 because I saw it but on the outside, 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 our 
 own eyes, and that was so much as that I am afraid to write 
 it ; not that it would seem strange to those who have seen 
 and read the marvels of the kingdom of China, but because 
 I doubt that they which would compare those wondrous 
 things that are in the countries they have not seen, with that 
 little they have seen in their own, will make some question 
 
 * So also, Father Stanislaus Arlet, of the Society of Jesus, writing to 
 the General of the Society in 1698 respecting a new Mission in Peru, 
 and speaking of a Peruvian tribe calling themselves Canisian, says : 
 " Having never before seen horses, or men resembling us in colour and 
 dress, the astonishment they showed at our first appearance among 
 them was a very pleasing spectacle to us, the sight of us terrifying 
 them to such a degree that the bows and arrows fell from their hand ; 
 imagining, as they afterwards owned, that the man, his hat, his clothes, 
 and the horse he rode upon, composed but one animal." 
 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 of it, or, it may be, give no credit at all to these truths, 
 because they are not conformable to their understanding 
 and small experience."* 
 
 * The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, done into 
 English by H. C. G-ent, London, 1653, p. 109. The vindication of 
 Pinto' s reputation for veracity will doubtless one day be, to a great 
 extent, effected, for although his interesting narrative is undoubtedly 
 embroidered with a rich tissue of falsity, due apparently to an exagge- 
 rated credulity upon his part, and systematic deception upon that of his 
 Chinese informants, he certainly is undeserving of the wholesale con- 
 demnation of which Congreve was the reflex when he made Foresight, 
 addressing Sir Sampson Legend, say: "Thou modern Mandeville, 
 Ferdinand Mendez Pinto was but a type of thee, thou liar of the first 
 magnitude." Love for Love, Act. 2, Scene 1. There are many points 
 in his narrative which are corroborated by history and the accounts of 
 other voyages ; and it must be remembered that, although the major 
 part of the names of places and persons which he gives are now un- 
 recognisable, yet this may be due to alterations 'from the lapse of time, 
 and from the difficulty of recognising the true original Chinese or 
 Japanese word under those produced by the foreign mode of translitera- 
 tion in vogue in those days. Thus the Port Liampoo of Pinto is now 
 and has been for many years past only known as Ningpo, the first name 
 being a term of convenience, used by the early Portuguese voyagers, 
 and long since abandoned. Just as the wonderful Quinsay of Marco 
 Polo (still known by that name in Pinto's time) has been only success- 
 fully identified (with Hangchow-fu) through the antiquarian research 
 of Colonel Yule. So also the titles of Chaems, Tutons, Chumbins, 
 Aytons, Anchacy's, which Pinto refers to (p. 108), are only with diffi- 
 culty recognisable in those respectively of Tsi'ang (a Manchu governor), 
 Tu-tung (Lieutenant- General), Tsung-ping (Brigadier- General), Tao-tai 
 [? ?] (Intendant of Circuit) and Ngan-ch'a She-sze (Provincial Judge), 
 as rendered by the modern sinologue Mayers in his Essay on the 
 Chinese Government, Shanghai, 1878. The incidental references to the 
 country, people, habits, and products, contained in the chapter describing 
 his passage in captivity from Nanquin to Pequin are true to nature, and 
 the apparently obviously untruthful statement which he makes of the 
 employment by the King of Tartary of thousands of rhinoceri both as 
 beasts of burthen and articles of food (p. 158) is explicable, I think, on 
 the supposition that some confusion has arisen, either in translation or 
 transcription, between rhinoceros and camel. Anyone who has seen the 
 long strings of camels wending their way to Pekin from the various 
 northern roads through the passes into Mongolia, would readily believe 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Now as some of the creatures whose existence I shall have 
 to contend for in these volumes are objects of derision to a 
 large proportion of mankind, and of reasonable doubt to 
 another, I cannot help fortifying myself with some such out- 
 work of reasoning as the pith of Pinto's remarks affords, 
 and supplementing it by adding that, while the balance 
 between scepticism and credulity is undoubtedly always diffi- 
 cult to hold, yet, as Lord Bacon well remarks, " There is 
 nothing makes a man suspect much more than to know little ; 
 and therefore men should remedy suspicion by procuring to 
 know more." 
 
 Whately extends Bacon's proposition by adding, " This is 
 equally true of the suspicions that have reference to things 
 as persons " ; in other words, ignorance and suspicion go 
 hand-in-hand, and so travellers' tales, even when supported 
 by good evidence, are mostly denied credence or accepted 
 with repugnance, when they offend the experience of those 
 who, remaining at home, are thus only partially educated. 
 Hence it is, not to go too far back for examples, that we 
 have seen Bruce, Mungo Park, Du Chaillu, Gordon Gum- 
 ming, Schliemann,* and Stanley treated with the most un- 
 generous criticism and contemptuous disbelief by persons 
 who, however well informed in many subjects, lacked the 
 extended and appreciative views which can only be acquired 
 by travel. 
 
 Nor is this incredulity limited to travellers' tales about 
 savage life. It is just as often displayed in reference to the 
 
 that a large transport corps of them could easily be amassed by a 
 despotic monarch ; -while the vast numbers of troops to which Pinto 
 makes reference are confirmed by more or less authentic histories. 
 
 *" I was myself an eye-witness of two such discoveries and helped 
 to gather the articles together. The slanderers have long since been 
 silenced, who were not ashamed to charge the discoverer with an impos- 
 ture." Prof. Virchow, in Appendix I. to Schliemann's Ilios. Murray, 
 1880.. 
 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 surroundings of uneventful life, provided they are different 
 from those with which we are familiar. 
 
 Saladin rebuked the Knight of the Leopard for falsehood 
 when the latter assured him that the waters of lakes in his 
 own country became at times solidified, so that armed and 
 mounted knights could cross them as if on dry land. And 
 the wise Indian who was taken down to see the large Ameri- 
 can cities, with the expectation that, being convinced of the 
 resources and irresistible power of civilization he would 
 influence his tribe to submission on his return, to the surprise 
 of the commissioners who had conveyed him, spoke in directly 
 contrary terms to those expected of him, privately explaining 
 in reply to their remonstrances, that had he told the truth 
 to his tribe he would have been indelibly branded for the 
 remainder of his life as an outrageous and contemptible liar. 
 Chinese students, despatched for education in American or 
 European capitals, are compelled on their return to make 
 similar reservations, under pain of incurring a like penalty ; 
 and officials who, from contact with Europeans at the open 
 ports, get their ideas expanded too quickly, are said to be 
 liable to isolation in distant regions, where their advanced 
 and fantastic opinions may do as little harm to right-thinking 
 people as possible.* 
 
 Even scientific men are sometimes as crassly incredulous 
 as the uncultured masses. On this point hear Mr. A. E. 
 Wallace. f " Many now living remember the time (for it is 
 
 * " But ask them to credit an electric telegram, to understand a 
 steam-engine, to acknowledge the microscopic revelations spread out 
 before their 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 
 fan kwai, and a sayer of that which is not. The dragon and the phoenix 
 are true, but the rotifer and the message, the sixty miles an hour, the J 
 cable, and the captive kings are false." H omehold Words, October 30th, 
 1855. 
 
 t Address delivered to the Biological Section of the British Associa- 
 tion. G-lasgow, 1876. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 little more than twenty years ago) when the antiquity of 
 man, as now understood, was universally discredited. Not 
 only theologians, but even geologists taught us that man 
 belonged to the existing state of things ; that the extinct 
 animals of the tertiary period had finally disappeared, and 
 that the earth's surface had assumed its present condition 
 before the human race first came into existence, So pre- 
 possessed were scientific men with this idea, which yet rested 
 on purely negative evidence, and could not be supported by 
 any argument of scientific value, that numerous facts which 
 had been presented at intervals for half a century, all tending 
 to prove the existence of man at very remote epochs, were 
 silently ignored, and, more than this, the detailed statements 
 of three distinct and careful observers confirming each other 
 were rejected by a great scientific society as too improbable 
 for publication, only because they proved (if they were true) 
 the co -existence of man with extinct animals."* 
 
 The travels of that faithful historian, Marco Polo, were for 
 a long time considered as fables, and the graphic descriptions 
 of the Abbe Hue even still find detractors continuing the 
 role of those who maintained that he had never even visited 
 the countries which he described. 
 
 Gordon Gumming was disbelieved when he asserted that 
 he had killed an antelope, out of a herd, with a rifle-shot at 
 a distance of eight hundred yards. 
 
 Madame Merianf was accused of deliberate falsehood in 
 reference to her description of a bird-eating spider nearly 
 
 * In 1854 a communication from the Torquay Natural History 
 Society, confirming previous accounts by Mr. Goodwin Austen, Mr. 
 Vivian, and the Eev. Mr. McEnery, " that worked flints occurred in 
 Kents Hole with remains of extinct species," was rejected as too impro- 
 bable for publication. 
 
 f " She is set down a thorough heretic, not at all to be believed, a 
 manufacturer of unsound natural history, an inventor of false facts in 
 science." Gosse, Romance of Nat. Hist., 2nd Series, p. 227. 
 
10 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 two hundred years ago. But now-a-days Mr. Bates and other 
 reliable observers have confirmed it in regard to South 
 America, India, and elsewhere. 
 
 Audubon was similarly accused by botanists of having in- 
 vented the yellow water-lily, which he figured in his Birds of 
 the South under the name of Nymphsea lutea, and after having 
 lain under the imputation for years, was confirmed at last by 
 the discovery of the long-lost flower, in Florida, by Mrs. 
 Mary Trent, in the summer of 1876 ;* and this encourages 
 us to hope that some day or other a fortunate sportsman may 
 rediscover the Halisetus Washingtonii, in regard to which 
 Dr. Cover says: " That famous bird of Washington was a 
 myth ; either Audubon was mistaken, or else, as some do not 
 hesitate to affirm, he lied about it." 
 
 FIG. 1. FISHERMAN ATTACKED BY OCTOPUS. 
 
 (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 license when he produced his marvellous word- 
 painting of the devil-fish, and described a man as becoming 
 its helpless victim. The thing was derided as a monstrous 
 
 * Pop. Sei. Monthly, No. 60, April 1877. 
 
INTRODUCTION . 11 
 
 impossibility ; yet within a few years were discovered, on the 
 shores of Newfoundland, cuttle-fishes with arms extending to 
 thirty feet in length, and capable of dragging a good- sized 
 boat beneath the surface ; and their action has been repro- 
 duced for centuries past, as the representation of a well- 
 known fact, in net sukes (ivory carvings) and illustrations by 
 Japanese artists.* 
 
 * " By the kindness of my friend, Mr. Bartlett, I have been enabled 
 to examine a most beautiful Japanese carving in ivory, said to be one 
 hundred and fifty years old, and called by the Japanese net suke or togle. 
 These togles are handed down from one generation to the next, and 
 they record any remarkable event that happens to any member of a 
 family. This carving is an inch and a half long, and about as big 
 as a walnut. It represents a lady in a quasi-leaning attitude, and 
 at first sight it is difficult to perceive what she is doing ; but after 
 a while the details come out magnificently. The unfortunate lady has 
 been seized by an octopus when bathing for the lady wears a bathing- 
 dress. One extended arm of the octopus is in the act of coiling round 
 'the lady's neck, and she is endeavouring to pull it off with her right 
 hand; another arm of the sea-monster is entwined round the left- 
 wrist, while the hand is fiercely tearing at the mouth of the brute. 
 The other arms of the octopus are twined round, grasping the lady's 
 body and waist in fact, her position reminds one very much of 
 Laocoon in the celebrated statue of the snakes seizing him and his 
 two sons. The sucking discs of the octopus are carved exactly as they 
 are in nature, and the colour of the body of the creature, together 
 with the formidable aspect of the eye, are wonderfully represented. 
 The face of this Japanese lady is most admirably done; it expresses 
 the utmost terror and alarm, and possibly may be a portrait. So 
 carefully is the carving executed that the lady's white teeth can be 
 seen between 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 so well done that I can hardly bring myself to think that 
 it is not real hair, fastened on in some most ingenious manner ; but by 
 examining it under a powerful magnifying glass I find it is not so it 
 is the result of extraordinary cleverness in carving. The back of the 
 little white comb fixed into the thick of the black hair adds to the 
 effect of this magnificent carving of the hair. I congratulate Mr. 
 Bartlett on the acquisition of this most beautiful curiosity. There 
 is an inscription in Japanese characters on the underneath part of the 
 carving, and Mr. Bartlett and myself would, of course, only be too glad 
 to get this translated." Frank Buckland, in Land and Water. 
 
12 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Before the days of Darwinism, what courage was requisite 
 in a man who propounded any theory a little bit extravagant ! 
 Hark how, even less than twenty years ago, the ghost of the 
 unfortunate Lord Monboddo had bricks of criticism pelted at 
 it, half earnestly, half contemptuously, by one of our greatest 
 thinkers, whose thought happened to run in grooves different 
 from those travelled in by the mind of the unfortunate 
 Scotchman. 
 
 " Lord Monboddo* had just finished his great work, by 
 which he derives all mankind from a couple of apes, and all 
 the dialects of the world from a language originally framed 
 by some Egyptian gods, when the discovery of Sanskrit came 
 on him like a thunderbolt. It must be said, however, to his 
 credit, that he at once perceived the immense importance of 
 the discovery. He could not be expected to sacrifice his 
 primordial monkeys or his Egyptian idols, &c." 
 
 And again : "It may be of interest to give one other 
 extract in order to show how well, apart from his men with, 
 and his monkeys without, tails, Lord Monboddo could sift 
 and handle the evidence that was placed before him." 
 
 Max Miiller also furnishes us with an amazing example 
 of scepticism on the part of Dugald Stewart. He saysf : 
 " However, if the facts about Sanskrit were true, Dugald 
 Stewart was too wise not to see that the conclusions drawn 
 from them were inevitable. He therefore denied the reality 
 of such a language as Sanskrit altogether, and wrote his 
 famous essay to prove that Sanskrit had been put together, 
 after the model of Greek and Latin, by those archforgers 
 and liars, the Brahmans, and that the whole of Sanskrit 
 literature was an imposition." 
 
 So Ctesias attacked Herodotus. The very existence of 
 
 * Max Miiller, Science of Language, 4th edition, p. 163-165. Loudon, 
 1864. 
 
 f Science of Language, p. 168. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 Homer has been denied, and even the authorship of Shake- 
 speare's plays questioned.* 
 
 We are all familiar enough now with the black swan, but 
 Ovidf considered it as so utterly impossible that he clinched, 
 as it were, an affirmation by saying, "If I doubted, O 
 Maximus, of thy approval of these words, I could believe 
 that there are swans of the colour of Mernnon " [i.e. black] ;; 
 and even so late as the days of Sir Thomas Browne, we find 
 them classed by him with flying horses, hydras, centaurs, 
 harpies, and satyrs, as monstrosities, rarities, or else poetical 
 
 fancies. J 
 
 Now that we have all seen the great hippopotamus disport 
 himself in his tank in the gardens of the Zoological Society, 
 we can smile at the grave arguments 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. But I dare- 
 
 * " When a naturalist, either by visiting such spots of earth as are 
 still out of the way, or by his good fortune, finds a very queer plant or 
 animal, he is forthwith accused of inventing his game, the word not 
 being used in its old sense of discovery but in its modern of creation. 
 As soon as the creature is found to sin against preconception, the great 
 (mis ?) guiding spirit, a priori by name, who furnishes philosophers 
 with their omniscience pro re natd, whispers that no such thing can be, 
 and forthwith there is a charge of hoax. The heavens themselves have 
 been charged with hoaxes. When Leverrier and Adams predicted a 
 planet by calculation, it was gravely asserted in some quarters that the 
 planet which had been calculated was not the planet but another which 
 had clandestinely and improperly got into the neighbourhood of the 
 true body. '~The disposition to suspect hoax is stronger than the dispo- 
 sition to hoaxj Who was it that first announced that the classical 
 writings of Greece and Eome were one huge hoax perpetrated by the 
 monks in what the announcer would be as little or less inclined than 
 Dr. Maitland to call the dark ages ? "Macmillan, 1860. 
 
 f Poetic Epistles, Bk. iii., Ep. 3. 
 
 t Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cygno. 
 
 " Having showed the foregoing description of the mountain cow, 
 called by the Spaniards ante [manatee?], to a person of honour, he was 
 pleased to send it to a learned person in Holland." This learned person 
 
14 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 say it passed muster in his days as a very sound and shrewd 
 observation, just as, possibly, but for the inconvenient wag- 
 gery of Peter Pindar, might have done the intelligent inquiry, 
 which he records, after the seam in the apple-dumpling. 
 
 Poor Fray Gaspar de Jan Bernardine who, in 1611, under- 
 took the journey by land from India to Portugal, was unfor- 
 tunate enough to describe the mode in which the captain of 
 the caravan communicated intelligence to Bagdad by carrier 
 pigeon. " He had pigeons whose young and nests were at 
 his house in that city, and every two days he let fly a pigeon 
 with a letter tied to its foot containing the news of his 
 journey. This account met with but little belief in Europe, 
 and was treated there as a matter of merriment."* 
 
 The discredit under which this traveller fell is the more 
 surprising because the same custom had alreadybeen noted 
 by Sir John Mandeville, who, in speaking of Syria and adja- 
 cent 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 dur not senden messagers with lettres fro Lord to 
 Lord for to ask Sokour, thei maken here Lettres and bynden 
 hem to the Nekke of a Colver and leten the Colver flee, and 
 the Colveren ben so taughte, that thei flun with the Lettres 
 to the very place that men wolde send hem to. For the Col- 
 
 discusses it and compares it with the hippopotamus, and winds up by 
 saying, in reference to a description of the habits of the hippopotamus, 
 as noticed at Loango by Captain Rogers, to the effect that when they 
 are in 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 walking there, if he adds, what I think he supposes, that it rises 
 again, and comes on the land, I much question ; for that such a huge 
 body should raise itself up again (though I know whales and great fish 
 can do) transcends the faith of J. H." F. J. Knapton, Collection of 
 Voyages, vol. ii., part ii. p. 13. 4 vols., London, 1729. 
 
 * Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Asia. Hugh Murray, 
 F.R.S.E., 3 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1820. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 veres ben norrysscht in the Places Where thei been sent to, 
 and thei senden them there, for to beren here Lettres, and 
 the Colveres retournen agen, where as thei ben norrischt, 
 and so thei dou commonly." 
 
 While, long before, Pliny had referred to it in his Natural 
 History* as follows : " In addition to this, pigeons have acted 
 as messengers in affairs of importance. During the siege of 
 Mutina, Decimus Brutus, who was in the town, sent 
 despatches to the camp of the Consuls, fastened to pigeons' 
 feet. Of what use to Antony, then, were his entrenchments? 
 and all the vigilance of the besieging army ? his nets, too, 
 which he had spread in the river, while the messenger of the 
 besieged was cleaving the air ? " 
 
 The pace of railways ; steam communication across the 
 Atlantic ; the Suez Canalf ; were not all these considered in 
 former days to be impossible ? With these examples of 
 failure of judgment before us, it may be fairly asked whether, 
 in applying our minds to the investigation of the reality of 
 creatures apparently monstrous, we duly reflect upon the 
 extraordinary, almost miraculous, events which incessantly 
 occur in the course of the short existence of all animated 
 nature ? Supposing the history of insects were unknown to 
 us, could the wildest imagination conceive such a marvellous 
 transformation as that which takes place continually around 
 us in the passage from the larva through the chrysalis to the 
 butterfly ? or human ingenuity invent one so bizarre as that 
 recorded by Steenstrup in his theory of the alternation of 
 generation ? 
 
 We accept as nothing marvellous, only because we see 
 them daily, the organization and the polity of a community 
 
 * Bk. x., cliap. 53. 
 
 f A writer in Macmillan's Magazine in 1860 concludes a series of ob- 
 jections to the canal as follows : " And the Emperor must hesitate to 
 identify himself with an operation which might not impossibly come to 
 be designated by posterity as ' Napoleon's Folly.' " 
 
16 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 of ants ; their collaboration, their wars, and their slaveries 
 have been so often stated that they cease to 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 of gardens to gratify their sense of beauty.* 
 
 We admire the ingenious imagination of Swift, and 
 essayists dwell upon his happy conceits and upon the ability 
 with which, in his celebrated work, he has ordered all things 
 to harmonise in dimensions with the enlarged and reduced 
 scales on which he has conceived the men and animals of 
 Brobdignag and Lilliput. So much even has this quaint 
 idea been appreciated, that his story has achieved a small 
 immortality, and proved one of the numerous springs from 
 which new words have been imported into our language. 
 Yet the peculiar and essential singularities of the story are 
 quite equalled, or even surpassed, by creatures which are, or 
 have been, found in nature. The imaginary diminutive cows 
 which Gulliver brought back from Lilliput, and placed in the 
 meadows at Dulwich, are not one bit more remarkable, in 
 respect to relative size, than the pigmy elephant (E. Falconeri) 
 whose remains have been found in the cave-deposits of Malta, 
 associated with those of pigmy hippopotami, and which was 
 only two feet six inches high ; or the still existing Hippopo- 
 tamus (Chceropsis) liberiensis, which M. Milne Edwardesf 
 figures as little more than two feet in height. 
 
 The lilliputian forests from which the royal navy was con- 
 structed contained even large trees in comparison with the 
 dwarf oaks of Mexico,]: or with the allied, even smaller 
 
 * The Bower Bird, Ptilonorhyncus holosericeus, and the Garden- 
 building Bird of New Guinea, AmUyornis inornara. 
 
 f Recherches, &c. des Mammiferes , plate 1. Paris, 1868 to 1874. 
 
 J " This obstacle was a forest of oaks, not giant oaks, but the very 
 reverse, a forest of dwarf oaks (Quercus nana). Far as the eye could 
 reach extended the singular wood, in which no tree rose above thirty 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 species, which crawls like heather about the hill-slopes of 
 China and Japan, and still more so in comparison with that 
 singular pine, the most diminutive known (Dacrydium taxi- 
 folium), fruiting specimens of which, according to Kirk, are 
 sometimes only two inches high, while the average height is 
 only six to ten inches ; while even among the forests of 
 Brobdignag, a very respectable position could be held by the 
 mammoth trees of California (Sequoia gigantea), or by the 
 loftier white gums of Australia (Eucalyptus amygdalina), which 
 occasionally reach, according to Von Mueller,* the enormous 
 height of 480 feet. Nor could more adequate tenants (in 
 point of size) be found to occupy them than the gigantic 
 reptilian forms lately discovered by Marsh among the deposits 
 of Colorado and Texas. 
 
 Surely a profound acquaintance with the different branches 
 of natural history should render a man credulous rather than 
 incredulous, for there is hardly conceivable a creature so 
 monstrous that it may not be paralleled by existing ones in 
 every-day life.f 
 
 inches in height. Yet was it no thicket, no undergrowth of shrubs, but 
 a true forest of oaks, each tree having its separate stem, its boughs, its 
 lobed leaves, and its bunches of brown acorns." Gapt. Mayne Eeid, 
 The War Trail, chap. Ixiv. 
 
 * Kespecting the timber trees of this tract, Dr. Ferdinand von 
 Mueller, the Government botanist, thus writes : " At the desire of the 
 writer of these pages, Mr. D. Bogle measured a fallen tree of Eucalyptus 
 amygdalina, in the deep recesses of Dandenong, and obtained for it a 
 length of 420 feet, with proportions of width, indicated in a design of a 
 monumental structure placed in the exhibition ; while Mr. G-. Klein 
 took the measurement of a Eucalyptus on the Black Spur, ten miles 
 distant from Healesville, 480 feet high ! In the State forest of Dande- 
 nong, it was found by actual measurement that an acre of ground con- 
 tained twenty large trees of an apparent average height of about 350 
 feet." R. Brough Smyth, The Gold Fields of Victoria. Melbourne, 
 1869. 
 
 f " In the next place, we must remember how impossible it is for the 
 mind to invent an entirely new fact. There is nothing in the mind of 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Are the composite creatures of Chaldsean mythology so 
 very much more wonderful than the marsupial kangaroo, the 
 duck-billed platypus, and the flying lizard of Malaysia which 
 
 FIG. 2. PTERODACTYLUS. (After Figuier.) 
 
 are, or the pterodactylus, rhamphorynchus, and archseopteryx 
 which have been ? Does not geological science, day by day, 
 trace one formation by easy gradation to another, bridge over 
 
 FIG. 3. RHAMPHORYNCHUS. (From " Nature") 
 
 the gaps which formerly separated them, carry the proofs of 
 the existence of man constantly further and further back into 
 remote time, and disclose the previous existence of inter- 
 man that has not pre-existed in nature. Can we imagine a person, who 
 never saw or heard of an elephant, drawing a picture of such a two- 
 tailed creature ? " J. Donelly, Rangarok, p. 119. New York, 1883. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 mediate types (satisfying the requirements of the Darwinian 
 theory) connecting the great divisions of the animal kingdom, 
 of reptile-like birds and bird-like reptiles ? Can we suppose 
 that we have at all exhausted the great museum of nature ? 
 Have we, in fact, penetrated yet beyond its ante-chambers ? 
 
 FIG. 4. ARCH^OPTERYX. 
 
 Does the written history of man, comprising a few thou- 
 sand years, embrace the whole course of his intelligent 
 existence ? or have we in the long mythical eras, extending 
 over hundreds of thousands of years and recorded in the 
 chronologies of Chaldsea and of China, shadowy mementoes 
 of pre-historic man, handed down by tradition, and perhaps 
 transported by a few survivors to existing lands from others 
 which, like the fabled (?) Atlantis of Plato, may have been 
 submerged, or the scene of some great catastrophe which 
 destroyed them with all their civilization. 
 
 The six or eight thousand years which the various inter- 
 preters of the Biblical record assign for the creation of 
 the world and the duration of man upon the earth, allow 
 little enough space for the development of his civilization a 
 civilization which documental evidence carries almost to the 
 verge of the limit for the expansion and divergence of 
 stocks, or the obliteration of the branches connecting them. 
 
 2 * 
 
20 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 But, fortunately, we are no more compelled to fetter our 
 belief within such limits as regards man than to suppose that 
 his appearance on the globe was coeval with or immediately 
 successive to its own creation at that late date. For while 
 geological science, on the one hand, carries back the creation 
 of the world and the appearance of life upon its surface to a 
 period so remote that it is impossible to estimate it, and 
 difficult even to faintly approximate to it, so, upon the other, 
 the researches of palaeontologists have successively traced 
 back the existence of man to periods variously estimated at 
 from thirty thousand to one million years to periods when 
 he co-existed with animals which have long since become 
 extinct, and which even excelled in magnitude and ferocity 
 most of those which in savage countries dispute his empire 
 at the present day. Is it not reasonable to suppose that his 
 combats with these would form the most important topic of 
 conversation, of tradition, and of primitive song, and that 
 graphic accounts of such struggles, and of the terrible nature 
 of the foes encountered, would be handed down from father to 
 son, with a fidelity of description and an accuracy of memory 
 unsuspected by us, who, being acquainted with reading and 
 writing, are led to depend upon their artificial assistance, 
 and thus in a measure fail to cultivate a faculty which, in 
 common with those of keenness of vision and hearing, are 
 essential to the existence of man in a savage or semi-savage 
 condition ?* 
 
 The illiterate backwoodsman or trapper (and hence by 
 inference the savage or semi-civilized man), whose mind is 
 
 * " I conceive that quite a large proportion of the most profound 
 thinkers are satisfied to exert their memory very moderately. It is, in 
 fact, a distraction from close thought to exert the memory overmuch, 
 and a man engaged in the study of an abstruse subject will commonly 
 rather turn to his book-shelves for the information he requires than 
 tax his memory to supply it." R, A. Proctor, Pop. Sci. Monthly, Jan. 
 1874 
 
INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 occupied merely by his surroundings, and whose range of 
 thought, in place of being diffused over an illimitable horizon, 
 is confined within very moderate limits, develops remarkable 
 powers of observation and an accuracy of memory in regard 
 to localities, and the details of his daily life, surprising to the 
 scholar who has mentally to travel over so much more ground, 
 and, receiving daily so many and so far more complex ideas, 
 can naturally grasp each less firmly, and is apt to lose them 
 entirely in the haze of a period of time which would still 
 leave those of the uneducated man distinguishable or even 
 prominent landmarks.* Variations in traditions must, of 
 course, occur in time, and the same histories, radiating in 
 all directions from centres, vary from the original ones by 
 increments dependent on proportionately altered phases of 
 temperament and character, induced by change of climate, 
 associations and conditions of life ; so that the early written 
 history of every country reproduces under its own garb, and 
 with a claim to originality, attenuated, enriched, or deformed 
 versions of traditions common in their origin to many or 
 all.t 
 
 * " It was through one of these happy chances (so the Brothers 
 Grimm wrote in 1819) that we came to make the acquaintance of a 
 peasant woman of the village of Nieder-Zwehrn, near Cassel, who told 
 us the greater part of the Marchen of the second volume, and the most 
 beautiful of it too. She held the old tales firmly in her memory, and 
 would sometimes say that this gift was not granted to everyone, and 
 that many a one could not keep anything in its proper connection. 
 Anyone inclined to believe that tradition is easily corrupted or carelessly 
 kept, and that therefore it could not possibly last long, should have 
 heard how steadily she always abided by her record, and how she stuck 
 to its accuracy. She never altered anything in repeating it, and if she 
 made a slip, at once righted herself as soon as she became aware of it, 
 in the very midst of her tale. The attachment to tradition among 
 people living on in the same kind of life with unbroken regularity, is 
 stronger than we, who are fond of change, can understand." Odinic 
 Songs in Shetland. Karl Blind, Nineteenth Century, June 1879. 
 t See quotation from Gladstone, Nineteenth Century, Oct. 1879. 
 
22 , MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Stories of divine progenitors, demigods, heroes, mighty 
 hunters, slayers of monsters, giants, dwarfs, gigantic ser- 
 pents, dragons, frightful beasts of prey, supernatural beings, 
 and myths of all kinds, appear to have been carried into all 
 corners of the world with as much fidelity as the sacred Ark 
 of the Israelites, acquiring a moulding graceful, weird or 
 uncouth according to the genius of the people or their 
 capacity for superstitious belief; and these would appear to 
 have been materially affected 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 nur- 
 tured in the grateful rays of a genial but not oppressive sun, 
 must have a more buoyant disposition and more open tem- 
 perament than those inhabiting vast forests, the matted over- 
 growth of which rarely allows the passage of a single ray, 
 bathes all in gloom, and leaves on every side undiscovered 
 depths, filled with shapeless shadows, objects of vigilant 
 dread, from which some ferocious monster may emerge at 
 any moment. Again, on the one hand, the nomad roaming 
 in isolation over vast solitudes, having much leisure for con- 
 templative reflection, and on the other, the hardy dwellers on 
 storm-beaten coasts, by turns fishermen, mariners, and 
 pirates, must equally 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 Aryan ancestors, though all drawing from the same 
 sources their inspirations of religious belief and tradition, 
 quickly diverged, and respectively settled into a generous 
 martial race martial in support of their independence rather 
 than from any lust of conquest polite, skilled, and learned; 
 one brave but irritable, suspicious, haughty, impatient of 
 control ; and the last, the berserker, with a ruling passion 
 for maritime adventure, piracy, and hand-to-hand heroic 
 
INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 struggles, to be terminated in due course by a hero's death 
 and a welcome to the banqueting halls of Odin in Walhalla. 
 The beautiful mythology of the Greek nation, comprising 
 a pantheon of gods and demigods, benign for the most 
 part, and often interesting themselves directly in the welfare 
 of individual men, was surely due to, or at least greatly 
 induced by, the plastic influences of a delicious climate, a 
 semi-insular position in a sea comparatively free from stormy 
 weather, and an open mountainous country, moderately fer- 
 tile. Again, the gloomy and sanguinary religion of the 
 Druids was doubtless moulded by the depressing influences of 
 the seclusion, twilight haze, and dangers of the dense forests 
 in which they hid themselves forests which, as we know 
 from Caesar, spread over the greater part of Gaul, Britain, 
 and Spain ; while the Viking, having from the chance or 
 choice of his ancestors, inherited a rugged seaboard, lashed 
 by tempestuous waves and swept by howling winds, a sea- 
 board with only a rugged country shrouded with unsubdued 
 forests at its back, exposed during the major portion of the 
 year to great severity of climate, and yielding at the best but 
 a niggard and precarious harvest, became perforce a bold and 
 skilful mariner, and, translating his belief into a language 
 symbolic of his new surroundings, believed that he saw and 
 heard Thor in the midst of the howling tempests, revealed 
 majestic and terrible through rents in the storm-cloud. Pur- 
 suing our consideration of the effects produced by climatic 
 conditions, may we not assume, for example, that some at 
 least of the Chaldseans, inhabiting a pastoral country, and 
 being descended from ancestors who had pursued, for hun- 
 dreds or thousands of years, a nomadic existence in the vast 
 open steppes in the highlands of Central Asia, were indebted 
 to those circumstances for the advance which they are credited 
 with having made in astronomy and kindred sciences. Is it 
 not possible that their acquaintance with climatology was as 
 exact or even more so than our own ? The habit of solitude 
 
24 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 would induce reflection, the subject of which would naturally 
 be the causes influencing the vicissitudes of weather. The 
 possibilities of rain or sunshine, wind or storm, would 
 be with them a prominent object of solicitude ; and the 
 necessity, in an unfenced country, of extending their watch 
 over their flocks and herds throughout the night, would per- 
 force more or less rivet their attention upon the glorious 
 constellations of the heavens above, and lead to habits of 
 observation which, systematized and long continued by the 
 priesthood, might have produced deductions accurate in the 
 result even if faulty in the process. 
 
 The vast treasures of ancient knowledge tombed in the 
 ruins of Babylon and Assyria, of which the recovery and de- 
 ciphering is as yet only initiated, may, to our surprise, reveal 
 that certain secrets of philosophy were known to the 
 ancients equally with ourselves, but lost through intervening 
 ages by the destruction of the empire, and the fact of their 
 conservancy having been entrusted to a privileged and limited 
 order, with which it perished.* 
 
 * Mr. C. P. Daly, President of the American Geographical Society, 
 informs us, in his Annual Address [for 1880], that in one book found in 
 the royal library at Nineveh, of the date 2000 B.C., there is 
 
 1. A catalogue of stars. 
 
 2. Enumeration of twelve constellations forming our present zodiac. 
 
 3. The intimation of a Sabbath. 
 
 4. A connection indicated (according to Mr. Perville) between the 
 weather and the changes of the moon. 
 
 5. A notice of the spots on the sun : a fact they could only have 
 known by the aid of telescopes, which it is supposed they possessed 
 from observations that they have noted down of the rising of Venus, 
 
 the fact that Layard found a crystal lens in the ruins of Nineveh. 
 (KB. As to the above, 1 must say that telescopes are not always 
 necessary to see the spots on the sun : these were distinctly visible with 
 the naked eye, in the early mornings, to myself and the officers of the 
 S.S. Scotia, in the Eed Sea, in the month of August of 1883, after the 
 great volcanic disturbances near Batavia. The resulting atmospheric 
 effects were very marked in the Eed Sea, as elsewhere, the sun, when 
 near the horizon, appearing of a pale green colour, and exhibiting the 
 spots distinctly.) 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 We hail as a new discovery the knowledge of the existence 
 of the so-called spots upon the surface of the sun, and scientists, 
 from long-continued observations, profess to distinguish a 
 connection between the character of these and atmospheric 
 phenomena ; they even venture to predict floods and droughts, 
 and that for some years in anticipation ; while pestilences or 
 some great disturbance are supposed to be likely to follow the 
 period when three or four planets attain their apogee within 
 one year, a supposition based on the observations extended 
 over numerous years, that similar events had accompanied 
 the occurrence of even one only of those positions at previous 
 periods. 
 
 May we not speculate on the possibility of similar or parallel 
 knowledge having been possessed by the old Chaldaean and 
 Egyptian priesthood ; and may not Joseph have been able, by 
 superior ability in its exercise, to have anticipated the seven 
 years' drought, or Noah, from an acquaintance with meteoro- 
 logical science, to have made an accurate forecast of the great 
 disturbances which resulted in the Deluge and the destruction 
 of a large portion of mankind ? * 
 
 * Ammianus Marcellinus (bk. xxii., ch. xv., s. 20), in speaking of 
 the Pyramids, says : " There are also subterranean passages and winding 
 retreats, which, it is said, men skilful in the ancient mysteries, by means 
 of which they divined the coming of a flood, constructed in different 
 places lest the memory of all their sacred ceremonies should be lost." 
 
 As affording a minor example of prophesy, I quote a correspondent's 
 communication, relating to Siam, to the North China Daily News of 
 July 28th, 1881 : " Singularly enough the prevalence of cholera in 
 Siam this season 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 quality of the fruit produced was cited as pointing out the over- 
 charge of the earth with matter which, though tending to the development 
 of vegetable life, is deleterious to human. From these and other sources 
 of knowledge open to those accustomed to read the book of nature, the 
 prevalence of cholera, which, since 1873, has been almost unknown in 
 Siam, was predicted and looked for ; and, unlike most modern predic- 
 
26 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Without further digression in a path which opens the most 
 pleasing speculations, and could be pursued into endless 
 ramifications, I will merely, in conclusion, suggest that the 
 same influences which, as I have shown above, affect so 
 largely the very nature of a people, must similarly affect its 
 traditions and myths, and that due consideration will have 
 to be given to such influences, in the case of some at least of 
 the remarkable animals which I propose to discuss in this 
 and future volumes. 
 
 tions, it has been certainly fulfilled. So common was the belief, that 
 when, some months since, a foreign official in Siamese employ applied 
 for leave of absence, it was opposed by some of the native officials on 
 the ground that he ought to stay and take his chance of the cholera with 
 the rest of them." 
 
CHEONOLOGICAL LIST OF SOME AUTHORS WRITING ON, AND 
 WORKS RELATING TO NATURAL HlSTORY, TO WHICH 
 REFERENCES ARE MADE IN THE PRESENT VOLUME ; 
 EXTRACTED TO A GEEAT EXTENT, AS TO THE WESTERN 
 AUTHORS, FROM KNIGHT'S " CYCLOPEDIA 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, or at seven dynas- 
 ties' distance. Yang Sun of the Ming dynasty 
 (commencing A.D. 1368), states that it was com- 
 piled by Kung Chia (and Chung Ku ?) from en- 
 gravings on nine urns made by the Emperor Yii, 
 B.C. 2255. Chung Ku was an historiographer, 
 and at the time of the last Emperor of the Hia 
 dynasty (B.C. 1818), fearing that the Emperor 
 might destroy the books treating of the ancient 
 and present time, carried them in flight to Yin. 
 
 The 'Rh Ya Initiated according to tradition, by Chow Kung ; 
 uncle of Wu Wang, the first Emperor of the Chow 
 dynasty, B.C. 1122. Ascribed also to Tsze Hea, 
 the disciple of Confucius. 
 
 The Bamboo Books Containing the Ancient Annals of China, 
 said to have been found A.D. 279, on opening the 
 grave of King Seang of Wei [died B.C. 295]. Age 
 prior to last date, undetermined. Authenticity dis- 
 puted, favoured by Legge. 
 
28 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Confucius Author of Spring and Autumn Classics, &c., 
 B.C. (551-479). 
 
 Ctesias Historian, physician to Artaxerxes, B.C. 401. 
 
 Herodotus B.C. 484. 
 
 Aristotle B.C. 384. 
 
 Megasthenes About B.C. 300. In time of Seleucus Nicator. 
 His work entitled Indica is only known by extracts 
 in those of Strabo, Arrian, and -ZElian. 
 
 Eratosthenes Born B.C. 276. Mathematician, Astronomer, 
 and Geographer. 
 
 Posidonius Born about B.C. 140. Besides philosophical 
 treatises, wrote works on geography, history, and 
 astronomy, fragments of which are preserved in 
 the works of Cicero, Strabo, and others. 
 
 Nicander About B.C. 135. Wrote the Theriaca, a poem 
 of 1,000 lines, in hexameter, on the wounds caused 
 by venomous animals, and the treatment. Is fol- 
 lowed in many of his errors by Pliny. Plutarch 
 says the Theriaca cannot be called a poem, because 
 there is in it nothing of fable or falsehood, 
 
 Strabo Just before the Christian era. Geographer. 
 
 Cicero Born B.C. 106. 
 
 Propertius (Sextus Aurelius)- Born probably about B.C. 56. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus Wrote the Bibliotheca Historica (in Greek), 
 after the death of Julius Caesar (B.C. 44). Of the 
 40 books composing it only 15 remain, viz. Books 
 1 to 5 and 11 to 20. 
 
 Juba Died A.D. 17. Son of Juba I., King of Numidia. 
 Wrote on Natural History. 
 
 Pliny Born A.D. 23. 
 
 Lucan A.D. 38. The only work of his extant is the Phar- 
 salia, a poem on the civil war between Caesar and 
 Pompey. 
 
LIST OF AUTHORS CITED. 29 
 
 Ignatius Either an early Patriarch, A.D. 50, or Patriarch of 
 
 Constantinople, 799. 
 Isidorus Isidorus of Charaux lived probably in the first 
 
 century of our era. He wrote an account of the 
 
 Parthian empire. 
 Arrian Born about A.D. 100. His work on the Natural 
 
 History, &c. of India is founded on the authority of 
 
 Eratosthenes and Megasthenes. 
 Pausanias Author of the Description or Itinerary of Greece. 
 
 In the 2nd century. 
 Philostratus Born about A.D. 182. 
 Solinus, Gains Julius Did not write in the Augustan age, for 
 
 his work entitled Polyhistor is merely a compilation 
 
 from Pliny's Natural History. According to Sal- 
 
 masius, he lived about two hundred years after 
 
 Pliny. 
 
 ^lian Probably middle of the 3rd century A.D. De Naturd 
 
 Animalium. In Greek. 
 Ammianus Marcellinus Lived in 4th century. 
 Cardan, Jerome A. About the end of 4th century A.D. 
 
 Printing invented in China, according to Du Halde, A.D. 924. 
 Block-printing used in A.D. 593. 
 
 Marco Polo Eeached the Court of Kublai Khan in A.D. 
 
 1275. 
 Mandeville, Sir John de Travelled for thirty-three years in 
 
 Asia dating from A.D. 1327. As he resided for 
 
 three years in Peking, it is probable that many of 
 
 his fables are derived from Chinese sources. 
 Printing invented in Europe by John Koster of Haarlem, 
 
 A.D. 1438. 
 Scaliger, Julius CcesarBoxn April 23rd, 1484. Wrote Aris- 
 
 totelis Hist. Anim. liber decimus cum vers. et comment. 
 
 8vo. Lyon, 1584, &c. 
 
30 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Gesner Born 1516. Historice Animalium, &c. 
 
 Ambrose Pare Born 1517. Surgeon. 
 
 Belon, Pierre. Born 1518. Zoologist, Geographer, &c. 
 
 Aldrovandus Born 1552. Naturalist. 
 
 Tavernier, J. B. Born 1605. 
 
 Pan Ts'ao Kang Muh. By Li She-chin of the Ming dynasty 
 
 (A.D. 1368-1628). 
 Yuen Kien Lei Han. A.D. 1718. 
 
31 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON SOME REMARKABLE ANIMAL FORMS. 
 
 THE reasoning upon the question whether dragons, winged 
 snakes, sea-serpents, unicorns, and other so-called fabulous 
 monsters have in reality existed, and at dates coeval with 
 man, diverges in several independent directions. 
 
 We have to consider : 
 
 1. Whether the characters attributed to these creatures 
 are or are not so abnormal in comparison with those of known 
 types, as to render a belief in their existence impossible or 
 the reverse. 
 
 2. Whether it is rational to suppose that creatures so 
 formidable, and apparently so capable of self-protection, 
 should disappear entirely, while much more defenceless 
 species continue to survive them. 
 
 3. The myths, traditions, and historical allusions from 
 which their reality may be inferred require to be classified 
 and annotated, and full weight given to the evidence which 
 has accumulated of the presence of man upon the earth 
 during ages long prior to the historic period, and which 
 may have been ages of slowly progressive civilization, or 
 perhaps cycles of alternate light and darkness, of knowledge 
 and barbarism. 
 
 4. Lastly, some inquiry may be made into the geo- 
 graphical conditions obtaining at the time of their possible 
 existence. 
 
32 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 It is immaterial which of these investigations is first 
 entered upon, and it will, in fact, be more convenient to 
 defer a portion of them until we arrive at the sections of this 
 volume treating specifically of the different objects to which 
 it is devoted, and to confine our attention for the present to 
 those subjects which, from their nature, are common and 
 in a sense prefatory to the whole subject. 
 
 I shall therefore commence with a short examination of 
 some of the most remarkable reptilian forms which are 
 known to have existed, and for that purpose, and to show 
 their general relations, annex the accompanying tables, 
 compiled from the anatomy of vertebrated animals by 
 Professor Huxley : 
 
 Amphibia. 
 
 REPTILES CLASSIFIED BY HUXLEY. 
 
 ORDER. 
 
 
 
 SUB-ORDER. 
 
 GROUPS. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIVE 
 GENERA. 
 
 EANGE OF THE 
 ORDER. 
 
 Chelonia. 
 
 Land 
 
 1. Testudinea 
 
 
 Pyxis, Cinyxis 
 
 -, 
 
 
 tortoises 
 
 
 
 
 The Chelonia 
 
 JJ 
 
 River and 
 
 2. Emydea 
 
 a Terra- 
 
 Emys, Cistudo 
 
 are first 
 
 
 marsh do. 
 
 
 penes 
 
 
 known to 
 
 
 
 
 b Chelo- 
 
 Chelys, Chelodina 
 
 occur in the 
 
 
 
 
 dines 
 
 
 Lias. 
 
 
 Mud tor- 
 
 3. Trionychoidea 
 
 
 Gymnopus 
 
 
 
 toises 
 
 
 
 Cryptopus 
 
 To recent. 
 
 J 
 
 Turtles 
 
 4. Euereta 
 
 
 Sphargis. Chelone 
 
 ., 
 
 Plesio- 
 
 
 5. ... 
 
 Post 
 
 Plesiosaurus 
 
 1 
 
 sauria. 
 
 
 
 Triassic 
 
 Pliosaurus 
 
 Trias to 
 
 J5 
 
 
 6. ... 
 
 Triassic 
 
 Nothosaurus 
 
 I Chalk 
 
 
 
 
 
 Simosaurus 
 
 inclusive. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pistosaurus 
 
 J 
 
 Lacertilia. 
 
 Geckos 
 
 7. Ascalabota 
 
 
 
 recent 
 
 
 5J 
 
 
 8. Rhynchocephala 
 
 
 Sphenodon or 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Rhyncocephalus 
 
 
 
 >? 
 
 
 9. Homceosauria 
 
 
 . 
 
 Solenhofen 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 slates to 
 
 0> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Trias 
 
 g 
 
 5? 
 
 
 10. Protosauria 
 
 
 
 Permian 
 
 o 
 
 ., 
 
 Monitor 
 
 11. Platynota 
 
 
 
 recent 
 
 ' 3 
 ej 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 12. Eunota 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Lacertina 
 
 
 
 JJ 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 14. Chalcidea 
 
 
 
 5J 
 
 
ON SOME REMARKABLE ANIMAL FORMS. 
 
 EEPTILES CLASSIFIED BY HUXLEY. cont. 
 
 ORDER. 
 
 
 
 SUB-ORDER. GROUPS. ILLUSTRATIVE KANGE OF 
 GENERA. ORDER 
 
 THE 
 
 Lacertilia. 
 
 
 15. Scincoidea 
 
 
 
 Recent 
 
 "1 ** 
 B 
 
 
 
 
 16. Dolichosauria 
 
 
 Dolichosaurus 
 
 Chalk 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 17. Mosasauria 
 
 
 Mososaurus 
 
 Chalk 
 
 .2 
 a 
 
 B 
 
 
 18. Amphisbsenoida 
 
 
 Chirotes Amphis- 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 baena 
 
 
 . & 
 
 99 
 
 
 19. Chamaaleonida 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ophidia. 
 
 tfon-vene- 
 
 20. Aglyphodontia 
 
 
 Python, Tortrix 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 mous con- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 stricting 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21. Opisthoglyphia 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Older 
 
 
 
 
 22. Proteroglyphia 
 
 
 
 }> Tertiary 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 to recent. 
 
 
 
 Vipers and 
 Rattle- 
 
 23. Solenoglyphia 
 
 
 Crotalus 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 snakes 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24. Typhlopidae 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 Icthyo- 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 Icthyosaurus 
 
 Trias(?) 
 
 to 
 
 sauria. 
 
 
 
 
 
 chalk inclusive. 
 
 Crocodile. 
 
 Alligator 
 
 26. Alligatorid 
 
 
 Alligator Caiman 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jacare 
 
 
 
 99 
 
 Crocodiles 
 
 27. Crocodilidae 
 
 
 Crocodilus 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 Gavials 
 
 28. Gavialidse 
 
 
 Mecistops 
 Rhynchosuchus 
 Gavialis 
 
 Trias to 
 recent 
 
 99 
 
 
 29. Teleosauridae 
 
 
 Teleosaurus 
 
 
 
 J9 
 
 
 30. Belodontidae 
 
 
 Belodon 
 
 _ 
 
 
 Dicyno- 
 
 dontia. 
 
 
 31. ... 
 
 
 Dicynodon 
 Oudenodon 
 
 \ Trias. 
 
 
 Ornitho- 
 
 
 32. Dinosauria 
 
 Thecodontosaurus 
 
 Trias * 
 
 
 scelida 
 
 
 
 
 Scelidosaurus 
 
 Lias 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 Megalosaurus J 
 Iguanodon "1 
 
 Middle & 
 Upper - 
 Mesozoic 
 
 I 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 33. Compsognatha 
 
 
 . 
 
 Solenho- 
 
 ^.2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 fen slates 
 
 
 Ptero- 
 
 Flying 
 
 34. Pterodactvlidse 
 
 
 Ornithopterus 
 
 
 
 sauria. 
 
 reptile 
 
 
 Pterodactylus 
 
 Lias to Chalk 
 
 
 
 
 Rhamphorynchus 
 
 inclusive. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dimorphodon 
 
 . 
 
 
 Aves. 
 
 The most bird-like of reptiles, the Pterosauria, appear to 
 have possessed true powers of flight ; they were provided with 
 wings formed by an expansion of the integument, and sup- 
 ported by an enormous elongation of the ulnar finger of the 
 
 3 
 
34 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 anterior limb. The generic differences are based upon the 
 comparative lengths of the tail, and upon the dentition. In 
 Pterodactylus (see Fig. 2, p. 18), the tail is very short, and 
 the jaws strong, pointed, and toothed to their anterior ex- 
 tremities. In Rhamphorynchus (see Fig. 3, p. 18), the tail is 
 very long and the teeth are not continuous to the extremities 
 of the jaws, which are produced into toothless beaks. The 
 majority of the species are small, and they are generally 
 considered to have been inoffensive creatures, having much 
 the habits and insectivorous mode of living of bats. One 
 British species, however, from the white chalk of Maidstone, 
 measures more than sixteen feet across the outstretched 
 wings; and other forms recently discovered by Professor 
 Marsh in the Upper Cretaceous deposits of Kansas, attain 
 the gigantic proportions of nearly twenty-five feet for the 
 same measurements; and although these were devoid of 
 teeth (thus approaching the class Aves still more closely), 
 they could hardly fail, from their magnitude and powers of 
 flight, to have been formidable, and must, with their weird 
 aspects, and long outstretched necks and pointed heads, 
 have been at least sufficiently alarming. 
 
 We need go no farther than these in search of creatures 
 which would realise 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 their posterior ribs prolonged into an expansion of 
 the integument, unconnected with the limbs, and have a 
 limited and parachute-like flight, need only the element of 
 size, to render them also sufficiently to be dreaded, and 
 capable of rivalling the Pterodactyls in suggesting the 
 general idea of the same monster. 
 
 It is, however, when we pass to some of the other groups, 
 that we find ourselves in the presence of forms so vast and 
 terrible, as to more than realise the most exaggerated im- 
 
OJ\T SOME REMARKABLE ANIMAL FORMS. 35 
 
 pression of reptilian power and ferocity which 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 as Iguanodon (characteristic of the 
 Wealden), Megalosaurus (Great Saurian), and Hylceosaurus 
 (Forest Saurian), huge bulky creatures, the last of which, 
 at least, was protected by dermal armour partially produced 
 into prodigious spines ; as well as with remarkable forms 
 essentially marine, such as Icthyosaurus (Pish-like Saurian), 
 Plesiosaurus, &c., adapted to an oceanic existence and pro- 
 pelling themselves by means of paddles. The latter, it may 
 be remarked, was furnished with a long slender swan-like 
 neck, which, carried above the surface of the water, would 
 present the appearance of the anterior portion of a ser- 
 pent. 
 
 To the related land forms the collective term Dinosauria 
 (from 8eti/os " terrible ; ') has been applied, in signification of 
 the power which their structure and magnitude imply that 
 they possessed ; and to the others that of Enaliosauria, as 
 expressive of their adaptation to a maritime existence. Yet, 
 wonderful to relate, those creatures which have for so many 
 years commanded our admiration fade into insignificance in 
 comparison with others which are proved, by the discoveries 
 of the last few years, to have existed abundantly upon, or 
 near to, the American continent during the Cretaceous and 
 Jurassic periods, by which they are surpassed,' in point of 
 magnitude, as much as they themselves exceed the mass 
 of the larger Vertebrata. 
 
 Take, for example, those referred to by Professor Marsh in 
 the course of an address to the American Association for the 
 Advancement of Science, in 1877, in the following terms : 
 ' ' The reptiles most characteristic of our American cretaceous 
 strata are the Mososauria, a group with very few representa- 
 tives in other parts of the world. In our cretaceous seas 
 
 3 * 
 
36 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 they rule supreme, as their numbers, size, and carnivorous 
 habits enabled them to easily vanquish all rivals. Some 
 were at least sixty feet in length, and the smallest ten or 
 twelve. In the inland cretaceous sea from which the Rocky 
 Mountains were beginning to emerge, these ancient ' sea- 
 serpents ' abounded, and many were entombed in its muddy 
 bottom ; on one occasion, as I rode through a valley washed 
 out of this old ocean-bed, I saw no less than seven different 
 skeletons of these monsters in sight at once. The Moso- 
 sauria were essentially swimming lizards with four well- 
 developed paddles, and they had little affinity with modern 
 serpents, to which they have been compared." 
 
 Or, again, notice the specimens of the genus Cidastes, 
 which are also described as veritable sea-serpents of those 
 ancient seas, whose huge bones and almost incredible number 
 of vertebrae show them to have attained a length of nearly 
 two hundred feet. The remains of no less than ten of these 
 monsters were seen by Professor Mudge, while riding through 
 the Mauvaise Terres of Colorado, strewn upon the plains, 
 their whitened bones bleached in the suns of centuries, and 
 their gaping jaws armed with ferocious teeth, telling a 
 wonderful tale of their power when alive. 
 
 The same deposits have been equally fertile in the remains 
 of terrestrial animals of gigantic size. The Titanosaurus 
 montanus, believed to have been herbivorous, is estimated to 
 have reached fifty or sixty feet in length ; while other Dino- 
 saurians of still more gigantic proportions, from the Jurassic 
 beds of the Rocky Mountains, have been described by Pro- 
 fessor Marsh. Among the discovered remains of Atlantosaurus 
 immanis is a femur over six feet in length, and it is estimated 
 from a comparison of this specimen with the same bone in 
 living reptiles that this species, if similar in proportions to 
 the crocodile, would have been over one hundred feet in 
 length. 
 
 But even yet the limit has not been reached, and we hear 
 
ON SOME REMARKABLE ANIMAL FORMS. 
 
 of the discovery of the remains of another form, of such 
 Titanic proportions as to possess a thigh-bone over twelve 
 feet in length. 
 
 FIG. 5. MONSTER BONES OF EXTINCT GIGANTIC SAURIANS FROM COLORADO, SHOWING 
 RELATIVE PROPORTIONS TO CORRESPONDING BONE IN THE CROCODILE (A). 
 (From the " Scientific American"} 
 
38 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 From these considerations it is evident that, on account of 
 the dimensions usually assigned to them, no discredit can be 
 attached to the existence of the fabulous monsters of which 
 we shall speak hereafter; for these, in the various myths, 
 rarely or never equal in size creatures which science 
 shows to have existed in a comparatively recent geological 
 age, while the quaintest conception could hardly equal 
 the reality of yet another of the American Dinosaurs, 
 Stegosaurus, which appears to have been herbivorous, and 
 more or less aquatic in habit, adapted for sitting upon its 
 hinder extremities, and protected by bony plate and nume- 
 rous spines. It reached thirty feet in length. Professor 
 Marsh considers that this, when alive, must have presented 
 the strangest appearance of all the Dinosaurs yet discovered. 
 
 The affinities of birds and reptiles have been so clearly 
 demonstrated of late years, as to cause Professor Huxley and 
 many other comparative anatomists to bridge over the wide 
 gap which was formerly considered to divide the two classes, 
 and to bracket them together in one class, to which the name 
 Sauropsidse has been given.* 
 
 There are, indeed, not a few remarkable forms, as to the 
 class position of which, whether they should be assigned to 
 
 * " It is now generally admitted by biologists who have made a study 
 of the Vertebrata that birds have come down to us through the Dino- 
 saurs, and the close affinity of the latter with recent struthious birds 
 will hardly be questioned. The case amounts almost to a demonstration 
 if we compare with Dinosaurs their contemporaries, the Mesozoic birds. 
 The classes of birds and reptiles as now living are separated by a gulf 
 so profound that a few years since it was cited by the opponents of 
 evolution as the most important break in the animal series, and one 
 which that doctrine could not bridge over. Since then, as Huxley has 
 clearly shown, this gap has -been virtually filled by the discoveries of 
 bird-like reptiles and reptilian birds. Compsognathus and Archseo- 
 pteryx of the old world, and Icthyornis and Hesperornis of the new, 
 are the stepping-stones by which the evolutionist of to-day leads the 
 doubting brother across the shallow remnant of the gulf, once thought 
 impassable." Marsh. 
 
ON SOME REMARKABLE ANIMAL FORMS. 
 
 39 
 
 birds or reptiles, opinion was for a long time, and is in a few 
 instances still, divided. It is, for example, only of late 
 years that the fossil form Archaeopteryx* (Fig. 4, p. 19) 
 from the Solenhofen slates, has been definitely relegated 
 to the former, but arguments against this disposal of it 
 have been based upon the beak or jaws being furnished 
 with true teeth, and the feather of the tail attached to 
 
 FlG. 6. SlVATHERIUM (RESTORED), FROM THE UPPER MlOCENE DEPOSITS OF THE 
 
 SIWALIK HILLS. (After Figuier.} 
 
 a series of vertebrae, instead of a single flattened one as 
 in birds. It appears to have been entirely plumed, and to 
 have had a moderate power of flight. 
 
 On the other hand, the Ornithopterus is only provisionally 
 
 * Professor Carl Vogt regards the Archaeopteryx "as neither reptile 
 nor bird, but as constituting an intermediate type. He points out that 
 there is complete homology between the scales or spines of reptiles and 
 the feathers of birds. The feather of the bird is only a reptile's scale 
 further developed, and the reptile's scale is a feather which has remained 
 in the embryonic condition. He considers the reptilian hoinologies to 
 preponderate." 
 
40 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 classed with reptiles, while the connection between the two 
 classes is drawn still closer by the copious discovery of the 
 birds from the Cretaceous formations 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 amphi- 
 bian reptile. It has a two-fold apparatus for respiration, 
 partly aquatic, consisting of gills, and partly aerial, of true 
 lungs. 
 
 So far, then, as abnormality of type is concerned, we have 
 here instances quite as remarkable as those presented by 
 most of the strange monsters with the creation of which 
 mythological fancy has been credited. 
 
 FIG. 7. SKELETON OF MEGATHERIUM. (After Figuier.} 
 
 Among mammals I shall only refer to the Megatherium, 
 which appears to have been created to burrow in the earth 
 and to feed upon the roots of trees and shrubs, for which 
 purpose every organ of its heavy frame was adapted. This 
 
ON SOME REMARKABLE ANIMAL FORMS. 
 
 Hercules among animals was as large as an elephant or 
 rhinoceros of the largest species, and might well, as it has 
 existed until a late date, have originated the myths, current 
 among the Indians of South America, of a gigantic tun- 
 nelling or burrowing creature, incapable of supporting the 
 light of day.* 
 
 * A similar habit is ascribed by the Chinese to the mammoth and to 
 the gigantic Sivatherium (Fig. 6, p. 39), a four-horned stag, which had 
 the bulk of an elephant, and exceeded it in [height. It was remarkable 
 for being in some respects between the stags and the pachyderms. The 
 Dinotherium (Fig. 8), which had a trunk like an elephant, and two 
 inverted tusks, presented in its skull a mixture of the characteristics 
 of the elephant, hippopotamus, tapir, and dugong. Its remains occur 
 in the Miocene of Europe. 
 
 FIG. 8. DINOTHKRIUM. (After 
 
42 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 
 
 IN reviewing the past succession of different forms of ancient 
 life upon the globe, we are reminded of a series of dissolving 
 views, in which each species evolves itself by an imperceptible 
 gradation from some pre-existing one, arrives at its maximum 
 of individuality, and then slowly fades away, while another 
 type, either higher or lower, evolved in turn from it, emerges 
 from obscurity, and succeeds it on the field of view. 
 
 Specific individuality has in all cases a natural term, de- 
 pendent on physical causes, but that term is in many cases 
 abruptly anticipated by a combination of unfavourable con- 
 ditions. 
 
 Alteration of climate, isolation by geological changes, such 
 as the submergence of continents and islands, and the com- 
 petition of other species, are among the causes which have 
 at all times operated towards its destruction ; while, since the 
 evolution of man, his agency, so far as we can judge by what 
 we know of his later history, has been especially active in 
 the same direction. 
 
 The limited distribution of many species, even when not 
 enforced by insular conditions, is remarkable, and, of course, 
 highly favourable to their destruction. A multiplicity of 
 examples are familiar to naturalists, and possibly not a 
 few may have attracted the attention of the ordinary observer. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 43 
 
 For instance, it is probably generally known, that in our 
 own island, the red grouse (which, by the way, is a species 
 peculiar to Great Britain) is confined to certain moorlands, 
 the ruffs and reeves to fen districts, and the nightingale,* 
 chough, and other species to a few counties ; while Ireland 
 is devoid of almost all the species of reptiles common to 
 Great Britain. In the former cases, the need of or predilec- 
 tion for certain foods probably determines the favourite 
 locality, and there are few countries which would not furnish 
 similar examples. In the latter, the explanation depends on 
 biological conditions dating prior to the separation of Ireland 
 from the main continent. Among birds, it might fairly be 
 presumed that the power of flight would produce unlimited 
 territorial expansion, but in many instances the reverse is 
 found to be the case : a remarkable example being afforded 
 by the island of Tasmania, a portion of which is called the 
 unsettled waste lands, or Western Country. This district, 
 which comprises about one-third of the island upon the 
 western side, and is mainly composed of mountain chains of 
 granites, quartzite, and mica schists, is entirely devoid of the 
 numerous species of garrulous and gay-plumaged birds, such 
 as the Mynah mocking-bird, white cockatoo, wattle bird, and 
 Eosella parrot, though these abundantly enliven the eastern 
 districts, which are fertilized by rich soils due to the presence 
 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, inhabiting respectively the adjacent moun- 
 
 * " It enters Europe early in April, spreads over France, Britain, 
 Denmark, and the south of Sweden, which it reaches by the beginning 
 of May. It does not enter Brittany, the Channel Islands, or the western 
 part of England, never visiting Wales, except the extreme south of 
 Glamorganshire, and rarely extending farther north than Yorkshire." 
 A. E. Wallace, Geographical Distribution of Animals, vol. i. p. 21. 
 London, 1876. 
 
44 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 tains of Pichincha and Chimborazo at certain elevations, each 
 is strictly confined to its own mountain ; and, if my memory 
 serves me correctly, he mentions similar instances of species 
 peculiar to different peaks of the Andes. 
 
 Limitation by insular isolation is intelligible, especially in 
 the case of mammals and reptiles, and of birds possessing 
 but small power of flight ; and we are, therefore, not sur- 
 prised to find Mr. Gosse indicating, among other examples, 
 that even the smallest of the Antilles has each a fauna of its 
 own, while the humming-birds, some of the parrots, cuckoos, 
 and pigeons, and many of the smaller birds are peculiar to 
 Jamaica. He states still further, that in the latter instance 
 many of the animals are not distributed over the whole 
 island, but confined to a single small district. 
 
 Continental limitation is effected by mountain barriers. 
 Thus, according to Mr. Wallace, almost all the mammalia, 
 birds, and insects on one side of the Andes and Eocky 
 Mountains are distinct in species from those on the 
 other ; while a similar difference, but smaller in degree, 
 exists with reference to regions adjacent to the Alps and 
 Pyrenees. 
 
 Climate, broad rivers, seas, oceans, forests, and even large 
 desert wastes, like the Sahara or the great desert of Gobi, 
 also act more or less effectively as girdles which confine 
 species within certain limits. 
 
 Dependence on each other or on supplies of appropriate 
 food also form minor yet practical factors in the sum of 
 limitation ; and a curious example of the first is given by 
 Dr. Van Lennep with reference to the small migratory birds 
 that are unable to perform the flight of three hundred and 
 fifty miles across the Mediterranean. He states that these 
 are carried across on the backs of cranes.* 
 
 * Bible Customs in Bible Lands. By H. J. Van Lennep, D.D. 1875. 
 Quoted in Nature, March 24, 1881. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 45 
 
 In the autumn many flocks of cranes may be seen coming from the 
 North, with the first cold blast from that quarter, flying low, and utter- 
 ing a peculiar cry, as if of alarm, as they circle over the cultivated 
 plains. Little birds of every species may be seen flying up to them, 
 while the twittering cries of those already comfortably settled upon 
 their backs may be distinctly heard. On their return in the spring they 
 fly high, apparently considering that their little passengers can easily 
 find their way down to the earth. 
 
 The question of food-supply is involved in the more 
 extended subject of geological structure, as controlling the 
 flora and the insect life dependent on it. As an example 
 we may cite the disappearance of the capercailzie from 
 Denmark with the decay of the pine forests abundant during 
 late Tertiary periods. 
 
 Collision, direct or indirect, with inimical species often 
 has a fatal ending. Thus the dodo was exterminated by the 
 swine which the early visitors introduced to the Mauritius 
 and permitted to run wild there ; while the indigenous insects, 
 mollusca, and perhaps some of the birds of St. Helena, 
 disappeared as soon as the introduction of goats caused the 
 destruction of the whole flora of forest trees. 
 
 The Tsetse fly extirpates all horses, dogs, and cattle, from 
 certain districts of South Africa, and a representative species 
 in Paraguay is equally fatal to new-born cattle and horses. 
 
 Mr. Darwin * shows that the struggle is more severe 
 between species of the same genus, when they come into 
 competition with each other, than between species of distinct 
 genera. Thus one species of swallow has recently expelled 
 another from part of the United States; and the missel- 
 thrush has driven the song-thrush from part of Scotland. 
 In Australia the imported hive-bee is rapidly exterminating 
 the small stingless native bee, and similar cases might be 
 found in any number. 
 
 Mr. Wallace, in quoting Mr. Darwin as to these facts, 
 points the conclusion that " any slight change, therefore, 
 
 * Origin of Species, C. Darwin, 5th edit. 1869. 
 
46 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 of physical geography or of climate, which allows allied 
 species hitherto inhabiting distinct areas to come into 
 contact, will often lead to the extermination of one of them." 
 It is the province of the palaeontologist to enumerate the 
 many remarkable forms which have passed away since man's 
 first appearance upon the globe, and to trace their fluctuations 
 over both hemispheres as determined by the advance and 
 retreat of glacial conditions, and by the protean forms 
 assumed by past and existing continents under oscillations 
 of elevation and depression. Many interesting points, such 
 as the dates of the successive separation of Ireland and 
 Great Britain from the main continent, can be determined 
 with accuracy from the record furnished by the fossil remains 
 of animals of those times ; and many interesting associations 
 of animals with man at various dates, in our present island 
 home and in other countries, have been traced by the 
 discovery of their remains in connection with his, in bone 
 deposits in caverns and elsewhere. 
 
 Conversely, most valuable deductions are drawn by the 
 zoologist from the review which he is enabled to take, 
 through the connected labours of his colleagues in all 
 departments, of the distinct life regions now mapped out 
 upon the face of the globe. These, after the application of 
 the necessary corrections for various disturbing or controlling 
 influences referred to above, afford proof reaching far back 
 into past periods, of successive alterations in the disposition 
 of continents and oceans, and of connections long since 
 obliterated between distant lands. 
 
 The palaeontologist reasons from the past to the present, 
 the zoologist from the present to the past ; and their mutual 
 labours explain the evolution of existing forms, and the 
 causes of the disparity or connection between those at 
 present characterizing the different portions of the surface of 
 the globe. 
 
 The palaeontologist, for example, traces the descent of the 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 47 
 
 horse, which, until its reintroduction by the Spaniards was 
 unknown in the New World, through a variety of inter- 
 mediate forms, to the genus Orohippus occurring in Eocene 
 deposits in Utah and Wyoming. This animal was no larger 
 than a fox, and possessed four separated toes in front, and 
 three behind. Domestic cattle he refers to the Bos primi- 
 genius, and many existing Carnivora to Tertiary forms such 
 as the cave-bear, cave-lion, sabre-tiger, and the like. 
 
 The zoologist groups the existing fauna into distinct 
 provinces, and demands, in explanation of the anomalies 
 which these exhibit, the reconstruction of large areas, of 
 which only small outlying districts remain at the present 
 date, in many instances widely separated by oceans, though 
 once forming parts of the same continent; and so, for the 
 simile readily suggests itself, the workers in another branch 
 of science, Philology, argue from words and roots scat- 
 tered like fossils through the various dialects of very distant 
 countries, a mutual descent from a common Aryan language : 
 the language of a race of which no historical record exists, 
 though in regard to its habits, customs, and distribution much 
 may be affirmed from the large collection of word speci- 
 mens stored in philological museums. 
 
 Thus Mr. Sclater, on zoological grounds, claims the late 
 existence of a continent which he calls Lemuria, extending 
 from Madagascar to Ceylon and Sumatra ; and for similar 
 reasons Mr. Wallace extends the Australia of Tertiary 
 periods to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and per- 
 haps to Fiji, and from its marsupial types infers a connection 
 with the northern continent during the Secondary period. 
 
 Again, the connection of Europe with North Africa during 
 a late geological period is inferred by many zoologists 
 from the number of identical species of mammalia inhabit- 
 ing the opposite sides of the Mediterranean, and palaeontolo- 
 gists confirm this by the discovery of the remains of 
 elephants in cave-deposits in Malta, and of hippopotami in 
 
48 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Gibraltar; while hydrographers furnish the supplemental 
 suggestive evidence that an elevation of only fifteen hun- 
 dred feet would be sufficient to establish two broad connec- 
 tions between the two continents so as to unite Italy with 
 Tripoli and Spain with Morocco, and to convert the Mediter- 
 ranean Sea into two great lakes, which appears, in fact, to 
 have been its condition during the Pliocene and Post Plio- 
 cene periods. 
 
 It was by means of these causeways that the large pachy- 
 derms entered Britain, then united to the continent ; and 
 it was over them they retreated when driven back by glacial 
 conditions, their migration northward being effectually pre- 
 vented by the destruction of the connecting arms of land. 
 
 Some difference of opinion exists among naturalists as 
 to the extent to which zoological regions should be sub- 
 divided, and as to their respective limitations. 
 
 But Mr. A. R. Wallace, who has most recently written 
 on the subject, is of opinion that the original division pro- 
 posed by Mr. Sclater in 1857 is the most tenable, and he 
 therefore adopts it in the very exhaustive work upon the 
 geographical distribution of animals which he has recently 
 issued. Mr. Sclater's Six Regions are as follows : 
 
 1. The Palcearctic Region, including Europe, Temperate 
 Asia, and North Africa to the Atlas mountains. 
 
 2. The Ethiopian Region, Africa south of the Atlas, 
 Madagascar, and the Mascarene islands, with 
 Southern Arabia. 
 
 3. The Indian Region, including India south of the 
 Himalayas, to South China, and to Borneo and Java. 
 
 4. The Australian Region, including Celebes and Lombok, 
 Eastward to Australia and the Pacific islands. 
 
 5. The Nearctic Region, including Greenland, and North 
 America, to Northern Mexico. 
 
 6. The Neotropical Region, including South America, the 
 Antilles, and Southern Mexico. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 49 
 
 This arrangement is based upon a detailed examination of 
 the chief genera and families of birds, and also very nearly 
 represents the distribution of mammals and of reptiles. Its 
 regions are not, as in other subsequently proposed and more 
 artificial systems, controlled by climate ; for they range, in 
 some instances, from the pole to the tropics. It probably 
 approaches more nearly than any other yet proposed to that 
 desideratum, a division of the earth into regions, founded 
 on a collation of the groups of forms indigenous to or typical 
 of them, and upon a selection of those peculiar to them ; with 
 a disregard of, or only admitting with caution, any which, 
 though common to and apparently establishing connection 
 between two or more regions, may have in fact but little 
 value for the purpose of such comparison ; from the fact of 
 its being possible to account for their extended range by 
 their capability of easy transport from one region to another 
 by common natural agencies.* 
 
 Such an arrangement should be consistent with the retro- 
 spective information afforded by palaeontology ; and, taking 
 an extended view of the subject, be not merely a catalogue 
 
 * 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 the 
 temperate regions of South America, cannot be considered as demon- 
 strating a land connection between these places within the period of 
 its specific existence. For there is a possibility that its ova have 
 been transported from one point to another on floating ice; and for 
 similar reasons fresh-water fish generally are unsafe guides to a 
 classification of zoological regions. Mr. Darwin has shown (Origin of 
 Species, and Nature, vol. xviii. p. 120 and vol. xxv. p. 529) that mollusca 
 can be conveyed attached to or entangled in the claws of migratory 
 birds. Birds themselves are liable to be blown great distances by 
 gales of wind. Beetles and other flying insects may be similarly 
 transferred. Reptiles are occasionally conveyed on floating logs and 
 uprooted trees. Mammals alone appear to be really trustworthy guides 
 towards such a classification, from their being less liable than the 
 other classes to accidental dispersion. 
 
 4 
 
50 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 of the present, but also an index of the past. It should 
 afford an illustration of an existing phase of the distribution 
 of animal life, considered as the last of a long series of similar 
 phases which have successively resulted from changes in the 
 disposition of land and water, and from other controlling 
 agencies, throughout all time. A reconstruction of the areas 
 respectively occupied by the sea and the land at different 
 geological periods will be possible, or at least greatly facili- 
 tated, when a complete system of similar groupings, illus- 
 trative of each successive period, has been compiled. 
 
 It is obvious that any great cosmical change, affecting to 
 a wide extent any of the regions, might determine a destruc- 
 tion of specific existence ; and this on a large scale, in com- 
 parison with the change which is always progressing in a 
 smaller degree in the different and isolated divisions. 
 
 The brief remarks which I have made on this subject are 
 intended to suggest, rather than to demonstrate which could 
 only be done by a lengthy series of examples the causes 
 influencing specific existence and its in many cases extreme 
 frailty of tenure. And I shall now conclude by citing from 
 the works of Lyell and Wallace a short list of notable 
 species, now extinct, whose remains have been collected 
 from late Tertiary, and Post Tertiary deposits that is to 
 say, at a time subsequent to the appearance of man. From 
 other authors I have extracted an enumeration of species 
 which have become locally or entirely extinct within the 
 historic period. 
 
 These instances will, I think, be sufficient to show that, 
 as similar destructive causes must have been in action 
 during pre-historic times, it is probable that, besides those 
 remarkable animals of which remains have been discovered, 
 many others which then existed may have perished without 
 leaving any trace of their existence. There is, consequently, 
 a possibility that some at least of the so-called myths 
 respecting extraordinary creatures, hitherto considered fabu- 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 51 
 
 lous, may merely be distorted accounts traditions of species 
 as yet unrecognised by Science, which have actually existed, 
 and that not remotely, as man's congener. 
 
 FIG. 9. THE MAMMOTH. (After Jukes.') 
 
 Extinct Post Tertiary Mammalia. 
 
 THE MAMMOTH. Among other remarkable forms whose 
 remains have been discovered in those later deposits, in 
 which geologists are generally agreed that remains of man 
 or traces of his handicraft have also been recognised, there 
 is one which stands out prominently both for its magnitude 
 and extensive range in time and space. Although the animal 
 itself is now entirely extinct, delineations by the hand of 
 Palaeolithic man have been preserved, and even frozen car- 
 cases, with the flesh uncorrupted and fit for food, have been 
 occasionally discovered. 
 
 This is the mammoth, the Elephas primigenius of Blumen- 
 bach, a gigantic elephant nearly a third taller than the 
 
 largest modern species, and twice its weight. Its body was 
 
 4 * 
 
52 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 protected from the severity of the semi-arctic conditions 
 under which it flourished by a dense covering of reddish 
 wool, and long black hair, and its head was armed or orna- 
 mented with tusks exceeding twelve feet in length, and 
 curiously curved into three parts of a circle. Its ivory has 
 long been, and still is, a valuable article of commerce, more 
 especially in North-eastern Asia, and in Eschscholtz Bay 
 in North America, near Behring's straits, where entire 
 skeletons are occasionally discovered, and where even the 
 nature of its food has been ascertained from the undigested 
 contents of its stomach. 
 
