BOOK X.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. CHAP. 1. (1.)—THE OSTRICH. The history of the birds[2878] follows next, the very largest of which, and indeed almost approaching to the nature of quadrupeds, is the ostrich[2879] of Africa or[2880] Æthiopia. This bird exceeds in height a man sitting on horseback, and can surpass him in swiftness, as wings have been given to aid it in running; in other respects ostriches cannot be considered as birds, and do not raise themselves from the earth. They have cloven talons, very similar to the hoof[2881] of the stag; with these they fight, and they also employ them in seizing stones for the purpose of throwing[2882] at those who pursue them. They have the marvellous property of being able to digest[2883] every substance without distinction, but their stupidity[2884] is no less remarkable; for although the rest of their body is so large, they imagine, when they have thrust their head and neck into a bush, that the whole of the body is concealed. Their eggs[2885] are prized on account of their large size, and are employed as vessels for certain purposes, while the feathers of the wing and tail are used as ornaments for the crest and helmet of the warrior. CHAP. 2. (2.)—THE PHŒNIX. Æthiopia and India, more especially, produce[2886] birds of diversified plumage, and such as quite surpass all description. In the front rank of these is the phœnix,[2887] that famous bird of Arabia; though I am not quite sure that its existence is not all a fable. It is said that there is only one in existence in the whole world, and that that one has not been seen very often. We are told that this bird is of the size of an eagle,[2888] and has a brilliant golden plumage around the neck, while the rest of the body is of a purple colour; except the tail, which is azure, with long feathers intermingled of a roseate hue; the throat is adorned with a crest, and the head with a tuft of feathers. The first Roman who described this bird, and who has done so with the greatest exactness, was the senator Manilius, so famous for his learning; which he owed, too, to the instructions of no teacher. He tells us that no person has ever seen this bird eat, that in Arabia it is looked upon as sacred to the sun, that it lives five hundred and forty years,[2889] that when it becomes old it builds a nest of cassia and sprigs of incense, which it fills with perfumes, and then lays its body down upon them to die; that from its bones and marrow there springs at first a sort of small worm, which in time changes into a little bird: that the first thing that it does is to perform the obsequies of its predecessor, and to carry the nest entire to the city of the Sun near Panchaia,[2890] and there deposit it upon the altar of that divinity. The same Manilius states also, that the revolution of the great year[2891] is completed with the life of this bird, and that then a new cycle comes round again with the same characteristics as the former one, in the seasons and the appearance of the stars; and he says that this begins about mid-day of the day on which the sun enters the sign of Aries. He also tells us that when he wrote to the above effect, in the consulship[2892] of P. Licinius and Cneius Cornelius, it was the two hundred and fifteenth year of the said revolution. Cornelius Valerianus says that the phœnix took its flight from Arabia into Egypt in the consulship[2893] of Q. Plautius and Sextus Papinius. This bird was brought to Rome in the censorship of the Emperor Claudius, being the year from the building of the City, 800, and it was exposed to public view in the Comitium.[2894] This fact is attested by the public Annals, but there is no one that doubts that it was a fictitious phœnix only. CHAP. 3. (3.)—THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF EAGLES. Of all the birds with which we are acquainted, the eagle is looked upon as the most noble, and the most remarkable for its strength. There are six[2895] different kinds; the one called “melanaetos”[2896] by the Greeks, and “valeria” in our language, the least in size of them all, but the most remarkable for its strength, is of a blackish colour. It is the only one among all the eagles that feeds its young; for the others, as we shall mention just now, drive them away; it is the only one too that has neither cry nor murmur; it is an inhabitant of the mountains. The second kind is the pygargus,[2897] an inhabitant of the cities and plains, and distinguished by the whiteness of its tail. The third is the morphnos,[2898] which Homer also calls the “percnos,” while others, again, call it the “plangus” and the “anataria;” it is the second in size and strength, and dwells in the vicinity of lakes. Phemonoë, who was styled the “daughter of Apollo,” has stated that this eagle has teeth, but that it has neither voice nor tongue; she says also that it is the blackest of all the eagles, and has a longer tail than the rest; Bœus is of the same opinion. This eagle has the instinct to break the shell of the tortoise by letting it fall from aloft, a circumstance which caused the death of the poet Æschylus. An oracle, it is said, had predicted his death on that day by the fall of a house, upon which he took the precaution of trusting himself only under the canopy of the heavens. The fourth kind of eagle is the “percnopterus,”[2899] also called the “oripelargus;”[2900] it has much the appearance of the vulture, with remarkably small wings, while the rest of the body is larger than the others; but it is of a timid and degenerate nature, so much so, that even a raven can beat it. It is always famishing and ravenous, and has a plaintive murmuring cry. It is the only one among the eagles that will carry off the dead carcase; the others settle on the spot where they have killed their prey. The character of this species causes the fifth one to be known by the distinctive name of “gnesios,”[2901] as being the genuine eagle, and the only one of untainted lineage; it is of moderate size, of rather reddish colour, and rarely to be met with. The haliætus[2902] is the last, and is remarkable for its bright and piercing eye. It poises itself aloft, and the moment it catches sight of a fish in the sea below, pounces headlong upon it, and cleaving the water with its breast, carries off its prey. The eagle which we have mentioned as forming the third species, pursues the aquatic birds in the vicinity of standing waters: in order to make their escape they plunge into the water every now and then, until at length they are overtaken by lassitude and sleep, upon which the eagle immediately seizes them. The contest that takes place is really a sight worthy to be seen. The bird makes for the shore to seek a refuge, and especially if there should happen to be a bed of reeds there; while in the meantime the eagle endeavours to drive it away with repeated blows of its wings, and tumbles into the water in its attempts to seize it. While it is standing on the shore its shadow is seen by the bird, which immediately dives beneath, and then making its way in an opposite direction, emerges at some point at which it thinks it is the least likely to be looked for. This is the reason why these birds swim in flocks, for when in large numbers they are in no danger from the enemy; as by dashing up the spray with their wings they blind him. Again, it often happens that the eagle is not able to carry the bird aloft on account of its weight, and in consequence they both of them sink together. The haliætus, and this one only, beats its young ones while in an unfledged state, with its wings, and forces[2903] them from time to time to look steadily upon the rays of the sun; and if it sees either of them wink, or even its eye water, it throws it headlong out of the nest, as being spurious and degenerate, while, on the other hand, it rears the one whose gaze remains fixed and steady. The haliætus[2904] is not a species of itself, but is an eagle of mixed breed: hence their produce are of the species known as the ossifrage, from which again is produced the smaller vulture; while this in its turn produces the large vulture, which, however, is quite barren. Some writers add to the above a seventh kind, which they call the “bearded”[2905] eagle; the Tuscans, however, call it the ossifrage. CHAP. 4.—THE NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EAGLE. The first three and the fifth class of eagles employ in the construction of their aerie the stone aëtites,[2906] by some known as “gangites;” which is employed also for many remedial purposes, and is proof against the action of fire. This stone has the quality also, in a manner, of being pregnant, for when shaken, another stone is heard to rattle within, just as though it were enclosed in its womb; it has no medical properties, however, except immediately after it has been taken from the nest. Eagles build among rocks and trees; they lay three eggs, and generally hatch but two young ones, though occasionally as many as three have been seen. Being weary of the trouble of rearing both, they drive one of them from the nest: for just at this time the providential foresight of Nature has denied them a sufficiency of food, thereby using due precaution that the young of all the other animals should not become their prey. During this period, also, their talons become reversed, and their feathers grow white from continued hunger, so that it is not to be wondered at that they take a dislike to their young. The ossifrage, however, a kindred species, takes charge of the young ones thus rejected, and rears them with its own; but the parent bird still pursues them with hostility, even when grown up, and drives them away, as being its rivals in rapine. And indeed, under any circumstances, one pair of eagles requires a very considerable space of ground to forage over, in order to find sufficient sustenance; for which reason it is that they mark out by boundaries their respective allotments, and seek their prey in succession to one another. They do not immediately carry off their prey, but first deposit it on the ground, and it is only after they have tested its weight that they fly away with it. They die, not of old age, nor yet of sickness, or of hunger; but the upper part of the beak grows to such an extent, and becomes so curved, that they are unable to open it. They take the wing, and begin upon the labours of the chase at mid-day; sitting in idleness during the hours of the morning, until such time as the places[2907] of public resort are filled with people. The feathers of the eagle, if mixed with those of other birds, will consume them.[2908] It is said that this is the only bird that has never been killed by lightning; hence it is, that usage has pronounced it to be the armour-bearer of Jove. CHAP. 5. (4.)—WHEN THE EAGLE WAS FIRST USED AS THE STANDARD OF THE ROMAN LEGIONS. Caius Marius, in his second consulship, assigned the eagle exclusively to the Roman legions. Before that period it had only held the first rank, there being four others as well, the wolf, the minotaur, the horse, and the wild boar, each of which preceded a single division.[2909] Some few years before his time it had begun to be the custom to carry the eagle only into battle, the other standards being left behind in camp; Marius, however, abolished the rest of them entirely. Since then, it has been remarked that hardly ever has a Roman legion encamped for the winter, without a pair of eagles making their appearance at the spot. The first and second species of eagle, not only prey upon the whole of the smaller quadrupeds, but will attack deer even. Rolling in the dust, the eagle covers its body all over with it, and then perching on the antlers of the animal, shakes the dust into its eyes, while at the same time it beats it on the head with its wings, until the creature at last precipitates itself down the rocks. Nor, indeed, is this one enemy sufficient for it; it has still more terrible combats with the dragon,[2910] and the issue is much more doubtful, although the battle is fought in the air. The dragon seeks the eggs of the eagle with a mischievous avidity; while the eagle, in return, carries it off whenever it happens to see it; upon these occasions, the dragon coils itself about the wings of the bird in multiplied folds, until at last they fall to the earth together. CHAP. 6. (5.)—AN EAGLE WHICH PRECIPITATED ITSELF ON THE FUNERAL PILE OF A GIRL. There is a very famous story about an eagle at the city of Sestos. Having been reared by a little girl, it used to testify its gratitude for her kindness, first by bringing her birds, and in due time various kinds of prey: at last she died, upon which the bird threw itself on the lighted pile, and was consumed with her body. In memory of this event, the inhabitants raised upon the spot what they called an heroic monument,[2911] in honour of Jupiter and the damsel, the eagle being a bird consecrated to that divinity. CHAP. 7. (6.)—THE VULTURE. Of the vultures, the black ones[2912] are the strongest. No person has yet found a vulture’s nest: hence it is that there are some who have thought, though erroneously, that these birds come from the opposite hemisphere.[2913] The fact is, that they build their nest upon the very highest rocks; their young ones, indeed, are often to be seen, being generally two in number. Umbricius, the most skilful among the aruspices of our time, says that the vulture lays thirteen eggs,[2914] and that with one of these eggs[2915] it purifies the others and its nest, and then throws it away: he states also that they hover about for three[2916] days, over the spot where carcases are about to be found. CHAP. 8. (7.)—THE BIRDS CALLED SANGUALIS AND IMMUSULUS. There has been considerable argument among the Roman augurs about the birds known as the “sangualis” and the “immusulus.” Some persons are of opinion that the immusulus is the young of the vulture, and the sangualis that of the ossifrage. Massurius says,[2917] that the sangualis is the same as the ossifrage, and that the immusulus is the young of the eagle, before the tail begins to turn white. Some persons have asserted that these birds have not been seen at Rome since the time of the augur Mucius; for my part, I think it much more likely, that, amid that general heedlessness as to all knowledge, which has of late prevailed, no notice has been taken of them. CHAP. 9. (8.)—HAWKS. THE BUTEO. We find no less than sixteen[2918] kinds of hawks mentioned; among these are the ægithus, which is lame[2919] of one leg, and is looked upon as the most favourable omen for the augurs on the occasion of a marriage, or in matters connected with property in the shape of cattle: the triorchis also, so called from the number of its testicles,[2920] and to which Phemonoë has assigned the first rank in augury. This last is by the Romans known as the “buteo;” indeed there is a family[2921] that has taken its surname from it, from the circumstance of this bird having given a favourable omen by settling upon the ship of one of them when he held a command. The Greeks call one kind[2922] “epileus;” the only one, indeed, that is seen at all seasons of the year, the others taking their departure in the winter. The various kinds are distinguished by the avidity with which they seize their prey; for while some will only pounce on a bird while on the ground, others will only seize it while hovering round the trees, others, again, while it is perched aloft, and others while it is flying in mid air. Hence it is that pigeons, on seeing them, are aware of the nature of the danger to which they are exposed, and either settle on the ground or else fly upwards, instinctively protecting themselves by taking due precautions against their natural propensities. The hawks of the whole of Massæsylia, breed in Cerne,[2923] an island of Africa, lying in the ocean; and none of the kinds that are accustomed to those parts will breed anywhere else. CHAP. 10.—IN WHAT PLACES HAWKS AND MEN PURSUE THE CHASE IN COMPANY WITH EACH OTHER. In the part of Thrace which lies above Amphipolis, men[2924] and hawks go in pursuit of prey, in a sort of partnership as it were; for while the men drive the birds from out of the woods and the reed-beds, the hawks bring them down as they fly; and after they have taken the game, the fowlers share it with them. It has been said, that when sent aloft, they will pick[2925] out the birds that are wanted, and that when the opportune moment for taking them has come, they invite the fowler to seize the opportunity by their cries and their peculiar mode of flying. The sea-wolves, too, in the Palus Mæotis, do something of a very similar nature; but if they do not receive their fair share from the fishermen, they will tear their nets as they lie extended.[2926] Hawks will not[2927] eat the heart of a bird. The night-hawk is called cybindis;[2928] it is rarely found, even in the woods, and in the day-time its sight is not good; it wages war to the death with the eagle, and they are often to be found clasped in each other’s talons. CHAP. 11. (9.)—THE ONLY BIRD THAT IS KILLED BY THOSE OF ITS OWN KIND.—A BIRD THAT LAYS ONLY ONE EGG. The cuckoo seems to be but another form of the hawk,[2929] which at a certain season of the year changes its shape; it being the fact that during this period no other hawks are to be seen, except, perhaps, for a few days only; the cuckoo, too, itself is only seen for a short period in the summer, and does not make its appearance after. It is the only one among the hawks that has not hooked talons; neither is it like the rest of them in the head, or, indeed, in any other respect, except the colour only, while in the beak it bears a stronger resemblance to the pigeon. In addition to this, it is devoured by the hawk, if they chance at any time to meet; this being the only one among the whole race of birds that is preyed upon by those of its own kind. It changes its voice also with its appearance, comes out in the spring, and goes into retirement at the rising of the Dog-star. It always lays its eggs in the nest of another bird, and that of the ring-dove[2930] more especially,—mostly a single egg, a thing that is the case with no other bird; sometimes however, but very rarely, it is known to lay two. It is supposed, that the reason for its thus substituting its young ones, is the fact that it is aware[2931] how greatly it is hated by all the other birds; for even the very smallest of them will attack it. Hence it is, that it thinks its own race will stand no chance of being perpetuated unless it contrives to deceive them, and for this reason builds no nest of its own: and besides this, it is a very timid animal. In the meantime, the female bird, sitting on her nest, is rearing a supposititious and spurious progeny; while the young cuckoo, which is naturally craving and greedy, snatches away all the food from the other young ones, and by so doing grows plump and sleek, and quite gains the affections of his foster-mother; who takes a great pleasure in his fine appearance, and is quite surprised that she has become the mother of so handsome an offspring. In comparison with him, she discards her own young as so many strangers, until at last, when the young cuckoo is now able to take the wing, he finishes by devouring[2932] her. For sweetness of the flesh, there is not a bird in existence to be compared to the cuckoo at this season. CHAP. 12. (10.)—THE KITE. The kite, which belongs to the same genus, is distinguished from the rest of the hawks by its larger size. It has been remarked of this bird, extremely ravenous as it is, and always craving, that it has never been known to seize any food either from among funereal oblations or from the altar of Jupiter at Olympia; nor yet, in fact, does it ever seize any of the consecrated viands from the hands of those who are carrying them; except where some misfortune is presaged for the town that is offering the sacrifice. These birds seem to have taught man the art of steering, from the motion of the tail, Nature pointing out by their movements in the air the method required for navigating the deep. Kites also disappear during the winter months, but do not take their departure before the swallow. It is said, also, that after the summer solstice they are troubled with the gout. CHAP. 13. (11.)—THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. The first distinctive characteristic among birds is that which bears reference more especially to their feet: they have either hooked talons, or else toes, or else, again, they belong to the web-footed class, geese for instance, and most of the aquatic birds. Those which have hooked talons feed, for the most part, upon nothing but flesh. CHAP. 14. (12.)—CROWS. BIRDS OF ILL OMEN. AT WHAT SEASONS THEY ARE NOT INAUSPICIOUS. Crows, again, have another kind of food. Nuts being too hard for their beak to break, the crow flies to a great height, and then lets them fall again and again upon the stones or tiles beneath, until at last the shell is cracked, after which the bird is able to open them. This is a bird with a very ill-omened garrulity, though it has been highly praised by some.[2933] It is observed, that from the rising of the constellation Arcturus until the arrival of the swallow, it is but rarely to be seen about the sacred groves and temples of Minerva; in some places, indeed, not at all, Athens for instance.[2934] In addition to these facts, it is the only one that continues to feed its young for some time after they have begun to fly. The crow is most inauspicious at the time of incubation, or, in other words, just after the summer solstice. CHAP. 15.