 There is a well-known case recorded of a specimen found 
 (1799), frozen and encased in ice, at the mouth of the Lena. 
 It was sixteen feet long, and the flesh was so well preserved 
 that the Yakuts used it as food for their dogs. But similar 
 instances occurred previously, for we find the illustrious 
 savant and Emperor Kang Hi [A.D. 1662 to 1723] penning 
 the following note* upon what could only have been this 
 species : 
 
 " The cold is extreme, and nearly continuous on the 
 coasts of the northern sea beyond Tai-Tong-Kiang. It is 
 on this coast that the animal called Fen Chou is found, the 
 form of which resembles that of a rat, but which equals an 
 elephant in size. It lives in obscure caverns, and flies from 
 the light. There is obtained from it an ivory as white as 
 that of the elephant, but easier to work, and which will not 
 split. Its flesh is very cold and excellent for refreshing the 
 blood. The ancient work Chin-y-king speaks of this animal 
 in these terms : ' There is in the depths of the north a rat 
 which weighs as much as a thousand pounds ; its flesh is very 
 good for those who are heated.' The Tsee-Chou calls it Tai- 
 Chou and speaks of another species which is not so large. It 
 
 * Memoires concernant I'hiatoire, &c. des Chinois, par les Missionaires 
 de Pekin, vol. iv. p. 481. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 53 
 
 says that this is as big as a buffalo, buries itself like a mole, 
 flies the light, and remains nearly always under ground ; 
 it is said that it would die if it saw the light of the sun or 
 even that of the moon.' : 
 
 FIG. 10. TOOTH OF THE MAMMOTH. (After Figuier.} 
 
 It seems probable that discoveries of mammoth tusks 
 formed in part the basis for the story which Pliny tells in 
 reference to fossil ivory.. He says*: "These animals 
 [elephants] are well aware that the only spoil that we are 
 anxious to procure of them is the part which forms their 
 weapon of defence, by Juba called their horns, but by Hero- 
 dotus, a much older writer, as well as by general usage, and 
 more appropriately, their teeth. Hence it is that, when 
 these tusks have fallen off, either from accident or old age, 
 they bury them in the earth." 
 
 Nordenskjold f states that the savages with whom he came 
 in contact frequently offered to him very fine mammoth 
 tusks, and tools made of mammoth ivory. He computes 
 that since the conquest of Siberia, useful tusks from more 
 than twenty thousand animals have been collected. 
 
 Mr. Boyd Dawkins,]; in a very exhaustive memoir on this 
 animal, quotes an interesting notice of its fossil ivory having 
 
 * The Natural History of Pliny, J. Bostock and H. T. Eiley, book 
 viii. chap iv. 
 
 f The Voyage of the Vega, A. E. Nordenskjold. London, 1881. 
 
 J On the Range of the Mammoth in Space and Time, by W. B. 
 Dawkins, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.> 1879, p. 138. 
 
54 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 been brought for sale to Khiva. He derives * this account 
 from an Arabian traveller, Abou-el-Cassim, who lived in the 
 middle of the tenth century. 
 
 Figuierf says : "New Siberia and the Isle of Lachon are 
 for the most part only an agglomeration of sand, of ice, and 
 of elephants' teeth. At every tempest the sea casts ashore 
 new quantities of mammoth's tusks, and the inhabitants of 
 New Siberia carry on a profitable commerce in this fossil 
 ivory. Every year during the summer innumerable fisher- 
 men's barks direct their course to this isle of bones, and 
 during winter immense caravans take the same route, all the 
 convoys drawn by dogs, returning charged with the tusks of 
 the mammoth, weighing each from one hundred and fifty 
 to two hundred pounds. The fossil ivory thus with- 
 drawn from the frozen north is imported into China and 
 Europe." 
 
 In addition to its elimination by the thawing of the frozen 
 grounds of the north, remains of the mammoth are procured 
 from bogs, alluvial deposits, and from the destruction of 
 submarine beds.]: They are also found in cave deposits, 
 associated with the remains of other mammals, and with 
 
 * The notice is taken from Les Peuples du Caucause, on Voyage 
 d' Abou-el-Cassim, par M. C. D'Ohsson, p. 80, as follows: " On trouve 
 souvent 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 un crane qui ressemblait a une hutte (Arabe). On y deterre des 
 dents semblables aux defenses d'elephants, blanche comme la neige et 
 pesant jusqu' a deux cents menus. On ne sait pas a quel animal 
 elles ont appartenu, mais on les transporte dans le Khoragur (Kiva), 
 ou elles se vendent a grand prix. On en fait des peignes, des vases, et 
 d'autres objets, comme on fasonne 1'ivoire; toute fois cette substance 
 est plus dure que 1'ivoire ; jamais elle ne se brise." 
 
 f The World before the Deluge, L. Figuier. London, 1865. 
 
 J According to Woodward, over two thousand grinders were dredged 
 up by the fishermen of Happisburgh in the space of thirteen years ; 
 and other localities in and about England are also noted. Dana's 
 Manual of Geology, p. 564. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 55 
 
 flint implements. This creature appears to have been an 
 object of the chase with Palaeolithic man. 
 
 Mr. Dawkins, reviewing all the discoveries, considers that 
 its range, at various periods, extended over the whole of 
 Northern Europe, and as far south as Spain ; over Northern 
 Asia, and North America down to the Isthmus of Darien. 
 Dr. Falconer believes it to have had an elastic constitu- 
 tion, which enabled it to adapt itself to great change of 
 climate. 
 
 Murchison, De Verneuil, and Keyserling believed that 
 this species, as well as 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-glacial in Britain and in Europe, and, from its 
 relation to the intermediate species Elephas armeniacus, 
 accepts it as the ancestor of the existing Indian elephant. 
 Its disappearance was rapid, but not in the opinion of most 
 geologists cataclysmic, as suggested by Mr. Howorth. 
 
 Another widely distributed species was the Rhinoceros ticho- 
 rhinus the smooth-skinned rhinoceros also called the woolly 
 rhinoceros and the Siberian rhinoceros, which had two horns, 
 and, like the mammoth, was covered with woolly hair. It- 
 attained a great size ; a specimen, the carcase 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 are considered by some of the native tribes of northern 
 Asia to have been the talons of gigantic birds ; and Ermann 
 and Middendorf suppose that their discovery may have origi- 
 nated the accounts by Herodotus of the gold-bearing griffons 
 and the arimaspi. 
 
 Its food, ascertained by Von Brandt, and others, from 
 portions remaining in the hollows of its teeth, consisted of 
 leaves and needles of trees still existing in Siberia. The 
 range of this species northwards was as extensive as that of 
 
56 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 the mammoth, but its remains have not yet been discovered 
 south of the Alps and Pyrenees. 
 
 The investigation,* made by M. E. Lartet in 1860, of the 
 contents of the Grotto of Aurignac, in the department of the 
 Haute Garonne, from which numerous human skeletons had 
 been previously removed in 1852, shows that this animal was 
 included among the species used as ordinary articles of food, 
 or as exceptional items at the funeral feasts of the Palaeolithic 
 troglodytes. In the layers of charcoal and ashes immediately 
 outside the entrance to the grotto, and surrounding what is 
 supposed to have been the hearth, the bones of a young 
 Rhinoceros tichorhinus were found, which had been split open 
 for the extraction of the marrow. Numerous other species 
 had been dealt with in the same manner ; and all these 
 having received this treatment, and showing marks of the 
 action of fire, had evidently been carried to the cave for 
 banqueting purposes. The remains of Herbivora associated 
 with those of this rhinoceros, consisted of bones of the 
 mammoth, the horse (Equus caballus), stag (Cervus elaphus), 
 elk (Megaceros hibernicus), roebuck (C. capreolus), reindeer 
 (C. tarandus), auroch (Bison europceus.) Among carnivora 
 were found remains of Ursus spelceus (cave-bear), Ursus 
 arctos? (brown bear), Meles taxus (badger), Putorius vulgaris 
 (polecat), Hycena spelcea (cave-hyaena), Felis spelcea (cave-lion), 
 Felis catus ferus (wild cat), Canis lupus (wolf), Canis vulpis 
 (fox). Within the grotto were also found remains of Felis 
 spelcea (cave-lion) and Sus scrofa (pig). The cave-bear, the 
 fox, and indeed most of these, probably also formed articles 
 of diet, but the hyaena seems to have been a post attendant 
 at the feast, and to have rooted out and gnawed off the 
 spongy parts of the thrown-away bones after the departure 
 of the company. 
 
 In the Pleistocene deposits at Wiirzburg, in Franconia, 
 
 * Lyell, Antiquity of Man, p. 185, 2nd edit., 1863. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 57 
 
 a human finger-bone occurs with bones of this species, and 
 also of other large mammalia, such as the mammoth, cave- 
 bear, and the like. 
 
 And flint implements, and pointed javelin-heads made of 
 reindeer horn, are found associated with it in the vicinity 
 of the old hearths established by Palaeolithic man in the 
 cave called the Trou du Bureau, on the river Malignee 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 had been inhabited by different species 
 at various periods. The lion was succeeded by the cave- 
 bear, and this by hyaenas ; then Palaeolithic man became a 
 tenant and has left his bones there, together with flint imple- 
 ments and remains of numerous species, including those 
 already enumerated as his contemporaries. 
 
 THE SABRE-TOOTHED TIGEE OR LION. This species, 
 Machairodus* 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 to be 
 represented in the Auvergne beds between the Eocene and 
 Miocene, in the Miocene of Greece and India, in the Plio- 
 cene of South America and Europe, and in the Pleistocene. 
 Mr. Dawkins believes that this species survived to post- 
 glacial times. It is one of the numerous animals whose 
 remains have been found with traces of man and flint im- 
 plements in cave deposits at Kent's Hole, near Torquay, 
 and elsewhere. 
 
 THE CAVE-BEAR, Ursus spelceus, of Kosenmiiller. The 
 appearance of this species has been preserved to us in the 
 drawing by Palaeolithic man found in the cave of Massat 
 (Arieze). 
 
 * Fr. /xaaipa "a, sword," and oSovs "a tooth." 
 
58 MYTHICAL MONSTEBS. 
 
 It occurs in the Cromer Forest Bed, a deposit referred by 
 Mr. Boyd Dawkins to the early part of the Glacial period, 
 and generally regarded as transitional between the Pliocene 
 and Quaternary. It is also found in the caves of Perigaud, 
 which are considered to belong to the reindeer era of 
 M. Lartet or the opening part of the Recent period, and 
 numerous discoveries of its remains at dates intermediate to 
 these have been made in Britain and ,m Europe. Carl 
 Vogt, indeed, is of opinion that this species is the progenitor 
 of our living brown bear, Ursus arctos, and Mr. Boyd Daw- 
 kins also says that those " who have compared the French, 
 German, and British specimens, gradually realize the .fact 
 that the fossil remains of the bears form a graduated series, 
 in which all the variations that at first sight appear specific 
 vanish away." 
 
 It has been identified by Mr. Busk among the associated 
 mammalian bones of the Brixham cave. Its remains are 
 very abundant in the bone deposit of the Trou de Sureau in 
 Belgium, and in the cavern of G-oyet, which it tenanted 
 alternately with the lion and hyaena, and, like them, appears 
 to have preyed on man and the larger mammalia. 
 
 Mr. Prestwich has obtained it in low-level deposits of river 
 gravels in the valleys of the north of France and south of 
 England, and it has been obtained from the Loss, a loamy, 
 usually unstratified deposit, which is extensively 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 Pleistocene period. 
 
 THE MASTODON. The generic title Mastodon has been 
 applied to a number of species allied to the elephants, but 
 distinguished from them by a peculiar structure of the molar 
 teeth ; these are rectangular, and in their upper surfaces 
 exhibit a number of great conical tuberosities with rounded 
 points disposed in pairs, to the number of four or five, 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 
 
 59 
 
 according to the species; whereas in the elephants they 
 are broad and uniform, and regularly marked with furrows 
 of large curvature. The mastodons, in addition to large 
 tusks in the premaxillse, like those of the elephant, had also 
 in most instances, a pair of shorter ones in the mandible. 
 
 FIG. 11. MASTODON'S TOOTH (WORN). (After Figuier.) 
 
 Cuvier established the name Mastodon,* or teat-like 
 toothed animals, for the gigantic species from America which 
 Buffon had already described under the name of the animal 
 or elephant of the Ohio. 
 
 FIG. 12. MASTODON'S TOOTH. (After Figuier.) 
 
 The form first appears in the Upper Miocene of Europe, 
 five species being known, two of them from Pikermi, near 
 Athens, and one, M. angustidens, from the Miocene beds of 
 
 * From /xaoro's " a teat," and o8ov's " a tooth." 
 
60 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Malta. Mastodon remains have also been found in the beds 
 of the Sivalik hills, and four species of mastodon in all 
 are known to have ranged over India during those periods. 
 
 In Pliocene deposits we have abundant remains of 
 M. arvernensis, and M. longirostris from the Val d'Arno in 
 Italy, and the M. Borsoni from central France. 
 
 The M. arvernensis may be considered as a characteristic 
 Pliocene species in Italy, France, and Europe generally. In 
 Britain it occurs in the Norwich Crag and the Ked Crag of 
 Suffolk. 
 
 Species of mastodon occur in the Pliocene of La Plata, and 
 of .the temperate regions of South America ; on the Pampas, 
 and in the Andes of Chili. 
 
 The Mastodon mirificus of Leidy is the earliest known species 
 in America ; this occurs in Pliocene deposits on the Niobrara 
 and the Loup fork, west of the Mississippi. 
 
 The remains of the Mastodon americanus of Cuvier occur 
 abundantly in the Post Pliocene deposits throughout the 
 United States, but more especially in the northern half; they 
 are also found in Canada and Nova Scotia. 
 
 FIG. 13. THE MASTODON. 
 
 Perfect skeletons are occasionally procured from marshes, 
 where the animals had become mired. In life this species 
 appears to have measured from twelve to thirteen feet in 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 61 
 
 height and twenty-four to twenty-five feet in length, includ- 
 ing seven feet for the tusks. Undigested food found with 
 its remains show that it lived partly on spruce and fir-trees. 
 A distinct species characterised the Quaternary deposits of 
 South America. 
 
 THE IRISH ELK. The species (Megaceros hibermcus), 
 commonly but erroneously called the Irish Elk, was, as pro- 
 fessor Owen* has pointed out, a true deer, whose place is 
 between the fallow and reindeer. 
 
 Though now extinct, it survived the Palaeolithic period, 
 and may possibly have existed down to historic times. Mr. 
 Gosse adduces some very strong testimony on this point, and 
 is of opinion that its extinction cannot have taken place 
 more than a thousand years ago. 
 
 It had a flattened and expanded form of antler, with 
 peculiarities unknown among 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 in the 
 largest individuals, and the span of the antlers, in one case, 
 over twelve feet. 
 
 Although its remains have been found most abundantly 
 in Ireland, it was widely distributed over Britain and middle 
 Europe. It has been found in peat swamps, lacustrine 
 marls, bone caverns, fen deposits, and the Cornish gravels. 
 It has been obtained from the cavern of Goyet in Belgium, 
 and from 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 down to, possibly, historic 
 periods. 
 
 The CAVE -HYAENA Hycena spelcea of Goldfuss is, like 
 the cave-bear, characteristic of Europe during the Palaeolithic 
 age. It has been found in numerous caves in Britain, such 
 as Kent's Hole, the Brixham cave, and one near Wells in 
 
 * Palaeontology, B. Owen. Edinburgh, 1860. 
 
62 MYTHICAL MONSTEES. 
 
 Somersetshire, explored by Dawkins in 1859 ; in all of these 
 the remains are associated with those of man, or with his 
 implements. This species is closely related to the H. crocuta 
 of Zimin, at present existing in South Africa, and is by some 
 geologists considered identical with it. It is, however, larger. 
 
 It appears to have to some extent replaced the cave-bear 
 in Britain ; we are also, doubtless, greatly indebted to it for 
 some of the extensive collections of bones in caverns, result- 
 ing from the carcases which it had dragged thither, and 
 imperfectly destroyed. 
 
 In a cave at Kirkdale, in the vale of Pickering, the bones 
 of about three hundred individuals hyaenas were found 
 mingled with the remains of the mammoth, bear, rhinoceros, 
 deer, cave-lion, brown bear, horse, hare, and other species. 
 Mr. Dawkins,* in describing it, says : " The pack of hyaenas 
 fell upon reindeer in the winter, and at other times on horses 
 and bisons, and were able to master the hippopotamus, the 
 lion, the slender-nosed rhinoceros, or the straight-tusked 
 elephant, and to carry their bones to their den, where they 
 were found by Dr. Buckland. The hyaenas also inhabiting 
 the ' Dukeries,' dragged back to their dens fragments of 
 lion." 
 
 Notable Quaternary forms (now extinct) on the American 
 continent are the gigantic sloth-like animals Megatherium, 
 which reached eighteen feet in length, and Mylodon, one 
 species of which (M. robustus) was eleven feet in length ; 
 Armadillos, such as Glyptodon, with a total length of nine 
 feet ; Chlamydotherium, as big as a rhinoceros ; and Pachy- 
 therium, equalling an ox. 
 
 In Australia we find marsupial forms as at the present 
 day ; but they were gigantic in comparison with the latter. 
 As for example, the Diprotodon, which equalled in size a 
 hippopotamus, and the Nototkerium, as large as a bullock. 
 
 * The British Lion, W. Boyd Dawkins, Contemporary Review, 1882. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 63 
 
 I may mention a few other species, the remains of which 
 are associated with some of those commented on in the last 
 few pages ; but which, as they have undoubtedly continued 
 in existence down to the present period, are external to the 
 present portion of my argument, and are either treated of 
 elsewhere, or need only to be referred to in a few words. 
 
 FIG. H. MYLODON ROBUSTDS. (After Figuier.} 
 
 It must also be borne in mind that the linking together of 
 species by the discovery of intermediate graduated forms, is 
 daily proceeding ; so that some even of those spoken of in 
 greater detail may shortly be generally recognised, as at 
 present they are held by a few, to be identical with existing 
 forms. 
 
 The HIPPOPOTAMUS. The Hippopotamus major, now con- 
 sidered identical with the larger of the two African species 
 H. amphibia, has been found associated with E. antiquus and 
 Li. hemitcechus of Falc in Durdham Down and Kirkdale caves, 
 
64 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 and in those at Kent's Hole and Kavenscliff. It has also 
 been found in river gravels at Grays, Ilford, and elsewhere, 
 in the lower part of the river-horder deposits of Amiens with 
 flint implements, and in Quaternary deposits on the continent 
 of Europe. 
 
 THE CAVE-LION Felis spelcea is now considered to be 
 merely a variety of the African lion (Felis led), although of 
 larger size ; it had a very wide range over Britain and 
 Europe during the Post Pliocene period, as also did the 
 leopard (F. pardus) and probably the lynx (Lyncus). 
 
 The KEINDEEB or CARIBOO Cervus tarandus which still 
 exists, both domesticated and wild, in northern Europe and 
 America, is adapted for northern latitudes. It formerly 
 extended over Europe, and in the British Isles probably 
 survived in the north of Scotland until the twelfth century. 
 
 Its remains have been found in Pleistocene deposits in 
 numerous localities, but most abundantly in those which 
 M. Lartet has assigned to the period which he calls the 
 Eeindeer age. 
 
 Other Pleistocene mammals still existing, but whose range 
 is much restricted, are the musk ox (Ovibos moschatus), 
 familiar to us, from the accounts of arctic expeditions, as 
 occurring in the circumpolar regions of North America ; the 
 glutton (Gulo luscus), the auroch (Bison europceus), the 
 wild horse (E. fossilis), the arctic fox (Canis lagopus), 
 the bison (Bison priscus), the elk or moose (Alces malchis), 
 found in Norway 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 Eeunion ; the 
 moa in New Zealand; the JEpiornis in Madagascar; the 
 great auk, Alca impennis, in northern seas, and the Rhytina 
 Stelleri, common once in the latitude of Behring's Straits, and 
 described by Steller in 1742. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 
 
 65 
 
 The Dodo, a native of the island of Mauritius, was about 
 50 Ibs. in weight, and covered with loose downy plumage, it 
 
66 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 was unable to rise from the ground in consequence of the 
 imperfect development of its wings; it was minutely de- 
 scribed by Sir Thomas Herbert in 1634, and specimens of 
 the living bird and of its skin were brought to Europe. Its 
 unwieldiness led to its speedy destruction by the early 
 voyagers. 
 
 FIG. 16. RHYTINA STELLERI. (From " The Voyage of the ' Vega.' ") 
 
 The Solitaire was confined to the island of Mascaregue or 
 Bourbon. It is fully described by Francis Leguat, who, 
 having fled from France into Holland in 1689, to escape 
 religious persecution consequent on the revocation of the 
 Edict of Nantes, engaged under the Marquis de Quesne in an 
 expedition for the purpose of settlement on that island. This 
 bird also speedily became extinct. 
 
 The Moa (Dinornis giganteus, Owen) reached from twelve 
 to fourteen feet in height, and survived for a long period after 
 the migration of the Maories to New Zealand. Bones of it 
 have been found along with charred wood, showing that it 
 had been killed and eaten by the natives ; and its memory 
 is preserved in many of their traditions, which also record the 
 existence of a much larger bird, a species of eagle or hawk, 
 which used to prey upon it.* 
 
 * The Moa was associated with other species also nearly or totally 
 extinct : some belonging to the same genus, others to those of Papteryx, 
 of Nestor, and of Notornis. One survivor of the latter was obtained 
 by Mr. Gideon Mantell, and described by my father, Mr. John Gould, 
 in 1850. I believe the Nestor is still, rarely, met with. Mr. Mantell is 
 of opinion that the Moa and his congeners continued in existence long 
 after the advent of the aboriginal Maori. Mr. Mantell discovered a 
 gigantic fossil egg, presumably that of the Moa. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 67 
 
 Eapidly approaching total extinction are the several 
 species of Apteryx in the same country remarkable birds 
 with merely rudimentary wings : as also the Notornis, a large 
 Eail at first, and for a long time, only known in the fossil 
 state, but of which a living specimen was secured by Mr. 
 Walter Mantell in 1849 : and the Rapapo (Strigops habrop- 
 tilus) of G. R. Gray a strange owl-faced nocturnal ground- 
 parrot. 
 
 The jEpyornis maximus was almost as large as the Moa ; 
 of this numerous fossil bones and a few eggs have been 
 discovered, but there are not, I believe, any traditions extant 
 among the natives of Madagascar of its having survived to a 
 late period. 
 
 The Great Auk (Alca impennis) is now believed to be 
 extinct. It formerly occurred in the British Isles, but more 
 abundantly in high latitudes ; and its remains occur in great 
 numbers on the shores of Iceland, Greenland, and Denmark, 
 as also of Labrador and Newfoundland. 
 
 FIG. 17. RHYTINA STELLERI. (After /. Fr. Brandt.) 
 
 Steller's Sea-cow (Rhytina Stelleri of Cuvier) was a mam- 
 mal allied to the Manatees and Dugongs ; it was discovered 
 by Behring in 1768 on a small island lying off the Kamt- 
 chatkan coast. It measured as much as from twenty-eight 
 to thirty-five feet in length, and was soon nearly exterminated 
 by Behring's party and other voyagers who visited the island. 
 The last one of which there is any record was killed in 
 1854.* 
 
 * A. E. Nordensldold, The Voyage of the ' Vega,' vol. i f p. 272, et seq. 
 London, 1881. 
 
 5 * 
 
68 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 To the above may be added the Didunculus, a species of 
 ground -pigeon peculiar to the Samoa Islands, and the Nestor 
 productus , a parrot of Norfolk Island. An extended list might 
 be prepared, from fossil evidences, of other species which 
 were at one time associated with those I have enumerated. 
 
 FIG. 18. RHYTINA STELLBRI. (From " The Voyage of the ' Vega.' ") 
 
 In conclusion, I may point out that that excellent naturalist 
 Pliny* records the disappearance, in his days, of certain species 
 formerly known. He mentions the Incendiary, the Olivia, 
 and the Subis (species of birds), and states that there were 
 many other birds mentioned in the Etruscan ritual, which 
 were no longer to be found in his time. He also says that 
 there had been a bird in Sardinia resembling the crane, and 
 called the Gromphaena, which was no longer known even by 
 the people of the country. 
 
 Local Extinction. 
 
 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 Scotland until the time 
 of Giraldus Cambrensis in 1188, and Pennant notes indica- 
 tions of its former existence in the names of several streams 
 and lakes in Wales. It was not uncommon throughout the 
 greater part of Europe down to the Middle Ages. 
 
 * Pliny, Nat. EisL, Bk. x., chap, xvii., and Bk. xxx., chap, liii, 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 69 
 
 The bear, still common in Norway and the Pyrenees, is 
 alluded to, as Mr. Gosse points out, in the Welsh Triads,* 
 which are supposed to have been compiled 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, " The Roman poets knew of its existence 
 here. Martial speaks of the robber Laureolis being exposed 
 on the cross to the fangs of the Caledonian bear ; and Clau- 
 dian alludes to British bears. The Emperor Claudius, on 
 his return to Rome after the conquest of this island, exhi- 
 bited, as trophies, combats of British bears in the Arena. 
 In the Penitential of Archbishop Egbert, said to have been 
 compiled about A.D. 750, bears are mentioned as inhabiting 
 the English forests, and the city of Norwich is said to have 
 been required to furnish a bear annually to Edward the 
 Confessor, together with six dogs, no doubt for baiting him." 
 
 The wolf, though greatly reduced in numbers during the 
 Heptarchy, when Edgar laid an annual tribute of three 
 hundred wolf- skins upon the Welsh, still occurred in for- 
 midable numbers in England in 1281, and not unfrequently 
 until the reign of Henry VII. The last wolf was killed in 
 Scotland in the year 1743, and in Ireland in 1770.f 
 
 The wild cattle are now only represented by the small 
 herds in Chartley Castle, Chillingham, and Cadgow parks ; 
 the spare survivors probably of the species referred to by 
 Herodotus when he speaks of " large ferocious and fleet 
 white bulls " which abounded in the country south of Thrace, 
 and continued in Poland, Lithuania, and Muscovy until the 
 fifteenth century, or perhaps of the Urus described by Csesar 
 as little inferior to the elephant in size, and inhabiting the 
 
 * The Romance of Natural History, by P. H. Gosse, 2nd Series, 
 London 1875. 
 
 t Pop. Sci. Monthly, October 1878. 
 
70 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Hercynian forest, and believed to be identical with the Bos 
 primigenim found in a fossil state in Britain. 
 
 The wild boar was once abundant in Scotland and England. 
 The family of Baird derives its heraldic crest from a grant 
 of David I. of Scotland, in recognition of his being saved 
 from an infuriated boar which had turned on him. In Eng- 
 land only nobles and gentry were allowed to hunt it, and 
 the slaughter of one by an unauthorized person within the 
 demesnes of William the Conqueror was punished by the 
 loss of both eyes.* 
 
 The bustard, once abundant, is now extinct in Britain, 
 so far as the indigenous race is concerned. Occasionally a 
 chance visitant from the continent is seen ; but there, also, its 
 numbers have been greatly diminished. It was common in 
 Buifon's time in the plains of Poitou and Champagne, though 
 now extremely rare, and is still common in Eastern Asia. 
 
 The capercailzie, or cock of the woods, after complete ex- 
 tinction, has been reintroduced from Norway, and, under 
 protection, is moderately abundant in parts of Scotland, 
 
 In America, the process of extermination marches with 
 the settlement of the various states. W. J. J. Allen records 
 the absolute disappearance of the walrus from the Gulf of 
 Si Lawrence, and of the moose, the elk, and the Virginian 
 deer, from many of the states in which they formerly 
 abounded. This also is true, to some extent, of the bear, 
 the beaver, the grey wolf, the panther, and the lynx. 
 
 The buffalo (Bos americanus) is being destroyed at the 
 rate of two hundred and fifty thousand annually, and it is 
 estimated that the number slain by hunters for their hides 
 during the last forty years amounts to four millions. It has 
 disappeared in the eastern part of the continent from many 
 extensive tracts which it formerly inhabited. 
 
 Among the ocean whales, both the right and the sperm 
 
 * Excelsior, vol. iii. London, J855. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 71 
 
 have only been preserved from extinction by the fortunate 
 discovery of petroleum, which has reduced the value of their 
 oil, and thus lessened considerably the number of vessels 
 equipped for the whale fishery. 
 
 In South Africa, elephants and all other large game are 
 being steadily exterminated within the several colonies. 
 
 In Australia, we find that the seals which thronged the 
 islands of Bass's Straits in countless thousands, at the period 
 when Bass made his explorations there, have utterly disap- 
 peared. The bulk of them were destroyed by seal-hunters 
 from Sydney within a few years after his discovery. The 
 lamentable records of the Sydney Gazette of that period show 
 this, for they detail the return to port, after a short cruise, 
 of schooners laden with from twelve to sixteen thousand 
 skins each. The result of this has been that for many years 
 past the number of seals has been limited to a few indivi- 
 duals, to be found on one or two isolated rocks off Clarke's 
 Island, and on Hogan's group. 
 
 The great sea-elephant, which, in Peron's time, still 
 migrated for breeding 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 memory is 
 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 southward migration, is supposed to have caused the 
 extinction of the Thylacinus (T. cynocephalus), or striped 
 Australian wolf, on the main land of Australia, where it was 
 once abundant ; it is now only to be found in the remote 
 portions of the island of Tasmania. This destruction of one 
 species by another is paralleled in our own country by the 
 approaching extinction of the indigenous and now very rare 
 black rat, which has been almost entirely displaced by the 
 fierce grey rat from Norway. 
 
72 MYTHICAL MONSTERti. 
 
 We learn from incidental passages in the Bamboo Books* 
 that the rhinoceros, which is now unknown in China, formerly 
 extended throughout that country. We read of King Ch'aou, 
 named Hea (B.C. 980), that " in his sixteenth year [of reign] 
 the king attacked Ts'oo, and in crossing the river Han met 
 with a large rhinoceros." And, again, of King E, named 
 See (B.C. 860), that " in his sixth year, when hunting in the 
 forest of Shay, he captured a rhinoceros and carried it 
 home." There is also mention made though this is less 
 conclusive that in the time of King Yiu, named Yeu 
 (B.C. 313), the King of Yueh sent Kung-sze Yu with a 
 present of three hundred boats, five million arrows, together 
 with rhinoceros' horns and elephants' teeth. 
 
 Elephants are now unknown in China except in a domes- 
 ticated state, but they probably disputed its thick forest and 
 jungly plains with the Miaotsz, Lolos, and other tribes which 
 held the country before its present occupants. This may be 
 inferred from the incidental references to them in the Shan 
 Hai King, a work reputed to be of great antiquity, of which 
 more mention will be made hereafter, and from evidence 
 contained in other ancient Chinese works which has been 
 summarized by Mr. Kingsmillf as follows : 
 
 " The rhinoceros and elephant certainly lived in Honan 
 B.C. 600. The Tso-chuen, commenting on the C'hun T'siu 
 of the second year of the Duke Siuen (B.C. 605), describes 
 the former as being in sufficient abundance to supply skins 
 for armour. The want, according to the popular saying, 
 was not of rhinoceroses to supply skins, but of courage to 
 animate the wearers. From the same authority (Duke Hi 
 XIII., B.C. 636) we learn that while T'soo (Hukwang) pro- 
 duced ivory and rhinoceros' skins in abundance, Tsin, lying 
 
 * The Chinese Classics, vol. iii. p. 1, by James Legge, B.D. 
 f Inaugural Address by President, T. W. Kingsmill, North China 
 Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1877. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 73 
 
 north of the Yellow River, on the most elevated part of the 
 Loess, was dependent on the other for its supplies of those 
 commodities. The Tribute of Yu tells the same tale. Yang- 
 chow and King (Kiangpeh and Hukwang), we are told, sent 
 tribute of ivory and rhinoceros' hide, while Liang (Shensi) 
 sent the skins of foxes and bears. Going back to mythical 
 times, 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 mammoth and the Siberian rhinoceros (E. ticho- 
 rhinus). 
 
 M. Chabas* publishes an Egyptian inscription showing 
 that the elephant existed in a feral state in the Euphrates 
 Valley in the time of Thothmes III. (16th century B.C.). 
 The inscription records a great hunting of elephants in the 
 neighbourhood of Nineveh. 
 
 Tigers still abound in Manchuria and Corea, their skins 
 forming a regular article of commerce in Vladivostock, New- 
 chwang, and Seoul. They are said to attain larger dimen- 
 sions in these northern latitudes than their southern congener, 
 the better-known Bengal tiger. They are generally extinct 
 in China Proper ; but Pere David states that he has seen 
 them in the neighbourhood of Pekin, in Mongolia, and at 
 Moupin, and they are reported to have been seen near Amoy. 
 Within the last few yearsf a large specimen was killed by 
 Chinese soldiery within a few miles of the city of Ningpo ; 
 and it is probable that at no distant date they ranged over 
 the whole country from Hindostan to Eastern Siberia, as 
 they are incidentally referred to in various Chinese works 
 the Urh Yah specially recording the capture of a white tiger 
 
 * Chabas, Etudes sur VAntiquite Historique, d'apres les sources figyp- 
 tiennes. 
 
 t Subsequently to 1874. 
 
74 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 in the time of the Emperor Siien of the Han dynasty, and of a 
 black one, in the fourth year of the reign of Yung Kia, in a 
 netted surround in Kien Ping Fu in the district of Tsz Kwei. 
 
 The tailed deer or Mi-lu (Cervus Davidianus of Milne 
 Edwardes), which Chinese literature* indicates as having 
 once been of common occurrence throughout China, is now 
 only to be found in the Imperial hunting grounds south of 
 Peking, where it is restricted to an enclosure of fifty miles 
 in circumference. It is believed to exist no longer in a wild 
 state, as no trace of it has been found in any of the recent 
 explorations of Asia. The Ch'un ts'iu (B.C. 676) states that 
 this species appeared in the winter of that year, in such 
 numbers that it was chronicled in the records of Lu (Shan- 
 tung), and that in the following autumn it was followed by 
 an inroad of " Yih," which Mr. Kingsmill believes to be the 
 wolf. 
 
 There also appears reason to suppose that the ostrich had 
 a much more extended range than at present ; for we find 
 references in the Shi-Kirf or book of history of Szema 
 Tsien, to " large birds with eggs as big as water-jars " as 
 inhabiting T'iaou-chi, identified by Mr. Kingsmill as Saran- 
 gia or Drangia; and, in speaking of Parthia, it says, " On 
 the return of the mission he sent envoys with it that they 
 might see the extent and power of China. He sent with 
 them, as presents to the 4 Emperor, eggs of the great bird of 
 the country, and a curiously deformed man from Samar- 
 kand." 
 
 The gigantic Chelonians which once abounded in India 
 
 * O. F. von Mollendorf, Journal of North China Branch of the Boyal 
 Asiatic Society, New Series, No. 2, and T. W. Kingsmill, " The Border 
 Lands of Geology and History," Journal of North China Branch of the 
 Eoyal Asiatic Society, 1877. 
 
 f " Intercourse of China with Eastern Turkestan and the adjacent 
 country in the second century B.C.," T. W. Kingsmill, Journal of North 
 China Branch of the Eoyal Asiatic Society, New Series, No. 14. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 75 
 
 and the Indian seas are now entirely extinct ; but we have 
 had little difficulty in believing the accounts of their actual 
 and late existence contained in the works of Pliny and 
 -ZElian since the discovery of the Colossochelys, described by 
 Dr. Falconer, in the Upper Miocene deposits of the Siwalik 
 Hills in North-Western India. The shell of Colossochelys 
 Atlas (Falconer and Cautley) measured twelve feet, and the 
 whole animal nearly twenty. 
 
 Pliny,* who published his work on Natural History about 
 A.D. 77, states that the turtles of the Indian Sea are of such 
 vast size that a single shell is sufficient to roof a habitable 
 cottage, and that among the islands of the Ked Sea the 
 navigation is mostly carried on in boats formed 'from this 
 shell. 
 
 .ZElian,t about the middle of the third century of our era, 
 is more specific in his statement, and says that the Indian 
 river-tortoise is very large, and in size not less than a boat 
 of fair magnitude ; also, in speaking of the Great Sea, in 
 which is Taprobana (Ceylon), he says : " There are very 
 large tortoises generated in this sea, the shell of which is 
 large enough to make an entire roof ; for a single one reaches 
 the length of 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 ; they make a broad shade, and so 
 resist rain that they are preferable for this purpose to tiles, 
 nor does the rain beating against them sound otherwise than 
 if it were falling on tiles. Nor, indeed, do those who inhabit 
 them have any necessity for repairing them, as in the case 
 of broken tiles, for the whole roof is made out of a solid 
 shell so that it has the appearance of a cavernous or under- 
 mined rock, and of a natural roof." 
 
 * The Natural History of Pliny. Translated by J. Bostock and H. T. 
 Biley, 6 vols. Bohn, London, 1857. 
 
 f JEliani de Natura Animalium, F. Jacobs. Jenae, 1832. 
 
76 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 El Edrisi, in his great geographical work,* completed 
 A.D. 1154, speaks of them as existing down to his day, but 
 as his book is admitted to be a compilation from all preceding 
 geographical works, he may have been simply quoting, with- 
 out special acknowledgment, the statements given above. 
 He says, speaking of the Sea of Herkend (the Indian Ocean 
 west of Ceylon), " It contains turtles twenty cubits long, 
 containing within them as many as one thousand eggs." 
 Large tortoises formerly inhabited the Mascarene islands, but 
 have been destroyed on all of them, with the exception of 
 the small uninhabited Aldabra islands, north of the Seychelle 
 group ; and those formerly abundant on the Galapagos islands 
 are now represented by only a few survivors, and the species 
 rapidly approaches extinction. 
 
 I shall close this chapter with a reference to a creature 
 which, if it may not be entitled to be called " the dragon," 
 may at least be considered as first cousin to it. This is a 
 lacertilian of large size, at least twenty feet in length, pano- 
 plied with the most horrifying armour, which roamed over 
 the Australian continent during Pleistocene times, and pro- 
 bably until the introduction of the aborigines. 
 
 Its remains have been described by Professor Owen in 
 several communications to the Koyal Society,! under the 
 name of Megalania prisca. They were procured by Mr. G. 
 F. Bennett from the drift-beds of King's Creek, a tributary 
 of the Condamine Kiver in Australia. It was associated with 
 correspondingly large marsupial mammals, now also extinct. 
 
 From the portions transmitted to him Professor Owen 
 determined that it presented in some respects a magnified 
 resemblance of the miniature existing lizard, Moloch horridus, 
 
 * Geographic d* Edrisi, traduite de I'Arabe en Franqais, P. Amedee 
 Jaubert, 2 vols, Paris, ] 836. 
 
 f Phil. Trans., vol. cxlix. p. 43, 1859; vol. clxxi. p. 1,037, 1880; 
 vol. clxxii. p. 547, 1881. 
 
EXTINCTION OF SPECIES. 77 
 
 found in Western Australia,* of which Dr. Gray remarks, 
 " The external appearance of this lizard is the most ferocious 
 of any that I know. 5 ' In Megalania the head was rendered 
 horrible and menacing by horns projecting from its sides, 
 and from the tip of the nose, which would be "as available 
 against the attacks of Thylacoleo as the buffalo's horns are 
 against those of the South African lion." The tail con- 
 sisted of a series of annular segments armed with horny 
 spikes, represented by the less perfectly developed ones in 
 the existing species Uromastix princeps from Zanzibar, or in 
 the above-mentioned moloch. In regard to these the Pro- 
 fessor says, " That the horny sheaths of the above-described 
 supports or cores arming the end of the tail may have been 
 applied to deliver blows upon an assailant, seems not impro- 
 bable, and this part of the organization of the great extinct 
 Australian dragon may be regarded, with the cranial horn, as 
 parts of both an offensive and defensive apparatus/' 
 
 The gavial of the Ganges is reported to be a fish-eater 
 only, and is considered harmless to man. The Indian 
 museums, however, have large specimens, which are said to 
 have been captured after they had destroyed several human 
 beings ; and so we may imagine that this structurally herbi- 
 vorous lizard (the Megalania having a horny edentate upper 
 jaw) may have occasionally varied his diet, and have proved 
 an importunate neighbour to aboriginal encampments in 
 which toothsome children abounded, and that it may, in fact, 
 have been one of the sources from which the myth of the 
 Bunyip, of which I shall speak hereafter, has been derived. 
 
 * Description of some New Species and Genera of Eeptiles from 
 Western Australia, discovered by John Gould, Esq., Annals and Maga- 
 zine of Natural History, vol. vii. p. 88, 1841. 
 
78 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 I DO not propose to bestow any large amount of space upon 
 the enumeration of the palaeontological evidence of the 
 antiquity of man. The works of the various eminent 
 authors who have devoted themselves to the special conside- 
 ration of this subject exhaust all that can be said upon it 
 with our present data, and to these I must refer the reader 
 who is desirous of acquainting himself critically with its 
 details, confining myself to a few general statements based 
 on these labours. 
 
 In the early days of geological science when observers 
 were few, great groups of strata were arranged under an 
 artificial classification, which, while it has lost to a certain 
 extent the specific value which it then assumed to possess, is 
 still retained for purposes of convenient reference. Masters 
 of the science acquired, so to say, a possessive interest in 
 certain regions of it, and the names of Sedgwick, Murchison, 
 Jukes, Phillips, Lyell, and others became, and will remain, 
 inseparably associated with the history of those great divi- 
 sions of the materials of the earth's crust, which, under the 
 names of the Cambrian, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, 
 and Tertiary formations, have become familiar to us. 
 
 In those days, when observations were limited to a com- 
 paratively small area, the lines separating most of these 
 formations were supposed to be hard and definite ; forms of 
 life which characterized one, were presumed to have become 
 
ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 79 
 
 entirely extinct before the inauguration of those which suc- 
 ceeded them, and breaks in the stratigraphical succession 
 appeared to justify the opinion, held by a large and influential 
 section, that great cataclysms or catastrophes had marked the 
 time when one age or formation terminated and another 
 commenced to succeed it. 
 
 By degrees, and with the increase of observers, both in 
 England and in every portion of the world, modifications of 
 these views obtained ; passage beds were discovered, con- 
 necting by insensible gradations formations which had 
 hitherto been supposed to present the most abrupt separa- 
 tions; transitional forms of life connecting them were 
 unearthed ; and an opinion was advanced, and steadily con- 
 firmed, which at the present day it is probable no one would 
 be found to dispute, that not all in one place or country, but 
 discoverable in some part or other of the world, a perfect 
 sequence exists, from the very earliest formations of which 
 we have any cognizance, up to the alluvial and marine 
 deposits in process of formation at the present day.* 
 
 * " We shall, I think, eventually more fully recognise th'at, as is the 
 case with the periods of the day, each of the larger geological divisions 
 follows the other, without any actual break or boundary ; and that the 
 minor subdivisions are like the hours on the clock, useful and conven- 
 tional rather than absolutely fixed by any general cause in Nature." 
 Annual Address, President of G-eological Society, 1875. 
 
 " With regard to stratigraphical geology, the main foundations are 
 already laid, and a great part of the details filled in. The tendency of 
 modern discoveries has already been, and will probably still be, to fill 
 up those breaks, which, according to the view of many, though by no 
 means all geologists, are so frequently assumed to exist between different 
 geological periods and to bring about a more full recognition of the 
 continuity of geological time. As knowledge increases, it will, I think, 
 become more and more apparent that all existing divisions of time are 
 to a considerable extent local and arbitrary. But, even when this is 
 fully recognised, it will still be found desirable to retain them, if only 
 for the . sake of convenience and approximate precision." Annual 
 Address, President of Geological Society, 1876. 
 
80 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Correlatively it was deduced that the same phenomena of 
 nature have been in action since the earliest period when 
 organic existence can be affirmed. The gradual degradation 
 of pre-existing continents by normal destructive agencies, 
 the upheaval and subsidence of large areas, the effusion from 
 volcanic vents, into the air or sea, of ashes and lavas, the 
 action of frost and ice, of heat, rain, and sunshine all these 
 have acted in the past as they are still acting before our 
 eyes. 
 
 In earlier days, arguing from limited data, a progressive 
 creation was claimed which confined the appearance of the 
 higher form of vertebrate life to a successive and widely- 
 stepped gradation. 
 
 Hugh Miller, and other able thinkers, noted with satisfac- 
 tion the appearance, 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 appealed so gratefully to many, that it caused for a 
 time a disposition to cramp discovery, and even to warp the 
 facts of science, in order to make them harmonize with the 
 statements of Revelation. The alleged proofs of the existence 
 of pre-historic man were for a long time jealously disputed, 
 and it was only by slow degrees that they were admitted, 
 that the tenets of the Darwinian school gained ground, and 
 that the full meaning was appreciated of such anomalies as 
 the existence at the present day of Ganoid fishes both in 
 America and Europe, of true Palaeozoic type, or of Oolitic 
 forms on the Australian continent and in the adjacent seas. 
 
 But step by step marvellous palaeontological discoveries 
 were made, and the pillars which mark the advent of each 
 great form of life have had to be set back, until now no one 
 would, I think, be entirely safe in affirming that even in the 
 Cambrian, the oldest of all fossiliferous formations, vestiges 
 of mammals, that is to say, of the highest forms of life, may 
 
ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 81 
 
 not at a future day be found, or that the records contained 
 between the Cambrian and the present day, may not in fact 
 be but a few pages as compared with the whole volume of 
 the world's history.* 
 
 * " It was not until January 1832, that the second volume of the 
 Principles was published, when it was received with as much favour as 
 the first had been. It related more especially to the changes in the 
 organic world, while the former volume had treated mainly of the 
 inorganic forces of nature. Singularly enough, some of the points 
 which were seized on by his great fellow-labourer Murchison for his 
 presidential address to this Society in 1832, as subjects for felicitation, 
 are precisely those which the candid mind of Lyell, ever ready to attach 
 the full value to discoveries or arguments from time to time brought 
 forward, even when in opposition to his own views, ultimately found 
 reason to modify. We can never, I think, more highly appreciate Sir 
 Charles LyelPs freshness of mind, his candour and love of truth, than 
 when we compare certain portions of the first edition of the Principles 
 with those which occupy the same place in the last, and trace the 
 manner in which his judicial intellect was eventually led to conclusions 
 diametrically opposed to those which he originally held. To those 
 acquainted only with the latest editions of the Principles, and with his 
 Antiquity of Man, it may sound almost ironical in Murchison to have 
 written, ' I cannot avoid noticing the clear and impartial manner in 
 which the untenable parts of the dogmas concerning the alteration and 
 transmutation of species and genera are refuted, and how satisfactorily 
 the author confirms the great truth of the recent appearance of man 
 upon our planet.' 
 
 "By the work (Principles of Geology, vol. iii.), as a whole, was dealt 
 the most telling blow that had ever fallen upon those to whom it 
 appears l more philosophical to speculate on the possibilities of the past 
 than patiently to explore the realities of the present,' while the earnest 
 and careful endeavour to reconcile the former indications of change 
 with the evidence of gradual mutation now in progress, or which may 
 be in progress, received its greatest encouragement. The doctrines 
 which Hutton and Playfair had held and taught assumed new and more 
 vigorous life as better principles were explained by their eminent suc- 
 cessor, and were supported by arguments which, as a whole, were incon- 
 trovertible." Annual Address, President of Geological Society, 1876. 
 
 "But, as Sir Roderick Murchison has long ago proved, there are 
 parts of the record which are singularly complete, and in those parts 
 we have the proof of creation without any indication of development. 
 The Silurian rocks, as regards oceanic life, are perfect and abundant in 
 
 6 
 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 It is with the later of these records that we have to deal, 
 in which discoveries have been made sufficiently progressive 
 to justify the expectation that they have by no means reached 
 their limit, and sufficiently ample in themselves to open the 
 widest fields for philosophic speculation and deduction. 
 
 Before stating these, it may be premised that estimates 
 have been attempted by various geologists of the collective 
 age of the different groups of formations. These are based 
 on reasonings which for the most part it is unnecessary to give 
 in detail, in so much as these can scarcely yet be considered 
 to have passed the bounds of speculation, and very different 
 results can be arrived at by theorists according to the relative 
 importance which they attach to the data employed in the 
 calculation. 
 
 Thus Mr. T. Mellard Keade, in a paper communicated to 
 the Royal Society in 1878, concludes that the formation of 
 the sedimentary strata must have occupied at least six hun- 
 dred million years : which he divides in round numbers as 
 follows : 
 i 
 
 Millions of Years. 
 
 Laurentian, Cambrian, and Silurian .... 200 
 Old Eed, Carboniferous, Permian, and New Eed . 200 
 Jurassic, Wealden, Cretaceous, Eocene, Miocene, 
 
 Pliocene, and Post Pliocene . . . . . 200 
 
 600 
 
 He estimates the average thickness of the sedimentary 
 crust of the earth to be at least one mile, and from a compu- 
 
 the forms they have preserved. Yet there are no fish. The Devonian 
 age followed tranquilly and without a break, and in the Devonian sea, 
 suddenly, fish appear, appear in shoals, and in form of the highest and 
 most perfect type." The Duke of Argyll, Primeval Man, p. 45, London, 
 1869. 
 
 * T. Mellard Eeade, " Limestone as an Index of Geological Time," 
 Proceedings, Eoyal Society, London, vol. xxviii., p. 281. 
 
ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 83 
 
 tation of the proportion of carbonate and sulphate of lime 
 to materials held in suspension in various river-waters from 
 a variety of formations, infers that one-tenth of this crust is 
 calcareous, 
 
 He estimates the annual flow of water in all the great 
 river-basins, the proportion of rain-water running off the 
 granitic and trappean rocks, the percentage of lime in solu- 
 tion which they carry down, and arrives at the conclusion 
 that the minimum time requisite for the elimination of the 
 calcareous matter contained in the sedimentary crust of the 
 earth, is at least six hundred millions of years. 
 
 A writer in the Gentleman's Magazine* (Professor Huxley ?), 
 whose article I am only able to quote at second-hand, makes 
 an estimate which, though much lower than the above, is still 
 of enormous magnitude, as follows : 
 
 Laurentian 
 
 Cambrian .... 
 
 Silurian . 
 
 Old Red and Devonian 
 
 Carboniferous . 
 
 Secondary .... 
 
 Tertiary and Post Tertiary 
 
 Gaps and unrepresented strata 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Years. 
 
 30,000 
 
 30,000,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 25,000,000 
 
 6,000 
 
 6,000,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 10,000,000 
 
 12,000 
 
 12,000,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 10,000,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 6,000 
 
 6,000,000 
 
 Total . 100,000,000 
 
 Mr. Darwin, arguing upon Sir W. Thompson's estimate of 
 a minimum of ninety-eight and maximum of two hundred 
 millions of years since the consolidation of the crust, and on 
 Mr. Croll's estimate of sixty millions, as the time elapsed 
 since the Cambrian period, considers that the latter is quite 
 insufficient to permit of the many and great mutations of 
 life which have certainly occurred since then. He judges 
 
 * Scientific American, Supplement, February 1881. 
 
 6 * 
 
84 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 from the small amount of organic change since the com- 
 mencement of the glacial epoch, and adds that the previous 
 one hundred and forty million years can hardly be considered 
 as sufficient for the development of the varied forms of life 
 which certainly existed towards the close of the Cambrian 
 period. 
 
 On the other hand, Mr. Croll considers that it is utterly 
 impossible that the existing order of things, as regards our 
 globe, can date so far back as anything like five hundred 
 millions of years, and, starting with referring the commence- 
 ment of the Glacial epoch to two hundred and fifty thousand 
 years ago, allows fifteen millions since the beginning of 
 the Eocene period, and sixty millions of years in all since the 
 beginning of the Cambrian period. He bases his arguments 
 on the limit to the age of the sun's heat as detailed by Sir 
 William Thompson. 
 
 Sir Charles Lyell and Professor Haughton respectively 
 estimated the expiration of time from the commencement 
 of the Cambrian at two hundred and forty and two hundred 
 millions of years, basing their calculations on the rate of 
 modification of the species of mollusca, in the one case, and on 
 the rate of formation of rocks and their maximum thickness, 
 in the other. 
 
 This, moreover, is irrespective of the vast periods during 
 which life must have existed, which on the development 
 theory necessarily preceded the Cambrian, and, according to 
 Mr. Darwin, should not be less than in the proportion of 
 five to two. 
 
 In fine, one school of geologists and zoologists demand 
 the maximum periods quoted above, to account for the 
 amount of sedimentary deposit, and the specific developments 
 which have occurred ; the other considers the periods claimed 
 as requisite for these actions to be unnecessary, and to be in 
 excess of the limits which, according to their views, the 
 physical elements of the case permit. 
 
ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 85 
 
 Mr. Wallace, in reviewing the question, dwells on the pro- 
 bability of the rate of geological changes having been greater 
 in very remote times than it is at present, and thus opens a 
 way to the reconciliation of the opposing views so far as one 
 half the question is concerned. 
 
 Having thus adverted to the principles upon which various 
 theorists have in part based their attacks on the problem of 
 the estimation of the duration of geological ages, I may now 
 make a few more detailed observations upon those later 
 periods during which man is, now, generally admitted to have 
 existed, and refer lightly to the earlier times which some, but 
 not all, geologists consider to have furnished evidences of his 
 presence. 
 
 I omit discussing the doubtful assertions of the extreme 
 antiquity of man, which come to us from American observers, 
 such as are based on supposed footprints in rocks of secon- 
 dary age, figured in a semi-scientific and exceedingly valuable 
 popular journal. There are other theories which I omit, 
 both because they need further confirmation by scientific 
 investigators, and because they deal with periods so remote 
 as to be totally devoid of significance for the argument of 
 this work. 
 
 Nor, up to the present time, are the evidences of the 
 existence of man during Miocene and Pliocene times admitted 
 as conclusive. Professor Capellini has discovered, in deposits 
 recognised by Italian geologists as of Pliocene age, cetacean 
 bones, which are marked with incisions such as only a sharp 
 instrument could have produced, and which, in his opinion, 
 must be ascribed to human agency. To this view it is ob- 
 jected that the incisions might have been made by the teeth 
 of fishes, and further evidence is waited for. 
 
 Not a few discoveries have been made, apparently extend- 
 ing the existence of man to a much more remote antiquity, 
 that of Miocene times. M. 1'Abbe Bourgeois has collected, 
 from undoubted Miocene strata at Thenay, supposed flint 
 
86 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 implements which he conceives to exhibit evidences of having 
 been fashioned by man, as well as stones showing in some 
 cases traces of the action of fire, and which he supposes to 
 have been used as pot-boilers. M. Carlos Eibeiro has made 
 similar discoveries of worked flints and quartzites in the 
 Pliocene and Miocene of the Tagus ; worked flint has been 
 found in the Miocene of Aurillac (Auvergne) by M. Tardy, 
 and a cut rib of Halitherium fossile, a Miocene species, by 
 M. Delaunay at Pouance. 
 
 Very divided opinions are entertained as to the interpreta- 
 tion of the supposed implements discovered by M. TAbbe 
 Bourgeois. M. Quatrefages, after a period of doubt, has 
 espoused the view of their being of human origin, and of 
 Miocene age. " Since then," he says, " fresh specimens dis- 
 covered have removed my last doubts. A small knife or 
 scraper, among others, which shows a fine regular finish, can, 
 in my opinion, only have been shaped by man. Nevertheless, 
 I do not blame those of my colleagues who 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 of Glacial and Pliocene has been, by facts/' Mr. 
 Geikie, from whose work Prehistoric Europe I have sum- 
 marized the above statements, says, in reference to this 
 question : " There is unquestionably much force in what 
 M. Quatrefages says ; nevertheless, most geologists will 
 agree with him that the question of man's Miocene age still 
 remains to be demonstrated by unequivocal evidence. At 
 present, all that we can safely say is, that man was probably 
 living in Europe near the close of the Pliocene period, and 
 that he was certainly an occupant of our continent during 
 glacial and interglacial times." 
 
 Professor Marsh considers that the evidence, as it stands 
 to-day, although not 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 the Pacific coast." 
 
ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 87 
 
 He adds : (t During several visits to that region many facts 
 were brought to my knowledge which render this more than 
 probable. Man, at this time, was a savage, and was doubt- 
 less forced by the great volcanic outbreaks to continue his 
 migration. This was at first to the south, since mountain 
 chains were barriers on the east," and " he doubtless first 
 came across Behring's Straits." 
 
 I have hitherto assumed a certain acquaintance, upon the 
 part of the general reader, with the terms Eocene, Miocene, 
 and Pliocene, happily invented by Sir Charles Lyell to desig- 
 nate three of the four great divisions of the Tertiary age. 
 These, from their universal acceptation and constant use, 
 have " become familiar in our mouths as household words." 
 But it will be well, before further elaborating points in the 
 history of these groups, bearing upon our argument, to take 
 into consideration their subdivisions, and the equivalent or 
 contemporary deposits composing them in various countries. 
 This can be most conveniently done by displaying these, in 
 descending order, in a tabular form, which I accordingly annex 
 below. This is the more desirable as there are few depart- 
 ments in geological science which have received more attention 
 than this ; or in which greater returns, in the shape of im- 
 portant and interesting discoveries relative to man's existence, 
 have been made. 
 
 Comparatively recent comparatively, that is to say, with 
 regard to the vast aeons that preceded them, but extending 
 back over enormous spaces of time when contrasted with the 
 limited duration of written history, they embrace the period 
 during which the mainly existing distribution of land and ocean 
 has obtained, and the present forms of life have appeared by 
 evolution from preceding species, or, as some few still maintain, 
 by separate and special creation, 
 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 THE TEETIAEY OE CAINOZOIC AGE. 
 
 
 oT .J r 
 
 
 
 | 1. Eecent ^ 
 
 
 
 S 3 a a 
 
 
 
 g 6 . ^ 2 - Post Glacial] 
 
 
 
 2 g "^rS ^ 3. Pleistocene or 
 
 
 
 ^ J 4j ^ S . Quaternary 
 
 -Post Tertiary " 
 
 
 
 "- o S/d E) 
 
 
 
 
 -3^8^^ (including 
 
 
 
 
 Glacial 
 
 
 .2 
 
 
 o D S 1^1 ^ formation) 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 ocf^ 2 *d 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 c3 <D as .fj 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 g3 ^ 4. Newer Pliocene " 
 
 i 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 > Pliocene 
 
 fel 
 
 
 "S K /MJ -DV ' 
 
 i 
 
 " 'J 
 
 
 6. Upper Miocene ") 
 / Miocene 
 
 1 
 
 
 7 T nTurr TVTinrmr 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 8. Upper Eocene 
 
 
 
 9. Middle do. 
 
 ^ Eocene 
 
 
 10. Lower do. ^ 
 
 
 PLIOCENE. 
 
 
 BRITAIN. 
 
 Norwich 
 
 
 Sand loam and gravel 
 Marine, land, and fresh- water 
 
 g shells 
 
 
 Many f Fusus striatus 
 
 
 shells \ antiquus 
 o> abundant, 1 Tunitella communis 
 such as (^Cardium edule, still existing 
 
 in adjacent sea. 
 Norwich Crag. 
 
 o 
 
 
 g f Eed, 
 
 
 g Crag -\ White, 
 
 
 * or 
 , ^ Coralline 
 
 
ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 89 
 
 g s 
 
 w _, 
 
 H o 
 
 i I 
 
 o 
 
 -agl.s 
 
 d <D 
 
 ll 
 
 ^y 
 
 li: 
 
 02 O 
 
 JIU 
 
 
 (D 0> 
 
 S^ 
 
 og +* 
 
 %i*zj l ri I 1 
 
 rj;s SS n -s _ TS 
 oO 
 
 8 '2 
 
90 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 s I 
 
 II 
 II 
 
 H r 2 ^ 
 
 C fe >> 
 
 I -i'^ 
 
 2 .- 
 S M 
 
 H s- 
 
 : ^1 
 
 S^ 
 
 ^ ^ 
 
 
 Sid 
 
 S 2 
 
 &Dr5 
 
 rt ^ 
 
 l| 
 
 -5 
 
 03 
 
 ^ 
 1 1 
 
 d 
 
 adoana m pouad ij'Eq^ jo tjnn'Bj aq^ o^ 
 aou'qqmasaj v Stii^uasaad suuoj aaq^o puij 'ratiuaq^oidonY PUT; 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 a <B 30 
 
 <] 0) 
 
 fc ' 
 
 pa^atdnioo uaaq ^A ^on s'eq s^isodap 
 
 aq^ ' ure^T ig jo anaoog; aipptpi 
 p9Japisubo 'ajB spaq aiuoqrqQ a 
 
 aq| SB 
 S? 
 
 11 
 
 -I 
 
 II 
 
 .D q> 
 
 3 
 
 o 
 [poua j B 
 
 
 P-g-g -SB'S 
 
 a-^-^ 2^ g^j 
 d.?Sa^ 
 
 ,111 
 
 ! L 
 
 i'S V 
 
 5'? !t 
 
 Si:! 3 , 
 
 
 g ri^ll 
 
 to 
 
 g li 
 
 I! 
 
 I t 
 s ^ 
 
ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 91 
 
 We learn, both from the nature of these deposits and from 
 their organic contents, that climatic oscillations have been 
 passing during the whole period of their deposition over the 
 surface of the globe, and inducing corresponding fluctuations 
 in the character of the vegetable and animal life abounding 
 on it. A complete collation of these varying conditions at 
 synchronous periods remains to be achieved, but the study 
 of our own country, and those adjacent to it, shows that 
 alternations of tropical, boreal, and temperate climate have 
 occurred in it ; a remarkable series of conditions which has 
 only lately been thoroughly and satisfactorily accounted for. 
 
 Thus, during a portion of the Eocene period a tropical 
 climate prevailed, as is evidenced by deposits containing 
 remains of palms of an equatorial type, crocodiles, turtles, 
 tropical shells, and other remains attesting the existence of 
 a high temperature. The converse is proved of the Pleisto- 
 cene by the existence of a boreal fauna, and the widespread 
 evidences of glacial action. The gradations of climate during 
 the Miocene and Pliocene, and the amelioration subsequent 
 to the glacial period, have resulted in the gradual develop- 
 ment or appearance of specific life as it exists at present. 
 
 Corresponding indications of secular variability of climate 
 are derived from all quarters : during the Miocene age, 
 Greenland (in N. Lat. 70) developed an abundance of trees, 
 such as the yew, the Redwood, a Sequoia allied to the Cali- 
 fornian species, beeches, planes, willows, oaks, poplars, and 
 walnuts, as well as a Magnolia and a Zamia. In Spitsbergen 
 (N. Lat. 78 56') flourished yews, hazels, poplars, alders, 
 beeches, and limes. At the present day, a dwarf willow and 
 a few herbaceous plants form the only vegetation, and the 
 ground is covered with almost perpetual ice and snow. 
 
 Many similar fluctuations of climate have been traced right 
 back through the geological record ; but this fact, though 
 interesting in relation to the general solution of the causes, 
 has little bearing on the present purpose. 
 
92 MYTHICAL MONSTEES. 
 
 Sir Charles Lyell conceived that all cosmical changes of 
 climate in the past might be accounted for by the varying 
 preponderance of land in the vicinity of the equator or near 
 the poles, supplemented, of course, in a subordinate degree 
 by alteration of level and the influence of ocean currents. 
 When, for example, at any geological period the excess of 
 land was equatorial, the ascent and passage northwards of 
 currents of heated air would, according to his view, render 
 the poles habitable ; while, per contra, the excessive massing 
 of land around the pole, and absence of it from the equator, 
 would cause an arctic climate to spread far over the now 
 temperate latitudes. 
 
 The correctness of these inferences has been objected to 
 by Mr. James Geikie and Dr. Croll, who doubt whether the 
 northward currents of air would act as successful carriers of 
 heat to the polar regions, or whether they would not rather 
 dissipate it into space upon the road. On the other hand, 
 Mr. Geikie, though admitting that the temperature of a large 
 unbroken arctic continent would be low, suggests that, as the 
 winds would be stripped of all moisture on its fringes, the 
 interior would therefore be without accumulations of snow and 
 ice; and in the more probable event of its being deeply indented 
 by fjords and bays, warm sea-currents (the representatives of 
 our present Gulf and Japan streams, but possessing a higher 
 temperature than either, from the greater extent of equatorial 
 sea-surface originating them, and exposed to the sun's influ- 
 ence) would flow northward, and, ramifying, carry with them 
 warm and heated atmospheres far into its interior, though 
 even these, he thinks, would be insufficient in their effects 
 under any circumstances to produce the sub -tropical climates 
 which are known to have existed in high latitudes. 
 
 Mr. John Evans* has thrown out the idea that possibly a 
 
 Proceedings, Eoyal Sooi^v, vol. xv. No. 82, 1866. 
 
ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 93 
 
 complete translation of geographical position with respect to 
 polar axes may have been produced by a sliding of the whole 
 surface crust of the globe about a fluid nucleus. This, he 
 considers, would be induced by disturbances of equilibrium 
 of the whole mass from geological causes. He further points 
 out that the difference between the polar and equatorial dia- 
 meters of the globe, which constitutes an important objection 
 to his theory, is materially reduced when we take into con- 
 sideration the enormous depth of the ocean over a large 
 portion of the equator, and the great tracts of land elevated 
 considerably above the sea-level in higher latitudes. He also 
 speculates on the general average of the surface having in 
 bygone geological epochs approached much more nearly to 
 that of a sphere than it does at the present time. 
 
 Sir John Lubbock favoured the idea of a change in the 
 position of the axis of rotation, and this view has been sup- 
 ported by Sir H. James* and many later geologists. t If I 
 apprehend their arguments correctly, this change could only 
 have been produced by what may be termed geological revo- 
 lutions. These are great outbursts of volcanic matter, eleva- 
 tions, subsidences, and the like. These having probably 
 been almost continuous throughout geological time, incessant 
 changes, small or great, would be demanded in the position 
 of the axis, and the world must be considered as a globe 
 rolling over in space with every alteration of its centre of 
 gravity. The possibility of this view must be left for mathe- 
 maticians and astronomers to determine. 
 
 Sounder arguments sustain the theory propounded by Dr. 
 Croll (though this, again, is not universally accepted), that 
 all these alterations of climate can be accounted for by the 
 effects of nutation, and the precession of the equinoxes. 
 
 * Athenceum, August 25, 1860, &c. 
 
 f The mass of astronomers, however, deny that this is possible to any- 
 very great extent. 
 
94 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 From these changes, combined with the eccentricity of the 
 ecliptic from the first, it results that at intervals of ten 
 thousand five hundred years, the northern and southern 
 hemispheres are alternately in aphelion during the winter, 
 and in perihelion during the summer months, and vice versa ; 
 or, in other words, that if at any given period the inclination 
 of the earth's axis produces winter in the northern hemi- 
 sphere, while the earth is at a maximum distance from that 
 focus of its orbit in which the sun is situated, then, after 
 an interval of ten thousand five hundred years, and as a 
 result of the sum of the backward motion of the equinoxes 
 along the ecliptic, at the rate of 50' annually, the converse 
 will obtain, and it will be winter in the northern hemisphere 
 while the earth is at a minimum distance from the sun. 
 
 The amount of eccentricity of the ecliptic varies greatly 
 during long periods, and has been calculated for several 
 million years back. Mr. Croll* has demonstrated a theory 
 explaining all great secular variations of climate as indirectly 
 the result of this, through the action of sundry physical 
 agencies, such as the accumulation of snow and ice, and 
 especially the deflection of ocean currents. From a consi- 
 deration of the tables which he has computed of the eccen- 
 tricity and longitude of the earth's orbit, he refers the glacial 
 epoch to a period commencing about two hundred and forty 
 thousand years back, and extending down to about eighty 
 thousand years ago, and he describes it as " consisting of 
 a long succession of cold and warm periods ; the warm 
 periods of the one hemisphere corresponding in time with 
 the cold periods of the other, and vice versa." 
 
 Having thus spoken of the processes adopted for estimating 
 the duration of geological ages, and the results which have 
 been arrived at, with great probability of accuracy, in regard 
 
 * James Croll, F.E.S., &c., Climate and Time in their Geological Rela- 
 tions. 
 
ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 95 
 
 to some of the more recent, it now only remains to briefly 
 state the facts from which the existence of man, during these 
 latter periods, has been demonstrated. The literature of 
 this subject already extends to volumes, and it is therefore 
 obviously impossible, in the course of the few pages which 
 the limits of this work admit, to give anything but the 
 shortest abstract, or to assign the credit relatively due to the 
 numerous progressive workers in this rich field of research. 
 I therefore content myself with taking as my text-book Mr. 
 James Geikie's Prehistoric Europe, the latest and most ex- 
 haustive work upon the subject, and summarizing from it 
 the statements essential to my purpose. 
 
 From it we learn that, long prior to the ages when men 
 were acquainted with the uses of bronze and iron, there 
 existed nations or tribes, ignorant of the means by which 
 these metals are utilized, whose weapons and implements 
 were formed of stone, horn, bone, and wood. 
 
 These, again, may be divided into an earlier and a later 
 race, strongly characterized by the marked differences in the 
 nature of the stone implements which they respectively 
 manufactured, both in respect to the material employed and 
 the amount of finish bestowed upon it. To the two periods 
 in which these people lived the terms Palaeolithic and Neo- 
 lithic have been respectively applied, and a vast era is sup- 
 posed to have intervened between the retiring from Europe 
 of the one and the appearance there of the other. 
 
 Palaeolithic man was contemporaneous with the mammoth 
 (Elephas primigenius), the woolly rhinoceros (Rhinoceros primi- 
 genius), the Hippopotamus major, and a variety of other species, 
 now quite extinct, as well as with many which, though still 
 existing in other regions, are no longer found in Europe ; 
 whereas the animals contemporaneous with Neolithic man 
 were essentially the same as those still occupying it. 
 
 The stone implements of Palaeolithic man had but little 
 variety of form, were very rudely fashioned, being merely 
 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 ' 
 
 * Figs. 19 and 21 are taken, by permission of Edmund Christy, Esq., 
 from Reliquice Aquitanicce, &c., London, 1875. 
 
ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 97 
 
 chipped into shape, and never ground or polished ; they were 
 worked nearly entirely out of flint and chert. 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. 
 
 Palaeolithic men were unacquainted with pottery and the 
 art of weaving, and apparently had no domesticated animals 
 or system of cultivation ; but the Neolithic lake dwellers of 
 Switzerland had looms, pottery, cereals, and domesticated 
 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 dis- 
 tinguished by their being sculptured with great ability or 
 ornamented with life-like engravings of the various animals 
 living at the period ; whereas there appears to have been a 
 marked absence of any similar artistic ability on the part of 
 Neolithic man. 
 
 FIG. 20. REINDEER ENGRAVED ON ANTLER BY PALAEOLITHIC MAN 
 (After Geikie.} 
 
 Again, it is noticeable that, while the passage from the 
 Neolithic age into the succeeding bronze age was gradual, 
 and, indeed, that the use of stone implements and, in some 
 
 7 
 
98 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 parts, weapons, was contemporaneous with that of bronze in 
 other places, no evidence exists of a transition from Palaeo- 
 lithic into Neolithic times. On the contrary, the examination 
 of bone deposits, such as those of Kent's Cave and Victoria 
 Cave in England, and numerous others in Belgium and 
 France, attest " beyond doubt that a considerable period 
 must have supervened after the departure of Palaeolithic man 
 and before the arrival of his Neolithic successor." The 
 discovery of remains of Palaeolithic man and animals in river 
 deposits in England and on the Continent, often at consider- 
 able elevations* above the existing valley bottoms, and in 
 Loss, and the identification of the Pleistocene or Quaternary 
 period with Preglacial and Glacial times, offer a means of 
 estimating what that lapse of time must have been.f 
 
 * In some cases as much as 150 feet. 
 
 t " Starting from the opinion generally accepted among geologists, 
 that man 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 less than 200,000 years. 
 
 " His argument, as given in the Kansas City Review of Science, is 
 about as follows : 
 
 "After the Glacial epoch, geologists fix three distinct epochs, the 
 Champlain, the Terrace, and the Delta, all supposed to be of nearly 
 equal lengths. 
 
 " Now we have in the delta of the Mississippi a means of measuring 
 the duration of the third of these epochs. 
 
 " For a distance of about two hundred miles of this delta are seen 
 forest growths of large trees, one after the other, with interspaces of 
 sand. There are ten of these distinct forest growths, which have begun 
 and ended one after the other. The trees are the bald cypress (Taxo- 
 dium) of the Southern States, and some of them were over twenty-five 
 feet in diameter. One contained over five thousand seven hundred annual 
 rings. In some instances these huge trees have grown over the stumps 
 of others equally large, and such instances occur in all, or nearly all, of 
 the ten forest beds. This gives to each forest a period of 10,000 years. 
 
 " Ten such periods give 100,000 years, to say nothing of the time 
 covered by the interval between the ending of one forest and the begin- 
 ning of another, an interval which in most cases was considerable. 
 
 " ' Such evidence,' writes Professor Mudge, ' would be received in any 
 
ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 99 
 
 Skeletons or portions of the skeletons of human beings, 
 of admitted Palaeolithic age, have been found in caverns in 
 the vicinity of Liege in Belgium, by Schmerling, and pro- 
 bably the same date may be assigned those from the Nean- 
 derthal Cave near Diisseldorf. A complete skeleton, of tall 
 stature, of probable but not unquestioned Palaeolithic age, 
 has also been discovered in the Cave of Mentone on the 
 Kiviera. 
 
 These positive remains yield us further inferences than 
 can be drawn from the mere discovery of implements or 
 fragmentary bones associated with remains of extinct 
 animals. 
 
 The Mentone man, according to M. Kiviere, had a rather 
 long but large head, a high and well-made forehead, and 
 the very large facial angle of 85. In the Liege man the 
 cranium was high and short, and of good Caucasian type ; 
 " a fair average human skull," according to Huxley. 
 
 Other remains, such as the jaw-bone from the cave of the 
 Naulette in Belgium, and the Neanderthal skeleton, show 
 marks of inferiority ; but even in the latter, which was the 
 lowest in grade, the cranial capacity is seventy-five cubic 
 inches or " nearly on a level with the mean between the two 
 human extremes." 
 
 We may, therefore, sum up by saying that evidences have 
 been accumulated of the existence of man, and intelligent 
 man, from a period which even the most conservative among 
 geologists are unable to place at less than thirty thousand 
 
 court of law as sound and satisfactory. We do not see how such proof 
 is to be discarded 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 the 
 Champlain 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 Delta 
 period, 200,000 years is the total result."' Popular Science Monthly, 
 No. 91, vol. xvi. No. 1, p. 140, November 1878. 
 
 7 * 
 
100 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 years ; while most of them are convinced both of his exist- 
 ence from at least later Pliocene times, and of the long 
 duration of ages which has necessarily elapsed since his 
 appearance a duration to be numbered, not by tens, but by 
 hundreds of thousands of years. 
 
 FIG. 21. ENGRAVING BY PALAEOLITHIC MAN ON REINDEER ANTLER. 
 
101 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 
 
 IF we assume that the antiquity of man is as great, or even 
 approximately as great, as Sir Charles Lyell and his followers 
 affirm, the question naturally arises, what has he been doing 
 during those countless ages, prior to historic times ? what 
 evidences has he afforded of the possession of an intelligence 
 superior to that of the brute creation by which he has been 
 surrounded ? what great monuments of his fancy and skill 
 remain ? or has the sea of time engulphed any that he 
 erected, in abysses so deep that not even the bleached masts 
 project from the surface, to testify to the existence of the 
 good craft buried below ? 
 
 These questions have been only partially asked, and but 
 slightly answered. They will, however, assume greater pro- 
 portions as the science of archaeology extends itself, and 
 perhaps receive more definite replies when fresh fields for 
 investigation are thrown open in those portions of the old 
 world which Asiatic reserve has hitherto maintained inviolable 
 against scientific prospectors. 
 
 If man has existed for fifty thousand years, as some 
 demand, or for two hundred thousand, as others imagine, 
 has his intelligence gone on increasing thoughout the period ? 
 and if so, in what ratio ? Are the terms of the series which 
 involve the unknown quantity stated with sufficient precision 
 to enable us to determine whether his development has been 
 slow, gradual, and more or less uniform, as in arithmetical, 
 or gaining at a rapidly increasing rate, as in geometric pro- 
 gression. Or, to pursue the simile, could it be more 
 
102 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 accurately expressed by the equation to a curve which traces 
 an ascending and descending path, and, though controlled in 
 reality by an absolute law, appears to exhibit an unaccount- 
 able and capricious variety of positive and negative phases, 
 of points d'arret, nodes, and cusps. 
 
 These questions cannot yet be definitely answered ; they 
 may be proposed and argued on, but for a time the result 
 will doubtless be a variety of opinions, without the possibility 
 of solution by a competent arbiter. 
 
 For example, it is a matter of opinion whether the intelli- 
 gence of the present day is or is not of a higher order than 
 that which animated the savans of ancient Greece. It is 
 probable that most would answer in the affirmative, so far as 
 the question pertains to the culture of the masses only, but 
 how will scholars decide, who are competent to compare the 
 works of our present poets, sculptors, dramatists, logicians, 
 philosophers, historians, and statesmen, with those of Homer, 
 Pindar, QBschylus, Euripides, Herodotus, Aristotle, Euclid, 
 Phidias, Plato, Solon, and the like ? Will they, in a word, 
 consider the champions of intellect of the present day so 
 much more robust than their competitors of three thousand 
 years ago as to render them easy victors ? This would 
 demonstrate a decided advance in human intelligence during 
 that period ; but, if this is the case, how is it that all the 
 great schools and universities still cling to the 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 of the witnesses for the one party to the suit, 
 and that natural decay, calamity, and wanton destruction* 
 
 * Such as the destruction of the Alexandrine Library on three distinct 
 occasions, (1) upon the conquest of Alexandria by Julius Caesar, B.C. 48 ; 
 (2) in A.D. 390 ; and, (3) by Amrou, the general of the Caliph Omar, in 
 640, who ordered it to be burnt, and so supplied the baths with fuel for 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 103 
 
 have obliterated the bulk of the philosophy of past ages. 
 With the exceptions of the application of steam, the employ- 
 ment of moveable type in printing,* and the utilization of 
 electricity, there are few arts and inventions which have not 
 descended to us from remote antiquity, lost, many of them, 
 for a time, some of them for ages, 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 master- 
 pieces of logical argument, the unequalled sculptures, and 
 the exquisitely proportioned architecture of Greece, or the 
 thorough acquaintance with mechanical principles and engi- 
 neering skill evinced by the Egyptians, in the construction 
 of the pyramids, vast temples, canalsf and hydraulic works 4 
 
 Notice, also, the high condition of civilization possessed 
 
 six months. Again, the destruction of all Chinese books by order 
 of Tsin Shi Hwang-ti, the founder of the Imperial branch of the Tsin 
 dynasty, and the first Emperor of United China ; the only exceptions 
 allowed being those relating to medicine, divination, and husbandry. 
 This took place in the year 213 B.C. 
 