—THE RAVEN. All the other birds of the same kind drive their young ones from their nest, and compel them to fly; the raven, for instance, which not only feeds on flesh, but even drives its young, when able to fly, to a still greater distance. Hence it is that in small hamlets there are never more than two[2935] pairs to be found; and in the neighbourhood of Crannon, in Thessaly, never more than one, the parents always quitting the spot to give place to their offspring. There have been some differences observed between this and the bird last mentioned. Ravens breed before the summer solstice, and continue in bad health for sixty days—being afflicted with a continual thirst more particularly—before the ripening of the fig in autumn; while, on the other hand, the crow is attacked by disease after that period. The raven lays, at most, but five eggs. It is a vulgar belief, that they couple, or else lay, by means of the beak; and that, consequently, if a pregnant woman happens to eat a raven’s egg, she will be delivered by the mouth. It is also believed, that if the eggs are even so much as brought beneath the roof, a difficult labour will be the consequence. Aristotle denies it, and assures us in all good faith that there is no more truth in this than in the same story about the ibis in Egypt; he says that it is nothing else but that same sort of billing that is so often seen in pigeons.[2936] Ravens are the only birds that seem to have any comprehension of the meaning of their auspices; for when the guests of Medus[2937] were assassinated, they all took their departure from Peloponnesus and the region of Attica. They are of the very worst omen when they swallow their voice, as if they were being choked. CHAP. 16.—THE HORNED OWL. The birds of the night also have crooked talons, such as the owlet,[2938] the horned owl, and the screech-owl, for instance; the sight of all of which is defective in the day-time. The horned owl is especially funereal, and is greatly abhorred in all auspices of a public nature: it inhabits deserted places, and not only desolate spots, but those of a frightful and inaccessible nature: the monster of the night, its voice is heard, not with any tuneful note, but emitting a sort of shriek. Hence it is that it is looked upon as a direful omen to see it in a city, or even so much as in the day-time. I know, however, for a fact, that it is not portentous of evil when it settles on the top of a private house. It cannot fly whither it wishes in a straight line, but is always carried along by a sidelong movement. A horned owl entered the very sanctuary of the Capitol, in the consulship of Sextus Palpelius Hister and L. Pedanius; in consequence of which, Rome was purified on the nones[2939] of March in that year. CHAP. 17. (13.)—BIRDS, THE RACE OF WHICH IS EXTINCT, OR OF WHICH ALL KNOWLEDGE HAS BEEN LOST. An inauspicious bird also is that known as the “incendiary;”[2940] on account of which, we find in the Annals, the City has had to be repeatedly purified; as, for instance, in the consulship of L. Cassius and C. Marius,[2941] in which year also it was purified, in consequence of a horned owl being seen. What kind of bird this incendiary bird was, we do not find stated, nor is it known by tradition. Some persons explain the term this way; they say that the name “incendiary” was applied to every bird that was seen carrying a burning coal from the pyre, or altar; while others, again, call such a bird a “spinturnix”;[2942] though I never yet found any person who said that he knew what kind of bird this spinturnix was. (14.) I find also that the people of our time are ignorant what bird it was that was called by the ancients a “clivia.” Some persons say that it was a clamatory, others, again, that it was a prohibitory, bird. We also find a bird mentioned by Nigidius as the “subis,” which breaks the eggs of the eagle. (15.) In addition to the above, there are many other kinds that are described in the Etruscan ritual, but which no one now living has ever seen. It is surprising that these birds are no longer in existence, since we find that even those kinds abound, among which the gluttony of man commits such ravages. CHAP. 18. (16.)—BIRDS WHICH ARE BORN WITH THE TAIL FIRST. Among foreigners, a person called Hylas is thought to have written the best treatise on the subject of augury. He informs us that the owlet, the horned owl, the woodpecker, which makes holes in trees, the trygon, and the crow, are produced from the egg with the tail[2943] first; for the egg, being turned upside down through the weight of the head of the chick, presents the wrong end to be warmed by the mother as she sits upon it. CHAP. 19. (17.)—THE OWLET. The owlet shows considerable shrewdness in its engagements with other birds; for when surrounded by too great a number, it throws itself on its back, and so, resisting with its feet, and rolling up its body into a mass, defends itself with the beak and talons; until the hawk, attracted by a certain natural affinity, comes to its assistance, and takes its share in the combat. Nigidius says, that the incubation of the owlet lasts sixty days, during the winter, and that it has nine different notes. CHAP. 20. (18.)—THE WOOD-PECKER OF MARS. There are some small birds also, which have hooked talons; the wood-pecker, for example, surnamed “of Mars,” of considerable importance in the auspices. To this kind belong the birds which make holes in trees, and climb stealthily up them, like cats; mounting with the head upwards, they tap against the bark, and learn by the sound whether or not their food lies beneath; they are the only birds that hatch their young in the hollows of trees. It is a common belief, that if a shepherd drives a wedge into their holes, they apply a certain kind of herb,[2944] immediately upon which it falls out. Trebius informs us that if a nail or wedge is driven with ever so much force into a tree in which these birds have made their nest, it will instantly fly out, the tree making a loud cracking noise the moment that the bird has lighted upon the nail or wedge. These birds have held the first rank in auguries, in Latium, since the time of the king[2945] who has given them their name. One of the presages that was given by them, I cannot pass over in silence. A woodpecker came and lighted upon the head of Ælius Tubero, the City prætor, when sitting on his tribunal dispensing justice in the Forum, and showed such tameness as to allow itself to be taken with the hand; upon which the augurs declared that if it was let go, the state was menaced with danger, but if killed, disaster would befall the prætor; in an instant he tore the bird to pieces, and before long the omen was fulfilled.[2946] CHAP. 21. (19.)—BIRDS WHICH HAVE HOOKED TALONS. Many birds of this kind feed also on acorns and fruit, but only those which are not carnivorous, with the exception of the kite; though when it feeds on anything but flesh, it is a bird of ill omen. The birds which have hooked talons are never gregarious; each one seeks its prey by itself. They nearly all of them soar to a great height, with the exception of the birds of the night, and more especially those of larger size. They all have large wings, and a small body; they walk with difficulty, and rarely settle upon stones, being prevented from doing so by the curved shape of their talons. CHAP. 22. (20.)—THE PEACOCK. We shall now speak of the second class of birds, which is divided into two kinds; those which give omens[2947] by their note, and those which afford presages by their flight. The variation of the note in the one, and the relative size in the other, constitute the differences between them. These last, therefore, shall be treated of first, and the peacock shall have precedence of all the rest, as much for its singular beauty as its superior instinct, and the vanity it displays. When it hears itself praised, this bird spreads out its gorgeous colours, and especially if the sun happens to be shining at the time, because then they are seen in all their radiance, and to better advantage. At the same time, spreading out its tail in the form of a shell, it throws the reflection upon the other feathers, which shine all the more brilliantly when a shadow is cast upon them; then at another moment it will contract all the eyes[2948] depicted upon its feathers in a single mass, manifesting great delight in having them admired by the spectator. The peacock loses its tail every year at the fall of the leaf, and a new one shoots forth in its place at the flower season; between these periods the bird is abashed and moping, and seeks retired spots. The peacock lives twenty-five years, and begins to show its colours in the third. By some authors it is stated that this bird is not only a vain creature, but of a spiteful disposition also, just in the same way that they attribute bashfulness to the goose.[2949] The characteristics, however, which they have thus ascribed to these birds, appear to me to be utterly unfounded. CHAP. 23.—WHO WAS THE FIRST TO KILL THE PEACOCK FOR FOOD.—WHO FIRST TAUGHT THE ART OF CRAMMING THEM. The orator Hortensius was the first Roman who had the peacock killed for table; it was on the occasion of the banquet given by him on his inauguration in the college of the priesthood. M. Aufidius Lurco[2950] was the first who taught the art of fattening them, about the time of the last war with the Pirates. From this source of profit he acquired an income of sixty thousand sesterces.[2951] CHAP. 24. (21.)—THE DUNGHILL COCK. Next after the peacock, the animal that acts as our watchman by night, and which Nature has produced for the purpose of arousing mortals to their labours, and dispelling their slumbers, shows itself most actuated by feelings of vanity. The cock knows how to distinguish the stars, and marks the different periods of the day, every three hours, by his note. These animals go to roost with the setting of the sun, and at the fourth watch of the camp recall man to his cares and toils. They do not allow the rising of the sun to creep upon us unawares, but by their note proclaim the coming day, and they prelude their crowing by clapping their sides with their wings. They exercise a rigorous sway over the other birds of their kind, and, in every place where they are kept, hold the supreme command. This, however, is only obtained after repeated battles among themselves, as they are well aware that they have weapons on their legs, produced for that very purpose, as it were, and the contest often ends in the death of both the combatants at the same moment. If, on the other hand, one of them obtains the mastery, he instantly by his note proclaims himself the conqueror, and testifies by his crowing that he has been victorious; while his conquered opponent silently slinks away, and, though with a very bad grace, submits to servitude. And with equal pride does the throng of the poultry yard strut along, with head uplifted and crest erect. These, too, are the only ones among the winged race that repeatedly look up to the heavens, with the tail, which in its drooping shape resembles that of a sickle, raised aloft: and so it is that these birds inspire terror even in the lion,[2952] the most courageous of all animals. Some of these birds, too, are reared for nothing but warfare and perpetual combats, and have even shed a lustre thereby on their native places, Rhodes and Tanagra. The next rank is considered to belong to those of Melos[2953] and Chalcis. Hence, it is not without very good reason that the consular purple of Rome pays these birds such singular honours. It is from the feeding of these creatures that the omens[2954] by fowls are derived; it is these that regulate[2955] day by day the movements of our magistrates, and open or shut to them their own houses, as the case may be; it is these that give an impulse to the fasces of the Roman magistracy, or withhold them; it is these that command battles or forbid them, and furnish auspices for victories to be gained in every part of the world. It is these that hold supreme rule over those who are themselves the rulers of the earth, and whose entrails and fibres are as pleasing to the gods as the first spoils of victory. Their note, when heard at an unusual hour or in the evening, has also its peculiar presages; for, on one occasion, by crowing the whole night through for several nights, they presaged to the Bœotians that famous victory[2956] which they gained over the Lacedæmonians; such, in fact, being the interpretation that was put upon it by way of prognostic, as this bird, when conquered, is never known to crow. CHAP. 25.—HOW COCKS ARE CASTRATED. A COCK THAT ONCE SPOKE. When castrated, cocks cease to crow. This operation is performed two different ways. Either the loins of the animal are seared with a red-hot iron, or else the lower part of the legs; after which, the wound is covered up with potter’s clay: this way they are fattened much more easily. At Pergamus,[2957] there is every year a public show of fights of game-cocks, just as in other places we have those of gladiators. We find it stated in the Roman Annals, that in the[2958] consulship of M. Lepidus and Q. Catulus a dung-hill cock spoke, at the farm-house of Galerius; the only occasion, in fact, that I know of. CHAP. 26. (22.)—THE GOOSE. The goose also keeps a vigilant guard; a fact which is well attested by the defence of the Capitol, at a moment when, by the silence of the dogs, the commonwealth had been betrayed:[2959] for which reason it is that the Censors always, the first thing of all, attend to the farming-out of the feeding of the sacred geese. What is still more, too, there is a love-story about this animal. At Ægium one is said to have conceived a passion for a beautiful boy, a native of Olenos,[2960] and another for Glauce, a damsel who was lute-player to King Ptolemy; for whom at the same time a ram is said also to have conceived a passion. One might almost be tempted to think that these creatures have an appreciation of wisdom:[2961] for it is said, that one of them was the constant companion of the philosopher, Lacydes, and would never leave him, either in public or when at the bath, by night or by day. CHAP. 27.—WHO FIRST TAUGHT US TO USE THE LIVER OF THE GOOSE FOR FOOD. Our people, however, are more wise; for they only esteem the goose for the goodness of its liver.[2962] When they are crammed, this grows to a very large size, and on being taken from the animal, is made still larger by being soaked in honeyed milk.[2963] And, indeed, it is not without good reason that it is matter of debate who it was that first discovered so great a delicacy; whether, in fact, it was Scipio Metellus, a man of consular dignity, or M. Seius, a contemporary of his, and a Roman of equestrian rank. However, a thing about which there is no dispute, it was Messalinus Cotta, the son of the orator Messala, who first discovered the art of roasting the webbed feet of the goose, and of cooking them in a ragout with cocks’ combs: for I shall faithfully award each culinary palm to such as I shall find deserving of it. It is a wonderful fact, in relation to this bird, that it comes on foot all the way from the country of the Morini[2964] to Rome; those that are tired are placed in the front rank, while the rest, taught by a natural instinct to move in a compact body, drive them on. A second income, too, is also to be derived from the feathers of the white goose. In some places, this animal is plucked twice a year, upon which the feathers quickly grow again. Those are the softest which lie nearest to the body, and those that come from Germany are the most esteemed: the geese there are white, but of small size, and are called gantæ.[2965] The price paid for their feathers is five denarii per pound. It is from this fruitful source that we have repeated charges brought against the commanders of our auxiliaries, who are in the habit of detaching whole cohorts from the posts where they ought to be on guard, in pursuit of these birds: indeed, we have come to such a pitch of effeminacy, that now-a-days, not even the men can think of lying down without the aid of the goose’s feathers, by way of pillow. CHAP. 28.—OF THE COMMAGENIAN MEDICAMENT. The part of Syria which is called Commagene, has discovered another invention also; the fat of the goose[2966] is enclosed with some cinnamon in a brazen vessel, and then covered with a thick layer of snow. Under the influence of the excessive cold, it becomes macerated, and fit for use as a medicament, remarkable for its properties: from the country which produces it, it is known to us as “Commagenum.”[2967] CHAP. 29.—THE CHENALOPEX, THE CHENEROS, THE TETRAO, AND THE OTIS. To the goose genus belong also the chenalopex,[2968] and the cheneros,[2969] a little smaller than the common goose, and which forms the most exquisite of all the dainties that Britannia provides for the table. The tetrao[2970] is remarkable for the lustre of its plumage, and its extreme darkness, while the eyelids are of a scarlet colour. Another species[2971] of this last bird exceeds the vulture in size, and is of a similar colour to it; and, indeed, there is no bird, with the exception of the ostrich, the body of which is of a greater weight; for to such a size does it grow, that it becomes incapable of moving, and allows itself to be taken on the ground. The Alps and the regions of the North produce these birds; but when kept in aviaries, they lose their fine flavour, and by retaining their breath, will die of mere vexation. Next to these in size are the birds which in Spain they call the “tarda,”[2972] and in Greece the “otis;” they are looked upon however as very inferior food; the marrow,[2973] when disengaged from the bones, immediately emits a most noisome smell. CHAP. 30. (23.)—CRANES. By the departure of the cranes, which, as we have already stated,[2974] were in the habit of waging war with them, the nation of the Pygmies now enjoys a respite. The tracts over which they travel must be immense, if we only consider that they come all the way from the Eastern Sea.[2975] These birds agree by common consent at what moment they shall set out, fly aloft to look out afar, select a leader for them to follow, and have sentinels duly posted in the rear, which relieve each other by turns, utter loud cries, and with their voice keep the whole flight in proper array. During the night, also, they place sentinels on guard, each of which holds a little stone in its claw: if the bird should happen to fall asleep, the claw becomes relaxed, and the stone falls to the ground, and so convicts it of neglect. The rest sleep in the meanwhile, with the head beneath the wing, standing first on one leg and then on the other: the leader looks out, with neck erect, and gives warning when required. These birds, when tamed, are very frolicsome, and even when alone will describe a sort of circle, as they move along, with their clumsy gait. It is a well-known fact, that these birds, when about to fly over the Euxine, first of all repair to the narrowest part of it, that lies between the two[2976] Promontories of Criumetopon and Carambis, and then ballast themselves with coarse sand. When they have arrived midway in the passage, they throw away the stones from out of their claws, and, as soon as they reach the mainland, discharge the sand by the throat. Cornelius Nepos, who died in the reign of the late Emperor Augustus, after stating that thrushes had been fattened for the first time shortly before that period, has added that storks were more esteemed as food than cranes: whereas at the present day, this last bird is one of those that are held in the very highest esteem, while no one will so much as touch the other. CHAP. 31.—STORKS. Up to the present time it has not been ascertained from what place the storks come, or whither they go when they leave us. There can be no doubt but that, like the cranes, they come from a very great distance, the cranes being our winter, the storks our summer, guests. When about to take their departure, the storks assemble at a stated place, and are particularly careful that all shall attend, so that not one of their kind may be left behind, with the exception of such as may be in captivity or tamed; and then on a certain day they set out, as though by some law they were directed to do so. No one has ever yet seen a flight of cranes taking their departure, although they have been often observed preparing to depart; and in the same way, too, we never see them arrive, but only when they have arrived; both their departure as well as their arrival take place in the night. Although, too, we see them flying about in all directions, it is still supposed that they never arrive at any other time but in the night. Pythonoscome[2977] is the name given to some vast plains of Asia, where, as they assemble together, they keep up a gabbling noise, and tear to pieces the one that happens to arrive the last; after which they take their departure. It has been remarked that after the ides of August,[2978] they are never by any accident to be seen there. There are some writers who assure us that the stork has no tongue. So highly are they esteemed for their utility in destroying serpents, that in Thessaly, it was a capital crime for any one to kill a stork, and by the laws the same penalty was inflicted for it as for homicide. CHAP. 32.