 * The Chinese have used composite blocks (wood engraved blocks 
 with many characters, analogous to our stereotype plates) from an early 
 period. May not the brick-clay tablets preserved in the Imperial 
 Library at Babylon have been used for striking off impressions on some 
 plastic material, just as rubbings may be taken from the stone drums 
 in China : may not the cylinders with inscribed characters have been 
 used in some way or other as printing-rollers for propagating knowledge 
 or proclamations ? 
 
 t As, for example, the old canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, in 
 reference to which Herodotus says (Euterpe, 158), " Neco was the son 
 of Psammitichus, and became King of Egypt : he first set about the 
 canal that leads to the Red Sea, which Darius the Persian afterwards 
 completed. Its length is a voyage of four days, and in width it was 
 dug so that two triremes might sail rowed abreast. The water is drawn 
 into it from the Nile, and it enters it a little above the city Bubastis, 
 passes near the Arabian city Paturnos, and reaches to the Red Sea." In 
 the digging of which one hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians 
 perished in the reign of Neco. 
 
 J The co-called tanks at Aden, reservoirs constructed one below the 
 
304 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 by the Chinese four thousand years ago, their enlightened 
 and humane polity, their engineering works,* their provision 
 for the proper administration of different departments of 
 the State, and their clear and intelligent documents.f 
 
 In looking back upon these, I think we can hardly distin- 
 guish any such deficiency of intellect, in comparison with 
 ours, on the part of these our historical predecessors as to 
 indicate so rapid a change of intelligence as would, if we 
 were able to carry our comparison back for another similar 
 period, inevitably land us among a lot of savages similar to 
 
 other, in a gorge near the cantonments, are as perfect now as they 
 were when they left the hand of the contractor or royal engineer in the 
 time of Moses. 
 
 * In the 29th year of the Em- 
 peror Kwei [B.C. 1559] they chiselled 
 through mountains and tunnelled 
 hills, according to the Bamboo Books, 
 f An interesting line of investi- 
 gation might be opened up as to 
 the origin of inventions and the 
 date of their migrations. The 
 Chinese claim the priority of many 
 discoveries, such as chess, printing, 
 issue of bank-notes, sinking of arte- 
 sian wells, gunpowder, suspension 
 bridges, the mariner's compass, &c. 
 &c. I extract two remarkable 
 wood- cuts from the San Li TU, one 
 appended here showing the origin 
 of our college cap ; the other, in 
 the chapter on the Unicorn, ap- 
 pearing to illustrate the fable of 
 the Sphynx. 
 
 I also give a series of engravings, 
 reduced facsimiles of those con- 
 tained in a celebrated Chinese work 
 on antiquities, showing the gradual 
 evolution of the so-called Grecian 
 pattern or scroll ornamentation, 
 
 and origination of some of the 
 Fm. 22. ROYAL DIADEM OF THE CHEN .- , , . 
 
 DYNASTY. (From the San Li T'u.) Greek forms <> f tripods. 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 
 
 105 
 
 FIG. 23. VASE. HAN DYNASTY 
 
 B.C. 206 to A.D. 23. 
 (From the Poh Ku 2 'M.) 
 
 FIG. 24. CYATHUS OR CUP FOR 
 LIBATIONS. SHANG DYNASTY, 
 
 B.C. 1766 to B.C. 1122. 
 (From the Poh Ku 2V) 
 
106 . MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 those who fringe the civilization of the present period. 
 Intellectually measured, the civilized men of eight or ten 
 thousand years ago must, I think, have been but little 
 inferior to ourselves, and we should have to peer very far 
 back indeed before we reached a status or condition in which 
 the highest type of humanity was the congener of the cave 
 lion, disputing with him a miserable existence, shielded only 
 from the elements by an overhanging rock, or the fortuitous 
 discovery of some convenient cavern. 
 
 If this be so, we are forced back again to the consideration 
 of the questions with which this section opened ; where are 
 the evidences of man's early intellectual superiority ? are they 
 limited to those deduced from the discovery of certain stone 
 implements of the early rude, and later polished ages ? and, 
 if so, can we offer any feasible explanation either of their 
 non-existence or disappearance ? 
 
 In the first place, it may be considered as admitted by 
 archaeologists that no exact line can be drawn between the 
 later of the two stone-weapon epochs, the polished Neolithic 
 stone epoch, and the succeeding age of bronze. They are 
 agreed that these overlap each other, and that the rude 
 hunters, who contented themselves with stone implements of 
 war and the chase, were coeval with people existing in other 
 places, acquainted with the metallurgical art, and therefore 
 of a high order of intelligence. The former are, in fact, 
 brought within the limit of historic times. 
 
 A similar inference might not unfairly be drawn with 
 regard to those numerous discoveries of proofs of the exis- 
 tence of ruder man, at still earlier periods. The flint-headed 
 arrow of the North American Indian, and the stone hatchet 
 of the Australian black-fellow exist to the present day ; and 
 but a century or two back, would have been the sole repre- 
 sentatives of the constructive intelligence of humanity over 
 nearly one half the inhabited surface of the world. No 
 philosopher, with these alone to reason on, could have 
 
*THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 
 
 107 
 
 FIG. 25. INCENSE BURNER (?). CHEN DYNASTY, B.C. 1122 to B.C. 255. 
 (From the Poh KuTu.} 
 
 FIG. 26. TRIPOD OF THE SHANG DYNASTY. Probable date, B.C. 1649. 
 (From the Poh Ku ZV) 
 
108 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 FIG. 27. TRIPOD F Fu Ym, SHANG DYNASTY. (From the Poh Ku T'.) 
 
 FIG, 28. TRIPOD OP KWAI WAN, CHEN DYNASTY, B.C. 1122 to B.C. 255 
 (From the Poh Ku T'u.) 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 
 
 109 
 
 imagined the settled existence, busy industry, and superior 
 intelligence which animated the other half ; and a parallel 
 suggestive argument may be supported by the discovery of 
 human relics, implements, and artistic delineations such as 
 those of the hairy mammoth or the cave-bear. These may 
 possibly be the traces of an outlying savage who co -existed 
 with a far more highly- organized people elsewhere,* just as 
 at the present day the Esquimaux, who are by some geolo- 
 gists considered as the descendants of Palaeolithic man, 
 co-exist with ourselves. They, like their reputed ancestors, 
 have great ability in carving on bone, &c.; and as an example 
 of their capacity not only to conceive in their own minds a 
 
 
 CHART 
 DRAWN BY THE NATIVES. 
 
 THE se MAHKS o SHE w WHERE THC BOOTHIANS 
 filter Hurs TO Siftf in on but JOURHAY TO AccuLEC. 
 
 FIG. 29. (From /Sir John .Ross' Second Voyage to the Arctic Regions.} 
 
 * " The old Troglodytes, pile villagers, and bog people, prove to be 
 quite a respectable society. They have heads so large that many a 
 living person would be only too happy to possess such." A. Mitchell, 
 The Past in the Present, Edinburgh, 1880. 
 
110 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 correct notion of the relative bearings of localities, but also 
 to impart the idea lucidly to others, I annex a wood-cut of a 
 chart drawn by them, impromptu, at the request of Sir J. 
 Koss, who, inferentially, vouches for its accuracy. 
 
 There is but a little step between carving the figure of a 
 mammoth or horse, and using them as symbols. Multiply 
 them, and you have the early hieroglyphic written language 
 of the Chinese and Egyptians. It is not an unfair presump- 
 tion that at no great distance, in time or space, either some 
 generations later among his own descendants, or so many 
 nations' distance among his coevals, the initiative faculty of 
 the Palaeolithic savage was usefully applied to the communi- 
 cation of ideas, just as at a much later date the Kououen 
 symbolic language was developed or made use of among the 
 early Chinese.* 
 
 Such is, necessarily, the first stage of any written lan- 
 guage, 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 to affirm. 
 
 May not the meandering of the tide of civilization west- 
 ward during the last three thousand years, bearing on its 
 crest fortune and empire, and leaving in its hollow decay and 
 oblivion, possibly be the sequel of many successive 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 
 
 * I have given in the annexed plates a few examples of the early 
 hieroglyphics on which the modern Chinese system of writing is based, 
 selected from a limited number collected by the early Jesuit fathers in 
 China, and contained in the Memoirs concernant I'Histoire, &c. des Chinois, 
 par les Missionaires de Pekin, vol. i., Paris, 1776. The modern Chinese 
 characters conveying the same idea are attached, and their derivation 
 from the pictorial hieroglyphics, by modification or contraction, is in 
 nearly all cases obvious. 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 
 
 Ill 
 
 JILL 
 
 CD 
 
 FIG. 30. EARLY CHINESE HIEROGLYPHICS, 
 
112 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 I: 
 
 FIG. 31. EARLY CHINESE HIEROGLYPHICS. 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 113 
 
 near to us are Nineveh, Babylon, and Carthage ! Yet the very 
 sites of the former two have become uncertain, and of the 
 last we only know by the presence of the few scattered ruins 
 on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Tyre, the vast 
 entrepot of commerce in the days of Solomon, was stated, 
 rightly or wrongly, by Benjamin of Tudela, to be but barely 
 discernible (in 1173) in ruins beneath the waves; and the 
 glory of the world, the temple of King Solomon, was repre- 
 sented at the same date by two copper columns which had 
 been carried off and preserved in Eome. It is needless to 
 quote the cases of Persia, Greece, and Home, and of many 
 once famous cities, which have dissolved in ruin ; except as 
 assisting to point the moral that conquest, which is always 
 recurring, means to a great extent obliteration, the victor 
 having no sympathy with the preservation of the time- 
 honoured relics of the vanquished. 
 
 "When decay and neglect are once initiated, the hand 
 of man largely assists the ravages of time. The peasant 
 carts the marbles of an emperor's palace to his lime-kiln,* or 
 an Egyptian monarch strips the casing of a pyramidf to 
 furnish the material for a royal residence. 
 
 Nor is it beyond the limits of possibility that the arrogant 
 caprice of some, perhaps Mongol, invader in the future, may 
 level the imperishable pyramids themselves for the purpose 
 of constructing some defensive work, or the gratification 
 of an inordinate vanity. 
 
 * " The Porcelain Tower of Nankin, once one of the seven wonders 
 of the world, can now only be found piecemeal in walls of peasants' 
 huts." Gutzlaff, Hist. China, vol. i. p. 372. 
 
 f The outer casing of the pyramid of Cheops, which Herodotus 
 (Euterpe, 125) states to have still exhibited in his time an inscription, 
 telling how much was expended (one thousand six hundred talents 
 of silver) in radishes, onions, and garlic for the workmen, has entirely 
 disappeared ; as also, almost completely, the marble casing of the adjacent 
 pyramid of Sen-Saophis. According to tradition the missing marbles 
 in each instance were taken to build palaces with in Cairo. 
 
 8 
 
114 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 In later dates how many comfortable modern residences 
 have been erected from the pillage of mediaeval abbey, keep, 
 or castle ? and how many fair cities* must have fallen to 
 decay, in Central and Eastern Asia, and how many numerous 
 populations dwindled to insignificance since the days when 
 Ghenghis and Timour led forth their conquering hordes, and 
 Nadun could raise four hundred thousand hor semen f to 
 contest the victory with Kublai Khan. 
 
 The unconscious ploughman in Britain has for centuries 
 guided his share above the remains of Eoman villas, and the 
 inhabitants of the later city of Hissarlik were probably as 
 ignorant that a series of lost and buried cities lay below 
 them, as they would have been incredulous that within a 
 thousand years their own existence would have passed from 
 the memory of man, and their re-discovery been due only to 
 the tentative researches of an enthusiastic admirer of Homer. 
 Men live by books and bards longer than by the works of 
 their hands, and impalpable tradition often survives the 
 material vehicle which was destined to perpetuate it. The 
 name of Priam was still a household word when the site of 
 his palace had been long forgotten. 
 
 The vaster a city is, the more likely is it to be constructed 
 upon the site of its own grave, or, in other words, to occupy 
 the broad valley of some 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 
 
 * " The work of destruction was carried on methodically. From the 
 Caspian Sea to the Indus, the Mongols ruined, within four years, more 
 than four centuries of continuous labour have since restored. The most 
 flourishing cities became a mass of ruins : Samarkand, Bokhara, Niza- 
 bour, Balkh, and Kandahar shared in the same destruction." Gutzlaff, 
 Hist. China, vol. i. p. 358. 
 
 f " An army of 700,000 Mongols met half the number of Mahom- 
 medans." Ibid. p. 357. 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 115 
 
 it be destroyed by the elements,* and by the decomposition 
 of its own material furnish the shroud for its envelopment.! 
 It is not altogether surprising then that no older discoveries 
 than those already quoted have yet been made, for these 
 would probably never have resulted if tradition had not both 
 stimulated and guided the fortunate explorer. 
 
 It is, therefore, no unfair inference that the remains of 
 equally important, but very much more ancient cities and 
 memorials of civilization may have hitherto entirely escaped 
 our observation, presuming that we can show some reason- 
 able grounds for belief that, subsequent to their completion, 
 a catastrophe has occurred of sufficiently universal a character 
 to have obliterated entirely the annals of the past, and to 
 have left in the possession of its few survivors but meagre 
 and fragmentary recollections of all that had preceded them. 
 
 Now this is precisely what the history and traditions of all 
 nations affirm to have occurred. However, as a variance of 
 opinion exists as to the credence which should be attached to 
 these traditions, I shall, before expressing my own views upon 
 the subject, briefly epitomize those entertained by two authors 
 of sufficient eminence to warrant their being selected as 
 representatives of two widely opposite schools. 
 
 These gentlemen, to whom we are indebted for exhaustive 
 papers, J embracing the pith of all the information extant 
 
 * Those interested in the subject may read with great advantage the 
 section on dynamical geology in Dana's valuable manual. He points 
 out the large amount of wear accomplished by wind carrying sand in 
 arid regions, by seeds falling in some crevice, and bursting rocks open 
 through the action of the roots developed from their sprouting, to say 
 nothing of the more ordinarily recognized destructive agencies of frost 
 and rain, carbonic acid resulting from vegetable decomposition, &c. 
 
 f Darwin, in Vegetable Mould and Earth-worms, has shown that earth- 
 worms play a considerable part in burying old buildings, even to a depth 
 of several feet. 
 
 J Eev. T. K Cheyne, Article "Deluge," Encyclopedia Britannica, 
 1877. Fran9ois Lenormant, " The Deluge, its Traditions in Ancient 
 Histories," Contemporary Review, Nov., 1879, 
 
 8 * 
 
116 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 upon the subject, have tapped the same sources of informa- 
 tion, consulted the same authorities, ranged their information 
 in almost identical order, argued from the same data, and 
 arrived at diametrically opposite conclusions. 
 
 Mr. Cheyne, following the lead of Continental mythologists, 
 deduces that the Deluge stories were on the whole propagated 
 from several independent centres, and adopts the theory of 
 Schirrer and Gerland that they are ether myths, without any 
 historical foundation, which have been transferred from the 
 sky to the earth. 
 
 M. Lenormant, upon the other hand, eliminating from the 
 inquiry the great inundation of China in the reign of Yao, 
 and some others, as purely local events, concludes as the 
 result of his researches that the story of the Deluge ' ' is a 
 universal tradition among all branches of the human race/' 
 with the one exception of the black. He further argues : 
 " Now a recollection thus precise and concordant cannot be 
 a myth voluntarily invented. No religious or cosmogenic 
 myth presents this character of universality. It must arise 
 from the reminiscences of a real and terrible event, so power- 
 fully impressing the imagination of the first ancestors of our 
 race, as never to have been forgotten by their descendants. 
 This cataclysm must have occurred near the first cradle of 
 mankind and before the dispersion of families from which the 
 different races of men were to spring." 
 
 Lord Arundel of Wardour adopts a similar view in many 
 respects to that of M. Lenormant, but argues for the exist- 
 ence of a Deluge tradition in Egypt, and the identity of the 
 Deluge of Yu (in China) with the general catastrophe of 
 which the tradition is current in other countries. 
 
 The subject is in itself so inviting, and has so direct a 
 bearing upon the argument of this work that I propose to 
 re-examine the same materials and endeavour to show from 
 them that the possible solutions of the question have not 
 yet been exhausted. 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 117 
 
 We have as data : 
 
 1. The Biblical account. 
 
 2. That of Josephus. 
 
 3. The Babylonian. 
 
 4. The Hindu. 
 
 5. The Chinese. 
 
 6. The traditions of all nations in the northern 
 
 hemisphere, and of certain in the southern. 
 
 It is unnecessary to travel in detail over the well-worn 
 ground of the myths and traditions prevalent among Euro- 
 pean nations, the presumed identity of Noah with Saturn, 
 Janus, and the like, or the Grecian stories of Ogyges and 
 Deucalion. Nor is anyone, I think, disposed to dispute the 
 identity of the cause originating the Deluge legends in Persia 
 and in India. How far these may have descended from 
 independent sources it is now difficult to determine, though 
 it is more than probable that their vitality is due to the 
 written Semitic records. Nor is it necessary to discuss any 
 unimportant differences which may exist between the text of 
 Josephus and that of the Bible, which agree sufficiently 
 closely, but are mere abstracts (with the omission of many 
 important details) in comparison with the Chaldsean account. 
 This may be accounted for by their having been only derived 
 from oral tradition through the hands of Abraham. The 
 Biblical narrative shows us that Abraham left Chaldsea on a 
 nomadic enterprise, just as a squatter leaves the settled dis- 
 tricts of Australia or America at the present day, and strikes 
 out with a small following and scanty herd to search for, 
 discover, and occupy new country ; his destiny leading him, 
 may be for a few hundred, may be for a thousand miles. 
 In such a train there is no room for heavy baggage, and the 
 stone tablets containing the detailed history of the Deluge 
 would equally with all the rest of such heavy literature be 
 left behind. 
 
118 MYTHICAL MONSTEKS. 
 
 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 in the text of Berosus, 
 and in the more ancient Chaldaean tablets deciphered by 
 the late Mr. G. Smith from the collation of three separate 
 copies. 
 
 The account by Berosus (see Appendix) was taken from 
 the sacred books of Babylon, and is, therefore, of less value 
 than the last-mentioned as being second-hand. The leading 
 incidents in his narrative are similar to those contained in 
 that of Genesis, but it terminates with the vanishing of 
 Xisuthros (Noah) with his wife, daughter, and the pilot, 
 after they had descended from the vessel and sacrificed to 
 the gods, and with the return of his followers to Babylon. 
 They restored it, and disinterred the writings left (by the 
 pious obedience of Xisuthros) in Shurippak, the city of the 
 Sun. 
 
 The great majority of mythologists appear to agree in 
 assigning a much earlier date to the Deluge, than that which 
 has hitherto been generally accepted as the soundest interpre- 
 tation of the chronological evidence afforded by the Bible. 
 
 I have never had the advantage of finding the arguments 
 on which this opinion is based, formulated in association, 
 although, as incidentally referred to by various authors, they 
 appear to be mainly deduced from the references made, both 
 by sacred and profane writers, to large populations and 
 important cities existing subsequently to the Deluge, but 
 at so early a date, as to imply the necessity of a very long 
 interval indeed between the general annihilation caused by 
 the catastrophe, and the attainment of so high a pitch of 
 civilization and so numerous a population as their existence 
 implies. 
 
 Philologists at the same time declare that a similar inference 
 may be drawn from the vast periods requisite for the diver- 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 119 
 
 gence of different languages from the parent stock,* while the 
 testimony of the monuments and sculptures of ancient Egypt 
 assures us that race distinction of as marked a type as occurs 
 at the present day existed at so early a datef as to preclude 
 the possibility of the derivation of present nations from the 
 descendants of Noah within the limited period usually 
 allowed. 
 
 These difficulties vanish, if we consider the Biblical and 
 Chaldean narratives as records of a local catastrophe, of vast 
 extent perhaps, and resulting in general but not total destruc- 
 tion, whose sphere may have embraced the greater portion 
 of Western Asia, and perhaps Europe ; but which, while 
 wrecking the great centres of northern civilization, did not 
 extend southwards to Africa and Egypt 4 The Deluge legends 
 indigenous in Mexico at the date of the Spanish conquest, 
 combining the Biblical incidents of the despatch of birds 
 from a vessel with the conception of four consecutive ages 
 terminating in general destruction, and corresponding with 
 the four ages or Yugas of India, supply in themselves the 
 testimony of their probable origin from Asia. The cataclysm 
 which caused what is called the Deluge may or may not 
 have extended to America, probably not. In a future page 
 
 * Bunsen estimates that 20,000 years were requisite for the formation 
 of the Chinese language. This, however, is not conceded by other 
 philologists. 
 
 f Eawlinson quotes the African type on the Egyptian sculptures as 
 being identical with that of the negro of the present day. 
 
 J " While the tradition of the Deluge holds so considerable a place 
 in the legendary memories of all branches of the Aryan race, the monu- 
 ments and original texts of Egypt, with their many cosmogenic specu- 
 lations, have not afforded one, even distant, allusion to this cataclysm. 
 When the Greeks told the Egyptian priests of the Deluge of Deucalion, 
 their reply was that they had been preserved from, it as well as from the 
 conflagration produced by Phaeton ; they even added that the Hellenes 
 were childish in attaching so much importance to that event, as there 
 had been several local catastrophes resembling it." Lenormant, 
 Contemporary Review, November 1879. 
 
120 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 I shall enumerate a few of the resemblances between the 
 inhabitants of the New World and of the Old indicative of 
 their community of origin. 
 
 I refer the reader to M. Lenormant's valuable essay* for 
 his critical notice on the dual composition of the account in 
 Genesis, derived as it appears to be from two documents, one 
 of which has been called the Elohistic and the other the 
 Jehovistic account, and for his comparison of it with the 
 Chaldean narrative exhumed by the late Mr. George Smith 
 from the Eoyal Library of Nineveh, the original of which is 
 probably of anterior date to Moses, and nearly contempora- 
 neous with Abraham. 
 
 I transcribe from M. Lenormant the text of the Chaldean 
 narrative, because there are points in it which have not yet 
 been commented on, and which, as it appears to me, assist 
 in the solution of the Deluge story : 
 
 I will reveal to thee, O Izdhubar, the history of my preservation 
 and tell to thee the decision of the gods. 
 
 The town of Shurippak, a town which thou knowest, is situated on 
 the Euphrates. It was ancient, and in it [men did not honour] the gods. 
 [I alone, I was] their servant, to the great gods [The gods took 
 counsel on the appeal of] Anu [a deluge was proposed by] Bel [and 
 approved by Nabon, Nergal and] Adar. 
 
 And the god [fia,] the immutable lord, repeated this command in a 
 dream. I listened to the decree of fate that he announced, and he said 
 to me : " Man of Shurippak, son of Ubaratutu thou, build a vessel 
 and finish it [quickly]. By a [deluge] I will destroy substance and 
 life. Cause thou to go up into the vessel the substance of all that has 
 life. The vessel thou shalt build 600 cubits shall be the measure of 
 its length and 60 cubits the amount of its breadth and of its height. 
 [Launch it] thus on the ocean and cover it with a roof." I understood, 
 and I said to J&a, my lord : " [The vessel] that thou commaudest me 
 to build thus, [when] I shall do it young and old [shall laugh at 
 me]." [Ba opened his mouth and] spoke. He said to me, his servant : 
 " [If they laugh at thee] thou shalt say to them : [Shall be punished] 
 he who has insulted me, [for the protection of the gods] is over me. 
 .... like to caverns .... .... I will exercise my judgment 
 
 * Fran9ois Lenormant, "The Deluge; its Traditions in Ancient 
 Histories," Contemporary Review, vol. xxxvi. p. 465. 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 121 
 
 on that which is on high and that which is below .... .... 
 
 Close the vessel .... .... At a given moment that I shall 
 
 cause thee to know, enter into it, and draw the door of the ship towards 
 thee. Within it, thy grains, thy furniture, thy provisions, thy riches, 
 thy men-servants, and thy maid- servants, and thy young people the 
 cattle of the field and the wild beasts of the plain that I will assemble 
 and that I will send thee, shall be kept behind thy door." Khasis- 
 atra opened his mouth and spoke ; he said to fia, his lord : " No one 
 has made [such a] ship. On the prow I will fix .... 1 shall see 
 .... and the vessel .... the vessel thou comniandest me to build 
 [thus] which in . . . .* 
 
 On the fifth day [the two sides of the bark] were raised. In its 
 covering fourteen in all were its rafters fourteen in all did it count 
 above. I placed its roof and I covered it. I embarked in it on the 
 sixth day ; I divided its floors on the seventh ; I divided the interior 
 compartments on the eighth. I stopped up the chinks through which 
 the water entered in ; I visited the chinks and added what was wanting. 
 I poured on the exterior three times 3,600 measures of asphalte, 
 and three times 3,600 measures of asphalte within. Three times 3,600 
 men, porters, brought on their heads the chests of provisions. I kept 
 3,600 chests for the nourishment of my family, and the mariners 
 divided amongst themselves twice 3,600 chests. For [provisioning] I 
 had oxen slain ; I instituted [rations] for each day. In [anticipation 
 of the need of] drinks, of barrels and of wine [I collected in quan- 
 tity] like to the waters of a river, [of provisions] in quantity like to the 
 dust of the earth. [To arrange them in] the chests I set my hand to. 
 .... of the sun .... the vessel was completed. .... strong and 
 I had carried above >and below the furniture of the ship. [This 
 lading filled the two-thirds.] 
 
 All that I possessed I gathered together ; all I possessed of silver I 
 gathered together; all that I possessed of gold I gathered all that 
 I possessed of the substance of life of every kind I gathered together. 
 I made all ascend into the vessel ; my servants male and female, the 
 cattle of the fields, the wild beasts of the plains, and the sons of the 
 people, I made them all ascend. 
 
 Shamash (the sun) made the moment determined, and he an- 
 nounced it in these terms : " In the evening I will cause it to rain 
 abundantly from heaven ; enter into the vessel and close the door." 
 The fixed moment had arrived, which he announced in these terms : 
 "In the evening I will cause it to rain abundantly from heaven." 
 "When the evening of that day arrived, I was afraid, I entered into 
 the vessel and shut my door. In shutting the vessel, to Buzurshadi- 
 rabi, the pilot, I confided this dwelling with all that it contained. 
 
 Here several verses are wanting. 
 
122 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Mu-sheri-ina-namari* rose from the foundations of heaven in a 
 black cloud ; Rammanf thundered in the midst of the cloud and 
 Nabon and Sharru marched before ; they marched, devastating the 
 mountain and the plain ; NergalJ the powerful, dragged chastisements 
 after him ; Adar advanced, overthrowing before him ; the archangels 
 of the abyss brought destruction, in their terrors they agitated the 
 earth. The inundation of Kamman swelled up to the sky, and [the 
 earth] became without lustre, was changed into a desert. 
 
 They broke .... of the surface of the [earth like .... ; [they 
 destroyed] the living beings of the surface of the earth. The terrible 
 [Deluge] on men swelled up to [heaven]. The brother no longer saw his 
 brother ; men no longer knew each other. In heaven the gods became 
 afraid of the waterspout, and sought a refuge ; they mounted up to 
 the heaven of Anu.|| The gods were stretched out motionless, pressing 
 one against another like dogs. Ishtar wailed like a child, the great 
 goddess pronounced her discourse : " Here is humanity returned into 
 mud, and this is the misfortune that I have announced in the presence 
 of the gods. So I announced the misfortune in 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 to men, and like to the 
 race of fishes, there they are filling the sea ; and the gods by reason of 
 that which the archangels of the abyss are doing, weep with me." 
 The gods on their seats were seated in tears, and they held their lips 
 closed, [revolving] future things. 
 
 Six days and as many nights passed ; the wind, the waterspout, and 
 the diluvian rain were in all their strength. At the approach of the 
 seventh day the diluvian rain grew weaker, the terrible waterspout 
 which had assailed after the fashion of an earthquake grew calm, the 
 sea inclined to dry up, and the wind and the waterspout came to an end. 
 I looked at the sea, attentively observing and the whole of humanity 
 had returned to mud; like unto sea- weeds the corpses floated. I 
 opened the window, and the light smote on my face. I was seized with 
 sadness ; I sat down and I wept ; and my tears came over my face. 
 
 I looked at the regions bounding the sea ; towards the twelve points 
 of the horizon; not any continent. The vessel was borne above the 
 land of Nizir, the mountain of Nizir arrested the vessel, and did not 
 permit it to pass over. A day and a second day the mountain of Nizir 
 arrested the vessel, and did not permit it to pass over ; the third and 
 
 * " The water of the twilight at break of day," one of the personifi- 
 cations of rain. 
 
 f The god of thunder. 
 
 J The god of war and death. 
 
 The Chald seo- Assyrian Hercules. 
 
 || The superior heaven of the fixed stars. 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 123 
 
 fourth day the mountain of Nizir arrested the vessel, and did not permit 
 it to pass over ; the fifth and sixth day the mountain of Nizir arrested 
 the vessel, and did not permit it to pass over. At the approach of the 
 seventh day, I sent out and loosed a dove. The dove went, turned, and 
 found no place to light on, and it came back. I sent out and loosed 
 a swallow ; the swallow went, turned, and found no place 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 
 I offered a sacrifice. I raised the pile of my burnt-offering on the peak 
 of the mountain ; seven by seven I disposed the measured vases,* and 
 beneath I spread rushes, cedar, and juniper wood. The gods were seized 
 with the desire of it, the gods were seized with a benevolent desire of 
 it ; and the gods assembled like flies above the master of the sacrifice. 
 From afar, in approaching, the great goddess raised the great zones that 
 Anu has made for their glory (the gods'). f These gods, luminous 
 crystal before me, I will never leave them ; in that day I prayed that I 
 might never leave them. " Let the gods come to my sacrificial pile ! 
 but never may Bel come to my sacrificial pile ! for he did not master 
 himself, and he has made the waterspout for the Deluge, and he has 
 numbered my men for the pit." 
 
 From far, in drawing near, Bel saw the vessel, and Bel stopped ; 
 he was filled with anger against the gods and the celestial archangels : 
 " No one shall come out alive ! No man shall be preserved from the 
 abyss ! " Adar opened his mouth and said ; he said to the warrior 
 Bel : " What other than a should have formed this resolution ? for 
 Ea possesses knowledge and [he foresees] all." Ea opened his mouth 
 and spake ; he said to the warrior Bel : " thou, herald of the gods, 
 warrior, as thou didst not master thyself, thou hast made the water- 
 spout of the deluge. Let the sinner carry the weight of his sins, the 
 blasphemer the weight of his blasphemy. Please thyself with this 
 good pleasure, and it shall never be infringed ; faith in it never [shall 
 be violated]. Instead of thy making a new deluge, let hyaenas appear 
 and reduce the number of men ; instead of thy making a new deluge, 
 let there be famine, and let the earth be [devastated] ; -instead of thy 
 making a new deluge, let DibbaraJ appear, and let men be [mown 
 down]. 1 have not revealed the decision of the great gods ; it is 
 Khasisatra who interpreted a dream and comprehended what the gods 
 had decided." 
 
 Then, when his resolve was arrested, Bel entered into the vessel. He 
 
 * Vases of the measure called in Hebrew Setih. This relates to a 
 detail of the ritualistic prescriptions for sacrifice. 
 
 f These metaphorical expressions appear to designate the rainbow. 
 J The god of epidemics. 
 
124 MYTHICAL MONSTEUS. 
 
 took my hand and made me rise. He made my wife rise, and made her 
 place herself at my side. He turned around us and stopped short ; he 
 approached our group. " Until now Khasisatra has made part of 
 perishable humanity ; but lo, now, Khasisatra and his wife are going 
 to be carried away to live like the gods, and Khasisatra will reside 
 afar at the mouth of the rivers." They carried me away and established 
 me in a remote place at the mouth of the streams. 
 
 This narrative agrees with the Biblical one in ascribing 
 the inundation to a deluge of rain ; but adds further details 
 which connect it with intense atmospheric disturbance, similar 
 to that which would be produced by a series of cyclones, or 
 typhoons, of unusual seventy and duration. 
 
 The intense gloom, the deluge of rain, terrific violence of 
 wind, and the havoc both on sea and land, which accompany 
 the normal cyclones occurring annually on the eastern coast 
 of China, and elsewhere, and lasting but a few hours in any 
 one locality, can hardly be credited, except by those who 
 have experienced them. They are, however, sufficient to 
 render explicable the general devastation and loss of life 
 which would result from the duration of typhoons, or analo- 
 gous tempests, of abnormal intensity, for even 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 in the Biblical account. 
 
 As illustrating this I may refer to a few calamities of recent 
 date, which, though of trivial importance in comparison with 
 the stupendous event under our consideration, bring home to 
 us the terribly devastating power latent in the elements. 
 
 In Bengal, a cyclone on October 31, 1876, laid under 
 water three thousand and ninety-three square miles, and 
 destroyed two hundred and fifteen thousand lives. 
 
 A typhoon which raged in Canton, Hongkong, and Macao 
 on September 22, 1874, besides much other destruction, 
 destroyed several thousand people in Macao and the adjacent 
 villages, the number of corpses in the town being so numerous 
 that they had to be gathered in heaps and burnt with kerosene, 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 125 
 
 the population, without the Chinese who refused to lend 
 assistance, being insufficient to bury them. 
 
 A tornado in Canton, on April 11, 1878, destroyed, in the 
 course of a few minutes, two thousand houses and ten thou- 
 sand lives. 
 
 In view of these few historical facts, which might be 
 greatly supplemented, there appears to my mind to be no 
 difficulty in believing that the continuance, during even only 
 six days and six nights, of extraordinarily violent circular 
 storms over a given area, would, especially if accompanied by 
 so-called tidal or earthquake waves, be sufficient to wreck all 
 sea-going and coasting craft, all river boats, inundate every 
 country embraced within it to a very great extent, submerge 
 each metropolis, city, or village, situate either in the deltas 
 of rivers, or higher up their course, sap, unroof, batter down, 
 and destroy all dwellings on the highlands, level forests, 
 destroy all domestic animals, sweep away all cultivated soil, 
 or bury it beneath an enormous thickness of debris, tear away 
 the soil from the declivities of hills and mountains, destroy 
 all shelter, and hence, by exposure, most of those wretched 
 human beings who might have escaped drowning on the 
 lower levels. The few survivors would with difficulty escape 
 starvation, or death from subsequent exposure to the deadly 
 malaria which would be liberated by the rooting up of the 
 accumulated debris of centuries. This latter supposition 
 appears to me to be directly indicated by the passage towards 
 the end of the extract referring to famine, and to the devas- 
 tation of the earth by Dibbara (the god of epidemics). 
 
 It is noticeable that in this account there is no suggestion 
 of complete immersion, Khasisatra simply says there is not 
 any continent (i.e. all the hill ranges within sight would 
 stand out from the inundation like islands), while he speaks 
 of his vessel being arrested by the mountain of Nizir, which 
 must consequently have been above the surface of the water. 
 
 Neither is there any such close limitation of the number 
 
126 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 of persons preserved, as in the Biblical story, for Khasisatra 
 took with him his men-servants, maid-servants, and his 
 young people, while the version transmitted by Berosus (see 
 Appendix to this Chapter), states that Xisuthros embarked 
 his wife, children, and his intimate friends, and that these 
 latter subsequently founded numerous cities, built temples, 
 and restored Babylon. 
 
 We have thus a fair nucleus for starting a fresh population 
 in the Euphrates valley, which may have received accessions 
 from the gradual concentration of scattered survivors, and 
 from the enterprise of maritime adventurers from the African 
 coast and elsewhere, possibly also nomads from the north, 
 east, and west may have swelled the numbers, and a polyglot 
 community have been established, which subsequently, through 
 race distinctions, jealousies, and incompatibility of language, 
 became again dismembered, as recorded in the history of the 
 attempted erection of the Tower of Babel. 
 
 Confining our attention for the moment to this one locality, 
 we may imagine that the young population would not be 
 deterred by any apprehension of physical danger from re- 
 inhabiting such of the old cities as remained recognizable ; 
 since we see that men do not hesitate to recommence the 
 building of cities overthrown by earthquake shocks almost 
 before the last tremblings are over ; or, as in the case of 
 Herculaneum and Pompeii, within the range of volcanoes 
 which may have already repeatedly vomited destroying floods 
 of lava. Yet, in this instance, they would probably invest 
 the calamity with a supernatural horror, and regard it, as the 
 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, and with it all the treasures of art and 
 literature which they contained.* 
 
 * It is probably as much from a superstitious sentiment as upon 
 merely physical grounds that many of the deserted cities in Asia have 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 127 
 
 The Hindu account is taken from the S'atapatha-Brdhmana, 
 a work of considerable antiquity, being one of a series which 
 Professor Max Miiller believes to have been written eight 
 hundred years before Christ. A literal translation of the 
 legend, as given in this venerable work, is as follows : 
 
 " To Manu in the morning they brought water for wash- 
 ing, just as they bring it for washing the hands. As he was 
 using the water, a fish came into his hand. This (fish) said 
 to him, ' Preserve me, and I will save thee. J (Manu said), 
 1 From what wilt thou preserve me ? ' (The fish replied), 
 1 A flood will carry away all these creatures ; from that I will 
 preserve thee.' (Manu said), ' How is thy preservation (to 
 be effected) ? ' (The fish replied), f As long as we are small, 
 there is great danger of our destruction ; fish even devours 
 fish : at first preserve me in a jar. When I grow too big for 
 that, cut a trench, and preserve me in that. When I out- 
 grow 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 fish said), ' 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 
 year indicated by the fish (Manu) made a ship and wor- 
 shipped the fish. When the flood rose he entered the ship ; 
 the fish swam near him : he attached the cable of the ship 
 to his (the fish's) horn. By this means the fish carried him 
 over the northern mountain (Himalayas). (The fish said), 
 
 been abandoned ; while, as a noticeable instance, we may quote Gour, 
 the ruined capital of Bengal, which is computed to have extended from 
 fifteen to twenty miles along the bank of the river, and three in depth. 
 The native tradition is that it was struck by the wrath of the gods in 
 the form of an epidemic which slew the whole population. Another 
 case is the reputed presence of a ruined city, in the vicinity of the 
 populous city of Nanking, 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 the vicinity profess to have lost all record. 
 
128 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 1 1 have preserved thee : fasten the ship to a tree. But lest 
 the water cut thee off whilst thou art on the mountain, as 
 fast as the water subsides thou wilt descend with it,' Ac- 
 cordingly he descended (with the water) ; hence this became 
 * Manu's Descent ' from the northern mountain. The flood 
 had carried away all those creatures, Manu alone was left. 
 He being desirous of offspring performed a sacred rite ; there 
 also he offered a p&fca-sacrifice. With clarified butter, 
 coagulated milk, whey, and curds, he made an offering to 
 the waters. In a year a female was produced ; and she arose 
 unctuous from the moisture, with clarified butter under her 
 feet. Mitra and Varuna came to her; and said to her, 
 4 Who art thou?' (She said), ' The daughter of Manu.' 
 (They said), ' Say (thou art) our (daughter).' ' No,' she 
 replied, ' I am verily (the daughter) of him who begot me/ 
 They desired a share in her ; she agreed and did not agree. 
 She went on and came to Manu. Manu said to her, ' Who 
 art thou ? ' * Thy daughter,' she replied. * How, revered 
 one, art thou my daughter ? ' (She replied), * The offerings 
 which thou hast cast upon the waters, clarified butter, coagu- 
 lated milk, whey, and curds, from them thou hast generated 
 me. I am a blessing. Do thou introduce me into the sacrifice. 
 If thou wilt introduce me into the sacrifice, thou wilt be 
 (blessed) with abundance of offspring and cattle. Whatever 
 blessing thou shalt ask through me, will all be given to 
 thee.' Thus he introduced her in the middle of the sacri- 
 fice ; for the middle of the sacrifice is that which comes 
 between the final and the introductory prayers. He, desirous 
 of offspring, meditating and 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 accounts is remarkable. We have the announce- 
 ment of the Deluge, the construction of a ship, the pre- 
 servation therein of a representative man, the settlement of 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 129 
 
 the vessel on a mountain, the gradual subsidence of the 
 water, and the subsequent re-peopling of the world by the 
 man thus preserved. The very scene of the cataclysm is in 
 singular agreement with the other accounts ; for the flood is 
 said to carry Manu " over the northern mountain." This 
 places the scene of the Deluge in Central Asia, beyond the 
 Himalaya mountains, and it proves that the legend embodies 
 a genuine tradition brought by the progenitors of the Hindus 
 from their primaeval home, whence also radiated the Semitic 
 and Sinitic branches of mankind. 
 
 There has been much discussion as to whether the great 
 inundation which occurred in China during the reign of Yao 
 is identical with that of Genesis or not. The close proximity 
 of date lends a strong support to the assumption, and the 
 supposition that the scene of the Biblical Deluge was local in 
 its origin, but possibly widespread in its results, further 
 favours the view. 
 
 As the rise of the Nile at Cairo is the only intimation 
 which the inhabitants of Lower Egypt have of the tropical 
 rains of Central Africa, so the inundation of the countries 
 adjacent to the head waters of the great rivers of China may 
 alone have informed the inhabitants of that country of serious 
 elemental disturbances, only reaching, and in a modified 
 form, their western frontier ; and it may well have been that 
 the deluge which caused a national annihilation in Western 
 Asia was only a national calamity in the eastern portion 
 of it. 
 
 This view is strengthened if we consider that Chinese his- 
 tory has no record of any deluge prior to this, which could 
 hardly have been the case had the Chinese migrated from 
 their parent stock subsequent to an event of such importance ; 
 assuming that it had occurred, as there seems valid reason to 
 suppose, within the limits of written history. The anachronism 
 between the two dates assigned by Chinese authors (2297 B.C.) 
 
 9 
 
130 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 and the Jewish historian's calculation (2104 B.C.) is only one 
 hundred and ninety-three years, and this is not so great but 
 that we may anticipate its being explained at some future 
 date. Strauchius' computation of 2293 B.C. for the date of 
 the Biblical deluge is within four years, and Ussher's (2349- 
 2348) within fifty-one of the Chinese one. The reason for 
 supposing the deluge of Yao to be historically true, will be 
 inferred from the arguments borrowed from Mr. Legge on 
 the subject of the Shu-king, in another portion of this 
 volume. It is detailed in the great Chinese work on history, 
 the T'ung-keen-kang-muh, by Choo He, of which De Mailla's 
 History of China professes to be a translation. 
 
 This states that the inundation happened in the sixty-first 
 year of the reign of Yao (2297 B.C.), and that the waters of 
 the Yellow River mingled with those of the Ho-hi-ho and 
 the Yangtsze, ruining all the agricultural country, which was 
 converted into one vast sea. 
 
 But neither in the Bamboo Books nor in the Shu-king do 
 we find that any local phenomena of importance occurred, 
 with the exception of the inundation. 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'ung to regulate 
 the Ho, and degraded him in his sixty-ninth for being unable 
 to effect it, as we learn elsewhere. 
 
 The Shu is more explicit. The Emperor, consulting one 
 of his chief officials on the calamity, says : " chief of 
 the four mountains, destructive in their overflow are the 
 waters of the inundation. In their vast extent they embrace 
 the mountains and overtop the hills, threatening the heavens 
 with their floods, so that the inferior people groan and 
 
 murmur." 
 
 According to De Mailla's translation, K'wan laboured use- 
 lessly for nine years, the whole country was overrun with 
 briars and brushwood, the people had almost forgotten the 
 art of cultivating the ground they were without the neces- 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYZH. 131 
 
 sary seeds and wild animals and birds destroyed all their 
 attempts at agriculture. 
 
 In this extremity Yao consulted Shun, his subsequent 
 successor, who recommended the appointment of Yu, the 
 son of K'wan, in his father's place. 
 
 Yu was more successful, and describes his labours as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " The inundating waters seemed to assail the heavens, 
 and in their vast extent embraced the mountains and over- 
 topped the hills, so that people were bewildered and over- 
 whelmed. I mounted my four conveyances,* and all along 
 the hills hewed down the woods, at the same time, 
 along with Yih, showing the multitudes how to get flesh 
 to eat. 
 
 " I also opened passages for the streams throughout the 
 nine provinces, and conducted them to the sea. I deepened, 
 moreover, the channels and canals, and conducted them to 
 the streams, at the same time, along with Tseih, sowing 
 grain, and showing the multitudes how to procure the food 
 of toil in addition to flesh meat." 
 
 Yu's success is simply chronicled in the Bamboo Books as, 
 " In his seventy-fifth year.Yu, the Superintendent of Works, 
 regulated the Ho." 
 
 There was a legend extant in China in the times of Pinto, 
 which he gives in his book, of the original Chinese having 
 migrated from a region in the West, and, following the 
 course of the Ho in boats, finally settling in the country 
 adjacent to Pekin. That some such event took place is 
 not unlikely. Its acceptance would explain much that is 
 difficult. 
 
 The pioneers, pushing through a country infested with 
 
 * i.e. (according to the Historical Records) a carriage to travel along 
 the dry land, a boat to travel along the water, a sledge to travel through 
 miry places, and, by using spikes, to travel on the bills. 
 
 9 * 
 
132 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 hostile aborigines, who would immediately after their passage 
 close up the road of communication behind them pioneers who 
 may have been fugitives from their kindred through political 
 commotions, or expelled by successful enemies would have 
 a further barrier against return, even were they disposed to 
 attempt it, in the strong opposing current which had borne 
 them safely to their new homes. 
 
 It is probable that such a journey would form an entirely 
 new departure for their history, and that a few generations 
 later it would resemble a nebulous chronological zone, on 
 the far side of which could be dimly seen myths of persons 
 and events representing in reality the history of the not very 
 remote ancestors from whom they had become separated. 
 The early arrivals would have been too much occupied with 
 establishing themselves in their new dominions to be able to 
 give much attention to keeping records or preserving other 
 than the most utilitarian branches of knowledge which they 
 had brought with them. The volumes of their ancestors 
 were probably, like the clay tablets of the royal library of 
 Babylon, not of a portable nature, at all events to fugi- 
 tives, whose knowledge would, therefore, be rather of a 
 practical than of a cultivated nature, and this would 
 soon become limited for a while to their chiefs and reli- 
 gious instructors, the exigencies of a colony menaced with 
 danger prohibiting any general acquisition or extension of 
 learning. 
 
 In this way we can account for the community of the 
 fables relating ^to the remote antiquity of the Chinese 
 with those of Chaldean and Indian mythology, and 
 with the highly civilized administration and astrological 
 knowledge possessed by Yao and Shun as herediton of 
 Fuh Hi, &c. 
 
 We can account for their possession of accurate delinea- 
 tions of the dragon, which would form an important decora- 
 tion of the standards and robes of ceremony which were 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 133 
 
 companions of their flight, while their descriptions of the 
 animal and its qualities would have already entered into the 
 realms of fanciful exaggeration and myth. 
 
 The dragon of Yao and Shun's time, and of Yu's time 
 was, in my opinion, an aquatic creature, an alligator ; but 
 the dragon of their ancestors was a land lizard, which may 
 even have existed down to the time of the great cataclysm 
 which we call the Deluge, and the memory of which is best 
 preserved in the Chinese drawings which have been handed 
 down from remote antiquity, and have travelled from the 
 great Central Asian centre, which was once alike its habitat 
 and that of their ancestors. Its history may perhaps become 
 evolved when the great store of book knowledge contained 
 in the cuneiform tablets, representing the culture of the 
 other branch of their great ethnological family, has been 
 more extensively explored. 
 
 Geologists of the present day have a great objection to the 
 bringing in of cataclysms to account for any considerable 
 natural changes, but this one I conceive to have been of so 
 stupendous a nature as to have been quite capable of 
 both extinguishing a species and confusing the recollection 
 of it. The mere fact of the story of the dragon having 
 survived such a period argues greatly, in my mind, for the 
 reality of its previous existence. 
 
 Extending our consideration, we are brought face to face 
 with another very important fact, namely, that a large pro- 
 portion of the human race content themselves with ephemeral 
 structures. Thus, for example, the Chinese neither 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 the tent ; and the wooden construction is always 
 imitated where the materials are stone or marble. The sup- 
 ports, often magnificent logs, brought, at great expense, 
 specially from the Straits, represent tent-poles ; and the roof 
 has always the peaked ends and the curves that recall the 
 
134 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 drooping canvas of the marquee. Architecture evidently 
 died early ; it never had life enough to assimilate the new 
 material which it found when it migrated into China Proper. 
 The yamen is a slightly glorified cottage ; the temple is an 
 improved yamen. Sculpture is equally neglected in this 
 (aesthetically) benighted country. The human form is as 
 dignified and sightly, to Chinese eyes at least, in China as in 
 the West ; but it never seems to have occurred, throughout 
 so many hundreds of years, to any Chinaman to perpetuate 
 it in marble or bronze, or to beautify a city with statues of 
 its deities or great men."* 
 
 What holds good of the Chinese now, probably holds good 
 of their ancestors and the race from which they parted com- 
 pany in Central Asia five thousand years ago, when they 
 pierced their way eastwards through the savage aborigines 
 of Thibet and Mongolia, pushing aside tribes which closed 
 in again behind them, so as to intercept their return or com- 
 munication with their mother country a country which may 
 have been equally careless of elaborating stupendous and 
 permanent works of architecture such as other nations glory 
 in possessing, and which, like the pyramids of Egypt and of 
 Central America, stand forth for thousands of years as land- 
 marks of the past. 
 
 We must, therefore, not be surprised if we do not imme- 
 diately discover the vestiges of the people of ten, fifteen, or 
 twenty thousand years ago. With an ephemeral architecture 
 (which, as we have seen, is all that a highly populous and 
 long civilized race actually possess), the sites of vast cities 
 may have become entirely lost to recollection in a few thou- 
 sands of years from natural decay, and how much more so 
 would this be the case if, as we may reasonably argue, minor 
 cataclysms have intervened, such as local inundations, earth- 
 quakes, deposition of volcanic ashes from even distant 
 
 * Balfour, North China Daily News, Feb. 11, 1881. 
 
THE DELUGE NOT A MYTH. 135 
 
 sources, the spread of sandy deserts, destruction of life by 
 exceptionally deadly pestilence, by miasma, or by the outpour 
 of sulphurous fumes. 
 
 We have shown in another chapter how the process of 
 extinction of species continues to the present day, and from 
 the nature of this process we may deduce that the number 
 of species which became extinct during the four or five 
 thousand years preceding the era of exact history must have 
 been considerable. 
 
 The less remarkable of these would expire unnoticed ; 
 and only those distinguished by their size, ferocity, and 
 dangerous qualities, or by some striking peculiarity, would 
 leave their impress on the mythology of their habitat. Their 
 exact history would be lost as the cities of their epoch 
 crumbled away, and during the passage through dark ages 
 of the people of their period and their descendants, and by 
 conquest or catastrophes such as we have referred to else- 
 where ; while the slow dispersion which appears to have 
 obtained among all nations would render the record of their 
 qualities the more confused as the myth which embalmed 
 it spread in circling waves farther and farther from its 
 original centre. 
 
 Amongst the most fell destroyer both of species and of 
 their history must have been the widespread, although not 
 universal, inundation known as the Biblical Deluge ; a deluge 
 which we think the evidence given in the foregoing pages, 
 and gathered from divers nations, justifies us in believing to 
 have really taken place, and not to be, as mythologists claim, a 
 mere ether myth. As to its date, allowance being made for 
 trifling errors, there is no reason for disputing the computa- 
 tion of Jewish chronology, especially as that is closely 
 confirmed by the entirely independent testimony of Chinese 
 history. 
 
 This interposes a vast barrier between us and the know- 
 ledge of the past, a barrier round which we pass for a short 
 
136 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 distance at either end when we study the history of the two 
 great streams of nations which have diverged from a common 
 centre, the Chinese towards the East, the Accadian Chal- 
 deans and Semites towards the West ; a barrier which we 
 may hope to surmount when we are ahle to discover and 
 explore the lost cities of that common centre, with the 
 treasures of art and literature which they must undoubtedly 
 possess. 
 
137 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 ON THE TRANSLATION OF MYTHS BETWEEN THE OLD AND 
 THE NEW WORLD. 
 
 INTERCOURSE between various parts of the old world and the 
 new was probably much more intimate even three or four 
 thousand years ago than we, or at all events our immediate 
 ancestors, have credited. The Deluge Tablets referred to in 
 another chapter contain items from which we gather that 
 sea-going vessels, well equipped and with skilled pilots, were 
 in vogue in the time of Noah, and there is wanting no better 
 proof of their seaworthiness than the fact that his particular 
 craft was able to weather a long-continued tempest which 
 would probably have sunk the greater part of those which 
 keep the seas at the present time. The older, Chinese 
 classics make constant allusions to maritime adventure, and 
 the discovery by Schliemann in ancient Troy* of vases with 
 
 * Dr. Schliemann found a vase in the lowest strata of his excavations 
 at Hissaiiik with an inscription in an unknown language. 
 
 Six years ago the Orientalist E. Burnouf declared it to be in Chinese, 
 for which he was generally laughed at at the time. 
 
 The Chinese ambassador at Berlin, Li Fang-pau, has read and trans- 
 lated the inscription, which states that three pieces of linen gauze are 
 packed in the vase for inspection. 
 
 The Chinese ambassador fixes the date of the inscription at about 
 1200 B.C., and further states that the unknown characters so frequently 
 occurring on the terra cotta are also in the Chinese language, which 
 would show that at this remote period commercial intercourse existed 
 between China and the eastern shores of Asia Minor and Greece. 
 Pop. Sci. Monthly, No. 98, p. 176, June 1880. 
 
138 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Chinese inscriptions confirms the notion that, at that date at 
 least, commercial exchange was effected between these two 
 widely-distant countries, either directly or by transfer through 
 different entrepots. 
 
 A more striking example, and one which carries us back 
 to a still earlier epoch, will be afforded if the reported dis- 
 covery of Chinese vestigia in Egyptian tombs is confirmed 
 by further investigation. 
 
 The fleets of King Solomon penetrated at least to India, 
 and detached squadrons* probably coasted from island to 
 island along the Malay archipelago ; while to descend by 
 gradation to modern times, we may quote the circumnaviga- 
 tion of Africa by Hanno the Carthaginian, f the discovery 
 
 * Pierre Bergeron suggests that Solomon's fleets, starting from 
 Ezion-geber (subsequently Berenice and now Alcacu), arrived at Babel- 
 mandeb, and then divided, one portion going to Malacca, Sumatra, or 
 Java, the other to Sofala, round Africa, and returning by way of Cadiz 
 and the Mediterranean to Joppa. 
 
 f There are various accounts of the circumnavigation of Africa in 
 old times. For example, Herodotus (Melpomene, 42) : " Libya shows 
 itself to be surrounded by water, except so much of it as borders upon 
 Asia. Neco, King of Egypt, was the first whom we know of that proved 
 this; he, when he had ceased digging the canal leading from the Nile 
 to the Arabian gulf, sent certain Phoenicians in ships with orders to 
 sail back through the pillars of Hercules into the Northern Sea, and so 
 to return to Egypt. The Phoenicians accordingly, setting out from the 
 Red Sea, navigated the Southern Sea ; when autumn came they went 
 ashore, and sowed the land, by whatever part of Libya they happened 
 to be sailing, and waited for harvest ; then, having reaped the corn, 
 they put to sea again. When two years had thus passed, in the third, 
 having doubled the pillars of Hercules, they arrived in Egypt, and 
 related what to me does not seem credible, but may to others, that as 
 they sailed round Libya, they had the sun on the right hand." Again, 
 Pliny tells us (Book ii. chap. Ixvii, Translation by Bostock and Eiley), 
 " While the power of Carthage was at its height, Hanno published an 
 account of a voyage which he made from Gades to the extremity of 
 Arabia : besides, we learn from Cornelius Nepos, that one Eudoxus, a 
 contemporary of his, when he was flying from King Lathyrus, set out 
 from the Arabian Gulf, and was carried as far as Gades. And long 
 
OLD AND NEW WORLD MYTHS. 139 
 
 of America prior to Columbus by the Chinese in the fifth 
 century, from the Asiatic side, and by the Norsemen under 
 Leif Ericsson in the year 1001, from the European ; and the 
 anticipation of the so-called discoveries of Van Diemen and 
 Tasman by the voyages of Arab and other navigators, from 
 whose records El Edrisi,* in the twelfth century, was enabled 
 to indicate the existence of New Guinea, and, I think, of the 
 northern coast of Australia. For although the identity with 
 Mexico of the country called Fu-sang, visited prior to A.D. 499 
 
 before him, Coelius Antipater informs us, that he had seen a person 
 who had sailed from Spain to Ethiopia for the purposes of trade. 
 The same Cornelius Nepos, when speaking of the northern circum- 
 navigation, tells us that 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 the Suevi, of certain Indians, who, sailing from 
 India for the purposes of commerce, had been driven by tempests 
 into Germany." 
 
 Ptolemy Lathy rus commenced his reign 117 B.C. and reigned for 
 thirty- six years. Cornelius Nepos is supposed to have lived in the 
 century previous to the Christian era, and Coelius Antipater to have been 
 born in the middle of the second century B.C. 
 
 * Edrisi compiled, under the instruction of Roger, King of Sicily, 
 Italy, Lombardy, and Calabria, an exhaustive geographical treatise 
 comprising information derived from numerous preceding works, 
 principally Arabic, and from the testimony of all the geographers of 
 the day. 
 
 Vide the Translation into French by M. Amedee Jaubert, 2 vols. 4to, 
 Paris, 1836, included in the Recueil de Voyages et de Memoires public par 
 la Society de Geograpliie. 
 
 " Ce pays touch celui de Wac Wac ou sont deux villes miserables et 
 inal peuplces a cause de la rarete des subsistances et du peu de ressource 
 en tout genre ; 1'une se nomme Derou et 1'autre Nebhena ; dans son 
 voisinage est un grand bourg nomme Da'rgha. Les naturels sont noirs, 
 de figure hideuse, de complexion difforme ; leur langage est une espece 
 de sifflement. Us sont absolument nus et sont peu visites (par les 
 ctrangers). Us vivent de poissons, de coquillages, et de tortues. Us 
 sont (comme il vienVd'etre dit) voisins de Tile ^-Wac_-J?afi dont nous 
 reparlerons, s'il plait a Dieu. Chacun de ces pays et de ces iles est situe 
 sur un grand golfe, on n'y trouve ni or, ni commerce, ni navire, ni betes 
 de somme." El Edrisi, vol. i. p. 79. 
 
140 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 by the Buddhist priest Hoei-shiu, has been disputed, yet the 
 arguments in favour of it seem to preponderate. These 
 were adduced primarily by Deguignes, and subsequently by 
 C. F. Neumann, Leland and others, and are based on the 
 facts stated in the short narrative in regard to distance, 
 description of the Maguey plant, or great aloe,* the absence 
 of iron, and abundance of copper, gold, and silver. 
 
 While there can be little question that the islands and 
 land of Wak Wak are respectively some of the Sunda 
 islands, New Guinea, and the adjacent portion of Australia, 
 it does not appear to have struck any of the commentators 
 on this question that the name " islands of Wak Wak " may 
 be assumed to signify simply "Bird of Paradise islands." 
 Wallace, in his Malay Archipelago, emphatically remarks that 
 in the interior of the forests of New Guinea the most striking 
 sound is the cry " Wok Wok " of the great Bird of Paradise, - 
 and we may therefore reasonably speculate on the bird 
 having been known as the Wok Wok, and the islands as the 
 Wok Wok islands, 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 Wak Wak being , 
 the home of the lovely maiden captured by Hasan (in the 
 charming story of Hasan of El Basrah in the Arabian Nights), 
 after she had divested herself of her bird skin, and to which 
 he had to make so weary a pilgrimage from island to island, 
 and sea to sea, in search of her after her escape from him. 
 It is evident that among the wonders related by navigators 
 of islands so remote and unfrequented, not the least would 
 be the superavian loveliness of the Birds of Paradise, and 
 from the exaggerated narratives of travellers may have 
 
 * The Agave Americans, which substance has as many uses among 
 the Mexicans as the bamboo (the iron of China) among the Chinese, or 
 the camel among nomads. 
 
OLD AND NEW WORLD MYTHS. 141 
 
 arisen the beautiful fable incorporated in the Arabian Nights, 
 as well as that other recorded by Eesa or Moosa the son of 
 El Mubarak Es Serafee.* "Here, too, is a tree that bears 
 fruit like women with bodies, eyes, limbs, &c. like those of 
 women ; they have beautiful faces, and are suspended by the 
 hair ; they come forth from integuments like large leathern 
 bags ; and when they feel the air and the sun they cry out 
 ' Wak Wak ' until their hair is cut, and when it is cut they 
 die ; and the people of these islands understand their cry, 
 and augur ill from it." This, after all, is not more absurd 
 than the story of the origin of the barnacle duck, extant and 
 believed in Europe until within the last century or so. 
 
 El Edrisi, who, in common with the geographers of the 
 period, believed in a great antarctic continent, after describing 
 Sofala with its mines of gold, abundance of iron, &c., jumps 
 at once to the mainland of Wak Wak, which he describes as 
 possessing two towns situated on a great gulf (Carpentaria ?), 
 and a savage population. f 
 
 The two small towns may very well have been encamp- 
 ments of the aborigines, or trading stations of Malay 
 merchants. 
 
 It may be noted that this identification of Wak Wak is in 
 opposition to the view entertained by some commentators ; 
 for example, Professor de G-oeje of Leyden has recently 
 identified the Sila islands (which had previously been consi- 
 
 * 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. See Scriptorum Arabum de 
 Rebus Indicis, J. Gilderneister, Bonn, 1838. 
 
 f The diggings are seventy to one hundred and fifty miles from Port 
 Darwin. There is gold on Victoria River. 
 
 Jacks, in his report to the Queensland Government, published March 
 or April of 1880, reports no paying gold in Yorke's peninsula. 
 
 One hundred miles from Port Darwin and twenty-six miles from the 
 Adelaide River a new rush occurred in July 1880 : nuggets from 70 to 
 80 oz. of common occurrence ; one found weighed 187 oz. 
 
142 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 dered as being Japan) with Corea, and Wak Wak with 
 Japan ; but this does not agree with El Edrisi's account of 
 the people being black, unclothed, and living on fish, shell, 
 and tortoises (turtles), without gold, commerce, ships, or 
 beasts of burden. Elsewhere El Edrisi says the women are 
 entirely naked, and only wear combs of ivory ornamented 
 with mother of pearl. 
 
 Lane thinks the Arabs applied the name of Wak Wak to 
 all the islands with which they were acquainted on the east 
 and south-east of Borneo. Es Serafee, beside the details 
 given in a previous note, also says, " From one of these 
 islands of Wak Wak there issueth a great torrent like pitch, 
 which floweth into the sea, and the fish are burnt thereby, 
 and float upon the water." And Hasan, in the story quoted 
 above, has, in order to reach the last of the seven islands of 
 Wak Wak, to pass over the third island, the land of the 
 Jinn, " where by reason of the vehemence of the cries of 
 the Jann, and the rising of the flames about, of the sparks 
 and the smoke from their mouths, and the harsh sounds 
 from their throats, and their insolence, they will obstruct the 
 way before us," &c. &c. I think that in each of these latter 
 instances, the volcanic islands of Java, and other of the 
 Sunda islands are indicated. 
 
 The information in our possession is as yet too meagre 
 to permit of our indulging in any profitable consideration of 
 the sources from which originated those nations which 
 peopled America during the very early pre-traditional ages, 
 of which geological evidence is accumulating daily. In fact, 
 the theories on this point have advanced so little beyond the 
 limits of speculation that I feel it unnecessary to do more 
 than quote one of them, as summarized in the ensuing 
 extract. " Professor Flowers, in remarking upon recent 
 palaeontological investigations, which prove that an immense 
 number of forms of terrestrial animals that were formerly 
 supposed to be peculiar to the Old World are abundant in 
 
- OLD AND NEW WORLD MYTHS. 143 
 
 the New ; and that many, such as the horse, rhinoceros, 
 and the camel, are more numerous in species and varieties in 
 the latter, infers that the means of land communication must 
 have been very different to what it is now, and that it is 
 quite as likely 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 of the earth now 
 covered with sea."* 
 
 The most commonly accepted theory with regard to the 
 origin of those who have peopled the American continent, 
 within the limits of tradition, is that they are of Asiatic 
 descent, and that the migration has been effected in compara- 
 tively recent times by way of Behring Straits, and supple- 
 mented by chance passages from Southern Asia by way of 
 the Polynesian islands, or from the north of Africa, across 
 the Atlantic. There are, however, some who elaborate 
 Professor Flowers' suggestion, and contend, in opposition to 
 the more generally received opinion, that the peopling of the 
 present countries of the Old World has in fact been effected 
 from the New. 
 
 For instance, a proficient Aztec scholar, Senor Altamiranof 
 of Mexico, argues that the Aztecs were a race, originating 
 in the unsubmerged parts of America, as old as the Asiatics 
 themselves, and that Asia may in fact have been peopled from 
 Mexico; while Mr. E. J. Elliott, in quoting him, says: 
 " From the ruins recently found, the most northern of any 
 yet discovered, the indications of improved architecture, the 
 work of different ages, can be traced in a continual chain to 
 Mexico, when they culminate in massive and imposing struc- 
 tures, thus giving some proof by circumstantial evidence to 
 Altamirano's reasoning." 
 
 * Scientific American, Aug. 14, 1880. 
 
 f E. J. Elliott, " The Age of Cave Dwellers in America," Pop. Sci< 
 Monthly, vol. xv. p. 488. 
 
144 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Again, " Dr. Rudolf Falb* discovers that the language 
 spoken by the Indians in Peru and Bolivia, especially in 
 Quichua and Aymara, exhibits the most astounding affinities 
 with the Semitic languages, and particularly with the Arabic 
 in which tongue Dr. Falb himself has been skilled from 
 his boyhood. Following up the links of this discovery, he 
 has first found a connecting link with the Aryan roots, and, 
 secondly, has arrived face to face with the surprising revela- 
 tion that the Semitic roots are universally Aryan. The 
 common stems of all the variants are found in their purest 
 condition in Quichua and Aymara, from which fact Dr. Falb 
 derives the conclusion that the high plains of Peru and 
 Bolivia must be regarded as the point of exit of the present 
 human race." 
 
 On the other hand, Mr. E. B. Tylor, in the course of an 
 article upon Backgammon among the Aztecs, f which he 
 argues must have reached them from Asia, and very likely 
 through Mexico, points out that the myths and religion of 
 the North American tribes contain many fancies well known 
 to Asia, which they were hardly likely to have hit upon inde- 
 pendently, and which they had not learned from white men : 
 " Such as the quaint belief that the world is a monstrous 
 tortoise floating on the waters ; and an idea which the Sioux 
 have in common with the Tartars, that it is sinful to chop or 
 poke with a sharp instrument the burning log on the fire." 
 He quotes Alexander von Humboldt as having " argued years 
 ago that the Mexicans did and believed things which were at 
 once so fanciful and so like the fancies of the Asiatics that 
 there must have been communication. Would two nations," 
 he asks, " have taken independently to forming calendars of 
 days and years by repeating and combining cycles of animals, 
 such as tiger, dog, ape, hare, &c. ? Would they have deve- 
 
 * Scientific American, Jan. 24, 1880. 
 
 f Macmillan's Magazine, quoted in Pop. Sci. Monthly, No. 82. 
 
OLD AND NEW WORLD MYTHS. 145 
 
 loped independently similar astrological fancies about these 
 signs governing the periods they began, and being influential 
 each over a particular limb or organ of men's bodies ? 
 Would they, again, have evolved separately out of this con- 
 sciousness the myths of the world and its inhabitants having, 
 at the end of several successive periods, been destroyed by 
 elemental catastrophes ? " 
 
 He adds, " It may very well have been the same agency 
 which transported to Mexico the art of bronze-making, the 
 computation of time by periods of dogs and apes, the casting 
 of nativity, and the playing of backgammon. " 
 
 Then, again, we have the theory of those, now indeed few 
 in number, who hold that the present Indian inhabitants of 
 America were a distinctly indigenous race. Lord Kaimes, in 
 his Sketches of the History of Man, says, " I venture still 
 further, which is to conjecture that America has not been 
 peopled from any part of the Old World." Voltaire had 
 preceded him in this line of argument, relying on ridicule 
 rather than on reason. " The same persons that readily 
 admit that the beavers of Canada are of Canadian origin, 
 assert that the men must have come there in boats, and that 
 Mexico must have been peopled by some of the descendants 
 of Magog."* 
 
 Missionaries of various sects have endeavoured to identify 
 the Ked man with the lost ten tribes. Adair conceived the 
 language of the Southern Indians to be a corruption of 
 Hebrew, and the Jesuit Lafitan, in his history of the savages 
 of America, maintained that the Caribee language was radi- 
 cally Hebrew. 
 
 Mr. John Josselyn,t in an account of the Mohawks, states 
 that their language is a dialect of the Tartars, and Dr. 
 Williamson, in his history of North Carolina, considers it 
 
 * CEuvres, I. 7, pp. 197, 198. 
 
 f . Two Voyages to New England, p. 124 ; London, 1673. 
 
 10 
 
146 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 can hardly be questioned that the Indians of South America 
 are descended from a class of the Hindoos in the southern 
 part of Asia. 
 
 Amongst others, Captain Don Antonio del Rio, who 
 described the ruins of an ancient city in Guatemala, believed 
 that they were the relics of a civilization founded by Phoeni- 
 cian colonists who had crossed the Atlantic ocean ; and yet 
 another theory is propounded by Mr. Knox,* who considers 
 the extinct Guanches, formerly inhabiting the Canary and 
 Cape de Verde islands, to have closely resembled the Egyp- 
 tians in certain particulars. He goes on to observe, " Now 
 cross the Atlantic, and in a nearly parallel zone of the earth, 
 or at least in one not far removed, we stumble 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 Egyptian character reappear hieroglyphics, 
 monolithic temples, pyramids ; who erected these monuments 
 on the American continent ? Perhaps at some remote period 
 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-building people." 
 
 It is not impossible that all of these theories may be 
 correct, and that numerous migrations may have been made 
 at various periods by different nations, the most facile would 
 of course be that from North -Eastern Asia by way of the 
 Aleutian islands, for, as the author of Fu-sang well remarks, 
 a sailor in an open boat might cross from Asia to America 
 by that route in summer time, and hardly ever be out of 
 sight of land ; and this in a part of the sea generally 
 abounding in fish, as is proved by the fishermen who inhabit 
 many of these islands, on which fresh water is always to be 
 found. But it is more than likely that the direct route, 
 
 * Eobert Knox, The Races of Men j London, 1850, 
 
OLD AND NEW WORLD MYTHS. 147 
 
 from the islands of Japan to the coast of California or 
 Mexico, was also occasionally followed, voluntarily or in- 
 voluntarily, by mariners impelled by enterprise, religious 
 motives, or stress of weather. 
 
 Colonel B. Kennon, as an evidence of the possibility of 
 junks performing long ocean voyages, adduces the instance 
 of a Japanese junk picked up by an American whaler two 
 thousand three hundred miles south-east of Japan, and of 
 others which had drifted among the Aleutian islands nearly 
 half-way over to San Francisco ; and in noting the resem- 
 blance and probable co-origin of the Sandwich Islanders with 
 the Japanese, he adverts to the " ancient and confirmed 
 habit of both Japanese and Chinese of taking women to sea 
 with them, or of traders keeping their families on board, 
 which would fully account for the population of those 
 islands," or, to extend the argument, of points on the 
 American continent. The Jewish element might easily be 
 introduced through this channel, for the occasional admixture 
 of Jewish blood both among the Chinese and Japanese is 
 so strongly marked, as to have induced some authors to 
 contend for the absolute descent of the latter people at least 
 from Jewish parentage. 
 
 It must also be remembered that the waters of both the 
 North and South Pacific are peculiarly favourable to the 
 navigation of small craft, and that Captain Bligh, after 
 the mutiny on board the Bounty, was able to safely perform 
 a journey of two thousand miles in an open boat; while all 
 the islands both in North and South Polynesia must neces- 
 sarily have been gradually peopled by the drifting over the 
 ocean of stray canoes. 
 
 Again, as the tradition of the existence of a large conti- 
 nent west of the African coast was extant amongst the 
 Egyptian priests long before the days of Solon, and, as I 
 shall show hereafter, among the Carthaginians and Tyrrhe- 
 nians, it is, I think, more than probable that both Phoenician 
 
 10 * 
 
]48 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 and Egyptian mariners, either acting under a Koyal Com- 
 mission, or influenced by mercantile considerations, would 
 endeavour to discover it, and, as in the case of Columbus, 
 would have no difficulty in stretching across the Atlantic 
 before a fair trade wind, though they might be less successful 
 than him on their return. 
 
 The possibility of the existence of a large island or conti- 
 nent, midway between the Old and New World, within the 
 traditional period, is included in the important question, 
 which is still sub judice amongst geologists, whether the 
 general disposition of land and water has or has not been 
 variable during past ages. Sir Charles Lyell held the first 
 view, and was of opinion* that complete alternations of the 
 positions of continent and ocean had repeatedly occurred in 
 geological time. 
 
 The opposite idea has been suggested at various dates by 
 eminent authorities, suggested rather than sustained by 
 elaborate arguments, until recently, 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 of continents, dwells forcibly upon Dr. Darwin's 
 inference from the paucity of oceanic islands affording frag- 
 ments of either Palaeozoic or Secondary formations "that 
 perhaps during the Palaeozoic and Secondary periods neither 
 continents nor continental islands existed where our oceans 
 now extend ; for, had they existed, Palaeozoic and Secondary 
 formations would in all probability have been accumulated 
 from sediment derived from their wear and tear ; and these 
 would have been at least partially upheaved by the oscillations 
 of level which must have intervened during these enor- 
 mously long periods. If, then, we may infer anything from 
 these facts, we may infer that, where our oceans now extend, 
 oceans have extended from the remotest period of which we 
 
 * Principles of Geology, chap. xii. 
 
OLD AND NEW WORLD MYTHS. 149 
 
 have any record ; and, on the other hand, that where conti- 
 nents now exist, large tracts of land have existed, subjected 
 no doubt to great oscillations of level, since the Cambrian 
 period." 
 
 I am not aware whether Dr. Darwin has expressed himself 
 more authoritatively on this point in later works, or whether 
 the whole question has been discussed in detail otherwise 
 than by Mr. Wallace in the chapter 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 powerful argu- 
 ments which he himself has enunciated in favour of a 
 similar conclusion. There is no doubt that the paucity of 
 any but volcanic or coralline islands throughout the greatest 
 extent of existing oceans has a certain but not absolute 
 significance, so far as recent geological epochs are concerned. 
 
 There is another line of reasoning, debated by Mr. Wal- 
 lace, based on the formation of the Palaeozoic and Secondary 
 strata from the waste of broken continents and islands occu- 
 pying generally the site of the existing continents, and 
 separated by insignificant distances of inland sea or exten- 
 sions from the adjacent oceans. It is soundly based on their 
 lithological structure, as generally indicative of a littoral and 
 shallow water origin, but it seems to me to be only positive 
 so far as it shows that, throughout geological time, some land 
 has existed somewhere within the limits of the present up- 
 heaval, and simply negative as to what may or may not have 
 been the condition of what are now the great ocean spaces 
 of the 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 a corresponding eleva- 
 tion elsewhere, in order that the same relative areas of 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 
 
150 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 researches by the Challenger expedition against the advocates 
 of the intermutations of land and ocean, and, in pursuing 
 another line of reasoning from Mr. Wallace, has estimated 
 the solid contents of ocean and land above the sea-level 
 respectively, as bearing the proportion of thirty-six to one. 
 So that, supposing all the existing land of the globe to sink 
 down to the sea-level, this subsidence would be balanced by 
 the elevation of only one thirty-sixth part of the existing 
 ocean floor from its present depth to the same level. 
 
 It must be admitted that the balance of argument was 
 until lately considerably against the former existence of the 
 country of Atlantis, whose ghostly outlines, however, we 
 could almost imagine to be sketched out by faint contours in 
 the chart illustrative of the North Atlantic portion of the 
 Challenger investigations. But it was not so overwhelming as 
 to entitle us to ignore the story entirely as a fable. I do not 
 conceive it impossible that some centrally situated and 
 perhaps volcanic island may once have existed, sufficiently 
 important to have served as the basis of simple legends, 
 which, under the enchantment of distance and time became 
 metamorphosed and enriched. 
 
 Mr. A. K. Grote suggests that it is simply a myth founded 
 on the observation of low-lying clouds in a sun-flushed sky, 
 which gave the appearance 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 was the origin of our present civilization, 
 that its kings are represented by the gods of Greek mytho- 
 logy, and that its destruction originated our Deluge story. 
 
 The well-known story is contained in an epic of Plato, of 
 which two fragments only remain, found in two dialogues 
 (the TimsBus and the Critias). Critias is represented as 
 telling an old-world story, handed down in his family from 
 
 * Atlantis, by Ignatius Donelly ; New York, 1882. 
 
OLD AND NEW WORLD MYTHS. 151 
 
 his great-grandfather Dropidas, who had heard it from Solon, 
 who had it from the Egyptian priests of Sais.* 
 
 ^Elian, again, contains an extract from Theophrastus, who 
 wrote in the time of Alexander the Great, which can hardly 
 imply anything else than an acquaintance with America. It 
 is in the form of a dialogue between Midas the Phrygian and 
 Silenus. 
 
 The latter informs Midas that Europe, Asia, and Africa 
 were but islands surrounded on all sides by sea, but that 
 there was a continent situated beyond these which was of 
 immense dimensions, even without limits, and that it was so 
 luxuriant as to produce animals of prodigious magnitude. 
 That there men grew to double the size of themselves, and 
 that they lived to a far greater age, that they had many 
 cities, and their usages and laws were different from their 
 own ; that in one city there was more than a million of 
 inhabitants, and that gold and silver were there in vast 
 quantities. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus gives an account of what could only have 
 been the mainland 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 Africa there 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 no scarcity of level expanse, which excels in plea- 
 santness, for navigable rivers flow through and irrigate it. 
 Gardens abound, stored with various trees and numerous 
 orchards, intersected by pleasant streams. 
 
 " The towns are adorned with sumptuous edifices, and 
 
 * It is given in great detail by Mr. Donelly ; want of space forbids 
 my including it. 
 
152 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 drinking taverns, beautifully situated in gardens, are every- 
 where met with ; as the convenient situation of these largely 
 invites to pleasure, they are frequented during the summer 
 season. 
 