—SWANS. Geese, and swans also, travel in a similar manner, but then they are seen to take their flight. The flocks, forming a point, move along with great impetus, much, indeed, after the manner of our Liburnian beaked galleys; and it is by doing so that they are enabled to cleave the air more easily than if they presented to it a broad front. The flight gradually enlarges in the rear, much in the form of a wedge, presenting a vast surface to the breeze, as it impels them onward; those that follow place their necks on those that go before, while the leading birds, as they become weary, fall to the rear. Storks return to their former nests, and the young, in their turn, support their parents when old. It is stated that at the moment of the swan’s death, it gives utterance to a mournful song;[2979] but this is an error, in my opinion, at least I have tested the truth of the story on several occasions. These birds will eat the flesh of one another. CHAP. 33.—FOREIGN BIRDS WHICH VISIT US; THE QUAIL, THE GLOTTIS, THE CYCHRAMUS, AND THE OTUS. Having spoken of the emigration of these birds over sea and land, I cannot allow myself to defer mentioning some other birds of smaller size, which have the same natural instinct: although in the case of those which I have already mentioned, their very size and strength would almost seem to invite them to such habits. The quail, which always arrives among us even before the crane, is a small bird, and when it has once arrived, more generally keeps to the ground than flies aloft. These birds fly also in a similar manner to those I have already spoken of, and not without considerable danger to mariners, when they come near the surface of the earth: for it often happens that they settle on the sails of a ship, and that too always in the night: the consequence of which is, that the vessel often sinks. These birds pursue their course along a tract of country with certain resting-places. When the south wind is blowing, they will not fly, as that wind is always humid, and apt to weigh them down. Still, however, it is an object with them to get a breeze to assist them in their flight, the body being so light, and their strength so very limited: hence it is that we hear them make that murmuring noise as they fly, it being extorted from them by fatigue. It is for this reason also, that they take to flight more especially when the north wind is blowing, having the ortygometra[2980] for their leader. The first of them that approaches the earth is generally snapped up by the hawk. When they are about to return from these parts, they always invite other birds to join their company, and the glottis, otus, and cychramus, yielding to their persuasions, take their departure along with them. The glottis[2981] protrudes a tongue of remarkable length, from which circumstance it derives its name: at first it is quite pleased with the journey, and sets out with the greatest ardour; very soon, however, when it begins to feel the fatigues of the flight, it is overtaken by regret, while at the same time it is equally as loth to return alone, as to accompany the others. Its travels, however, never last more than a single day, for at the very first resting-place they come to, it deserts: here too it finds other birds, which have been left behind in a similar manner in the preceding year. The same takes place with other birds day after day. The cychramus,[2982] however, is much more persevering, and is quite in a hurry to arrive at the land which is its destination: hence it is that it arouses the quails in the night, and reminds them that they ought to be on the road. The otus is a smaller bird than the horned owl, though larger than the owlet; it has feathers projecting like ears, whence its name. Some persons call it in the Latin language the “asio;”[2983] in general it is a bird fond of mimicking, a great parasite, and, in some measure, a dancer as well. Like the owlet, it is taken without any difficulty; for while one person occupies its attention, another goes behind, and catches it. If the wind, by its contrary blasts, should begin to prevent the onward progress of the flight, the birds immediately take up small stones, or else fill their throats with sand, and so contrive to ballast themselves as they fly. The seeds of a certain venomous plant[2984] are most highly esteemed by the quails as food; for which reason it is that they have been banished from our tables; in addition to which, a great repugnance is manifested to eating their flesh, on account of the epilepsy,[2985] to which alone of all animals, with the exception of man, the quail is subject. CHAP. 34. (24.)—SWALLOWS. The swallow, the only bird that is carnivorous among those which have not hooked talons, takes its departure also during the winter months; but it only goes to neighbouring countries, seeking sunny retreats there on the mountain sides; sometimes they have been found in such spots bare and quite unfledged. This bird, it is said, will not enter a house in Thebes, because that city has been captured so frequently; nor will it approach the country of the Bizyæ, on account of the crimes committed there by Tereus.[2986] Cæcina[2987] of Volaterræ, a member of the equestrian order, and the owner of several chariots, used to have swallows caught, and then carried them with him to Rome. Upon gaining a victory, he would send the news by them to his friends; for after staining them the colour[2988] of the party that had gained the day, he would let them go, immediately upon which they would make their way to the nests they had previously occupied. Fabius Pictor also relates, in his Annals, that when a Roman garrison was being besieged by the Ligurians, a swallow which had been taken from its young ones was brought to him, in order that he might give them notice, by the number of knots on a string tied to its leg, on what day succour would arrive, and a sortie might be made with advantage. CHAP. 35.—BIRDS WHICH TAKE THEIR DEPARTURE FROM US, AND WHITHER THEY GO; THE THRUSH, THE BLACKBIRD, AND THE STARLING—BIRDS WHICH LOSE THEIR FEATHERS DURING THEIR RETIREMENT—THE TURTLE-DOVE AND THE RING-DOVE—THE FLIGHT OF STARLINGS AND SWALLOWS. In a similar manner also, the blackbird, the thrush, and the starling take their departure to neighbouring countries; but they do not lose their feathers, nor yet conceal themselves, as they are often to be seen in places where they seek their food during the winter: hence it is that in winter, more especially, the thrush is so often to be seen in Germany. It is, however, a well-ascertained fact, that the turtle-dove conceals itself, and loses its feathers. The ring-dove, also, takes its departure: and with these too, it is a matter of doubt whither they go. It is a peculiarity of the starling to fly in troops, as it were, and then to wheel round in a globular mass like a ball, the central troop acting as a pivot for the rest. Swallows are the only birds that have a sinuous flight of remarkable velocity; for which reason it is that they are not exposed to the attacks of other birds of prey: these too, in fine, are the only birds that take their food solely on the wing. CHAP. 36. (25.)—BIRDS WHICH REMAIN WITH US THROUGHOUT THE YEAR; BIRDS WHICH REMAIN WITH US ONLY SIX OR THREE MONTHS; WITWALLS AND HOOPOES. The time during which birds show themselves differs very considerably. Some remain with us all the year round, the pigeon, for instance; some for six months, such as the swallow; and some, again, for three months only, as the thrush, the turtle-dove, and those which take their departure the moment they have reared their young, the witwall[2989] and the hoopoe, for instance. CHAP. 37. (26.)—THE MEMNONIDES. There are some authors who say that every year certain birds[2990] fly from Æthiopia to Ilium, and have a combat at the tomb of Memnon there; from which circumstance they have received from them the name of Memnonides, or birds of Memnon. Cremutius states it also as a fact, ascertained by himself, that they do the same every fifth year in Æthiopia, around the palace of Memnon. CHAP. 38.—THE MELEAGRIDES. In a similar manner also, the birds called meleagrides[2991] fight in Bœotia. They are a species of African poultry, having a hump on the back, which is covered with a mottled plumage. These are the latest among the foreign birds that have been received at our tables, on account of their disagreeable smell. The tomb, however, of Meleager has rendered them famous. CHAP. 39. (27.)—THE SELEUCIDES. Those birds are called seleucides, which are sent by Jupiter at the prayers offered up to him by the inhabitants of Mount Casius,[2992] when the locusts are ravaging their crops of corn. Whence they[2993] come, or whither they go, has never yet been ascertained, as, in fact, they are never to be seen but when the people stand in need of their aid. CHAP. 40. (28.)—THE IBIS. The Egyptians also invoke their ibis against the incursions of serpents; and the people of Elis, their god Myiagros,[2994] when the vast multitudes of flies are bringing pestilence among them; the flies die immediately the propitiatory sacrifice has been made to this god. CHAP. 41. (29.)—PLACES IN WHICH CERTAIN BIRDS ARE NEVER FOUND. With reference to the departure of birds, the owlet, too, is said to lie concealed for a few days. No birds of this last kind are to be found in the island of Crete, and if any are imported thither, they immediately die. Indeed, this is a remarkable distinction made by Nature; for she denies to certain places, as it were, certain kinds of fruits and shrubs, and of animals as well; it is singular that when introduced into these localities they will be no longer productive, but die immediately they are thus transplanted. What can it be that is thus fatal to the increase of one particular species, or whence this envy manifested against them by Nature? What, too, are the limits that have been marked out for the birds on the face of the earth? Rhodes[2995] possesses no eagles. In Italy beyond the Padus there is, near the Alps, a lake known by the name of Larius beautifully situate amid a country covered with shrubs; and yet this lake is never visited by storks, nor, indeed, are they ever known to come within eight miles of it; while, on the other hand, in the neighbouring territory of the Insubres[2996] there are immense flocks of magpies and jackdaws, the only[2997] bird that is guilty of stealing gold and silver, a very singular propensity. It is said that in the territory of Tarentum, the woodpecker of Mars is never found. It is only lately too, and that but very rarely, that various kinds of pies have begun to be seen in the districts that lie between the Apennines and the City; birds which are known by the name of “variæ,”[2998] and are remarkable for the length of the tail. It is a peculiarity of this bird, that it becomes bald every year at the time of sowing rape. The partridge does not fly beyond the frontiers of Bœotia, into Attica; nor does any bird, in the island[2999] in the Euxine in which Achilles was buried, enter the temple there consecrated to him. In the territory of Fidenæ, in the vicinity of the City, the storks have no young nor do they build nests: but vast numbers of ringdoves arrive from beyond sea every year in the district of Volaterræ. At Rome, neither flies nor dogs ever enter the temple of Hercules in the Cattle Market. There are numerous other instances of a similar nature in reference to all kinds of animals, which from time to time I feel myself prompted by prudent considerations to omit, lest I should only weary the reader. Theophrastus, for example, relates that even pigeons, as well as peacocks and ravens, have been introduced from other parts into Asia,[3000] as also croaking frogs[3001] into Cyrenaica. CHAP. 42.—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF BIRDS WHICH AFFORD OMENS BY THEIR NOTE—BIRDS WHICH CHANGE THEIR COLOUR AND THEIR VOICE. There is another remarkable fact too, relative to the birds which give omens by their note; they generally change their colour and voice at a certain season of the year, and suddenly become quite altered in appearance; a thing that, among the larger birds, happens with the crane only, which grows black in its old age. From black, the blackbird changes to a reddish colour, sings in summer, chatters in winter, and about the summer solstice loses its voice; when a year old, the beak also assumes the appearance of ivory; this, however, is the case only with the male. In the summer, the thrush is mottled about the neck, but in the winter it becomes of one uniform colour all over. CHAP. 43.—THE NIGHTINGALE. The song of the nightingale is to be heard, without intermission, for fifteen days and nights, continuously,[3002] when the foliage is thickening, as it bursts from the bud; a bird which deserves our admiration in no slight degree. First of all, what a powerful voice in so small a body! its note, how long, and how well sustained! And then, too, it is the only bird the notes of which are modulated in accordance with the strict rules of musical science.[3003] At one moment, as it sustains its breath, it will prolong its note, and then at another, will vary it with different inflexions; then, again, it will break into distinct chirrups, or pour forth an endless series of roulades. Then it will warble to itself, while taking breath, or else disguise its voice in an instant; while sometimes, again, it will twitter to itself, now with a full note, now with a grave, now again sharp, now with a broken note, and now with a prolonged one. Sometimes, again, when it thinks fit, it will break out into quavers, and will run through, in succession, alto, tenor, and bass: in a word, in so tiny a throat is to be found all the melody that the ingenuity of man has ever discovered through the medium of the invention of the most exquisite flute: so much so, that there can be no doubt it was an infallible presage of his future sweetness as a poet, when one of these creatures perched and sang on the infant lips of the poet Stesichorus. That there may remain no doubt that there is a certain degree of art in its performances, we may here remark that every bird has a number of notes peculiar to itself; for they do not, all of them, have the same, but each, certain melodies of its own. They vie with one another, and the spirit with which they contend is evident to all. The one that is vanquished, often dies in the contest, and will rather yield its life than its song. The younger birds are listening in the meantime, and receive the lesson in song from which they are to profit. The learner hearkens with the greatest attention, and repeats what it has heard, and then they are silent by turns; this is understood to be the correction of an error on the part of the scholar, and a sort of reproof, as it were, on the part of the teacher. Hence it is that nightingales fetch as high a price as slaves, and, indeed, sometimes more than used formerly to be paid for a man in a suit of armour. I know that on one occasion six thousand sesterces[3004] were paid for a nightingale, a white one it is true, a thing that is hardly ever to be seen, to be made a present of to Agrippina, the wife of the Emperor Claudius. A nightingale has been often seen that will sing at command, and take alternate parts with the music that accompanies it; men, too, have been found who could imitate its note with such exactness, that it would be impossible to tell the difference, by merely putting water in a reed held crosswise, and then blowing into it, a languette being first inserted, for the purpose of breaking the sound and rendering it more shrill.[3005] But these modulations, so clever and so artistic, begin gradually to cease at the end of the fifteen days; not that you can say, however, that the bird is either fatigued or tired of singing; but, as the heat increases, its voice becomes altogether changed, and possesses no longer either modulation or variety of note. Its colour, too, becomes changed, and at last, throughout the winter, it totally disappears. The tongue of the nightingale is not pointed at the tip, as in other birds. It lays at the beginning of the spring, six eggs at the most. CHAP. 44.—THE MELANCORYPHUS, THE ERITHACUS, AND THE PHŒNICURUS. The change is different that takes place in the ficedula,[3006] for this bird changes its shape as well as its colour. “Ficedula” is the name by which it is called in autumn, but not after that period; for then it is called “melancoryphus.”[3007] In the same manner, too, the erithacus[3008] of the winter is the “phœnicurus” of the summer. The hoopoe also, according to the poet Æschylus, changes its form; it is a bird that feeds upon filth[3009] of all kinds, and is remarkable for its twisted top-knot, which it can contract or elevate at pleasure along the top of the head. CHAP. 45.—THE ŒNANTHE, THE CHLORION, THE BLACKBIRD, AND THE IBIS. The œnanthe,[3010] too, is a bird that has stated days for its retreat. At the rising of Sirius it conceals itself, and at the setting of that star comes forth from its retreat: and this it does, a most singular thing, exactly upon both those days. The chlorion,[3011] also, the body of which is yellow all over, is not seen in the winter, but comes out about the summer solstice. (30.) The blackbird is found in the vicinity of Cyllene, in Arcadia, with white[3012] plumage; a thing that is the case nowhere else. The ibis, in the neighbourhood of Pelusium[3013] only is black, while in all other places it is white. CHAP. 46. (31.)—THE TIMES OF INCUBATION OF BIRDS. The birds that have a note, with the exception of those previously mentioned,[3014] do not by any chance produce their young before the vernal or after the autumnal equinox. As to the broods produced before the summer solstice, it is very doubtful if they will survive, but those hatched after it thrive well. CHAP. 47. (32.)—THE HALCYONES: THE HALCYON DAYS THAT ARE FAVOURABLE TO NAVIGATION. It is for this that the halcyon[3015] is more especially remarkable; the seas, and all those who sail upon their surface, well know the days of its incubation. This bird is a little larger than a sparrow, and the greater part of its body is of an azure blue colour, with only an intermixture of white and purple in some of the larger feathers, while the neck[3016] is long and slender. There is one kind that is remarkable for its larger size and its note; the smaller ones are heard singing in the reed-beds. It is a thing of very rare occurrence to see a halcyon, and then it is only about the time of the setting of the Vergiliæ, and the summer and winter solstices; when one is sometimes to be seen to hover about a ship, and then immediately disappear. They hatch their young at the time of the winter solstice, from which circumstance those days are known as the “halcyon days:” during this period the sea is calm and navigable, the Sicilian sea in particular. They make their nest during the seven days before the winter solstice, and sit the same number of days after. Their nests[3017] are truly wonderful; they are of the shape of a ball slightly elongated, have a very narrow mouth, and bear a strong resemblance to a large sponge. It is impossible to cut them asunder with iron, and they are only to be broken with a strong blow, upon which they separate, just like foam of the sea when dried up. It has never yet been discovered of what material they are made; some persons think that they are formed of sharp fish-bones, as it is on fish that these birds live. They enter rivers also; their eggs are five in number. CHAP. 48.—OTHER KINDS OF AQUATIC BIRDS. The sea-mew also builds its nest in rocks, and the diver[3018] in trees as well. These birds produce three at the very most; the sea-mew in summer, the diver at the beginning of spring. CHAP. 49. (33.)—THE INSTINCTIVE CLEVERNESS DISPLAYED BY BIRDS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THEIR NESTS. THE WONDERFUL WORKS OF THE SWALLOW. THE BANK-SWALLOW. The form of the nest built by the halcyon reminds me also of the instinctive cleverness displayed by other birds; and, indeed, in no respect is the ingenuity of birds more deserving of our admiration. The swallow builds its nest of mud, and strengthens it with straws. If mud happens to fail, it soaks itself with a quantity of water, which it then shakes from off its feathers into the dust. It lines the inside of the nest with soft feathers and wool, to keep the eggs warm, and in order that the nest may not be hard and rough to its young when hatched. It divides the food among its offspring with the most rigid justice, giving it first to one and then to another. With a remarkable notion of cleanliness, it throws out of the nest the ordure of the young ones, and when they have grown a little older, teaches them how to turn round, and let it fall outside of the nest. There is another[3019] kind of swallow, also, that frequents the fields and the country; its nest is of a different shape, though of the same materials, but it rarely builds it against houses. The nest has its mouth turned straight upwards, and the entrance to it is long and narrow, while the body is very capacious. It is quite wonderful what skill is displayed in the formation of it, for the purpose of concealing the young ones, and of presenting a soft surface for them to lie upon. At the Heracleotic Mouth of the Nile in Egypt, the swallows present an insuperable obstacle to the inroads of that river, in the embankment which is formed by their nests in one continuous line, nearly a stadium in length; a thing that could not possibly have been effected by the agency of man. In Egypt, too, near the city of Coptos, there is an island sacred to Isis. In the early days of spring, the swallows strengthen the angular corner of this island with chaff and straw, thus fortifying it in order that the river may not sweep it away. This work they persevere in for three days and nights together, with such unremitting labour, that it is a well-known fact that many of them die with their exertions. This, too, is a toil which recurs regularly for them every year. There is, again, a third kind[3020] of swallow, which makes holes in the banks of rivers, to serve for its nest. The young of these birds, reduced to ashes, are a good specific against mortal maladies of the throat, and tend to cure many other diseases of the human body. These birds do not build nests, and they take care to migrate a good many days before, if it so happens that the rise of the river is about to reach their holes. CHAP. 50.