 " The mountain region possesses numerous and large 
 forests, and various kinds of fruitful trees. It everywhere 
 presents deep valleys and springs suitable 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 also to an accession of their health 
 and strength. 
 
 " Hunting furnishes all kinds of game, the abundance of 
 which in their banquets leaves nothing to be desired. 
 
 "Moreover, the sea which washes against this island 
 abounds with fish, since the ocean, from its nature every- 
 where, affords a variety of fish. 
 
 " Finally, the temperature is very genial, from which it 
 results that the trees bear fruit throughout the greater part 
 of the year. 
 
 " Lastly, it excels so much in felicity as to resemble the 
 habitations of the gods rather than of men. 
 
 " Formerly it was unknown, on account of the remoteness 
 of its situation from the rest of the world, but accident dis- 
 closed its position. The Phoenicians have been in the habit 
 of making frequent passages, for the sake of commerce, from 
 the very oldest dates, from whence it resulted that they were 
 the founders of many of the African colonies, and of not a 
 few of those European ones situated to the west ; and when 
 they had yielded to the idea which had entered their minds, 
 of enriching themselves greatly, they passed out beyond the 
 Pillars of Hercules into the sea which is called the Ocean, 
 and they first founded a city called Gades, on the European 
 peninsula, and near the straits of the Pillars [of Hercules] 
 in which, when others had flocked to it, they instituted a 
 
OLD AND NEW WORLD MYTHS. 153 
 
 sumptuous temple to Hercules. This temple has been held 
 in the utmost veneration both in ancient times and during 
 later periods up to the present day ; therefore many Eomans 
 of illustrious nobility and reputation pronounce their vows to 
 that god, and happily discharge their obligations. 
 
 " The Phoenicians for this reason continued their explora- 
 tion beyond the Pillars, and when they were sailing along the 
 African coast, being carried off by a tempest to a distant part of 
 the ocean, were driven by the violence of the storm, after a 
 period of many days, to the island of which I have spoken, 
 and having first acquainted themselves with its nature and 
 pleasing characters, introduced it to the notice of others. 
 On that account, the Tyrrhenians, also obtaining the empire 
 of the sea, determined on a colony there, but the Carthagi- 
 nians prevented them, both because they feared lest many of 
 their citizens, being allured by the advantages of the island, 
 might migrate there, and because they wished to have a 
 refuge prepared for themselves against a sudden stroke of 
 fortune, if by chance the Carthaginian Kepublic should 
 receive any deadly blow, for they contemplated that they 
 would be able, while yet powerful at sea, to transport them- 
 selves and their families to the island unknown to the 
 victors."* 
 
 Among the many proofs which may be cited of community 
 of origin between the Asiatics and certainly a large propor- 
 tion of the American population is the practice of scalping 
 enemies, quoted by Herodotus as prevalent amongst the v 
 Scythians, and universally existing amongst all tribes of 
 North American Indians ; the discovery of jade ornaments 
 amongst Mexican remains, and the general esteem in which 
 that material is held by the Chinese ; the use of the Quipos 
 among the Peruvians, and the assertion in the I-king, or Book 
 
 * I use the text of the edition of Diodorus Siculus of L. Rhodo- 
 inanus, Amsterdam, 1746. 
 
154 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 of Change, one of the oldest of the Chinese Classics, that 
 66 The ancients knotted cords to express their meaning, but 
 in the next age the sages renounced the custom and adopted 
 a system of written characters ; "* the discovery of the 
 meander pattern among Peruvian relics, and the common use 
 of this ornamentation on Chinese vases and tripods, at dates 
 long preceding the Trojan era, in which it is commonly sup- 
 posed to have originated ; the similarity of the features of 
 Chinese, and other Mongols, with those of various Indian 
 tribes ; the resemblance of masks and various other remains 
 to Chinese patterns discovered recently by Desiree de Charnay 
 in Central America ; and the reserve and stolid demeanour 
 of both races. A good illustration of this is afforded by the 
 story told of the celebrated statesman Sieh Ngan (A.D. 320- 
 385), in Mayer's Chinese Reader's Manual ; it could be imagined 
 to apply to any Indian sachem. 
 
 It is related of Sieh Ngan that, at the time when the 
 capital was menaced by the advancing forces of Fukien, he 
 sat one day over a game of chess with a friend, when a 
 despatch was handed to him, which he calmly read and then 
 continued the game. On being asked what the news was, 
 he replied : " It is merely an announcement that my young 
 people have beaten the enemy." The intelligence was, in 
 fact, of the decisive rout of the invaders by the army under 
 his brother Sieh She and his nephew Sieh Hiian. Only 
 when retired within the seclusion of his private apartments 
 did he give himself up to an outburst of joy. The very ex- 
 pression " my young people " is the equivalent of " my 
 young men " which the Indian chief would have employed. 
 
 A singular custom prevails among the Petivaces, an Indian 
 
 f " Professor Yirchow considers this an example how certain artistical 
 or technical forms are developed simultaneously, without any connection 
 or relation between the artists or craftsmen." Preface to Ilios, Schlie- 
 inann. Murray, 1880. 
 
OLD AND NEW WORLD MYTHS. 155 
 
 tribe of Brazil.* " When they are delivered of a child, and 
 ought to have all the ceremony and attendance proper to a 
 lying-in woman, the husband presently lies down in his ham- 
 mock (as if he had been brought to bed himself), and all his 
 wives and neighbours come about and serve him. This is a 
 pleasant fancy indeed, that the woman must take all the pains 
 to bring the child into the world, and then the man lie down 
 and gruntle upon it." 
 
 Compare with this the account given by Marco Polo of the 
 same custom prevalent among the Miau-tze, or aborigines of 
 China, as distinguished from their present occupants. Their 
 reduction to submission is recorded in the early works on the 
 country. 
 
 " Proceeding five days' journey, in a westerly direction 
 from Karazan, you enter the province of Kardandan belong- 
 ing to the dominion of the great Khan, and of which the 
 principal city is named Vochang (probably Yung-chang in 
 the western part of Yunnan). These people have the fol- 
 lowing singular usage. As soon as a woman has been deli- 
 vered of a child, and rising from her bed, has washed and 
 swathed the infant, her husband immediately takes the place 
 she has left, has the child beside him, and nurses it for forty 
 days. In the meantime the friends and relations of the 
 family pay to him their visits of congratulation ; whilst the 
 woman attends to the business of the house, carries victuals 
 and drink to the husband in his bed, and suckles the infant 
 at his side."f 
 
 We find a reference in Hudibras to this grotesque practice, 
 in which it is imputed, but erroneously, to the Chinese them- 
 selves, and it reappears on the western side of Europe, 
 among those singular people the Basques, who have their 
 
 * Knivet's description of the West Indies, Harris' Voyages, vol. i. 
 p. 705. 
 
 f T. Wrigbt, Marco Polo, p. 267. Bohn, 1854. 
 
156 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 own especial Deluge tradition, and use a language which, 
 according to Humboldt, approaches some of the dialects of 
 the North American Indians more nearly than any other. 
 They profess to trace the custom up to A'itor or Noah, whose 
 wife bore a son to him when they were in exile, and, being 
 afraid to stay by herself for fear of being discovered and 
 murdered, bade her husband take care of the child, while 
 she went out to search for food and firing. 
 
 The change of name which prevails among the Chinese 
 and Japanese in both sexes, at different periods of life, is 
 also found upon the other continent,* where males and 
 females when they come to years of discretion do not 
 retain the names they had when young, and, if they do any 
 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 ances- 
 tral ashes. f These, though probably not, might have been 
 indigenous ; but we can hardly conceive this of serpent 
 worship, which Mr. Fergusson suggests arose among a people 
 of Turanian origin, from which it spread to every country or 
 land of the Old World in which a Turanian settled. The 
 coincidence between the serpent mounds of North America 
 and such an one as is described by M. Phene in Argyllshire}: 
 is remarkable ; and still more so is that between the Mexican 
 myth of the fourfold destruction of the world by fire and 
 water, with those current among the Egyptians and that of 
 the four ages in the Hindu mythology. 
 
 Another coincidence, although perhaps of minor value, 
 will be seen in the dresses of the soldiers of China and 
 Mexico, as noted in the passages annexed. " Thus, in our 
 
 * Harris' Voyages, vol. i. p. 859. 
 
 f Dr. J. le Conte describes a ceremonial of cremation among the 
 Cocopa Indians of California, and it is an ancient practice among the 
 Chinese, dating back beyond the Greek and Roman historical periods. 
 
 J British Association, 1871. 
 
OLD AND NEW WORLD MYTHS. 157 
 
 own time, the Chinese soldiers wear a dress resembling the 
 tiger skin, and the cap, which nearly covers the face, is 
 formed to represent the head of a tiger " ;* while the Mexi- 
 can warriors, according to Spanish historians, " wore enor- 
 mous wooden helmets in the form of a tiger's head, the jaws 
 of which were armed with the teeth of this animal, "t 
 
 Mr. C. Wolcott -Brooks, in an address to the California 
 Academy of Science, has pointed out that, according to Chi- 
 nese annals, Tai Ko Fo Kee, the great stranger-king, ruled 
 the kingdom of China, and that he is always represented in 
 pictures with two small horns like those associated with the 
 representation of Moses. He and his successors are said to 
 have introduced into China " picture writing " like that in 
 use in Central America at the time of the Spanish conquest. 
 Now there has been found at Copan, in Central America, a 
 figure strikingly like the Chinese symbol of Fo Kee, with his 
 two horns. " Either,'' says Mr. Brooks, " one people learned 
 from the other, or both acquired their forms from a common 
 source." 
 
 In reviewing all these cases we cannot fail to perceive that 
 early and frequent communication must have taken place 
 between the two worlds, and that the myths of one have 
 probably been carried with them by the migrants to the 
 other. 
 
 * Staunton, China, vol. ii. p. 455. 
 
 f Humboldt, Researches in America, English Translation, vol. i. p. 133. 
 
158 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
159 
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 THE DRAGON. 
 
 FIG. 33. Draco, OR FLYING LIZARD FROM 
 SINGAPORE. (After N. B. Dennys.} 
 
 THE dragon is denned in 
 the Encyclopaedia Britannica 
 for 1877 as " the name given 
 by the ancients to a huge 
 winged lizard or serpent (fa- 
 bulous).'' 
 
 The text also goes on to 
 state that "they (the an- 
 cients) regarded it as the 
 enemy of mankind, and its 
 overthrow is made to figure 
 among the greatest exploits 
 of the gods and heroes of 
 heathen mythology. A dra- 
 gon watched the gardens of 
 the Hesperides, and its de- 
 struction formed one of the 
 seven labours of Hercules. 
 Its existence does not seem to 
 have been called in question 
 by the older naturalists ; 
 figures of the dragon appear- 
 ing in the works of Gesner 
 and Aldrovandus, and even 
 specimens of the monster, 
 evidently formed artificially of 
 portions of different animals, 
 
160 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 have been exhibited." A reference is also made to the 
 genus Draco, comprising eighteen specimens of winged 
 lizards, all small, and peculiar to India and the islands of 
 the Malay archipelago. 
 
 Such is the meagre account of a creature which figures in 
 the history and mythology of all nations, which in its diffe- 
 rent forms has been worshipped as a god, endowed with 
 beneficent and malevolent attributes, combatted as a monster, 
 or supposed to have possessed supernatural power, exercised 
 alternately for the benefit or chastisement of mankind. 
 
 Its existence is inseparably wedded to the history, from 
 the most remote antiquity, of a nation which possesses con- 
 nected and authentic memoirs stretching uninterruptedly 
 from the present day far into the remote past ; on which 
 the belief in its existence has been so strongly impressed, 
 that it retains its emblem in its insignia of office, in its orna- 
 mentation of furniture, utensils, and dwellings, and com- 
 memorates it annually in the competition of dragon boats, 
 and the processions of dragon images ; which believes, or 
 affects to believe, in its continued existence in the pools of 
 the deep, and the clouds of the sky ; which propitiates it 
 with sacrifices and ceremonies, builds temples in its honour, 
 and cultivates its worship ; whose legends and traditions 
 teem with anecdotes of its interposition in the affairs of man, 
 and whose scientific works, of antiquity rivalling that of our 
 oldest Western Classics, treat of its existence as a sober and 
 accepted fact, and differentiate its species with some exact- 
 ness. It is, moreover, though not very frequently, occasion- 
 ally referred to in the Biblical history of that other ancient, 
 and almost equally conservative branch of the human race, 
 the Jews, not as a myth, or doubtfully existent supernatural 
 monster, but as a tangible reality, an exact terrible creature. 
 
 Equally do we find it noticed in those other valuable 
 records of the past which throw cross lights upon the Bible 
 narrative, and confirm by collateral facts the value of its 
 
THE DRAGON. 
 
 161 
 
 11 
 
162 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 historic truth ; such as the fragments of Chaldsean history 
 handed down by the reverent care of later historians, the 
 careful narrative of Josephus, and the grand resurrection of 
 Chaldsean and Assyrian lore effected by the marvellously well 
 directed and fortunate labour of GK H. Smith and those who 
 follow in his train. 
 
 Among the earliest classics of Europe, its existence is 
 asserted as a scientific fact, and accepted by poets as a sound 
 basis for analogies, comparisons, allegories, and fable ; it 
 appears in the mythology of the Goth, and is continued 
 through the tradition and fable of every country of Europe ; 
 nor does it fail to appear even in the imperfect traditions of 
 the New World,* where its presence may be considered as 
 comparatively indigenous, and undetermined by the commu- 
 nications dependent on the so-called discovery of later days. 
 
 Turning to other popular accounts, we find equally limited 
 and incredible versions of it. All consider it sufficiently 
 disposed of by calling it fabulous,t and that a sufficient 
 explanation of any possible belief in it is afforded by a refe- 
 rence]: to the harmless genus of existing flying lizards referred 
 to above. 
 
 * " In turning to the consideration of the primitive works of art of 
 the American continent . . . when in the bronze work of the later iron 
 period, imitative forms at length appear, they are chiefly the snake and 
 dragon shapes and patterns, borrowed seemingly by Celtic and Teutonic 
 wanderers, with the wild fancies of their mythology, from the far eastern 
 land of their birth." D. Wilson, Prehistoric Man, 1862. 
 
 " He had remarked that the Indians of the north-west coast fre- 
 quently repeat in their well-known blackstone carvings the dragon, the 
 lotus flower, and the alligator." 0. G-. Leland, Fusang, London, 1875. 
 
 f " Dragon, an imaginary animal something like a crocodile." Rev. 
 Dr. Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, p. 243. 
 
 J "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, but otherwise keep them almost unperceived close to the body. 
 They fly nimbly, but cannot hold it long, so that they fly from tree to 
 
THE DRAGON. 163 
 
 Some consider it an evolution of the fancy, typifying 
 noxious principles; thus, Chambers* says, " The dragon 
 appears in the mythical history and legendary poetry of 
 almost every nation as the emblem of the destructive and 
 anarchical principle ; ... as misdirected physical force 
 and untamable animal passions. . . . The dragon proceeds 
 openly to work, running on its feet with expanded wings, 
 and head and tail erect, violently and ruthlessly outraging 
 decency and propriety, spouting fire and fury both from 
 mouth and tail, and wasting and devastating the whole 
 land/' 
 
 The point which strikes me as most interesting in this 
 passage is the reference to the legendary theory of the mode 
 of the dragon's progress, which curiously calls to mind the 
 semi-erect attitude of the existing small Australian frilled 
 lizard (Chlamijdosaurus). This attitude is also ascribed to 
 some of the extinct American Dinosaurs, such as the Stego- 
 saurus. 
 
 No one, so far as I am aware, in late days has hitherto 
 ventured to uphold the claims of this terrible monster to be 
 accepted as a real contemporary of primitive man,f which 
 
 tree at about twenty or thirty paces' distance. On the outside of the 
 throat are two bladders, which, being extended when they fly, serve them 
 instead of a sail. They feed upon flies and other insects." Mr. John 
 Nieuhoff's Voyage and Travels to the East Indies, contained in a collection 
 of Voyages and Travels, in 6 vols., vol. ii. p. 317 ; Churchill, London, 
 1732. 
 
 * Chambers' Encyclopedia, vol. iii. p. 635. 
 
 f The following is the nearest approach to such an assertion I have 
 met with, but appears from the context to apply to geologic time prior 
 to the advent of man. " When all those large and monstrous amphibia 
 since regarded as fabulous still in reality existed, when the confines of 
 the water and the land teemed with gigantic saurians, with lizards of 
 dimensions much exceeding those of the largest crocodiles of the present 
 day : who to the scaly bodies of fish, added the claws of beasts, and the 
 neck and wings of birds : who to the faculty of swimming in water, 
 added not only that of moving on the earth but that of sailing in air : 
 
 11 * 
 
164 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 may even have been co- existent with him to a comparatively 
 recent date, and but lately passed away into the cohort of 
 extinct species, leaving behind it only the traditions of its 
 ferocity and terrors, to stamp their impression on the tongues 
 of all countries. 
 
 No one has endeavoured to collate the vast bulk of mate- 
 rials shrouded in the stories of all lands. If this were per- 
 fectly effected, a diagnosis of the real nature of the dragon 
 might perhaps be made, and the chapter of its characteristics, 
 alliances, and habits completed like that of any other 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 to enable him, as he thinks, to 
 establish generally the proposition which it involves, to grasp 
 as it were some of the broader and salient features of the 
 investigation, while leaving a rich gleaning of corroborative 
 information for the hand of any other who may please to 
 continue and extend his observations. 
 
 At the outset it will be necessary to assign a much more 
 extended signification to the word dragon than that which is 
 contained in the definition at the head of this chapter. The 
 popular mind of the present day doubtless associates it 
 always with the idea of a creature possessing wings ; but 
 the Lung of the Chinese, the Spd K w of the Greeks, the 
 
 and who had all the characteristics of what we now call chimeras and 
 dragons, and perhaps of such monsters the remains, found among the 
 bones and skeletons of other animals more resembling those that still 
 exist and propagate, in the grottos and caverns in which they sought 
 shelter during the deluges that affected the infancy of the globe, gave 
 first rise to the idea that these dens and caves were once retreats whence 
 such monsters watched and in which they devoured other animals. "- 
 Thomas Hope, On the Origin and Prospects 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 heretofore 
 existed." 
 
THE DRAGON. 165 
 
 Draco of the Eomans, the Egyptian dragon, and the Ndga of 
 the Sanscrit have no such limited signification, and appear to 
 have been sometimes applied to any serpent, lacertian, or 
 saurian, of extraordinary dimensions, nor is it always easy 
 to determine from the passages in which these several terms 
 occur what kind of monster is specially indicated. 
 
 Thus the dragon referred to by Propertius in the quotation 
 annexed may have been a large python. " Lanuvium* is, 
 of old, protected by an aged dragon ; here, where the occa- 
 sion of an amusement so seldom occurring is not lost, where 
 is the abrupt descent into a dark and hollowed cave ; where 
 is let down maiden, beware of every such journey the 
 honorary tribute to the fasting snake, when he demands his 
 yearly food, and hisses and twists deep down in the earth. > 
 Maidens, let down for such a rite, grow pale, when their 
 hand is unprotectedly trusted in the snake's mouth. He 
 snatches at the delicacies if offered by a maid; the very 
 baskets tremble in the virgin's hands ; if they are chaste, 
 they return and fall on the necks of their parents, and the 
 farmers cry * We shall have a fruitful year/ "f 
 
 To the same class may probably be ascribed the dragon 
 referred to by Aristotle ,J "The eagle and the dragon are 
 enemies, for the eagle feeds on serpents "; and again, " the 
 Glanis in shallow water is often destroyed by the dragon 
 serpent." It might perhaps be supposed that the crocodile 
 is here referred to, but this is specially spoken of in another 
 passage, as follows |i : "But there are others which, though 
 they live and feed in the water, do not take in water but air, 
 and produce their young out of the water; many of these 
 
 * From the context, Lanuvium appears to have been on the Appian 
 BoacU in Latium, about twenty-fives miles from Rome, 
 f Propertius, Elegy VIII . ; Bohn, 1854. 
 J History of Animals, Book ix., chap. ii. 3 ; Bohn. 
 IUd., Book vi., chap. xx. 12. 
 || Hid., Book i., 6. 
 
166 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 animals are furnished with feet, as the otter and crocodile, / / 
 and others are without feet, as the water- serpent." 
 
 A somewhat inexplicable habit is ascribed to the dragon in 
 Book ix.* : " When the draco has eaten much fruit, it seeks 
 the juice of the bitter lettuce ; it has been seen to do this." 
 
 Pliny, probably quoting Aristotle, f also states that the 
 dragon relieves the nausea which affects it in spring with 
 the juices of the lettuce ; and -ZElianJ repeats the story. 
 
 It is also probable that some large serpent is intended by 
 Pliny in the story which he relates, after Democritus, that 
 a man called Thoas was preserved in Arcadia by a dragon. 
 When a boy, he had become attached to it and had reared it 
 very tenderly ; but his father, being alarmed at the nature 
 and monstrous size of the reptile, had taken and left it in the 
 desert. Thoas being here attacked by robbers who lay in 
 ambush, he was delivered from them by the dragon, which 
 recognized his voice and came to his assistance. It may be 
 noted in regard to this that there are many authenticated 
 instances of snakes evidencing considerable affection for those 
 who have treated them with kindness. || 
 
 The impression that Pliny's dragon was intended to repre- 
 
 * History of Animals, Book ix., chap. vii. 4. 
 
 f Natural History of Pliny, Book viii., chap, xli., translated by J. Bos- 
 tock and H. T. Biley ; London, 1855. 
 
 J Anim. Nat., Bookvi., chap. iv. 
 
 Natural History, Book viii., chap. xxii. 
 
 || " On the contrary, towards ourselves they were disappointingly un- 
 demonstrative, and only evinced their consciousness of the presence of 
 strangers by entwining themselves about the members of the family as 
 if soliciting their protection. . . . They were very jealous of each other, 
 Mr. Mann said ; jealous also of other company, as if unwilling to lose their 
 share of attention. . . . Two sweet little children were equally familiar 
 with the other boas, that seemed quite to know who were their friends 
 and playfellows, for the children handled them and petted them and 
 talked to them as we talk to pet birds and cats." Account of Snakes 
 kept by Mr. and Mrs. Mann, of Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, in Snakes, by 
 C. C. Hopley; London, 1882. 
 
THE DRAGON. 167 
 
 sent some large boa or python is strengthened by his state- 
 ment :* " The dragon is a serpent destitute of venom ; its 
 head placed beneath the threshold of a door, the gods being 
 duly propitiated by prayers, will ensure good fortune to the 
 house, it is said." 
 
 It is remarkable that he attributes to the dragon the same 
 desire and capacity to attack the elephant as is attributed to 
 the Pa snake in Western China, and by the old Arabian 
 voyagers to serpents in Borneo. 
 
 The Shan-hai-lting, a Chinese work of extreme antiquity, 
 of which special mention will be made hereafter, says : " The 
 Pa snake swallows elephants, after three years it ejects the 
 bones ; well-to-do people, eating it, are cured of consump- 
 tion." 
 
 Diodorus Siculus, in speaking of the region of the Nile in 
 Libya, says that, according to report, very large serpents are 
 produced there and in great numbers, and that these attack 
 elephants when they gather around the watering places, 
 involve them in their folds till they fall exhausted, and then 
 devour them. 
 
 Diodorus, in another passage referring to the crocodiles 
 and hippopotami of Egypt, speaking of Ethiopia and Libya, 
 mentions a variety of serpents as well as of other wild beasts, 
 including dragons of unusual size and ferocity. 
 
 While El Edrisi says : " On peut encore citer le serpent 
 de Zaledj dont parlent Ben Khordadebe, 1'auteur du Livre des 
 Merveilles, et divers autres ecrivains qui s'accordent a dire 
 qu'il existe dans les montagnes de Tile de Zaledj une espece 
 de serpent qui attaque 1'elephant et le buffle, et qui ne les 
 abandonnent qu'apres les avoir vaincu."t 
 
 * Natural History, Book xxix., chap. xx. 
 
 t " It is probable that the island of Zanig described by Qazvinius, in 
 his geographical work (for extracts from which vide Scriptorum Arabum 
 de Rebus Indicis loci et opuscula inedita, by I. Gildemeister, Bonnae, 
 
168 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Artemidorus, also, according to Strabo,* " mentions ser- 
 pents of thirty cubits in length, which can master elephants 
 and bulls. In this he does not exaggerate ; but the Indian 
 and African serpents are of a more fabulous size, and are 
 said to have grass growing on their backs." 
 
 Iphicrates, according to Bryant, <c related that in Mauri- 
 tania there were dragons of such extent that grass grew upon 
 their backs. " 
 
 It is doubtful whether large serpents, or real dragons, are 
 referred to by Pliny in the following interesting passages 
 which I give at length : the surprise which he expresses at 
 Juba's believing that they had crests, leads me to suspect 
 that there was possibly some confusion of species involved ; 
 that Juba might have been perfectly accurate so far as the 
 crests are concerned, and that the beasts in question, in place 
 of being pythons of magnitude, were rather some gigantic 
 lizard-like creature, of great length and little bulk, corre- 
 sponding with the Chinese idea of the dragon, and, therefore, 
 naturally bearing horny crests, similar to those with 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, as the same causes which effected the 
 gradual destruction of one would be exceedingly likely to 
 effect that of another ; we must not, therefore, be too critical 
 in comparing descriptions of different authors in different 
 
 1838), as the seat of the empire of the Mahraj, is identical with Zaledj. 
 He says that it is a large island on the confines of China towards India, 
 and that among 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 Taprobana among the islands constituting the territory of 
 the Mahraj." P. Amede'e Jaubert, Geographic d'Edrisi, vol. i. p. 104 ; 
 Paris, 1836. 
 
 * Book vi., chap. iv. 16. 
 
 t Serpent Worship, p. 35 ; Welder, New York, 1877. 
 
THE DRAGON. 169 
 
 countries and epochs, since they may refer only to allied, but 
 not identical, animals. 
 
 " Africa produces elephants, but it is India that produces 
 the largest, as well as the dragon, who is perpetually at war 
 with the elephant, and is itself of so enormous a size, as 
 easily to envelop the elephants with its folds, and encircle 
 them in its coils. The contest is equally fatal to both ; the 
 elephant, vanquished, falls to the earth, and by its weight 
 crushes the dragon which is entwined around it.* 
 
 " The sagacity which every animal exhibits in its own 
 behalf is wonderful, but in these it is remarkably so. The 
 dragon has much difficulty in climbing up to so great a 
 height, and therefore, watching the road, which bears marks 
 of their footsteps, when going to feed, it darts down upon 
 them from a lofty tree. The elephant knows that it is 
 quite unable to struggle against the folds of the serpent, and 
 so seeks for trees or rocks against which to rub itself. 
 
 " The dragon is on its guard against this, and tries to 
 prevent it, by first of all confining the legs of the elephant 
 with the folds of its tail ; while the elephant, on the other 
 hand, tries to disengage itself with its trunk. The dragon, 
 however, thrusts its head into its nostrils, and thus, at the 
 same moment, stops the breath, and wounds the most tender 
 parts. When it is met unexpectedly, the dragon raises itself 
 up, faces its opponent, and flies more especially at the eyes ; 
 this is the reason why elephants are so often found blind, 
 and worn to a skeleton with hunger and misery. 
 
 " There is another story, too, told in relation to these 
 combats. The blood of the elephant, it is said, is remark- 
 ably cold ; for which reason, in the parching heats of summer, 
 it is sought by the dragon with remarkable avidity. It lies, 
 therefore, coiled up and concealed in the river, in wait for 
 
 * Pliny's Natural History, Book viii., chap, xi., translated by J. Bos- 
 tock and H. T. Eiley ; Bonn, London, 1855. 
 
170 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 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 the trunk. The dragons, it is said, are 
 of such vast size that they can swallow the whole of the 
 blood; consequently the elephant, being drained of its blood, 
 falls to the earth exhausted ; while the dragon, intoxicated 
 with the draught, is crushed beneath it, and so shares its fate.* 
 
 " Ethiopia produces dragons, not so large as those of 
 India, but still twenty cubits in length. The only thing that 
 surprises me is, how Juba came to believe that they have 
 crests. The Ethiopians are known as the Asachsei, among 
 whom they most abound ; and we are told that on those 
 coasts four or five of them are found twisted and interlaced 
 together like so many osiers in a hurdle, and thus setting 
 sail, with their heads erect, they are borne along upon the 
 waves to find better sources of nourishment in Arabia, "f 
 
 Pliny then goes on to describe, as separate from dragons, 
 large serpents in India, as follows. 
 
 " Megasthenesj: informs us that in India serpents grow to 
 such an immense size as to swallow stags and bulls ; while 
 Metrodorus says that about the river Bhyndacus, in Pontus, 
 they seize and swallow the birds that 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 Koman army under Kegulus, being 
 besieged, like a fortress, by means of balistae and other 
 engines of war. Its skin and jaws were preserved in a temple 
 at Rome down to the time of the Numantine war. 
 
 " The serpents, which in Italy are known by the name of 
 
 * Pliny's Natural History, Book viii., chap. xii. 
 f Ibid., Book viii., chap. xiii. 
 I Hid., Book viii., chap. xiv. 
 
THE DRAGON. 171 
 
 boa, render these accounts far from incredible, for they grow 
 to such vast size that a child was found entire in the stomach 
 of one of them which was killed on the Vaticanian Hill 
 during the reign of Emperor Claudius."* 
 
 Aristotle tells us that u in Libya, the serpents, as it has 
 been already remarked, are very large. For some persons 
 say that as they sailed along the coast, they saw the bones of 
 many oxen, and that it was evident to them that they had 
 been devoured by serpents. And, as the ships passed on, the 
 serpents attacked the triremes, and some of them threw 
 themselves upon one of the triremes and overturned it."f 
 
 It is doubtful whether the dragons described by Benjamin 
 of Tudela, who travelled through Europe and the East and 
 returned to Castille in 11 734 as infesting the ruins of the 
 palace of Nebuchodonosor at Babylon, so as to render them 
 inaccessible, were creatures of the imagination such as the 
 mediaeval mind seems to have loved to dress up, or venomous 
 serpents. But there is little doubt that the so-called dragons 
 of later voyages were simply boas, pythons, or other large 
 serpents, such as those described by John Leo, in his descrip- 
 
 * " At the present day the longest Italian serpents are the JBsculapian 
 serpent (a harmless animal) and the Colubes quadrilineatus, neither of 
 which exceeds ten feet in length." Nat. Hist., Book viii., chap. xiv. 
 
 f Aristotle's History of Animals, Book viii., chap, xxvii. 6, by R. 
 Oresswell, Bonn's Series ; Bell, London, 1878. 
 
 An abridgment of these travels is contained in Voyages par Pierre 
 Bergeron, a la Haye, 1735. They were originally written in Hebrew, 
 translated into Latin by Benoit Arian Montare, and subsequently into 
 French. [The introduction refers to his return to Castille in 1173, 
 presumably after the termination of his voyages ; but in the opening 
 paragraph there is a marginal note giving the same date to his setting 
 out from Sarragossa.] Sir John Mandeville gives a similar account in 
 speaking of the tower of Babylon ; he says, " but it is full long sithe 
 that any man durste neyhe to the Tour : for it is all deserte and fulle of 
 Dragouns and grete serpents, and fulle of dyverse venemous Bestes alle 
 about he." The Voyages of Sir John Mandeville, Kt., p. 40 ; J. 0. Halli- 
 well, London, 1839. 
 
172 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 tion of a voyage to Africa, as existing in the caverns of 
 Atlas. He says, " There are many monstrous dragons which 
 are thick about the middle, but have slender necks and tails, 
 so that their motion is but slow.* They are so venomous, 
 that whatever they bite or touch, certain death ensues." There 
 is also the statement of Job Ludolphus that (in ^Ethiopia) 
 " the dragons are of the largest size, very voracious, but not 
 venomous. "f 
 
 I fancy that at the present day the numbers, magnitude, 
 and terrifying nature of serpents but feebly represent the 
 power which they asserted in the early days of man's exis- 
 tence, or the terror which they then inspired. This subject 
 has been so ably dealt with by a writer of the last century]; 
 that I feel no hesitation in transcribing his remarks at length. 
 
 " It is probable, in early times, when the arts were little 
 known and mankind were but thinly scattered over the earth, 
 that serpents, continuing undisturbed possessors of the forest, 
 grew to an amazing magnitude, and every other tribe of 
 animals fell before them. It then might have happened that 
 the serpents reigned tyrants of the district for centuries 
 together. To animals of this kind, grown by time and rapa- 
 city to one hundred or one hundred and fifty feet long, the 
 lion, the tiger, and even the elephant itself were but feeble 
 opponents. That horrible fetor, which even the commonest 
 and the most harmless snakes are still found to diffuse, might 
 in these larger ones become too powerful for any living being 
 to withstand, and while they preyed without distinction, they 
 might also have poisoned the atmosphere round them. In 
 this manner, having for ages lived in the hidden and un- 
 peopled forest, and finding, as their appetites were more 
 powerful, the quantity of their prey decreasing, it is possible 
 
 * Harris's Voyages, vol, i. p. 360. 
 f Ibid., vol. i. p. 392. 
 
 J Encyclopaedia of Arts and Sciences, first American edition, Philadel- 
 phia, 1798. 
 
THE DRAGON. 173 
 
 they might venture boldly from their retreats into the more 
 cultivated parts of the country, and carry consternation 
 among mankind, as they had before desolation among the 
 lower ranks of nature. 
 
 " We have many histories of antiquity presenting us such 
 a picture, and exhibiting 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 to effect one 
 great purpose. Opposing multitudes only added new victims 
 to the general calamity, and increased mutual embarrassment 
 and terror. The animal, therefore, was to be singly opposed 
 by him who had the greatest strength, the best armour, and 
 the most undaunted courage. In such an encounter hun- 
 dreds must have fallen, till one more lucky than the rest, by 
 a fortunate blow, or by taking the monster in its torpid 
 interval and surcharged with spoil, might kill and thus rid 
 his country of the destroyer. Such was the original occu- 
 pation of heroes. 
 
 " But as we descend into more enlightened antiquity we 
 find these animals less formidable, as being attacked in a 
 more successful manner. 
 
 " We are told that while Eegulus led his army along the 
 banks of the river Bagrada in Africa, an enormous serpent 
 disputed his passage over. We are assured by Pliny that it 
 was one hundred and twenty feet long, and that it had 
 destroyed many of the army. At last, however, the batteriog 
 engines were brought out against it, and then, assailing it at 
 a distance, it was destroyed. Its spoils were carried to Borne, 
 and the general was decreed an ovation for his success. 
 
 " There are, perhaps, few facts better ascertained in his- 
 tory than this : an ovation was a remarkable honour, and 
 was only given for some signal exploit that did not deserve a 
 triumph. No historian would offer to invent that part of 
 the story, at least, without being subject to the most shameful 
 detection. 
 
174 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 " The skin was kept for several years after, in the Capitol, 
 and Pliny says he saw it there. 
 
 " This tribe of animals, like that of fishes, seem to have 
 no bounds put to their growth ; their bones are in a great 
 measure cartilaginous, and they are consequently capable of 
 great extension. 
 
 " The older, therefore, a serpent becomes, the larger it 
 grows, and, as they live to a great age, they arrive at an 
 enormous size. Leguat assures us that he saw one in Java 
 that was fifty feet long.* Carli mentions their growing to 
 above forty feet, and there is now in the British Museum one 
 that measures thirty-two feet. 
 
 " Mr. Wentworth, who had large concerns in the Berbice 
 in America, assures us that in that country they grow to an 
 enormous length. He describes an Indian mistaking one for 
 a log, and proceeding to sit down on it, when it began to 
 move. A soldier with him shot the snake, but the Indian 
 died of fright. It measured thirty-six feet. It was sent to 
 the Hague. 
 
 " A life of savage hostility in the forest offers the imagina- 
 tion one of the most tremendous pictures in nature. In 
 those burning countries where the sun dries up every brook 
 for hundreds of miles round : where what had the appearance 
 of a great river in the rainy season becomes in summer one 
 dreary bed of sand ; in those countries a lake that is never 
 dry, or a brook that is perennial, is considered by every 
 animal as the greatest convenience of nature. When they 
 have discovered this, no dangers can deter them from attempt- 
 ing to slake their thirst. Thus the neighbourhood of a 
 rivulet, in the heart of the tropical continents, is generally 
 
 * See Voyage to the East Indies, by Francis Leguat ; London, 1708. 
 Leguat hardly makes the positive affirmation stated in the text. In 
 describing Batavia he says there is another sort of serpents which 
 are at least fifty feet long. 
 
THE DRAGON. 175 
 
 the place where all the hostile tribes of nature draw up for 
 the engagement. 
 
 " On the banks of this little envied spot, thousands of 
 animals of various kinds are seen venturing to quench their 
 thirst, or preparing to seize their prey. The elephants are 
 perceived in a long line, marching from the darker parts of 
 the forest. The buffaloes are there, depending upon numbers 
 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 the accesses of the lake. Not an hour passes without 
 some dreadful combat, but the serpent, defended by its scales, 
 and naturally capable of sustaining a multitude of wounds, 
 is of all others the most formidable. It is the most wakeful 
 also, for the whole tribe sleep with their eyes open, and are 
 consequently for ever upon the watch ; so that, till their 
 rapacity is satisfied, 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."* But at the present day there are few authentic 
 accounts of snakes exceeding thirty feet in length ; and there 
 are some people who discredit any which profess to speak of 
 snakes of greater dimensions than this. There are some, 
 however, among the annexed stories, which I think demand 
 belief, and apparently we may conclude that the python and 
 boa exceptionally attain as much as forty feet in length, or 
 even more. 
 
 Wallacef merely reports by hearsay that the pythons in 
 the Phillipines, which destroy young cattle, are said to reach 
 more than forty feet. 
 
 Captain Sherard Osborn,]; in his description of Quedah in 
 
 * Broderip, Leaves from the Note Book of a Naturalist, p. 357. 
 
 f Australasia, p. 273. 
 
 t Quedah', London, 1857, 
 
176 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 the Malay peninsula, says, also, as a matter of popular 
 belief: " The natives of Tamelan declared most of them to 
 be of the boa-constrictor [species, but spoke 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 wag 
 of his sagacious head, assured me that an ' oular Bessar ' or 
 big snake was quite competent. 
 
 " It was strange but interesting to find amongst all Malays 
 a strong belief in the extraordinary size to which the boa- 
 constrictors or pythons would grow ; they all maintained that 
 in the secluded forests of Sumatra or Borneo, as well as on 
 some of the smaller islands which were not inhabited, these 
 snakes were occasionally found of forty or fifty feet in 
 length." 
 
 Major McNair says* : " One of the keenest sportsmen in 
 Singapore gives an account of a monster that he encountered. 
 He had wounded a boar in the jungle, and was following its 
 tracks with his dogs, when, in penetrating further into the 
 forest, he found the dogs at bay, and, advancing cautiously, 
 prepared for another shot at the boar ; to his surprise, how- 
 ever, he found that the dogs were baying a huge python, 
 which had seized the boar, thrown its coils round the unfor- 
 tunate beast, and was crushing it to death. A well-directed 
 shot laid the reptile writhing on the ground, and it proved to 
 be about thirty feet long. But such instances of extreme 
 length are rare." 
 
 Unfortunately the exciting story of a serpent, between 
 forty and fifty feet in length, which I extract from the North 
 China Daily News of November 10th, 1880, the scene of 
 which is also laid in the Malay peninsula, lacks the authen- 
 ticity of the narrator's name. It is as follows : 
 
 " The Straits Times tells the following exciting python 
 story : ' A sportsman, who a few days ago penetrated into the 
 
 * Perak and the Malays, p. 77. 
 
THE DRAGON. 177 
 
 jungle lying between Buddoh and Sirangoon, came upon a 
 lone hut in a district called Campong Batta, 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 
 occupied by a Malay and his wife, from whom our informant 
 gathered the following extraordinary account. One night, 
 about a week previously, the Malay was awakened by the 
 cries of his wife for assistance. Being in perfect darkness, 
 and supposing the alarm to be on account of thieves, he 
 seized his sharp parang, and groped his way to her sleep- 
 ing place, where his hand fell upon a slimy reptile. It was 
 fully a minute before he could comprehend the entire situa- 
 tion, and when he did, he discovered that the whole of his 
 wife's arm had been drawn down the monster's throat, 
 whither the upper part of her body was slowly but surely 
 following. Not daring to attack the monster at once for fear 
 of causing his wife's death, the husband, with great presence 
 of mind, seized two bags within reach, and commenced stuff- 
 ing them into the corner of the snake's jaws, by means of 
 which he succeeded in forcing them wider open and releasing 
 his wife's arm. 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 oppor- 
 tunity, he attacked the monster so vigorously with his parang 
 that it suddenly unwound itself and vanished through an 
 opening beneath 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 the squeezing it received between 
 the boa's jaws. At daylight the husband discovered his 
 patch of plaintain trees nearly ruined, where the boa, writh- 
 ing in agony, had broken off the trees at the roots, and in the 
 midst of the debris lay the monster itself, dead. The Malay 
 assured our informant that he had received no less than sixty 
 dollars from Chinese, who came from long distances to pur- 
 chase pieces of the flesh on account of its supposed medical 
 
 12 
 
178 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 properties, and that he had refused six dollars for the skin, 
 which he preferred to retain as a trophy. It was greatly 
 decomposed, having been some days exposed in the open 
 air, and useless for curing. There is no telling what may 
 have been the measurement of this large reptile, but the 
 skin, probably greatly stretched by unskilful removal, mea- 
 sured between seven and eight fathoms." 
 
 Bontius speaks of serpents in the Asiatic Isles. " The 
 great ones," he says, " sometimes exceed thirty-six feet ; and 
 have such capacity of throat and stomach that they swallow 
 whole boars." 
 
 Mr. McLeod, in the Voyage of the Alceste, states that during 
 a captivity of some months at Whidah, on the coast of 
 Africa, he had opportunities of observing serpents double 
 this length.* 
 
 Broderip, in his Leaves from the Note-book of a Naturalist 
 (Parker, 1852), speaks of a serpent thirty feet in length, 
 which attacked the crew of a Malay proa anchored for the 
 night close to the island of Celebes. 
 
 Mr. C. Collingwood in Rambles of a Naturalist, states that 
 " Mr. Low assured 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 been killed there. In Borneo they 
 were said to attain forty feet, but for this I cannot vouch." 
 
 That large pythons still exist in South and Western China, 
 although of very reduced dimensions as compared with those 
 described in ancient works, is affirmed by many writers, from 
 whom I think it is sufficient to extract a notice by one of 
 the early missionaries who explored that country. 
 
 "Pour ce qui est des serpens qu'on trouve dans Chine 
 1'Atlas raconte que la Province de Quansi, en produit de si 
 grands et d'une longueur si extreme, qu'il est presque incroy- 
 able ; et il nous assure, qu'il s'en est trouve, qui etaient plus 
 
 * Figuier, Reptiles and Birds, p. 51. 
 
THE DRAGON. 179 
 
 longs que ne seraient pas dix perches attachees les unes avec 
 les autres, c'est-a-dire, qu'ils avaient plus de trente pieds 
 geometriques. Flore Sienois dit, < Gento est le plus grand 
 de tous ceux qui sont dans les provinces de Quansi, de 
 Haynan, et de Quantun ... 11 devore les cerfs. ... II 
 s'eleve droit sur sa queue, et combat vigoureuseinent, en cette 
 posture, centre les hommes et les betes farouches.' "* 
 
 We have unfortunately no clue to the actual length of the 
 serpent Bomma, described by J. M. da Sorrento in A Voyage 
 to Congo in 1682, contained in Churchill's collection of 
 voyages published in 1732. f " The flesh they eat is gene- 
 rally that of wild creatures, and especially of a sort of serpent 
 called Bomma. At a certain feast in Baia, I observed the 
 windows, instead of tapestry and arras, adorned with the skin 
 of these serpents as wide as that of a large ox, and long in 
 proportion." 
 
 That harmless snakes of from twelve to fourteen feet in 
 length occur abundantly in Northern Australia is generally 
 known ; but it is only of late years that I have been made 
 acquainted with a firm belief, entertained by the natives in 
 the interior, of the existence near the junction of the Darling 
 and Murray, south of the centre of the continent, of a serpent 
 of great magnitude. 
 
 I learn from Mr. G. E. Moffat that on the Lower Murray, 
 between Swan Hill and the Darling junction at the time of 
 his acquaintance with the district (about 1857 to 1867) 
 the black fellows had numerous stories of the existence of a 
 large serpent in the Mallee scrub. It was conspicuous for its 
 size, thirty to forty feet in length, and especially for its great 
 girth, swiftness, and intensely disgusting odour ; this latter, 
 in fact, constituted the great protection from it, insomuch 
 
 * La Chine Illustrt, d'Athase Keichere, chap. x. p. 272. Amsterdam, 
 
 CIO ICD LXX. 
 
 t Vol. i. p. 601. 
 
 12 * 
 
180 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 as it would be impossible to approach without recognising its 
 presence. 
 
 Mr. Moffatt learnt personally from a Mr. Beveridge, son 
 of Mr. Peter Beveridge, of Swan Hill station, that he 
 had actually seen one, and that his account quite tallied 
 with those of the blacks. In answer to an inquiry which 
 I addressed to Australia, I received the note attached 
 below.* 
 
 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 similar accounts to that of Mr. Moffatt, 
 with reference to the existence of large serpents of the boa 
 species in an adjacent locality, viz. the tract of country lying 
 to the east of Darling and Murray junction, in the back 
 country belonging to Pooncaira station. 
 
 They described them as being numerous, in barren and 
 rocky places, among big boulders ; fully forty feet long ; as 
 thick as a man's thigh ; and as having the same remarkable 
 odour described by Mr. Moffatt. They spoke of them as 
 quite common, and not at all phenomenal, between Went- 
 worth and Pooncaira. 
 
 The Anaconda, in regard to which so much myth and 
 superstition prevails among the Indians of Brazil, is thus 
 spoken of by Condamine, in his Travels in South America. 
 " The most rare and singular of all is a large amphibious 
 serpent from twenty-five to thirty feet long and more than a 
 foot thick, according to report. It is called Jacumama, or 
 ,\ * the mother of the waters,' by the Americans of Maynas, 
 
 * See Proceedings of Eoyal Society of Tasmania, September 13, 1880. 
 Mr. C. M. Officer states " With reference to the Hindi or Mallee snake, 
 it has often been described to me as a formidable creature of at least 
 thirty feet 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 to die, 
 so fierce it is, and so great its power of destruction. Like the Bunyip, 
 I believe the Mindi to be a myth, a mere tradition," 
 
THE DBAGOtf. 181 
 
 and commonly inhabits the large lakes formed by the river- 
 water after flood." * 
 
 Ulloa, also, in his Voyage to South America^ says : " In 
 the countries watered by that vast river (the Maranon) is 
 bred a serpent of a frightful magnitude, and of a most dele- 
 terious nature. Some, in order to give an idea of its large- 
 ness, affirm that it will swallow any beast whole, and that 
 this has been the miserable end of many a man. But what 
 seems still a greater wonder is the attractive quality attri- 
 buted to its breath, { which irresistibly draws any creature 
 to it which happens to be 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 great deal of 
 pains to inquire into this particular, and all I can say is that 
 the reptile's magnitude is really surprising." 
 
 John Nieuhoff, in his Voyages to Brazil^ speaking of the 
 serpent Guaku or Liboya, says : " It is questionless the 
 biggest of all serpents, some being eighteen, twenty-four, nay 
 thirty feet long, and of the thickness of a man in his middle. 
 The Portuguese call it Kobra Detrado, or the roebuck 
 serpent, because it will swallow a whole roebuck, or any other 
 deer it meets with ; after they have swallowed such a deer, 
 they fall asleep, and so are catched. Such a one I saw at 
 Paraiba, which was thirty feet long, and as big as a barrel. 
 This serpent, being a very devouring creature, greedy of prey, 
 leaps from amongst the hedges and woods, and standing 
 upright upon its tail, wrestles both with men and wild 
 
 * Pinkerton's Voyages, vol. xiv. p. '247. 
 
 f Ibid., vol. xiv. p. 514. 
 
 % It is interesting to compare this belief with stories given else- 
 where, by Pliny, Book viii. chap, xiv., and Julian, Book ii. chap, xxi., of 
 the power of the serpents or dragons of the river Rhyndacus to attract 
 birds by inhalation. 
 
 Pinkerton's Voyages, vol. xiv. p. 713. 
 
182 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 beasts ; sometimes it leaps from the trees upon the traveller, 
 whom it fastens upon, and beats the breath out of his body 
 with its tail." 
 
 The largest (water boa) ever met with by a European 
 appears to be that described by a botanist, Dr. Gardiner, in 
 his Travels in Brazil. It had devoured a horse, and was 
 found dead, entangled in the branches of a tree overhanging 
 a river, into which it had been carried by a flood ; it was 
 nearly forty feet long. 
 
 FIG. 35. EGYPTIAN FOUK-WINGED SERPENT, CHANUPHIS, OR BAIT. {From " Serpent 
 Myths of Ancient Egypt" by W. R. Cooper.} 
 
 Winged Serpents. 
 
 The next section relates to winged serpents, a belief in 
 which was prevalent in early ages, and is strongly supported 
 by several independent works. 
 
 To my mind, Herodotus speaks without the slightest doubt 
 upon the subject in the following passages. "Arabia* is 
 the last of inhabited lands towards the south, and it is the 
 only country which produces frankincense, myrrh, cassia, 
 cinnamon, and ledanum." " The frankincense they procure 
 by means of the gum styrax, which the Greeks get from the 
 Phoenicians. This they burn, and thereby obtain the spice ; 
 for the trees which bear the frankincense are guarded by 
 
 * Herodotus, Book iii. chap, cvii., cviii. 
 
THE DRAGON. 183 
 
 winged serpents, small in size, and of various colours, 
 whereof vast numbers hang about every tree. They are of 
 the same kind as the serpents that invade Egypt, and there 
 is nothing but the smoke of the styrax which will drive them 
 from the trees." 
 
 FIG. 36. THE SYMBOLIC WINGED SERPENT OP THE GODDESS MERSOKAR OR 
 MELSOKAR. (After W. R. Cooper.} 
 
 Again,* " the Arabians say that the whole world would 
 swarm with these serpents, if they were not kept in check, 
 in the way in which I know that vipers are." " Now, with 
 respect to the vipers and the winged snakes of Arabia, if they 
 increased as fast as their nature would allow, impossible 
 were it for man to maintain himself upon the earth. 
 Accordingly, it is found that when the male and female come 
 together, at the very moment of impregnation, the female 
 seizes the male by the neck, and having once fastened cannot 
 be brought to leave go till she has bit the neck entirely 
 through, and so the male perishes ; but after a while he is 
 avenged upon the female by means of the young, which, 
 while still unborn, gnaw a passage through the womb and 
 then through the belly of their mother. Contrariwise, other 
 snakes, which are harmless, lay eggs and hatch a vast 
 number of young. Vipers are found in all parts of the 
 world, but the winged serpents are nowhere seen except in 
 Arabia, where they are all congregated together ; this makes 
 them appear so numerous." 
 
 * Herodotus, Book iii. chap, cviii. 
 
184 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Herodotus had so far interested himself in ascertaining the 
 probability of their existence as to visit Arabia for the 
 purpose of inquiry ; he says,* " I went once to a certain place 
 in Arabia, almost exactly opposite the city of Buto, to make 
 inquiries concerning the winged serpents. On my arrival I 
 saw the back-bones and ribs of serpents in such numbers as 
 it is impossible to describe ; of the ribs there were a multi- 
 tude of heaps, some great, some small, some middle-sized. 
 The place where the bones lie is at the entrance of a narrow 
 gorge between steep mountains, which there open upon a 
 spacious plain communicating with the great plains of 
 Egypt. The story goes, that with the spring the snakes 
 come flying from Arabia towards Egypt, but are met in this 
 gorge by the birds called ibises, who forbid their entrance 
 and destroy them all. The Arabians assert, and the Egyp- 
 tians also admit, that it is on account of the service thus 
 rendered that the Egyptians hold the ibis in so much reve- 
 rence." He further! describes the winged serpent as being 
 shaped like the water-snake, and states that its wings are not 
 feathered, but resemble very closely those of the bat. 
 
 FIG. 37. THE SYMBOLIC WINGED SERPENT OF THE GODDESS EILEITHTA. 
 (After W. R. Cooper.) 
 
 Aristotle briefly states, as a matter of common report, that 
 there were in his time winged serpents in Ethiopia. J Both 
 two and four winged snakes are depicted among the Egyptian 
 
 * Herodotus, Book ii., chap. Ixxv. 
 t Ibid., Book ii., chap. Ixxvi. 
 f Ibid., Book i., chap. v. 
 
THE DRAGON. 185 
 
 sculptures, considered by Mr. Cooper to be emblematic of 
 deities, and to signify that the four corners of the earth are 
 embraced and sheltered by the supreme Providence. 
 
 Josephus* unmistakably affirms his belief in the existence 
 of flying serpents, in his account of the stratagem which 
 Moses adopted in attacking the 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 means 
 peculiar to Arabia, but, as might have been expected, equally 
 infested the desert lands bordering the fertile strip of the Nile. 
 
 In Whiston's translation we read that " Moses prevented 
 the enemies, and took and led his army before those ene- 
 mies were apprised of his attacking them ; for he did not 
 march by the river, but by land, where he gave a wonderful 
 demonstration of his sagacity ; for when the ground was 
 difficult to be passed over, because of the multitude of ser- 
 pents (which it produces in vast numbers, and indeed is 
 singular in some of those productions, which other countries 
 do not breed, and yet such as are worse than others in power 
 and mischief, and an unusual fierceness of sight, some of 
 which ascend out of the ground unseen, and also fly in the 
 air, and so come upon men at unawares, and do them a 
 mischief), Moses invented a wonderful stratagem to preserve 
 the army safe and without hurt; for he made baskets, like 
 unto arks, of sedge, and filled them with ibes, and carried 
 them along with them ; which animal is the greatest enemy 
 to serpents imaginable, for they fly from them when they 
 come near them ; and as they fly they are caught and de- 
 voured 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 themselves are not unacquainted with this sort 
 of bird. As soon, therefore, as Moses was come to the land, 
 
 * Antiquities of the Jews, Book ii., chap. x. 
 
186 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 which was the breeder of these serpents, he let loose the ibes, 
 and by their means repelled the serpentine kind, and used them 
 for his assistants before the army came upon that ground." 
 
 These statements of Herodotus and Josephus are both too 
 precise to be explicable on the theory that they refer to 
 the darting or jumping serpents which Nieuhoff describes, 
 in his day, as infesting the palm trees of Arabia and 
 springing from tree to tree ; or to the jaculus of Pliny,* 
 which darts from the branches of trees, and flies through the 
 air as though it were hurled by an engine, and which is 
 described by ^Elian and graphically figured by Lucanf in 
 the passage " Behold! afar, around the trunk of a barren 
 tree, a fierce serpent Africa calls it the jaculus wreathes 
 itself, and then darts forth, and through the head and pierced 
 temples of Paulus it takes its flight : nothing does venom 
 there effect, death seizes him through the wound. It war 
 then understood how slowly fly the stones which the sling 
 hurls, how sluggishly whizzes the flight of the Scythian 
 
 arrow." 
 
 Solinus, whose work, Polyhistor, is mainly a compilation 
 from Pliny's Natural History, gives a similar account of the 
 swarms of winged serpents about the Arabian marshes, and 
 states that their bite was so deadly that death followed the 
 bite before pain could be felt; he also refers to their destruc- 
 tion by the ibises, and is probably only quoting other authors 
 rather than speaking of his own knowledge. 
 
 Cicero, again, speaks of the ibis as being a very large bird, 
 with strong legs, and a horny long beak, which destroys a 
 great number of serpents, and keeps Egypt free from 
 pestilential diseases, by killing and devouring the flying 
 serpents, brought from the deserts of Lybia by the south- 
 west wind, and so preventing the mischief which might 
 
 * Book viii. chap. xxxv. 
 f Pharsalia, Book ix. 
 
THE DRAGON. 187 
 
 attend their biting while alive, or from any infection when 
 dead. 
 
 There are not unfrequent allusions in ancient history to 
 serpents having become so numerous as to constitute a 
 perfect plague ; the dreadful mortality caused among the 
 Israelites by the fiery serpents spoken of in Numbers is a 
 case in point, and another * is the migration of the Neuri 
 from their own country into that of the Budini, one gene- 
 ration before the attack of Darius, in consequence of the 
 incursion of a huge multitude of serpents. It is stated that 
 some of these were produced in their own country, 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 Pontus Euxinus, pretty much in the position of 
 Poland, and I believe that at the present day the only harm- 
 ful reptile occurring in it is the viper common to the rest 
 of Europe. Diodorus Siculusf mentions a tradition that 
 the Cerastes had once made an irruption into Egypt in 
 such numbers as to have depopulated a great portion of the 
 inhabited districts. 
 
 These stories are interesting as showing a migratory in- 
 stinct occurring in certain serpents, either periodically or 
 occasionally, and are thus to some extent corroborative of 
 the account of the annual invasion of Egypt by serpents, 
 referred to in a previous page. They also, I think, con- 
 firm the impression that serpents were more numerous in 
 the days of early history, and had a larger area of distri- 
 bution than they have now, and that possibly some species, 
 such as the Arabian and flying serpents, which have since 
 become extinct, then existed. Thus the boa is spoken of by 
 Pliny as occurring commonly in Italy, and growing to such 
 a vast size that a child was found entire in one of them, 
 which was killed on the Vatican Hill during the reign of the 
 
 * Herodotus, Book iv. chap. cv. f Book iii. chap. xx. 
 
188 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Emperor Claudius. Yet at the present day there are no snakes 
 existing there at all corresponding to this description. 
 
 Parallel instances of invasions of animals materially affect- 
 ing the prosperity of man are doubtless familiar to my readers, 
 such as the occasional migration of lemmings, passage of 
 rats, flights of locusts, or the ravages caused by the Colo- 
 rado beetle ; but many are perhaps quite unaware what a 
 terrible plague can be established, in the course of a very 
 few years, by the prolific unchecked multiplication of even so 
 harmless, innocent, and useful an animal as the common 
 rabbit. The descendants of a few imported pairs have laid 
 waste extensive districts of Australia and New Zealand, neces- 
 sitated an enormous expenditure for their extirpation, and 
 have at the present day* caused such a widespread destruc- 
 
 * " It may be some comfort to graziers and selectors who are strug- 
 gling, under many discouragements, to suppress the rabbit plague in 
 Victoria, to learn that our condition, bad as it is, is certainly less serious 
 than that of New Zealand. There, not only is an immense area of good 
 country being abandoned in consequence of the inability of lessees to 
 bear the great expense of clearing the land of rabbits, but, owing to 
 the increase of the pest, the number of sheep depastured is decreasing 
 at a serious rate. Three years ago the number exceeded thirteen mil- 
 lions ; but it is estimated that they have since been diminished by two 
 millions, while the exports of the colony have, in consequence, fallen 
 off to the extent of =500,000 per annum. A Rabbit Nuisance Act has 
 been in existence for some time, but it is obviously inefficient, and it is 
 now proposed to make its provisions more stringent, and applicable 
 alike to the Government as well as to private landowners. A select 
 committee of both Houses of the Legislature, which has recently taken 
 a large amount of evidence upon this subject, reports in the most 
 emphatic terms its conviction that unless immediate and energetic 
 action is taken to arrest the further extension of, and to suppress the 
 plague, the result will be ruinous to the colony. A perusal of the 
 evidence adduced decidedly supports this opinion. Many of the 
 squatters cannot be accused of apathy. Some of them have employed 
 scores of men, and spent thousands of pounds a year in ineffectual 
 efforts to eradicate the rabbits from their runs. One firm last year is 
 believed to have killed no less than 500,000 ; but the following spring 
 their run was in as bad a state as if they had never put any poison down. 
 
THE DRAGON. 189 
 
 tion of property in the latter country, that large areas of 
 ground have actually had to be abandoned and entirely 
 surrendered to them. 
 
 It is interesting to find in the work of the Arabic geo- 
 grapher El Edrisi a tradition of an island in the Atlantic, 
 called Laca, off the north-west coast of Africa, having been 
 formerly inhabited, but abandoned on account of the excessive 
 multiplication of serpents on it. According to Scaligerus, 
 the mountains dividing the kingdom of Narsinga from 
 Malabar produce many wild beasts, among which may be 
 enumerated winged dragons, who are able to destroy any 
 one approaching their breath. 
 
 Megasthenes (tradente Mliano) relates that winged ser- 
 pents are found in India ; where it is stated that they are 
 noxious, fly only by night, and that contact with their urine 
 destroys portions of animals. 
 
 Similar instances 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 
 the G-overnment do not take sufficient steps to destroy the rabbits on 
 unoccupied Crown lands. This foolish policy, of course, at once 
 diminishes the letting value of the adjacent pastoral country to such 
 an extent, indeed, that instances have occurred in which 34,000 acres 
 have been leased for .10 a year. Poison is regarded as the most 
 destructive agent that can be employed, and it is especially effective 
 when mixed with oats and wheat, a striking testimony to the value of 
 Captain Raymond's discovery. Most of the witnesses examined were 
 strongly of opinion that the Administration of the Rabbit Suppression 
 Act should not be left to private and, perhaps, interested persons, as 
 at present, but should be conducted by officers of the Government, 
 probably the sheep inspectors, on a principle similar to that by which 
 the scab was eradicated from the flocks of the colony. The joint com- 
 mittee adopted this view, and also recommended the Legislature to enact 
 that all unoccupied Crown land, as well as all native, reserved, or private 
 land, should bear a proportionate share 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 so impeded practical legislation 
 this session, the Parliament will yet find time to give effect to the 
 useful recommendations of the Rabbit Nuisance Committee." Austra- 
 lasian, 10th September 1881. 
 
190 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Ammianus Marcellinus (who wrote about the fourth cen- 
 tury A.D.) states that the ibis is one among the countless 
 varieties of the birds of Egypt, sacred, amiable, and valuable 
 as storing up the eggs of serpents in his nest for 
 food and so diminishing their number. He also refers 
 to their encountering flocks of winged snakes, coming 
 laden with poison from the marshes of Arabia, and over- 
 coming them in the air, and devouring them before they quit 
 their own region. And Strabo,* in his geographical de- 
 scription of India, speaks of serpents of two cubits in 
 
 , length, with membraneous wings like bats : " They fly at 
 night, and let fall drops of urine or sweat, which occasions 
 
 ; the skins of persons who are not on their guard to putrefy." 
 Isaiah speaks of fiery flying serpents, the term " fiery" being 
 otherwise rendered in the Alexandrine edition of the Septua- 
 gint by tfamTowres " deadly," while-the term (( fiery " is explained 
 by other authorities as referring to the burning sensation pro- 
 duced by the bite, and to the bright colour of the serpents, f 
 Collateral evidence of the belief in winged serpents is 
 afforded by incidental allusions to them in the classics. 
 Thus Virgil alludes to snakes with strident wings in the line 
 Ilia autem attolit stridentis anguibus alis.J 
 
 Lucan refers to the winged serpents of Arabia as forming 
 one of the ingredients of an incantation broth brewed by a 
 Thessalian witch, Erictho, with the object of resuscitating a 
 corpse, and procuring replies to the queries of Sextus, son of 
 Pompey. There are other passages in Ovid and other poets, 
 in which the words " winged serpents" are made use of, but 
 
 * Book xv. chap. i. 37. 
 
 f See Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, p. 145-47. Murray, 1863. 
 
 J Add, Book vii. 561. 
 
 Non Arabum volucer serpens, innataque rubris 
 JEquoribus custos pretiosae vipera conchsB 
 Aut viventis adhuc Lybici membrana cerastse. 
 
 Pharsalia, Book vi. 677. 
 
THE DRAGON. 191 
 
 which I omit to render here, since from the context it seems 
 doubtful whether they were not intended as poetic appella- 
 tions of the monster to which, by popular consent, the term 
 dragon has been generally restricted. 
 
 I feel bound to refer, although of course without attaching 
 any very great weight of evidence to them, to the numerous 
 stories popular in the East, in which flying serpents play a 
 conspicuous part, the serpents always having something 
 magical or supernatural in their nature. Such tales are 
 found in the entrancing pages of the Arabian Nights, or in 
 the very entertaining folk-lore of China, as given to us by 
 Dr. N. P. Dennys of Singapore.* 
 
 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 quelques animaux, poissons, serpents, herbes et arbres, 
 hommes et femmes cV Arable, Egypte, et Asie, observes par P. 
 Belon du Mans. It contains a drawing of a biped winged 
 dragon, with the notice " Portrait du serpent aile " and the 
 quatrain 
 
 Dangereuse est du serpent la nature 
 Qu'on voit voler pres 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 of Arabia into Egypt. f I attach considerable importance 
 to the short extract which I shall give in a future page from 
 the celebrated Chinese work on geography and natural 
 history, the Shan Hai King, or Mountain and Sea Classic. 
 The Shan tiai King claims to be of great antiquity, 
 and, as Mr. Wylie remarks, though long looked on with 
 distrust, has been investigated recently by scholars of great 
 
 * The popular illustrations of the Story of the Black and White Snakes 
 given by him, a favourite story among the Chinese, always represent 
 them as winged. Folk Lore of China, N. P. Dennys, Ph.D. 
 
 f Broderip, Zoological Recreations, p. 333, 
 
192 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 ability, who have come to the conclusion that it is at least as 
 old as the Chow dynasty, and probably older. Now, as the 
 Chow dynasty commenced in 1122 B.C., it is, if this latter 
 supposition be correct, of a prior age to the works of Aristotle, 
 Herodotus, and all the other authors we have been quoting, 
 and therefore is the earliest work on natural history extant, 
 and the description of the flying serpent of the Sien moun- 
 tains (vide infra) the earliest record of the existence of such 
 creatures. 
 
 Classical Dragon and Medmval Dragon. 
 
 While the flying serpents of which we have just treated, 
 will, if we assent to the reality of their former existence, 
 assist greatly in the explanation of the belief in a winged 
 dragon so far as Egypt, Arabia, and adjacent countries are 
 concerned, it seems hardly probable that they are sufficient 
 to account for the wide-spread belief in it. This we have 
 already glanced at ; but we now propose to examine it in 
 greater detail, with reference to countries so distant from 
 their habitat as to render it unlikely that their description 
 had penetrated there. 
 
 The poets of Greece and Rome introduce the dragon into 
 their fables, as an illustration, when the type of power and 
 ferocity is sought for. Homer, in his description of the 
 shield of Hercules, speaks of " The scaly horror of a dragon 
 coiled full in the central field, unspeakable, with eyes oblique, 
 retorted, that askant shot gleaming fire/' So Hesiod* (750 
 to 700 B.C., Grote), describing the same object, says : " On 
 its centre was the unspeakable terror of a dragon glancing 
 backward with eyes gleaming with fire. His mouth, too, 
 was filled with teeth running in a white line, dread and un- 
 approachable ; and above his terrible forehead, dread strife 
 
 * Compare Shakspeare, " Peace, Kent. Come not between the Dragon 
 and his wrath." 
 
THE DRAGON. 193 
 
 was hovering, as he raises the battle rout. On it likewise 
 were heads of terrible serpents, unspeakable, twelve in 
 number, who were wont to scare the race of men on earth, 
 whosoever chanced to wage war against the son of Jove/' 
 
 Here it is noteworthy that Hesiod distinguishes between 
 the dragon and serpents. 
 
 Ovid* locates the dragon slain by Cadmus in Bceotia, 
 near the river Cephisus. 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 reference to the eyes 
 sparkling with fire, and it may be noted that a similar bril- 
 liancy is mentioned by those who have observed pythons in 
 their native condition. He speaks of the dragon as blue^ and 
 terribly destructive 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, and of her subsequently lending it to Trip- 
 tolemus, to enable him to travel all over the earth and dis- 
 tribute corn to its inhabitants, is detailed or alluded to by 
 numerous poets, as well as the tale of Medea flying from 
 Jason in a chariot drawn by winged dragons. CeresJ is 
 
 * Metamorphoses, Book iii. 35, translated by H. J. Biley ; London, 
 1872. 
 
 f In reference to colours so bright as to be inconsistent with our 
 knowledge of the ordinary colours of reptiles, it may be of interest to 
 compare the description by D'Argensola who wrote the history of the 
 successive conquests of the Moluccas, by the Spaniards, Portuguese and 
 Dutch of a blue and golden saurian existing upon a volcanic mountain 
 in Tarnate. " II y a aussi sur cette inontagne un grand lac d'eau douce, 
 entoure d'arbres, dans lequel on voit de crocodiles azures et dores qui 
 ont plus d'un brasse de longueur, et qui se plongent dans 1'eau lors 
 qu'ils entendent des hommes." D'Argensola, vol. iii. p. 4, translated 
 from the Spanish, 3 vols. ; J. Desbordes, Amsterdam, 1706. And Pliny, 
 Nat. Hist., Book viii. chap, xxviii., speaks of lizards upon Nysa, a moun- 
 tain of India, twenty-four feet long, their colour being either yellow, 
 purple, or azure blue. 
 
 J Ovid, Fasti, Book iv. 501, 
 
 13 
 
194 MYTHICAL MONSTEES. 
 
 further made to skim the waves of the ocean, much after the 
 fashion of mythical personages depicted in the wood-cuts 
 illustrating passages in the Shan Hai King.* Amrnianus 
 Marcellinus, whose history ends with the death of Valerius 
 in A.D. 378, refers, as a remarkable instance of credulity, to a 
 vulgar rumour that the chariot of Triptolemus was still 
 extant, and had enabled Julian, who had rendered himself 
 formidable both by sea and land, to pass over the walls of, 
 and enter into the city of Heraclea. Though rational expla- 
 nations are afforded by the theory of Bochart and Le Clerc, 
 that the story is based upon the equivocal meaning of a Phoe- 
 nician word, signifying either a winged dragon or a ship 
 fastened with iron nails or bolts ; or by that of Philodorus, 
 as cited by Eusebius, who says that his ship was called a 
 flying dragon, from its carrying the figure of a dragon on its 
 prow ; yet either simply transposes into another phase the 
 current belief in a dragon, without prejudicing it. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus disposes of the Colchian dragon and 
 the golden-fleeced ram in a very summary manner, as 
 follows : 
 
 "It is said that Phryxus, the son of Athamas and 
 Nephele, in order to escape the snares of his stepmother, fled 
 from Greece with his half-sister Hellen, and that whilst they 
 were being carried, under the advice of the gods, by the ram 
 with a golden fleece out of Europe into Asia, the girl acci- 
 dentally fell off into the sea, which on that account has 
 been called Hellespont. Phryxus, however, being carried 
 safely into Colchis, sacrificed the ram by the order of an 
 oracle, and hung up its skin in a shrine dedicated to 
 Mars. 
 
 " After this the king learnt from an oracle that he would 
 meet his death when strangers, arriving there by ship, 
 should have carried off the golden fleece. On this account, 
 
 * These wood-cuts occur on pp. 239, 240, 
 
THE DRAGON. 195 
 
 as well as from innate cruelty, the man was induced to offer 
 sacrifice with the slaughter of his guests ; in order that, the 
 report of such an atrocity being spread everywhere, no one 
 might dare to set foot within his dominions. He also sur- 
 rounded the temple with a wall, and placed there a strong 
 guard of Taurian soldiery ; which gave rise to a prodigious 
 fiction among the Greeks, for it was reported by them that 
 bulls, breathing fire from their nostrils, kept watch over the 
 shrine, and that a dragon guarded the skin, for by ambiguity 
 the name of the Taurians was twisted into that of bulls, and 
 the slaughter of guests furnished the fiction of the expiation 
 of fire. In like manner they translated the name of the 
 prefect Draco, to whom the custody of the temple had been 
 assigned, into that of the monstrous and horrible creature of 
 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 prow the image of a ram, and that 
 Hellen, who was leaning over the side under the misery of 
 sea-sickness, tumbled into the water. 
 
 Among other subjects of poetry are the dragon which 
 guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides, and the two 
 which licked the eyes of Plutus at the temple of ^Esculapius 
 with such happy effect that he began to see. 
 
 Philostratus* separates dragons into Mountain dragons and 
 Marsh dragons. The former had a moderate crest, which 
 increased as they grew older, when a beard of saffron colour 
 was appended to their chins ; the marsh dragons had no 
 crests. He speaks of their attaining a size so enormous that 
 they easily killed elephants. ^Elian describes their length 
 as being from thirty or forty to a hundred cubits ; and Posi- 
 donius mentions one, a hundred and forty feet long, that 
 haunted the neighbourhood of Damascus ; and another, whose 
 
 * Broderip, Zoological Recreations, p. 332. 
 
 13 
 
196 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 lair was at Macra, near Jordan, was an acre in length, and 
 of such bulk that two men on horseback, with the monster 
 between them, could not see each % other. 
 
 Ignatius states that there was in the library of Constanti- 
 nople the intestine of a dragon one hundred and twenty feet 
 long, on which were written the Iliad and Odyssey in letters 
 of gold. There is no ambiguity in Lucan's* description of 
 the ^Ethiopian dragon : " You also, the dragon, shining 
 with golden brightness, who crawl in all (other) lands as 
 innoxious divinities, scorching Africa render deadly with 
 wings ; you move the air on high, and following whole herds, 
 you burst asunder vast bulls, embracing them with your 
 folds. Nor is the elephant safe through his size ; everything 
 you devote to death, and no need have you of venom for a 
 deadly fate." Whereas the dragon referred to by Pliny 
 (vide ante, p. 169), as also combating the elephant, is evi- 
 dently without wings, and may either have been a very 
 gigantic serpent, or a lacertian corresponding to the Chinese 
 idea of the dragon. 
 
 Descending to later periods, we learn from Marcellinusf 
 that in his day dragon standards were among the chief 
 insignia of the Koman army ; for, speaking of the triumphal 
 entry of Constantine into Rome after his triumph over Mag- 
 nentius, he mentions that numbers of the chief officers who 
 preceded him were surrounded by dragons embroidered on 
 various points of tissue, fastened to the golden or jewelled 
 points of spears ; the mouths of the dragons being open so 
 as to catch the wind, which made them hiss as though they 
 were inflamed with anger, while the coils of their tails were 
 also contrived to be agitated by the breeze. And again he 
 speaks of SilvanusJ tearing the purple silk from the insignia 
 
 * Lucan, Pharsalia, Book ix. 726-32. 
 
 f Book xvi. chap. x. 
 
 { Book xv. chap. v. ; A.D. 355. 
 
THE DRAGON. 197 
 
 of the dragons and standards, and so assuming the title of 
 Emperor. 
 
 Several nations, as the Persians, Parthians, Scythians, 
 &c., bore dragons on their standards : whence the standards 
 themselves were called dracones or dragons. 
 
 It is probable that the Eomans borrowed this custom from 
 the Parthians, or, as Casaubon has it, from the Dacae, or 
 Codin, from the Assyrians ; but while the Roman dracones 
 were, as we learn from Ammianus Marcellinus, figures of 
 dragons painted in red on their flags, among the Persians 
 and Parthians they were, like the Roman eagles, figures in 
 relievo, so that the 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.* 
 
 The fables of Merllin, Nennius, and Greoffry describe it as 
 red in colour, and so differing from the Saxon dragon which 
 was white. The hero Arthur carried a dragon on his helm, 
 and the tradition of it is moulded into imperishable form in 
 the Faerie Queen. A. dragon infested Lludd's dominion, and 
 made every heath in England resound with shrieks on each 
 May-day eve. A dragon of vast size and pestiferous breath 
 lay hidden in a cavern in Wales, and destroyed two districts 
 with its venom, before the holy St. Samson seized and threw 
 it into the sea. 
 
 In Celtic chivalry, the word dragon came to be used for 
 chief, a Pendragon being a sort of dictator created in times 
 of danger ;"and as the knights who slew a chief in battle 
 were said to slay a dragon, this doubtless helped to keep 
 alive the popular tradition regarding the monster which had 
 
 * Lord Lytton, King Arthur, Book i. Stanza 4. 
 
198 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 been carried with them westward in their migration from 
 the common Aryan centre. 
 
 The Teutonic tribes who invaded and settled in England 
 bore the effigies of dragons on their shields and banners, and 
 these were also depicted on the ensigns of various German 
 tribes.* We also find that Thor himself was a slayer of \ 
 dragons, f and both Siegfried and Beowulf were similarly 
 engaged in the Niebelungen-lied and the epic bearing the 
 name of the latter. J The Berserkers not only named their 
 boats after the dragon, but also had the prow ornamented 
 with a dragon figure-head ; a fashion which obtains to the 
 present day among the Chinese, who have an annual dragon- 
 boat festival, in which long snaky boats with a ferocious dragon 
 prow run races for prizes, and paddle in processions. 
 
 So deeply associated was the dragon with the popular 
 legends, that we find stories of encounters with it passing 
 down into the literature of the Middle Ages ; and, like the 
 heroes of old, the Christian saints won their principal renown 
 by dragon achievements. Thus among the dragon-slayers 
 we find that 
 
 1. St. Phillip the Apostle destroyed a huge dragon at 
 Hierapolis in Phrygia. 
 
 2. St. Martha killed the terrible dragon called Tarasque 
 at Aix (la Chapelle). 
 
 3. St. Florent killed a similar dragon which haunted the 
 Loire. 
 
 4. St. Cado, St. Maudet, and St. Paul did similar feats in 
 Brittany. 
 
 * Chamber's Cyclopaedia, 1881. 
 
 f J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, vol. ii. p. 653. 
 
 | A dragon without wings is called a lintworm or lindworm, which 
 Grrimm explains to mean a beautiful or shining worm (here again we 
 have a corroboration of the idea of the gold and silver dragon given 
 ante.) 
 
 Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 
 
THE DRAGON. 
 
 199 
 
 5. St. Keyne of Cornwall slew a dragon. 
 
 6. St. Michael, St. George, St. Margaret, Pope Sylvester, 
 St. Samson, Archbishop of Dol, Donatus (fourth century), 
 St. Clement of Metz, killed dragons. 
 
 7. St. Eomain of Kouen destroyed the huge dragon called 
 La Gargouille, which ravaged the Seine. 
 
 Moreover, the fossil remains of animals discovered from 
 time to time, and now relegated to their true position in the 
 zoological series, were supposed to be the genuine remains 
 of either dragons or giants, according to the bent of the 
 mind of the individual who stumbled on them : much as in 
 the present day large fossil bones of extinct animals of all 
 kinds are in China ascribed to dragons, and form an impor- 
 tant item in the Chinese pharmacopoeia. (Vide extract on 
 
 FIG. 38. SKELETON OF AN IGUANODON. 
 
200 MYTHICAL MONSTER^. 
 
 Dragon bones from the Pen-tsaou-kang-mu, given on pp. 244 
 -246.) 
 
 The annexed wood-cut of the skeleton of an Iguanodon, 
 found in a coal-mine at Bernissant, exactly illustrates the 
 semi-erect position which the dragon of fable is reported to 
 have assumed. 
 
 Among the latest surviving beliefs of this nature may be 
 cited the dragon of Wantley (Wharncliffe, Yorkshire), who 
 was slain by More of More Hall. He procured a suit of 
 armour studded with spikes, and, proceeding to the well 
 where the dragon had his lair, kicked him in the mouth, 
 where alone he was vulnerable. The Lambton worm is 
 another instance. 
 
 The explanations of these legends attempted by mytho- 
 logists, based on the supposition that the dragons which are 
 their subjects are simply symbolic of natural phenomena, are 
 ingenious, and perhaps in many instances sufficient, but do 
 not affect, as I have before remarked, the primitive and con- 
 served belief in their previous existence as a reality. 
 
 Thus, the author of British Goblins suggests that for the 
 prototype of the red dragon, which haunted caverns and 
 guarded treasures in Wales, we must look in the lightning 
 caverns of old Aryan fable, and deduces the fire-darting 
 dragons of modern lore from the shining hammer of Thor, 
 and the lightning spear of Odin. 
 
 The stories of ladies guarded by dragons are explained 
 on the supposition* that the ladies were kept in the secured 
 part of the feudal castles, round which the walls wound, and 
 that an adventurer had to scale the walls to gain access to 
 the ladies; when there were two walls, the authors of 
 romance said that the assaulter overcame two dragons, and 
 so on. St. Bomain, when he delivered the city of Rouen 
 from a dragon which lived in the river Seine, simply pro- 
 
 * Eev. Dr. Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, London. 
 
THE DRAGOtf. 20t 
 
 tected the city from an overflow, just as Apollo (the sun) is 
 symbolically said to have destroyed the serpent Python, or, 
 in other words, dried up an overflow. And the dragon of 
 Wantley is supposed by Dr. Percy to have been an over- 
 grown rascally attorney, who cheated some children of their 
 estates, but was compelled to disgorge 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 with dragons, that is, with short muskets, 
 which spouted fire like dragons, and had the head of a 
 dragon wrought upon their muzzle. 
 
 This fanciful device occurs also among the Chinese, for a 
 Jesuit, who accompanied the Emperor of China on a journey 
 into Western Tartary in 1683, says, " This was the reason 
 of his coming into their country with so great an army, and 
 such vast military preparations; he having commanded several 
 pieces of cannon to be brought, in order for them to be dis- 
 charged from 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 natural history, they were still retained and 
 regarded as quite orthodox until a little before the time of 
 Cuvier; specimens, doubtless fabricated like the ingeniously 
 constructed mermaid of Mr. Barnum, were exhibited in the 
 museums ; and voyagers occasionally brought back, as 
 authentic stories of their existence, fables which had perco- 
 lated through time and nations until they had found a home 
 in people so remote from their starting point as to cause a 
 complete obliteration of their passage and origin. 
 
 For instance, Pigafetta, in a report of the kingdom of 
 Congo,* " gathered out of the discourses of Mr. E. Lopes, a 
 
 * The Harleian Collection of Travels, vol. ii. p. 457. 1745. 
 
202 MYTHICAL MONSTERS 
 
 Portuguese," speaking of the province of Bemba, which he 
 defines as " on the sea coast from the river Ambrize, until 
 the river Coanza towards the south," says of serpents, 
 " There are also certain other creatures which, being as big 
 as rams, have wings like dragons, with long tails, and long 
 chaps, and divers rows of teeth, and feed upon raw flesh. 
 Their colour is blue and green, their skin painted like scales, 
 and they have two feet but no more.* The Pagan negroes 
 used to worship them as gods, and at this day you may see 
 divers of them that are kept for a marvel. And because they 
 are very rare, the chief lords there curiously preserve them, 
 and suffer the people to worship them, which tendeth greatly 
 to their profits by reason of the gifts and oblations which the 
 people offer unto them." 
 
 And John Barbot, Agent-General of the Eoyal Company of 
 Africa, in his description of the coasts of South Guinea, t 
 says: " Some blacks assuring me that they (i.e. snakes) 
 were thirty feet long. They also told me there are winged 
 serpents or dragons having a forked tail and a prodigious 
 wide mouth, full of sharp teeth, extremely mischievous to 
 mankind, and more particularly to small children. If we 
 may credit this account of the blacks, they are of the same 
 sort of winged serpents which some authors tell us are to be 
 found in Abyssinia, being very great enemies to the elephants. 
 Some such serpents have been seen about the river Senegal, 
 and they are adorned and worshipped as snakes are at Wida 
 or Fida, that is, in a most religious manner." 
 
 Ulysses Aldrovandus^ who published a large folio volume 
 on serpents and dragons, entirely believed in the existence of 
 the latter, and gives two wood engravings of a specimen 
 
 * The italics are mine. 
 
 f Churchill, Collection of Voyages, vol. v. p. 213 ; London, 1746. 
 I Ulyssis Aldrovandi Serpentum et Draconum Historic^; Bononise, 
 1640. 
 
THE DRAGON. 203 
 
 which he professes to have received in the year 1551, of a 
 true dried ^Ethiopian dragon. 
 
 He describes it as having two feet armed with claws, and 
 two ears, with five prominent and conspicuous tubercles on 
 the back. The whole was ornamented with green and dusky 
 scales, Above, it bore wings fit for flight, and had a long and 
 flexible tail, coloured with yellowish scales, such as shone on 
 the belly and throat. The mouth was provided with sharp 
 teeth, the inferior part of the head, towards the ears, was 
 even, the pupil of the eye black, with a tawny surrounding, 
 and the nostrils were two 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, from men worthy of confidence, 
 that in that portion of Pistorian territory called Cotone, a 
 great dragon was seen whose wings were interwoven with 
 sinews a cubit in length, and were of considerable width ; 
 this beast also possessed two short feet provided with claws 
 like those of an eagle. The whole animal was covered with 
 scales. The gaping mouth was furnished with big teeth, it 
 had ears, and was as big as a hairy bear. Aldrovandus 
 sustains his argument by quotations from the classics and 
 reference to more recent authors. He quotes Isidorus as 
 stating that the winged Arabian serpents were called Sirens, 
 while their venom was so effective that their bite was attended 
 by death rather than pain; this confirms the account of 
 Solinus. 
 
 He instances Gesner as saying that, in 1543, he under- 
 stood that a kind of dragon appeared near Styria, within the 
 confines of Germany, which had feet like lizards, and wings 
 after the fashion of a bat, with an incurable bite, and says 
 these statements are confirmed by Froschonerus in his work 
 on Styria (idque Froschonerus ex Bibliophila Stirio narrabat). 
 He classes dragons (which he considers as essentially winged 
 animals) either as footless or possessing two or four feet. 
 
204 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 He refers to a description by Scaliger* of a species of 
 serpent four feet long, and as thick as a man's arm, with 
 cartilaginous wings pendent from the sides. He also men- 
 tions an account by Brodeus, of a winged dragon which was 
 brought to Francis, the invincible King of the Gauls, by a 
 countryman who had killed it with a mattock near Sane- 
 tones, and which was stated to have been seen by many men 
 of approved reputation, who thought it had migrated from 
 transmarine regions by the assistance of the wind. 
 
 Cardanf states that whilst he resided in Paris he saw five 
 winged dragons in the William Museum ; these were biped, 
 and possessed of wings so slender that it was hardly pos- 
 sible that they could fly with them. Cardan doubted their 
 having been fabricated, since they had been sent in vessels 
 at 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 those which fly out of Arabia 
 into Egypt ; they were thick about the belly, had two 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 mediaeval times, and I shall there- 
 fore only add here two of those 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 
 of Diamonds reappearing in Europe during the Middle Ages, 
 with a substitution of the dragon for the roc. Athanasius 
 Kircher, in the Mundus Subterraneus, gives the story of a 
 Lucerne man who, in wandering over Mount Pilate, tumbled 
 into a cavern from which there was no exit, and, in search- 
 ing round, discovered the lair of two dragons, who proved 
 
 * Scaliger, lib. iii. Miscell. cap. i. See ante, p. 182, " Winged Serpents." 
 f De Naturd Rerum, lib. vii., cap. 29. 
 
THE DRAGON. 
 
 '205 
 
206 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 more tender than their reputation. Unharmed by them he 
 remained for the six winter months, without any other suste- 
 nance than that which he derived from licking the moisture 
 off the rock, in which he followed their example. Noticing 
 the dragons preparing for flying out on the approach of 
 spring, by stretching and unfolding their wings, he attached 
 himself by his girdle to the tail of one of them, and so was 
 restored to the upper world, where, unfortunately, the return 
 to the diet to which he had been so long unaccustomed 
 killed him. In memory, however, of the event, he left his 
 goods to the Church, and a monument illustrative of his 
 escape was erected in the Ecclesiastical College of St. Leo- 
 degaris at Lucerne. Kircher had himself seen this, and it 
 was accepted as an irrefragable proof of the story. 
 
 Another story is an account also given by A. Kircher,* of 
 the fight between a dragon and a knight named Grozione, in 
 the island of Rhodes, in the year 1349 A.D. This monster 
 is described as of the bulk of a horse or ox, with a long neck 
 and serpent's head tipped with mule's ears the mouth 
 widely gaping and furnished with sharp teeth, eyes spark- 
 ling as though they flashed fire, four feet provided with claws 
 like a bear, and a tail like a crocodile, the whole body being 
 coated with hard scales. It had two wings, blue above, but 
 blood-coloured and yellow underneath ; it was swifter 
 than a horse, progressing partly by flight and partly by 
 running. The knight, being solicited by the chief magis- 
 trate, retired into the country, when he constructed an imita- 
 tion dragon of paper and tow, and purchased a charger and 
 two courageous English dogs ; he ordered slaves to snap the 
 jaws and twist the tail about by means of cords, while he 
 urged his horse and dogs on to the attack. After practising 
 for two months, these latter could scarcely retain their frenzy 
 at the mere sight of the image. He then proceeded to 
 
 * Athanasii Kircheri Mundus SuUerraneus, Book viii. 27. 
 
THE DRAGON. 207 
 
 Rhodes, and after offering his vows in the Church of St. 
 Stephen, repaired to the fatal cave, instructing his slaves to 
 witness the combat from a lofty rock, and hasten to him 
 with remedies, if after slaying the dragon he should be over- 
 come by the poisonous exhalations, or to save themselves, in 
 the event of his being slain. Entering the lair he excited 
 the beast with shouts and cries, and then awaited it outside. 
 The dragon appearing, allured by the expectation of an easy 
 prey, rushed on him, both running and flying ; the knight 
 shattered his spear at the first onset on the scaly carcase, and 
 leaping from his horse continued the contest with sword and 
 shield. The dragon, raising itself on its hind legs, endea- 
 voured to grasp the knight with his fore ones, giving the 
 
 FIG. 40. THE DRAGON OP THE DRACHENFELDT. (Athanasius Kircher.) 
 
 latter an opportunity of striking him in the softer parts of 
 the neck. At last both fell together, the knight being 
 exhausted by the fatigue of the conflict, or by mephitic exha- 
 lations. The slaves, according to instruction, rushed for- 
 ward, dragged off the monster from their master, and fetched 
 water in their caps to restore him ; after which he mounted 
 his horse and returned in triumph to the city, where he was 
 at first ungratefully received, but afterwards rewarded with 
 
208 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 the highest ranks of the order, and created magistrate of 
 the province.* 
 
 Kircher had a very pious belief in dragons. He says : 
 " Since monstrous animals of this kind for the most part 
 select their lairs and breeding-places in subterraneous caverns. 
 I have considered it proper to include them under the head 
 of subterraneous beasts. I am aware that two kinds of this 
 animal have been distinguished by authors, the one with, the 
 other without, wings. No one either can or ought to doubt 
 concerning the latter kind of creature, unless perchance he 
 dares to contradict the Holy Scripture, for it would be an 
 impious thing to say it when Daniel makes mention of the 
 divine worship accorded to the dragon Bel by the Baby- 
 lonians, and after the mention of the dragon made in other 
 parts of the sacred writings.'* 
 
 Harris, in his Collection of Voyages,^ gives a singular 
 resume. He says : " We have, in an ancient author, a very 
 large and circumstantial account of the taking of a dragon 
 on the frontiers of Ethiopia, which was one and twenty feet 
 in length, and was carried to Ptolemy Philadelphus, who 
 very bountifully rewarded such as ran the hazard of pro- 
 curing him this beast. Diodorus Siculus, lib. iii. . . . Yet 
 terrible as these were they fall abundantly short of monsters 
 of the same species in India, with respect to which St. 
 Ambroset tells us that there were dragons seen in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Ganges nearly seventy cubits in length. It 
 was one of this size that Alexander and his army saw in a 
 cave, where it was fed, either out of reverence or from 
 curiosity, by the inhabitants ; and the first lightning of its 
 
 * Probably many of my readers are acquainted with Schiller's poem 
 based on this story, and with the beautiful designs by Eetsch illus- 
 trating it. 
 
 t Harris, Collection of Voyages, vol. i. p. 474; London, 1764. 
 
 I De Moribus Brachmanorvm , p. 63. Strabo, lib. 16, p. 75. Bochart 
 Hieroz, p. 11, lib. 3, cap. 13. 
 
THE DRAGON. 209 
 
 eyes, together with its terrible hissing, made a strong im- 
 pression on the Macedonians, who, with all their courage, 
 could not help being frighted at so horrid a spectacle.* The 
 dragon is nothing more than a serpent of enormous size ; 
 and they formerly distinguished three sorts of them in the 
 Indies, viz. such as were found in the mountains, such as 
 were bred in caves or in the flat country, and such as were 
 found in fens and marshes. 
 
 " The first is the largest of all, and are covered with scales 
 as resplendent as polished gold.f These have a kind of 
 beard hanging from their lower jaw, their eyebrows large, 
 and very exactly arched ; their aspect the most frightful 
 that can be imagined, and their cry loud and shrill ;| their 
 crests of a bright yellow, and a protuberance on their heads 
 of the colour of a burning coal. 
 
 " Those of the flat country differ from the former in 
 nothing but in having their scales of a silver colour, and in 
 their frequenting rivers, to which the former never come. 
 
 " Those that live in marshes and fens are of a dark colour, 
 approaching to a black, move slowly, have no crest, or any 
 rising upon their heads. || Strabo says that the painting them 
 with wings is the effect of fancy, and directly contrary to 
 truth, but other naturalists and travellers both ancient and 
 modern affirm that there are some of these species winged.^ 
 
 * JElian, De Animal., lib. xv. cap. 21. 
 
 f Strabo, lib. xvi. 
 
 % Gosse tells us that it is still a common belief in Jamaica that 
 crested snakes exist there which crow like a cock. 
 
 Strabo, lib. xvi. 
 
 || Jonston, Thecttr. Animal, tome ii. p. 34, " De Serpentibus." Note. 
 It is interesting to record that in China, to the present day, the 
 tradition of the gold and silver scaled species of dragons remains alive. 
 Two magnificent dragons, 200 feet and 150 feet long, representing 
 respectively the gold and silver dragon, formed part of the processions 
 in Hongkong in December 1881, in honour of the young princes. 
 
 Tf Strabo, lib. xvi. 
 
 14 
 
210 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Pliny says their bite is not venomous, other authors deny 
 this. Pliny gives a long catalogue of medical and magical 
 properties, which he ascribes to the skin, flesh, bones, eyes, 
 and teeth of the dragon, also a valuable stone in its head. 
 ' They hung before the mouth of the dragon den a piece of 
 stuff flowered with gold, which attracted the eyes of the 
 beast, till by the sound of soft music they lulled him to 
 sleep, 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 thirty cubits (say forty-five feet) in length, which 
 was captured alive by stratagem, the first attempt by force 
 having resulted in the death of several of the party. This 
 was conveyed to Ptolemy II. at Alexandria, where it was 
 placed in a den or chamber suitable for exhibition, and 
 became an object of general admiration. Diodorus says : 
 " When, therefore, so enormous a serpent was open for all to 
 see, credence could no longer be refused the Ethiopians, or 
 their statements be received as fables ; for they say that they 
 have seen in their country serpents so vast that they can not 
 only swallow cattle and other beasts of the same size, but 
 that they also fight with the elephant, embracing his limbs 
 so tightly in the fold of their coils that he is unable to move, 
 and, raising their neck up underneath his trunk, direct their 
 head against the elephant's eyes ; having destroyed his sight 
 by fiery rays like lightning, they dash him to the ground, 
 and, having done so, tear him to pieces." 
 
 In an account of the castle of Fahender, formerly one of 
 the most considerable castles of Fars, it is stated " Such is 
 the historical foundation of an opinion generally prevalent, 
 that the subterranean recesses of this deserted edifice are 
 still replete with riches. The talisman has not been for- 
 gotten ; and tradition adds another guardian to the previous 
 deposit, a dragon or winged serpent ; this sits for ever 
 brooding over the treasure which it cannot enjoy," 
 
THE DRAGON. 211 
 
 I shall examine, on a future occasion, how far those 
 figures correspond to the Persian ideas of dragons and ser- 
 pents, the azhdaha ((&A')\ = dragon) and mar (;U = snake), 
 which, as various poets relate, are constant guardians of 
 every subterraneous ganj (^S = treasure). 
 
 The mar at least may be supposed the same as that 
 serpent which guards the golden fruit in the garden of the 
 Hesperides. 
 
212 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE CHINESE DRAGON. 
 
 WE now approach the consideration of a country in which 
 the belief in the existence of the dragon is thoroughly 
 woven into the life of the whole nation. Yet at the same 
 time it has developed into such a medley of mythology and 
 superstition as to materially strengthen our conviction of the 
 reality of the basis upon which the belief has been founded, 
 though it involves us in a mass of intricate perplexities in 
 connection with the determination of its actual period of 
 existence. 
 
 There is no country so conservative as China, no nation 
 which can boast of such high antiquity, as a collective people 
 permanently occupying the same regions, and preserving 
 records of their polity, manners, and surroundings from the 
 earliest date of their occupation of the territory which still 
 remains the centre of their civilization ; and there is none in 
 which dragon culture has been more persistently maintained 
 down to the present day. 
 
 Its mythologies, histories, religions, popular stories, and 
 proverbs, all teem with references to a mysterious being who 
 has a physical nature and spiritual attributes. Gifted with 
 an accepted form, which he has the supernatural power of 
 casting off for the assumption of others, he has the power 
 of influencing the weather, producing droughts or fertilizing 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 213 
 
 rains at pleasure, of raising tempests and allaying them. 
 Volumes could be compiled from the scattered legends which 
 everywhere abound relating to this subject ; but as they are, 
 for the most part, like our medieval legends, echoes of each 
 other, no useful purpose would be served by doing so, and I 
 therefore content myself with drawing, somewhat copiously, 
 from one 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 of the authority which may be 
 fairly claimed for the several works from which I shall make 
 quotations, bearing on the Chinese testimony of the past 
 existence, and date of existence, of the dragon and other 
 so-called mythical animals. 
 
 Incidental comments on natural history form a usual part 
 of every Chinese geographical work, but collective descrip- 
 tions of animals are rare in the literature of the present, and 
 almost unique in that of the past. We are, therefore, forced 
 to rely on the side-lights occasionally afforded by the older 
 classics, and on one or two works of more than doubtful 
 authenticity which claim, equally with them, to be of high 
 antiquity. The works to which I propose to refer more 
 immediately are the Yih King, the Bamboo Books, the Shu 
 King, the 'Eh Ya, the Shan Hai King, the Pan Ts'ao Kang 
 Muh, and the Yuen Kien Lei Han. 
 
 As it is well known that all the ancient books, with the 
 exception of those on medicine, divination, and husbandry, 
 were ordered to be destroyed in the year B.C. 212 by the 
 Emperor Tsin Shi Hwang Ti, under the threatened penalty 
 for non-compliance of branding and labour on the walls for 
 four years, and that a persecution of the literati was com- 
 menced by him in the succeeding year, which resulted in the 
 burying alive in pits of four hundred and sixty of their 
 number, it may be reasonably objected that the claims to 
 high antiquity which some of the Chinese classics put forth, 
 
214 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 are, to say the least, doubtful, and, in some instances, highly 
 improbable. 
 
 This question has been well considered by Mr. Legge in 
 his valuable translation of the Chinese Classics. He points 
 out that the tyrant died within three years after the burning 
 of the books, and that the Han dynasty was founded only 
 eleven years after that date, in B.C. 201, shortly after which 
 attempts were commenced to recover the ancient literature. 
 He concludes that vigorous efforts to carry out the edict 
 would not be continued longer than the life of its author- 
 that is, not for more than three years and that the materials 
 from which the classics, as they come down to us, were com- 
 piled and edited in the two centuries preceding the Christian 
 era, were genuine remains, going back to a still more remote 
 period. 
 
 THE " Ym KING " OB YH KING." 
 
 The Yih King is one of those books specially excepted from 
 the general destruction of the books. Keferences in it to 
 the dragon are not numerous, and will be found as quota- 
 tions in the extracts from the large encyclopedia Yuen 
 Kien Lei Han, given hereafter. This work has hitherto 
 been very imperfectly understood even by the Chinese 
 themselves, but the recent researches of M. Terrien de la 
 Couperie lead us to suppose that our translations have 
 been imperfect, from the fact that many symbols have 
 different significations in the present day to those which 
 they had in very ancient times, and that a special dic- 
 tionary of archaic meanings must be prepared before an 
 accurate translation can be arrived at, a consummation 
 which may shortly be expected from his labours. I 
 find in my notes, taken from the manuscript of a lecture 
 given before the Ningpo Book Club in 1870, by the Eev. J. 
 Butler, of the Presbyterian Mission, that " the way in which 
 the dragon came to represent the Emperor and the Throne 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 215 
 
 of China* is accounted for in the Yih King as follows : 
 The chief dragon has his abode in the sky, and all clouds 
 and vapours, winds and rains are under his control. He 
 can send rain or withhold it at his pleasure, and hence all 
 vegetable life is dependent on him. So the Emperor, from 
 his exalted throne, watches over the interests of his people, 
 and confers on them those temporal and spiritual blessings 
 without which they would perish." I abstain from dwelling 
 on this or any other passages in the Yih King, pending the 
 translation promised by M. De la Couperie, the nature of 
 whose views on it are condensed in the notef attached, being 
 extracts from his papers on the subject. 
 
 * In China the dragon is peculiarly the emblem of imperial power, 
 as with us the lion is of the kingly. The Emperor is said to be seated 
 on the dragon throne. A five-clawed dragon is embroidered on the 
 Emperor's court-robes. It often surrounds his edicts, and the title- 
 pages of books published by his authority, and dragons are inscribed 
 on his banners. It is drawn stretched out at full length or curled up 
 with two legs pointing forwards and two backwards ; sometimes holding 
 a pearl in one hand, and surrounded by clouds and fire. 
 
 f The Yih King extracts from papers by Monsieur De la Couperie, 
 in the Journal of the Eoyal Asiatic Society. 
 
 " The Yih King is the oldest of the Chinese books, and is the 
 mysterious classic which requires ' a prolonged attention to make it reveal 
 its secrets ' ; it has peculiarities of style, making it the most difficult of 
 all the Chinese classics to present in an intelligible version." 
 
 " We have multifarious proofs that the writing, first known in China, 
 was already an old one, partially decayed, but also much improved since 
 its primitive hieroglyphic stage. We have convincing proofs (vide my 
 ' Early History of Chinese Civilization,' pp. 21-23, and the last section 
 of the present paper) that it had been borrowed, by the early leaders of 
 the Chinese Bak families [Poh Sing] in Western Asia, from an hori- 
 zontal writing traced from left to right, the pre-cuneiform character, 
 which previously had itself undergone several important modifica- 
 tions. 
 
 "At that time the Ku-wen was really the phonetic expression of 
 speech. (By an analysis of the old inscriptions and fragments, and by 
 the help of the native works on palaeography, some most valuable, 
 I have compiled a dictionary of this period.) 
 
 " If the kwas, which were a survival of the arrows of divination 
 
216 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 THE ANNALS OF THE BAMBOO BOOKS. 
 
 These are annals from which a great part of Chinese 
 chronology is derived. Mr. Legge gives the history of their 
 
 known to the 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 of education among those who have picked up some knowledge 
 in Europe or in translations of European works of our modern sciences, 
 who believe openly that all these may be found in their Yih. Electricity, 
 steam power, astronomical laws, sphericity of the earth, &c., are all, 
 according to their views, to be found in the Yih King ; they firmly 
 believe that these discoveries were not ignored by their sages, who have 
 embodied them in their mysterious classics, of which they will be able 
 to unveil the secrets when they themselves apply to its study a thorough 
 knowledge of the modern sciences. It is unnecessary for any Euro- 
 pean mind to insist upon the childishness of such an opinion. Even in 
 admitting, what seems probable, that the early leaders of the Bak people 
 (Poh Sing) were not without some astronomical and mathematical 
 principles, which have been long since forgotten, there is no possible 
 comparison between their rude notions and our sciences. 
 
 " It is not a mysterious book of fate and prognostics. It contains a 
 valuable collection of documents of old antiquity, in which is embodied 
 much information on the ethnography, customs, language, and writing 
 of early China. 
 
 " Proofs of various kinds similitude of institutions, traditions and 
 knowledge, affinities of words of culture ; and, in what concerns the 
 writing, 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 of 
 orthography had led me, several years ago, to no other conclusion than 
 that (as the reverse is proved impossible by numerous reasons), at an 
 early period of their history, and before their emigration to the far 
 East, the Chinese Bak families had borrowed the pre-cuneiform writing 
 and elements of their knowledge and institutions from a region con- 
 nected with the old focus of culture of south-western Asia. 
 
 " Numerous affinities of traditions, institutions, and customs, connect 
 the borrowing of script and culture by the Chinese Bak families with 
 the region of Elam, the confederation of states of which Susa was the 
 chief town, and the Kussi the principal population. 
 
 " What are the historical facts of this connection we do not know. 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 217 
 
 discovery, as related in the history of the Emperor Woo, the 
 first of the sovereigns of Tsin, as follows : 
 
 " In the fifth year of his reign, under title of Heen-ning* 
 [=A.D. 2791, some lawless parties, in the department of 
 Keih, dug open the grave of King Seang of Wei [died 
 B.C. 295] and found a number of bamboo tablets, written 
 over, in the small seal character, with more than one hun- 
 dred thousand words, which were deposited in the imperial 
 library." 
 
 Mr. Legge adds, " The Emperor referred them to the 
 principal scholars in the service of the Government, to adjust 
 the tables in order, having first transcribed them in modern 
 characters. Among them were a copy of the Yih King, in 
 two books, agreeing with that generally received, and a book 
 of annals, in twelve or thirteen chapters, beginning with the 
 reign of Hwang-te, and coming down to the sixteenth year 
 of the last emperor of the Chow dynasty, B.C. 298." 
 
 " The reader will be conscious of a disposition to reject at 
 once the account of the discovery of the Bamboo Books. 
 He has read so much of the recovery of portions of the 
 Shoo from the walls of houses that he must be tired of this 
 
 Has the break-up which happened in those states and resulted in 
 the conquest of Babylonia by the Elamite king, Kudur Nakhunta, 
 at the date, which is certain, of 2285 B.C., been also the cause of an 
 eastern conquest and a settlement in Bactria ? and would this account 
 for the old focus of culture coeval with the earlier period of Assyrian 
 monarchy said to have existed in Central Asia? 
 
 " The two ethnic names, which, as we have pointed out, were those of 
 the Chinese invaders, Bak and Kutti or Kutta, are not altogether 
 foreign to those 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 be the same ethnic names. Had not the Chinese, pre- 
 vious to my researches, and quite on different reasons, been traced back 
 westerly to the regions of Yarkand and Khotan? This is not far 
 distant from the old focus of culture of Central Asia, and the connection 
 cannot be objected to by geographical reasons." Vol. xv. part 2. 
 
 * Dr. Williams, Hien-ning* 
 
218 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 mode of finding lost treasures, and smiles when he is now 
 called on to believe that an old tomb opened and yielded its 
 literary stores long after the human remains that had been 
 laid in it had mingled with the dust. From the death of 
 King Seang to A.D. 279 were 574 years." 
 
 Against this, however, which is not a very weighty objec- 
 tion, if we consider the length of time that Egyptian papyri 
 have been entombed before their restoration to the light, 
 Mr. Legge ranges preponderating evidence in favour of their 
 authenticity, and concludes that " they had, no doubt, been 
 lying for nearly six centuries in the tomb in which they had 
 been first deposited when they were then brought anew to 
 
 light." 
 
 The annals consist of two portions, one forming what is 
 undoubtedly the original text, and consisting of short notices 
 of occurrences, such as, " In his fiftieth year, in the 
 autumn, in the seventh month, on the day Kang shin [fifty- 
 seventh of cycle] phoenixes, male and female, arrived," &c. 
 &c. It also records earthquakes, obituaries, accessions, and 
 remarkable natural phenomena. The other portion is inter- 
 spersed between these, in the form of rather diffuse, though 
 not very numerous, notes, which by some are supposed to be 
 a portion of the original text, by others, to have been added 
 by the commentator Shin Yo [A.D. 502-557]. 
 
 In the latter, frequent references are made to the appear- 
 ance of phoenixes (the funy wang). ki-lins (unicorns), and 
 dragons. 
 
 In the former we find only incidental references to either 
 of these, such as, " XIV. The Emperor K'ung-kea. In 
 his first year (B.C. 1611), when he came to the throne, he 
 dwelt on the west of the Ho. He displaced the chief of 
 Ch'e-wei,* and appointed Lew-luyt to feed the dragons." 
 
 * Williams, Shi- Wei. 
 f Williams, Liu-Lei. 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 219 
 
 According to the latter, Hwang Ti (B.C. 2697) had a 
 dragon -like countenance ; while the mother of Yaou (B.C. 
 2356) conceived him by a dragon. The legend is : " After 
 she was grown up, whenever she looked into any of the three 
 Ho, there was a dragon following her. One morning the 
 dragon came with a picture and writing. The substance of 
 the writing was the Ked one has received the favour of 
 Heaven. . . . The red dragon made K'ing-teo pregnant." 
 
 Again, when Yaou had been on the throne seventy years, 
 a dragon-horse appeared bearing a scheme, which he laid on 
 the table and went away. 
 
 The Emperor Shun (B.C. 2255) is said to have had a 
 dragon countenance. 
 
 It is also said of Yu (the first emperor of the Hia dynasty) 
 that when the fortunes of Hia were about to rise, all vegeta- 
 tion was luxuriant, and green dragons lay in the borders ; 
 and that " on his way to the south, when crossing the Kiang, 
 in the middle of the stream, two yellow dragons took the 
 boat on their backs. The people were all afraid ; but Yu 
 laughed, and said, ' I received my appointment from Heaven, 
 and labour with all my strength to nourish men. To be 
 born is the course of nature ; to die is by Heaven's decree. 
 Why be troubled by the dragons ? ' On this the dragons 
 went away, dragging their tails." 
 
 From these extracts it will be seen that the dragon, 
 although universally believed in, was already mythical and 
 legendary, so far as the Chinese were concerned. 
 
 THE "Snu KING"* OR " SHOO KING" 
 
 is, according to Dr. Legge, simply a collection of historic 
 memorials, extending over a space of one thousand seven 
 hundred years, but on no connected method, and with great 
 gaps between them. 
 
 * Williams, Shu King. 
 
220 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 It opens with the reign of Yaou (B.C. 2357), and contains 
 interesting details 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 which Dr. 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 called 
 Yih and Ts'ih.* The emperor (Shun, B.C. 2255 to 2205) 
 says, " I wish to see the emblematic figures of the ancients 
 the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountain, the dragon, 
 and the flowery fowl, which are depicted on the upper garment ; 
 the temple cup, the aquatic grass, the flames, the grains of 
 rice, the hatchet, and the symbol of distinction, which are 
 embroidered on the lower garment. I wish to see all these dis- 
 played with the five colours, so as to form the official robes ; 
 it is yours to adjust them clearly." Here the dragon is 
 chosen as an emblematic figure, in association with eleven 
 others, which are objects of every-day knowledge, and this, 
 I think, establishes a presumption that it itself was not at 
 that date considered an object of doubtful credibility. 
 
 Similarly, we find the twelve symbolical animals, repre- 
 senting the twelve branches of the Horary characters 
 (dating, see Williams' Dictionary, from B.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 
 about whose existence a question can be raised. From this 
 latter we learn that there was no confusion of meaning then between 
 dragons and serpents ; the distinction of the two creatures was 
 clearly recognized, just as it was many centuries after- 
 wards by Mencius (4th century B.C.), who, in writing of 
 these early periods, says, " In the time of Yaou, the waters, 
 
 * Williams, Yih and Ts'ih. 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 221 
 
 flowing out of their channels, inundated the Middle King- 
 dom. Snakes and dragons occupied it, and the people had 
 no place where they could settle themselves " ; and again, 
 " Yu dug open their obstructed channels, and conducted 
 them to the sea. He drove away the snakes and dragons,* 
 and forced them into the grassy marshes." 
 
 THE " 'En YA.." 
 
 The 'Eh Ya or Urh 7a,f also transliterated Eul Ya and 
 (El Ya, a dictionary of terms used in the Chinese classics, 
 but more especially of those in the Shi King, or " Book of 
 Odes," a collection of ancient ballads compiled and arranged 
 by Confucius. 
 
 There is a tradition that it was commenced by the Duke 
 of Chow 1100 B.C., and completed or enlarged by Tsz Hia, 
 a disciple of Confucius. 
 
 Dr. Bretschneider suggests that each heading or phrase 
 in the original book merely represents the book names and 
 the popular names of the plants and animals. 
 
 The bulk of the work at present extant consists of the 
 commentary by Kwoh P'oh (about A.D. 300) and, in some 
 editions, of additional commentaries by other authors. 
 
 The illustrations selected from it for the present volume 
 are reduced from those in a very fine folio copy, for the loan 
 
 * I am under the impression that the dragons to which Mencius 
 refers were probably alligators, of which one small species still exists, 
 though rare, in the Yang-tsze-kiang. So also we may regard as alligators 
 the dragons referred to above in the annals of the Bamboo Books on 
 the passage of the Kiang by Yu. Mr. Griffis, in his work on Corea, 
 says, " The creature called a-ke, or alligator, capable of devouring a 
 man, is sometimes found in the largest rivers." 
 
 f For a full account of this work, see an Article by E. C. Bridgman 
 in Chinese Repository, xviii. (1849), p. 169 ; and Botanicon Sinicum, by 
 Dr. E. Bretschneider, in the Journal of the North China Branch of the 
 Royal Asiatic Society, New Series, vol. xvi. 1881, 
 
222 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 of which I am indebted to Mr. Thomas Kingsmill, of 
 Shanghai. 
 
 These profess to date back so far as the Sung dynasty 
 (A.D. 960 to A.D. 1127), and it is interesting to observe that 
 
 FIG. 41. THE BANNER CALLED TSING K'I. (From the 'Rh Ya.} 
 
 the representations of tools of 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 as might be 
 taken without alteration from those of the present day. 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 
 
 228 
 
 The drawings made by Kwoh P'oh appear to have been 
 lost in the sixth century A.D. 
 
 Notices of the dragon only appear incidentally in the 'Eh 
 Ya as forming part of the decoration of banners, &c. ; but 
 
 FIG. 42. THE K'l WITH BELLS. (From the 'Rh Ya.} 
 
 descriptions and figures of the Chinese unicorn are given, 
 and of other remarkable animals, of which I shall eventually 
 take notice. 
 
 These figures of dragons in the drawings of banners 
 (Figs. 41-44) are especially interesting ; as there is fair 
 reason to suppose that they at least have been reproduced 
 
224 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 time after time from pre-existing ones with tolerable accu- 
 racy ; and that they give us a good notion of the general 
 character of the animal they purport to represent. 
 
 I have appended a few fac- similes of wood engravings from 
 the 'Eh Ya on general subjects, in anticipation of others 
 
 FIG. 48. THE OHAO BANNER. 
 
 (From the 7?A Fa.) 
 
 FIG. 44. THE K'l OR KIAO LUNG 
 STANDARD. (From the San Li 7w.) 
 
 dealing with specialities, which will be found in their 
 appropriate positions ; they will serve to correct the notion 
 that the Chinese are entirely devoid of artistic power and 
 imagination (Figs. 46-49). 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 
 
 225 
 
 THE " SHAN HAI KING " OR CLASSIC OP MOUNTAIN AND SEAS. 
 
 Short notices of this remarkable work are given by Mr. 
 Alexander Wylie* and Dr. Bretschneider,f and a more ex- 
 haustive one by M. Bazin.J 
 
 FIG. 45. ONE OF THE EAVE TILES FROM THE OLD IMPERIAL PALACE OF NANKIN, 
 showing the Five-clawed or Imperial Dragon, an emblem which cannot be borne 
 by any outside of the Imperial service, under the penalty of death. Commoners 
 have to be satisfied with a four-clawed dragon. 
 
 FIG. 46. RETURN FROM THE CHASE. (From the 'Eh Ya.) 
 
 * Notes on Chinese Literature, A. Wylie, Shanghai and London, 1867. 
 t " Bot. Sin." in Journal of N. China Branch E. A. S., 1881. 
 J Journal Asiatique, Extr. No. 17 (1839). 
 
 15 
 
226 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 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 ; but some 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, and attributes it to Taouist writers in the fourth cen- 
 tury of our era, who forged the authority of the great Yii 
 and Peh Yi. He thinks it would be useless to attempt the 
 identification of the localities given in it, and offers a trans- 
 lation of a portion of the first chapter in support of his 
 views. 
 
 The value of his translation is impaired by his making 
 no distinction between the text and the commentary, and he 
 appears to have possessed an inferior and incomplete 
 version. 
 
 In an editorial article in the North China Herald of May 
 9, 1884 (presumably by Mr. Balfour, an excellent Sinologue), 
 it is referred to the date of Ch'in Shih Huang, who con- 
 nected the Heptarchy into a single kingdom, and conquered 
 Cochin China about B.C. 222. 
 
 Kwoh Po'h* (A.D. 276-324), who prepared an edition 
 which has descended to us, ascribes a date to it 3,000 years 
 anterior to his time. 
 
 Liu Hsiu,* of the Han dynasty (B.C. 206 to A.D. 25), 
 states that the Emperor Yii, the founder of the Hia dynasty 
 (B.C. 2205), employed Yih and Peh Yi as geographers and 
 natural historians, who produced the " Book of Wonders by 
 Land and Sea." While Yang Sun,* of the Ming dynasty 
 
 * The three prefaces by these authors are given in extenso in the 
 Appendix to this Chapter. 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 
 
 227 
 
 15 
 
228 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 FIG. 48. SOMMEK. (From the 'Eh Fa.) 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 229 
 
 (commencing A.D. 1368), states in his after-preface that the 
 Emperor Yii had nine metal vases cast, on which all won- 
 derful or rare animals were engraved, the commoner ones 
 being recorded in the annals of Yii ; and that K'ung Kiah 
 (of the Hia dynasty, B.C. 1879), included this varied infor- 
 mation in the present work. 
 
 It is to be hoped that at no distant date some competent 
 Sinologue will be induced to furnish a full translation of 
 this remarkable work, with an adequate commentary. 
 
 There is no doubt that many would be deterred from doing 
 so by an impression that a collection of fabulous stories, 
 treating of supernatural beings and apparently impossible 
 monsters, is unworthy the consideration of mature intellect, 
 and only fit to be relegated to the domain of Jack the Giant 
 Killer and other childish stories. After a close examination 
 of the book, I apprehend that this view of it can hardly 
 be maintained. That such stories or descriptions are inter- 
 spersed throughout the work is not to be disputed ; but a 
 large proportion of it consists of apparently authentic geo- 
 graphical records, including, as is customary with all works 
 of a similar nature in China, descriptions of the most remark- 
 able objects of natural history occurring in the different 
 regions. I think it will be found possible to identify many 
 of these at the present day, some may be conjectured at, 
 and the residue are not more numerous in proportion than 
 the similar fables or perverted accounts which figure in the 
 western classic volumes of Ctesias, Aristotle, Pliny, and 
 even much later writers. So far as the supernatural portions 
 are concerned, it must be remembered that, 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 rings in 
 Cornwall; that quite lately, and perhaps among certain 
 classes to the present day, the existence of the banshee in 
 Ireland, of the kelpie in Scotland, and of persons gifted with 
 the mysterious and awe-inspiring power of second sight, 
 
230 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 FIG. 49. MANTIS (A VERY CHARACTERISTIC FIGURE). (From the 'Rh Yet.) 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 231 
 
 was religiously believed in. There are few important 
 houses in England whose ancestral walls have not concealed 
 an apparition connected with the destinies of the family, 
 appearing only on fatal or eventful occasions ; and in the 
 days of the sapient James I. in England, and among the 
 Pilgrim Fathers in the American States, the existence 
 of wizards and witches was universally accepted as an 
 undeniable fact, proved by hundreds of instances of ex- 
 torted or voluntary confession, and supplemented by the 
 concurrent testimony of a still greater number of witnesses 
 who genuinely believed themselves to have been the spec- 
 tators or victims of the supernatural powers of the accused. 
 
 An historian of these later times might well have described 
 such things as realities, and we should not be disposed, on 
 account of his having done so, to question the validity of his 
 description of other objects or creatures existing at the 
 period, presuming them to be more consistent with our 
 present notions of possibility. 
 
 No one, now-a-days, would discredit the veracity of Marco 
 Polo because he speaks of enormous serpents in Carajan, 
 possessing two feet, each armed with a single claw. That 
 there was a solid foundation for his story is admitted, and 
 commentators are only at variance as to whether the basis 
 was a large species of python, such as still exists in Southern 
 China, or a 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 an impossibility ; as the small lizard, 
 Chirotes, is in that condition, and also the North American 
 genus Siren, belonging to the Newts. 
 
 I notice that Ketzoch, in his designs to illustrate Schiller's 
 poem, " The Fight with the Dragon,'* makes the monster 
 have only two fore-legs, and this appears to have been a 
 common mediaeval conception of it. Aldrovandus and Gesner 
 
232 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 FIG. 50. TOOLS OP HUSBANDRY. (From the 'Rh Fa.) 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 
 
 233 
 
 both give figures of biped dragons. There is also a curious 
 drawing in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1749 which is 
 transferred into the pages of the Encyclopedia of Philadel- 
 phia, apparently a piracy of an English Cyclopaedia, of what 
 is styled a sea-dragon, four feet long, which stands bolt 
 upright on two legs, and, like Barnum's mermaid, was 
 probably a triumph of art. 
 
 Aldrovandus was probably imposed on by some waggish 
 friend, in reference to the biped dragon without wings, two 
 cubits long, which was said to have been killed by a country- 
 man near Bonn in 1572 A.D., and which he first figured and 
 
 FIG. 51. DRACO BIPES APTEROS CAPTUS IN AGRO BONONIENSI. (Aldrovandus). 
 
 then placed in his museum ; and he evidently fully believed 
 in the Ethiopian winged biped dragon, of which he gives two 
 figures, but without quoting his authority. 
 
 FIG. 52. DRACO ^ETHIOPICUS. (Aldrovandus. 
 
 Gesner gives a similar figure, after Belon, of the winged 
 dragon of Mount Sinai ; but Athanasius Kircher is more 
 liberal, and gives his dragon not only wings but four legs. 
 
234 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 FIG. 53. THE FOUR-FOOTED WINGED DRAGON. (Kircher.} 
 
 In poetry we find Ashtaroth described as appearing to 
 Faust in the form of a serpent with two little feet. 
 
 As to the mysterious powers imputed throughout the Shan 
 tiai King to different creatures, of controlling drought, rain, 
 and fire, or acting, when partaken of, as remedies for sundry 
 ills and ailments, it may be asked whether we ourselves are 
 free from analogous superstitious beliefs ? Will a sailor 
 view without uneasiness the destruction of a Mother Carey's 
 chicken, or a Dutchman, of a stork ? Or is the Chinese 
 pharmacopoeia of the present day much more trustworthy as 
 to many of its items ? 
 
 As to the hurnan-visaged creatures, both snakes and four- 
 footed beasts, may we not perhaps put them on a par with 
 other fancied resemblances, which hold to the present day, of 
 (for example) the hippopotamus, to a river-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 
 partly reptilian, occasionally referred to, so entirely incre- 
 dible ? Is it not barely possible that some of those inter- 
 vening types which we know from the teaching of Darwin, 
 must have existed ; which we know, from the researches of 
 paleontology have existed ; types intermediate to the Stru- 
 thionidcB, the most reptilian of birds, and the Chlamydce, the 
 most avian of reptiles is it not possible that some of these 
 may have continued their existence down to a late date, and 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 
 
 235 
 
 that the tradition of these existing as the descendants or the 
 analogues of the Archseopteryx, and the toothed birds of 
 America, may be embalmed in the pages in question ? Is it 
 impossible? Do not the Trigonias, the Terebratulas, the 
 Marsupials, and, in part, the vegetation of Australia, form 
 the spare surviving descendants of the forms which charac- 
 terised the oolitic period on our own shores ? Why, then, 
 may not a few cretaceous and early tertiary forms have 
 struggled on, through a happy combination of circumstances, 
 to an aged and late existence in other lands. 
 
 After long, repeated, and careful examination of the Shan 
 Hai King, I arrive at a very different conclusion from M. 
 Bazin. I hold it to be an authentic and precious memorial 
 which has been handed down to us from remote antiquity, 
 the value of which has been unrecognised owing to the book 
 being unfortunately a fusion of two and perhaps three distinct 
 works. 
 
 FIG. 54. THE PA XAKE. (From the Shan Hai King.) 
 
236 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 The oldest was the Shan King, and consists of five volumes, 
 devoted respectively to the northern, southern, eastern, 
 western, and central mountain ranges. This is devoid of all 
 reference to persons and habited places. It is simply an 
 abstract of the results of a topographical survey which may 
 not impossibly have been, as it claims, the one conducted 
 by Yii. 
 
 It contains lists of mountains and rivers, with valuable 
 notes on their mineral productions, fauna and flora. It also 
 gives lists of the divinities controlling or belonging to each 
 mountain range, and the sacrifices suitable to them. There 
 are few extravagances in this portion of the work. 
 
 The remainder is devoted to a history of the regions 
 without and within the four hai or seas bounding the empire, 
 and those constituting what is called the Great Desert. 
 Here extravagant stories, myths, accounts of wonderful 
 people, references to states, cities, and tribes are mingled 
 with geographical notices which, from their repetition, show 
 that this portion is itself resolvable into two distinct works 
 of more modern date, whose origin was probably posterior to 
 the wave of Taouist superstition which swept over China in 
 the first six centuries of our era. I must add that the term, 
 " within the four seas " does not imply the arrogant belief, 
 as is generally supposed, that this Empire extended to the 
 ocean on every side, the archaic meaning being the very 
 different one of frontier or boundary region ; while the word 
 " desert " has a similar signification. 
 
 In that more credible portion of the work which I believe 
 to have been the original Shan King, references to dragons 
 are infrequent. In some instances the Mao (which I inter- 
 pret as the gavial) is specifically referred to ; in others the 
 word lung is used ; thus, it speaks of dragons and turtles 
 abounding in the Ti River, flowing from one of the northern 
 mountains east of the Ho. From the context, however, an 
 aquatic creature, and probably an alligator, is indicated. 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 
 
 237 
 
 FIG. 55. FLYING SNAKES FROM THE SIEN MOUNTAINS (CENTRAL MOUNTAINS). 
 (Shan Hai King.} 
 
238 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 From the entire text I gather that the true terrestrial dragon 
 was not an inmate of China, at all events after the period ol 
 Yii. I further infer that it was a feared and much respected 
 denizen of the more or less arid highlands, whence the early 
 Chinese either migrated or were driven, and from which 
 point the dragon traditions flowed pretty evenly east and 
 west, beat against the Himalayan chain on the south, and 
 only penetrated India in a later and modified form. 
 
 There is a short reference to the Ying Lung or winged 
 dragon ; it is as follows : 
 
 " In the north-east corner of the Great Desert are moun- 
 tains called Hiung-li and T'u K'iu. The Ying Lung lives at 
 the south extremity. 
 
 " [Commentary. The Ying Lung is a dragon with wings.] 
 
 " He killed Tsz Yiu and Kwa Fu. 
 
 " [Commentary. Tsz Yiu was a soldier.] 
 
 " He could not ascend to heaven. 
 
 " [Commentary. The Ying Lung dwells beneath the earth.] 
 
 " So there is often drought. 
 
 " [Commentary. Because no rain was made above.] 
 
 " When there is a drought, the form of the Ying dragon is 
 made, and then there is much rain. 
 
 " [Commentary. Now the false dragon is for this purpose, to in- 
 fluence (the heaven) ; men are not able to do it.]" 
 
 The better printed copies of this work are illustrated with 
 a very truculent- looking dragon with outspread wings. A 
 stone delineation of a dragon with wings forms the orna- 
 mentation of the bridge at Nincheang Foo. In the interior 
 of China, it was observed by Mr. Cooper, and is given in his 
 Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce. These are the only cases 
 in China in which I have come across illustrations of 
 dragons with genuine wings. As a rule, the dragon appears 
 to be represented as having the power of translating itself 
 without mechanical agency, sailing among the clouds, or 
 rising from the sea at pleasure. 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 
 
 239 
 
240 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 
 
 241 
 
 The Shan Hai King contains valuable notices of winged 
 snakes and gigantic serpents, as, for example, the so-called 
 singing snakes. Speaking of the Sien mountain (one of the 
 Central Mountains), it says : " Gold and jade abound. It is 
 barren. The Sien river issues and flows north into the I river. 
 On it are many singing snakes. They look like snakes, but 
 have four wings. Their voice is like the beating of stones. 
 When they appear there will be great drought in the city." 
 
 FIG. 58. Yii KIANG (A GOD). Without the Sea and North. (Shan Hai King.} 
 
 The Pa snake, already spoken of, is described as capable of 
 gorging an elephant. The Ta Hien mountains were reputed 
 uninhabitable on account of the presence of gigantic ser- 
 pents (pythons ?), which were said to have been of the 
 colour of mugwort, to have possessed hairs like pig's bristles 
 projecting between the lines of their riband-like markings. 
 Rumour had magnified their length to one hundred fathoms, 
 and they made a noise like the beating of a drum or the 
 striking of a watchman's wooden clapper. The Siong Jan 
 mountains were infested by serpents, also gigantic, but of a 
 different species. 
 
 The annexed wood-cuts (Figs. 56, 57) of Ping I (Icy 
 exterminator), and the Emperor K'i (B.C. 2197), each in 
 cars, driving two dragons, are interesting in connection 
 
 16 
 
242 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 with the later fable of Medea and Triptolernus, The two 
 stories were probably derived from a common source ; the 
 Chinese version, 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 the 
 Tayoh 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 ear or- 
 naments; at his girdle 
 dangled jade crescents. It 
 is north of Tayun mount ; 
 one author calls it Tai 
 common." The commen- 
 tator says Kiutai is the 
 name of a horse, and 
 " dance " means to dance 
 in a circle. [Probably this is the earliest reference extant 
 to a circus performance.] 
 
 Ping I is supposed to dwell in Tsung Ki pool near the 
 fairy region of Kwa-Sun, to have a human face, and to 
 drive two dragons. 
 
 Cursorily examined, the Shan Hai King is a farrago of false- 
 hood ; read with intelligence, it is a mine of historical wealth. 
 
 THE PAN TSAO KANG Mu.* 
 
 Descending to late times, we have the great Chinese 
 Materia Medica, in fifty-two volumes, entitled Pan Tsao Rang 
 
 * The reader is referred, for a careful precis of the contents of this 
 valuable work, to an exhaustive paper entitled " Botanicon Sinicum," 
 in the Journal of North China Branch Royal Asiatic Society, 1881, by 
 E. Bretschneider, M.D. 
 
 FIG. 59. THE TYPHOON DRAGON. 
 (From a Chinese Painting.) 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 243 
 
 Mu, made up of extracts from upwards of eight hundred 
 preceding authors, and including three volumes of illustra- 
 tions by Li Shechin, of the Ming dynasty (probably born 
 early in the sixteenth century A.D.). It was first printed in 
 the Wan-leih period (1573 to 1620). I give its article 
 upon the dragon in extenso. 
 
 " According to the dictionary of Hii Shan, the character 
 lung in the antique form of writing represents the shape of 
 the animal. According to the Shang Siao Lun, the dragon is 
 deaf, hence its name of lung (deaf). In Western books the 
 dragon is called nake (naga). Shi-Chan says that in the 
 'Rh Ya Yih of Lo-Yuen the dragon is described as the largest 
 of scaled animals (literally, insects). Wang Fu says that 
 the dragon has nine (characteristics) resemblances. Its head 
 is like a camel's, its horns like a deer's, its eyes like a 
 hare's,* its ears like a bull's, its neck like a snake's, its belly 
 like an iguanodon's (?), its scales like a carp's, its claws like 
 an eagle's, and its paws like a tiger's. Its scales number 
 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 are whiskers, under its chin is a 
 bright pearl, under its throat the scales are reversed, on the 
 top of its head is the poh shan, which others call the wooden 
 foot-rule. A dragon without a foot-rule cannot ascend the 
 skies. When its breath escapes it forms clouds, sometimes 
 changing into rain, at other times into fire. Luh Tien in 
 the P'i Ya remarks, when dragon -breath meets with damp it 
 becomes bright, when it gets wet it goes on fire. It is extin- 
 guished 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 out there is a breeze below, in 
 
 * The character-for a hare is very like the character for a devil. The 
 Japanese, in quoting this passage, have fallen into this error. 
 
 16 * 
 
-244 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 consequence of which there is conception. The Shih Tien 
 states, when the dragons come together they are changed 
 into two small serpents. In the Siao Shwoh it is said that 
 the disposition of the dragon is very fierce, and it is fond of 
 beautiful gems and jade (?). It is extremely fond of swallow's 
 flesh ; it dreads iron, the mong plant, the centipede, the 
 leaves of the Pride of India, and silk dyed of different (five) 
 colours. A man, therefore, who eats swallow's flesh should 
 fear to cross the water. When rain is wanted a swallow 
 should be offered (used); when floods are to be restrained, 
 then iron ; to stir up the dragon, the mong plant should be 
 employed ; to sacrifice to Kuh Yuen, the leaves of the Pride 
 of India bound with coloured silk should be used (see 
 Mayers, p. 107, 326) and thrown into the river. Physi- 
 cians who use dragons' bones ought to know the likes and 
 dislikes of dragons as given above." 
 
 " Dragons 1 Bones.* In the Pieh luh it is said that these 
 are found in the watercourses in Tsin (Southern Shansi) 
 and in the earth-holes which exist 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 
 fixed time. Hung King says that now they are largely 
 found in Leung-yih (in Shansi ?) and Pa-chung (in Sz- 
 chuen). Of all the bones, dragon's spine is the best; the 
 brains make the white earth strice, which when applied to the 
 tongue is of great virtue. The small teeth are hard, and of 
 the usual appearance of teeth. The horns are hard and 
 solid. All the dragons cast off their bodies without really 
 dying. Han says the dragon-bones from Yea-cheu, Ts'ang- 
 
 * The dragons' bones sold by apothecaries in China consist of the 
 fossilized teeth and bones of a variety of species, generally in a frag- 
 mentary condition. The white earth striae, or dragons' brains, here 
 referred to, are probably asbestos. The asbestos sold in Chefoo 
 market, under the name of Lung Ku or dragons' bones, is procured at 
 0-tzu-kung. 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 245 
 
 cheu and T'ai-yuen (all in Shansi) are the best. The smaller 
 bones marked with wider lines are the female dragon's ; the 
 rougher bones with narrower lines are those of the male 
 dragon ; those which are marked with variegated colours are 
 esteemed the best. Those that are either yellow or white 
 are of medium value ; the black are inferior. If any of the 
 bones are impure, or are gathered by women, they should 
 not be used. 
 
 " 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 not good ; the variegated ones 
 possess virtue. The light, the yellow, the flesh-coloured, 
 the white, and the black, are efficacious in curing diseases 
 in the internal organs having their respective colours, just as 
 the five varieties of the chi* plant, the five kinds of lime- 
 stone, and the five kinds of mineral oil (literally, fat), which 
 remain still for discussion in this work. 
 
 " Su-chung states : ' In the prefecture of Cheu kiiin, to the 
 " East of the River " (Shansi), dragons' bones are still found 
 in large quantities. 5 
 
 " Li-chao, in the Kwoh-shi-pu, says : * In the spring floods 
 the fish leap into the Dragon's Gate, and the number of cast- 
 off bones there is very numerous. These men seek for medi- 
 cinal purposes. They are of the five colours. 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 the Poh-mung 
 Legends : ' In the time of the five dynasties there was a con- 
 test between two dragons; when one was slain, a village 
 hero, Kw'an, got both its horns. In the front of the horns 
 was an object of a bluish colour, marked with confused lines, 
 
 * The boletus, supposed to possess mystic efficacy. 
 
246 MYTHICAL MONSTE&S. 
 
 which no one knew anything about, as the dragon was com- 
 pletely dead.' 
 
 " Tsung Shih says : < All statements [concerning dragons' 
 bones] disagree ; they are merely speculations, for when a 
 mountain cavern has disclosed to view a skeleton head, horns 
 and all, who is to know whether they are exuvice or that the 
 dragon has been killed ? Those who say they are exuvice, 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 really is) when it is dead? Some also say 
 that it is a transformation, but how is it only in its appear- 
 ance that it cannot be transformed ? ' 
 
 " Ki, in the present work, says that they are really dead 
 dragons' bones ; for one to say that they are exuvice is a 
 mere speculation. 
 
 " Shi Chan says : < The present work considers that these 
 are really dead dragons' bones, but To Shi thinks they 
 are exuvice. Su and Kan doubt both these statements. 
 They submit that dragons are divine beings, and resemble 
 the principle of immortality (never-in-themselves-dying 
 principle) ; but there is the statement of the dragon fight- 
 ing and getting killed; and further, in the Tso-chw'en, 
 in which it is stated that there was a certain rearer of 
 dragons who pickled dragons for food [for the imperial 
 table?].' 
 
 " The I-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 the Emperor ordered to be made into 
 soup and given to his Ministers.' 
 
 " The Poh-wuh-chi states that a certain Chang Hwa ' got 
 dragon's flesh to dry, for it is said that when seasoning was 
 applied the five colours appeared, &c. These facts prove 
 that the dragon does die, an opinion which is considered 
 correct by [the writers of] the present work.' " 
 
THE CHINESE DRAGON. 24? 
 
 THE YUEN KIEN LEI HAN. 
 
 This is an encyclopaedia in four hundred and fifty books or 
 volumes, completed in 1710. More than eighty pages are 
 devoted to the dragon. These, with all similar publica- 
 tions in China, consist entirely of extracts from old works, 
 many of which have perished, and of which fragments alone 
 remain preserved as above. 
 
 I have had the whole of this carefully translated, but think 
 it unnecessary to trouble the reader, in the present volume, 
 with more than the first chapter, which I give in the 
 Appendix. There is also a description 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 the Pan Tsao 
 Kang Mu. 
 
248 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 FIG. GO VIGNETTE. {After Hoku*<ii.) 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 THE JAPANESE DRAGON. 
 
 THERE is but little additional information as to the dragon 
 to be gained from Japan, the traditions relating to it in that 
 country having been obviously derived from China. In 
 functions and qualities it is always represented as identical 
 with the Chinese dragon. In Japan, however, it is invari- 
 ably figured as possessing three claws, whereas in China it 
 has four or five, according as it is an ordinary or an imperial 
 emblem. The peasantry are still influenced by a belief in its 
 supernatural powers, or in those of some large or multiple- 
 headed snake, supposed to be a transformation of it, and to 
 be the tenant of deep lakes or of springs issuing from 
 mountains. 
 
 1 give, as examples of dragon stories, two selected from the 
 narratives of mythical history,* and one extracted from a 
 native journal of the day. 
 
 * The first two stories are from the Ko Ku Shi Riyah, a recent his- 
 tory of Japan, from the earliest periods down to the present time, by 
 Matsunai, with a continuation by a later author. They are contained in 
 
THE JAPANESE DRAGON. 249 
 
 The first states that " Hi-koho-ho-da-mi no mikoto (a 
 god) went out hunting, and his eldest brother Hono-sa-su-ri 
 no mikoto went out fishing. They were very successful, and 
 proposed to one another to change occupations. They 
 did so. 
 
 " Hono-sa-su-ri no mikoto went out to the mountain hunt- 
 ing, but got nothing, therefore he gave back his bow and 
 arrow ; but Hi-ko-hoho-da-mi no mikoto 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 the 
 mikoto was greatly grieved, and, wandering on the shore, 
 met with an old man called Si-wo-tsu-chino-gi, and told him 
 what had happened. 
 
 " The latter made a cage called me-na-shi.kogo, enclosed 
 him in it, and sank it to the bottom of the sea. The 
 mikoto proceeded to the temple of the sea-god, who gave him 
 a girl, Toyotama, in marriage. He remained there three 
 years, and recovered the hook which he had lost, as well as 
 receiving two pieces of precious jade called * ebb ' and ' flood.' 
 He then returned. After some years he died. His son, Hi- 
 ko-na-gi-sa-ta-k'e-ouga-ya-fu-ki-aya-dzu no mikoto, succeeded 
 to the crown. 
 
 " When his father first proposed to return, his wife told 
 him that she was enciente, and that she would come out to 
 the shore during the rough weather and heavy sea, saying, 
 1 1 hope you will wait until you have completed a house for 
 my confinement.' After some time Toyotama came there 
 and 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 in the midst of its coils. 
 It suddenly jumped up and darted into the sea." 
 
 the first chapter of the first volume. The third is given as an ordinary 
 item of news in the journal called the Chin-jei-Nippo, April 30th, 
 1884. 
 
250 
 
 MYTHICAL 
 
THE JAPANESE DRAGON. 251 
 
 The second legend is : " When the So-sa-no-o no mikoto 
 went to the sources of the river Hi-no-ka-mi at Idzumo, he 
 heard lamentations from a house ; he therefore approached it 
 and inquired the cause. He saw an old man and woman clasp- 
 ing a young girl. They told him that in that country there 
 was a very large serpent, which had eight* heads and eight 
 tails, and came annually and swallowed one person. * We 
 had eight children, and we have already 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, I will 
 save her.' The old man and woman were rejoiced. The 
 mikoto changed his form, and assumed that of the young 
 girl. He divided the room into eight partitions, and 
 in each placed one saki tuh 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 he split open the tail to find the 
 reason, and found in it a valuable sword, and offered it to 
 the god 0-mi-ka-mi, at Taka-maga-hara. 
 
 66 He called the sword Ama no mourakoumo no tsiirogi,f 
 because there was a cloud up in the heaven where the ser- 
 pent lies. Finally he married the girl, and built a house at 
 Suga in Idzumo." 
 
 The third story runs as follows : 
 
 The White Dragon. 
 
 " There is a very large pond at the eastern part of Fu-si- 
 ml-shi-ro-yama, at Yama-shiro (near Kioto) ; it is called 
 
 * The idea of the eight heads probably originated in China ; thus, 
 in the caves in Shantung, near Chi-ning Chou, among carvings of 
 mythological figures and divinities, dating from A.D. 147, we find a 
 tiger's body with eight heads, all human. 
 
 f Mourakoumo means " clouds of clouds " ; ama means " heaven " ; 
 tsurogi means " sword." 
 
252 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Ukisima. In the fine weather little waves rise up on account 
 of its size. There are many turtles in it. In the summer- 
 time many boys go to the pond to swim, but never go out 
 into the middle or far from the shore. No one is aware how 
 deep the centre of the pond is, and it is said that a white 
 dragon lives in that pond, and can transform itself into a 
 bird, which the people of the district call 0-gon-cho, i.e. 
 golden bird, because, when it becomes a bird, it has a yellow 
 plumage. The bird flies once in fifty years, and its voice is 
 like the howling of a wolf. In that year there is famine and 
 pestilence, and many people die. Just one hundred years 
 ago, when this bird flew and uttered its cry, there was a 
 famine and drought and disease, and many people died. 
 Again, at Tempo-go-nen (i.e. in the fifth year of Tempo), 
 fifty years back from the present time, the bird flew as before, 
 and there was once again disease and famine. Hence the 
 people in that district were much alarmed, as it is now 
 just fifty years again. They hoped, however, that the bird 
 would not fly and cry. But at 2 A.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 avert the 
 famine and disease. The old farmers say, in the fine weather 
 the white dragon may occasionally be seen floating on the 
 water, but that if it sees people it sinks down beneath the 
 surface." * 
 
 As a pendant to this I now quote a memorial from the 
 Pekin Gazette of April 3rd, 1884, of which a translation is 
 given in the North China Herald for May 16th, 1884. 
 
 " A Postscript Memorial of P'an Yii requests that an addi- 
 tional title of rank, and a tablet written by His Majesty's 
 
 * White snakes are occasionally, although rarely, seen in Japan. 
 They are supposed to be messengers from the gods, and are never 
 killed by the people, but always taken and carried to some temple. The 
 white snake is worshipped in Nagasaki at a temple called Miyo-ken, at 
 Nishi-yama, which is the northern part of the city of Nagasaki. 
 
THE JAPANESE DRAGON. 253 
 
 own hand, may be conferred on a dragon spirit, who has 
 manifested himself and answered the prayers made to 
 him. 
 
 11 In the Ang-shan mountains, a hundred li from the town 
 of Kuei-hai, there are three wells, of which one is on the 
 mountain top, in a spot seldom visited. It has long been 
 handed down that a dragon inhabits this well. If pieces 
 of metal are thrown into the well they float, but light 
 things, as silk or paper, will sink. If the offerings are 
 accepted, fruits come floating up in exchange. Anything not 
 perfectly pure and clean is rejected and sent whirling up 
 again. The spirit dwells in the blackest depths of the water, 
 in form like a strange fish, with golden scales and four paws, 
 red eyes and long body. He ordinarily remains deep in 
 the water without stirring. But in times of great drought, 
 if the local authorities purify themselves, and sincerely wor- 
 ship him, he rises to the top. He is then solemnly conveyed 
 to the city, and prayers for rain are offered to him, which 
 are immediately answered. His temple is in the district 
 city, on the To'ang-hai Ling. The provincial and local 
 histories record that tablets to him have been erected 
 from the times of the Mongol and the Ming dynasties. 
 During the present dynasty, on several occasions, as, for 
 instance, in the years 1845 and 18(53, he has been carried 
 into the city, and rain has fallen immediately. Last year a 
 dreadful drought occurred, in which the ponds and tanks 
 dried up, to the great terror of the people. On the 15th 
 day of the eighth month, the magistrate conducted the spirit 
 into the city, and, with the assembled multitude, prayed to 
 him fervently ; thereupon a gentle rain, falling throughout 
 the country, brought plenty in the place of scarcity, and 
 gladdened the hearts of all. At about the same time, the 
 people of a district in the vicinity, called Chin-yu, also had 
 recourse to the spirit, with equally favourable results. These 
 are well-known events, which have happened quite recently. 
 
254 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 " It is the desire of the people of the district that some 
 mark of distinction should be conferred on the spirit ; and 
 the memorialist finds such a proceeding to be sanctioned both 
 by law and precedent ; he therefore humbly lays the wishes 
 of the people before His Majesty, who, perhaps, will be 
 pleased to confer a title and an autograph tablet as above 
 suggested. The Rescript has already been recorded. 
 
 "No. 6 of Memorial." 
 
 The idea of the transformation of a sea-monster or dragon 
 into a bird is common both to China and Japan ; for instance, 
 in The Works of Chuang Tsze, ch. i. p. 1, by F. H. Balfour, 
 F.B.G.S., we read that- 
 
 "In the Northern Sea there was a fish, whose name was 
 kw'en. It is not known how many thousand li this fish was 
 in length. It was afterwards transformed into a bird called 
 p'eng, the size of whose back is uncertain by some thousands 
 of li. Suddenly it would dart upwards with rapid flight, its 
 
 FiG.62. THE HAI Rjvo. (Chi-on-in Monastery, Kioto.) 
 
THE JA PANESE DEAGON. 255 
 
 wings overspreading the sky like clouds. When the waters 
 were agitated [in the sixth moon] the bird moved its abode 
 to the Southern Sea, the Pool of Heaven. In the book 
 called Ts'i Hieh, which treats of strange and marvellous 
 things, it is said that when the p'eng flew south, it first 
 rushed over three thousand li of water, and then mounted 
 to the height of ninety thousand li, riding upon the 
 wind that blows in the sixth moon. The wild horses, i.e. 
 the clouds and dust of heaven, 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 produced by 
 infinite, illimitable depths ? For the bird, as it looked 
 downwards, the view 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 depicted several composite creatures, half-dragon, 
 half-bird, which appear to represent the Japanese rendering 
 of the Chinese Ying Lung or winged dragon. They have 
 dragons' heads, plumose wings, and birds' claws, and have 
 been variously designated to me by Japanese as the Hai 
 Itiyo (Fig. 62), the Tobi Tatsu,, and the Schachi Hoko. 
 
 FIG. <>3. JAPANESE DRAGON (BRONZE) 
 
256 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 FIG. 64. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF DRAGON CHAPTERS. 
 
 The numerous quotations given in the above pages, or 
 in the Appendix, are merely a selection, and by no means 
 profess to be so extensive as they should be were this work 
 a monograph on the dragon alone. Having a special object 
 in view, I have forborne to diverge into those interesting 
 speculations which relate to its religious significance ; these 
 I leave to those who deal specially with this portion of its 
 history. I therefore pass over the many traditions and 
 legends regarding it contained in the pages of the Memoirs of 
 Hiouen-Thsang,* of Foe Koue Kifi and similar narratives, and 
 
 * Memoires sur les Contrees occidentales, traduits du Sanscrit en Chinois 
 en Van 648 ; et du Chinois en Francais, par M. Stanislas Julien. 2 vols., 
 Paris, 1857. 
 
 f Foe Koue Ki, ou Relation des Royaumes Bouddhiques, par Che Fa 
 
CONCLUSION OF DRAGON CHAPTERS. 257 
 
 omit quoting folk-lore from the pages of Dennys, Eitel, and 
 others who have written on the suhject. 
 
 For my purpose it would be profitless to collate legends 
 such as that given in the Apocrypha, in the story of Bel and 
 the Dragon, and reappearing in the pages of El Edrisi as an 
 Arab legend, with Alexander the Great as the hero, and the 
 Canaries as the scene, or to dwell on the Corean and Japanese 
 versions of dragon stories, which are merely borrowed, and 
 corrupted in borrowing, from the Chinese. Nor shall I do 
 more than allude to the fact that dragons are represented 
 in the Brahminical caves at Ellora, and among the sculptures 
 of Ancoar Wat in Cambodia. 
 
 FIG. 65. 
 
 The rude diagrams, Figs. 64, 65, 66, are facsimiles from 
 a manuscript of folio size in the possession of J. Haas, 
 Esq., Imperial Austro-Hungarian Vice- Consul for Shang- 
 hai,' which he kindly placed at my disposal. This unique 
 volume is at present, unfortunately, unintelligible. It 
 comes from the western confines of China, and is believed 
 to be an example of the written Lolo language, that is, of 
 
 Hien. Translated from the Chinese by M. Abel Remusat ; Paris, 1836. 
 This volume contains a number of very interesting dragon legends, and 
 quaint conceits about them ; but I find nothing in it to supplement my 
 materialistic argument. 
 
 17 
 
258 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 the language of the aboriginal tribes of China. They suffice 
 to show that the same respect for the dragon is shown among 
 these people as in China; but no opinion can be offered 
 as to whether this belief and respect is original or imported, 
 until their literature has been examined. 
 
 FIG. 66. 
 
 I regret that I am unable to give in this volume, as I had 
 wished, an account of the Persian dragon, which, I am 
 informed, is contained in a rare Persian work. 
 
 In conclusion, I must hope that the reader who has had 
 the patience to wade through the medley of extracts which I 
 have selected, and to analyse the suggestive reasoning of the 
 introductory chapters, will agree with me that there is 
 nothing impossible in the ordinary notion of the traditional 
 dragon ; that such being the case, it is more likely to have 
 once had a real existence than to be a mere offspring of 
 fancy ; and that from the accident of direct transmission of 
 delineations of it on robes and standards, we have probably 
 
CONCLUSION OF DRAGON CHAPTERS. 259 
 
 a not very incorrect notion of it in the depicted dragon of the 
 Chinese. 
 
 We may infer that it was a long terrestrial lizard, hiber- 
 nating, and carnivorous, with the power of constricting 
 with its snake-like body and tail ; possibly furnished with 
 wing-like expansions of its integument, after the fashion of 
 Draco volans, and capable of occasional progress on its hind 
 legs alone, when excited in attack. It appears to have been 
 protected by armour and projecting spikes, like those found 
 in Moloch horridus and Megalania prisca, and was possibly 
 more nearly allied to this last form than to any other which 
 has yet come to our knowledge. Probably it preferred 
 sandy, open country to forest land, its habitat was the high- 
 lands of Central Asia, and the time of its disappearance about 
 that of the Biblical Deluge discussed in a previous chapter. 
 
 Although terrestrial, it probably, in common with most 
 reptiles, enjoyed frequent bathing, and when not so engaged, 
 or basking in the sun, secluded itself under some over- 
 hanging bank or cavern. 
 
 The idea of its fondness for swallows, and power of 
 attracting them, mentioned in some traditions, may not im- 
 possibly have been derived from these birds hawking round 
 and through its open jaws in the pursuit of the flies attracted 
 by the viscid humours of its mouth. We know that at the 
 present day a bird, the trochilus of the ancients, freely 
 enters the open mouth of the crocodile, and rids it of the 
 parasites affecting its teeth and jaws. 
 
 J7 
 
260 MYTHICAL MONSTEES. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SEA-SERPENT. 
 
 On the dark bottom of the great salt lake 
 Imprisoned lay the giant snake, 
 With naught his sullen sleep to break. 
 
 Poets of the North, " Oelenschlseger." Translated by 
 Longfellow. 
 
 THAT frank writer, Montaigne, says* : 
 
 " Yet on the other side it is a sottish presumption to dis- 
 daine and condemne that for false, which unto us seemeth to 
 beare no show of likelihood or truth : which is an ordinarie 
 fault in those who perswade themselves to be of more suffi- 
 ciencie than the vulgar sort. 
 
 " But reason hath taught me, that so resolutely to con- 
 demne a thing for false, and impossible, is to assume unto 
 himself the advantage, to have the bounds and limits of 
 God's will, and of the power of our common mother Nature 
 tied to his sleeve : and that there is no greater folly in the 
 world, than to reduce them to the measure of our capacitie, 
 and bounds of our sufficiencie. 
 
 " If we term those things monsters or miracles to which 
 our reason cannot attain, how many such doe daily present 
 
 * Montaigne, Essays, chap. xxvi f 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 261 
 
 themselves unto our sight? let us consider through what 
 cloudes, and how blinde-folde we are led to the knowledge 
 of most things, that passe our hands : verily we shall finde, 
 it is rather custome, than Science that remove th the strange- 
 nesse of them from us : and that those things, were they 
 newly presented unto us, wee should 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-vexed question of the existence or non-existence of the 
 sea-serpent as though they had been specially written in 
 reference to it. 
 
 The sea-serpent, at once the belief and the denied of 
 scientific men ; the accepted and ignored, according to 
 their estimation of the evidence, of reasoners, not scientific 
 perhaps, but intelligent and educated ; the valued basis for 
 items to the journalist, and the quintain for every self- 
 sufficient gobemouche to tilt against ; appearing mysteriously 
 at long intervals and in distant places ; the sea-serpent has 
 as yet avoided capture and the honourable distinction of being 
 catalogued and labelled in our museums. 
 
 Yet I do believe this weird creature to be a real solid fact, 
 and not a fanciful hallucination. This assertion, however, 
 has to be sustained under many difficulties. The dread of 
 ridicule closes the mouths of many men who could speak 
 upon the subject, while their dependent position forces them 
 to submit to the half-bantering, half-warning expostulations 
 of their employers. When, for example, an unimaginative 
 shipowner breaks jests over his unfortunate shipmaster's 
 head, and significantly hints his hope (as I know to have 
 been the case) that on his next voyage he will see no more 
 sea-serpents, or, in other words, that the great monster 
 belongs to the same genus as the snakes seen in the boots 
 of a western dram-drinker, we may be sure that an important 
 barrier is put to any further communication on the subject 
 
262 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 from that source, at least ; * or when, again, some knot of 
 idle youngsters enliven the monotony of a long voyage by 
 preparing a deliberate hoax for publication on their arrival, 
 a certain amount of discredit necessarily attaches to the 
 monster on the ultimate exposure of the jest. 
 
 * " I fully believe in this great marine monster. I have as much 
 evidence as to its existence as of anything not seen. Some years ago, 
 Captain Austin Cooper and the officers and crew of the Carlisle Castle, 
 on a vogage to Melbourne, saw the ' varmint.' A description and sketch 
 of it were published in the Argus. This, when it arrived in London, it 
 being the ' silly season ' in journalism, was seized and torn to pieces by 
 one of the young lions of the Daily Telegraph, in a leading article, in 
 which much fun was poked at the gallant sailor. ' I don't see any more 
 sea-serpents,' said my Irish friend to me. ' It is too much to be told 
 that one of Green's commanders can't tell the difference between a piece 
 of sea-weed and a live body in the water. If twenty serpents come on 
 the starboard, all hands shall be ordered, to look to port. No London 
 penny-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 three years ago, the monster was plainly seen off the great reef of 
 New Caledonia by Commandant Villeneuve, and the officers of the 
 French man-of-war, the Seudre. Chassepots were procured to shoot it, 
 but before it 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 same creature as passing within a few yards of his canoe on 
 a clear moonlight night 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.' Major Harding is a cool, brave soldier, who saw much 
 hot work with Cakoban's men against the hill tribes of Vonua Levu. 
 He was once riddled by bullets, and left 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 not likely to be frightened with 
 false fire. The extraordinary thing is, that the English sailor, the French 
 commander, and the Fijian soldier, all gave the same account of this 
 monster. It is something with a head slightly raised 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, from these instances, in 
 which I know the witnesses, I fully believe in the sea-serpent. What 
 is there very wonderful in it, after all ? The whale is the largest living 
 thing. Why shouldn't the waters produce snakes of gigantic size." 
 THE VAGABOND, in Supplement to the Australasian, September 10, 1881. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 263 
 
 Men also occasionally deceive themselves, and while 
 honestly believing that they have seen his oceanic majesty, 
 produce a story which, on analysis, 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, has also been arrayed against him, but fortu- 
 nately weighs rather against special avatars than against 
 his existence absolutely. 
 