—THE ACANTHYLLIS AND OTHER BIRDS. Belonging to the genus of birds known as the “vitiparræ,” there is one[3021] whose nest is formed of dried moss,[3022] and is in shape so exactly like a ball, that it is impossible to discover the mouth of it. The bird, also, that is known as the acanthyllis,[3023] makes its nest of a similar shape, and interweaves it with pieces of flax. The nest of one of the woodpeckers, very much like a cup in shape, is suspended by a twig from the end of the branch of a tree, so that no quadruped may be able to reach it. It is strongly asserted, that the witwall[3024] sleeps suspended by its feet, because it fancies that by doing so it is in greater safety. A thing, indeed, that is well-known of them all, is the fact that, in a spirit of foresight, they select the projecting branches of trees that are sufficiently strong, for the purpose of supporting their nests, and then arch them over to protect them from the rain, or else shield them by means of the thickness of the foliage. In Arabia there is a bird known as the “cinnamolgus.”[3025] It builds its nest with sprigs of cinnamon; and the natives knock them down with arrows loaded with lead, in order to sell them. In Scythia there is a bird, the size of the otis, which produces two young ones always, in a hare’s skin suspended[3026] from the top branches of a tree. Pies, when they have observed a person steadily gazing at their nest, will immediately remove their eggs to another place. This is said to be accomplished in a truly wonderful manner, by such birds as have not toes adapted for holding and removing their eggs. They lay a twig upon two eggs, and then solder them to it by means of a glutinous matter secreted from their body; after which, they pass their neck between the eggs, and so forming an equipoise, convey them to another place. CHAP. 51.—THE MEROPS—PARTRIDGES. No less, too, is the shrewdness displayed by those birds which make their nests upon the ground, because, from the extreme weight of their body, they are unable to fly aloft. There is a bird, known as the “merops,”[3027] which feeds its parents in their retreat: the colour of the plumage on the inside is pale, and azure without, while it is of a somewhat reddish hue at the extremity of the wings: this bird builds its nest in a hole which it digs to the depth of six feet. Partridges[3028] fortify their retreat so well with thorns and shrubs, that it is effectually protected against beasts of prey. They make a soft bed for their eggs by burying them in the dust, but do not hatch them where they are laid: that no suspicion may arise from the fact of their being seen repeatedly about the same spot, they carry them away to some other place. The females also conceal themselves from their mates, in order that they may not be delayed in the process of incubation, as the males, in consequence of the warmth of their passions, are apt to break the eggs. The males, thus deprived of the females, fall to fighting among themselves; and it is said that the one that is conquered, is treated as a female by the other. Trogus Pompeius tells us that quails and dunghill cocks sometimes do the same; and adds, that wild partridges, when newly caught, or when beaten by the others, are trodden promiscuously by the tame ones. Through the very pugnacity thus inspired by the strength of their passions, these birds are often taken, as the leader of the whole covey frequently advances to fight with the decoy-bird of the fowler; as soon as he is taken, another and then another will advance, all of which are caught in their turn. The females, again, are caught about the pairing season; for then they will come forward to quarrel with the female decoy-bird of the fowler, and so drive her away. Indeed, in no other animal is there any such susceptibility in the sexual feelings; if the female only stands opposite to the male, while the wind is blowing from that direction, she[3029] will become impregnated; and during this time she is in a state of the greatest excitement, the beak being wide open and the tongue thrust out. The female will conceive also from the action of the air, as the male flies above her, and very often from only hearing his voice: indeed, to such a degree does passion get the better of her affection for her offspring, that although at the moment she is sitting furtively and in concealment, she will, if she perceives the female decoy-bird of the fowler approaching her mate, call him back, and summon him away from the other, and voluntarily submit to his advances. Indeed, these birds are often carried away by such frantic madness, that they will settle, being quite blinded by fear,[3030] upon the very head of the fowler. If he happens to move in the direction of the nest, the female bird that is sitting will run and throw herself before his feet, pretending to be over-heavy, or else weak in the loins, and then, suddenly running or flying for a short distance before him, will fall down as though she had a wing broken, or else her feet; just as he is about to catch her, she will then take another fly, and so keep baffling him in his hopes, until she has led him to a considerable distance from her nest. As soon as she is rid of her fears, and free from all maternal disquietude, she will throw herself on her back in some furrow, and seizing a clod of earth with her claws, cover herself all over. It is supposed that the life of the partridge extends to sixteen years. CHAP. 52. (34.)—PIGEONS. Next to the partridge, it is in the pigeon that similar tendencies are to be seen in the same respect: but then, chastity is especially observed by it, and promiscuous intercourse is a thing quite unknown. Although inhabiting a domicile in common with others, they will none of them violate the laws of conjugal fidelity: not one will desert its nest, unless it is either widower or widow. Although, too, the males are very imperious, and sometimes even extremely exacting, the females put up with it: for in fact, the males sometimes suspect them of infidelity, though by nature they are incapable of it. On such occasions the throat of the male seems quite choked with indignation, and he inflicts severe blows with the beak: and then afterwards, to make some atonement, he falls to billing, and by way of pressing his amorous solicitations, sidles round and round the female with his feet. They both of them manifest an equal degree of affection for their offspring; indeed, it is not unfrequently that this is a ground for correction, in consequence of the female being too slow in going to her young. When the female is sitting, the male renders her every attention that can in any way tend to her solace and comfort. The first thing that they do is to eject from the throat some saltish earth, which they have digested, into the mouths of the young ones, in order to prepare them in due time to receive their nutriment. It is a peculiarity of the pigeon and of the turtle-dove, not to throw back the neck when drinking, but to take in the water at a long draught, just as beasts of burden do. (35.) We read in some authors that the ring-dove lives so long as thirty years, and sometimes as much as forty, without any other inconvenience than the extreme length of the claws, which with them, in fact, is the chief mark of old age; they can be cut, however, without any danger. The voice of all these birds is similar, being composed of three notes, and then a mournful noise at the end. In winter they are silent, and they only recover their voice in the spring. Nigidius expresses it as his opinion that the ring-dove will abandon the place, if she hears her name mentioned under the roof where she is sitting on her eggs: they hatch their young just after[3031] the summer solstice. Pigeons and turtle-doves live eight years. (36.) The sparrow, on the other hand, which has an equal degree of salaciousness, is short-lived in the extreme. It is said that the male does not live beyond a year; and as a ground for this belief, it is stated that at the beginning of spring, the black marks are never to be seen upon the beak which began to appear in the summer. The females, however, are said to live somewhat longer. Pigeons have even a certain appreciation of glory. There is reason for believing that they are well aware of the colours of their plumage, and the various shades which it presents, and even in their very mode of flying they court our applause, as they cleave the air in every direction. It is, indeed, through this spirit of ostentation that they are handed over, fast bound as it were, to the hawk; for from the noise that they make, which, in fact, is only produced by the flapping of their wings, their long feathers become twisted and disordered: otherwise, when they can fly without any impediment, they are far swifter in their movements than the hawk. The robber, lurking amid the dense foliage, keeps on the look-out for them, and seizes them at the very moment that they are indulging their vainglorious self-complaisance. (37.) It is for this reason that it is necessary to keep along with the pigeons the bird that is known as the “tinnunculus;”[3032] as it protects them, and by its natural superiority scares away the hawk: so much so, indeed, that the hawk will vanish at the very sight of it, and the instant it hears its voice. Hence it is that the pigeons have an especial regard for this bird; and, it is said, if one of these birds is buried at each of the four corners of the pigeon-house in pots that have been newly glazed, the pigeons will not change their abode—a result which has been obtained by some by cutting a joint of their wings with an instrument of gold; for if any other were used, the wounds would be not unattended with danger.—The pigeon in general may be looked upon as a bird fond of change; they have the art, too, among themselves of gaining one another over, and so seducing their companions: hence it is that we frequently find them return attended by others which they have enticed away. CHAP. 53.—WONDERFUL THINGS DONE BY THEM; PRICES AT WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN SOLD. 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[3033] fastened to pigeons’ feet. Of what use to Antony then were his intrenchments, 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? Many persons have quite a mania for pigeons—building towns for them on the top of their roofs, and taking a pleasure in relating the pedigree and noble origin of each. Of this there is an ancient instance that is very remarkable; L. Axius, a Roman of the equestrian order, shortly before the Civil War of Pompeius, sold a single pair for four hundred denarii, as we learn from the writings of M. Varro.[3034] Countries even have gained renown for their pigeons; it is thought that those of Campania attain the largest size. CHAP. 54. (38.)—DIFFERENT MODES OF FLIGHT AND PROGRESSION IN BIRDS. The flight of the pigeon also leads me to consider that of other birds as well. All other animals have one determinate mode of progression, which in every kind is always the same; it is birds alone that have two modes of moving—the one on the ground, the other in the air. Some of them walk, such as the crow, for instance; some hop, as the sparrow and the blackbird; some, again, run, as the partridge and the woodhen; while others throw one foot before the other, the stork and the crane, for instance. Then again, in their flight, some birds expand their wings, and, poising themselves in the air, only move them from time to time; others move them more frequently, but then only at the extremities; while others expand them so as to expose the whole of the side. On the other hand, some fly with the greater part of the wings kept close to the side; and some, after striking the air once, others twice, make their way through it, as though pressing upon it enclosed beneath their wings; other birds dart aloft in a vertical direction, others horizontally, and others come falling straight downwards. You would almost think that some had been hurled upwards with a violent effort, and that others, again, had fallen straight down from aloft; while others are seen to spring forward in their flight. Ducks alone, and the other birds of that kind, in an instant raise themselves aloft, taking a spring from the spot where they stand straight upwards towards the heavens; and this they can do from out of the water even; hence it is that they are the only birds that can make their escape from the pitfalls which we employ for the capture of wild beasts. The vulture and the heavier wild birds can only fly after taking a run, or else by commencing their flight from an elevated spot. They use the tail by way of rudder. There are some birds that are able to see all around them; others, again, have to turn the neck to do so. Some of them eat what they have seized, holding it in their feet. Many, as they fly, utter some cry; while on the other hand, many, in their flight, are silent. Some fly with the breast half upright, others with it held downwards, others fly obliquely, or else side-ways, and others following the direction of the bill. Some, again, are borne along with the head upwards; indeed the fact is, that if we were to see several kinds at the same moment, we should not suppose that they have to make their way in the same element. CHAP. 55. (39.)—THE BIRDS CALLED APODES, OR CYPSELI. Those birds which are known as “apodes”[3035] fly the most of all, because they are deprived of the use of their feet. By some persons they are called “cypseli.” They are a species of swallow which build their nests in the rocks, and are the same birds that are to be seen everywhere at sea; indeed, however far a ship may go, however long its voyage, and however great the distance from land, the apodes never cease to hover around it. Other birds settle and come to a stand, whereas these know no repose but in the nest; they are always either on the wing or else asleep. CHAP. 56. (40.)—RESPECTING THE FOOD OF BIRDS—THE CAPRIMULGUS, THE PLATEA. The instincts, also, of birds are no less varied, and more especially in relation to their food. “Caprimulgus”[3036] is the name of a bird, which is to all appearance a large blackbird; it thieves by night, as it cannot see during the day. It enters the folds of the shepherds, and makes straight for the udder of the she-goat, to suck the milk. Through the injury thus inflicted the udder shrivels away, and the goat that has been thus deprived of its milk, is afflicted with incipient blindness. “Platea”[3037] is the name of another, which pounces upon other birds when they have dived in the sea, and, seizing the head with its bill, makes them let go their prey. This bird also swallows and fills itself with shell-fish, shells and all; after the natural heat of its crop has softened them, it brings them up again, and then picking out the shells from the rest, selects the parts that are fit for food. CHAP. 57. (41.)—THE INSTINCTS OF BIRDS—THE CARDUELIS, THE TAURUS, THE ANTHUS. The farm-yard fowls have also a certain notion of religion; upon laying an egg they shudder all over, and then shake their feathers; after which they turn round and purify[3038] themselves, or else hallow[3039] themselves and their eggs with some stalk or other. (42.) The carduelis,[3040] which is the very smallest bird of any, will do what it is bid, not only with the voice but with the feet as well, and with the beak, which serves it instead of hands. There is one bird, found in the territory of Arelate, that imitates the lowing of oxen, from which circumstance it has received the name of “taurus.”[3041] In other respects it is of small size. Another bird, called the “anthus,”[3042] imitates the neighing of the horse; upon being driven from the pasture by the approach of the horses, it will mimic their voices—and this is the method it takes of revenging itself. CHAP. 58.—BIRDS WHICH SPEAK—THE PARROT. But above all, there are some birds that can imitate the human voice; the parrot, for instance, which can even converse. India sends us this bird, which it calls by the name of “sittaces;”[3043] the body is green all over, only it is marked with a ring of red around the neck. It will duly salute an emperor, and pronounce the words it has heard spoken; it is rendered especially frolicsome under the influence of wine. Its head is as hard as its beak; and this, when it is being taught to talk, is beaten with a rod of iron, for otherwise it is quite insensible to blows. When it lights on the ground it falls upon its beak, and by resting upon it makes itself all the lighter for its feet, which are naturally weak. CHAP. 59.—THE PIE WHICH FEEDS ON ACORNS. The magpie is much less famous for its talking qualities than the parrot, because it does not come from a distance, and yet it can speak with much more distinctness. These birds love to hear words spoken which they can utter; and not only do they learn them, but are pleased at the task; and as they con them over to themselves with the greatest care and attention, make no secret of the interest they feel. It is a well-known fact, that a magpie has died before now, when it has found itself mastered by a difficult word that it could not pronounce. Their memory, however, will fail them if they do not from time to time hear the same word repeated; and while they are trying to recollect it, they will show the most extravagant joy, if they happen to hear it. Their appearance, although there is nothing remarkable in it, is by no means plain; but they have quite sufficient beauty in their singular ability to imitate the human speech. It is said, however, that it is only the kind[3044] of pie which feeds upon acorns that can be taught to speak; and that among these, those which[3045] have five toes on each foot can be taught with the greatest facility; but in their case even, only during the first two years of their life. The magpie has a broader tongue than is usual with most other birds; which is the case also with all the other birds that can imitate the human voice; although some individuals of almost every kind have the faculty of doing so. Agrippina, the wife of Claudius Cæsar, had a thrush that could imitate human speech, a thing that was never known before. At the moment that I am writing this, the young Cæsars[3046] have a starling and some nightingales that are being taught to talk in Greek and Latin; besides which, they are studying their task the whole day, continually repeating the new words that they have learnt, and giving utterance to phrases even of considerable length. Birds are taught to talk in a retired spot, and where no other voice can be heard, so as to interfere with their lesson; a person sits by them, and continually repeats the words he wishes them to learn, while at the same time he encourages them by giving them food. CHAP. 60. (48.)—A SEDITION THAT AROSE AMONG THE ROMAN PEOPLE, IN CONSEQUENCE OF A RAVEN SPEAKING. Let us do justice, also, to the raven, whose merits have been attested not only by the sentiments of the Roman people, but by the strong expression, also, of their indignation. In the reign of Tiberius, one of a brood of ravens that had bred on the top of the temple of Castor,[3047] happened to fly into a shoemaker’s shop that stood opposite: upon which, from a feeling of religious veneration, it was looked upon as doubly recommended by the owner of the place. The bird, having been taught to speak at an early age, used every morning to fly to the Rostra, which look towards the Forum; here, addressing each by his name, it would salute Tiberius, and then the Cæsars[3048] Germanicus and Drusus, after which it would proceed to greet the Roman populace as they passed, and then return to the shop: for several years it was remarkable for the constancy of its attendance. The owner of another shoemaker’s shop in the neighbourhood, in a sudden fit of anger killed the bird, enraged, as he would have had it appear, because with its ordure it had soiled some shoes of his. Upon this, there was such rage manifested by the multitude, that he was at once driven from that part of the city, and soon after put to death. The funeral, too, of the bird was celebrated with almost endless obsequies; the body was placed upon a litter carried upon the shoulders of two Æthiopians, preceded by a piper, and borne to the pile with garlands of every size and description. The pile was erected on the right-hand side of the Appian Way, at the second milestone from the City, in the field generally known as the “field of Rediculus.”[3049] Thus did the rare talent of a bird appear a sufficient ground to the Roman people for honouring it with funeral obsequies, as well as for inflicting punishment on a Roman citizen; and that, too, in a city in which no such crowds had ever escorted the funeral of any one out of the whole number of its distinguished men, and where no one had been found to avenge the death of Scipio Æmilianus,[3050] the man who had destroyed Carthage and Numantia. This event happened in the consulship of M. Servilius and Caius Cestius, on the fifth day[3051] before the calends of April. At the present day also, the moment that I am writing this, there is in the city of Rome a crow which belongs to a Roman of equestrian rank, and was brought from Bætica. In the first place, it is remarkable[3052] for its colour, which is of the deepest black, and at the same time it is able to pronounce several connected words, while it is repeatedly learning fresh ones. Recently, too, there has been a story told about Craterus, surnamed Monoceros,[3053] in Erizena,[3054] a country of Asia, who was in the habit of hunting with the assistance of ravens, and used to carry them into the woods, perched on the tuft of his helmet and on his shoulders. The birds used to keep on the watch for game, and raise it; and by training he had brought this art to such a pitch of perfection, that even the wild ravens would attend him in a similar manner when he went out. Some authors have thought the following circumstance deserving of remembrance:—A crow that was thirsty was seen heaping stones into the urn on a monument, in which there was some rain-water which it could not reach: and so, being afraid to go down to the water, by thus accumulating the stones, it caused as much water to come within its reach as was necessary to satisfy its thirst. CHAP. 61. (44.)—THE BIRDS OF DIOMEDES. Nor yet must I pass by the birds[3055] of Diomedes in silence. Juba calls these birds “cataractæ,” and says that they have teeth and eyes of a fiery colour, while the rest of the body is white: that they always have two chiefs, the one to lead the main body, the other to take charge of the rear; that they excavate holes with their bills, and then cover them with hurdles, which they cover again with the earth that has been thus thrown up; that it is in these places they hatch their young; that each of these holes has two outlets; that one of them looks towards the east, and that by it they go forth to feed, returning by the one which looks towards the west; and that when about to ease themselves, they always take to the wing, and fly against the wind. In one spot only throughout the whole earth are these birds to be seen, in the island, namely, which we have mentioned[3056] as famous for the tomb and shrine of Diomedes, lying over against the coast of Apulia: they bear a strong resemblance to the coot. When strangers who are barbarians arrive on that island, they pursue them with loud and clamorous cries, and only show courtesy to Greeks by birth; seeming thereby, with a wonderful discernment, to pay respect to them as the fellow-countrymen of Diomedes. Every day they fill their throats, and cover their feathers, with water, and so wash and purify the temple there. From this circumstance arises the fable[3057] that the companions of Diomedes were metamorphosed into these birds. CHAP. 62. (45.)—ANIMALS THAT CAN LEARN NOTHING. We ought not to omit, while we are speaking of instincts, that among birds the swallow[3058] is quite incapable of being taught, and among land animals the mouse; while on the other hand, the elephant does what it is ordered, the lion submits to the yoke, and the sea-calf and many kinds of fishes are capable of being tamed. CHAP. 63. (46.)—THE MODE OF DRINKING WITH BIRDS. THE PORPHYRIO. Birds drink by suction; those which have a long neck taking their drink in a succession of draughts, and throwing the head back, as though they were pouring the water down the throat. The porphyrio[3059] is the only bird that seems to bite at the water as it drinks. The same bird has also other peculiarities of its own; for it will every now and then dip its food in the water, and then lift it with its foot to its bill, using it as a hand. Those that are the most esteemed are found in Commagene. They have beaks and very long legs, of a red colour. CHAP. 64. (47.)—THE HÆMATOPOUS. There are the same characteristics in the hæmatopous[3060] also, a bird of much smaller size, although standing as high on the legs. It is a native of Egypt, and has three toes on each foot; flies[3061] forming its principal food. If brought to Italy, it survives for a few days only. CHAP. 65.—THE FOOD OF BIRDS. All the heavy birds are frugivorous; while those with a higher flight feed upon flesh only. Among the aquatic birds, the divers[3062] are in the habit of devouring what the other birds have disgorged. CHAP. 66.—THE PELICAN. The pelican is similar in appearance to the swan, and it would be thought that there was no difference between them whatever, were it not for the fact that under the throat there is a sort of second crop, as it were. It is in this that the ever-insatiate animal stows everything away, so much so, that the capacity of this pouch is quite astonishing. After having finished its search for prey, it discharges bit by bit what it has thus stowed away, and reconveys it by a sort of ruminating process into its real stomach. The part of Gallia that lies nearest to the Northern Ocean produces this bird. CHAP. 67.—FOREIGN BIRDS: THE PHALERIDES, THE PHEASANT, AND THE NUMIDICÆ. In the Hercynian Forest, in Germany, we hear of a singular[3063] kind of bird, the feathers of which shine at night like fire; the other birds there have nothing remarkable beyond the celebrity which generally attaches to objects situate at a distance. (48.) The phalerides,[3064] the most esteemed of all the aquatic birds, are found at Seleucia, the city of the Parthians of that name, and in Asia as well; and again, in Colchis, there is the pheasant,[3065] a bird with two tufts of feathers like ears, which it drops and raises every now and then. The numidicæ[3066] come from Numidia, a part of Africa: all these varieties are now to be found in Italy. CHAP. 68.—THE PHŒNICOPTERUS, THE ATTAGEN, THE PHALACROCORAX, THE PYRRHOCORAX, AND THE LAGOPUS. Apicius, that very deepest whirlpool of all our epicures, has informed us that the tongue of the phœnicopterus[3067] is of the most exquisite flavour. The attagen,[3068] also, of Ionia is a famous bird; but although it has a voice at other times, it is mute in captivity. It was formerly[3069] reckoned among the rare birds, but at the present day it is found in Gallia, Spain, and in the Alps even; which is also the case with the phalacrocorax,[3070] a bird peculiar to the Balearic Isles, as the pyrrhocorax,[3071] a black bird with a yellow bill, is to the Alps, and the lagopus,[3072] which is esteemed for its excellent flavour. This last bird derives its name from its feet, which are covered, as it were, with the fur of a hare, the rest of the body being white, and the size of a pigeon. It is not an easy matter to taste it out of its native country, as it never becomes domesticated, and when dead it quickly spoils. There is another[3073] bird also, which has the same name, and only differs from the quail in size; it is of a saffron colour, and is most delicate eating. Egnatius Calvinus, who was prefect there, pretends that he has seen[3074] in the Alps the ibis also, a bird that is peculiar to Egypt. CHAP. 69. (49.)—THE NEW BIRDS. THE VIPIO. During the civil wars that took place at Bebriacum, beyond the river Padus, the “new birds”[3075] were introduced into Italy—for by that name they are still known. They resemble the thrush in appearance, are a little smaller than the pigeon in size, and of an agreeable flavour. The Balearic islands also send us a porphyrio,[3076] that is superior to the one previously mentioned. There the buteo, a kind of hawk, is held in high esteem for the table, as also the vipio,[3077] the name given to a small kind of crane. CHAP. 70.—FABULOUS BIRDS. I look upon the birds as fabulous which are called “pegasi,” and are said to have a horse’s head; as also the griffons, with long ears and a hooked beak. The former are said to be natives of Scythia,[3078] the latter of Æthiopia. The same is my opinion, also, as to the tragopan;[3079] many writers, however, assert that it is larger than the eagle, has curved horns on the temples, and a plumage of iron colour, with the exception of the head, which is purple. Nor yet do the sirens[3080] obtain any greater credit with me, although Dinon, the father of Clearchus, a celebrated writer, asserts that they exist in India, and that they charm men by their song, and, having first lulled them to sleep, tear them to pieces. The person, however, who may think fit to believe in these tales, may probably not refuse to believe also that dragons licked the ears of Melampodes, and bestowed upon him the power of understanding the language of birds; as also what Democritus says, when he gives the names of certain birds, by the mixture of whose blood a serpent is produced, the person who eats of which will be able to understand the language of birds; as well as the statements which the same writer makes relative to one bird in particular, known as the “galerita,”[3081]—indeed, the science of augury is already too much involved in embarrassing questions, without these fanciful reveries. There is a kind of bird spoken of by Homer as the “scops:”[3082] but I cannot very easily comprehend the grotesque movements which many persons have attributed to it, when the fowler is laying snares for it; nor, indeed, is it a bird that is any longer known to exist. It will be better, therefore, to confine my relation to those the existence of which is generally admitted. CHAP. 71. (50.)—WHO FIRST INVENTED THE ART OF CRAMMING POULTRY: WHY THE FIRST CENSORS FORBADE THIS PRACTICE. The people of Delos were the first to cram poultry; and it is with them that originated that abominable mania for devouring fattened birds, larded with the grease of their own bodies. I find in the ancient sumptuary regulations as to banquets, that this was forbidden for the first time by a law of the consul Caius Fannius, eleven years before the Third Punic War; by which it was ordered that no bird should be served at table beyond a single pullet, and that not fattened; an article which has since made its appearance in all the sumptuary[3083] laws. A method, however, has been devised of evading it, by feeding poultry upon food that has been soaked in milk: prepared in this fashion, they are considered even still more delicate. All pullets, however, are not looked upon as equally good for the purposes of fattening, and only those are selected which have a fatty skin about the neck. Then, too, come all the arts of the kitchen—that the thighs may have a nice plump appearance, that the bird may be properly divided down the back, and that poultry may be brought to such a size that a single leg shall fill a whole platter.[3084] The Parthians, too, have taught their fashions to our cooks; and yet after all, in spite of their refinements in luxury, no article is found to please equally in every part, for in one it is the thigh, and in another the breast only, that is esteemed. CHAP. 72.—WHO FIRST INVENTED AVIARIES. THE DISH OF ÆSOPUS. The first person who invented aviaries for the reception of all kinds of birds was M. Lænius Strabo, a member of the equestrian order, who resided at Brundisium. It was in his time that we thus began to imprison animals to which Nature had assigned the heavens as their element. (51.) But more remarkable than anything in this respect, is the story of the dish of Clodius Æsopus,[3085] the tragic actor, which was valued at one hundred thousand sesterces, and in which were served up nothing but birds that had been remarkable for their song, or their imitation of the human voice, and purchased, each of them, at the price of six thousand sesterces; he being induced to this folly by no other pleasure than that in these he might eat the closest imitators of man; never for a moment reflecting that his own immense fortune had been acquired by the advantages of his voice; a parent, indeed, right worthy of the son of whom we have already made mention,[3086] as swallowing pearls. It would not, to say the truth, be very easy to come to a conclusion which of the two was guilty of the greatest baseness; unless, indeed, we are ready to admit that it was less unseemly to banquet upon the most costly of all the productions of Nature, than to devour[3087] tongues which had given utterance to the language of man. CHAP. 73. (52.)—THE GENERATION OF BIRDS: OTHER OVIPAROUS ANIMALS. The generation of birds would appear to be very simple, while at the same time it has its own peculiar marvels. Indeed, there are quadrupeds as well that produce eggs, the chameleon, for instance, the lizard, and those of the serpent tribe of which we have previously spoken.[3088] Of the feathered race, those which have hooked talons are comparatively unprolific; the cenchris[3089] being the only one among them that lays more than four eggs. Nature has so ordained it in the birds, that the timid ones should be more prolific than those which are courageous. The ostrich, the common fowl, and the partridge, are the only birds that lay eggs in considerable numbers. Birds have two modes of coupling, the female crouching on the ground, as in the barn-door fowl, or else standing, as is the case with the crane. CHAP. 74.—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF EGGS, AND THEIR NATURE. Some eggs are white, as those of the pigeon and partridge, for instance; others are of a pale colour, as in the aquatic birds: others, again, are dotted all over with spots, as is the case with those of the meleagris; others are red, like those of the pheasant and the cenchris. In the inside, the eggs of all birds are of two colours; those of the aquatic kind have more of the yellow than the white, and the yellow is of a paler tint than in those of other birds. Among fish, the eggs are of the same colour throughout, there being, in fact, no white. The eggs of birds are of a brittle nature, in consequence of the natural heat of the animal, while those of serpents are supple, in consequence of their coldness, and those of fish soft, from their natural humidity. Again, the eggs of aquatic birds are round, while those of most other kinds are elongated, and taper to a point. Eggs are laid with the round end foremost, and at the moment that they are laid the shell is soft, but it immediately grows hard, as each portion becomes exposed to the air. Horatius Flaccus[3090] expresses it as his opinion that those eggs which are of an oblong shape are of the most agreeable flavour. The rounder eggs are those which produce[3091] the female, the others the male. The umbilical[3092] cord is in the upper part of the egg, like a drop floating on the surface in the shell. (53.) There are some birds that couple at all seasons of the year, barn-door fowls, for instance; they lay, too, at all times, with the exception of two months at mid-winter. Pullets lay more eggs than the older hens, but then they are smaller. In the same brood those chickens are the smallest that are hatched the first and the last. These animals, indeed, are so prolific, that some of them will lay as many as sixty eggs, some daily, some twice a day, and some in such vast numbers that they have been known to die from exhaustion. Those known as the “Adrianæ,”[3093] are the most esteemed. Pigeons sit ten times a year, and some of them eleven, and in Egypt during the month of the winter solstice even. Swallows, blackbirds, ring-doves, and turtle-doves sit twice a year, most other birds only once. Thrushes make their nests of mud, in the tops of trees, almost touching one another, and lay during the time of their retirement. The egg comes to maturity in the ovary ten days after treading; but if the hen or pigeon is tormented by pulling out the feathers, or by the infliction of any injury of a similar nature, the maturing of the egg is retarded. In the middle of the yolk of every egg there is what appears to be a little drop[3094] of blood; this is supposed to be the heart of the chicken, it being the general belief that that part is formed the first in every animal: at all events, while in the egg this speck is seen to throb and palpitate. The body of the animal itself is formed from the white fluid[3095] in the egg; while the yellow part constitutes its food. The head in every kind, while in the shell, is larger than the rest of the body; the eyes, too, are closed, and are larger than the other parts of the head. As the chicken grows, the white gradually passes to the middle of the egg, while the yellow is spread around it. On the twentieth day, if the egg is shaken, the voice of the now living animal can be heard in the shell. From this time it gradually becomes clothed with feathers; and its position is such that it has the head above the right foot, and the right wing above the head: the yolk in the meantime gradually disappears. All birds are born with the feet first, while with every other animal the contrary is the case. Some hens lay all their eggs with two yolks, and sometimes hatch twin chickens from the same egg, one being larger than the other, according to Cornelius Celsus: other writers, however, deny[3096] the possibility of twin chickens being hatched. It is a rule never to give a brood hen more than twenty-five[3097] eggs to sit upon at once. Hens begin to lay immediately after the winter solstice. The best broods are those which are hatched before the vernal equinox: chickens that are hatched after the summer solstice, never attain their full growth, and the more so, the later they are produced. CHAP. 75. (54.)—DEFECTS IN BROOD-HENS, AND THEIR REMEDIES. Those eggs which have been laid within the last ten days, are the best for putting under the hen; old ones, or those which have just been laid, will be unfruitful; an uneven number[3098] also ought to be placed. On the fourth day after the hen has begun to sit, if, upon taking an egg with one hand by the two ends and holding it up to the light, it is found to be clear and of one uniform colour, it is most likely to be barren, and another should be substituted in its place. There is also a way of testing them by means of water; an empty egg will float on the surface, while those that fall to the bottom, or, in other words, are full, should be placed under the hen. Care must be taken, however, not to make trial by shaking them, for if the organs which are necessary for life become confused, they will come to nothing.[3099] Incubation ought to begin just after the new moon; for, if commenced before, the eggs will be unproductive. The chickens are hatched sooner if the weather is warm: hence it is that in summer they break the shell on the nineteenth day, but in winter on the twenty-fifth only. If it happens to thunder during the time of incubation, the eggs are addled, and if the cry of a hawk is heard they are spoilt. The best remedy against the effects of thunder, is to put an iron nail beneath the straw on which the eggs are laid, or else some earth from off a ploughshare. Some eggs, however, are hatched by the spontaneous action of Nature, without the process of incubation, as is the case in the dung-hills of Egypt. There is a well-known story related about a man at Syracuse, who was in the habit of covering eggs with earth,[3100] and then continuing his drinking bout till they were hatched. CHAP. 76. (55.)—AN AUGURY DERIVED FROM EGGS BY AN EMPRESS. And, what is even more singular still, eggs can be hatched also by a human being. Julia Augusta, when pregnant in her early youth of Tiberius Cæsar, by Nero, was particularly desirous that her offspring should be a son, and accordingly employed the following mode of divination, which was then much in use among young women: she carried an egg in her bosom, taking care, whenever she was obliged to put it down, to give it to her nurse to warm in her own, that there might be no interruption in the heat: it is stated that the result promised by this mode of augury was not falsified. It was perhaps from this circumstance, that the modern invention took its rise, of placing eggs in a warm spot and covering them with chaff, the heat being maintained by a moderate fire, while in the meantime a man is employed in turning them. By the adoption of this plan, the young, all of them, break the shell on a stated day. There is a story told of a breeder of poultry, of such remarkable skill, that on seeing an egg he could tell which hen had laid it. It is said also that when a hen has happened to die while sitting, the males have been seen to take her place in turns, and perform all the other duties of a brood-hen, taking care in the meantime to abstain from crowing. But the most remarkable thing of all, is the sight of a hen, beneath which ducks’ eggs have been put and hatched.—At first, she is unable to quite recognize the brood as her own, while in her anxiety she gives utterance to her clucking as she doubtfully calls them; then at last she will stand at the margin of the pond, uttering her laments, while the ducklings, with Nature for their guide, are diving beneath the water. CHAP. 77. (56.)—THE BEST KINDS OF FOWLS. The breed of a fowl is judged of by the erectness of the crest, which is sometimes double, its black wings, reddish beak, and toes of unequal number, there being sometimes a fifth placed transversely above the other four. For the purposes of divination, those that have a yellow beak and feet are not considered pure; while for the secret rites of Bona Dea, black ones are chosen. There is also a dwarf[3101] species of fowl, which is not barren either; a thing that is the case with no other kind of bird. These dwarfs, however, rarely lay at any stated periods, and their incubation is productive of injury[3102] to the eggs. CHAP. 78. (57.)