 Finally, the narratives of different observers disagree so 
 much in detail that we have a difficulty in reconciling them, 
 except upon the supposition that they relate to several dis- 
 tinct creatures, a supposition which I shall hope to show is 
 not improbable, as well as that the term sea-serpent is an 
 unwarranted specific differentiation of that of sea-monster, 
 the various creatures collectively so designated being neither 
 serpents nor, indeed, always mutually related. In com- 
 mencing my record, I must bear in mind Mrs. Glasse's pro- 
 verbially excellent advice, and admit that it is simply a 
 history of the various appearances of a creature or creatures 
 too fugitive to admit of specific examination, and that until, 
 by some remarkable stroke of fortune, specimens are secured, 
 their zoological status must remain an unsolved, although 
 closely guessed at, problem. 
 
 I have elsewhere stated my conviction that the serpent 
 Midgard is only a corruption of accounts of the sea-serpent 
 handed down from times when a supernatural existence was 
 attributed to it ; and we have in the Sagas probably the 
 earliest references to it, unless, perhaps, the serpents mentioned 
 by Aristotle, which attacked and overset the galleys off the 
 Libyan coast, may have been of this species. 
 
 The coast of Norway, deeply indented by fjords, the 
 channels of which, for a certain breadth, have a depth equal 
 to that of the sea outside, seldom less than four hundred 
 fathoms, and corresponding in some degree with the height 
 of the precipitous cliffs which enclose them, abounding in 
 
264 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 all kinds of fish, and in the season with whales, which at 
 one time used to number thousands in a shoal, appears, 
 until within the last thirty years, to have been peculiarly 
 the favourite haunt of the serpent. Paddle and screw are 
 probably answerable for his non-appearance on the surface 
 lately. 
 
 The west coast of the Isle of Skye is another locality from 
 which several reports of it have been received during this 
 century; less frequently it has been observed upon the 
 eastern American coast-line, upon the sea-board of China, 
 and in various portions of the broad ocean. It generally 
 follows the track of whales, and in two instances observers 
 affirm that it has been seen in combat with them. 
 
 I have no doubt but that the literature of Norway contains 
 frequent references to it of olden date, but the earliest notice 
 of it in that country which I have been able to procure is 
 one contained in A Narrative of the North- East Frosty Seas, 
 declared by the Duke of Mosconia his ambassadors to a 
 learned gentlemen of Italy, named Galeatius Butrigarius, as 
 follows* : 
 
 " The lake called Mos, and the Island of Hoffusen in 
 myddest thereof is in the degree 45.30 and 61. In this 
 lake appeareth a strange monster, which is 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 seen of late in the year of Christ 152'2, appear- 
 ing far above the water, rowling like a great pillar, and 
 was by conjecture far off esteemed to be of fifty cubits in 
 length." 
 
 Pontoppidan, the Bishop of Bergen, who published 
 his celebrated Natural History of Norway in 1755, and 
 who had at one time discredited its existence " till that 
 suspicion was removed by full and sufficient evidence from 
 
 * Contained in Eden's Travels. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 265 
 
 creditable and experienced fishermen and sailors in Norway, 
 of which there are hundreds, who can testify that they have 
 annually seen them," states that the North traders, who came 
 to Bergen every year with their merchandise, thought it a 
 very strange question, when they were seriously asked whether 
 there were any such creatures, as ridiculous, in fact, as if the 
 question had been put to them whether there be such fish 
 as eel or cod. 
 
 According to Pontoppidan, these creatures continually keep 
 at the bottom of the sea, excepting in the months of July and 
 August, which is their spawning time, and then they come to 
 the surface in calm weather, but plunge 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 to castor, with which they provided themselves 
 when going out to sea, shutting it up in a hole in the stern, 
 and throwing a little overboard when apprehensive of meet- 
 ing the sea-snake. The Faroe fisherman had the same idea 
 with reference to the Tvold whale, which was supposed to 
 have a great aversion to castor and to shavings of juniper 
 wood. 
 
 Olaus Magnus, in his Histor. Septentrion, chap, xxvii., 
 writing not from personal observation but from the relations 
 of others, speaks of it as being two hundred feet in length 
 and twenty feet round, having a mane two feet long, being 
 covered with scales, having fiery eyes, disturbing ships, and 
 raising itself up like a mast, and sometimes snapping some 
 of the men from the deck. 
 
 Aldrovandus, quoting Olaus Magnus, says that about Nor- 
 way there occasionally appears a serpent reaching to one 
 hundred or two hundred feet in length, dangerous to ships 
 in calm weather, as it sometimes snatches a man from the 
 ship. It is said that merchant ships are involved by it and 
 sunk. 
 
 Olaus Magnus also figures another serpent, which is said 
 
266 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 267 
 
 to inhabit the Baltic or Swedish Sea ; it is from thirty to 
 forty feet in length, and will not hurt anyone unless 
 provoked. 
 
 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 men and boats; and Pontoppidan 
 was informed by the North traders that the sea-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 weight sunk it to the bottom ; and that they would some- 
 times raise their frightful heads and snap a man out of a 
 boat; but this Pontoppidan does not vouch for, and, indeed, 
 says that if anything, however light, be thrown at and touch 
 them they generally plunge into the water or take another 
 course. 
 
 Hans (afterwards Bishop) Egede, in his Full and Particular 
 Relation of my Voyage to Greenland, as a Missionary, in the year 
 1734, figures and describes a sea-monster which showed 
 itself on his passage. He says : "On the 6th of July 1734, 
 when off the south coast of Greenland, a sea-monster 
 appeared 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 ; it had large broad paws ; its body 
 was covered with scales ; its skin was rough and uneven ; in 
 other respects it was as a serpent ; and when it dived, its 
 tail, which was raised in the air, appeared to be a whole 
 ship's length from its body." 
 
 In another work, The New Survey of Old Greenland, Egede 
 speaks of the same monster, with the addition that the body 
 was full as thick and as big in circumference as the ship that 
 he sailed in. The drawing (which I reproduce, Fig. 68) 
 appears to have been taken by another missionary, Mr. Bing, 
 who stated that the creature's eyes seemed red, and like 
 burning tire. The paws mentioned by Egede were probably 
 paddles like those of the Liassic Saurians. 
 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 269 
 
 Pontoppidan considers this to be a different monster from 
 the Norway sea-serpent, of which he gives a figure furnished 
 him by the Eev. Hans Strom, made from descriptions of two 
 of his neighbours at Herroe, who had been eye-witnesses of 
 its appearance. 
 
 Lawrance de Ferry, a captain in the Norwegian Navy, 
 and commander in Bergen in Pontoppidan's time, actually 
 wounded one of the Norwegian serpents, and made two of 
 his men, who were with him in the boat at the time, testify 
 upon oath in court to the truth of the statement which he 
 himself made, as follows : 
 
 " The latter end of August, in the year 1746, as I was on 
 a voyage, in my return from Trundheim, in a very calm and 
 hot day, having a mind to put in at Molde, it happened that 
 when we were arrived with my vessel within six English 
 miles of the aforesaid Molde, being at a place called Jule- 
 Nfs, as I was reading in a book, I heard a kind of mur- 
 muring voice from amongst the men at the oars, who were 
 eight in number, and observed that the man at the helm kept 
 off from the land. Upon this I inquired what was the 
 matter ; and was informed that there was a sea-snake before 
 us. I then ordered the man at the helm to keep to the land 
 again, and to come up with this creature, of which I had 
 heard so many stories. Though the fellows were under 
 some apprehensions, they were obliged to obey my orders. 
 In the meantime this sea-snake passed by us, and we were 
 obliged to tack the vessel about, in order to get nearer to it. 
 As the snake swam faster than we could row, I took my gun, 
 that was ready charged, and fired at it ; on this he imme- 
 diately plunged under the water. We rowed to the place 
 where it sank down (which in the calm might be easily 
 observed) and lay upon our oars, thinking it would come up 
 again to the surface ; however, it did not. When the snake 
 plunged down, the water appeared thick and red ; perhaps 
 some of the shot might wound it, the distance being very 
 
270 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 little. The head of this snake, which it held more than two 
 feet above the surface of the water, resembled that of a 
 horse. It was of a greyish colour, and the mouth was quite 
 black and very large. It had black eyes and a long white 
 mane,* 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 this snake, which were very thick, and, as far 
 as we could guess, there was about a fathom distance between 
 each fold. Bergen, 1751." 
 
 Pontoppidan remarks on the peculiarity of spouting water 
 from the nostrils exhibited by the creature seen by Hans 
 Egede, and states that he had not known it spoken of in 
 any other instance. 
 
 FIG. 09. THE NORWEGIAN SEA-SERPENT. (According to Pontoppidan.') 
 
 He also remarks that the Norway sea-snakes differ from 
 the Greenland ones with regard to the skin, which in the 
 former is as smooth as glass, and has not the least wrinkle, 
 except about the neck, where there is a kind of mane, which 
 looks like a parcel of sea-weeds hanging down to the water. 
 Summarising the accounts which had reached him, he esti- 
 mates the length at about one hundred fathoms or six hun- 
 dred English feet. He states that it lies on the surface of 
 the water (when it is very calm) in many folds, and that 
 these are in a line with the head; some small parts of the 
 back are to be seen above the surface of the water when it 
 moves or bends, which at a distance appear like so many 
 
 * Connected with the breathing apparatus? 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 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 a point, but the body, which looks to be as big 
 as two hogsheads, grows remarkably small at once just where 
 the tail begins. The head in all the kinds has a high and 
 broad forehead, but in some a pointed snout, though in 
 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 blue colour, and look like a couple of bright pewter 
 plates. The whole animal is of a dark brown colour, but it 
 is speckled and variegated with light streaks or spots that 
 shine like tortoise-shell. It is of a darker hue about the 
 eyes and mouth than elsewhere, and appears in that part a 
 good deal like those horses which we call Moors-heads." 
 
 He mentions two places, one at Amunds Vaagen in Nord- 
 fiord, the other at the island of Karmen, where carcases of it 
 had been left at high water. He supposes it to be vivi- 
 parous. 
 
 In an account of the Laplanders of Finmark, by Knud 
 Leems, with the notes of Gunner, Bishop of Drontheim, 
 (Copenhagen, 1767, 4to., in Danish and Latin),* I find, 
 " The Sea of Finmark also generates the snake or marine 
 serpent, forty paces long, equalling in the size of the head 
 the whale, in form the serpent. This monster has a maned 
 neck, resembling a horse, a back of a grey colour, the belly 
 inclining to white. 
 
 " On the canicular days, when the sea is calm, the marine 
 serpent usually comes up, winding into various spirals, of 
 which some are above, the others below, the water. The 
 seamen very much dread this monster. Nor while he is 
 
 * Pinkerton, Voyages and Travels, vol. i. p. 376. 
 
272 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 coming up do they easily entrust themselves to the dangers 
 of the deep." 
 
 Mr. J. Kamus records a large sea-snake which was seen in 
 1687 by many people in Dramsfiorden. It was in very calm 
 weather, and so soon as the sun appeared, and the wind 
 blew a little, it shot away just like a coiled cable that is sud- 
 denly thrown out by the sailors ; and they observed that it 
 was some time in stretching out its many folds. 
 
 Captain (afterwards Sir Arthur) de Capell Brooke* col- 
 lected all accounts he could, during his journey to the 
 North Cape, respecting the sea-serpent, with the following 
 results : 
 
 " As I had determined on arriving at the coast to make 
 every inquiry respecting the truth of the accounts which had 
 reached England the preceding year, of the sea-serpent having 
 recently been seen off this part of Norway, I shall simply 
 give the different reports I received during my voyage to the 
 North Cape, leaving others to their own conclusions, and 
 without expressing, at least for the present, my opinion 
 respecting them. 
 
 " The fisherman at Pejerstad said a serpent was seen two 
 years ago in the Folden- Fjord, the length of which, as far as 
 it was visible, was sixty feet." 
 
 At Otersoen, the Postmaster, Captain Schielderup, who 
 had formerly been in the Norwegian sea service, and seemed 
 a quick intelligent man, stated that the serpent had actually 
 been off the island for a considerable length of time during 
 the preceding summer, in the narrow parts of the sound, 
 between this island and the continent, and the description he 
 gave was as follows : 
 
 " It made its appearance for the first time in the month 
 of July 1849 off Otersoen. Previous to this he had often 
 heard of the existence of these creatures, but never before 
 
 * A. de Brooke, Travels to the North Cape, 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 273 
 
 believed it. During the whole of that month the weather 
 was excessively sultry and calm ; and the serpent was seen 
 every day nearly in the same part of the Sound. 
 
 " It continued there while the warm weather lasted, lying 
 motionless, and as 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 it remained. This was 
 confirmed to me by subsequent inquiries among the inha- 
 bitants, who gave a similar account of it. The first time 
 that he saw it he was in a boat, at the distance of two hun- 
 dred yards. The length of it 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 to the height of many feet. Its colour was greyish. 
 At the distance at which he was, he could not ascertain 
 whether it were covered with scales ; but when 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 
 whether it had teeth or not. He said it emitted a very strong 
 odour ; and that the boatmen were afraid to approach near 
 it, and looked on its coming as a bad sign, as the fish left the 
 coast in consequence ! Such were the particulars he related 
 to me. 
 
 " The merchant at Krogoen confirmed in every particular 
 the account of Captain Schielderup, and that many of the 
 people of Krogoen had witnessed it. 
 
 " On the island of Leko I obtained from the son of Peter 
 Greger, the merchant, a young man who employed himself in 
 the fishery, still further information respecting the sea- 
 serpent. It was in August of the preceding year, 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 appeared about sixty yards distant from them, at 
 
 18 
 
274 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 which they were not a little alarmed, and immediately re- 
 treated. What was seen of it above water, he said, appeared 
 six times the length of their boat, of a grey colour, and 
 lying in coils a great height above the surface. Their fright 
 prevented them from attending more accurately to other 
 particulars. In fact, they all fairly took to their heels when 
 they found the monster so near to them. 
 
 " At Alstahoug I found the Bishop of the Nordlands. The 
 worthy prelate was a sensible and well-informed man, between 
 fifty and sixty years of age. To the testimony of others 
 respecting the existence of the sea-serpent, I shall now add 
 that of the Bishop himself, who was an eye-witness to the 
 appearance of two in the Bay of Shuresund or Sorsund, on 
 the Drontheim Fjord, about eight Norway miles from Dront- 
 heiin. He was but a short distance from them, and 
 saw them plainly. They were swimming in large folds, part 
 of which were seen above the water, and the length of what 
 appeared of the largest he judged to be about one hundred 
 feet. They were of a darkish grey colour; the heads hardly 
 discernible, from their being almost under water, and they 
 were visible for only a short time. Before that period he 
 had treated the account of them as fabulous ; but it was now 
 impossible, he said, to doubt their existence, as such numbers 
 of respectable people since that time had likewise seen them 
 on several occasions. He had never met with any person 
 who had seen the kraken, and was inclined to think it a 
 fable. 
 
 " During the time that I remained at Hundholm, a curious 
 circumstance occurred. One day, when at dinner at Mr. 
 BlackhalPs house, and thinking little of the sea-serpent, con- 
 cerning which I had heard nothing for some time, a young 
 man, the master of a small fishing-yacht, which had just 
 come in from Drontheim, joined our party. In the course of 
 conversation he mentioned that a few hours before, whilst 
 close to Hundholm, and previous to his entering the harbour, 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 275 
 
 two sea-snakes passed immediately under his yacht. When 
 he saw them he was on the deck, and, seizing a handspike, 
 he struck at them as they came up close to the ve?sel on the 
 other side, upon which they disappeared. Their length was 
 very great, and their colour greyish, but for the very short 
 time they were visible he could not notice any further 
 particulars. 
 
 " He had no doubt of their being snakes, as he called 
 them, and the circumstance was related entirely of his own 
 accord." 
 
 Captain Brooke sums up the reports he received with the 
 following general observations : 
 
 " Taking upon the whole a fair view of the different 
 accounts related in the foregoing pages respecting the sea- 
 serpent, no reasonable person can doubt the fact of some 
 marine animal of extraordinary dimensions, and in all pro- 
 bability of the serpent tribe, having been repeatedly seen by 
 various persons along the Norway and Finmark coasts. 
 These accounts, for the most part, have been given verbally 
 from the mouths of the fishermen, a honest and artless class 
 of men, who, having no motive for misrepresentation, cannot 
 be suspected of a wish to deceive ; could this idea, however, 
 be entertained, the circumstance of their assertions having 
 been so fully confirmed by others, in more distant parts, 
 would be sufficient to free them from any imputation of this 
 kind. 
 
 " The simple facts are these : In traversing a space of full 
 seven hundred miles of coast, extending to the most northern 
 point, accounts have been received from numerous persons 
 respecting the appearance of an animal called by them a 
 sea-serpent. This of itself would induce some degree of 
 credit to be given to it ; but when these several relations 
 as to the general appearance of the animal, its dimensions, 
 the state of the weather when it was seen, and other parti- 
 culars, are so fully confirmed, one by the other, at such con- 
 
 18 * 
 
276 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 siderable intervening distances, every reasonable man will feel 
 satisfied of the truth of the main fact. Many of the infor- 
 mants, besides, were of superior rank and education; and 
 the opinions of such men as the Amtmand (Governor) of 
 Finmark, Mr. Steen, the clergyman of Carlso, Prosten 
 (Dean) Deinboll of Vadso, and the Bishop of Nordland and 
 Finmark, who was even an eye-witness, ought not to be 
 disregarded. 
 
 " The Bishop of Nordland has seen two of them about eight 
 miles from Drontheim, the largest being apparently one hun- 
 dred feet, and, in 1822, one as bulky as an ox, and a quarter 
 of a mile in length, appeared off the island of Soro, near 
 Finmark, and was seen by many people." 
 
 Not having the Zoologist at hand, I now quote a resume of 
 short notices extracted from it, contained in the Illustrated 
 London News for October 28, 1848, as follows : 
 
 " Our attention has been drawn to the Zoologist for the 
 past year, wherein are several communications tending to 
 authenticate the existence of the great sea-serpent. Thus, 
 in the number for February 1847, we find paragraphs quoted 
 from the Norse newspapers stating that in the neighbourhood 
 of Christiansund and Molde, in the province of Komsdal, in 
 Norway, several highly respectable and credible witnesses 
 have attested the seeing of the serpent. In general, they 
 state that it has been seen in the larger Norwegian fjords, 
 seldom in the open sea. In the large bight of the sea at 
 Christiansund it has been seen every year, though only in 
 the warmest season, in the dog days, and then only in per- 
 fectly calm weather and unruffled water. 
 
 " Its length is stated at about forty-four feet, and twice as 
 thick as a common snake, in proportion to the length. The 
 front of the head was rather pointed, the eyes sharp, and 
 from the back of the head commenced a mane like that of a 
 horse. The colour of the animal was a blackish brown. It 
 swam swiftly, with serpentine movements like a leech. One 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 257 
 
 of the witnesses describes the body to be two feet in diameter, 
 the head as long as a brandy anker (ten-gallon cask) and 
 about the same thickness, not pointed, but round. It had no 
 scales, but the body quite smooth. The witness acknow- 
 ledged Pontoppidan's representation to be like the serpent he 
 
 saw." 
 
 " The writer of this article received letters from Mr. Soren 
 Knudtzon, stating that a sea-serpent had been seen in the 
 neighbourhood of Christiansund by several people ; and from 
 Dr. Hoffmann, a respectable surgeon in Molde, stating that, 
 lying on a considerable fjord to the south of Christiansund, 
 Eector Hammer, Mr. Krabt, curate, and several persons, 
 very clearly saw, while on a journey, a sea-serpent of very 
 considerable size. 
 
 " Four other persons saw a similar animal, July 28th, 
 1845. 
 
 " The next communication, dated Sund's Parsonage, 
 August 31st, 1846, records the appearance of a supposed 
 sea-serpent, on the 8th, in the course between the islands of 
 Sartor Leer and Tos. Early on this day, just as the steamer 
 Biorgvin passed through Eogne Fjord, towing a vessel to 
 Bergen, Daniel Solomonson, a cotter, saw a sea-monster 
 swimming from Eogne Fjord in a westerly direction towards 
 his dwelling at Gronnevigskiaeset, in the northern part of the 
 parish of Sund. The head appeared like a Fsering boat 
 (about twenty feet long) keel uppermost ; and from behind it 
 raised itself forward in three, and sometimes four and five 
 undulations, each apparently about twelve feet long. On 
 the same morning a lad, out fishing in the Eogne Fjord, 
 saw a serpent, which he describes to have been sixty feet 
 long." 
 
 For further information on the Norwegian sea-serpent, I 
 am indebted to the excellent chapter, devoted to the question 
 generally, contained in Mr. Gosse's Eomance of Natural 
 History, First Series, from which I transfer, without abbre- 
 
278 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 viation, a statement made by the Rev. W. Deinboll, Arch- 
 deacon 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 Roms- 
 dalfjord, fishing. The sea was, after a warm sunshiny day, 
 quite calm. About seven o'clock in the afternoon, a little 
 distance from shore, near the ballast place and Molde Hove, 
 they saw a large marine animal which slowly moved itself 
 forward, as it appeared to them, with the help of two fins on 
 the fore-part of the body nearest the head, 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 feet in 
 length, and moved in undulations like a snake. The body 
 was round and of a dark colour, and seemed to be several 
 ells* in thickness. As they discerned a waving motion in 
 the water behind the animal, they concluded that part of the 
 body was concealed under water. That it was one connected 
 animal they saw plainly from its movement. When the 
 animal was about one hundred yards from the boat, they 
 noticed tolerably correctly its fore-part, which ended in a 
 sharp snout ; its colossal head raised itself above the water 
 in the form of a semi- circle ; the lower part was not visible. 
 The colour of the head was dark brown, and the skin smooth. 
 They did not notice the eyes, or any mane or bristles on the 
 throat. When the serpent came about a musket-shot near, 
 Lund fired at it, and was certain the shots hit it in the head. 
 After the shot he dived but came up immediately ; he raised 
 his head like a snake preparing to dart on its prey. After 
 he had turned and got his body in a straight line, which he 
 appeared to do with great difficulty, he darted like an arrow 
 against the boat. They reached the shore, and the animal, 
 perceiving it had come into shallow water, dived immediately, 
 and disappeared in the deep." 
 
 * 1 ell=2 feet. 
 
SEA-SERPENT. 279 
 
 Mr. Gosse further quotes a statement made by an English- 
 man, writing under the signature of " Oxoniensis " in the 
 Times of November 4th, 1848, to the effect that 
 
 " A parish priest, residing on Romsdalfjord, about two 
 days' journey south of Drontheim, an intelligent person, 
 whose veracity I have no reason to doubt, gave me a cir- 
 cumstantial account of one which he had himself seen. It 
 rose within thirty yards of the boat in which he was, and 
 swam parallel with it for a considerable time. Its head he 
 described as equalling a small cask in size, and its mouth, 
 which it repeatedly opened and shut, was furnished with for- 
 midable 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. Another gentleman, in whose house I stayed, had 
 also seen one, and gave a similar account of it ; it also came 
 near his boat upon the fjord, when it was fired at, upon 
 which it turned and pursued them to the shore, which was 
 luckily near, when it disappeared. They expressed great 
 surprise at the general disbelief attached to the existence of 
 these animals amongst naturalists, and assured me that there 
 was scarcely a sailor accustomed to those 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 cannot withhold my belief in the 
 existence of some huge inhabitant of those northern seas, 
 when, to my mind, the fact of his existence has been so 
 clearly proved by numerous eye-witnesses, many of whom 
 were too intelligent to be deceived, and too honest to be 
 doubted." 
 
 Passing from these numerous narratives, which are dis- 
 tinguished for a remarkable agreement in the main charac- 
 teristic described, I will proceed to some of those whose scene 
 lies on our own coast. 
 
280 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 In 1809, Mr. McLean, the parish minister of Eigg, com- 
 municated to Dr. Neil, the Secretary of the Wernerian 
 Society, the following statement : * 
 
 " I saw the animal of which you inquire, in June 1808, on 
 the coast of Coll. Rowing along that coast, I observed, at 
 about the distance of half a mile, an object to windward, 
 which gradually excited astonishment. At first view it- 
 appeared like a small rock ; but knowing that there was no 
 rock in that situation, I fixed my eyes closely upon it. Then 
 I saw it elevated considerably above the level of the sea, and, 
 after a slow movement, distinctly perceived one of its eyes. 
 Alarmed at the unusual appearance and magnitude of the 
 animal, I steered so as to be at no great distance 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 of us, we plied hard to get ashore. Just 
 as we leapt out on a rock, and had taken a station as high 
 as we conveniently could, we saw it coming rapidly under 
 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 appa- 
 rent difficulty, clear of the creek where our boat lay, and where 
 the monster seemed in danger of being embayed. It con- 
 tinued to move off, with its head above water and with the 
 wind, for about half a mile before we lost sight of it. Its head 
 was somewhat broad, and of form somewhat oval; its neck 
 somewhat smaller ; its shoulders, if I can so term them, consi- 
 derably broader, and thence it tapered towards the tail, which 
 last it kept pretty low in the water, so that a view of it could 
 not be taken so distinctly as I wished. It had no fins that I 
 could perceive, and seemed to me to move progressively by 
 undulation up and down. Its length I believed to be 
 
 Transactions of the Wernerian Society, vol. i. p. 442. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 281 
 
 between seventy and eighty feet. When nearest to me it did 
 not raise its head wholly above water, so that, the neck being 
 under water, I could perceive no shining filaments thereon, if 
 it had any. Its progressive motion under water I took to be 
 very rapid. About the time I saw it, it was seen near the 
 Isle of Canna. The crews of thirteen fishing-boats, I am 
 told, were so much terrified at its appearance, that they, in a 
 body, fled from it to the nearest creek for safety. On the 
 passage from Kum to Canna, the crew of one boat saw it 
 coming towards them, with the wind, and its head high above 
 water. One of the crew pronounced the head as large as a little 
 boat, and its eye as large as a plate. The men were much 
 terrified, but the monster offered them no molestation." 
 
 I next extract, from the pages of the Inverness Courier, 
 some very pertinent remarks upon a description of the sea- 
 monster seen by the Rev. Messrs. McRae and Twopeny, con- 
 tained in the Zoologist, and I add the article there referred 
 to. I had the advantage of hearing from a gentleman 
 related to Mr. McRae that he could substantiate his state- 
 ment, having himself about the same time, and in that 
 locality, observed the same appearance, though at a greater 
 distance off. 
 
 The following is the article in the Inverness Courier: 
 " We are glad to see that the two gentlemen who favoured 
 us last autumn with an account of what they believed to be 
 a strange animal seen off the west coast, Inverness-shire, 
 have published in the Zoologist, a monthly journal of natural 
 history, a careful description of the creature which they saw, 
 and which seems to resemble the engravings of what is called 
 the Norwegian sea-serpent. We subjoin the magazine 
 article entire. There is such a dread of ridicule in appearing 
 publicly in company with this mysterious and disreputable 
 monster, that we must commend the boldness of the two 
 clergymen in putting their names to the narrative ; espe- 
 cially as we observe that other observers have not been so 
 
282 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 courageous, and that they have been obliged to give some of 
 their information anonymously. 
 
 11 The huge serpent, if serpent it may be called, inva- 
 riably appears in still warm weather, and in no other. 
 There are certain Norwegian fjords and narrow seas which it 
 frequents, and it is scarcely ever seen in the open sea. In 
 the present case, the limit in which the animal has been seen 
 on our coast, is Lochduich to the north and the Sound of 
 Mull to the south, only about a fifth of the space between 
 Cape Wrath and the Mull of Kintyre ; and it is in that part 
 it should be most looked for. We beg to draw the attention 
 of our readers on the West Coast to the fact, now established 
 on indubitable evidence, of the supposed animal having been 
 seen there last year, and to the possibility of its appearing 
 again in similar weather this year. If it chances to turn up 
 once more, some full and accurate account of the pheno- 
 menon would certainly be most desirable." 
 
 The following is the article in the Zoologist* : 
 
 Appearance of an animal, believed to be that which is called the Nor- 
 wegian Sea-serpent, on the Western Coast of Scotland, in August 
 1872, by the Rev. John McRae, Minister of Glenelg, Inverness- 
 shire, and the Eev. David Twopeny, Vicar of Stockbury, Kent. 
 
 On the 20th of August 1872 we started from Glenelg in a small 
 cutter, the Leda, for an excursion to Lochourn. Our party consisted, 
 besides ourselves, of two ladies, F. and K., a gentleman, G. B., and a 
 Highland lad. Our course lay down the Sound of Sleat, which on that 
 side divides the Isle of Skye from the mainland, the average breadth 
 of the channel in that part being two miles. 
 
 It was calm and sunshiny, not a breath of air, and the sea perfectly 
 smooth. As we were getting the cutter along with oars we perceived a 
 dark mass about two hundred yards astern of us, to the north. While 
 we were looking at it with our glasses (we had three on board) another 
 similar black lump rose to the left of the first, leaving an interval 
 between ; then another and another followed, all in regular order. We 
 did not doubt its being one living creature : it moved slowly across 
 our wake, and disappeared. Presently the first mass, which was 
 
 * No. 92, May 1873 ; London, Van Voorst. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 
 
 evidently the head, reappeared, and was followed by the rising of the 
 other black lumps, as before. Sometimes three appeared, sometimes 
 four, five, or six, and then sank again. When they rose, the head 
 appeared first, if it had been down, and the lumps rose after it in 
 regular order, beginning always with that next the head, and rising 
 gently ; 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 sun 
 itself. There was no appearance of undulation ; when the lumps sank, 
 other lumps did not rise in the intervals between them. The greatest 
 number we counted was seven, making eight with head, as shown in 
 sketch No. 1 [two engravings are given]. The parts were separated from 
 each other by intervals of about their own length, the head being rather 
 smaller and flatter than the rest, and the nose being very slightly 
 visible above the water ; but we did not see the head raised above the 
 surface either this or the next day, nor could we see the eye. We 
 had no means of measuring the length with any accuracy ; but taking 
 the distance from the centre of one lump to the centre of the next to 
 be six feet, and it could scarcely be less, the whole length of the 
 portion visible, including the intervals submerged, would be forty-five 
 feet. 
 
 Presently, as we were watching the creature, it began to approach us 
 rapidly, causing a great agitation in the sea. Nearly the whole of the 
 body, if not all of it, had now disappeared, and the head advanced at a 
 great rate in the midst of a shower of fine spray, which was evidently 
 raised in some way by the quick movement of the animal it did not 
 appear how and not by spouting. F. was alarmed and retreated to 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 the 
 direction of Syke, just under the surface of the water, for we could trace 
 its course by the waves it raised on the still sea to the distance of a 
 mile or more. After this it continued at intervals to show itself, 
 careering about at a distance, as long as we were in that part of the 
 Sound ; the head and a small part only of the body being visible on the 
 surface ; but we did not again, on that day, see it so near nor so well as 
 at first. 
 
 At one time F. and K. and G. B. saw a fin sticking up at a little 
 distance back from the head, but neither of us were then observing. On 
 our return the next day we were again becalmed on the north side of the 
 opening of Lochourn, where it is about three miles wide, the day warm 
 and sunshiny as before. As we were dragging slowly along in the after- 
 noon the creature again appeared over towards the south side, at a 
 greater distance than we saw it the first day. Tt now showed itself in 
 three or four rather long lines, as in the sketch No. 2, and looked con- 
 siderably longer than it did the day before ; as nearly as we could com- 
 
284 MYTHICAL MONSTEUS. 
 
 pute, it looked at least sixty feet in length. Soon it began careering 
 about, showing but a small part of itself, as on the day before, and 
 appeared to be going up Lochourn. Later in the afternoon, when we 
 were still becalmed in the mouth of Lochourn, and by using the oars 
 had nearly reached the island of Sandaig, it came rushing past us about 
 a hundred and fifty yards to the south, on its return from Lochourn. 
 It went with great rapidity, its black head only being visible through 
 the clear sea, followed by a long trail of agitated water. As it shot 
 along, the noise of its rush through the water could be distinctly heard 
 on board. There were no organs of motion to be seen, nor was there 
 any shower of spray as on the day before, but merely such a commotion 
 in the sea as its quick passage might be expected to make. Its progress 
 was equable and smooth, like that of a log towed rapidly. For the rest 
 of the day, as we worked our way home northwards through the Sound 
 of Sleat, it was occasionally within sight of us until nightfall, rushing 
 about at a distance, as before, and showing only its head, and a small 
 part of its body on the surface. It seemed on each day to keep about 
 us, and as we were always then rowing, we were inclined to think it 
 perhaps might be attracted by the measured sound of the oars. Its only 
 exit in this direction to the north was by the narrow Strait of Kylerhea, 
 dividing Skye from the mainland, and only a third of a mile wide, and 
 we left our boat, wondering whether this strange creature had gone that 
 way or turned back again to the south. We have only to add to this 
 narrative of what we saw ourselves, the following instances of its being 
 seen by other people, of the correctness of which we have no doubt. 
 The ferrymen on each side of Kylerhea saw it pass rapidly through on 
 the evening of the 21st, and heard the rush of the water ; they were 
 surprised, and thought it might be a shoal of porpoises, but could not 
 comprehend their going so quickly. 
 
 Finlay McEae, of Bundaloch, in the parish of Kintail, was within the 
 mouth of Lochourn on the 2J st, with other men in his boat, and saw the 
 creature at about the distance of one hundred and fifty yards. Two 
 days after we saw it, Alexander Macmillan, boat- builder at Dornie, was 
 fishing in a boat in the entrance of Lochduich, half-way between 
 Druidag and Castledonan, when he saw the animal, near enough to hear 
 the noise, and see the ripple it made in rushing along in the sea. He 
 says that what seemed its head was followed by four or more lumps, or 
 " half-rounds," as he calls them, and that they sometimes rose and some- 
 times sank altogether. He estimated its length at not less than between 
 sixty and eighty feet. He saw it also on two subsequent days in Loch- 
 duich. On all these occasions his brother, Farquhar, was with him in 
 the boat, and they were both much alarmed, and pulled to the shore 
 in great haste. 
 
 A lady at Duisdale, in Skye, a place overlooking the part of the Sound 
 which is opposite the opening of Lochourn, said that she was looking 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 285 
 
 out with a glass when she saw a strange object on the sea, which 
 appeared like eight seals in a row. This was just about the time that we 
 saw it. We were also informed that about the same time it was seen 
 from the island of Eigg, between Eigg and the mainland, about twenty 
 miles to the south-west of the opening of Lochourn. We have not 
 permission to mention the names in these two last instances. 
 
 JOHN McE-AE. 
 DAVID TWOPENY. 
 
 P.8. The writers of the above account scarcely expect the public to 
 believe in the existence of the creature which they ^saw. Bather than 
 that, they look for the disbelief and ridicule to which the subject 
 always gives rise, partly on account of the animal having been pro- 
 nounced to be a snake, without any sufficient evidence, but principally 
 because of the exaggerations and fables with which the whole subject is 
 beset. Nevertheless, they consider themselves bound to leave a record 
 of what they saw, in order that naturalists may receive it as a piece of 
 evidence, or not, according to what they think it is worth. The animal 
 will very likely turn up on those coasts again, and it will be always in 
 that " dead season," so convenient to editors of newspapers, for it is 
 never seen but in the still warm days of summer or early autumn. 
 There is a considerable probability that it has visited the same coasts 
 before. 
 
 In the summer of 1871, some large creature was seen for some time 
 rushing about in Lochduich, but it did not show itself sufficiently for 
 anyone to ascertain what it was. Also, some years back, a well-known 
 gentleman of the West Coast, now living, was crossing the Sound of 
 Mull, from Mull to the mainland, " on a very calm afternoon, when," 
 as he writes, " our attention was attracted to a monster which had come 
 to the surface, not more than fifty yards from our boat. It rose with- 
 out causing the slightest disturbance of the sea, or making the slightest 
 noise, and floated for some time on the surface, but without exhibiting 
 its head or tail, showing only the ridge of the back, which was not that 
 of a whale or any other sea animal that I had ever seen. The back 
 appeared sharp and ridge-like, and in colour very dark, indeed black, 
 or almost so. It rested quietly for a few minutes, and then dropped 
 quietly down into the deep, without causing the slightest 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 are 
 quite familiar with the appearance of whales, seals, and porpoises, and 
 when they see them they recognise them at once. Whether the creature 
 which pursued Mr. McLean's boat off the island of Coll in ]808, and 
 of which there is an account in the Transactions of the Wernerian 
 Society (vol, i. p. 442), was one of these Norwegian animals, it is not 
 
286 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 easy to say. Survivors who knew Mr. McLean, say that he could quite 
 be relied upon for truth. 
 
 The public are not likely to believe in the creature till it is caught, 
 and that does not seem likely to happen just yet, for a variety of 
 reasons, one reason being that it has, from all the accounts given of it, 
 the power of moving very rapidly. On the 20th, while we were be- 
 calmed in the mouth of Lochourn, a steam-launch slowly passed us, 
 and, as we watched it, we reckoned its rate at five or six miles an hour. 
 When the animal rushed past us on the next day at about the same 
 distance, and when we were again becalmed nearly in the same place, 
 we agreed that it went twice as fast as the steamer, and we thought 
 that its rate could not be less than ten or twelve miles an hour. It 
 might be shot, but would probably sink. There are three accounts of its 
 being shot at in Norway ; in one instance it sank, and in the other two 
 it pursued the boats, which were near the shore, but disappeared when 
 it found itself getting into shallow water. 
 
 It should be mentioned that when we saw this creature, and made our 
 sketches of it, we had never seen either Pontoppidan's Natural History 
 or his print of the Norwegian sea-serpent, which has a most striking 
 resemblance to the first of our own sketches. Considering the great 
 body of reasonable Norwegian evidence, extending through a number of 
 years, which remains after setting aside fables and exaggerations, it 
 seems surprising that no naturalist of that country has ever applied 
 himself to make out something about the animal. In the meantime, as 
 the public will most probably be dubious about quickly giving credit to 
 our account, the following explanations are open 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 theories present to our mind greater difficul- 
 ties than the existence of the animal itself, we feel obliged to decline 
 them. 
 
 The editor of the Zoologist adds : 
 
 I have long since expressed my firm conviction that there exists a 
 large marine animal unknown to us naturalists ; I maintain this belief 
 as firmly as ever. 
 
 I totally reject the evidence of published representations ; but I do 
 not allow these imaginary figures to interfere with a firm conviction. 
 
 Here, again, we have the same general resemblances, 
 observed under the same conditions of weather, as in the case 
 of the Norwegian serpent. As to the pursuit, which may 
 either have been urged from motives of curiosity or of anger, 
 it is curious to find a remarkable account of a similar incident 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 287 
 
 in Kotzebue's Vogages, where it is stated that M. Kriukoff, 
 while in a boat at Beering's Island, was pursued by an 
 animal like a red serpent, and immensely long, with a head 
 like that of a sea-lion, but the eyes disproportionately large. 
 "It was fortunate," observed M. Kriukoff, " we were so near 
 land, or the monster would have swallowed us ; he raised his 
 head far above the surface, and the sea-lions were so terri- 
 fied, that some rushed into the water, and others concealed 
 themselves on the shore ! " 
 
 The last notice of its appearance in British waters is 
 extracted from Nature, as follows : 
 
 Believing it to be desirable that every well-authenticated observation 
 indicating the existence of large sea-serpents should be permanently 
 registered, I send you the following particulars : 
 
 About three P.M. on Sunday, September 3, 1882, a party of gentle- 
 men and ladies were standing at the northern extremity of Llandudno 
 pier, looking towards the open sea, when an unusual object was 
 observed in the water near to the Little Orme's Head, travelling 
 rapidly westwards towards the Great Orme. It appeared to be just 
 outside the mouth of the bay, and would therefore be about a mile 
 distant from the observers. - It was watched for about two minutes, and 
 in that interval it traversed about halt' the width of the bay, and then 
 suddenly disappeared. The bay is two miles wide, and therefore the 
 object, whatever it was, must have travelled at the rate of thirty miles 
 an hour. It is estimated to have been fully as long as a large steamer, 
 say two hundred feet ; the rapidity of its motion was particularly 
 remarked as being greater than that of any ordinary vessel. The colour 
 appeared to be black, and the motion either corkscrew-like or snake-like, 
 with vertical undulations. Three of the observers have since made 
 sketches from memory, quite independently, of the impression left on their 
 minds, and on comparing these sketches, which slightly varied, they 
 have agreed to sanction the accompanying outline as representing as 
 nearly as possible the object which they saw. The party consisted of 
 W. Barfoot, J.P., of Leicester, F. J. Marlow, solicitor, of Manchester, 
 Mrs. Marlow, and several others. They discard the theories of birds or 
 porpoises as not accounting for this particular phenomenon. 
 
 F. T. MOTT. 
 
 Birstall Hill, Leicester, 
 
 January lo'th, 1883. 
 
288 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 It must also be mentioned that Dr. Hibbert* states that 
 the sea-serpent has been seen in the Shetland seas, and 
 instances one seen off the Isle Stonness, Valley Island, and 
 Dunvossness. 
 
 The first that we hear of the appearance of the sea-serpent 
 in American waters is of one which appeared on the coast of 
 Maine, in Penobscot Bay, at intervals, during the thirty years 
 preceding 1809. The Kev. Abraham Cummings, who reports 
 this, saw it himself at a distance of about eighty yards, and 
 considered it to be seventy feet long ; it was seen by the 
 British in their expedition to Bagaduse, during the first 
 American war, and supposed to be three hundred feet long. 
 The next record relates to one appearing in August 1817, 
 which was frequently seen in the harbour of Gloucester, Cape 
 Aure, about thirty miles from Boston. It is the subject of 
 a report, published by a committee appointed by the Linnsean 
 Society of New England. Dr. Hamilton summarises the 
 results as follows : 
 
 " The affidavits of a great many individuals of unblemished 
 character are collected, which leaves no room to apprehend 
 anything like deceit. They do not agree in every minute 
 particular, but in regard to its great length and snake-like 
 form, they are harmonious/' 
 
 Eleven depositions were taken, in which the length 
 was variously estimated at from fifty to one hundred 
 feet. It was either seen lying perfectly still, extended upon 
 the surface of the water, or progressing rapidly at the rate 
 of a mile in two, or at the most three, minutes ; the mode of 
 progression is generally spoken of as vertical undulation. The 
 tenth deposition states : " On the 20th of June 1815, my boy 
 informed me of an unusual appearance on the surface of the 
 sea in the Cove. When I viewed it through the glass, I was 
 in a moment satisfied that it was some aquatic animal, with 
 
 Shetland Islands, p. 565. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 
 
 the form, motions, and appearance of which I was not pre- 
 viously acquainted. It was about a quarter of a mile from 
 the shore, and was moving with great rapidity to the south- 
 ward ; it appeared about thirty feet in length. Presently it 
 turned about, and then displayed a greater length, I suppose 
 at least one hundred feet. It then came towards me very 
 rapidly, and lay entirely still on the surface of the water. 
 His appearance then was like a string of buoys. I saw 
 thirty or forty of these protuberances, or bunches, which 
 were about the size of a barrel. The head appeared six or 
 eight feet long, and tapered off to the size of a horse's head. 
 He then appeared about one hundred and twenty feet long ; 
 the body appeared of a uniform size ; the colour deep brown. 
 I could not discover any eye, mane, gills, or breathing holes. 
 I did not see any fins or lips/ 5 
 
 One of the Committee of the Linnsean Society was himself 
 an eye-witness, and Colonel Perkins, of Boston, published in 
 1848 a communication which was a copy of a letter he had 
 written in 1820, detailing his personal experience in con- 
 firmation of the Society's Keport, as follows : " In a few 
 moments 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, the snake, the same object, moving 
 with a rapid motion up the harbour, on the western shore. 
 As he approached us, it was easy to see that his motion was 
 not that of the common snake, either on the land or in the 
 water, but evidently the vertical movement of the caterpillar. 
 As nearly as I could judge, there was visible at a time about 
 forty feet of his body. It was not, 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 his movement he left a considerable wake in 
 his rear, I had a fine glass, and was within from one-third 
 
 19 
 
290 MYTHICAL MONSTEKS. 
 
 to half a mile of him. The head was flat in the water, 
 and the animal was, as far as I could distinguish, of a choco- 
 late colour. I was struck with an appearance in front of the 
 head like a single horn, about nine inches to a foot in length, 
 and of the form of a marline -spike. There were a great 
 many people collected by this time, many of whom had 
 before seen the same object, and the same appearance. 
 From the time I first saw him until he passed by the place 
 where I stood, and soon after disappeared, was not more 
 than fifteen or twenty minutes. 
 
 " Subsequent to the period of which I have been speaking, 
 the snake was seen by several of the crews of our coasting 
 vessels, and in some instances 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 moving with great 
 rapidity, and at others slowly. He also saw what explained 
 the appearance, 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 appearance which 
 I have given to it. 
 
 16 One of the revenue cutters, whilst in the neighbourhood 
 of Cape Ann, had an excellent view of him at a few yards' 
 distance. He moved slowly ; and upon the approach of the 
 vessel, sank and was seen no more." 
 
 Dr. Hamilton* states that an animal of similar appearance 
 was again seen, in August 1819, off Nahant, Boston, and 
 remained in the neighbourhood for some weeks. Two hun- 
 dred persons witnessed it, thirteen folds were counted, and 
 the head, which was serpent-shaped, was elevated two feet 
 above the surface. Its eye was remarkably brilliant and 
 glistening. The water was smooth, and the weather calm 
 and serene. When it disappeared, its motion was undulatory, 
 
 * Jardine's Naturalist's Library, vol. xxv. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 291 
 
 making curves perpendicular to the surface of the water, and 
 giving the appearance of a long moving string of corks. It 
 appeared again off Nahant in July 1833. " It was first 
 seen on Saturday afternoon, passing between Egg Eock and 
 the Promontory, winding his way into Lynn Harbour ; and 
 again on Sunday morning, heading for South Shores. It 
 was seen by forty or fifty ladies and gentlemen, who insist 
 that they could not have been deceived. " 
 
 The Zoologist for May 1847 contains an account of a sea- 
 serpent seen in Mahone Bay, about forty miles east of 
 Halifax, by five officers of the garrison, when on a fishing 
 excursion : " We were surprised by the sight of an immense 
 shoal of grampuses, which appeared in an unusual state of 
 excitement, and which in their gambols approached so close 
 to our little craft that some of the party amused themselves 
 by firing at them with rifles. At this time we were jogging 
 at about five miles an hour, and must have been crossing 
 Margaret's Bay, ' when suddenly,' at a distance of from a 
 hundred and fifty to two hundred yards on our starboard bow, 
 we saw the head and neck of some denizen of the deep, pre- 
 cisely like those of a common snake, in the act of swimming, 
 the head so far elevated and thrown forward by the curve of 
 the neck, as to enable us to see the water under and beyond 
 it. The creature rapidly passed, leaving a regular wake, 
 from the commencement of which to the fore part, which 
 was out of water, we judged in length to be about eighty 
 feet, and this within rather than beyond the mark. It is 
 most difficult to give correctly the dimensions of any object 
 in the water. The head of the creature we set down at about 
 six feet in length, and that portion of the neck which we saw 
 the same ; the extreme length, as before stated, at between 
 eighty and one hundred feet. The neck in thickness equalled 
 the bole of a moderate-sized tree. The head and neck of a 
 dark brown or nearly black colour, streaked with white in irre- 
 gular streaks, I do not recollect seeing any part of the body." 
 
 19 * 
 
292 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Considerable interest was excited in 1848 by the account 
 of a sea-serpent seen by the captain and officers of Her 
 Majesty's ship Dcedalus while on her 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 
 weather and absence of swell are wanting. The official 
 report to the Admiralty is as follows : 
 
 FIG. 70. SEA-SERPENT SEEN BY THE CREW OF H.M.S. " DAEDALUS," IN 1848. 
 
 H.M.S. Dcedalus, 
 
 Hamoaze, Oct. 11. 
 
 SIR, In reply to your letter of this day's date, requiring information 
 as to the truth of a statement published in the Times newspaper, of a 
 sea-serpent of extraordinary dimensions having been seen from Her 
 Majesty's ship Dwdalus, under my command, on her passage from 'the 
 East Indies, I have the honour to acquaint you, for the information of 
 my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that at 5 o'clock P.M. on the 
 6th of August last, in latitude 24 44' S. and longitude 9 22' E., the 
 weather dark and cloudy, wind fresh from the N.W., with a long ocean 
 swell from the S.W., the ship on the port tack, heading N.E. by N., 
 something very unusual was seen by Mr. Sartoris, midshipman, rapidly 
 approaching the ship from before the beam. The circumstance was 
 immediately reported by him to the officer of the watch, Lieutenant 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 293 
 
 Edgar Druinmond, with whom and Mr. William Barrett, the master, I 
 was at the time walking the quarter-deck. The ship's company were at 
 supper. 
 
 On our attention being called to the object, it was discovered to be 
 an enormous serpent, with head and shoulders kept about four feet 
 constantly above the surface of the sea; and as nearly as we could 
 approximate by comparing it with the length of what our main topsail - 
 yard would show in the water, there was at the very least sixty feet of 
 the animal a fleur d'eau, no portion of which was, in our perception, 
 used in propelling it through the water, either by vertical or horizontal 
 undulation. It passed rapidly, but so close under our lee quarter that 
 had it been a man of my acquaintance I should have easily recognized 
 his features with the naked eye ; and it did not, either in approaching 
 the ship or after it had passed our wake, deviate in the slightest degree 
 from its course to the S.W., which it held on at the pace of from 
 twelve to fifteen miles per hour, apparently on some determined purpose. 
 The diameter of the serpent was about fifteen or sixteen inches behind 
 the head, which was, without any doubt, that of a snake ; and it was 
 never, during the twenty minutes that it continued in sight of our 
 glasses, once below the surface of the water ; its colour, a dark brown 
 with yellowish white about the throat. It had no fins, but something 
 like the mane of a horse, or rather a bunch of sea-weed, washed about 
 its back. It was seen by the quarter-master, the boatswain's mate, and 
 the man at the wheel, in addition to myself and officers above men- 
 tioned. 
 
 I ani having a drawing of the serpent made from a sketch taken 
 immediately after it was seen, which I hope to have ready for transmis- 
 sion to my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty by to-morrow's post. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 PETER M'QuncE, Gapt. 
 
 To Admiral Sir W. H. Gage, G.C.B., 
 Devonport. 
 
 This drawing was figured in the Illustrated London Neivs 
 in illustration of a short but very valuable memoir, and is 
 reproduced upon a smaller scale here. 
 
 A similar, perhaps the same, monster was fallen in with 
 at a slightly later date, 20 further south, as described in a 
 letter addressed to the editor of the Globe. 
 
 Mary Ann of Glasgow. 
 
 Glasgow, Oct. 19, 1848. 
 
 SIR, I have just reached this port, on a voyage from Malta to 
 Lisbon, and niy attention having been called to a report relative to an 
 
294 MYTHICAL MONSTEM. 
 
 animal seen by the master and crew of Her Majesty's ship Dcedalus, I 
 take the liberty of communicating the following circumstance : 
 
 " When clearing out of the port of Lisbon, upon the 30th of Sep- 
 tember last, we spoke the American brig Daphne, of Boston, Mark 
 Trelawny master ; she signalled for us to heave to, which we did, and 
 standing close round her counter lay to while the mate boarded us with 
 the jolly boat, and handed a packet of letters, to be despatched per 
 first steamer for Boston on our arrival in England. The mate told me 
 that when in lat. 4 11' S., long. 10 15' E., wind dead north, upon the 
 20th of September, a most extraordinary animal had been seen. 
 From his description, it had the appearance of a huge serpent or 
 snake, with a dragon's head. 
 
 " Immediately upon its being seen, one of the deck guns was brought 
 to bear upon it, which, having been charged with spike-nails and what- 
 ever other pieces of iron could be got at the moment, was discharged 
 at the animal, then only distant about forty yards from the ship. It 
 immediately reared its head in the air, and plunged violently with its 
 body, showing evidently that the charge had taken effect. The Daphne 
 was to leeward at the time, but was put about on the starboard tack, 
 and stood towards the brute, which was seen foaming and lashing the 
 water at a fearful rate. Upon the brig nearing, however, it disappeared, 
 and, though evidently wounded, made rapidly off at the rate of fifteen 
 or sixteen knots an hour, as was judged from its appearing several 
 times upon the surface. The Daphne pursued for some time; but 
 the night coming on, the master was obliged to put about and 
 continue his voyage. 
 
 From the description given by the mate, the brute must have been 
 nearly a hundred feet long, and his account of it agrees in every respect 
 with that lately forwarded to the Admiralty by the master of the Dcedalus. 
 
 JAMES HENDERSON, Master. 
 
 The account of the creature seen by the officers and crew 
 of the Dcedalus excited more than the usual attention given 
 to these stories ; for the professional status of the observers 
 guaranteed at once the veracity of their statement, and the 
 probability of their judgment being accurate. Considerable 
 correspondence ensued, including a very masterly attack 
 upon the identification of the creature by Professor Owen, 
 which will be again referred to further on. It also elicited 
 another sea-serpent story which appeared in the Bombay 
 Bi-monthly Times for January 1849. 
 
 I see, in your paper of the 30th of December, a paragraph in which 
 a doubt is expressed of the authenticity of the account given by 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 295 
 
 Captain M'Quhoe of the great " sea-serpent." When returning to 
 India, in the year 1829, I was standing on the poop of the Royal 
 Saxon, in conversation with Captain Petrie, the commander of that 
 ship. We were at a considerable distance south-west of the Cape of 
 Good Hope, in the usual track of vessels to this country, going 
 rapidly along (seven or eight knots) in fine smooth water. It was 
 in the middle of the day, and the other passengers were at luncheon, 
 the man at the wheel, a steerage passenger, and ourselves being the 
 only persons on the poop. Captain Petrie and myself, at the same 
 instant, were literally fixed in astonishment by the appearance, a short 
 distance ahead, of an animal of which no more generally correct 
 description could be given than that by Captain M'Quhce. It passed 
 within thirty-five yards of the ship without altering its course in the 
 least ; but as it came right abreast of us, it slowly turned its head 
 towards us. Apparently about one-third of the upper part of its body 
 was above water, in nearly its whole length ; and we could see the water 
 curling up on its breast as it moved along, but by what means it moved 
 we could not perceive. . . . We saw this apparently similar creature in 
 its whole length, with the exception of a small portion of the tail, which 
 was under water ; and by comparing its length with that of the Royal 
 Saxon (about six hundred feet) when exactly alongside in passing, we 
 calculated it to be in that, as well as its other dimensions, greater than 
 the animal described by Captain M'Quhce. I am not quite sure of our 
 latitude and longitude at the time, nor do I exactly remember the date, 
 but it was about the end of July. 
 
 R. DAVIDSON, 
 Superintending Surgeon, 
 
 Kamptu, Nagpore Subsidiary Force. 
 
 3rd January 1849. 
 
 Again, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Steele, of the Cold- 
 stream Guards, wrote to the Zoologist : " I have lately 
 received the following account from my brother, Captain 
 Steele, 9th Lancers, who, on his way out to India in the 
 Barham, saw the sea-serpent. Thinking it might be interest- 
 ing to you, as corroborating the account of the Dcedalus, I 
 have taken the liberty of sending 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 gone down 
 below to get ready for dinner, when the first mate called us 
 on deck to see a most extraordinary sight. About five hun- 
 dred yards from the ship there was the head and neck of an 
 
296 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 enormous snake ; we saw about sixteen or twenty feet out of 
 the water, and he spouted a long way from his head ; down 
 his back he had a crest like a cock's comb,* and was going 
 very slowly through the water, but left a wake of about fifty 
 or sixty feet, as if dragging a long body after him. The 
 captain put the ship off her course to run down to him, but 
 as we approached him he went down. His colour was green, 
 with light spots. He ivas seen by everyone on board. 9 My 
 brother is no naturalist ; and I think this is the first time 
 the monster has ever been seen to spout." 
 
 One of the officers of the ship wrote : " On looking over 
 the side of the vessel I saw a most wonderful sight, which I 
 shall recollect as long as I live. His head appeared to be 
 about sixteen feet above the water, and he kept moving it up 
 and down, sometimes showing his enormous neck, which was 
 surmounted with a huge crest in the shape of a saw. It 
 was surrounded by hundreds of birds, and we at first thought 
 it was a dead whale. He left a track in the water like the 
 wake of a boat, and from what we could see of his head and 
 part of his body, we were led to think he must be about 
 sixty feet in length, but he might be more. The captain 
 kept the vessel away to get nearer to him ; and when we 
 were within a hundred yards he slowly sank into the depths 
 of the sea. While we were at dinner he was seen again." 
 
 The Times, of Feb. 5, 1858, contains a statement made 
 by Captain Harrington, of the ship Castilian, and certified to 
 by his chief and second officers, as follows : 
 
 "Ship Castilian, Dec. 12, 1857; N.E. end of St. Helena, 
 distant ten miles. At 6.30 P.M., strong breezes and cloudy, 
 ship sailing about twelve miles per hour. While myself and 
 officers were standing on the leeside of the poop, looking 
 towards the island, we were startled by the sight of a huge 
 marine animal, which reared its head out of the water within 
 
 * How this reminds one of the Chinese dragon. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 297 
 
 twenty yards of the ship, when it suddenly disappeared for 
 about half a minute, and then made its appearance in the 
 same manner again, showing us distinctly 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 to 
 have 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 ; the water was discoloured for several hundred 
 feet from its head, so much so that, on its first appearance, 
 my impression was that the ship was in broken water, pro- 
 duced, as I supposed, by some volcanic agency since the last 
 time I had passed the island ; but the second appearance 
 completely dispelled those fears, and assured us that it was 
 a monster of extraordinary 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 to form a 
 correct estimate of its extreme length ; but from what we 
 saw from the 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 topgallant forecastle, state 
 that it was more than double the length of the ship, in which 
 case it must have been five hundred feet. Be that as it may, 
 I am convinced that it belonged to the serpent tribe ; it was 
 of a dark colour about the head, and was covered with 
 several white spots." 
 
 A. writer in the New York Sun (I have the clipping, but, 
 unfortunately, not the date), discussing the best authenti- 
 cated stories, says : " The Lynn sea-serpent appears to be 
 the most authentic, the writer having seen several persons 
 who saw it from the beach, and knowing others personally or 
 by reputation. The first animal of this kind seen about 
 Lynn was in 1638, 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 
 
298 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 since the morning he was seen off Nahant by old Marshal 
 Prince through his famous masthead spy-glass. For within 
 the next two hours I conversed with Samuel Cabot and 
 Daniel P. Parker, I think, and one or more persons besides, 
 who had spent a part of that morning in witnessing its 
 movements. In addition, Colonel Harris, the commander 
 at Fort Independence, told me that the creature had been 
 seen by a number of his soldiers while standing sentry at 
 early dawn, some time before this show at Nahant ; and 
 Colonel Harris believed it as firmly as though the creature 
 were drawn up before us in State Street, where we then 
 were.' Such is the history of the Lynn sea-serpent; and 
 the following is an extract from the report of the Linnasan 
 Society of Boston, made by Dr. Bigelow and F. C. Gray : 
 ' The monster was from eighty to ninety feet long ; his head 
 usually carried about two feet above the water ; the body of 
 a dark brown colour, with thirty 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 three minutes, and sometimes more, leaving a wake 
 behind him ; chasing mackerel, herrings, and other fish, 
 which were seen jumping out of the water fifty at a time as 
 he approached. He only came to the surface of the sea in 
 calm and 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. The creature turned towards him, 
 then dived under the boat, and reappeared a hundred yards 
 on the other side/ In February of 1846 a letter was printed 
 in the various newspapers, signed by Captain Lawson, giving 
 a description of a monstrous snake seen by him from his 
 vessel off Capes Charles and Henry. The length was stated 
 at one hundred feet, and on the back were seen sharp 
 projections. The head was small in proportion to the 
 length." 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 299 
 
 I next append a few short statements which have appeared 
 at various dates in the public prints. 
 
 The News of the World, Sept. 28, 1879, states that Captain 
 J. F. Cox, master of the British ship Privateer, which arrived 
 at Delaware breakwater on Sept. 9, from London, says : " On 
 August 5, one hundred miles west of Brest (France), weather 
 fine and clear, at 5 P.M., as I was walking 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. It turned its head partly from us, and went down 
 with a great splash, after staying up about five seconds, but 
 rose again three times at intervals of ten seconds, until it had 
 turned completely from us, and was going from us at a great 
 speed, and making the water boil all round it. I could see 
 its eyes and shape perfectly. It was like a great eel or snake, 
 but as black as coal tar, and appeared to be making great 
 exertions to get away from the ship. I have seen many 
 kinds of fish, in five different oceans, but was never favoured 
 with a sight of the great sea-snake before." 
 
 The Singapore Daily News, April 6, 1878, in its Australian 
 news quotes from Wellington (New Zealand), Feb. 26 (this 
 month corresponds with August north of the Line) : " The 
 captain of the steamship Durham reports having seen a 
 monster serpent off Nerowas Island. Thirty feet of the 
 monster was visible out of the water. The crew and pas- 
 sengers corroborate the report." 
 
 The Australian Sketcher for November 24, 1877, states : 
 " Captain W. H. Nelson, of the American ship Sacramento, 
 which arrived in this port from New York on October 20, 
 reported that he saw the sea-serpent on his voyage. The 
 Argus paragraph on the subject stated : * The date on which 
 the 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 the monster, and he at once called Captain 
 
300 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Nelson, telling him what he saw ; but the latter, having the 
 same feeling of incredulity with regard to the sea-serpent as 
 most other people, did not hurry from below. On coming on 
 deck, however, he was rewarded with a distant glimpse of 
 the supposed sea-serpent, which the helmsman, for his part, 
 
 FIG. 71. SEA-SERPENT SEEN FROM THE SHIP " SACRAMENTO," JULY 30, 1877. 
 (From the " Australian Sketches") 
 
 declared he saw quite plainly. Some forty feet of the 
 monster was alleged to be observable. It appeared to be 
 about the size of a flour-barrel in girth, and its colour was 
 yellowish ; the head is described as being flat. The eyes 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 301 
 
 were plainly visible. Captain Nelson is convinced that what 
 he saw was some extraordinary marine monster.' We have 
 obtained from John Hart, the man at the wheel, a pencil 
 sketch of the creature, of which we give an engraving. The 
 sketch is accompanied with a further description, in which 
 the writer says : ' This is a correct sketch of the sea-serpent 
 seen by me while on board the ship Sacramento, on her pas- 
 sage from New York to Melbourne, I being at the wheel at 
 the time. It had the body of a very large snake ; its length 
 appeared to me to be about fifty feet or sixty feet. Its head was 
 like 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 perfectly still, 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 the suspicious resemblance which the illustra- 
 tion given in the Sketcher bears to an alligator, suggesting 
 that possibly such a creature may have been blown by winds 
 or carried by currents to the position where it was seen. It 
 is true that Mr. Gosse quotes the size of the largest alligator 
 on record as only seventeen feet and a half, whereas the esti- 
 mated length of the supposed sea-serpent in this instance was 
 from forty to sixty. But against that may be argued the 
 difficulty of estimating lengths or heights when you have 
 but a short inspection, and no object immediately near with 
 which to institute a comparison* ; while I am by no means 
 certain that Mr. Gosse 's maximum is correct. Dr. Dennys, 
 of Singapore, has assured me that some years back an alli- 
 gator, approaching thirty feet in length, haunted for some 
 
 * Within a few days of writing these lines I made one of a party of 
 four to visit the waterfalls of Taki-kwannon, near Nagasaki. I asked 
 for estimates of the height of the fall, which was variously guessed, by 
 different members of the party, at from forty-three to one hundred and 
 fifty feet. 
 
302 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 days the small tidal creek which runs through, and for some 
 miles above, that town ; while I very well remember Mr. 
 Gregory, the Survey or- General of Queensland, informing me 
 that in the rivers in the north of that colony there were alli- 
 gators equalling in length a whale-boat, say twenty-eight 
 feet. 
 
 The Graphic of April 19th, 1879, contains a drawing of " a 
 marine monster seen 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 indebted for the sketch from which 
 
 PIG, 72. SEA-SERPENT SEEN FROM THE S.S. " CITY OP BALTIMORE," IN THE GULF OF 
 ADEN, JAN. 28, 1879. (From the Graphic" of April 19, 1879.) 
 
 our engraving is taken: ' On the 28th January 1879, at about 
 10 A.M., I was on the poop deck of the steamship City of 
 Baltimore, in latitude 12 28' N., longitude 43 52' E. I 
 observed a long black object a-beam of the ship's stern on 
 the starboard side, at a distance of about three-quarters of a 
 mile, darting rapidly out of the water and splashing in again 
 with a noise distinctly audible, and advancing nearer and 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 303 
 
 nearer at a rapid pace. In a minute it had advanced to 
 within half-a-mile, and was distinctly recognisable as the 
 " veritable sea-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 in time to see 
 the monster, as did also Miss Greenfield, one of the pas- 
 sengers on board. By this time it was only about five hun- 
 dred yards off, and a little in the rear, owing to the vessel 
 then steaming at the rate of about ten knots an hour in a 
 westerly direction. On approaching the wake of the ship, 
 the serpent turned its course a little way, and was soon lost 
 to view in the blaze of sunlight reflected on the waves of the 
 sea. 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 out of the field of the glass before 
 I could see it. I was thus prevented from ascertaining 
 whether it had scales or not; but the best view of the 
 monster obtainable, when it was about three cables' length, 
 that is, about five hundred yards, distant, seemed to show 
 that it was without scales. I cannot, however, speak with 
 certainty. The head and neck, about two feet in diameter, 
 rose out of the water to a height of about twenty or thirty 
 feet, and the monster opened its jaws wide as it rose, and 
 closed them again as it lowered its head and darted forward 
 for a dive, reappearing almost immediately some hundred 
 yards ahead. The body was not visible at all, and must 
 have been some depth under water, as the disturbance on 
 the surface was too slight to attract notice, although occa- 
 sionally a splash was seen at some distance behind the head. 
 The shape of the head was not unlike pictures of the 
 dragon I have often seen, with a bull-dog appearance of the 
 forehead and eye-brow. When the monster had drawn its 
 head sufficiently out of the water, it let itself drop, as it were, 
 like a huge log of wood, prior to darting forward under the 
 water.' " 
 
304 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Major Senior's statement is countersigned by the two 
 persons whom he mentions as co- witnesses. 
 
 When in Singapore, in 1880, I received the personal tes- 
 timony of Captain Anderson, at that time chief officer of the 
 Pluto (property of the Straits Government) and formerly a 
 commander in the P. and 0. Company's service. 
 
 Captain Anderson assured me that he had twice seen large 
 sea-serpents. Once off Ushant, when he was chief officer of 
 the Delta in 1861. No account was entered in the log nor 
 any notice sent to the newspapers, for fear of ridicule. On 
 that occasion the whole ship's company saw it ; it was five (?) 
 miles distant, and showed fifteen feet of its body out of the 
 water. It resembled a snake with a large fringe round the 
 neck. It appeared to be travelling, and moved its head to 
 and fro like a snake. It never spouted, and was observed 
 for a quarter of an hour. 
 
 The second occasion was in the Red Sea, when he was in 
 command of the Sumatra, on the outward trip in October or 
 November 1877. Off Mocha he saw an animal, five miles 
 distant, that lifted the body high out of the water like a 
 snake. All exclaimed, " There is the sea-serpent ! " but no 
 entry 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. 
 
 In 1881 I once more had the personal testimony of an 
 eye-witness. 
 
 Mr. J. H. Hoar, of the pilot station, Shanghai, China, 
 informed me that he saw a sea-serpent some years previously, 
 when he was stationed at Ningpo, on the China coast-line, 
 a little south of the embouchure of the Yangtse-kiang. He 
 was at the time on the look-out for a vessel, from the top of 
 the bank of Lowchew Island, Chinsang, on the southern side 
 of the island fronting the six-mile passage. This island lies 
 east of Worth Point. The hill he was on was about one 
 hundred and fifty feet high, the snake distant about two 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 305 
 
 hundred and fifty yards, the depth of water seven fathoms. 
 His attention was directed to it by a group of Chinamen 
 calling out " She," which means " snake." He saw it lying on 
 the surface of the water, resembling two masts of a junk end 
 to end, but with a slight interval. Presently it rose slightly, 
 and then appeared all in one, extended flat upon the surface 
 of the water. He examined it with his glass, and noticed the 
 eye, which appeared to be as big as a coffee saucer, and slate - 
 coloured. The head was flat on the top. He estimated the 
 length 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 place within eight years. An account was published 
 in one of the local journals, by Mr. Sloman, from the state- 
 ments of the Chinese observers. Mr. Hoar was prevented 
 from doing the same by the fear of being ridiculed. I may 
 note that 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-dragon of the Chinese. Dr. Dennys* says : " Of 
 course our old friend, the sea-serpent, turns up on the coasts 
 of China, and the description of him does not greatly differ 
 from that recorded elsewhere. According to a popular legend, 
 the Chien Tang river was at one time infested by a great kiau 
 or sea-serpent, and in 1129 A.D., a district graduate is said 
 to have heroically thrown himself into the flood to encounter 
 and destroy the monster. It has been already noted that 
 most of the river gods are supposed to appear in the form of 
 water-snakes, and that the sea-serpents noticed in Chinese 
 records have always infested the mouths of rivers." 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Butler, of the Presbyterian Mission in Ningpo, 
 
 * Folklore of China, p. 113. 
 
 20 
 
306 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 informed me that a dragon which threatened boats was sup- 
 posed by the Chinese to infest a narrow passage called Quo 
 Mung, outside of Chinaye. Formerly there were two of them 
 in the neighbourhood, which were very furious, and frequently 
 upset boats. They had to be appeased by a yearly offering 
 of a girl of fair appearance and perfect body. At last, one of 
 the literati determined to stop this. He armed himself, and 
 jumped into the water ; blood rose to the surface. He had 
 killed one of the dragons. The other retired to the narrow 
 place. A temple was erected to the hero at Peach Blossom 
 ferry. 
 
 It may be noted that both the Malays and the Chinese 
 attribute the origin of ambergris to either a sea-dragon or a 
 sea-serpent. Thus, in the description of Ambergris Island or 
 Dragon Spittle Island, contained in the History of the Ming 
 Dynasty, Book 325, from which an extract is given (in trans- 
 lation) by Mr. W. P. Groeneveldt, in his Notes on the Malay 
 Archipelago and Malacca, compiled from Chinese sources,* 
 we find it stated that " this island has the appearance of a 
 single mountain, and is situated in the Sea of Lambri, at a 
 distance of one day and one night from Sumatra. It rises 
 abruptly out of the sea, which breaks on it with high waves." 
 " Every spring numerous dragons come together to play 
 on this island, and they leave behind their spittle. The 
 natives afterwards go in canoes to the 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 the Chinese peck, and 
 also with a fishy smell. When burnt it has a pure and 
 delicious fragrance. 
 
 * Vide Verhandelingen van Het Bataviaasch Genoofschap van Kunsten 
 en Weten Schappen, Deel xxxix., lere Stuk,, Batavia, 1877, 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 307 
 
 " It is sold in the market of Sumatra, one tael, official 
 weight, costing twelve golden coins of that country, and one 
 cati,* one hundred and ninety -two of such pieces, equal to 
 about nine thousand Chinese copper cash ; and so it is not 
 very cheap." 
 
 Dr. F. Porter Smithf states that there can be no doubt 
 that the costly, odorous, light yellow, gummy substance, 
 found floating on the sea, or procured from the belly of some 
 large fish in the Indian Ocean, and known by the Chinese 
 of the present day as lung sin, or dragon's spittle, is actually 
 ambergris. The dragon is said to cough it up. 
 
 " A similar substance, called fah-tiau-chi, brought from 
 Canton and Foochow in former days, is said to be the egg of 
 the dragon or a kind of sea-serpent named kih tiau. The 
 name kih tiau is singularly like the Greek name for a sea- 
 monster." 
 
 One of the most remarkable accounts of sea-monsters, 
 which I believe to be thoroughly trustworthy, is of an animal 
 seen in the Malacca Straits in 1876. 
 
 The first notice of it appeared in the Straits Times 
 Overland Journal for September 18th, 1876, in the form of a 
 short editorial. 
 
 4< Our friend Mr. Henry Lee, of Land and Water, who in 
 his late work has taken so much trouble to enter into and 
 describe the habits and peculiarities of the sea-serpent, J will 
 
 * About 1 Ib. avoirdupois. 
 
 f Contributions to Materia Medica and Natural History of China, by 
 F. P. Smith, M.B., London ; Shanghai and London, 1871. 
 
 I give, in the appendix to this chapter, some accounts of a reputed 
 monster, the Shan, the description of which by Chinese authors, although 
 vague, appears to me to point to the sea-serpent. I only insert a por- 
 tion of the latter part of the legends regarding it which I find in my 
 authority, as they are perfectly valueless. The sample given may, how- 
 ever, be interesting as an example of how the Taouists compiled their 
 absurd miraculous stories. 
 
 I For sea-serpent read octopus. 
 
 20 * 
 
308 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 be glad to hear that the passengers and officers of the S.S. 
 'Nestor, which arrived here this morning, are unanimous in 
 the conclusion, and vouch for the fact, that an extraordinary 
 sea-monster was seen by them between Malacca and Penang 
 on their voyage to this port, on Monday, about noon. It was 
 about two hundred and fifty feet long, about fifty feet broad, 
 square -headed, with black and yellow stripes, closely 
 resembling a salamander." 
 
 This was followed, on the succeeding day, by a letter from 
 the captain. 
 
 SIR, In reference to your paragraph in your yesterday's issue, rela- 
 ting to our having seen a sea-monster answering to the popular notion 
 of a sea-serpent, I am prepared to vouch for the correctness of the 
 statement already made to you by the doctor and a passenger by my 
 ship. 
 
 Being on the bridge at the time (about 10 A.M.) with the first and 
 third officers, we were surprised by the appearance of an extraordinary 
 monster going in our course, and at an equal speed with the vessel, at 
 a distance from us of about six hundred feet. It had a square head and 
 a dragon black and white striped tail, and an immense body, which was 
 quite fifty feet broad when the monster raised it. The head was about 
 twelve feet broad, and appeared to be occasionally, at the extreme, 
 about six feet above the water. When the head was placed on a level 
 with the water, the body was extended to its utmost limit to all 
 appearance, and then the body rose out of the water about two feet, and 
 seemed quite fifty feet broad at those times. The long dragon tail with 
 black and white scales afterwards rose in an undulating motion, in 
 which at one time the head, at another the body, and eventually the 
 tail, formed each in its turn a prominent object above the water. 
 
 The animal, or whatever it may be called, appeared careless of our 
 proximity, and went our course for about six minutes on our starboard 
 side, and then finally worked round to our port side, and remained in 
 view, to the delight of all on board, for about half an hour. His length 
 was reckoned to be over two hundred feet. 
 
 JOHN W. WEBSTER, 
 
 Singapore, Commander, S.S. Nestor. 
 
 18th Sepember 1876. 
 
 Mr. Cameron, proprietor of the journal, subsequently 
 informed me that he had specially warned Captain Webster 
 of the certain doubt that would be cast upon his statement, 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT, 309 
 
 but he still insisted on its publication. It was confirmed by 
 Mr. H. K. Beaver, a merchant of Singapore, and other 
 persons who were passengers by the boat. 
 
 The same newspaper (Straits Times Overland Journal), on 
 November 2, 1876, had the following extract from the China 
 Mail : 
 
 16 It is more than probable that Captain Webster, of the 
 steamer Nestor, will be ' interviewed ' very extensively when 
 he reaches a berth in London Docks. A genuine sea-serpent 
 is not met with every day, and as the observations made by 
 the officers of the ship have, we understand, been set down in 
 some formal way before Consul Medhurst at Shanghai, to be 
 forwarded to the Field, the naturalists will be in a position 
 to pursue their researches when the captain arrives. Com- 
 petent authorities are now of opinion that the part of the 
 monster formerly supposed to have been its head, must have 
 been a hump ; and that its head's being under water would 
 account for the supreme contempt with which it treated the 
 passage of the steamer. The undulating motion of the huge 
 animal would explain the statement that this knob or hump 
 rose occasionally about six feet out of the water. The alter- 
 nate yellow and black stripes which covered all that could be 
 seen of the body, appear to have conveyed the impression 
 that the tail was like that of a dragon covered with scales, 
 although that conclusion need not necessarily be looked upon 
 as certain. If the head of this unknown ( shape ' was actually 
 under water, then the length becomes proportionately greater. 
 It was over two hundred feet long before, it must now be 
 regarded as measuring, say, two hundred and fifty feet, which, 
 with forty-five or fifty feet beam, gives a leviathan of some- 
 thing like the dimensions of an old-fashioned frigate." 
 
 A correspondent of the Celestial Empire, of Shanghai, wrote 
 thus to the journal : 
 
 SIR, If it is true that one of those who observed the marine monster 
 from the Nestor is still here, it is very desirable that he should give 
 
310 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 some fuller account of what he saw. Only a sciolist will deny the pos- 
 sibility of such a beast, and Professor Owen himself has remarked that 
 the only absolutely incredible part of the accounts of those who have 
 seen it, is the statement of its vertical sinuosity, which is impossible to 
 any of the serpent tribe. 
 