—THE DISEASES OF FOWLS, AND THEIR REMEDIES. The most dangerous malady with every kind of fowl is that known as the “pituita;;”[3103] which is prevalent more particularly between the times of harvest and vintage. The mode of treatment is to put them on a spare diet, and to expose them, while asleep, to the action of smoke, and more especially that of bay leaves or of the herb called savin. A feather also is inserted, and passed across through the nostrils, care being taken to move it every day; while their food consists of leeks mixed with speltmeal, or else is first soaked in water in which an owlet has been dipped, or boiled together with the seeds of the white vine. There are also some other receipts besides. CHAP. 79. (58.)—WHEN BIRDS LAY, AND HOW MANY EGGS. THE VARIOUS KINDS OF HERONS. Pigeons have the peculiarity of billing before they couple; they generally lay two eggs, Nature so willing it, that among birds the produce should be more frequent with some, and more numerous with others. The ring-dove and turtle-dove mostly lay three eggs, and never more than twice, in the spring; such being the case when the first brood has been lost. Although they may happen to lay three eggs, they never hatch more than two; the third egg, which is barren, is generally known by the name of “urinum.”[3104] The female ring-dove sits on the eggs from mid-day till morning, the male the rest of the time. Pigeons always produce a male and a female; the male first, the female the day after. Both the male and the female pigeon sit on the eggs; the male in the day-time, the female during the night. They hatch on the twentieth day of incubation, and lay the fifth day after coupling. Sometimes, indeed, in summer, these birds will rear three couples in two months; for then they hatch on the eighteenth day of incubation, and immediately conceive again; hence it is that eggs are often found among the young ones, some of which last are just taking wing, while others are only bursting the shell. The young ones, themselves, begin to produce at the age of five months. The females, if there should happen to be no male among them, will even tread each other, and lay barren eggs, from which nothing is produced. By the Greeks, these eggs are called “hypenemia.”[3105] (59.) The pea-hen produces at three years old. In the first year she will lay one or two eggs, in the next four or five, and in the remaining years twelve, but never beyond that number. She lays for two or three days at intervals, and will produce three broods in the year, if care is taken to put the eggs under a common hen. The males are apt to break the eggs in getting at the females while sitting, and hence it is that the pea-hen lays by night, and in secret places, or else sits on her eggs in an elevated spot; the eggs will break, too, unless they are received upon some surface that is soft. One male is sufficient for every five females; when there are only one or two females to a male, all chance of their being prolific is spoilt through their extreme salaciousness. The young breaks the shell in twenty-seven days, or, at the very latest, on the thirtieth. Geese pair in the water, and lay in spring; or, if they have paired in the winter, they lay about forty eggs, after the summer solstice. The hatching takes place twice in the year, if a hen hatches the first brood; otherwise, their greatest number of eggs will be sixteen, their lowest seven. If their eggs are taken away from them, they will keep on laying until they burst; they will not hatch the eggs of any other birds. The best number of eggs for placing under the goose for hatching, is nine, or else eleven. The females only sit, and that for thirty days; but if they are kept very warm, then only twenty-five. The contact of the nettle is fatal to their young, and their own greediness is no less so—sometimes, through over-eating, and sometimes through over-exertion; for seizing the root of a plant with the bill, they will make repeated efforts to tear it out of the ground, and so, at last, dislocate the neck. A remedy against the noxious effects of the nettle, is to place the root of that plant under the straw of their nest. (60.) There are three kinds of herons, called, respectively, the leucon,[3106] the asterias,[3107] and the pellos.[3108] These birds experience great pain in coupling; uttering loud cries, the males bleed from the eyes, while the females lay their eggs with no less difficulty. The eagle sits for thirty days, as do most of the larger birds; the smaller ones, the kite and the hawk for instance, only twenty. The eagle mostly lays but one egg, never more than three. The bird which is known as the “ægolios,”[3109] lays four, and the raven sometimes five; they sit, too, the same number of days as the kite and the hawk. The male crow provides the female with food while she is sitting. The magpie lays nine eggs, the malancoryphus more than twenty, but always an uneven number, and no bird of this kind ever lays more; so much superior in fecundity are the smaller birds. The young ones of the swallow are blind at first, as is the case also with almost all the birds the progeny of which is numerous. CHAP. 80.—WHAT EGGS ARE CALLED HYPENEMIA, AND WHAT CYNOSURA. HOW EGGS ARE BEST KEPT. The barren eggs, which we have mentioned as “hypenemia,” are either conceived by the females when they are influenced by libidinous fancies, and couple with one another, or else at the moment when they are rolling themselves in the dust; they are produced not only by the pigeon, but by the common hen as well, the partridge, the pea-hen, the goose, and the chenalopex; these eggs are barren, smaller than the others, of a less agreeable flavour, and more humid. There are some who think that they are generated by the wind, for which reason they give them the name of “zephyria.” The eggs known as “urina,” and which by some are called “cynosura,”[3110] are only laid in the spring, and at a time when the hen has discontinued sitting. Eggs, if soaked in vinegar, are rendered so soft thereby, that they may be twisted[3111] round the finger like a ring. The best method of preserving them is to keep them packed in bean-meal, or chaff, during the winter, and in bran during the summer. It is a general belief, that if kept in salt, they will lose their contents. CHAP. 81. (61.)—THE ONLY WINGED ANIMAL THAT IS VIVIPAROUS, AND NURTURES ITS YOUNG WITH ITS MILK. Among the winged animals, the only one that is viviparous is the bat; it is the only one, too, that has wings formed of a membrane. This is, also, the only winged creature that feeds its young with milk from the breast. The mother clasps her two young ones as she flies, and so carries them along with her. This animal, too, is said to have but one joint in the haunch, and to be particularly fond of gnats. CHAP. 82. (62.)—TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS THAT ARE OVIPAROUS.—VARIOUS KINDS OF SERPENTS. Again, among the terrestrial animals, there are the serpents that are oviparous; of which, as yet, we have not spoken. These creatures couple by clasping each other, and entwine so closely around one another, that they might be taken for only one animal with two heads. The male viper thrusts[3112] its head into the mouth of the female, which gnaws it in the transports of its passion. This, too, is the only one among the terrestrial animals that lays eggs within its body—of one colour, and soft, like those of fishes. On the third day it hatches its young in the uterus, and then excludes them, one every day, and generally twenty in number; the last ones become so impatient of their confinement, that they force a passage through the sides of their parent, and so kill her. Other serpents, again, lay eggs attached to one another, and then bury them in the earth; the young being hatched in the following year. Crocodiles sit on their eggs in turns, first the male, and then the female. But let us now turn to the generation of the rest of the terrestrial animals. CHAP. 83. (63.)—GENERATION OF ALL KINDS OF TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS. The only one among the bipeds that is viviparous is man. Man is the only animal that repents of his first embraces; sad augury, indeed, of life, that its very origin should thus cause repentance! Other animals have stated times in the year for their embraces; but man, as we have already[3113] observed, employs for this purpose all hours both of day and night; other animals become sated with venereal pleasures, man hardly knows any satiety. Messalina,[3114] the wife of Claudius Cæsar, thinking this a palm quite worthy of an empress, selected, for the purpose of deciding the question, one of the most notorious of the women who followed the profession of a hired prostitute; and the empress outdid her, after continuous intercourse, night and day, at the twenty-fifth embrace. In the human race also, the men have devised various substitutes for the more legitimate exercise of passion, all of which outrage Nature; while the females have recourse to abortion. How much more guilty than the brute beasts are we in this respect! Hesiod has stated that men are more lustful in winter, women in summer. Coupling is performed back to back by the elephant, the camel, the tiger, the lynx, the rhinoceros, the lion, the dasypus, and the rabbit, the genital parts of all which animals lie far back. Camels even seek desert places, or, at all events, spots of a retired nature; and to come upon them on such an occasion is not unattended with danger. Coupling, with them, lasts a whole day; the only animal, indeed, of all those with solid hoofs, with which such is the case. Among the quadrupeds, it is the smell that excites the passions of the male. In this act, dogs also, seals, and wolves turn back to back, and remain attached, though greatly against their will. In the greater part of the animals above mentioned, the females solicit the males; in some, however, the males the females. As to bears, they lie down, like the human race, as previously[3115] mentioned by us; while hedgehogs embrace standing upright. In cats, the male stands above, while the female assumes a crouching posture; foxes lie on the side, the female embracing the male. In the case of the cow and the hind, the female is unable to endure the violence of the male, consequently she keeps in motion during the time of coupling. The buck goes from one hind to another in turn, and then comes back to the first. Lizards couple entwined around each other, like the animals without feet. All animals, the larger they are in bulk, are proportionably less prolific: the elephant, the camel, and the horse produce but one, while the acanthis,[3116] a very small bird, produces twelve. Those animals, also, which are the most prolific, are the shortest time in breeding. The larger an animal is, the longer is the time required for its formation in the womb; those, also, which are the longest-lived, require the longest gestation; the growing age, too, is not suitable for the purposes of generation. Those animals which have solid hoofs bear but a single young one, while those which have cloven hoofs bear two. Those, again, whose feet are divided into toes, have a still more numerous offspring; but, while the others bring forth their young perfect, these last bear them in an unformed state, such, for instance, as the lioness and the she-bear. The fox also brings forth its young in an even more imperfect state than these; it is a very uncommon thing, however, to find it whelping. After the birth, these animals warm their young by licking them, and thereby give them their proper shape; they mostly produce four at a birth. The dog, the wolf, the panther, and the jackal produce their young blind. There are several kinds of dogs; those of Laconia,[3117] of both sexes, are ready for breeding in the eighth month, and the females carry their young sixty or sixty-three days at most; other dogs are fit for breeding when only six months old; the female, in all cases, becomes pregnant at the first congress. Those which have conceived before the proper age, bear pups which are longer blind, though not all the same number of days. It is thought that dogs, in general, lift the leg when they water at six months old; this, too, is looked upon as a sign that they have attained their full growth and strength; when doing this, the female squats. The most numerous litters known consist of twelve, but more generally five or six is the number; sometimes, indeed, only one is produced, but then it is looked upon as a prodigy, and the same is the case, too, when all the pups are of one sex. In the dog, the males come into the world first, but in other animals, the two sexes are born alternately. The female admits the male again six months after she has littered. Those of the Laconian breed bear eight young ones. It is a peculiarity in this kind, that after undergoing great labour, the males are remarkable for their salacity. In the Laconian breed the male lives ten years, the female twelve; while other kinds, again, live fifteen years, and sometimes as much as twenty; but they are not fit for breeding to the end of their life, as they generally cease at about the twelfth year. The cat and the ichneumon are, in other respects,[3118] like the dog; but they only live six years. The dasypus[3119] brings forth every month in the year, and is subject to superfœtation, like the hare. It conceives immediately after it has littered, even though it is still suckling its young, which are blind at their birth. The elephant, as we have already[3120] stated, produces but one, and that the size of a calf three months old. The gestation of the camel lasts twelve months; the female conceives when three years old, and brings forth in the spring; at the end of a year from that time, she is ready to conceive again. It is thought advisable to have the mare covered so soon as three days, and indeed, sometimes, only one, after she has foaled; and, however unwilling she may be, means are taken to compel her. It is believed also, that it is by no means an uncommon thing for a woman to conceive on the seventh day after her delivery. It is recommended that the manes of mares should be cut, so as to humble their pride, in order to make them submit to be covered by the male ass; for when the mane is long, they are liable to be proud and vain. This is the only animal, the female of which, after covering, runs, facing the north or the south, according as she has conceived a male or a female. They change their colour immediately after, and the hair becomes of a redder hue, and deeper, whatever the colour may naturally be; it is this that indicates that they must no longer be covered, and they, themselves, will even resist it. Gestation does not, however, preclude some of them from being worked, and they are often with foal long before it is known. We read that the mare of Echecrates, the Thessalian, conquered at the Olympic games, while with foal. Those who are more careful enquirers into these matters, tell us that in the horse, the dog, and the swine, the males are most ardent for sexual intercourse in the morning, while the female seeks the society of the male after mid-day. They say also, that mares in harness desire the horse sixty days sooner than those that live in herds; that it is swine only that foam at the mouth during the time of coupling; and that a boar, if it hears the voice of a sow in heat, will refuse to take its food,—to such a degree, indeed, as to starve itself, if it is not allowed to cover—while the female is reduced to such a state of frantic madness, as to attack and tear a man, more especially if wearing a white garment. This frenzy, however, is appeased by sprinkling vinegar on the sexual parts. It is supposed also that salacity is promoted by certain aliments; the herb rocket, for instance, in the case of man, and onions in that of cattle. Wild animals that have been tamed, do not conceive, the goose, for instance; the wild boar and the stag will only produce late in life, and even then they must have been taken and tamed when very young; a singular fact. The pregnant females, among the quadrupeds, refuse the male, with the exception, indeed, of the mare and the sow; superfœtation, however, takes place in none but the dasypus and the hare. CHAP. 84. (64.)—THE POSITION OF ANIMALS IN THE UTERUS. All those animals that are viviparous produce their young with the head first, the young animal about the time of yeaning turning itself round in the womb, where at other times it lies extended at full length. Quadrupeds during the time of gestation have the legs extended, and lying close to the belly; while, on the other hand, man is gathered up into a ball, with the nose between the knees. With reference to moles, of which we have previously[3121] spoken, it is supposed that they are produced when a female has conceived, not by a male, but of herself only. Hence it is that there is no vitality in this false conception, because it does not proceed from the conjunction of the two sexes; and it has only that sort of vegetative existence in itself which we see in plants and trees. (65.) Of all those which produce their young in a perfect state, the swine is the only one that bears them in considerable numbers as well; and, indeed, several times in the year—a thing that is contrary to the usual nature of animals with a solid or cloven hoof. CHAP. 85.—ANIMALS WHOSE ORIGIN IS STILL UNKNOWN. But it is mice that surpass all the other animals in fecundity; and it is not without some hesitation that I speak of them, although I have Aristotle and some of the officers of Alexander the Great for my authority. It is said that these animals generate by licking one another, and not by copulation. They have related cases where a single female has given birth to one hundred and twenty young ones, and in Persia some were found, even pregnant themselves,[3122] while yet in the womb of the parent. It is believed also that these animals will become pregnant on tasting salt. Hence we find that we have no longer any reason to wonder how such vast multitudes of field-mice devastate the standing corn; though it is still a mystery, with reference to them, in what way it is that such multitudes die so suddenly; for their dead bodies are never to be found, and there is not a person in existence that has ever dug up a mouse in a field during the winter. Multitudes of these animals visit Troas, and before this they have driven away the inhabitants in consequence of their vast numbers. They multiply greatly during times of drought; it is said also that when they are about to die, a little worm grows in their head. The mice of Egypt have hard hairs, just like those of the hedge-hog. They walk on their hind feet, as also do those of the Alps. When two animals couple of different kinds, the union is only prolific if the time of gestation is the same in both. Among the oviparous quadrupeds, it is generally believed that the lizard brings forth by the mouth, though Aristotle denies the fact. These animals, too, do not sit upon their eggs, as they forget in what place they have laid them, being utterly destitute of memory; hence it is that the young ones are hatched spontaneously. CHAP. 86. (66.)—SALAMANDERS. We find it stated by many authors,[3123] that a serpent is produced from the spinal marrow of a man. Many creatures, in fact, among the quadrupeds even, have a secret and mysterious origin. (67) Thus, for instance, the salamander, an animal like a lizard in shape, and with a body starred all over, never comes out except during heavy showers, and disappears the moment it becomes fine. This animal is so intensely cold as to extinguish fire by its contact, in the same way as ice does. It spits forth a milky matter from its mouth; and whatever part of the human body is touched with this, all the hair falls off, and the part assumes the appearance of leprosy. CHAP. 87. (68.)—ANIMALS WHICH ARE BORN OF BEINGS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN BORN THEMSELVES—ANIMALS WHICH ARE BORN THEMSELVES BUT ARE NOT REPRODUCTIVE—ANIMALS WHICH ARE OF NEITHER SEX. Some animals, again, are engendered of beings that are not engendered themselves, and have no such origin as those above mentioned, which are produced in the spring, or at some stated period of the year. Some of these are non-productive, the salamander, for instance, which is of no sex, either male or female; a distinction also, which does not exist in the eel and the other kinds that are neither viviparous nor oviparous. The oyster also, as well as the other shell-fish that adhere to the bottom of the sea or to rocks, are of neither sex. Again, as to those animals which are able to engender of themselves, if they are looked upon as divided into male and female, they do engender something, it is true, by coupling, but the produce is imperfect, quite dissimilar to the animal itself, and one from which nothing else is reproduced; this we find to be the case with flies, when they give birth to maggots. This fact is better illustrated by the nature of those animals which are known as insects; a subject, indeed, very difficult of explanation, and one which requires to be treated of in a Book[3124] by itself. We will, therefore, proceed for the present with our remarks upon the instincts of the animals that have been previously mentioned. CHAP. 88. (69.)—THE SENSES OF ANIMALS—THAT ALL HAVE THE SENSES OF TOUCH AND TASTE—THOSE WHICH ARE MORE REMARKABLE FOR THEIR SIGHT, SMELL, OR HEARING—MOLES—WHETHER OYSTERS HAVE THE SENSE OF HEARING. Man excels more especially in his sense of touch, and next, in that of taste. In other respects, he is surpassed by many of the animals. Eagles can see more clearly than any other animals, while vultures have the better smell; moles hear more distinctly than others, although buried in the earth, so dense and sluggish an element as it is; and what is even more, although every sound has a tendency upwards, they can hear the words that are spoken; and, it is said, they can even understand it if you talk about them, and will take to flight immediately. Among men, a person who has not enjoyed the sense of hearing in his infancy, is deprived of the powers of speech as well; and there are none deaf from their birth who are not dumb also. Among the marine animals, it is not probable that oysters enjoy the sense of hearing, but it is said that immediately a noise is made the solen[3125] will sink to the bottom; it is for this reason, too, that silence is observed by persons while fishing at sea. CHAP. 89. (70.)—WHICH FISHES HAVE THE BEST HEARING. Fishes have neither organs of hearing, nor yet the exterior orifice. And yet, it is quite certain that they do hear; for it is a well-known fact, that in some fish-ponds they are in the habit of being assembled to be fed by the clapping of the hands. In the fish-ponds, too, that belong to the Emperor, the fish are in the habit of coming, each kind as it bears its name.[3126] So too, it is said, the mullet, the wolf-fish, the salpa, and the chromis, have a very exquisite sense of hearing, and that it is for this reason that they frequent shallow water. CHAP. 90.—WHICH FISHES HAVE THE FINEST SENSE OF SMELL. It is quite manifest that fishes have the sense of smell also; for they are not all to be taken with the same bait, and are seen to smell at it before they seize it. Some, too, that are concealed in the bottom of holes, are driven out by the fisherman, by the aid of the smell of salted fish; with this he rubs the entrance of their retreat in the rock, immediately upon which they take to flight from the spot, just as though they had recognized the dead carcases of those of their kind. Then, again, they will rise to the surface at the smell of certain odours, such, for instance as roasted sæpia and polypus; and hence it is that these baits are placed in the osier kipes used for taking fish. They immediately take to flight upon smelling the bilge water in a ship’s hold, and more especially upon scenting the blood of fish. The polypus cannot possibly be torn away from the rock to which it clings; but upon the herb cunila[3127] being applied, the instant it smells it the fish quits its hold. Purples also are taken by means of fetid substances. And then, too, as to the other kinds of animals, who is there that can feel any doubt? Serpents are driven away by the smell of harts’ horns, and more particularly by that of storax. Ants, too, are killed by the odours of origanum, lime, or sulphur. Gnats are attracted by acids, but not by anything sweet. (71.) All animals have the sense of touch, those even which have no other sense; for even in the oyster, and, among land animals, in the worm, this sense is found. CHAP. 91.—DIVERSITIES IN THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS. I am strongly inclined to believe, too, that the sense of taste exists in all animals; for why else should one seek one kind of food, and another another? And it is in this more especially that is to be seen the wondrous power of Nature, the framer of all things. Some animals seize their prey with their teeth, others, again, with their claws; some tear it to pieces with their hooked beak; others, that have a broad bill, wabble in their food; others, with a sharp nib, work holes into it; others suck at their food; others, again, lick it, others sup it in, others chew it, and others bolt it whole. And no less a diversity is there in the uses they make of their feet, for the purpose of carrying, tearing asunder, holding, squeezing, suspending[3128] their bodies, or incessantly scratching the ground. CHAP. 92. (72.)—ANIMALS WHICH LIVE ON POISONS. Roe-bucks and quails[3129] grow fat on poisons, as we have already mentioned, being themselves the most harmless of animals. Serpents will feed on eggs, and the address displayed by the dragon is quite remarkable.—For it will either swallow the egg whole, if its jaws will allow of it, and roll over and over so as to break it within, and then by coughing eject the shells: or else, if it is too young to be able to do so, it will gradually encircle the egg with its coils, and hold it so tight as to break it at the end, just, in fact, as though a piece had been cut out with a knife; then holding the remaining part in its folds, it will suck the contents. In the same manner, too, when it has swallowed a bird whole, it will make a violent effort, and vomit the feathers. CHAP. 93.—ANIMALS WHICH LIVE ON EARTH—ANIMALS WHICH WILL NOT DIE OF HUNGER OR THIRST. Scorpions live on earth. Serpents, when an opportunity presents itself, show an especial liking for wine, although in other respects they need but very little drink. These animals, also, when kept shut up, require but little aliment, hardly any at all, in fact. The same is the case also with spiders, which at other times live by suction. Hence it is, that no venomous animal will die of hunger or thirst; it being the fact that they have neither heat, blood, nor sweat; all which humours, from their natural saltness, increase the animal’s voracity. In this class of animals all those are the most deadly, which have eaten some of their own kind just before they inflict the wound. The sphingium and the satyr[3130] stow away food in the pouches of their cheeks, after which they will take it out piece by piece with their hands and eat it; and thus they do for a day or an hour what the ant usually does[3131] for the whole year. (73.) The only animal with toes upon the feet that feeds upon grass is the hare, which will eat corn as well; while the solid-hoofed animals, and the swine among the cloven-footed ones, will eat all kinds of food, as well as roots. To roll over and over is a peculiarity of the animals with a solid hoof. All those which have serrated teeth are carnivorous. Bears live also upon corn, leaves, grapes, fruit, bees, crabs even, and ants; wolves, as we have already[3132] stated, will eat earth even when they are famishing. Cattle grow fat by drinking; hence it is that salt agrees with them so well; the same is also the case with beasts of burden, although they live on corn as well as grass; but they eat just in proportion to what they drink. In addition to those already spoken of, among the wild animals, stags ruminate, when reared in a domesticated state. All animals ruminate lying in preference to standing, and more in winter than in summer, mostly for seven months in the year. The Pontic mouse[3133] also ruminates in a similar manner. CHAP. 94.—DIVERSITIES IN THE DRINKING OF ANIMALS. In drinking, those animals which have serrated[3134] teeth, lap; and common mice do the same, although they belong to another class. Those which have the teeth continuous, horses and oxen, for instance, sup; bears do neither the one nor the other, but seem to bite at the water, and so devour it. In Africa, the greater part of the wild beasts do not drink in summer, through the want of rain; for which reason it is that the mice of Libya, when caught, will die if they drink. The ever-thirsting plains of Africa produce the oryx,[3135] an animal which, in consequence of the nature of its native locality, never drinks, and which, in a remarkable manner, affords a remedy against drought: for the Gætulian bandits by its aid fortify themselves against thirst, by finding in its body certain vesicles filled with a most wholesome liquid. In this same Africa, also, the pards conceal themselves in the thick foliage of the trees, and then spring down from the branches on any creature that may happen to be passing by, thus occupying what are ordinarily the haunts of the birds. Cats too, with what silent stealthiness, with what light steps do they creep towards a bird! How slily they will sit and watch, and then dart out upon a mouse! These animals scratch up the earth and bury their ordure, being well aware that the smell of it would betray their presence. CHAP. 95. (74.)—ANTIPATHIES OF ANIMALS. PROOFS THAT THEY ARE SENSIBLE OF FRIENDSHIP AND OTHER AFFECTIONS. Hence there will be no difficulty in perceiving that animals are possessed of other instincts besides those previously mentioned. In fact, there are certain antipathies and sympathies among them, which give rise to various affections besides those which we have mentioned in relation to each species in its appropriate place. The swan and the eagle are always at variance, and the raven and the chloreus[3136] seek each other’s eggs by night. In a similar manner, also, the raven and the kite are perpetually at war with one another, the one carrying off the other’s food. So, too, there are antipathies between the crow and the owl, the eagle and the trochilus;[3137]—between the last two, if we are to believe the story, because the latter has received the title of the “king of the birds:” the same, again, with the owlet and all the smaller birds. Again, in relation to the terrestrial animals, the weasel is at enmity with the crow, the turtle-dove with the pyrallis,[3138] the ichneumon with the wasp, and the phalangium with other spiders. Among aquatic animals, there is enmity between the duck and the sea-mew, the falcon known as the “harpe,” and the hawk called the “triorchis.” In a similar manner, too, the shrew-mouse and the heron are ever on the watch for each other’s young; and the ægithus,[3139] so small a bird as it is, has an antipathy to the ass; for the latter, when scratching itself, rubs its body against the brambles, and so crushes the bird’s nest; a thing of which it stands in such dread, that if it only hears the voice of the ass when it brays, it will throw its eggs out of the nest, and the young ones themselves will sometimes fall to the ground in their fright; hence it is that it will fly at the ass, and peck at its sores with its beak. The fox, too, is at war with the nisus,[3140] and serpents with weasels and swine. Æsalon[3141] is the name given to a small bird that breaks the eggs of the raven, and the young of which are anxiously sought by the fox; while in its turn it will peck at the young of the fox, and even the parent itself. As soon as the ravens espy this, they come to its assistance, as though against a common enemy. The acanthis, too, lives among the brambles; hence it is that it also has an antipathy to the ass, because it devours the bramble blossoms. The ægithus and the anthus,[3142] too, are at such mortal enmity with each other, that it is the common belief that their blood will not mingle; and it is for this reason that they have the bad repute of being employed in many magical incantations. The thos and the lion are at war with each other; and, indeed, the smallest objects and the greatest just as much. Caterpillars will avoid a tree that is infested with ants. The spider, poised in its web, will throw itself on the head of a serpent as it lies stretched beneath the shade of the tree where it has built, and with its bite pierce its brain; such is the shock, that the creature will hiss from time to time, and then, seized with vertigo, coil round and round, while it finds itself unable to take to flight, or so much as to break the web of the spider, as it hangs suspended above; this scene only ends with its death. CHAP. 96.—INSTANCES OF AFFECTION SHOWN BY SERPENTS. On the other hand, there is a strict friendship existing between the peacock and the pigeon, the turtle-dove and the parrot, the blackbird and the turtle, the crow and the heron, all of which join in a common enmity against the fox. The harpe also, and the kite, unite against the triorchis. And then, besides, have we not seen instances of affection in the serpent even, that most ferocious of all animals? We have already[3143] related the story that is told of a man in Arcadia, who was saved by a dragon which had belonged to him, and of his voice being recognized by the animal. We must also make mention here of another marvellous story that is related by Phylarchus about the asp. He tells us, that in Egypt one of these animals, after having received its daily nourishment at the table of a certain person, brought forth, and that it so happened that the son of its entertainer was killed by one of its young ones; upon which, returning to its food as usual, and becoming sensible of the crime, it immediately killed the young one, and returned to the house no more. CHAP. 97. (75.)—THE SLEEP OF ANIMALS. The question as to their sleep, is one that is by no means difficult to solve. In the land animals, it is quite evident that all that have eyelids sleep. With reference to aquatic animals, it is admitted that they also sleep, though only for short periods, even by those writers who entertain doubts as to the other animals; and they come to this conclusion, not from any appearance of the eyes, for they have no eyelids, indeed, to close, but because they are to be seen buried in deep repose, and to all appearance fast asleep, betraying no motion in any part of the body except the tail, and by starting when they happen to hear a noise. With regard to the thunny, it is stated with still greater confidence that it sleeps; indeed, it is often found in that state near the shore, or among the rocks. Flat fish are also found fast asleep in shallow water, and are often taken in that state with the hand: and, as to the dolphin and the balæna, they are even heard to snore. It is quite evident, also, that insects sleep, from the silent stillness which they preserve; and even if a light is put close to them, they will not be awoke thereby. CHAP. 98.—WHAT ANIMALS ARE SUBJECT TO DREAMS. Man, just after his birth, is hard pressed by sleep for several months, after which he becomes more and more wakeful, day by day. The infant dreams[3144] from the very first, for it will suddenly awake with every symptom of alarm, and while asleep will imitate the action of sucking. There are some persons, however, who never dream; indeed, we find instances stated where it has been a fatal sign for a person to dream, who has never done so before. Here we find ourselves invited by a grand field of investigation, and one that is full of alleged proofs on both sides of the question, whether, when the mind is at rest in sleep, it has any foreknowledge of the future, and if so, by what process this is brought about, or whether this is not altogether a matter quite fortuitous, as most other things are? If we were to attempt to decide the question by instances quoted, we should find as many on the one side as on the other. It is pretty generally agreed, that dreams, immediately after we have taken wine and food, or when we have just fallen asleep again after waking, have no signification whatever. Indeed, sleep is nothing else than the retiring[3145] of the mind into itself. It is quite evident that, besides man, horses, dogs, oxen, sheep, and goats have dreams; consequently, the same is supposed to be the case with all animals that are viviparous. As to those which are oviparous, it is a matter of uncertainty, though it is equally certain that they do sleep. But we must now pass on to a description of the insects. * * * * * Summary.—Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations, seven hundred and ninety-three. * * * * * Roman authors quoted.—Manilius,[3146] Cornelius Valerianus,[3147] the Acta Triumphorum,[3148] Umbricius Melior,[3149] Massurius Sabinus,[3150] Antistius Labeo,[3151] Trogus,[3152] Cremutius,[3153] M. Varro,[3154] Macer Æmilius,[3155] Melissus,[3156] Mucianus,[3157] Nepos,[3158] Fabius Pictor,[3159] T. Lucretius,[3160] Cornelius Celsus,[3161] Horace,[3162] Deculo,[3163] Hyginus,[3164] the Sasernæ,[3165] Nigidius,[3166] Mamilius Sura.[3167] * * * * * Foreign authors quoted.—Homer, Phemonoë,[3168] Philemon,[3169] Bœus[3170] who wrote the Ornithogonia, Hylas[3171] who wrote an augury, Aristotle,[3172] Theophrastus,[3173] Callimachus,[3174] Æschylus,[3175] King Hiero,[3176] King Philometor,[3177] Archytas[3178] of Tarentum, Amphilochus[3179] of Athens, Anaxipolis[3180] of Thasos, Apollodorus[3181] of Lemnos, Aristophanes[3182] of Miletus, Antigonus[3183] of Cymæ, Agathocles[3184] of Chios, Apollonius[3185] of Pergamus, Aristander[3186] of Athens, Bacchius[3187] of Miletus, Bion[3188] of Soli, Chæreas[3189] of Athens, Diodorus[3190] of Priene, Dion[3191] of Colophon, Democritus,[3192] Diophanes[3193] of Nicæa, Epigenes[3194] of Rhodes, Euagon[3195] of Thasos, Euphronius[3196] of Athens, Juba,[3197] Androtion[3198] who wrote on Agriculture, Æschrion[3199] who wrote on Agriculture, Lysimachus[3200] who wrote on Agriculture, Dionysius[3201] who translated Mago, Diophanes[3202] who made an Epitome of Dionysius, Nicander,[3203] Onesicritus,[3204] Phylarchus,[3205] Hesiod.[3206] FOOTNOTES: [1] Or the “Hospitable” Sea, now the Black Sea. [2] Or the “Inhospitable.” [3] The streams which discharge their waters into the Palus Mæotis, or Sea of Azof. [4] Straits of the Dardanelles or of Gallipoli, spoken of in B. iv. c. 18, as seven stadia in width. [5] The Thracian Bosporus, now the Channel or Straits of Constantinople, and the Cimmerian Bosporus or Straits of Kaffa, or Yeni Kale. [6] From βοῦς, an ox, and πορός, “a passage.” According to the legend, it was at the Thracian Bosporus that the cow Io made her passage from one continent to the other, and hence the name, in all probability, celebrated alike in the fables and the history of antiquity. The Cimmerian Bosporus not improbably borrowed its name from the Thracian. See Æsch. Prom. Vinc. l. 733. [7] This sentence seems to bear reference to the one that follows, and not, as punctuated in the Latin, to the one immediately preceding it. [8] It is not probable that this is the case at the Straits of Kaffa, which are nearly four miles in width at the narrowest part. [9] Now the Riva, a river of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, falling into the Euxine north-east of Chalcedon. [10] Probably an obscure town. [11] On the river Calpas or Calpe, in Bithynia. Xenophon, in the Anabasis, describes it as about half way between Byzantium and Heraclea. The spot is identified in some of the maps as Kirpeh Limán, and the promontory as Cape Kirpeh. [12] Still known as the Sakaria. [13] Now called the Sursak, according to Parisot. [14] Now the Lef-ke. See the end of c. 42 of the last Book. [15] The modern Gulf of Sakaria. Of the Mariandyni, who gave the ancient name to it, little or nothing is known. [16] Its site is now known as Harakli or Eregli. By Strabo it is erroneously called a colony of Miletus. It was situate a few miles to the north of the river Lycus. [17] Now called the Kilij. [18] Stephanus Byzantinus speaks of this place as producing whetstones, or ἀκοναὶ, as well as the plant aconite. [19] This name was given to the cavern in common with several other lakes or caverns in various parts of the world, which, like the various rivers of the name of Acheron, were at some time supposed to be connected with the lower world. [20] Now called Falios (or more properly Filiyos), according to D’Anville, from the river of that name in its vicinity, supposed by him and other geographers to be the same as the ancient Billis, here mentioned by Pliny. By others of the ancient writers it is called Billæus. [21] Paphlagonia was bounded by Bithynia on the west, and by Pontus on the east, being separated from the last by the river Halys; on the south it was divided by the chain of Mount Olympus from Phrygia in the earlier times, from Galatia at a later period; and on the north it bordered on the Euxine. [22] In the Homeric catalogue we find Pylæmenes leading the Paphlagonians as allies of the Trojans; from this Pylæmenes the later princes of Paphlagonia claimed their descent, and the country was sometimes from them called Pylæmenia. [23] Suspected by Hardouin to have been the same as the Moson or Moston mentioned by Ptolemy as in Galatia. [24] It is mentioned by Homer, Il. ii. 855, as situate on the coast of Paphlagonia. [25] Strabo also, in B. xii., says that these people afterwards established themselves in Thrace, and that gradually moving to the west, they finally settled in the Italian Venetia, which from them took its name. But in his Fourth Book he says that the Veneti of Italy owe their origin to the Gallic Veneti, who came from the neighbourhood known as the modern Vannes. [26] This city, ninety stadia east of the river Parthenius, occupied a peninsula, and on each side of the isthmus was a harbour. The original city, as here mentioned, seems to have had the name of Sesamus or Sesamum, and it is spoken of by that name in Homer, Il. ii. 853, in conjunction with Cytorus. The territory of Amastris was famous for its growth of the best box-wood, which grew on Mount Cytorus. The present Amasra or Hanasserah occupies its site. [27] See the last Note. [28] Otherwise called “Cinolis.” There is a place called Kinla or Kinoglu in the maps, about half-way between Kerempeh and Sinope, which is the Kinuli of Abulfeda, and probably the Cirolis or Cimolis of the Greek geographers. [29] The modern Estefan or Stefanos. [30] Now known by the name of Bartin, a corruption of its ancient appellation. [31] It still retains its ancient appellation in its name of Cape Kerempeh: of the ancient town nothing is known. [32] Now called Sinope, or Sinoub. Some ruins of it are still to be seen. The modern town is but a poor place, and has probably greatly declined since the recent attack upon it by