 The monster seen by the Nestor, however, was probably one of the 
 Chelonidse, " the father of all the turtles," as he is fitly called by the 
 natives of Sumatra, who fully believe in his existence, and to whom he 
 occasionally appears. Indeed, Baumgarten, in his Malaysi&n, published 
 at Amsterdam in 1829, describes the monster, and estimates its length 
 and breadth at one hundred and twenty and thirty cubits respectively, 
 measurements which agree very nearly with those given by Captain 
 Webster. Baumgarten* adds that it is a general belief in Sumatra 
 (vol. ii. p. 321, Ed. 1820), that whosoever sees him will die within the 
 year. " This," he says naively enough, " I have not been able to 
 prove." 
 
 Mr. David Aitken, of Singapore, wrote to the Daily Times 
 as follows : 
 
 DEAK SIB, Like many others, I have been astonished at the dimen- 
 sions given by you of the sea-serpent. They are certainly enormous, 
 and they far surpass anything I have ever seen or heard of. The largest 
 snake ever I authentically heard about was one which passed between 
 the surveying brigs Krishna and Menx when under the command of 
 Lieutenant Ward, of the Indian Navy, when surveying off the coast of 
 Sumatra, about the years 1858 and 1859. This monster passed by the 
 brigs one Sunday morning when they were moored somewhere opposite 
 Malacca. Its length was variously estimated at from the length of the 
 Krishna to one hundred feet. Sixty feet was the moderate length set 
 down for its frame. 
 
 In or near the same place, another monster had been seen by a 
 previous surveying party. 
 
 Mr. Stephen Cave, M.P. for Shoreham, in 1861, commu- 
 nicated to Mr. Gosse a short statement, which throws some 
 
 light upon the food of the monster. It is in the form of an 
 
 \ 
 
 * 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 rise close to him, somewhere off Perak, when in a boat manned 
 by Malays. Mr. Syers had the account both from Captain Douglas and 
 from the cr.ew ; and he tells me that there is a universal belief in the 
 existence of some large sea- monster among the Malays of the western 
 coast of the Peninsula. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 311 
 
 extract from his journal written during a voyage to the West 
 Indies, in 1846, as follows : 
 
 " Thursday, December 10, off Madeira, on board K.M.S. 
 Thomas, made acquaintance with a Captain Christmas, of the 
 Danish Navy, a proprietor in Santa Cruz, and holding some 
 office about the Danish court. He told me he once saw a 
 sea-serpent between Iceland and the Faroe islands. He was 
 lying-to in a gale of wind, in a frigate of which he had the 
 command, when an immense shoal of porpoises rushed by the 
 ship as if pursued ; and, lo and behold, a creature with a neck 
 moving like that of a swan, about the thickness of a man's 
 waist, with a head like a horse, raised itself slowly and grace- 
 fully from the deep, and, seeing the ship, it immediately dis- 
 appeared again, head foremost, like a duck diving. He only 
 saw it for a few seconds. The part above the water seemed 
 about eighteen feet in length. He is a singularly intelligent 
 man, and by no means one to allow his imagination to run 
 away with him." 
 
 Witty journalists had a good time over the publication of 
 the story of the serpent seen by Captain Drevar, with which 
 I shall wind up my list of apparitions. As will be seen, 
 however, the captain stuck manfully to his guns, and I, for 
 one, am of the belief that he really saw the incident which he 
 narrates. I have not met the captain himself, but I did, in 
 Singapore, meet with many who had heard the whole story 
 from his own lips, and whose impression was that he was a 
 truthful man. 
 
 The Barque " Pauline " Sea-serpent. 
 
 To the Editor of the Calcutta Englishman. 
 
 SIR, As I am not sure that my statement respecting the sea-serpent 
 reached the Shipping Gazette in London, I enclose a copy that may be 
 interesting to your numerous readers. I have been sent plenty of 
 extracts from English papers, nearly all of them ridiculing my state- 
 ment. I can laugh and joke on the subject as well as anyone, but I 
 can't see why, if people can't fairly refute my statement, they should 
 use falsehood to do so. The Daily Telegraph says, " The ribs of the ill- 
 
312 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 fated fish were distinctly heard cracking one after the other, with a 
 report like that of a small cannon ; its bellowings ceased, &c. To use 
 the eloquent words of the principal spectator, it ' struck us all aghast 
 with terror.' " If the writer knew anything of sailors, he would not write 
 such bosh. Fear and terror are not in Jack's composition ; and such 
 eloquent words he leaves to such correspondents as described the ever- 
 doubtful " man-and-dog-fight." I am just as certain of seeing what I 
 described, as that I met the advertisement that the Telegraph has 
 the largest circulation in the world staring me at every street corner in 
 London. It is easy for such a paper to make any man, good, great, or 
 interesting, look ridiculous. Little wonder is it that my relatives write 
 saying that they would have seen a hundred sea-serpents and never 
 reported it ; and a lady also wrote that she pitied anyone that was 
 related to anyone that had seen the sea-serpent. It is quite true that it 
 is a sad thing for any man to see more, to feel more, and to know 
 more, than his fellows ; but I have some of the philosophy that made 
 O'Connell rejoice in being the most abused man in the United Kingdom, 
 for he also had the power of giving a person a lick with the rough side 
 of his tongue. If I had any such power I would not use it, for contempt 
 is the sharpest reproof ; and this letter is the only notice I have taken 
 of the many absurd statements, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 GEORGE DREVAR, 
 
 Barque Pauline, Master of the Pauline. 
 
 Chittagong, January 15, 1876. 
 
 FIG. 73. SEA-SERPENT ATTACKING WHALE, AS SEEN BY CAPT. DREVAR, 
 OF THE BARQUE " PAULINE," IN 1876. 
 
 Barque Pauline, January 8th, 1875, lat. 5 13' S., long. 35 W., Cape 
 Eoque, north-east corner of Brazil distant twenty miles, at 
 
 11 A.M. 
 
 The weather fine and clear, the wind and sea moderate. Observed 
 some black spots on the water, and a whitish pillar, about thirty-five 
 feet high, above them At the first glance I took all to be breakers, as 
 the sea was splashing up fountain-like about them, and the pillar, a 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 
 
 313 
 
 pinnacle rock bleached with the sun ; but the pillar fell with a splash, 
 and a similar one rose. They rose and fell alternately in quick succes- 
 sion, and good glasses showed me it was a monster sea-serpent coiled 
 twice round a large sperm whale. The head and tail parts, each about 
 thirty feet long, were acting as levers, twisting itself and victim around 
 with great velocity. They sank out of sight about every two minutes, 
 coming to the surface still revolving, and the struggles of the whale and 
 two other whales that were near, frantic with excitement, made the sea 
 in this vicinity like a boiling cauldron ; and a loud and confused noise 
 was distinctly heard. This strange occurrence lasted some fifteen 
 
 FIG. 74. SEA-SERPENT ATTACKING WHALE. THE END OF THE STRUGGLE. 
 
 minutes, and finished with the tail portion of the whale being elevated 
 straight in the air, then waving backwards and forwards, and laving 
 [lashing?] the water furiously in the last death-struggle, when the 
 whole body disappeared from our view, going down head-foremost 
 towards the bottom, where, no doubt, it was gorged at the serpent's 
 leisure ; and that monster of monsters may have been many months in 
 a state of coma, digesting the huge mouthful. Then two of the largest 
 sperm whales that I have ever seen moved slowly thence towards the vessel, 
 their bodies more than usually elevated out of the water, and not 
 spouting or making the least noise, but seeming quite paralysed with 
 fear ; indeed, a cold shiver went through my own frame on beholding 
 the last agonising struggle of the poor whale that had seemed as help- 
 less in the coils of the vicious monster as a small bird in the talons of 
 a hawk. Allowing for two coils round the whale, I think the serpent 
 was about one hundred and sixty or one hundred and seventy feet long, 
 and seven or eight 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 the body I think Cape San Eoque is a landmark for 
 
 whales leaving the south for the North Atlantic I wrote thus 
 
 far, little thinking I would ever see the serpent again ; but at 7 A.M., July 
 13th, in the same latitude, and some eighty miles east of San Roque, I 
 was astonished to see the same or a similar monster. It was throwing 
 its head and about forty feet of its body in a horizontal position out 
 
314 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 of the water as it passed onwards by the stern of our vessel. I began 
 musing why we were so much favoured with such a strange visitor, and 
 concluded that the band of white paint, two feet wide above the 
 copper, might have looked like a fellow- serpent to it, and, no doubt, 
 
 attracted its attention While thus thinking, I was startled by 
 
 the cry of "There it is agaio," and a short distance to leeward, 
 elevated some sixty feet in the air, was the great leviathan, grimly look- 
 ing towards the vessel. As I was not sure it was only our free board it 
 was viewing, we had all our axes ready, and were fully determined, 
 should the brute embrace the Pauline, to chop away for its backbone 
 with all our might, and the wretch might have found for once in its 
 life that it had caught a Tartar. This statement is strictly true, and 
 the occurrence was witnessed by my officers, half the crew, and myself ; 
 and we are ready, at any time, to testify on oath that it is so, and that 
 
 we are not in the least mistaken A vessel, about three years 
 
 ago, was dragged over by some sea-monster in the Indian Ocean. 
 
 GEORGE DREVAR, 
 
 Master of the Pauline. 
 
 Chittagong, January 15, 1876. 
 
 Captain George Drevar, of the barque Pauline, appeared on Wed- 
 nesday morning at the Police-court, Dale- street, before Mr. Baffles, 
 stipendiary magistrate, accompanied by some of his officers and part 
 of the crew of the barque, when they made the following decla- 
 ration : 
 
 "We, the undersigned, captain, officers, and crew of the barque 
 Pauline, of London, do solemnly and sincerely declare that on July 
 8th, 1875, in latitude 5 13', longitude 35 W., we observed three large 
 sperm whales, and one of them was gripped round the body with two 
 turns of what appeared to be a large serpent. The head and tail 
 appeared to have a length beyond the coils of about thirty feet, and its 
 girth eight or nine feet. The serpent whirled its victim round and 
 round for about fifteen minutes, and then suddenly dragged the whale 
 to 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 hundred 
 yards off, shooting itself along the surface, head and neck being out of 
 the water several feet. This was seen only by the captain and one 
 ordinary seaman. 
 
 " GEORGE DREVAR, Master. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 3l5 
 
 " A few moments after, it was seen elevated some sixty feet perpen- 
 dicularly in the air by the chief officer and the following able seamen, 
 Horatio Thompson, Owen Baker, William Lewan. And we make this 
 solemn 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 by the Eev. Henry T. Cheeves, in The Whale 
 and his Captors. The author says : 
 
 " From a statement made by a Kinebeck shipmaster in 
 1818, and sworn to before a justice of the peace in Kinebeck 
 county, Maine, it would seem that the notable sea-serpent 
 and whale are sometimes found in conflict. At six o'clock 
 in the afternoon of June 21st, in the packet Delia, plying 
 between Boston and Hallowell, when Cape Ann bore west- 
 south-west about two miles, steering north-north-east, 
 Captain Shuback West and fifteen others on board with him 
 saw an object directly ahead, which he had no doubt was 
 the 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 a perpendicular direction, striking the whale by it with 
 tremendous blows, rapidly repeated, which were distinctly 
 heard, and very loud, for two or three minutes ; they then 
 both disappeared, moving in a south-west direction ; but after 
 a few minutes reappeared in-shore of the packet, and about 
 under the sun, the reflection of which was so strong as to 
 prevent their seeing so distinctly as at first, when the ser- 
 pent's fearful blows with his tail were repeated and clearly 
 heard as before. They again went down for a short time, 
 and then came up to the surface under the packet's larboard 
 quarter, the whale appearing first, and the serpent in pur- 
 suit, who was again seen to shoot up his tail as before, which 
 
316 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 he held out of water for some time, waving it in the air 
 before striking, and at the same time his head fifteen or 
 twenty feet, as if taking a view of the surface of the sea. 
 After being seen in this position a few minutes, the serpent 
 and whale again disappeared, and neither was seen after by 
 any on board. It was Captain West's opinion that the 
 
 FIG. 75. SEA- SERPENT ATTACKING WHALE. (From Sketches by Capt. Davidson, 
 S.S. " Kiushiu-maru.") 
 
 whale was trying to escape, as he spouted but once at a time 
 on coming to the surface, and the last time he appeared he 
 went down before the serpent came up." 
 
 A remarkable and independent corroboration of modern 
 date comes from the Japan seas. It was reported both in 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 317 
 
 local papers and in the San Francisco Calif ornian Mail- Bag 
 for 1879, from which I extract the notice and the illustrative 
 cuts (Fig. 75). 
 
 " The accompanying engravings are fac-similes of a sketch 
 sent to us by Captain Davidson, of the steamship Kiushiu- 
 maru,* and is inserted as a specimen of the curious drawings 
 which are frequently forwarded to us for insertion. Captain 
 Davidson's statement, which is countersigned by his chief 
 officer, Mr. McKechnie, is as follows : 
 
 " ' Saturday, April 5th, at 11.15 A.M., Cape Satano distant 
 about nine miles, the chief officer and myself observed a 
 whale jump clear out of the sea, about a quarter of a mile 
 away. 
 
 " * Shortly after it leaped out again, when I saw there 
 was something attached to it. Got glasses, and on the next 
 leap distinctly saw something holding on to the belly of the 
 whale. The latter gave one more spring clear of the water, 
 and myself and chief officer then observed what appeared to 
 be a creature of the snake species rear itself about thirty feet 
 out of the water. It appeared to be about the thickness of a 
 junk's mast, and after standing about ten seconds in an 
 erect position, it descended into the water, the upper end 
 going first. With my glasses I made out the colour of the 
 beast to resemble that of a pilot fish." 
 
 There is an interesting story f of a fight between a water - 
 snake and a trout, by Mr. A. W. Chase, Assistant United 
 States Coast Survey, which, magnis componere parva, may be 
 accepted as an illustration of how a creature of serpentine 
 form would have to deal with a whale ; only, as on the sur- 
 face or in mid-water it would be prevented from grasping any 
 rocks by which to anchor itself, we may readily conceive it 
 
 * This is one of the fleet of the important Japanese Mitsu Bish 
 Company, the equivalent of the P. and O. Company in Japan, 
 f Pop. Sci. Monthly, No. 56, December 1876, p. 234. 
 
318 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 holding on with a tenacious grip of its extended jaws, and 
 drawing itself up to the enemy until it could either embrace 
 it in its coils or stun it with violent blows of the tail.* 
 
 " The trout, at first sight, was lying in mid-water, heading 
 up stream. It was, as afterwards appeared, fully nine inches 
 
 in length This new enemy of the trout was a large 
 
 water- snake of the common variety, striped black 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 such a fashion that the jaws of the snake closed 
 its mouth. The fight then commenced. The trout had the 
 use of its tail and fins, and could drag the snake from the 
 surface ; when near the bottom, however, the snake made use 
 of 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 was continued for full 
 twenty minutes, when the snake managed to get its tail out 
 of the water and clasped around the root of one of the 
 willows mentioned as overhanging the pool. The battle was 
 then up, for the snake gradually put coil after coil around 
 the root, with each one dragging the fish toward the land. 
 When half its body was coiled it unloosed the first hold, 
 and stretched the end of its tail out in every direction, 
 and finding another root, made fast ; and now, using both, 
 dragged the trout on the gravel bank. It now had it under 
 control, and, uncoiling, the snake dragged the fish fully 
 ten feet up on the bank, and, I suppose would have gorged 
 him," &c. &c. 
 
 * It must be remembered that it is with a blow of its powerful tail 
 that the alligator stuns its prey and knocks it into the water (when any 
 stray animal approaches the bank), and it is with the tail that the 
 dragon, in the fable related by Julian, chastises, although gently, 
 its mistress, and constricts, according to Pliny, the elephant in its 
 folds. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 319 
 
 Captain Drevar follows Pontoppidan (probably unwit- 
 tingly) in identifying the sea-serpent with the leviathan of 
 Scripture, quoting Isaiah xxvii. 1, " In that day the Lord 
 with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish 
 leviathan, the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked 
 serpent ; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the 
 sea." As I read the above 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, dragon 
 and 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 and responsible people. Captain 
 Drevar, in the small pamphlet which he had printed for 
 private circulation, says : " Does any thinking person 
 imagine I could keep command over men with a deliberate lie 
 in our mouths ? " and a similar question may be asked, with, 
 I think, the possibility of only one reply, in the case of the 
 narratives of Captain M'Quhce and other officers and com- 
 manders in various navies and merchant vessels, and of the 
 numerous other reputable witnesses who have affirmed, 
 either as a simple statement or on oath, that they have seen 
 sundry remarkable sea-monsters. I used the expression, 
 "I think," because, of course, there is the possibility of 
 scepticism. 
 
 " Authority, in matters of opinion, divides itself (say) into 
 three principal classes : there is the authority of witnesses ; 
 they testify to matters of fact. The judgment upon these is 
 commonly, though not always, easy ; but this testimony is 
 always the substitution of the faculties of others for our 
 own, which, taken largely, constitutes the essence of 
 authority. 
 
 " This is the kind which we justly admit with the smallest 
 jealousy. Yet not always ; one man admits, another refuses, 
 
320 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 the authority of a sea-captain and a sailor or two on the 
 existence of a sea-serpent." * 
 
 I, for my part, belong to the former of these two categories. 
 I believe in the statements that I have recorded, and in the 
 following reasoning address only those who do likewise. 
 
 That mistakes have occasionally occurred is undoubted. 
 Mr. Gosse records two instances in which long patches of 
 sea-weed so far excited the imagination of captains of 
 vessels as to cause them to lower boats and proceed to the 
 attack. 
 
 The credibility of ghost stories generally is much affected 
 when supposed apparitions are investigated and traced to 
 some simple cause ; and the hypersceptical may argue on 
 parallel grounds that the transformation, in some few 
 instances, of a supposed sea-serpent into sea-weed, or the 
 admission of the plausible suggestion that it has been simu- 
 lated by a seal, a string of porpoises, or some other very 
 ordinary animals, largely affects the whole question. 
 
 And this would undoubtedly be the case if the conditions 
 of the several examples were at all similar. But the hesita- 
 tion or temporary misapprehension of captains or crews, in a 
 thousand instances, as to the nature of a string of weed, 
 supine on the surface, and lashed into fantastic motion by 
 the surge of the ocean waves, has absolutely no bearing on 
 the positive stories of a creature which is seen in calm fjords 
 and bays to roll itself coil after coil, uplift its head high 
 above the water, exhibit capacious jaws armed with teeth, 
 conspicuous eyes, and paws or paddles, which pursues and 
 menaces boats, presents a tangible object to a marksman, 
 and when struck disappears with a mighty splash. 
 
 The probability of a gigantic seal, or of a string of por- 
 
 * Nineteenth Century, March 1877, p. 20. Article on "Authority 
 in Matters of Opinion/' by G. Cornewall Lewis. Reviewed by W, E, 
 Gladstone. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 321 
 
 poises, being mistaken for a sea-serpent by post-captains 
 and their officers in the Navy is small, but becomes almost, 
 if not quite, impossible when the observers are fishermen on 
 coasts like those of Norway, who have been in the habit of 
 seeing seals and porpoises almost every day of their lives. 
 We may, therefore, freely grant that occasional mistakes 
 have arisen, just as we have 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 the crew of Her Majesty's 
 yacht, the Osborne, in the Mediterranean, which was sug- 
 gested, with great probability, to have been, if I remember 
 correctly, some species of shark; while the supposed sea- 
 serpent, washed up on the Isle of Stronsa, in 1808, proved, 
 on scientific examination, to be a shark of the genus Selache, 
 probably belonging to the species known as " the barking 
 shark."" 
 
 The great oceanic bone shark, known to few except whalers, 
 which has been stated to reach as much as sixty feet in 
 length, may also occasionally have originated a misconcep- 
 tion ; and there must be still remaining in the depths of the 
 ocean undescribed species of fish, of bizarre form, and pro- 
 bably gigantic size, the occasional appearance of which would 
 puzzle an observer. 
 
 For example, in November 1879, an illustration was given 
 in the Graphic of " another marine monster," professing to 
 be a sketch in the Gulf of Suez from H.M.S. Philomel, accom- 
 panied by the following descriptive letter-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 this ship at about 5.30 P.M. 
 on October 14, when in the gulf of Suez, Cape Zafarana 
 bearing at the time N.W. seventeen miles, lat. 28 56' N., 
 long. 32 54' E. 
 
 21 
 
322 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 " When first observed it was rather more than a mile 
 distant on the port bow, its snout projecting from the surface 
 of the water, and strongly marked ripples showing the posi- 
 tion of the body. It then opened its jaws, as shown in the 
 sketch, and shut them again several times, forcing the water 
 from between them as it did so in all directions in large jets. 
 From time to time a portion of the back and dorsal fin 
 appeared at some distance from the head. After remaining 
 some little time in the above-described position, it dis- 
 
 FIG. 76. ANOTHER MARINE MONSTER. A Sketch in the Gulf of Suez, from 
 H.M.S. " Philomel," Oct. 14, 1879. (From the " Graphic," Nov. 1879.) 
 
 appeared, and on coming to the surface again it repeated the 
 action of elevating the head and opening the jaws several 
 times, turning slowly from side to side as it did so. 
 
 " On the approach of the ship the monster swam swiftly 
 away, leaving a broad track like the wake of a ship, and dis- 
 appeared beneath the waves. 
 
 " The colour of that portion of the body that was seen was 
 black, as was also the upper jaw. The lower jaw was grey 
 round the mouth, but of a bright salmon colour underneath, 
 like the belly of some kinds of lizard, becoming redder as it 
 approached the throat. The inside of the mouth appeared to 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 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 some substance resembling whalebone. The 
 height the snout was elevated above the surface of the 
 water was at least fifteen feet, and the spread of the jaws 
 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 the Daheim, an 
 illustrated family paper, published in Leipzig, with an illus- 
 trative figure, from which I inferred that the monster seen by 
 the crew of the Philomel was only a gigantic and adult spe- 
 cimen of a species belonging to the same order, perhaps to 
 the same genus, as the Eurypharynx, adapted to live in the 
 depths of the ocean, and only appearing upon the surface 
 rarely and as the result of some abnormal conditions. I 
 give fac -similes of both engravings, in order that my readers 
 may draw their own comparison. The letter-press of the 
 Daheim is as follows : 
 
 "A New Fish.* 
 
 " The deep-sea explorations of last year, which extended 
 over eight thousand metres in depth, brought to light some 
 very extraordinary animals, of which, up to the present date, 
 we have no idea. The most curious one was found by the 
 French steamer Le Travailleur, on which there 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 thou- 
 sand three hundred metres depth, the dredge caught a most 
 wonderful animal, which at the first glance nobody thought 
 
 * From the Daheim, No. 17, Supplement. January 27th, 1883. 
 Leipzig. 
 
 21 * 
 
324 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 to be a fish. This fish, of which we give here a picture, 
 dwells on the bottom of the sea where the water is +5 
 Celsius,* in a kind of red slime composed of the shells of 
 small Globigerinse. On account of its curious mouth it has 
 been called Eurypharynx Pelicanoides, i.e. the Pelican-like 
 Broad-jaws. This creature is distinguished from all its class 
 by the peculiar construction of its mouth, its under jaw being 
 of a structure different from that of any other fish, possess- 
 ing only two small teeth and a big pouch of most expansible 
 
 FIG. 77. EURYIMIAIIYNX PELIOANOIDKS. (From, the Daheim.') 
 
 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 of very small dimensions, we may, from analogy 
 with other fishes, conclude that it digests partly in this 
 sac. 
 
 " The swimming apparatus of this fish is not much deve- 
 loped, and reduced to a number of spines erect from the back 
 and the belly. 
 
 * 41 Fahrenheit. 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 325 
 
 " The pectoral fins, which are immediately behind the 
 eye, are also very small, so that we may conclude from 
 this that this fish does not move much, and is not a good 
 swimmer. 
 
 " It only inhabits the bottom of the sea. Its body 
 decreases gradually backwards till it finishes in a string-like 
 tail. The organs for breathing are not much developed. 
 Six slits (gill apertures ?) allow the water to enter. 
 
 " The colour of the fish (the size of which we do not find 
 in our authority) is velvet black." 
 
 Before proceeding further I must point out that we may 
 dismiss from our minds the possibility of the so-called sea- 
 serpent being merely a large example of those marine ser- 
 pents of which several species and numerous individuals are 
 known to exist on the coast of many tropical countries, for 
 these are rarely more than from four to six feet in length, 
 although Dampier* 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's leg. He gives a 
 curious instance of these biters being bit, which he observed 
 not far from Scoutens Island, off New Guinea : 
 
 " On the 23rd we saw two snakes, and the next morning 
 another passing by us, which was furiously assaulted by two 
 fishes that had kept in company five or six days. They were 
 shaped like mackerel, and were about that bigness and 
 length, and of a yellow-greenish colour. The snake swam 
 away from them very fast, keeping his head above water. 
 The fish snapped at his tail ; but when he turned himself 
 that fish would withdraw and another would snap ; so that 
 by turns they kept him employed. Yet he still defended 
 himself, and swam away at a great pace, till they were out of 
 sight." 
 
 * A Collection of Voyages, in 4 volumes. J. J. Kuapton, London, 
 1729. 
 
326 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Leguat* speaks of a marine serpent, over sixty pounds in 
 weight, which he and his comrades in misfortune captured 
 and tasted, when marooned by order of the Governor of 
 the Mauritius on some small island off the harbour, about six 
 miles from the shore. He says : 
 
 66 It was a frightful sea-serpent, which we in our great 
 simplicity took for a large lamprey or eel. This animal 
 seemed to us very extraordinary, for it had fins, and we knew 
 not that there were any such creatures as sea-serpents. 
 Moreover, we had been so accustomed to discover creatures 
 that were new to us, both at land and at sea, that we did not 
 think this to be any other than an odd sort of eel that we 
 never had seen before, yet which we could not but think 
 more resembled a snake than an eel. In a word, the monster 
 had a serpent or crocodile's head, and a mouth full of hooked, 
 
 long and sharp teeth When our purveyors came we 
 
 related to them what had happened to us, and showed them 
 the eel's head, but they only said they had never seen the 
 like. 5 ' 
 
 In spite of Leguat's impression, I think it was only some 
 species of conger eel. 
 
 Marine serpents are abundant on the Malay coast, and 
 particularly so in the Indian Ocean. Niebuhr says : 
 
 " In the Indian Ocean, at a certain distance from land, a 
 great many water- serpents, from twelve to fifteen inches in 
 length, are to be seen rising above the surface of the water. 
 When these serpents are seen they are an indication that the 
 coast is exactly two degrees distant. We saw some of these 
 serpents, for the first time, on the evening of the 9th of 
 September; on the llth we landed in the harbour of 
 Bombay." f 
 
 * A Voyage to the East Indies, by Francis Leguat. London, 1708. 
 
 f I find the following note in Maclean's Guide to Bombay, for 1883 : 
 " Since the first edition of this Gazette was published, Captain Dundas, 
 of the P. and O. Company's steamer Cathay, has informed me that the 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 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 a vertical, direction ; they breathe with 
 lungs ; their home is on the surface, and they would perish 
 if confined for any considerable period beneath it. 
 
 FIG. 78. SCOLIOPHIS ATLANTICUS. Killed on the Sea-shore near 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 ocean depths, of far greater dimensions than those of 
 the largest individuals with which we are acquainted. Major 
 Wolf, who was stationed at Singapore while I was there in 
 1880, gave me information which seems to corroborate this 
 idea. He stated that when dining some years before with a 
 retired captain of the 39th Regiment, then resident at 
 Wicklow, the latter informed him that, having upon one 
 occasion gone to the coast with his servant in attendance on 
 him, the latter asked permission to cease continuing on with 
 the captain in order that he might bathe. Having received 
 permission, he proceeded to do so, and swam out beyond 
 the edge of the shallow water into the deep. A coastguards- 
 man, who was watching him from the cliff above, was hor- 
 rified to see something like a huge fish pursuing the man 
 after he had turned round towards the shore. He was afraid 
 to call out lest the man should be perplexed. The man, 
 
 statements of old travellers regarding these serpents are quite accurate. 
 The serpents are not seen excepting during the south-west monsoon 
 the season in which alone voyages used to be made to India. In Hors- 
 burgh's Sailing Directions, shipmasters are warned to look out for the 
 serpents, whose presence is a sign that the ship is close to land. Captain 
 Dundas says that the serpents are yellow or copper-coloured. The 
 largest ones are farthest out to sea. They lie on the surface of the 
 water, and appear too lazy even to get out of a steamer's way. 
 
328 MYTHICAL MONSTEKS. 
 
 however, heard some splash or noise behind him, and looked 
 round and saw a large head, like a bull-dog's head, project- 
 ing out of the water as if to seize him. He made a frantic 
 rush shoreways, and striking the shallow ground, clambered 
 out as quickly as possible, but broke one of his toes from the 
 violence with which he struck the ground. This story was 
 confirmed by a Mr. Burbidge, a farmer, who stated that on 
 one occasion when he himself was bathing within a mile or 
 so of the same spot, the water commenced swirling around 
 him, and that, being alarmed, he swam rapidly in, and was 
 pursued by something perfectly corresponding with that 
 described by the other narrator, and which he supposed to 
 be a large conger eel. In each case the length was estimated 
 at twenty feet. Mr. Gosse gives the greatest length recorded 
 at ten feet. 
 
 Were we only acquainted with a small and certain 
 proportion of the sea-serpent stories, we might readily 
 imagine that they had been originated by a sight of 
 some monstrous conger, but there are details exhibited 
 by them, taken as a whole, which forbid that idea. We 
 must therefore search elsewhere for the affinities of the sea- 
 serpent. 
 
 And first as to those authorities who believe and who dis- 
 believe in its existence. 
 
 Professor Owen, in 1848, attacked the Dcedalus story in 
 a very masterly manner, and extended his arguments so as 
 to embrace the general non -probability of other stories which 
 had previously affirmed it. He was, in fact, its main scien- 
 tific opponent. 
 
 Sir Charles Lyell, upon the other hand, was, I believe, 
 persuaded of its existence from the numerous accounts which 
 he accumulated on the occasion of his second visit to 
 America, especially evidence procured for him by Mr. J. W. 
 Dawson, of Pictou, as to one seen, in 1844, at Arisaig, 
 near the north-east end of Nova Scotia, and as to 
 
THE SEA-8EEPENT. 329 
 
 another, in August 1845, at Merigomish, in the Gulf of 
 St. Lawrence. 
 
 Agassiz also gave in his adhesion to it. " I have asked 
 myself, in connection with this subject, whether there is not 
 such an animal as the sea-serpent. There are many who 
 will doubt the existence of such a creature until it can be 
 brought under the dissecting knife ; but it has been seen by 
 so many on whom we may rely, that it is wrong to doubt 
 any longer. The truth is, however, that if a naturalist had 
 to sketch the outlines of an icthyosaurus or plesiosaurus 
 from the remains we have of them, he would make a drawing 
 very similar to the sea-serpent as it has been described. 
 There is reason to think that the parts are soft and perish- 
 able, but I still consider it probable that it will be the good 
 fortune of some person on the coast of Norway or North 
 America to find a living representative of this type of reptile, 
 which is thought to have died out." 
 
 Mr. Z. Newman was the first scientific man to absolutely 
 affirm his belief in its existence, and to indicate its probable 
 zoological affinities ; and he was ably followed by Mr. Gosse, 
 who, in the charming work* already frequently quoted, ex- 
 haustively discusses the whole question. 
 
 Mr. Gosse, however, to my mind, forgoes a great 
 portion of the advantage of his argument by a too 
 limited acceptance of authorities, and leaves untouched, as 
 have all who preceded him, the question of the breathing 
 apparatus of the creature, and also omits insisting, as he 
 might well have done, on the remarkable coincidence of 
 the seasons and climatic conditions at and under which 
 the creature ordinarily exhibits itself, which may be 
 quoted first as an argument in favour of the reality of 
 the different stories, and, secondly, as affording indica- 
 
 * The Romance of Natural History, P. H. Gosse, F.R.S., First Series, 
 London, 1880, 12th edition ; Second Series, 1875, 5th edition. 
 
330 MYTHICAL MONSTEUS. 
 
 tions of the nature and habits of the creature to which they 
 relate. 
 
 Both Mr. Newman and Mr. Gosse, moreover, laboured 
 under the disadvantage of being unacquainted with some of 
 the later stories, such as that of the Nestor sea-serpent seen 
 in the Straits of Malacca, which appears to amply substan- 
 tiate 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 has appeared in the deep fjords of Norway or 
 in the bays of other coasts, the date of its appearance has 
 been some time during the months of July and August, and 
 the weather calm and hot. These last summer conditions, in 
 high latitudes, do not obtain for long together, so that the 
 auspices favourable to the appearance of the creature would 
 probably not exist for more than a few weeks in each 
 season, and during the remainder of the year it would rest 
 secluded in the depths of the fjords, presuming those to be 
 its permanent habitation, or in some oceanic home, if, as 
 would seem more likely to be the case, its appearance in 
 the bays and fjords was simply due to a temporary visit, 
 made possibly in connection with its reproduction; for, 
 were its habitation in the fjords constant, we should expect 
 it to make its appearance annually, instead of at irregular 
 and distant intervals. 
 
 We must also infer that it is a non-air-breathing creature. 
 
 Professor Owen, in his very able discussion of the Dcedalus 
 story, bases his main argument against the serpentine 
 character of the creature seen in this and other instances on 
 there being either no undulation at all of the body, or a ver- 
 tical one, which is not a characteristic of serpents, and on 
 the fact of no remains having ever been discovered washed 
 up on the Norway coasts. He says : 
 
 " Now, a serpent, being an air-breathing animal, with long 
 vesicular and receptacular lungs, dives with an effort, and 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 381 
 
 commonly floats when dead, and so would the sea-serpent, 
 until decomposition or accident had opened the tough integu- 
 ment and let out the imprisoned gases During life 
 
 the exigencies of the respiration of the great sea-serpent 
 would always compel him frequently to the surface ; and, 
 when dead and swollen, it would 
 
 Prone on the flood, extended long and large, 
 Lie floating many a rood. 
 
 Such a spectacle, demonstrative of the species if it existed, 
 has not hitherto met the gaze of any of the countless voyagers 
 who have traversed the 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 the ground, and I may at once 
 state that a review of the whole of the reported cases of its 
 appearance entirely favours the first assumption, while a little 
 reflection will show the necessity of the latter. No air- 
 breathing creature, or rather a creature furnished with lungs, 
 could possibly exist, even for a season only, in the inland bays 
 of populous countries like Norway and Scotland without con- 
 tinually exposing itself to observation ; but this is not the 
 case. Whereas there is no difficulty in conceiving that a 
 creature adapted to live in the depths of the ocean could 
 breathe readily enough at the surface, even for considerable 
 periods ; for we know that fish of many kinds, and notably 
 carp, can retain life for days, and even weeks, when removed 
 from the water, provided they happen to be in a moist 
 situation. 
 
 Again, a power of constriction, a characteristic of boas and 
 pythons, and therefore implying an alliance with them, is not 
 necessarily indicated, as might be supposed, even by the 
 action affirmed in Captain Drevar's story ; for a creature of 
 serpentine form, attacking another, might coil itself round 
 for the mere purpose of maintaining a hold while it tore its 
 
332 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 victim open with its powerful jaws and teeth. This action is 
 simply that of an eel 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 the monster gorged its victim after the fashion 
 of a land-serpent. It may as readily 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 find its prey 
 among large creatures, such as seals, porpoises, and the 
 smaller cetacese. 
 
 That the sea-serpent was formerly more frequently seen 
 on the Norwegian coasts than now I consider probable, as 
 also that its visits were connected with its breeding season, 
 and discontinued in consequence of the greater number and 
 larger size of vessels, and especially of the introduction of 
 steam. As a parallel instance, I may mention that, in the 
 early days of the settlement of Australia, sperm whales 
 resorted to the harbours along its coasts for calving pur- 
 poses, and were sufficiently numerous to cause the mainte- 
 nance of what were called " bay whaling stations " at Hobart 
 Town, Spring Bay, and many other harbours of Tasmania 
 and South Australia. At the present time, the sperm whale 
 rarely approaches within ten miles of the coast, and the small 
 whaling fleet finds scanty occupation in the ocean extending 
 south from the great Australian bight to the south cape 
 of Tasmania. Mr. Gosse eliminates from his concluding 
 analysis of sea-serpent stories all those recorded by Norwe- 
 gian and American observers, and argues only upon a selected 
 number resting on British evidence. 
 
 By this contraction he loses as a basis of argument a 
 number of accounts which I consider as credible as those he 
 quotes, and from which positive deductions might be drawn, 
 more weighty than those of similar, but merely inferential, 
 character which he employs. 
 
 The account of the monster seen by Hans Egede, for 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 333 
 
 example, where the creature exhibited itself more completely 
 than it did in any of the instances selected by Mr. Gosse, 
 specifically indicated the possession of paws, flippers, fins or 
 paddles, while this can only be surmised at, in the latter 
 cases to which I refer, from the progressive steady motion of 
 the creature, with the head and neck elevated above the 
 surface, and apparently unaffected by any undulatory motion 
 of the body. This at once removes it from the serpent class, 
 without any necessity for the additional confirmation which 
 the enlarged proportions of the body in comparison 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 the Zoologist, exhibit characters 
 which confirm Egede's story. In the latter instance, 
 " Captain the Hon. George Hope states that, when in 
 H.M.S. Fty, in the Gulf of California, the sea being perfectly 
 calm and transparent, he saw at the moment a large marine 
 animal, with the head and general figure of an alligator, 
 except that the neck was much longer, and that instead of 
 legs the creature had four large flappers, somewhat like those 
 of turtles, the anterior pair being larger than those of the 
 posterior. The creature was distinctly visible, and all its 
 movements could be observed with ease. It appeared to be 
 pursuing its prey at the bottom of the sea. Its movements 
 were somewhat serpentine, and an appearance of annulations 
 or ring-like divisions of the body were distinctly perceptible." 
 Mr. Gosse, commenting on this story, says : " Now, unless 
 this officer was egregiously deceived, he saw an animal which 
 could have been no other than an Enaliosaur, a marine reptile 
 of large size, of sauroid figure, with turtle-like paddles." 
 
 In the former case the creature was far more gigantic and 
 robust, in contradistinction to the slender and serpentine 
 form more usually observed, and we must consequently infer 
 that there is not merely one but several distinct species of 
 
334 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 marine monster, unknown and rarely exhibiting themselves, 
 belonging to different genera, and perhaps orders, but all 
 popularly 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 elaborated the argu- 
 ment that one of the old Enaliosaurs exists to the present 
 day. This form, Palaeontology tells us, commenced in the 
 Carboniferous, attained its maximum specific development in 
 the Jurassic, and continued to the close of the Cretaceous 
 periods. This rational suggestion is supported by the colla- 
 teral argument that some few Ganoid fishes and species of 
 Terebratula, have continuously existed to t the present time ; 
 that certain Placoid fishes, of which we have no trace, and 
 which consequently must have been very scarce during Ter- 
 tiary periods, reappear abundantly as recent species ; that the 
 Iguanodon is represented by the Iguana of the American 
 tropics, and that the Trionychidae, or river tortoises, which 
 commenced during the Wealden, and disappeared from 
 thence until the present period, are now abundantly repre- 
 sented in the rivers of the Old and the New World. 
 
 The points of resemblance between the northern and most 
 often seen form of the sea-serpent and certain genera of the 
 Enaliosaurs, such as Plesiosaurus, are a long swan -like 
 neck, a flattened lizard-like head and progress by means of 
 paddles. A difficulty in this connection arises, however, in 
 respect to the breathing apparatus. Palaeontologists favour 
 the idea that the Plesiosaurus and its allies were air-breathing 
 creatures with long necks, adapted to habitual projection 
 above the surface. Such a construction and habit is, as I 
 have before said, to my mind, impossible in 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 
 in regard to the old forms that I have mentioned. May 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 335 
 
 there not be some large marine form combining some of the 
 characters of the salamander and the saurians ; may not the 
 pigmy newt of Europe, the large salamander tenanting the 
 depths of Lake Biwa in Japan, and the famous fossil form, 
 the Homo Diluvii Testis of Sheuzberg, have a marine cousin 
 linking them with the gigantic forms which battled in the 
 Oolitic seas ? May not the tuft of loose skin or scroll en- 
 circling its head have some connection with a branchial 
 apparatus analagous to that of the Amphibia ; and was not 
 the large fringe round the neck, like a beard, noticed on 
 the one seen by Captain Anderson when in the Delta in 
 1861, of a similar nature ? 
 
 In conclusion, I must strongly express my own convic- 
 tion, which I hope, after the perusal of the evidence contained 
 in the foregoing pages, will be shared by my readers, that, 
 let the relations of the sea-serpent be what they may ; let 
 it be serpent, saurian, or fish, or some form intermediate 
 to them ; and even granting that those relations may never 
 be determined, or only at some very distant date ; yet, never- 
 theless, the creature must now be removed from the regions 
 of myth, and credited with having a real existence, and that 
 its name includes not one. only, but probably several very 
 distinct gigantic species, allied 'more or less closely, and 
 constructed to dwell in the depths of the ocean, and which 
 only occasionally exhibit themselves to a fortune-favoured 
 wonder-gazing crew. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 It is with great pleasure that I add the following testimony of a belief 
 in the existence of the sea-serpent, from a country which has not 
 hitherto been supposed to have any traditions relating to it. My 
 inquiries in Burmah, as to a belief among its inhabitants in sundry 
 so-called mythical beings, led me unexpectedly on the track of the fol- 
 lowing information, for which I am indebted to the scholarship and 
 
336 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 courtesy of F. Ripley, Esq., Government Translator in the Secretariat 
 Department, Rangoon. 
 
 EXTRACT from the Kavilakhana depane, pp. 132-133. 
 
 [Author Mingyi Thiri Mahazeyathu, the Myaunghla Myoza, Nanig- 
 ngan-gya Wundauk, or Sub-Minister for Foreign Affairs to His 
 Majesty the late King of Burmah.] 
 
 " The creature Nyan is called in the Magadha language Tanti-gdha, 
 in the Bengali Gara ; in the Sakkata, Grdha or Avagrdh ; and in the 
 Burmese, Nyan. 
 
 11 Hence are to be found the following passages, viz. : 
 
 " ' Tanti-gdha The creature Nyan, of the immense length of one 
 or two hundred fathoms,' in "the Shri Sariputtara Apadan. 
 
 " ' Graho or Avagraho a predatory monster, in shape like an 
 earthworm,' in the Amarakosha Abhidhan ; 
 
 and 
 
 " ' Dvagar samudda maha nady sanga mela tdkd yazantu vigera 
 itichate,' in the commentary of the Amarakosha Abhidhan. 
 
 " From these works, which contain definitions of two words designa- 
 tive of the creature Nyan, it will be gathered that there does exist a 
 predatory monster in the form of an earthworm, which inhabits estuaries 
 and the mouths of great rivers. 
 
 " Regarding the predatory instincts of this creature, it should be 
 understood that it attacks even such animals as elephants. Hence the 
 Dhammathats, in dealing with the decision of cases of hire of live-stock, 
 wishing to point out that no fault lies through losses owing to natural 
 accidents, make the following remarks : 
 
 " * There shall be no fault held if oxen die by reason of a snake gliding 
 under them.' 
 
 *' ' There shall be no fault held, if buffaloes die by reason of a dove 
 resting on their horns.' 
 
 " * There shall be no fault held if oxen and buffaloes die of their having 
 eaten a grasshopper.' 
 
 " ' There shall be no fault held if elephants die by reason of their 
 having been encoiled in the folds of a Nyan.' 
 
 " * There shall be no fault held if horses die by reason of their having 
 been sucked by bilas.' 
 
 " The Poetical Version of the Pokinnaka Dhammathat, which is a com- 
 pilation of several Dhammathats, in the same strain, says : 
 [Here follows a verse, the same in effect as the above.] 
 
 " From such passages it will be seen that there is a frightful monster 
 of extraordinary strength, which is capable of capturing even such 
 animals as elephants," 
 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 337 
 
 " In the form of oath of fealty administered by successive kings to 
 their feudatories and vassals, the following imprecation is to be 
 found : 
 
 " ' May I die through being seized by alligators and Nyans.' " 
 
 [Here follows an explanatory note respecting the four species of 
 danger to be found in the ocean.] 
 
 " In the reign of King Alaung-mindara-gye, the founder of the city 
 of Eatana Singha when he went on an expedition against Ayudhara or 
 Yodhaya (Siam) and was crossing the Martaban river, he lost some two 
 or three elephants, which were destroyed as soon as they had entered 
 the water. The King ascertained from the lower country inhabitants 
 that they had been captured and bitten by the creature Nyan. Two or 
 three elephants were similarly lost in Ava, when it was also ascertained 
 that they had been captured by the Nyan. There goes a saying that 
 the Nyan is some one to two hundred fathoms long. The form of oath 
 of fealty contains an imprecation in which the Nyan is to fulfil a part. 
 And there are writings which make mention of its existence." 
 
 22 
 
338 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 THE UNICORN. 
 
 A BELIEF in the unicorn, like that in the dragon, appears to 
 have obtained among both Eastern and Western authors, at 
 a very early period. In this case, however, it has survived 
 the revulsion from a fatuous confidence in the fables and 
 concocted specimens of the Middle Ages, and even now the 
 existence or non-existence of this remarkable animal remains 
 a debateable question. 
 
 Until within a late period occasional correspondents of the 
 South African journals continued to assert its existence, 
 basing their communications on the reports of hunters from 
 the interior, while but a few hundred years since travellers 
 spoke of actually seeing it or of passing through countries in 
 which its existence was absolutely affirmed to them. Horns, 
 generally those of the narwhal, but occasionally of one species 
 of rhinoceros, were brought home and deposited in museums 
 as those of the veritable unicorn, or sold, under the same 
 pretext, for large sums, on account of their reputed valuable 
 medicinal properties.* The animal is variously described as 
 resembling a horse or some kind of deer ; this description 
 
 * " At length, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they were 
 thrown open for examination by the desire which then existed in 
 Germany to possess the ebur fossile, or * unicorn's horn/ a supposed 
 infallible specific for the cure of many diseases. The unicorn horn was 
 to be found in the caves, and the search for it revealed the remains of 
 lions, hyaenas, elephants, and many other tropical and strange animals." 
 Pop. Sci. Monthly, No. 32. 
 
THE UNICORN. 839 
 
 may possibly refer to some animal of a type intermediate to 
 them, now almost, if not quite, extinct. In some instances it 
 is supposed that a species of rhinoceros is indicated. 
 
 There has been much discussion as to the identity of the 
 animal referred to in many passages of the Bible, the Hebrew 
 name of which, Reem, has been translated " unicorn." Mr. 
 W. Smith considers that a species of rhinoceros could not 
 have been indicated, as it is spoken of in one passage as a 
 sacrificial animal, whereas the ceremonial ritual of the Jews 
 forbade the use of any animal not possessing the double 
 qualifications of chewing the cud and being cloven-footed. 
 The qualities attributed to it are great strength, an indomit- 
 able disposition, fierce nature, and an active and playful dis- 
 position when young. He considers that the passage, Deut. 
 xxxiii. 17, should be rendered " his horns are like the horns 
 of a unicorn," and not, as it is given, " horns of unicorns " ; 
 and is of opinion that some species of wild ox is intended. 
 
 Among profane Western authors we first find the unicorn 
 referred to by Ctesias, who describes it as having one horn, 
 a cubit long. Herodotus also mentions it in the passage,* 
 " For the eastern side of Libya, where the wanderers dwell, 
 is low and sandy, as far as the river Triton ; but westward 
 of that, the land of the husbandmen is very hilly and abounds 
 with forests and wild beasts, for this is the tract in which 
 the huge serpents 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 the horned 
 sort, but of a kind which does not need to drink/' 
 
 Aristotle f mentions two unicorn animals. " There are 
 only a few [animals] that have a solid hoof and one horn, 
 as the Indian ass and the oryx." 
 
 * Book iv. ch. cxci. and cxcii. 
 f Book ii. ch. ii. 8. 
 
 22 * 
 
340 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Pliny* tells us that the Orsaean Indians hunt down a very 
 fierce animal called the monoceros, which has the head of 
 the stag, the feet of the elephant, and the tail of the boar, 
 while the rest of the body is like that of the horse. It makes 
 a deep lowing noise, and has a single black horn, projecting 
 from the middle of its forehead, and two cubits in length. 
 This animal, it is said, cannot be taken alive. In speaking 
 of the Indian ass, he says,t " the Indian ass is only a one- 
 horned animal " ; and of the oryx of Africa, J "the oryx is 
 both one-horned and cloven -footed. " 
 
 ,ZElian transfers the locality back again from Africa to 
 Asia, and it may be presumed, in the following quotation, 
 that he indicates the country north of the Himalaya, Thibet, 
 and Tartary, which still has the reputation of being one of 
 the homes of the unicorn. 
 
 " They say that there are mountains in the innermost 
 regions of India inaccessible to men, and full of wild beasts ; 
 where those creatures which with us are domesticated, 
 such as sheep, dogs, goats, and cattle, range about at their 
 own free will, free from any charge by a shepherd or herds- 
 man. 
 
 " Both historians, and the more learned of the Indians, 
 among whom the Brahmins may be specified, declare that 
 there is a countless number of these beasts. Among them 
 they enumerate the unicorn, which they call cartazonon, and 
 say that it reaches the size of a horse of mature age, pos- 
 sesses a mane and reddish yellow hair, and that it excels in 
 swiftness through the excellence of its feet and of its whole 
 body. Like the elephant, it has inarticulate feet, and it has 
 a boar's tail ; one black horn projects between the eyebrows, 
 
 * Book viii. ch. xxxii. 
 
 f Book xi. ch. cvi. 
 
 { Ibid. 
 
 Julian, De Naturd Animalium, Book xvi. ch f xx, 
 
THE UNICORN. 341 
 
 not awkwardly, but with a certain natural twist, and termi- 
 nating in a sharp point. 
 
 " It has, of all animals, the harshest and most contentious 
 voice. It is said to be gentle to other beasts approaching it, 
 but to fight with its fellows. Not only are the males at 
 variance in natural contention amongst themselves, but they 
 also fight with the females, and carry their combats to the 
 length of killing the conquered ; for not only are their 
 bodies generally indued with great strength, but also they 
 are armed with an invincible horn. It frequents desert 
 regions and wanders alone and solitary. In the breeding 
 season it is of gentle demeanour towards the female, and 
 they feed together; when this has passed and the female 
 has become gravid, it again becomes fierce and wanders 
 alone. 
 
 " They say that the young, while still of tender age, are 
 carried to the King of the Prasians for exhibition of their 
 strength, and exposed in combats on festivals ; for no one 
 remembers them to have been captured of mature age." 
 
 Csesar* records the reputed existence in his day, within 
 the bounds of the great Hercynian Forest, of a bull, shaped 
 like a stag, with one horn projecting from the middle of its 
 forehead and between the ears. 
 
 CosmaSjt surnamed Indicopleustes, a merchant of Alex- 
 andria, who lived in the sixth century, and made a voyage to 
 India, and subsequently wrote works on cosmography, gives 
 a figure of the unicorn, not, as he says, from actual sight of 
 it, but reproduced from four figures of it in brass contained 
 in the palace of the King of Ethiopia. He states, from 
 report, that "it is impossible to take this ferocious beast 
 alive ; and that all its strength lies in its horn. When it 
 finds itself pursued and in danger of capture, it throws 
 
 * De Bello Gallico, ch. ii. p. 26. 
 
 t Vide Chartoii's Voyageurs du Moyen Ages, vol. ii. p. 25. 
 
342 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 itself from a precipice, and turns so aptly in falling, that it 
 receives all the shock upon the horn, and so escapes safe 
 and sound." It is noteworthy that this mode of escape is 
 attributed, at the present day, to both the musk ox and the 
 Ovis Ammon. 
 
 Marco Polo may or may not indicate a rhinoceros in the 
 passage, " Apres avoir descendu ces deux journees et demie, 
 on trouve une province au midi qui est sur les confins de 
 Flnde, on Pappelle Amien on marche quinze journees par 
 des lieux desertes et par de grands bois ou il y a beaucoup 
 d'elephants et de licornes et d'autres betes sauvages. II n'y 
 a ni hommes ni habitations aussi, nous laisserons ce lieu." 
 
 But no such inference can be attached to the descriptions 
 of the Ethiopian unicorn by Leo and Ludolphus. 
 
 The first says :* 
 
 " The unicorn is found in the mountains of high Ethiopia. 
 It is of an ash colour and resembles a colt of two years old, 
 excepting that it has the head 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 along from 
 top to bottom. 
 
 " This horn is an antidote against poison, and it is 
 reported that other animals delay drinking till it has soaked 
 .its horn in the water to purify it. This animal is so nimble 
 that it can neither be killed nor taken. But it casts its horn 
 like a stag, and the hunters find it in the deserts. But the 
 truth of this is called in question by some authors/* 
 
 Ludolphusf says : 
 
 " Here is also another beast, called arucharis, with one 
 horn, fierce and strong, of which unicorn several have been 
 seen feeding in the woods." 
 
 * Harris' Voyages, vol. i. p. 362 ; " Africa," by John Leo. 
 f Pinkerton's Voyages, vol. i. p. 392 ; " Ethiopia," by Jobus Ludol- 
 phus. 
 
THE UNICORN. 343 
 
 Coming down to later days we find the unicorn described 
 by Lewes Vertomannus* he who, having visited, among 
 other places, the site of the legend of St. George and the 
 Dragon, f and undergone a variety of adventures, visits, in 
 the course of them, the temple of Mecca, and, as follows, 
 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 are seen two unicorns, named of the Greeks 
 monocerotse, and are there showed to the people for a miracle, 
 and not without good reason, for the seldomness and 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 forehead groweth only one horn, in manner 
 right foorth, of the length of three cubits. The other is 
 much younger, of the age of one year, and like a young 
 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 the head like a hart, but no long neck, a thynne 
 mane hanging only on the one side. Their leggs are thin 
 and slender like a fawn or hind. The hoofs of the fore-feet 
 are divided in two, much like the feet of a goat. The outer 
 part of the hinder feet is very full of hair. 
 
 " This beast doubtless seemeth wild and fierce, yet tem- 
 pereth that fierceness with a certain comeliness. 
 
 " These unicorns one gave to the Sultan of Mecha as a most 
 precious and rare gift. They were sent him out of Ethiope 
 by a king of that country who desired by that present to 
 gratify the Sultan of Mecha." 
 
 Visiting the interior of Arabia from Aden, and afterwards 
 
 * The Navigation and Voyage of Lewes Vertomannus, of Rome, into 
 Arabia, Egypt, &c., in 1503, contained in " The History of Travayle in the 
 East and West Indies" done into English by Richard Eden. London, 
 1577. 
 
 f Berynto, a city on the seacoast of Syria, Phoenicia. 
 
344 , MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 starting for Persia, Vertomannus was driven back by a 
 contrary wind to Zeila (in Africa), which he describes as 
 being an important city with much merchandise when again 
 he says, " I saw there also certain kyne, having only one 
 horn in the middle of the forehead, as hath the unicorn, and 
 about a span in length, but the horn bendeth backwards. 
 They are of bright shining red colour." 
 
 In an account of the travels of Johann Grueber, Jesuit 
 (about 1661), contained in Astley's collection of voyages, we 
 find: 
 
 " Sining* is a great and populous city, built at the vast 
 wall of China, through the gate of which the merchants from 
 India enter Katay or China. There are stairs to go a-top of 
 the wall, and many travel on it from 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 the innu- 
 merable habitations on one side, and the various wild beasts 
 which range the desert on the other side. 
 
 " Besides wild bulls, here are tigers, lions, elephants, 
 rhinoceroses, and monoceroses, which are a kind of horned 
 asses. 
 
 " Thus the merchants view the beasts free from danger, 
 especially from that part of the wall which, running southward, 
 approaches Quang-si, Yunnan, and Tibet; for at certain times 
 of the year they betake themselves to the Yellow Eiver, an<7 
 parts near the wall which abound with thickets, in order to 
 get pasture and seek their prey." 
 
 Father Jerome Lobo, a Portuguese Jesuit, who embarked 
 for Abyssinia in the year 1622,t states that 
 
 " In the province of Agaus has been seen the unicorn ; 
 that beast so much talked of and so little known. The 
 prodigious swiftness with which the creature runs from one 
 
 * Sining is on the western frontier of Kansuh, towards Kokonor, 
 f Pinkerton's Voyages, vol. xv. p. 23 - 
 
THE UNICORN. 345 
 
 wood into another has given me no opportunity of examin- 
 ing it particularly ; yet I have had so near a sight of it as 
 to be able to give some description of it. 
 
 " The shape is the same with that of a beautiful horse, 
 exact and nicely proportioned, of a bay colour, with a black 
 tail, which in some provinces is 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 
 beasts that defend them. 
 
 " Deer and other defenceless animals often herd about the 
 elephant, which, contenting himself with roots and leaves, 
 preserves the beasts that place themselves, as it were, under 
 his protection, from the others that would devour them." 
 
 There is a somewhat doubtful story contained in the 
 Narrative of a Journey from St. Petersburg, in Russia, to Peking, 
 in China, in 1719,* to the effect that between Tobolsky and 
 Tomski 
 
 " Our baggage having waited at Tara till our arrival, we 
 left that place on the 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 to the river Oby. 
 .... One of these hunters told me the following story, 
 which was confirmed by several of his neighbours, that in the 
 year 1713, in the month of March, being out a-hunting, he 
 discovered the track of a stag, which he pursued. At over- 
 taking the animal he was somewhat startled on observing it 
 had only one horn, stuck in the middle of its forehead. 
 Being near this village, he drove it home, and showed it, to 
 the great admiration 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 
 
 * Pinkerton's Voyages, vol. vii. p. 333. 
 
346 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 unicorn, as I shall call it, and was told that it exactly 
 resembled a stag. 
 
 " The horn was of a hrownish colour, about one archaeon 
 or twenty-eight inches long, and twisted from the root till 
 within a finger's length of the tip, where it was divided, like 
 a fork, into two points, very sharp." 
 
 One of the most trustworthy of observers, the Abbe Hue, 
 speaks very positively on the subject of the unicorn.* He 
 says : " The unicorn really exists in Thibet. . . . We had 
 for a long time a small Mongol Treatise on Natural History, 
 for the use of children, in which a unicorn formed one of the 
 pictorial illustrations. . . . The Chinese Itinerary says, on 
 the subject of the lake you see before your arrival at Atzder 
 (going from east to west), ' The unicorn, a very curious 
 animal, is found in the vicinity of this lake, which is forty li 
 long/ " 
 
 The unicorn is known in Thibet by the name of serou ; in 
 Mongolia, by that of here ; while in a Thibetan manuscript 
 examined by the late Major Lattre, it is called the one-horned 
 tsopo. 
 
 Mr. Hazlitt, in his notes appended to the statement by 
 Hue as to the unicorn, states that Mr. Hodgson, of Nepaul, 
 sent to Calcutta the skin and horn of a unicorn that died in 
 the menagerie of the Kajah of Nepaul. 
 
 It was described as being very fierce, and abundant in the 
 plains of Tingri, in the southern part of the Thibetan province 
 of Tsang, watered by the Arroun ; it assembled round salt 
 beds. The form is graceful, colour reddish, two tufts of hair 
 project from the exterior of each nostril, and there is much 
 down round the hair and mouth. The hair is rough and 
 seems hollow. Doctor Able designated it Antelope Hodgsonii. 
 
 Baron von Miiller described,! through the medium of M. 
 
 * Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China. Hue and Gabet. Trans- 
 lated by W. Hazlitt, vol. ii. p. 245. 
 f Gosse, Romance of Natural History. 
 
THE UNICOHN. 347 
 
 Antoine d'Abbadie, a unicorn animal which he had received 
 when at Melpes in Kordofan : 
 
 " I met, on the 17th of April 1848, a man who was in the 
 habit of selling to me specimens of animals. One day he 
 asked me if I wished also for an a'nasa, which he described 
 thus : ' It is the size of a small donkey, has a thick body and 
 thin bones, coarse hair, and tail like a boar. It has a long 
 horn on its forehead, and lets it hang when alone, but erects 
 it immediately on seeing an enemy. It is a formidable 
 weapon, but I do not know its exact length. The anasa is 
 found not far from here (Melpes), towards the south-south- 
 west. I have seen it often in the wild grounds, where the 
 negroes kill it, and carry it home to make shields from its 
 skin.' N.B. This man was well acquainted with the rhino- 
 ceros, which he distinguished, under the name of fetit, from 
 the anasa. 
 
 te On June the 14th I was at Kursi, also in Kordofan, and 
 met there a slave merchant who was not acquainted with 
 my first informer, and gave me spontaneously the same 
 description of the a'nasa, adding that he had killed and eaten 
 one long ago, and that its flesh was well flavoured." 
 
 This creature is mentioned by Kupell, under the name of 
 Niltekma or Arase, as indigenous to Kordofan, and, by 
 Cavassi, as known in Congo under that of Abada. 
 
 Mr. Freeman, in the South African Christian Recorder 
 (vol. i.), gives the native account of an animal not uncommon 
 in Makooa, and called the Ndzoodzoo, described as being 
 about the size of a horse, extremely fleet and strong, with a 
 single horn from two feet to two and a half feet in length, 
 projecting from its forehead, which is said to be flexible 
 when the animal is asleep, and capable of being curled up at 
 pleasure, but becoming stiff and hard under the excitement of 
 rage. It is extremely fierce, and invariably attacks a man 
 when it discerns him. The female is without a horn. 
 
 Our latest information as to this species comes from Pre- 
 
348 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 jevalski,* who, speaking of it as the orongo, says that it has 
 elegant black horns standing vertically above the head ; the 
 back is dun-coloured ; the middle of the breast, stomach, and 
 rump, white ; seen at a distance it appears white ; it is very 
 numerous in Northern Thibet. He adds : " Another preva- 
 lent superstition is that the orongo has only one horn growing 
 vertically from the centre of the head. In Kansu and Kokonor 
 we were told that unicorns were rare, one or two in a thou- 
 sand. The Mongols in Tsaidan deny it, but say it may be 
 so in south-west Thibet." 
 
 Turning to the Chinese classics and books of antiquity, we 
 find references, sometimes vague and mythical, sometimes 
 exact, to several distinct unicorn animals. These may be 
 enumerated as : 
 
 f 1. The Ki-Lin, represented in Japan by the Kirin. 
 
 2. The King. 
 
 3. The Kioh Twan. 
 
 4. The Poh. 
 
 5. The Hiai Chai. 
 
 6. The Too Jon Sheu. 
 
 Besides these there are clear descriptions of the rhinoceros, 
 which cannot in any way be confounded with the above. The 
 only one of these popularly familiar is the Ki-Lin, the history 
 of which is interwoven with that of remote ages. The first 
 mention of it is made in the Bamboo Books only in that 
 part, however, of them which is apparently a commentary, 
 note, or subsequent addition, though some authorities hold 
 it to be a portion of the 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 an upright monarch, and Confucius considered that 
 
 * Prejevalski's Mongolia, vol. ii. p. 207 ; London, 1876. 
 f See 'Rh Ta and Yuen Keen Luy Han, vol. ccccxxix. p. L 
 
THE UNICORN. 
 
 349 
 
 the appearance of one during his epoch was a bad omen, as 
 it did not harmonise with the troubled state of the times. 
 The name Ki-Lin is a generic or dual word, composed of 
 those of the Ki and the Lin, the respective male and female 
 of the creature. 
 
 FIG. 70. THE Ki-Lra. (After a modern Chinese painting.) 
 
 This peculiar species of word formation is adopted in 
 other instances in reference to birds and animals ; thus we 
 have the male Fung and the female Hwang united in the 
 Fung Hwang, or so-called Chinese phoenix, and the Yuen 
 and Yang in the Yuen Yang, or mandarin duck. 
 
 Sometimes the word Lin alone is used with the same 
 generic meaning. 
 
 The 'Rh Ya, in the original text, defines the Lin as having 
 a Kiun's body (the Kiun is a kind of muntjack or deer), an 
 ox's tail, and one horn. The commentary states that the 
 
350 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 tip of the horn is fleshy, and that the King Yang chapter of 
 the " Spring and Autumn Annals " of Confucius defines it as 
 a horned Kiun. 
 
 FIG. 80. THE LIN (FEMALE OF THE" CHINESE UNICORN). (From the'Rh Ya.) 
 
 The preface to the Shi Shu quotes Li Shin to the effect 
 that the Lin is an auspicious and perfect beast. 
 
 Sun Yen says it is a spiritual beast. The Shwoh Wan says 
 
THE UNICORN. 351 
 
 the Lin is the female of the K'i and the K'i is a beast 
 endowed with goodness, possessing a Kiun's body, an ox's 
 tail, and one horn. According to the Shwoh Wan, the Lin 
 may be considered as a large female deer. Now the Shu King 
 considers that many of these beasts are comprised under the 
 Ki-Lin, only the 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 is truthful, and reducible to rule. 
 
 The Li Yuen says : "If the unicorn can once be tamed, 
 then the other beasts will not show terror." 
 
 Ta Tai, in the Li Ki, quoting the Yih [King], says there 
 are 360 kinds of hairy creatures, and the Ki-Lin is the chief 
 of them. 
 
 The Li Ki, commenting on the King Fang I Chw'en, 
 says : " The Lin has a Kiun's body, an ox's tail, a horse's 
 hoof, and is of five colours. It is twelve feet high." * 
 
 Again, in commenting on Fuh Kien's Ho Chwen, it says : 
 " The Lin springs from the earth's central regions. It is a 
 beast of superior integrity, is attached to its mother, and 
 reducible to rule. The Shu King, quoting Luh Li, says the 
 Lin has a Kiun's body, an ox's tail, a horse's feet, and a 
 yellow colour, round hoofs, and one horn ; the tip of the 
 horn is erect and fleshy. 
 
 " Its call in the middle part thereof is like a monastery bell. 
 Its pace is regular ; it rambles only on selected grounds and 
 after it has examined the locality. It will not live in herds, 
 or be accompanied in its movements. It cannot be beguiled 
 into pitfalls, or captured in snares. When the monarch is 
 virtuous, this beast appears." 
 
 At present there are Lin existing on the frontiers of Ping 
 
 * This height will have to be reduced in accordance with the differ- 
 ence between the magnitude of old and new standards of measurement. 
 
352 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Cheu. Even the large or small Lin are always like deer, so 
 that this species is not the auspicious Ying Lin ; although 
 Tsz Ma Siang Su,* in his odes on the shooting of the Mi 
 and trapping Lin, says that it is. 
 
 The top of the horn being fleshy is a characteristic of the 
 Lin, and Mao Chw'en says that the Lin's horn is an emblem 
 of goodness. Ching Tsien says that the horn has a fleshy 
 termination, indicating the peaceful character of the beast, 
 and that it has no use for it. 
 
 The s( Book of Rites,'' quoting the Kwang Ya, says that 
 on account of its elegant style it takes place, par excellence, 
 among the large-horned beasts ; the existing edition of the 
 Kwang Ya omits this. 
 
 The Kung Yang Chw'en says the Kiun also has horns. 
 
 Kung Ssun Tsz, in the annals of the fourteenth year of 
 the Duke Ngai (State of Lu), says that the Kiun has fleshy 
 horns. 
 
 Kwoh, in his preface, proves the Lin to have a Kiun's 
 body. 
 
 The 'Rh Ya gives the drawing of a unicorn animal called the 
 Ki ; but no reference to the horn is given in the text, which 
 simply describes it as a large Kiun with a yak's tail and 
 dog's feet. 
 
 The Ki is not defined in the 'Rh Ya, and the only infor- 
 mation I have as to it is derived from Williams' dictionary, 
 where it is stated to be " a fabulous auspicious animal, which 
 appears when sages are born ; the male of the Chinese 
 unicorn. It is drawn like a piebald scaly horse, with one 
 horn and a cow's tail, and may have had a living original in 
 some extinct equine animal." But there is a very full 
 account of an animal called the King. It is not impossible 
 that it is identical with the King which, in the usual brief 
 
 * A poet, native of Hang Cheu. 
 
THE UNICORN. 
 
 353 
 
 style of the original text of the 'Rh Ya, is epitomised as a 
 large Biao (a kind of stag), with an ox's tail and one horn; 
 and the several commentaries on it are as follows : 
 
 FIG. 81. THE Ki. 
 
 " In the time of the Emperor Wu, of the Han dynasty, 
 during the worship of heaven and earth at the solstices at 
 Yung, there was captured a unicorn beast like a Piao ; it 
 
 23 
 
354 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 was at that time designated the Lin ; it was, however, a Piao 
 related to the Chang (a kind of deer)." 
 
 The Shwoh Wan says : " The King is a large stag with an 
 
 FIG. 82. THE KI.VG. (From the Rk Ya.} 
 
 ox's tail and one horn." It may be a large form of the 
 Piao. The Wang Hwu Analects say that the Piao is an 
 object of the chase, and that it is as swift as a stag. 
 
THE UNICORN. 355 
 
 Kwan Tsz, in the Ti Yuen volume, says that as there are 
 Mi and Piao and many species of deer, so also the Piao is a 
 species of deer. 
 
 The " Shi Ki," in the book Fung Shen, says that during 
 the worship at the solstices at Yung, there was captured a 
 one-horned beast like a Piao, and that the local authorities 
 assert that as His Majesty was making reverential invoca- 
 tions on the country altar to the Supreme Being, he was 
 recompensed for the sacrifice by a beast which was a 
 unicorn. 
 
 Wu Chao's preface to the Loh Yiu says : " The body is 
 like that of a muntjack, and it has one horn"; while the 
 Spring and Autumn (Annals) allude to this animal in speak- 
 ing of the horned Kiun. 
 
 The inhabitants of Ch'u say the Kiun is a Piao. Kwoh, 
 in his preface, says that the capture made in the time of Wu, 
 of the Han dynasty, was actually a Piao, as demonstrated by 
 the Han books. The Chung Kiun narrative states that in 
 Shang Yung was captured a white Lin bearing one horn, 
 of which the tip was fleshy. At the present day nothing has 
 been heard of a Piao with a fleshyjtip, therefore these must be 
 different beasts. 
 
 Kwoh also says that the Piao is identical with the Chang, 
 and the Chang with 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 Piao is certainly 
 a kind of deer. 
 
 Its meat is eminently savoury. 
 
 Luh Ki says that of all four-footed creatures, the Piao is 
 the most excellent. 
 
 Yeu Shi states in the Kiao Sz annals (" Sacrifices to 
 Heaven and Earth "), that the Piao is a kind of deer. Its 
 body exactly resembles that of the Chang. 
 
 Finally, the explanatory prefaces of many classical works, 
 when commenting on the 'Rh la, say that the Piao is 
 
 23 * 
 
356 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
THE UNICORN. 357 
 
 identical with the Chang and of a black colour ; and they 
 confirm Kwoh's opinion, although the 'Rh Ya forgets to 
 allude to the three characters denoting the black colour. 
 
 It was probably some unicorn animal which is referred to 
 in the General History of China, called the Tong Kien Rang 
 Mu (vide Pere de Mailla's translation), as having been pre- 
 sented to the Emperor Yung Loh of the Ming dynasty, in 
 A.D. 1415, by envoys from Bengal. De Mailla says it was 
 called a Ki-Lin by the Chinese out of flattery. 
 
 Again, the same History says that in the succeeding year 
 the kingdom of Malin sent as tribute a Ki-Lin similar to that 
 from Bengal. 
 
 The Ki-Ein, a Japanese version of the Ki-Lin, is simply 
 borrowed from Chinese sources. It is figured in the illustrated 
 edition of the great Japanese Encyclopaedia Kasira gaki zou 
 vo Sin mou dzu wi tai sei,* and represented, as in the Chinese 
 drawings, as covered with scales ; but it must be noted that 
 nothing in any of the texts of either country warrants this 
 furniture of the body.f 
 
 The same encyclopaedia figures another unicorn beast 
 under the name of the Kai 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 You or divine sheep. 
 It is able to distinguish between right and wrong. When 
 Kau You exercised criminal jurisdiction, he handed over 
 those whose crime was doubtful to the Kai Tsu, and it is said 
 that this animal destroyed the guilty and spared the innocent. 
 
 * Vide the translation into French by L. Serrurier, Leyden, 1875. 
 
 f " The Chinese have a tradition that this animal skips, and is so 
 holy or harmless that it won't even tread upon an insect, and that it is 
 to come in the shape of an incomparable man, a revealer of mysteries, 
 supernatural and divine, and a great lover of all mankind, who is 
 expected to come, about the time of a particular constellation in the 
 heavens, on a special mission for their benefit. The Japanese unicorn 
 answers the description of the animal bearing that name, and supposed 
 to be still extant in Ethiopia, and which is equal to the size of a small 
 
358 
 
 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 This is described in the Chinese work Yuen Kien Lei Han,* 
 under the name of the Hiai Chai, and similar powers of 
 discrimination are there attributed to it. 
 
 FIG. 84. THE Sz, OR MALAYAN RHINOCEROS. (From the 'JRh Ya.) 
 
 horse, reddish in colour, and slender as a gazelle, the male having one 
 horn. The unicorn is the ancient crest of the kings of Israel, and is still 
 retained by the Mikado." Epitome of the Ancient History of Japan, 
 p. 116 ; N. McLeod, Nagasaki, 1875. 
 * Vol. ccccxxx. p. 18. 
 
THE UNICOBX. 359 
 
 A synonym for it was the Chiai Tung. It states that, 
 according to the Si Yang Y Shu, a one-horned spiritual lamb 
 was born in the Ping Shen district, 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 the 
 same subject says that, in ancient times, if parties were at 
 law, the judge brought this animal out, and it would gore 
 at the guilty one. 
 
 The Kioh Twan is yet another unicorn animal described 
 in the Yuen Kien Lei Han* which is said to have the 
 appearance of a deer with the tail of a horse, but to be of a 
 greenish colour, with one horn above the nose, and to be 
 capable of traversing eighteen thousand li in one day. 
 
 The Li Kau Sing Sha Shao says that the Emperor Yuen 
 Ti Su sent his ambassadors to the western part of India, who 
 procured animals several tens of feet in height, f unicorn, 
 like the rhinoceros. The rumour went that these were 
 inauspicious for the Emperor, and they were immediately 
 returned. 
 
 The Poh. 
 
 The Shan Hal King describes an animal as existing among 
 the plains of Mongolia, 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 a drum, devours tigers 
 and leopards, and is capable of being used instead of soldiers ; 
 it is called Poh. 
 
 The 'Bh 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 (?) a magistrate named Chung Wa held office, 
 
 * Vol. ccccxxxii. p. 38. 
 
 f This will have to be reduced by nearly one-half, to equate it with 
 the present measures of length. 
 
360 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 who was very equitable in his rule. His district was invaded 
 by some ferocious animals. Suddenly six of the 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, arrived at a district called Shen Su, where 
 the mountains contained a strange animal, in appearance 
 like a horse, but capable of eating tigers and leopards. 
 The people were unacquainted with it, and asked Leu Chang 
 what it was, who said it was called the Poh, and referred 
 them to the Shan Hai King for a description of it. 
 
 FIG. 85. TARGET IN THE FORM OF A SPHYNX. (From the San Li 
 The arrows were discharged upwards and fell into the cylinder behind the figure. 
 
 Among other remarkable and interesting drawings which 
 have come down from antiquity in the San Li T'u,* or 
 illustrated edition of the three (ceremonial) rituals, are some 
 representing the various targets used by officials of different 
 
 * San Li T'u, vol. viii. p. 3. The San Li T'u is an illustrated, 
 modern, edition by Nieh Tsung I. of the old San Li-, it was written 
 during the reign of the great patron of literature, Kang Hi (A..D. 1661 
 to 1723). 
 
THE UNICORN. 
 
 361 
 
 ranks in the military examinations, in which the arrows had 
 to be lodged by shooting upwards from a distance. These 
 are fashioned in the form of animals, one realising the idea 
 
 FIG. 86. THE Lu TARGET. (From the San Li T'u.) 
 
 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 said to 
 be like an ox with one horn. 
 
 FIG. 87. THE Sz TARGET. (From the San Li TV) 
 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 FIG. 88. THE Too Jou SHBN. (From the Ming Tombs.) 
 
 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 the fore- 
 head. Two pairs of these form a 
 portion of the avenue of stone figures 
 of animals leading up to the Ming 
 tombs, about eighty miles north of 
 Pekin. I have not found it described 
 in any book. 
 
 A writer in the China Review* endea- 
 vours to prove that the Ki-Lin is a 
 reminiscence of the giraffe, which he 
 supposes may once have spread over Asia, and, in addition to 
 various passages included among those which I have quoted 
 above, adduces one from the Wu Tsah Tsu, which states that, 
 " In the period Yung Loh of the Ming dynasty (1403-1425) 
 a Ki-Lin was caught, and a painter was ordered to make a 
 sketch and hand it up to the high magistrates. According 
 to the picture, the body was perfectly shaped like that of a 
 
 FIG. 89. THE Too Jou 
 
 SHBN. 
 (From the Ming Tombs.) 
 
 Vol. vii. No. 1, p. 72. 
 
THE UNICORN. 363 
 
 deer, but the neck was very long, perhaps three or four feet." I 
 must admit that I cannot agree with him in his conclusions. 
 Harris* has given much better arguments in favour of the 
 unicorn being merely a species of oryx. He appears to me, 
 however, to speak too absolutely, to make his facts too 
 pliant, and to base his main belief on the untenable theory 
 that the myth, tradition, or theory is based on the profile 
 drawing of an oryx, exhibiting one horn only. We might 
 
 * Harris, Game and Wild Animals of Southern Africa. The Oryx 
 Capensis The Gemsbock. 
 
 " The figure of the renowned unicorn can be traced in all the ancient 
 ear-rings, coins, and Latin heraldic insignia, to some one of the 
 members of the oryxine family ; of all the whimsies of antiquity, 
 whether emanating from the unbridled and fertile fancies of the people 
 of Egypt and Persia, or devised by the more chaste and classic taste 
 which distinguished Greece and Eome, the unicorn unquestionably 
 the most celebrated is the chimera which has in modern ages engrossed 
 the largest portion of attention from the curious. 
 
 " The rhinoceros is supposed to be the animal so often alluded to in 
 Scripture under the name of reem or unicorn, yet the combination pre- 
 sented in the oryx of the antelopine and equine characters, the horns 
 and cloven hoof of the one, blended with the erect mane, general contour 
 and long switch tail of the other, corresponds in all essential particulars 
 with the extant delineations and descriptions of the heraldic unicorn, 
 which is universally represented to have been possessed of a straight 
 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 tuft 
 on the larynx, whilst both the size and ground colour were said to be 
 those of the ass, with the addition of sundry black markings, imparting 
 to the face and forehead a piebald appearance. 
 
 " The alterations required to reduce the African oryx to the standard 
 of this model, are slight and simple, nor can it be doubted that they 
 have been gradually introduced by successive copyists ; the idea of the 
 single horn having been derived in the first instance from profile repre- 
 sentations of that animal given in bas-relief on the sculptured monuments 
 
 of ancient Egypt and Nubia They have in their aspect a certain 
 
 bovine expression ; and Arabs and other natives never consider them 
 
 as antelopes but as a species of buffalo The oryx boldly 
 
 defends itself when pressed by the hunters, is quarrelsome during the 
 rutting season, and it is said that even the lion dreads an encounter 
 with it." 
 
364 MYTHICAL MONSTE&S. 
 
 just as soon expect people to start stories of two-legged cows 
 or horses, or one-legged races of men, if so slender a basis 
 for forging a species were sufficient. What the zoological 
 status of the unicorn may be I am not prepared to show, but 
 I find it impossible to believe that a creature whose existence 
 has been affirmed by so many authors, at so many different 
 dates, and from so many different countries, can be, as 
 mythologists demand, merely the symbol of a myth. There 
 is a possible solution, which does not appear to have struck 
 previous writers on the subject, viz., that the unicorn may be 
 merely a hybrid produced occasionally and at more or less 
 rare intervals. 
 
 By accepting this view we could explain the extraordinary 
 combinations of character assigned to it, and the discrepancy 
 which exists between the qualities of courage and gentleness 
 ascribed to it by Western and Chinese authors. A valuable 
 chapter remains to be written by naturalists and progression- 
 ists on the limits within which hybridization exists in a state 
 of nature among the higher animals ; its prevalence among 
 the lower and among plants is, of course, well known. A 
 cross between some equine and cervine species might readily 
 result in a unicorn offspring, and either the courageous 
 qualities of the sire* or the gentleness of the dam might 
 preponderate, according to the relations of the species in 
 each of the instances. 
 
 As an alternative, we may speculate on the unicorn being 
 a generic name for several distinct species of (probably) now 
 extinct animals ; missing links between the three families, 
 the EquidsB, Cervidse, and Bovidse ; creatures which were the 
 contemporaries of prehistoric man, and which, before they 
 
 * Even the patient ass, in a state of nature, is endowed with great 
 courage. Baharan, one of the early Persian monarchs, received the 
 surname Baharan Guz from his transfixing, with one arrow, a wild ass 
 and a lion engaged in active combat. 
 
THE UNICORN. 365 
 
 finally expired, attracted the attention of his descendants, 
 during early historic times, by the rare appearance of a few 
 surviving individuals. 
 
 The supernatural qualities ascribed to these by various 
 nations must be considered merely the embroidery of fancy, 
 designed to enrich and adorn an article esteemed rare and 
 valuable. 
 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 CHAPTEK XI. 
 
 THE CHINESE PH(ENIX. 
 
 FBOM the date of the earliest examination of the literature 
 of China, it has been customary among Sinologues to trace a 
 fancied resemblance between a somewhat remarkable bird, 
 which occupies an important position in the early traditions 
 of that Empire, and the phoenix of Western authors. Some 
 mythologists have even subsequently concluded that the 
 Fung Hwang of the Chinese, the phoenix of the Greeks, 
 the Roc of the Arabs, and the Garuda 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 I treat only of the Fung Hwang. 
 
 The earliest notice of it is contained in the 'Rh Ya, which, 
 with its usual brevity, simply informs us that the male is 
 called Fung and the female 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's neck, 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 
 and supplementary edition of the former work, quotes the 
 Shwoh Wan to the effect that the united name of the male 
 and female bird is Fung Hwang, and that Tso's commentary 
 on the 17th year of the Chao, says one appeared in the time 
 of the Emperor Che (dynastic title, Shaou Haou). The 
 
THE CHINESE PHCEN1X. 
 
 367 
 
 FIG. W. TEMPLE MEDALS FKOM CHINA: DRAGON AND PHCENIX. 
 
MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 original passage in the Tso Chuen is so interesting that I 
 quote in extenso Dr. Legge's translation of it : 
 
 " When my ancestor, Shaou-Haou Che, succeeded to the 
 kingdom, there appeared at that time a phoenix, and there- 
 fore he arranged his government under the nomenclature of 
 birds, making bird officers, and naming them after birds. 
 There were so and so Phoenix bird, minister of the 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 Green bird [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 five classes of mechanics. 
 
 4 * So in previous reigns there had been cloud officers, fire 
 officers, water officers, and dragon officers, according to 
 omens." 
 
 I think there is some connection between this old usage 
 and the present or late system of tribe totems among the 
 North American Indians. Thus we have Snake, Tortoise, 
 Hare Indians, &c., and I hope some day to explain some 
 of the obscure and apparently impossible passages of the 
 Shan Hai King, in reference to strange tribes, upon what I 
 may call the totem theory. 
 
 The Kin King, a small work devoted to ornithology, and 
 professing to date back to the Tsin dynasty [A.D. 265 to 
 317], opens its pages with a description of the Fung Hwang, 
 because, as it states, the Fung is the principal 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 commen- 
 tator in the 'Eh Ya gives them ; but we now find a com- 
 mencement of extraordinary attributes. Thus the head is 
 supposed to have impressed on it the Chinese character 
 expressing virtue, the poll that for uprightness, the back 
 
THE CHINESE PHCENIX. 369 
 
 that for humanity ; the heart is supposed to contain that of 
 sincerity, and the wings to enfold in their clasp that of 
 integrity ; its foot imprints integrity ; 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 all the five . 
 colours.* 
 
 When it flies crowds of birds follow. When it appears, 
 the monarch is an equitable ruler, and the kingdom has 
 moral principles. It has a synonym, "the felicitous yen. 19 
 According to the King Shun commentary upon the 'Eh 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 it is three years of age.f 
 
 There appears to have been another bird closely related 
 to it, which is called the Lwan Shui. This, when first 
 hatched, resembles the young Fung, but when of mature age 
 it changes the five colours. 
 
 The Shdng Li Ten Wei I says of this, that when the world 
 is peaceful its notes will be heard like the tolling of a bell, Pien 
 Lwan [answering to our (t ding-dong "]. During the Chao 
 dynasty it was customary to hang a bell on the tops of 
 vehicles, with a sound like that of the Lwan.]: From another 
 passage we learn that it was supposed to have different names 
 according to a difference in colour. Thus, when the head ' 
 
 * Black, red, azure (green, blue, or black), white, yellow. 
 
 f Many species of bird do not attain their mature plumage until long 
 after they have attained adult size, as some among the gulls and birds 
 of prej . I think I am right in saying that some of these latter only 
 become perfect in their third year. We all know the story of the ugly 
 duckling, and the little promise which it gave of its future beauty. 
 
 J According to Dr. Williams, the Lwan was a fabulous bird described 
 as the essence of divine influence, and regarded as the embodiment of 
 every grace and beauty, and that the argus pheasant was the type 
 of it. 
 
 Dr. Williams says that it was customary to hang little bells from the 
 phcenix that marked the royal cars, 
 
 24 
 
370 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 and wings were red it was called the red Fung ; when blue, 
 the Yu Siang ; when white, the Hwa Yih ; when black, the 
 Yin Chu ; when yellow, the To Fu. Another quotation is 
 to the effect that, when the Fung soars and the Lwan 
 flies upwards, one hundred birds follow them. It is also 
 stated that when either the Lwan or the Fung dies, one 
 hundred birds peck up the earth and bury them. 
 
 Another author amplifies the fancied resemblances of the 
 Fung, for in the Lun Yu Tseh Shwai Shing we find it stated 
 that it has six resemblances and nine qualities. The former 
 are : 1st, the head is like heaven ; 2nd, the eye like the 
 sun ; 3rd, the back is like the moon ; 4th, the wings like 
 the wind ; 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 is conformable to regulations ; 
 3rd, the ear is thoroughly acute in hearing ; 4th, the tongue 
 utters sincerity ; 5th, the colour is luminous ; 6th, the comb 
 resembles uprightness ; 7th, the spur is sharp and curved ; 
 8th, the voice is sonorous ; 9th, the belly is the treasure of 
 literature. 
 
 When it crows, in walking, it utters " Quai she " [return- 
 ing joyously] ; when it stops crowing, " T'i fee" [I carry 
 assistance?]; when it crows at night it exclaims " Sin " 
 [goodness] ; when in the morning, " Ho si " [I congratulate 
 the 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].* Hence it was that Confucius 
 wished to live among the nine I [barbarian frontier countries] 
 following the Fung's pleasure. 
 
 The Fung appears to have been fond of music, for, accord- 
 ing to the Shu King, when you play the flute, in nine cases 
 out of ten the Fung Wang comes to bear you company ; 
 while, according to the Odes, or Classic of Poetry, the Fung, 
 
 * In reference to Hwang Ti (?) writing the Bamboo Books ? 
 
THE CHINESE PHCENIX. 371 
 
 in flying, makes the sound hwui hwui, and its wings carry 
 it up to the heavens ; and when it sings on the lofty moun- 
 tain called Kwang, the Wu Tung tree flourishes,* and its 
 fame spreads over the world. 
 
 The presence of the Fung was always an auspicious augury, 
 and it was supposed that when heaven showed its displea- 
 sure at the conduct of the people during times of drought, 
 of destruction of crops by insects (locusts), of disastrous 
 famines, and of pestilence, the Fung Wang retired from the 
 civilised country into the desert and forest regions. 
 
 It was classed with the dragon, the tortoise, and the 
 unicorn as a spiritual creature, and its appearance in the 
 gardens and groves denoted that the princes and monarch 
 were equitable, and the people submissive and obedient. 
 
 Its indigenous home is variously indicated. Thus, in the 
 Shan Hai King, it is stated to dwell in the Ta Hueh moun- 
 tains, a range included in the third list of the southern 
 mountains ; it is also, in the third portion of the same work 
 (treating of the Great Desert), placed in the south and in 
 the 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 celebrated Chinese general, Sieh Jan Kwei, who invaded 
 and conquered that country in A.D. 668, is said to have 
 ascended the Fung Hwang mountain there and seen the 
 phoenix. 
 
 According to the Annals of the Bamboo Books phoenixes, 
 male and female, arrived in the autumn, in the seventh 
 month, in the fiftieth year of the reign of Hwang Ti (B.C. 
 2647), and the commentary states that some of them abode 
 
 * The Wu Tung is the Eleococca verrucosa, according to Dr. Williams ; 
 others identify it with the Sterculia platanifolia. There is a Chinese 
 proverb to the effect that without having Wu Tung trees you cannot 
 expect to see phcenixes in your garden. 
 
 24 * 
 
372 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 in the Emperor's eastern garden ; some built their nests 
 about the corniced galleries (of the palaces), and some sung 
 in the courtyard, the females gambolling to the notes of the 
 males. 
 
 The commentary of the same work adds that (among a 
 variety of prodigies) the phoenix 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 (commencing B.C. 206 and lasting until A.D. 23), 
 the phoenixes appeared constantly. 
 
 In these later passages I have adopted the word phoenix, 
 after Legge and other Sinologues, as a conventional admis- 
 sion ; but, as will be seen from all the extracts given, there 
 are but few grounds for identifying it, whether fabulous or 
 not, with the phoenix of Greek mythology. It reappears in 
 Japanese tradition under the name of the Ho and (male 
 and female), and, according to Kempfer, who calls it the 
 Foo, " it is a chimerical but beautiful large bird of paradise, 
 of near akin to the phoenix of the ancients. It dwells in 
 the high regions of the air, and it hath this in common with 
 the Ki-Rin (the equivalent of the Chinese Ki-Lin), that it 
 never comes down from thence but upon the birth of a sesin 
 (a man of incomparable understanding, penetration, and 
 benevolence) or that of a great emperor, or upon some 
 such other extraordinary occasion." 
 
 It is a common ornamentation in the Japanese temples ; 
 and I select, as an example, figures from some very beautiful 
 panels in the Nichi-hong-wanji temple 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 a plumose, bird-of-paradise-like 
 arrangement. 
 
 These can only be accepted as the evolution of an artist's 
 
THE CHINESE PHCENIX. 
 
 373 
 
 fancy ; nor can any opinion be arrived at from the figure of 
 it illustrating the 'Eh Ya, of which I reproduce a fac-simile. 
 I have already stated that Kwoh P'oh's illustrations have been 
 lost. 
 
 FIG. 91. THE FUNG HWANG, (from the 'Rh la.) 
 
 The frontispiece to this volume is reduced from a large 
 and very beautiful painting on silk, which I was fortunate 
 enough to procure in Shanghai, by an artist named Fang 
 
374 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Heng, otherwise styled Sien Tang ; it professes to be made 
 according to the designs of ancient books. The original is, 
 I believe, of some antiquity. 
 
 In this case the delineation of the bird shows a combina- 
 tion of the characters of the peacock, the pheasant, and the 
 bird of paradise ; the comb 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, the two 
 middle tail feathers projecting beyond the others, while stiff- 
 ened plumes, as I interpret the intention of the drawing, 
 are made to project from the sides of the back, and above 
 the wings, recalling those of the Semioptera Wallacii. The 
 bird perches, in accordance with tradition, on the Wu-Tung 
 tree. Without pretending to assert that this is an exact 
 representation of the Tung, I fancy that it comes nearer to 
 it than the ordinary Chinese and Japanese representations. 
 
 Looking to the history of the appearance of the Fung, 
 the general description of its characteristics, and disregard- 
 ing the supernatural qualities with which, probably, Taouist 
 priests have invested it, I can only regard it as another 
 example of an interesting and beautiful species of 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 on any occasion to be chronicled, and a 
 servile court would only too readily seize upon this pretext 
 to flatter the reigning monarch and ascribe to his virtues a 
 phenomenon which, after all, was purely natural. 
 
APPENDICES, 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 THE DELUGE TKADITION ACCOKDING TO BEKOSUS.* 
 
 "Obartes Elbaratutu being dead, his son Xisuthros (Khasisatra) 
 reigned eighteen sares (64,800 years). It was under him that the great 
 Deluge took place, the history of which is told in the sacred documents 
 as follows : Cronos (Ea) appeared to him in his sleep, and announced 
 that on the fifteenth of the month of Daisies the Assyrian month 
 Sivan a little before the summer (solstice) all men should perish by a 
 flood. He therefore commanded him to take the beginning, the middle, 
 and the end of whatever 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 and dearest friends ; to place in this vessel provisions 
 to eat and drink, and to cause animals, birds, and quadrupeds to enter 
 it ; lastly, to prepare everything for navigation. And when Xisuthros 
 inquired in what direction he should steer his bark, he was answered 
 ' Toward the gods,' and enjoined to pray that good might come of it 
 for men. 
 
 "Xisuthros obeyed, and constructed a vessel five stadia long and 
 five broad ; he collected all that had been prescribed to him, and em- 
 barked his wife, his children, and his intimate friends. 
 
 " The Deluge having come, and soon going down, Xisuthros loosed 
 some of the birds. These, finding no food nor place to alight on, 
 returned to the ship. A few days later Xisuthros again let them free, 
 but they returned again to the vessel, their feet full of mud. Finally, 
 loosed the third time, the birds came no more back. 
 
 " Then Xisuthros understood that the earth was bare. He made an 
 
 * Berosus lived in the time of Alexander the Great, or about B.C. 330-260, or 300 
 years after the Jews were carried captive to Babylon. 
 
376 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 opening in the roof of the ship, and saw that it had grounded on the 
 top of a mountain. He then descended with his wife, his daughter, 
 and his pilot, who worshipped the earth, raised an altar, and there 
 sacrificed to the gods ; at the same moment he vanished with those who 
 accompanied him. 
 
 " Meanwhile those who had remained in the vessel, not seeing 
 Xisuthros return, descended too, and began to seek him, calling him 
 by his name. They saw Xisuthros no more ; but a voice from heaven 
 was heard commanding them piety towards the gods ; that he, indeed, 
 was receiving the reward of his piety in being carried away to dwell 
 thenceforth in the midst of the gods, and that his wife, his daughter, 
 and the pilot of the ship shared the same honour. The voice further 
 said that they were to return to Babylon, and, conformably to the 
 decrees of fate, disinter the writings buried at Sippara, in order to 
 transmit them to men. It added that the country in which they found 
 themselves was Armenia. These, then, having heard the voice, sacri- 
 ficed to the gods and returned on foot to Babylon. Of the vessel of 
 Xisuthros, which had finally landed in Armenia, a portion is still to be 
 found in the Gordyan mountains in Armenia, and pilgrims bring thence 
 asphalte that they have scraped from its fragments. It is used to 
 keep off the influence of witchcraft. As to the companions of Xisuthros, 
 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, 
 seems very surprising, but easily accounted for if we take the version 
 of the Deluge given by Nicolaus Damascenus (a philosopher and his- 
 torian of the age of Augustus, and a friend of Herod the Great). 
 
 " He mentions that there is a large mountain in Armenia, which 
 stands above the country of the Minyae, called Baris. To this it was 
 said that many people betook themselves in the time of the Deluge, 
 and were saved. And there is a tradition of one person in particular 
 floating in an ark, and arriving at the summit of the mountain."* 
 
 * Encyclopaedia Britannica. 
 
APPENDIX II. 377 
 
 APPENDIX II, 
 
 THE DRAGON. 
 
 DE NATURA ANIMALIUM. 
 
 BOOK II. ch. 26. 
 
 The dragon [which is perfectly fearless of beasts], when it hears 
 the noise of the wings of an eagle, immediately conceals itself in 
 hiding-places. 
 
 BOOK II. ch. 21. 
 
 Ethiopia generates dragons reaching thirty paces long; they have 
 no proper name, but they merely call them slayers of elephants, and 
 they attain a great age. So far do the ^Ethiopian accounts narrate. 
 The Phrygian history also states that dragons are born which reach 
 ten paces in length ; which daily 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 neck gently stretched out, and gaping 
 mouth, attract birds, either by their inspiration, or by some fascina- 
 tion, and that those which are drawn down by the inhalation of their 
 breath glide down into their stomach [and that they continue this 
 until sunset,] but that after that, concealing themselves, they lay in 
 ambush for the herds returning from the pasture to the stable, and 
 inflict much injury, often killing the herdsmen and gorging themselves 
 with food. 
 
 BOOK VI. ch. 4. 
 
 When dragons are about to eat fruit they suck the juice of the 
 wild chicory, because this affords them a sovereign remedy against 
 inflation. When they purpose lying in wait for a man or a beast, 
 they eat deadly roots and herbs ; a thing not unknown to Homer, for 
 he makes mention of the dragon, who, lingering and twisting himself 
 in front of his den, devoured noxious herbs. 
 
378 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 BOOK VI. ch. 21. 
 
 In India, as I am told, there is great enmity between the dragon 
 and elephant. Wherefore the dragons, aware that elephants are 
 accustomed to pluck off boughs from trees for food, coil themselves 
 beforehand in these trees, folding the tail half of their body round 
 the limbs, and leaving the front half hanging like a rope. When 
 an elephant approaches for the purpose of browsing on the young 
 branches, the dragon leaping on him, tears out his eyes, and then 
 squeezing his neck with his front part and lashing him with his tail, 
 strangles him in this strange kind of noose. 
 
 BOOK VI. ch. 22. 
 The elephant has a great horror of the dragon. 
 
 BOOK VI. ch. 17. 
 
 In Idumea, or Judaea, during Herod's power, according to the 
 statement of the natives of the country, a very beautiful, and just 
 adolescent, woman, was beloved by a dragon of exceptional magnitude ; 
 who visited her betimes and slept with her as a lover. She, indeed, 
 although her lover crept towards her as gently and quietly as lay in 
 his power, yet utterly alarmed, withdrew herself from him ; and to the 
 end that a forgetfulness of his passion might result from the absence 
 of his mistress, absented herself for the space of a month. 
 
 But the desire of the absent one was increased in him, and his 
 amatory disposition was daily so far aggravated that he frequently 
 came both by day 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 terrible grief. After the girl returned, angry at 
 being, as it were spurned, he coiled himself round her body, and softly 
 and gently chastised her on the legs. 
 
 BOOK VI. ch. 63. 
 
 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 
 mutual affection for one another. The friends of the boy, seeing how 
 the dragon had increased in magnitude in so short a time, carried him, 
 while sleeping with 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 on growing plants and poisons], preferring a soli- 
 tary life to one in towns and [human] habitations. Time having rolled 
 on, and the boy having attained youth, and the dragon maturity, the 
 former, while travelling upon one occasion through the wilds in the 
 neighbourhood of his friend, fell among robbers, who attacked him 
 with drawn swords, and being struck, either from pain, or in the hopes 
 
APPENDIX II. 379 
 
 of assistance, cried out. The dragon being a beast of acute hearing and 
 sharp vision, as soon as he heard the lad with whom he had been brought 
 up, gave a hiss in expression of his anger, and so struck them with fear, 
 that the trembling robbers dispersed in different directions, whom 
 having caught, he destroyed by a terrible death. Afterwards, having 
 cared for the wounds of his ancient friend, and escorted him through 
 the places infested with serpents, he returned to the spot where he 
 himself had been exposed not showing any anger towards him on 
 account of his having been expelled into solitude, nor because ill-feeling 
 men had abandoned an old friend in danger. 
 
 BOOK VIII. ch. 11. 
 
 Hegemon, in his Dardanic verses, among other things mentions, 
 concerning the Thessalian Alevus, that a dragon conceived an affec- 
 tion for him. Alevus possessed, as Hegemon states, golden hair, 
 which I should call yellow, and pastured cattle upon Ossa near the 
 Thessalian spring called Hsemonium [as Anchises formerly did on 
 Ida]. A dragon of great size fell violently in love with him, and 
 used to crawl up gently to him, kiss his hair, cleanse his face by 
 licking it with his tongue, and bring him various spoils from the 
 chase. 
 
 BOOK X. ch. 25. 
 
 Beyond the Oasis of Egypt there is a great desert which extends 
 for seven days' journey, succeeded by a region inhabited by the Cyno- 
 prosopi, on the way to .^Ethiopia. These live by the chase of goats 
 and antelopes. They are black, with the head and teeth of a dog, of 
 which animal, in this connection, the mention is not to be looked upon 
 as absurd, for they lack the power of speech, and utter a shrill hissing 
 sound, and have a beard above and below the mouth like a dragon ; 
 their hands are armed with strong and sharp nails, and the body is 
 equally hairy with that of dogs. 
 
 BOOK X. ch. 48. 
 
 Lycaonus, King of Emathia, had a sou named Macedon, from 
 whom eventually the country was called, the old name becoming obso- 
 lete. Now, one of Macedon's sons, named Pindus, was indued both with 
 strength of mind and innate probity, as well as a handsome person, 
 whereas his other children were 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 in 
 punishment 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 
 
380 MYTHICAL MONSTEES. 
 
 being robust and taking pleasure in hunting, not only took to it himself, 
 but led the others to follow his example. 
 
 Upon one occasion he was pursuing some young mules, and, spurring 
 his horse to the top of its powers, drew away a long distance from 
 those who were hunting with him. The mules passing into a deep 
 cavern, escaped the sight of their pursuer, and preserved themselves 
 from danger. He leaped down from the horse, which he tied to the 
 nearest tree, and whilst he was seeking with his utmost ability to dis- 
 cover the mules, and probing the dens 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 no one, 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 the spot, but, deterred 
 by the remembrance of the voice he had heard, he did not enter the 
 place where they had concealed themselves. 
 
 When, therefore, he was cogitating as to who had warned him from 
 following his prey, and, as it appeared, was looking out for mountain 
 shepherds, or hunters, 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 and head a little way, as if stretching himself 
 but his neck and head were of such 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 
 the beast by giving him to eat the birds he had caught, as the price of 
 his redemption. 
 
 He, cajoled by the gifts and baits, or, as I may say, touched, left the 
 spot. This was so pleasing to Pindus, that, as an honourable man, 
 and grateful 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 
 became immediately more favourable to him, and he achieved success 
 in all his hunting, whether he pursued ground or winged game. 
 
 Wherefore he achieved a great reputation, both for finding and quickly 
 catching game. 
 
 Now, he was so tall that he caused terror from his bulk, while from 
 his excellent constitution and beautiful countenance he inflamed women 
 with so violent an affection for him, that the unmarried, as if they 
 were furious and bacchantes, joined his hunting expeditions; and 
 married women, under the guardianship of husbands, preferred passing 
 their time with him, to being reported among the number of goddesses. 
 And, for the most part, men also esteemed him highly, as his virtue 
 and appearance attracted universal admiration. His brothers only held 
 a hostile and inimical feeling towards him. Wherefore upon a certain 
 
APPENDIX II. 381 
 
 occasion they attacked him from an ainbush, when he was hunting 
 alone, and having driven him into the denies of a river close by, when 
 he was removed from all help, attacked him with drawn swords and 
 slew him. 
 
 When the dragon heard its friend's outcries (for it is an animal with 
 as sharp a sense of hearing as it has quickness of vision), it issued from 
 its 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 
 utmost care, until those nearest related to the deceased came to him, 
 as he was lying on the ground ; but nevertheless, although clad in 
 proper mourning, they were prevented through fear of the custodian 
 from approaching and interring the dead with proper rites, until it, 
 understanding from its profound and wonderful nature, that it was 
 keeping them at a distance, quietly departed from its guard and station 
 near the body, in order that it might receive the last tokens of esteem 
 from the bystanders without any interruption. 
 
 Splendid obsequies were performed, and the river where the murder 
 was effected received its name from the dead man. 
 
 It is therefore a peculiarity of these beasts to be grateful to those 
 from whom they may have received favours. 
 
 BOOK XI. ch. 2. Dragon Sacred to Apollo. 
 
 The Epirotes, both at home and abroad, sacrifice to Apollo, and 
 solemnise with extreme magnificence a feast yearly in his honour, 
 There is a grove among them sacred to the god, and inclosed with a 
 wall, within which are dragons, pleasing to the god. Hither a sacred 
 virgin comes alone, naked, and presents food to the dragons. The 
 Epirotes say that these are descended from the Delphic python. If 
 they regarded the virgin ministering to them with favour, and took the \ 
 food promptly, they were believed to portend a fertile and healthful 
 year ; if they were rude towards her, and would not accept the proffered 
 food, some predicted, or at least expected, the contrary for the coming 
 year. 
 
 BOOK II. ch. 16. Dragon in Lavinium. 
 
 There is a peculiar divination of the dragon, for in Lavinium, a town 
 of the Latins but in Lavinium, there is a large and dense sacred grove, 
 and near it the shrine of the Argolic Juno. Within the grove is a cave 
 and deep den, the lair of a dragon. 
 
 Sacred virgins enter this grove on stated days, who carry a barley 
 cake in their hands, with bandaged eyes. A certain divine afflatus 
 leads them accurately to the den, and gently, and step by step, they 
 proceed without hindrance, and as if their eyes were uncovered. If 
 they are virgins, the dragon admits the food as pure and fit for a deity. 
 
382 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 If otherwise, it does not touch, it, perceiving and divining them to be 
 impure. 
 
 Ants, for the sake of cleansing the place, carry from the grove the 
 cake left by the vitiated virgin, broken into little pieces, so that they 
 may easily carry it. When this happens, it is perceived by the inha- 
 bitants, and those who have entered are pointed out and examined, and 
 whoever proves to have forfeited her virginity is punished with the 
 penalties appointed 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 a beard." 
 
 BOOK XVI. ch. 39. 
 
 Onesicritus Astypalseus writes that there were two dragons in India 
 [nurtured by an Indian dancer], one of forty-six and the other of eighty 
 cubits, and that Alexander (Philip's son) earnestly endeavoured to see 
 them. It is affirmed in Egyptian books that, during the reign of Phil- 
 adelphus, two dragons were brought from Ethiopia into Philadelphia 
 alive, one forty, the other thirty cubits in magnitude. 
 
 Three were also brought in the time of King Evergetis, one nine and 
 another seven cubits. The Egyptians say that the third was preserved 
 with great care in the temple of ^Esculapius. 
 
 It is also said that there are asps of four cubits in length. Those 
 who write the history of the affairs of Chios say that a dragon of 
 extreme magnitude was produced in a valley, densely crowded and 
 gloomy with tall trees, of the Mount Pelienaeus in that island, whose 
 hissing struck the Chians with horror. 
 
 As none either of the husbandmen or shepherds . dare, by approach- 
 ing near, estimate its magnitude, but from its hissing judged it to be 
 a large and formidable beast, at length its size became known by a 
 remarkable accident. 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 to escape, was consumed by the ardour of 
 the flame. By these means all things were rendered visible in the 
 denuded place, and the Chians freed, from their alarms, came to inves- 
 tigate, and lighted on bones of unusual magnitude, and an immense 
 head, from which they were enabled to conjecture its dimensions when 
 living. 
 
 BOOK XI. ch. 17. 
 
 Homer was not rash in his line, 
 
 Terrible are the gods when they manifest themselves. 
 
 For the dragon, while sacred and to be worshipped, has within himself 
 something still more of the divine nature of which it is better to remain 
 in ignorance. 
 
APPENDIX II. 383 
 
 Indeed, a dragon received divine honours in a certain tower in 
 Melita in Egypt. He had his priests and ministers, his table and 
 bowl. Every day they 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 
 intense desire of seeing the dragon, having entered alone, and placed 
 the food, went out ; and when the dragon commenced to feed at the 
 table, he opened suddenly 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 own destruction, being seized with an affliction of the mind, and 
 having confessed his crime, presently lost his speech, and shortly after 
 died. 
 
 BOOK XII. ch. 39. 
 
 When Halia, the daughter of Sybasis, had entered the grove of 
 Diana in Phrygia, a certain sacred dragon of large size appeared and 
 copulated with her ; whence the Ophiogense deduce the origin of their 
 race. 
 
 BOOK XV. ch. 21. Concerning the Indian Dragon. 
 
 Alexander (while he attacked or devastated some portions of India, 
 and also seized others), lighted on, among other numerous animals, a 
 dragon, which the Indians, because they considered it to be sacred, and 
 worshipped it with great reverence, in a certain cave, besought him 
 with many entreaties to let alone, which he agreed to. However, when 
 the dragon heard the noise made by the passing army (for it is an 
 animal endowed with a very acute sense of hearing as well as of vision) , 
 it frightened and alarmed them all with a great hissing and blowing. 
 It was said to be seventy cubits long. 
 
 It did not, however, show the whole of itself, but only exposed its 
 head from the cave. Its eyes were said to have been of the size (and 
 rotundity) of a Macedonian shield. 
 
384 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 APPENDIX III. 
 
 ORIGINAL PREFACE TO " WONDERS BY LAND AND SEA " 
 ("SHAN HAI KING"). 
 
 The Classic containing " Wonders by Land and Sea " has been 
 praised by all who have read it, for its depth, greatness, far sighted- 
 ness and completeness ; since the narratives therein contained are all 
 wonderful and different from ordinary things. Moreover, the truth or 
 veracity of the book is a matter of doubt to nearly all men, and I there- 
 fore think it fit that I should give my opinion on the subject. It has 
 been said by the philosopher Chuang that " the things that men do know 
 can in no way be compared, numerically speaking, to the things that are 
 unknown," thus in reading " Wonders by Land and Sea," the force of 
 his remark becomes apparent to me. 
 
 Now, since heaven and earth are vast, it follows that the beings which 
 inhabit them must reasonably be numerous. The positive and nega- 
 tive elements being heated by vernal warmth, produce myriads of 
 living beings of classes innumerable. When the essence of ether 
 combines, motion becomes apparent and generates into wondrous and 
 roving spirits, which, floating about and coming into contact with 
 anything, enter into it and thus create wonderful beings, whether 
 they be inhabitants of mountain or sea, or wood or stone; yea, so 
 numerous are they, that it is an impossible task for me to give them 
 in detail. 
 
 The evolution of the essence of the elements generates sound, which 
 by development produces a certain image. When we call a thing won- 
 derful, it is because we do not know the reasons attending its origin, 
 and what we do not call wonderful, we still are unaware why it is not 
 so. And why ? A thing is, per se, not wonderful, it is because we wish 
 to consider it so ; the wonder is in ourselves and not in the thing. For 
 instance, when a savage looks at the cotton cloth we wear, he calls it 
 hemp ; and when an inhabitant of Yiich (Soochow and vicinity) sees a 
 rug, he calls it fur or hair. The reason may be found in this : we 
 believe only those things to which we have been educated, and any- 
 
APPENDIX III. 385 
 
 thing which might not be perfectly understood by us we deem won- 
 derful. Hence the shortsightedness of human nature. I will now give 
 a passing remark of what is known amongst us. A place called Ping 
 Shui (?) produces fire, while the Yen mountain produces rats. Now all 
 men know these facts, and ^yet when we read and speak of the classic 
 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 is 
 not 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 be a single wonder in the whole Universe ; and if we call a thing 
 wonderful which in truth is not so, then up to the present time there 
 can be nothing wonderful. Moreover, if what is unknowable appears 
 clear to our minds, it follows that all things on earth should be under- 
 stood by us. 
 
 According to the Bamboo Annals of Chi Chuen, and the records of 
 King Miih, 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 of raw and embroidered silks ; while, on the other 
 hand, the Fairy Queen gave a banquet in honour of the King, on the 
 banks of the lake formed by white jade stones. During the banquet 
 they composed and spoke their thoughts in verse, and the sentiments 
 embodied therein were beautiful. Then the royal pair repaired to the 
 hillock adjoining the Kiien Lun mountain, and roamed over the palaces 
 of King Hsiien Yuan, which were situated there, and thence to the 
 artificial terraces of the Chung hill, and gazed on the precious and 
 wonderful things collected by that king. Returning to the residence 
 of the Fairy Queen, King Miih had a stone tablet engraved recording 
 the event, and erected it in the Queen's magic garden. On King 
 Miih's return home, he brought with him to the Middle Kingdom 
 beautiful wood and magnificent flowers, precious stones and elegant 
 jades, golden oils and silver candles. In his travels, King Miih rode 
 in a chariot drawn by eight splendid horses ; the right-hand horses 
 were of a dark colour, while those on 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 of Us could thus be traversed. 
 They went over barren wastes and over celebrated mountains and large 
 rivers, yet none of them barred their onward course. To the east 
 they came across the Halls of the G-iants ; to the west they arrived at 
 the mansions of the Fairy Queen ; to the south they crossed over a 
 bridge composed of immense tortoises ; and to the north they drove 
 over streets made of layers of feathers. Traversing these, then, King 
 Miih commenced his journey homeward full of joy. History informs 
 us that " King Miih, riding in a chariot drawn by eight magnificent 
 horses, with Tsao Fu as charioteer, made a journey to the west, in 
 search of adventures in hunting, and, coming to the Fairy Queen of 
 
 25 
 
386 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 the West, was so happy, that he almost forgot to return home." These 
 words are similar to those recorded in the " Bamboo Annals " of Chi 
 Chuen. The classic called " Spring and Autumn," says that " King 
 Miih was a man of vast ambition, and desired that the whole world 
 should bear the tracks of his cart-wheels, and receive 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 famous 
 attainments, but they were all sceptical as to the veracity of the adven- 
 tures of King Miih, and say that in looking over history they are con- 
 vinced of their fallacy. Sz Ma Tseen also, in writing the preface to the 
 " Eecords of Ta Wan," says that when Chang Ch'ien went on his mission 
 to Ta Hsia, he traversed the whole length of the Huang Ho up to its 
 very source, but never came across the Kiien Lun mountain. Moreover, 
 Sz Ma Tseen in his own history also says, in referring to the " Book of 
 Wonders by Land and 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 these authorities, 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 as a truthful record of the past, then, 
 indeed, most of the narratives contained 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 the existence of Tao Chea 
 by a corpse from that kingdom. Wang Ch'i had an interview with men 
 having two distinct faces on their heads, and a man from the sea coast 
 picked up a dress having two very long sleeves. In carefully studying, 
 therefore, these books, I am convinced that their stories mainly coincide 
 with the tales in the " Book of Wonders by Land and Sea." Behold 
 these evidences then, ye who doubt, and place some credence in the 
 narrations contained in this book. 
 
 The Sage King made exhaustive researches into these wondrous 
 beings, and then drew their images. It is indeed impossible to hide 
 the existence of these wonders ! The " Book of Wonders by Land and 
 Sea" was compiled seven dynasties ago (up to the Tsin dynasty), 
 a space of 3,000 years. During the Han dynasty this book received 
 the closest attention, and was elucidated for the benefit of its readers ; 
 but shortly after it again fell into neglect. Moreover, since then, the 
 names of some mountains and rivers have undergone changes. At the 
 present day, teachers and expounders are unable to explain these 
 wonders, and hence through disuse their reasons given at an earlier 
 age have almost sunk into oblivion. Alas, for the loss of Reason! 
 Fearing, therefore, that it will be entirely lost, I have written the 
 accompanying work, making lucid the points that are obscure, and 
 erasing those that are useless ; pointing out what would not be 
 noticeable, and explaining the parts that are deep. I shall endeavour 
 to reclaim what has almost become obsolete, that it may stand for 
 
APPENDIX III. 387 
 
 thousand of ages, and the wonders herein recorded shall not, from the 
 present day, be lost. Thus the works of the Emperor Yii of the Hsia 
 dynasty will not be lost in the future, and the records of the Barren 
 Wastes beyond the boundaries of this Empire will be transmitted to 
 posterity. Will not this be a laudable object ? 
 
 Insects that spring from grassy ground cannot soar as high as the 
 birds of the air, nor can the living beings that inhabit the sea rise 
 up heavenwards like the dragon. A man of medium abilities in music 
 can never be a member of the Orchestra in the Halls of Chuen Tien, 
 nor can the water-buffalo traverse the watery deeps to which even 
 ships dare not venture. Hence, unless a person be of the highest 
 understanding, it would be a hard task to converse with him intelli- 
 gently of the " Wonders by Land and Sea." And I sigh because it is 
 only the learned and intelligent man that can read understandingly the 
 tales in this work. 
 
 KWOH P'OH, 
 
 Assistant Secretary and an Official of the 6th Rank, 
 of the Tsin Dynasty. 
 
 25 
 
388 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 APPENDIX IV. 
 
 A MEMORIAL PRESENTED BY LIU HSITJ, BY ORDER OF 
 HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY THE EMPEROR, ON THE 
 "BOOK OF WONDERS BY LAND AND SEA." 
 
 The Memorialist, an officer of the Fourth Rank and Charioteer 
 to His Majesty the Emperor, having received commands to comment 
 upon and make right wonderful books, now reports that an officer 
 named Wang, a subordinate in the Board of Civil Office, had already 
 made comments and set right thirty -two chapters of the "Book of 
 Wonders by Land and Sea," but which the memorialist has reduced to 
 eighteen chapters. This book was compiled during the time of the 
 three Emperors (Yao, Shun, and Yii). At that time there was a great 
 flood, insomuch that the people had no places to live, but only in caves 
 and holes in the rocks, and upon the tops of trees. 
 
 The father of Yii, by name K'un, being ordered by the Emperor 
 to assuage the floods, was unable to do so ; the Emperor Yao therefore 
 ordered Yii, the son, to do so. Yii used four things in his journey 
 around to make the floods flow away. He first cut away the trees on 
 high mountains to obtain a view of the surrounding country ; and having 
 settled as to which was the highest mountain, and which the largest 
 river, Yih and Peh Ye undertook to drive away the wild beasts and 
 birds abounding in the country, and named the mountains and rivers, 
 and classified the fauna of the country, and pointed out which was 
 water and which was land. The feudal lords assisted Yii in his work, 
 and thus he traversed the four quarters of the Empire, where foot- 
 print of man seldom could be found, and where boats and carts scarcely 
 reached. He named the five mountain divisions of the Empire and 
 eight seas that bound it. He noted where each kind of precious stone 
 could be found, and the wonderful things he had seen. The abode of 
 animals of land and sea, flora of the country, birds of the air, and 
 beasts of the field, worms, the unicorn, and the phoenix, all these he 
 fixed, and also made known their hiding-places ; also the furthest 
 removed kingdom of the earth, and men who were different from 
 
APPENDIX IV. 389 
 
 human beings. Yii divided the Empire into nine divisions, and deter- 
 mined upon the tribute to be given by each division, and Yih and his 
 comrade noted which was hurtful and which was harmless for the 
 " Book of Wonders by Land and Sea." 
 
 All the deeds handed down to us of the sages are clearly noted 
 in the Maxims of the Ancients. The work therein expressed is a 
 matter that can be believed in. During the reign of Shiao Wu 
 there was commonly seen a rare bird, which would eat nothing. 
 Tung Fang Suh saw this bird, and gave its name ; he also told what 
 it would eat. His words being attended to, the bird ate what was given 
 it. Someone asked Suh how he knew of it ; he said he had read of the 
 bird in the " Book of Wonders by Land and Sea." During the reign 
 of Shiao Hsiien, a large stone was broken in Shang Chuen, which 
 then sank into the ground and displayed a house of stone ; in the house 
 was a man of Tao Chia, with his arms tied. At that time the memo- 
 rialist's father, named Hsiang, was a Censor, and he said that this 
 Tao Chia man was a traitor to his king. Being questioned by the Em- 
 peror how he could know it, he said that he had read of it in the " Book 
 of Wonders by Land and Sea," which says, " A traitor having killed his 
 king in Tao Yii, he was chained and confined in a mountain, his right 
 leg was cut off, and both his arms tied behind his back." The Emperor 
 was much surprised at this. All scholars acknowledge that this book 
 is perfectly wonderful, and all intelligent men should read it, and be 
 able to speak upon these wonderful beings and things, and learn the 
 customs of far-off kingdoms and their inhabitants. Hence the Yi 
 King says, " In speaking of the products of the empire, care should be 
 taken to avoid confusion,'* and learned men, therefore, may not be 
 doubtful. 
 
 A memorial presented to the Throne by 
 
 LIU HSIU. 
 
390 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 APPENDIX V. 
 
 AFTEE PEEFACE TO THE " BOOK OF WONDEES BY 
 LAND AND SEA." 
 
 In the sayings of the philosopher Tso, the following remarks may 
 be found : " Virtue existed during the times of the Hsia dynasty ; 
 drawings of all animals 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, was presented as tribute by the feudal lords of 
 the Nine Kingdoms. This urn contained the images of all manner and 
 kinds of animals. This was for the purpose of letting the people know 
 about their existence, so that they might avoid them in entering the 
 mountains and forests, and the genii of the mountains and rivers. 
 Hence the object of the classic treating on the ' Wonders by Land and 
 Sea.' " When Yii assuaged the floods, the Emperor presented him 
 with a red-coloured wand made of jadestones, and then abdicated his 
 throne in his favour ; on this account he ordered a tribute of metals 
 from the feudal lords of the Nine Kingdoms, wherewith to cast the urn, 
 on which were engraved all kinds of animals from far and wide, such 
 as the wonderful animals and beings of mountains, rivers, grass, and 
 wood, as well as the wonders to be found among walking animals and 
 inhabitants of the air. Yii, when Emperor, caused the forms of these 
 wonders to be described, how produced, and their natures ; he also had 
 them classified. When he had described those wonders, whether seen 
 or heard of, or common or uncommon, or rarely heard of, all these he 
 had described minutely, whereby, when the people heard of them, an 
 exceeding fear fell on them. All animals and beings that were common 
 in those days were described in the Annals of Yii, but such as were 
 wonderful and rare were engraved on the nine urns. These urns when 
 completed were placed in those parts of the empire where these 
 wonders originally came from, in order that the people of that age 
 might learn and see daily the things that were either heard of or seen 
 by others. 
 
 The things brought by tribute -bearers from afar were also added 
 
APPENDIX V. 391 
 
 unto the nine urns. Indeed, this made wonders an ordinary matter. 
 That the people might learn these things was the idea of the sage 
 King Yii. Hence, even though at that time all things were described 
 honestly, still the works of that period are far deeper than those of the 
 Chow dynasty. At the time of the last Emperor of the Hsia dynasty, 
 the historiographer Chung Ku, fearing that that Emperor might destroy 
 the books treating of the ancient and present time, carried them in 
 flight to Yin. History also says that K'ung Kiah compiled into a book 
 all the things that were engraved on the vases 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 due to such 
 men as Chung Ku and K'ung Kiah. These Annals are now known as 
 the classic treating on " Wonders by Land and Sea." The nine urns 
 were extinct at the time of Tsing, but the pictures and classic still 
 existed. During the Tsin dynasty, T'ao Chang and his school of poets 
 gazed upon the pictures of the " Wonders of Land and Sea." In the 
 " Seven Commentaries " of the Yuen family, there is observed a case 
 of Chang Sun Yao's pictures of these wonders. These cases may be 
 cited as proofs of the authenticity of the wonders. At the present 
 time, the classic treating on these wonders still exists, but the pictures 
 have become extinct. This classic has been treated upon and com- 
 mented on and made intelligent by the people that have come after it, 
 insomuch that the names of different districts of the Tsing and Han 
 dynasties have been made to correspond with some of the names 
 mentioned in the " Book of Wonders by Land and Sea." Hence the 
 readers of this book are divided into the believing and the doubting. 
 The believers base their belief upon the fact that it was the Emperor 
 Yii who compiled it and explained its origin. The doubtful base their 
 doubt on the probable fact of the book having been written by people 
 who existed after Yu, and therefore unreasonable. This is indeed a 
 base calumny. Liu Hsiu of the Han dynasty makes mention of the 
 book in his seven chapters treating on it. And his style of composi- 
 tion might be said to be very ancient. Kwoh P'oh of the Tsin dynasty 
 in his preface and notes on this book, states these wonders. The honour 
 of transmitting this book to posterity is due to Liu Hsiu and Kwoh 
 P'oh ; but, to prevent learners from considering that the notes made by 
 the two scholars are of no importance, I have therefore written this 
 preface. 
 
 YANG SUN, 
 
 Of the Ming Dynasty. 
 
392 MFTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 APPENDIX VI. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM "SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHINESE," 
 
 BY JUSTUS DOOLITTLE. 
 
 Ch. II., p. 264. 
 
 " The dragon holds a remarkable position in the history and govern- 
 ment of China. It also enjoys an ominous eminence in the affections 
 of the Chinese people. It is frequently represented as the great bene- 
 factor of mankind. It is the dragon which causes the clouds to form 
 and the rain to fall. The Chinese delight in praising its wonderful 
 properties and powers. It is the venerated symbol of good. 
 
 " The Emperor appropriates to himself the use of the true dragon, 
 the one which has five claws on each of its four feet. On his dress of 
 state is embroidered a likeness of the dragon. His throne is styled 
 'the dragon's seat/ His bedstead is the l dragon's bedstead.' His 
 countenance is ' the dragon's face.' His eyes are ' the dragon's eyes.' 
 '\ His beard is ' the dragon's beard.' 
 
 " The true dragon, it is affirmed, never renders itself visible to mortal 
 vision wholly at once. If its head is seen, its tail is obscured or hidden. 
 If it exposes its tail to the eyes of man, it is careful to keep its head 
 out of sight. It is always accompanied by or enshrouded in, clouds, 
 when it becomes visible in any of its parts. Water-spouts are 
 believed by some Chinese to be occasioned by the ascent and descent of 
 the dragon. Fishermen and residents on the border of the ocean are 
 reported to catch occasional glimpses of the dragon ascending from the 
 water and descending to it. 
 
 " It is represented as having scales, and without ears ; from its fore- 
 head two horns project upwards. Its organ of hearing seems to be 
 located in these horns, for it is asserted that it hears through them. It 
 is regarded as the king of fishes. 
 
 Proclamations emanating directly from the Emperor, and published 
 on yellow paper, sometimes have the likenesses of two dragons facing 
 each other, and grasping or playing with a pearl, of which the dragon 
 is believed to be very fond. 
 
APPENDIX VI. 393 
 
 Oh. II. p. 338. 
 
 " The sagacious geomancer is also careful to observe the mountain or 
 hill on the right and left sides of the spot for a lucky grave. The left- 
 hand side is called the black dragon ; the right-hand side is called 
 the white tiger. The lucky prospects, in a Chinese sense, on the hills 
 situated to the left, should clearly surpass the prospects of the hills 
 on the right. And the reason for this is manifest, for the black dragon 
 is naturally weaker than the white tiger. 
 
 Ch. I. p. 275. 
 
 r 
 " The common belief is that the dragon and the tiger always fight 
 
 when they meet ; and that when the dragon moves, the clouds will 
 ascend and rain will soon fall. 
 
 " Hence, in a time of drought, if the bones of a tiger should be let 
 down into this well called the ' dragon's well,' and kept there for three 
 days at the most, there will, it is sagely affirmed, most likely be rain 
 soon. 
 
 " The tiger's bones are used to stir up or excite the dragon." 
 
394 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 APPENDIX VII. 
 
 EXTEACTS FKOM THE " PAN TSAOU KANG MU." 
 
 THE KiAO-LuNG. (The four-footed coiled Dragon. The Iguanodon. 
 
 Eitel.) 
 
 This animal, according to Shi Chan, belongs to the dragon family. 
 Its eye-brows are crossed, hence its name signifies " the crossed reptile." 
 The scaled variety is called the Xiao-Lung, the winged the Ying-Lung. 
 The horned kind are called K'iu, the hornless kind Li. In Indian 
 books it is called Kwan-P'i-Lo. 
 
 Shi Chan, quoting from the Kwan Cheu Ki, says : " The Iguanodon (?) 
 is more than twelve feet long ; it resembles a snake, it has four feet, 
 and is broad like a shield. It has a small head and a slender neck, the 
 latter being covered with numerous protuberances. The front of its 
 breast is of a red colour, its back is variegated with green, and its sides 
 as if embroidered. Its tail is composed of fleshy rings ; the larger ones 
 are several. Its eggs are also large. It can induce fish to fly, but if a 
 turtle is present they will not do so. 
 
 " The Emperor Chao, of the Han, when fishing in the river Wei, 
 caught a white Iguanodon. It resembled a snake, but was without 
 scales. Its head was composed of soft flesh, and tusks issued from the 
 mouth. The Emperor ordered his ministers to get it preserved. Its 
 flesh is delicious ; bones green, flesh red." 
 
 From the above it may be seen the Iguanodon is edible. 
 
 THE CEOCODILE. 
 
 "The T'o Fish, we call it the Earth Dragon, and have correctly 
 written the character. It resembles the dragon, its voice is terrible, 
 
APPENDIX VII. 395 
 
 and its length is a ctiang (a hundred and forty-one English inches). 
 When it breathes it forms clouds, which condense into rain. Being 
 a dragon, the term ' fish ' should be done away with." 
 
 Shi Chan says the To character in appearance resembles the head, 
 the belly, and the tail. One author says that an animal, which is 
 identified with the crocodile, is found in the lagoons and marshes of 
 the Southern Sea, at no fixed time. Its skin is made into drums. It 
 is very tenacious of life. Before it can be flayed quantities of boiling 
 water have to be poured down its throat. Another author states that 
 the crocodile is of a sleepy disposition, with the eyes (nearly) always 
 shut. It is of immense strength. It frequently dashes itself against 
 the river bank. Men dig them out of their caves. If a hundred men 
 dig them out, a hundred men will be required 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 that recently there were found 
 in the lakes and estuaries many animals resembling lizards and pango- 
 lins in appearance, which utter dreadful cries during the night, to the 
 great terror of sailors. Shi Chan says crocodiles' dens are very deep, 
 and that bamboo ropes are baited in order to 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 he responds to the 
 striking of the watches of the night, which is called the crocodile drum, 
 or the crocodile watch. The common people, when they hear it, predict 
 rain. The nape of the neck is bright and glistening, more brilliant 
 than those of fish. It lays a large number of eggs, as many as a 
 hundred, which it sometimes eats. The people of the South appreciate 
 the flesh, and use it at marriage festivities. One author states that the 
 crocodile has twelve different varieties of delicious flesh ; but the tail, 
 like serpent's flesh, is very poisonous. The crocodile's flesh cures quite 
 a host of diseases. 
 
 THE JAN SHE, or SOUTHEEN SNAKE. (Mai-Teu-She= closed up 
 (concealed) head snake.) 
 
 Shi Chan says : " This snake is a reptile (having a wriggling motion). 
 Its body is immense, and its motion is wrig-wriggling (jan-jan)* and 
 slow ; hence its name, Jan-She. Another author says its scales have 
 hair like moustaches (jan). It lives in Kwangtung and Kwangsi 
 (literally, South of the Hills). Those that do not lift their head are 
 the true kind ; in this way they were called the ' Concealed Head 
 Snake.' " 
 
 * Jan-jan means a gradual but imperceptible advance. 
 
396 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 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 
 Kweicheu and Kwangcheu, towards the south, at Kaocheu and Hoiin. 
 At several places in the south of the Hills they are still found. Hung 
 King says the large ones (in their coils ?) are several fathoms in cir- 
 cumference. Those that walk without raising their heads are the 
 genuine ones. Those that conceal their heads are not genuine. Its 
 fat and gall can be mixed together. The large ones are more than a 
 foot in diameter and more than twelve feet long. It is a snake, but it 
 is short and bulky. Su Kung remarks that its form resembles a 
 mullet's and its head a crocodile's. Its tail is round and without scales. 
 It is very tenacious of life. The natives cut up its flesh into slices, and 
 esteem it as a great delicacy. Another says : When steeped in vinegar 
 the slices curl round the chop-sticks, and cannot be released ; but 
 when the chop- sticks are made of grass stems (mong'tsd), then it is 
 practicable. 
 
 Another says : " This snake is a hundred and forty-four feet long ; 
 it often swallows a deer. When the deer is completely digested, then 
 it coils round a tree, when the bones of the deer in the stomach pro- 
 trude through the interstices of the scales. . . . If a woman's dress is 
 thrown towards it, it will coil round and will not stir." 
 
 Shi Chan, quoting "The Wonderful Eecords," says: "The boa is 
 sixty to seventy feet long, and four to five feet in circumference; the 
 smaller ones from thirty-six to forty-eight feet long. Their bodies are 
 striped like a piece of embroidery. In spring and summer it frequents 
 the recesses of forests, waiting for the deer, to devour them. When 
 the deer is digested the boa becomes fat. Someone says that it will 
 eat a deer every year." 
 
 Another author says : " The boa, when it devours a deer or wild 
 boar, begins with the hind legs. The poisonous breath of the boa 
 comes in contact with the horns ; these fall off. The galls, the smaller 
 they are the better they are." Another says : " Boas abound in Wang 
 Cheu (Kwangsi). The large ones are more than a hundred and forty 
 feet long. They devour deer, reducing the horns and bones to a pulp. 
 The natives use the dolishos and rattans to fill up the entrance to its 
 den. The snake, when it smells them, becomes torpid. They then dig 
 him out. Its flesh is a great delicacy. Its skin may be made into a 
 drum, and for ornamenting swords, and for making musical instru- 
 ments." 
 
 The Tu Hang Chi says : "Eustic soldiers in Kwangsi, when capturing 
 boas, stick flowers in their heads, which when the snake observes, it 
 cannot move. They then come up to it and cut off its head. They then 
 wait till it exhausts itself by its jumping about and dies. They then take 
 it home and feast on it." Compare .ZBlian \_De Naturd Animalium, lib. 
 vi. chap, xxi.] : " They hung before the mouth of the Dragon's den a 
 
APPENDIX VII. 397 
 
 piece of stuff flowered with gold, which attracted the eyes of the beast, 
 till by the sound of soft music they lulled him to sleep, and then cut 
 off his head." 
 
 The Hhan Hai King says : " The Pa snake can eat an elephant, the 
 bones of which, after three years, are got rid of. Gentlemen that eat 
 of this snake will be proof against consumption." Kwoh P'oh, in his 
 commentary, says the boa of to-day is identical with the Pa snake. 
 
398 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 APPENDIX VIII. 
 
 EXTEACT FROM THE "YUEN KEEN LEI HAN." 
 THE DRAGON. CHAP. I. 
 
 The Shwoh Wan says : " The dragon is the chief of scaly reptiles : in 
 the spring he mounts the heavens, in the autumn he frequents the 
 streams. This is favourable." Again, " When the dragon walks he is 
 called sah, when he flies he is a yao" 
 
 The Kwang Ya says : " When he has scales he is a Kiao* when he has 
 wings a Ying-Lung^ when horns a Kiu~Lung,$ without horns a Chili- 
 Lung. 
 
 The Ming Wuli Kiai of the Odes says the dragon has horns at five 
 hundred years, at one thousand years he is a Ying-Lung. 
 
 The P'i Ya Kwang Yao says : " The dragon has eighty-one scales. This 
 is nine times nine, nine is the yang (male principle). The dragon is 
 produced from an egg, in which he is enfolded." Again, it says that the 
 Nei Tien says : " Dragon-fire comes in contact with moisture and there 
 is smoke, with water and it is consumed (i.e. a man may extinguish it 
 with water)." 
 
 The Fang Yen says : " Before the dragon has ascended to heaven he is 
 a P'an Lung." The Yih King says : " When his clouds move the rain 
 falls, and the various things put forth their forms at the time he rides 
 upon the six dragons and ascends the heavens." " The first nine : 
 The hidden dragon is inactive. The diagram indicates that the subtile 
 ether is below. The second nine : When the dragon is seen in the 
 
 * Defined by Williams " as the dragon of morasses and thickets, which has scales and 
 no horn, corresponding very nearly to the fossil iguanodon." Vide the description 
 (ante) from the Pan-Tsaou-Kang-mu, &c. 
 
 f Ying correct, true. 
 
 J According to Williams, this is a young dragon without a horn, although others, as 
 in the text, say with one. 
 
 P'an to curl up, to coil. 
 
APPENDIX VIII. 399 
 
 fields it is profitable to meet the great man. The diagram indicates 
 that virtue is extended. Fifth nine : The flying dragon appears in the 
 heavens : The diagram indicates the great man creates." Again, " The 
 dragons contend in the wilds, their blood is azure and yellow." Again, 
 " Thunder is a dragon." 
 
 The Yuen-Ming- Pao section of the Ch'un ts'iu says : " The dragons 
 begin to speak, yin and yang* are commingled" ; thence, it is said, the 
 dragon ascends and clouds are multiplied. The Yih King, in all the 
 diagrams, clearly says : " The summer winds arise and the dragon 
 mounts the skies." 
 
 In the Yuen-Shdn-K ( i of the Hiao King it is said : " Virtue approaches 
 the fountains and the yellow dragon appears. It is the Prince's 
 image." 
 
 In the " Tso-K'i " of the Hiao King it is said : " The Emperor is filial, 
 the heavenly dragon bears the plans and the earthly tortoise issues a 
 book." The Ho-t l u says : " Yellow gold after one thousand years pro- 
 duces a yellow dragon, azure gold after one thousand years, the azure 
 dragon ; red and white dragon is also thus. Black gold after one thou- 
 sand years produces the black dragon." 
 
 The Twan-ying-t'u says : " The yellow dragon is the chief of the four 
 dragons, 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 drain 
 the pool and catch him. His intelligence and virtue are unfathomable ; 
 moreover he ensures the peaceful air, and sports in the pools." Again, 
 it says : " The yellow dragon does not go in company, and does not live 
 in herds. He certainly waits for the wind and rain, and disports himself 
 in the azure air. He wanders in the wilds beyond the heavens. He 
 goes and comes, fulfilling the decree ; at the proper seasons if there is 
 perfection he comes forth, if not he remains (unseen)." 
 
 The Shi Ki says : " The bright moon pearl is concealed in the oyster, 
 the dragon is there." 
 
 Books of the after Wei dynasty say, " Persia has three pools." They 
 narrate that a dragon lives in the largest, his wife in the second, and 
 his child in the third. If travellers sacrifice, they can pass; if they do 
 not sacrifice they encounter many storms of wind and rain. 
 
 Lii-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, the 
 Kiao-Lung is brought forth." Han-Fei-shwoh-nan says : " Now as the 
 dragon is a reptile he can be brought under control and ridden.f But 
 below his throat are tremendous scales, projecting a foot. If a man 
 should come in contact with them he would be killed." 
 
 * The male and female principle. 
 
 f See the notices in the body of the work from the Shan Hai King. 
 
400 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 Kwan-tsz says : " The dragon's skin has five colours, and he moves like 
 a spirit ; he wishes to be small and he becomes like a silkworm ; great, 
 and he 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 his changing are not fixed, his rising and descending are undeter- 
 mined ; he is called a god (or spirit)." 
 
 Hwai-nan-tsz says : " The dragon ascends and the brilliant clouds 
 follow." Again, he says : " This Kiao-Lung is hidden in the streams, 
 and his eggs are 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). Man cannot see the dragon when he flies aloft. 
 He ascends, and wind and rain escort him." 
 
 The Tilling P'ien says : " Wings beautiful grow for the flying dragon ; 
 hair soft like that of a calf on the ying dragon ; scales only for the 
 Kiao-Lung. Only in pools is found the Sien-Lung" Chang-hang said : 
 "How the T$ ( ang-Lung meets the summer and aspires to the clouds, 
 and shakes his scales, accomplishing the season. He passes the winter 
 in the muddy water, and, concealed, he escapes harm." Pan-ku, answer- 
 ing Pin-hi, said : " The Ying-Lung hides in the lakes and pools. Fish 
 and turtle contemn him, and he does not observe it. He can exert his 
 skill and intelligence, and suddenly the clear sky appears. For this 
 reason the Ying-Lung, now crouching in the mud, now flying in the 
 heavens, appears to be divine." 
 
 Lun-hang says, "When the dragon is small, all the fish are small ; 
 this is divine." 
 
 Pao-poh-tz says : " There are self -existent dragons and there are 
 worms which are changed into dragons." Again, he says : " Among the 
 hills the Ch'an day, called the rain master, is a dragon." Hwai-nan- 
 tsz said : " The Ghuh-Lung is north of the goose gate concealed in the 
 Wei-U mountain." The Shan-hai-Jcing says the god of the Ohung-shan 
 is called Chuh-Lung. When he opens his eyes it is day, when he shuts 
 his eyes it is night. His body is three thousand li long. 
 
 The Shui-Jcing-chu says : " The Yulung considers the autumn days as 
 night. But the dragon descends in the autumn and hibernates in the 
 deep pools ; how then can he say that autumn is night ? " It also says : 
 " There is a Jivine dragon in the vermilion pools at Kiao-chew. When- 
 ever there was a drought, the village people obstructed the upper tribu- 
 taries of the pool, and many fish died ; the dragon became enraged at 
 such times, and caused much rain." 
 
 The Kwah-ti-t'u says : "At the dragon pool there is a hill with four 
 lofty sides, and within them is a pool seven hundred li square ; a herd 
 of dragons live there, and feed upon the many different kinds of trees. 
 
 # See the description of the dragon from the P'au-Tsaou-Kang->/m 
 
APPENDIX VIII. 401 
 
 It is beyond Hwui-ki forty-five thousand li." Again, it says : " If you 
 do not ride on a dragon you cannot reach the weak waters* of the Kwan- 
 lun hill." 
 
 The Poh- Wuh-Chi says : "If you soak the dragon's flesh in an acid 
 (and eat it), you can write essays." Again, it says : " The Tiao-sheh is 
 in form like a dragon, but smaller. It likes danger ; hence it is ap- 
 pointed to guard decayed timber." Again, it says : " The dragon lays 
 three eggs. The first is Ki-tiao. He goes ashore and cohabits with the 
 deer or deposits his semen at the water's edge, where it becomes 
 attached to passing boats or floating wood and branches. It appears 
 like a walnut, it is called Tsz-ckao flower, and constitutes what is men- 
 tioned in the Tao-ch'u as dragon-salt." Again, it says : " Below the 
 dragon-gate every year in the third month of spring, yellow carps, twof 
 fish, come from the sea, and all the streams, with speed to the contest. 
 But seventy-one can ascend the dragon- gate in a year ; when the first 
 one ascends the dragon- gate there is wind and rain. It is followed by 
 fire which burns his tail, and then he is a dragon." 
 
 The Shih-I-Ki says : " East of the hills 'of Fang-chang there is a 
 dragon plain where there are dragon skins and bones like a mountain : 
 spread out they would cover one thousand five hundred acres. To meet 
 him when he sloughs his bones is like the birth of a dragon. Or it is 
 said the dragons constantly wrangle at this place. It is enriched with 
 blood like flowing water." 
 
 The 8huh-I-Ki says : " In the Puning district there are the isles where 
 the dragons are buried. Fu-loo says the dragons shed their bones at 
 these isles, the water now contains many dragon-bones, in these moun- 
 tains, hills, peaks, and gorges. The dragons make the wind and rain. 
 There are dragons' bones everywhere, whether in the deep or shallow 
 places ; there are many in the ground. Teeth, horns, vertebral columns, 
 feet, it seems as though they are everywhere. The largest measure one 
 hundred feet or exceed one hundred feet. The smallest are two feet or 
 three or four inches. The bones 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 the dragon is a thousand years 
 old, he enters the mountains and casts his bones. Now there is a 
 dragon hill, from the midst of the hill issues the dragon's brains." 
 
 The K'ie-Lan Records at Loh-yang$ say : " You cannot trust the hills 
 in the west. They are too cold. There is snow both winter and 
 summer. In the hills there is a pool where a bad dragon lives ; long 
 ago some merchants rested near the pool, until the dragon became 
 enraged, abused, and killed them. A priest, Pan-T'o, heard of it, and, 
 leaving his seat to the pupils, went to the kingdom of Wuchang to 
 
 * Waters of such specific gravity that even a feather would sink. 
 
 t Probably a pair from each stream. 
 
 { In Foh-kien. 
 
 Probably equivalent to " abbot." 
 
402 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 learn the Po-lo-man incantations ; he mastered them in four years, 
 and returned to his seat. He went to the pool and invoked the 
 dragon. The dragon was transformed into p a man, repented, and fol- 
 lowed the king. The king then removed." Again, it says": " To the 
 west of the kingdom of Wuchang there is a pool in which the dragon 
 prince dwells. There is a monastery on the banks of the pool, in 
 which there are more than fifty priests. Whenever the dragon prince 
 does anything 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 
 monastery relies upon the dragon for food and clothing and the 
 means to assist people. Its name is ' Dragon Prince Monastery.' " 
 
 The Ts'i-ti records say there is a well in the city of Ch'ang-ping at 
 the brambles ; when the water is disturbed a spiritual dragon comes 
 and goes. So the city is called the dragon city. 
 
 The Shi-San-Tsin records say Ho-li has also the name Dragon 
 Gate. Great fish collect below it, in number one thousand. They 
 cannot ascend. If one ascends it is a dragon.v Those which do not 
 ascend are fish. Hence it is called the " Pao-sai-lung-man. (Great 
 carp ascend the dragon gate and become dragons ; those which do not 
 ascend prick the forehead and strike the cheek.) Again, it says : " The 
 Lung-sheu mountains are sixty li long ; the head enters the Wei waters, 
 the tail extends to the Fan streams. This head is two hundred feet 
 high ; his tail descends gradually to a height of fifty or sixty feet. It 
 is said that long ago a strange dragon came out from south of the 
 mountains to drink the Wei waters. The road he travelled became 
 mountain. Hence the name." 
 
 The Kiao-Cheu-Ki says : " In Kiao-chiat Fung-ki-hien there is a dyke 
 with a dragon gate ; the water is one hundred fathoms deep. Great 
 fish ascend this gate and become dragons. Those which cannot pass, 
 strike the cheek and puncture the forehead, until the blood flows. This 
 water is continually like the Vermilion pool." 
 
 The annals of Hwa-yang say : " Only at Wu-ch'ing district does the 
 earth meet the gate of heaven ; the dragon which mounts to heaven and 
 does not reach it, falls dead to this place, hence when excavating you 
 find dragon-bones." 
 
 The I-Tung-Ghi says : " Twenty li west of Lin-fung-hien is a stone 
 dragon, among the cliffs is a rock like a dragon. In a year of drought 
 wash it, and it rains." Again, it says : " At Yen-T'ang there is a pond 
 called Smoky Pond ; it is north-east of the city ten li. Its depth has 
 never been ascertained. It is reported that long ago a man caught a 
 white eel, and was about to cook it, when an old man said, 'This 
 is the dragon of 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 was submerged." 
 
APPENDIX VIII. 403 
 
 The Kwoh-Shi-Pu says : " At the time of the spring rains the carp ' 
 springs through the dragon gate and becomes transformed. At the 
 present time, in Fan-cheu of Shansi, there is a cave in the mountains ; 
 in it are many cast bones and horns of dragons. They are collected 
 for medicine, and are of five colours. It is recorded in the Ghw f en 
 that north of the Wu-t'ai hills, below the terrace, is Azure Dragon 
 Pool, about one-third of an acre in extent. The Buddhist books say 
 five hundred evil dragons are confined (here). Whenever it is mid-day 
 a thick mist gradually arises. A pure priest and candidates for the 
 priesthood may see it. If a nun or females approach then there is 
 great thunder, lightning, and tempest. If they come near the pool, he 
 certainly will belch forth poisonous breath and they will die at once. 
 Foreigners say that in Piolosz there is a spiritual dragon which goes 
 and comes among the granaries, When a servant comes for rice the 
 dragon vanishes. If the servant comes constantly for rice the dragon 
 does not suffer it. If there is no rice in the granaries, the servant wor- 
 ships the dragon, and the granaries are filled." 
 
 Yuin-Ghu-Tsih records: " If one sees a dragon's egg in the lake or 
 river there will certainly be a flood." 
 
 The Nan- Pu- Sin- Shu says : " The dragon's disposition is ferocious, 
 and he fears bees'- wax, loves jade, and the King-ts'mg delight to eat 
 the flesh of cooked sparrows. For this reason men who eat sparrows do 
 not cross the sea." 
 
 The Pah-mung-so-yen says : " The perverse dragon, when rain is 
 wanted, sneaks away into old trees or into the beams of houses. The 
 thunder god pulls him out." 
 
 Wu-ch'an-tsah-ch'ao says : " There is a great dragon which sloughed 
 his skin on the brink of the Great Lake. Insects come out from his 
 scaly armour. 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 these red 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 the fifth month is called the day of the separation of the dragons. 
 Therefore, in the fifth and sixth months, whenever there is thunder, and 
 the clouds crowd together, if they see a tail bent down, and stretching 
 to earth from among the clouds, moving like a serpent, they say, 
 ' The dragon is suspended.' " 
 
 Tsu-tz say : " The spiritual dragon leaves the water and dwells in the 
 dry place, and the mole, crickets, and ants annoy him." 
 
 Kung Sun Hung replied to Tung Fang Shoh, saying : " Before the 
 dragon has ascended he is of assort with fish and turtles ; after he has 
 ascended the heavens his scales cannot be seen." 
 
 Siu Tsung Yuen answered an inquirer, sayingj: " The Kiao-Lung 
 ascends to the heavenly fountain. He pervades the six regions (North, 
 
404 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 South, East, West, Above, Below). He moistens all things. Shrimps 
 and the leech cannot depart one foot from the water." 
 
 The Shwoh-Wan says: "The Kiao belongs to the dragon species. 
 When a fish attains three thousand six hundred [years ?] it becomes a 
 Kiao ; on attaining this much the dragon flies away." Again, it says : 
 " [Dragons] without horns are Kiao" 
 
 The P'i-Ya says : " The Kiao's bones are green, and they can bring 
 their heads and tails together and constrict anything ; hence they are 
 called Kiao. A popular name for them is ' the horse's lasso.' " Another 
 author says the Kiao's tail has fleshy rings ; they are able to compress 
 any creature, and then tear it with the head. 
 
 The Shuh-I-Ki says the eye-brows of a Kiao unite, and their uniting 
 is a proof that it is a Kiao. 
 
 The Siang-Shu (Book of Physiognomy) says that when the eye-brows 
 unite the epithet Kiao is applied, because the Kiao Shan has crossed 
 eye-brows. 
 
 The Yueh-kiu (Divisions of Seasons) says that the season of autumn 
 is unfavourable to the Kiao. 
 
 The Kia- Yu (Family Discourses) says that if a stream contains fish, 
 then no Kiao will stay in it. 
 
 Hwai-nan-tsze says that no two Kiao will dwell in one pool. 
 
 The Shan-Hai-King says the Kiao is like a dragon and snake, with a 
 small head and fine neck. The neck has white ornamentations on it. 
 The girth (?) is five cubits ; the eggs of the capacity of three catties ; 
 and it can swallow a man. 
 
405 
 
 APPENDIX IX, 
 
 APPENDIX TO THE CHAPTER ON THE SEA-SERPENT. 
 
 THE SHAN.* 
 
 " The Shan belongs to the snake species." 
 
 " The Tsah Ping Shu (Work on Military Science) says : ' In drilling 
 an army,f when you arrange it like the Shan expelling its breath, its 
 appearance is like that of a snake, but the waist is large ; below there 
 are scales, running backwards.' 
 
 " One says that its form is like that of the Ch'i-lung, which has ears 
 and horns and a mane of a red colour. When it exhales its breath, it 
 forms a cloud just like a palace or tower, looking as if its walls are 
 moving in a cloud of mist, or like a weary bird flying above. This makes 
 everyone feel very happy until the exhalation or snorting of the breath 
 is finished. 
 
 " There is a popular saying about building a Shan tower. When the 
 sky appears to rain you can see a resemblance of it. 
 
 " The Shi-Ki (Book of Odes or Classical Poetry) uses the expression, 
 The Shan's breath forms a tower ' ; it is in allusion to this. 
 
 " At the present day it is said that the Chi (a pheasant or francolinj) 
 and the snake copulate and produce the Shan. 
 
 11 The oily substance of Shan combined with wax makes the Chinese 
 wax candles, the fragrance of which, when burning, can be recognized 
 for one hundred feet in all directions ; and the smoke emitted from the 
 flame forms the appearance of a tower." 
 
 " The Pih Tan (Familiar Stories) says that at Tang-cheu (in Shan- 
 tung), in the midst of the sea, there are often clouds arise and appear 
 
 * Extract from the Yuen Keen Lei Han, vol. ccccxxxviii., p. 23. 
 
 f In drilling an army there are names for all positions of the army. Thus., the 
 general says : " Arrange yourselves like a snake, or like a dragon, or any other 
 imaginable shape." 
 
 J Williams gives this translation only, but I think there must be another meaning ; 
 probably some sort of reptile is indicated. 
 
406 MYTHICAL MONSTERS. 
 
 like the imperial palace, or towers of the city walls, and there is also an 
 appearance of people, carriages, and horses busily engaged [mirage?]. 
 They call this phenomenon l the market of the sea,' while others say it 
 is but the breath of the Shan Kiao. 
 
 " The Wu Lei Siang Kan Chi says the Shan is but another sort of 
 dragon, and can be found in some of the ponds and wells. They 
 throw out the air, forming rain as in the locality of Wu San Yin. 
 
 " The P'i Ya Kwang Yao says, when a snake transforms it becomes a 
 shtin, in the likeness of the Kiao, but without paws." 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 " The twelfth chapter of Ohing Kiiin Chw'en says that Hii Ching 
 Kiiin, author of the above book, met a youth, quite handsome in his 
 apparel. The youth pretended to be very modest, Hu Kiiin knowing all 
 the time that he was & Kiao in another form. So he told his followers, 
 ' I regret to think that the province of Kiang-si will often meet with 
 the misfortune of inundation if we do not exterminate that Kiao Shan, 
 and are not careful to prevent its escape.' But the Shan knew what Hu 
 Kiiin was saying, and gradually slipped away to a place called Sung-sha- 
 cheu, where he transformed himself into a yellow ox. But at the same 
 time Ching Kiiin also transformed himself into a black ox, tying a hand- 
 kerchief over his neck to distinguish him from the other ox, and ordered 
 his disciple, Shi Tai Tu, to use his sword, and thrust at the left thigh, 
 because he had entered within the city wall, in the western part 
 of which there is a well. By jumping this well he found a road to 
 Tau-cheu, and once more transformed himself into a handsome youth, 
 and by so doing got married to the 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 noble son-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. Then Ching 
 Kiiin, saying, ' The dangerous things of the rivers and the lake are old 
 devils, and they dare to transform themselves into human beings,' 
 ordered the son-in-law to transform himself into his original form, and 
 hid himself beneath the table. Then the* magistrate said, ' Kill this,' 
 and they did so. Then Kiiin sprinkled water on the two sons, and they 
 were immediately transformed into Shdn. [There must be children born 
 from the marriage. Translator.'] He advised Ku Yu that he must put 
 them away immediately, or the whole house would be in danger of 
 breaking." 
 
 " The Tai Ping Kwang Ki says that the lake of Wan Tun, at Fi Chi, 
 contains a Shdn which often fought with the Shan of Lake Su. Near 
 this lake is a place called Yao, where there lived a man called Ch'ang 
 Sing Shan, of great bravery, and an expert archer. He once dreamed 
 that a Shan snake was transformed into a Taouist, and then it said to 
 
APPENDIX IX. 407 
 
 him : ' I am endangered by the Shan of the lake of Lu. Can your 
 honour assist me ? if so I will reward you heavily. The tight white 
 chain is me.' Next day Sing Shan went with a youth of Yao to the 
 shore of the lake and dreamed. He waited until the waves rose and 
 the surf struck the shore, making a noise like thunder. He saw two 
 oxen coming, one with a white belly and legs ; then Sing Shan discharged 
 an arrow at it, and it turned out to be a Shan. The water immediately 
 turned into blood, and the Shan, after receiving the wound, tried to 
 return to the lake of Lu, but died before it reached there." 
 
 Kang Hi Dictionary. 
 
 " The Shan Kiao belongs to the Kiao species, and also has the appear- 
 ance of a snake. It has horns like a dragon ; the mane is red below the 
 waist ; all the scales are projecting. It eats swallows, and can emit an 
 air which appears like a tower. 
 
 " Again, any turtle when old enough may be called a Shan." 
 
LONDON : 
 PRINTED BY W. H. ALLEN AND CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE. S.W. 
 
DEPARTMENT 
 
 Library 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 1 -month cans may be renewed 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 LD 21A-40m-ll,'63 
 (E1602elO)476B 
 
re 27619 
 
 GENERAL LIBRARY - U.C. BERKELEY 
 
 6000885331 
 

 m