the Russian fleet. Diogenes, the Cynic philosopher, was a native of ancient Sinope. [33] The boundary, according to Stephanus Byzantinus, also of the nations of Paphlagonia and Cappadocia. As Parisot remarks, this is an error, arising from the circumstance of a small tribe bearing the name of Cappadocians, having settled on its banks, between whom and the Paphlagonians it served as a limit. [34] On the river Iris. It was the ancient residence of the kings of Pontus, but in Strabo’s time it was deserted. It has been suggested that the modern Azurnis occupies its site. [35] In the north-west of Pontus, in a fertile plain between the rivers Halys and Amisus. It is also called Gadilon by Strabo. D’Anville makes it the modern Aladgiam; while he calls Gaziura by the name of Guedes. [36] Now called the Kisil Irmak, or Red River. It has been remarked that Pliny, in making this river to come down from Mount Taurus and flow at once from south to north, appears to confound the Halys with one of its tributaries, now known as the Izchel Irmak. [37] Its site is now called Kiengareh, Kangreh, or Changeri. This was a town of Paphlagonia, to the south of Mount Olgasys, at a distance of thirty-five miles from Pompeiopolis. [38] A commercial place to the south of Sinope. Its site is the modern Gherseh on the coast. [39] Now called Eski Samsun; on the west side of the bay or gulf, anciently called Sinus Amisenus. According to Strabo, it was only 900 stadia from Sinope, or 112-1/2 Roman miles. The walls of the ancient city are to be seen on a promontory about a mile and a half from the modern town. [40] He means the numerous indentations which run southward into the coast, from the headland of Sinope to a distance of about one degree to the south. [41] On examining the map, we shall find that the distance is at least 300 miles across to the gulf of Issus or Iskenderoon. [42] Not speaking the Greek language. [43] A part of it only was added to Eupatoria; and it was separated from the rest by a wall, and probably contained a different population from that of Amisus. This new quarter contained the residence of the king, Mithridates Eupator, who built Eupatoria. [44] The boundaries of Cappadocia varied under the dominion of the Persians, after the Macedonian conquest, and as a Roman province under the emperors. [45] Founded by Archelaüs, the last king of Cappadocia. In Hamilton’s _Researches_, the site has been assumed to be the modern Ak-serai, but that place is not on the river Halys, as Leake supposes. It is, however, considered that Ak-serai agrees very well with the position of Archelais as laid down in the Itineraries, and that Pliny may have been misled in supposing that the stream on which it stood was the Halys. [46] Also called by the name of Chryse, or “Golden,” to distinguish it from another place of the same name in Pontus. It is generally supposed that the town of Al-Bostan, on the Sihoon or Sarus, is on or near the site of this Comana. [47] Now called Niksar, according to D’Anville, though Hardouin says that it is Tocat. Parisot remarks, that this place belonged rather to Pontus than to Cappadocia. [48] A small tributary of the Iris, or Yeshil-Irmak, mentioned in the next Chapter. [49] Still called Amasia, or Amasiyeh, and situate on the river Iris, or Yeshil Ermak. It was at one time the residence of the princes of Pontus, and the birth-place of the geographer Strabo. The remains of antiquity here are very considerable, and extremely interesting. [50] Both to the west of Neo-Cæsarea. According to Tavernier, as quoted by Hardouin, the modern name of Sebastia is Sivas. [51] Which gave name to the district of Melitene, mentioned in c. 20 of the last Book. [52] Near Nazianzus, in Cappadocia, the birth-place of Gregory Nazianzen. The traveller Ainsworth, on his road from Ak-Serai to Kara Hissar, came to a place called Kaisar Koi, and he has remarked that by its name and position it might be identified with Diocæsarea. Some geographers, indeed, look upon Diocæsarea and Nazianzus as the same place. [53] Its ruins are still to be seen at Kiz Hisar. It stood in the south of Cappadocia, at the northern foot of Mount Taurus. Tyana was the native place of Apollonius, the supposed worker of miracles, whom the enemies of Christianity have not scrupled to place on a par with Jesus Christ. [54] Some ruins, nineteen geographical miles from Ayas, are supposed to denote the site of ancient Castabala or Castabulum. [55] This place was first called Eupatoria, but not the same which Mithridates united with a part of Amisus. D’Anville supposes that the modern town of Tchenikeb occupies its site. [56] Or Ziela, now known as Zillah, not far south of Amasia. It was here that Julius Cæsar conquered Pharnaces, on the occasion on which he wrote his dispatch to Rome, “Veni, vidi, vici.” [57] Still known by the name of Ardgeh-Dagh. [58] Its site is still called Kaisiriyeh. It was a city of the district Cilicia, in Cappadocia, at the base of the mountain Argæus. It was first called Mazaca, and after that, Eusebeia. There are considerable remains of the ancient city. [59] Hardouin remarks, that the district of Sargarausene was not situate in front of Phrygia, but lay between Morimene and Colopenene, in the vicinity of Pontus. [60] Now known as the Konax, a tributary of the Halys, rising in Mount Littarus, in the chain of Paryadres. [61] Or “White Syrians.” Strabo says that in his time both the Cappadocian peoples, those situate above the Taurus and those on the Euxine, were called Leucosyri, or _White_ Syrians, as there were some Syrians who were black, and who dwelt to the east of the Amanus. [62] It is doubtful whether this is the name of a river or a town. Notwithstanding its alleged celebrity, nothing is known of it. [63] Hecatæus, as quoted by Stephanus Byzantinus, speaks of Chadisia as a city of the Leucosyri, or Cappadocians. Neither the river nor the town appears to have been identified. [64] Probably on the river of that name, which has been identified with the Mers Imak, a river two or three miles east of the Acropolis of Amisus. [65] The extensive plain on the coast of Pontus, extending east of the river Iris beyond the Thermodon, and celebrated as the country of the Amazons. At the mouth of the Thermodon was a city of the same name, which had been destroyed by the time of Augustus. It is doubtful whether the modern Thermeh occupies its site. [66] The same place apparently as is mentioned in the last Chapter under the name of Zela. [67] Valerius Triarius, one of the legates of Lucullus, in the war against Mithridates. Plutarch tells us that Lucullus was obliged to conceal Triarius from the fury of his troops. [68] Over Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates. [69] Now called the Thermea. [70] Still called Mason-Dagh. [71] He alludes to Comana, in Pontus, the site of which is now called Gumenek, near to which, on the Tocat-su, the modern name of the Iris, Hamilton found some remains of a Roman town, and part of a bridge apparently of Roman construction. The language of Pliny seems to imply that it had become in his day nothing beyond a _manteium_ or seat of an oracle. [72] Strabo speaks of a promontory called Genetes; and Stephanus Byzantinus mentions a river and port of the same name. [73] Strabo places the Chaldei, who, he says, were originally called Chalybes, in that part of the country which lies above Pharnacia (the modern Kerasunt). [74] Or Cotyora. According to Xenophon, this was a colony of Sinope which furnished supplies for the Ten Thousand in their retreat. The place was on a bay called after the town. Hamilton, in his _Researches_, &c., Vol. i., is of opinion that Cotyorum may have stood on the site of Ordou, where some remains of an ancient port, cut out of the solid rock are still visible. He remarks, however, that some writers suppose that Cotyora was the modern bay of Pershembah, which is more sheltered than Ordou. Cotyora was the place of embarkation of the Ten Thousand. [75] Similar to what we call tatooing. Parisot suggests that these people may have been the ancestors of the Mongol tribes who still dwell in tents similar to those mentioned by Mela as used by the Mossyni. [76] Or the “long-headed people.” [77] Its site is not improbably that of the modern Kheresoun, on the coast of Asia Minor, and west of Trebizond. Lucullus is said to have brought thence the first cherry-trees planted in Europe. [78] It has been remarked, that Pliny’s enumeration of names often rather confuses than helps, and that it is difficult to say where he intends to place the Bechires. We may perhaps infer from Mela that they were west of Trapezus and east of the Thermodon. [79] Now the Kara Su, or Black River, still retaining its ancient appellation. It rises in Cappadocia, in the chain of Mount Argæus. [80] Still called by the same name, according to Parisot, though sometimes it is called the river of Vatisa. More recent authorities, however, call it Poleman Chai. [81] On the coast of Pontus, built by king Polemon, perhaps the Second, on the site of the older city of Side, at the mouth of the Sidenus. [82] Probably near the promontory of Jasonium, 130 stadia to the north-east of Polemonium. It was believed to have received its name from Jason the Argonaut having landed there. It still bears the name of Jasoon, though more commonly called Bona or Vona. [83] Sixty stadia, according to Arrian, from the town of Cotyora. [84] Supposed to have stood on almost the same site as the modern Kheresoun or Kerasunda. It was built near, or, as some think, on the site of Cerasus. [85] Still known by the name of Tireboli, on a river of the same name, the Tireboli Su. [86] Now called Tarabosan, Trabezun, or Trebizond. This place was originally a colony of Sinope, after the loss of whose independence Trapezus belonged, first to Lesser Armenia, and afterwards to the kingdom of Pontus. In the middle ages it was the seat of the so-called empire of Trebizond. It is now the second commercial port of the Black Sea, ranking next after Odessa. [87] The “Chalybes of Armenia.” See p. 21. [88] Theodoret says that the Sanni, and the Lazi, subsequently mentioned, although subdued by the Roman arms, were never obedient to the Roman laws. The Heniochi were probably of Grecian origin, as they were said to have been descended from the charioteers of the Argonauts, who had been wrecked upon these coasts. [89] Or Apsarus, or Absarum. Several geographers have placed the site of this town near the modern one known as Gonieh. Its name was connected with the myth of Medea and her brother Absyrtus. It is not improbable that the names Acampsis and Absarus have been given to the same river by different writers, and that they both apply to the modern Joruk. [90] It is suggested by Hardouin that these are the same as the Zydretæ mentioned in the Periplus of Arrian, and by him placed between the Heniochi and the Lazi. [91] See note [89]. [92] Supposed to be the same as the modern Tshorok. [93] Or “Deep” River. This stream may possibly be identified by observing that Pliny places only one river between it and the Phasis. [94] Probably the Madia of Ptolemy, who places it in the interior. [95] At the present day called Eraklia, according to Parisot. [96] Now called the Faz or Rhioni. [97] Still called El Faz or Poti. [98] This place was in reality thirty-seven miles and a half from the sea. It was said to have been the native place of the enchantresses Circe and Medea. [99] The rivers Hippos and Cyaneos do not appear to have been identified. [100] In the previous page. [101] Now called the Tchorocsu. [102] It is doubtful whether this is the same river as that mentioned by Strabo under the name of Chares. D’Anville says that its modern name is Enguri. [103] Or “Feeders on Lice;” so called, according to Strabo, from the extreme filthiness of their habits. [104] There is a nation in this vicinity still called by a similar name. Professor Pallas, who visited them, says that nothing can equal their dishonesty, rapacity, and voracity. Parisot suggests that they are probably the descendants of the Phthirophagi of Pliny. [105] Now called the Khalira, according to D’Anville. [106] Now called the Hati-Scari, according to D’Anville. [107] Now the Okhum, according to D’Anville. [108] Now the Mosti-Skari, according to D’Anville. [109] Still called Savastopoli, according to Hardouin. [110] This must not be confounded with the other place of the same name mentioned in the present Chapter. See p. 10. [111] Hermoläus suggests Pityus as the correct reading. [112] The Sanni Heniochi; one of these nations has been already mentioned in the last page. [113] Inhabited anciently by the Coli, and constituting the northern portion of ancient Colchis. [114] In B. v. c. 27. [115] Or nation “with the black cloaks,” from some peculiarity in their dress. [116] This was the great trading-place of the wild tribes in the interior; and so numerous were they, that the Greeks asserted that there were seventy different languages spoken in the market of Dioscurias. [117] Whence the appellation _Heniochi_, from the Greek ἡνιοχὸς. [118] There were two places called Heracleium on this coast, one north and the other south of the river Achæus: probably the latter is here meant. [119] Said to have been descended from the Achæans or Greeks who accompanied Jason in the Argonautic Expedition, or, according to Ammianus, who resorted thither after the conclusion of the Trojan war. [120] Probably meaning the “martial people,” or the “people of Mars.” This was the title, not of a single nation, but of a number of peoples distinguished for their predatory habits. [121] This people occupied the N.E. shore of the Euxine, between the Cimmerian Bosporus and the frontier of Colchis. Their name is still in existence, and is applied to the whole western district of the Caucasus, in the forms of Tcherkas, as applied to the people, and Tcherkeskaia or Circassia, to the country. [122] Hardouin suggests that these ought to be read as forming one name, the “Cerri Cephalatomi,” and suggests that they were so called from their habit of cutting off the heads of their slain enemies. [123] Meaning, nearly in the extreme corner of Pontus. [124] In the time of Strabo this was a considerable sea-port, and after its destruction by the Heniochi, it was restored, and served as an important frontier fortress of the Roman empire against the Scythians. [125] This was Mithridates, king of Bosporus, which sovereignty he obtained by the favour of the emperor Claudius, in A.D. 41. The circumstances are unknown which led to his subsequent expulsion by the Romans, who placed his younger brother Cotys on the throne in his stead. [126] Hardouin thinks that the Thalli inhabited the present country of Astrakan. [127] It was the ancient opinion, to which we shall find frequent reference made in the present Book, that the northern portion of the Caspian communicated with the Scythian or Septentrional ocean. [128] Mentioned only by Pliny. It is supposed to answer to the present Ukrash river; and the town and river of Hierus are probably identical with the Hieros Portus of Arrian, which has been identified with the modern Sunjuk-Kala. [129] Inhabited by the Sindi, a people of Asiatic Sarmatia. They probably dwelt in and about the modern peninsula of Taman, between the Sea of Azof and the Black Sea, to the south of the river Hypanis, the modern Kouban. The site of their capital, Sindos, or Sinda, is supposed to have been the modern Anapa. Parisot conjectures that this place was one of the ancient settlements of the Zigeunes, the modern Bohemians or Gypsies. He seems to found his opinion upon some observations of Malte Brun (_Précis de Geographie_, vol. vi.) upon the origin of the Gypsy race, which will amply repay the perusal. [130] The peninsula on which Taman or Timoutarakan is situate. [131] The _jugerum_ was 100 Grecian or 104 Roman feet in length. [132] Signifying in Greek the “sea-shore.” [133] Lying between Singa and Phanagoria. Rennell fixes it at the opening of the lake into which the Kouban flows. [134] Or the “gardens,” from the Greek κῆποι. A town of the Cimmerian Bosporus, founded by the Milesians. Dr. Clarke identifies the modern Sienna with it, and the curious Milesian sculptures found there confirm the supposition. [135] Its ruins are supposed to be those near Taman, on the eastern side of the Straits of Kaffa. It was the great emporium for all the traffic between the coasts of the Palus Mæotis and the countries on the south of the Caucasus, and was chosen by the kings of Bosporus as their capital in Asia. [136] A town of the Sindæ; it possessed, like Phanagoria, a celebrated temple of Aphrodite Apaturos, or Venus “the Deceiver,” whence probably its name. [137] Clarke identifies it with the modern Temruk, but Forbiger with Eskikrimm. [138] See B. iv. c. 24. [139] That lying on the east of the Sea of Azof. It seems impossible to identify the spot inhabited by each of these savage tribes. Hardouin says that the modern name of that inhabited by the Mæotici is Coumania. [140] Parisot suggests that this tribe afterwards emigrated to the west, and after establishing themselves in Macedonia, finally gave its name to modern Servia. He remarks, that most of these names appear to have been greatly mutilated, through the ignorance or carelessness of the transcribers, no two of the manuscripts agreeing as to the mode in which they should be spelt. [141] Or Don. It flows into the Sea of Azof by two larger mouths and several smaller ones. Strabo says that the distance between the two larger mouths is sixty stadia. [142] From the Greek γυναικοκρατουμενοὶ, “ruled over by women.” It is not improbable that this name was given by some geographer to these Sarmatian tribes on finding them, at the period of his visit, in subjection to the rule of a queen. Parisot remarks, that this passage affords an instance of the little care bestowed by Pliny upon procuring the best and most correct information, for that the Roman writers had long repudiated the use of the term “Sauromatæ.” He also takes Pliny to task for his allusion to these tribes as coupling with the Amazons, the existence of such a people being in his time generally disbelieved. [143] Hardouin suggests from εὐάζω, “to celebrate the orgies of Bacchus.” [144] Perhaps from κοίτη, a “den” or “cavern,” their habitation. [145] Parisot suggests that they may have been a Caucasian or Circassian tribe, because in the Circassian language the word _zig_ has the meaning of “man.” He also suggests that they were probably a distinct race from the Zingi previously mentioned, whom he identifies with the ancestors of the Zingari or Bohemians, the modern Gypsies. [146] The more common reading is “Turcæ,” a tribe also mentioned by Mela, and which gave name to modern Turkistan. [147] The Argippæi of Herodotus and other ancient authors. These people were bald, flat-nosed, and long-chinned. They are again mentioned by Pliny in C. 14, who calls them a race not unlike the Hyperborei, and then, like Mela, abridges the description given by Herodotus. By different writers these people have been identified with the Chinese, the Brahmins or Lamas, and the Calmucks. The last is thought to be the most probable opinion, or else that the description of Herodotus, borrowed by other writers, may be applied to the Mongols in general. The mountains, at the foot of which they have been placed, are identified with either the Ural, the western extremity of the Altaï chain, or the eastern part of the Altaï. [148] Generally regarded as the western branch of the Ural Mountains. [149] The former editions mostly have “there _was_,” implying that in the time of Pliny it no longer existed. The name of this place was Tanais; its ruins are still to be seen in the vicinity of Kassatchei. It was founded by a colony from Miletus, and became a flourishing seat of trade. The modern town of Azof is supposed to occupy nearly its site. [150] The people of Panticapæum, on the opposite side of the Palus Mæotis, occupying the site of the present Kertch. It was founded by the Milesians B.C. 541, and took its name from the neighbouring river Panticapes. [151] The Ceraunian mountains were a range belonging to the Caucasian chain, and situate at its eastern extremity; the relation of this range to the chain has been variously stated by the different writers. [152] He may possibly allude to a range of mountains in the Punjaub and the vicinity of the modern Lahore, by his reference to the Cathæi, who are supposed to have been the ancient inhabitants of that district. The localities of the various races here mentioned are involved in great obscurity. [153] Or Mediterranean. [154] See Vol. i. p. 497. [155] He includes under the term “Cappadocia,” the northern part originally called “Cappadocia ad Pontum,” and in later times simply Pontus, and the southern part, originally called “Cappadocia ad Taurum,” and more recently simply Cappadocia. [156] Running from the shores of the Euxine to the borders of Syria. [157] _I. e._ on the eastern side. [158] Meaning that part of Asia which we now call Asia Minor. [159] This ill agrees with what he has said in c. 2, that the distance across from Sinope to the Gulf of Issus is but 200 miles. [160] Greater Armenia, now known as Erzeroum, Kars, Van, and Erivan, was bounded on the north-east and north by the river Cyrus, or Kur of the present day; on the north-west and west by the Moschian mountains, the prolongation of the chain of the Anti-Taurus, and the Euphrates, or Frat of the present day; and on the south and south-east by the mountains called Masius, Niphates, and Gordiæi (the prolongation of the Taurus), and the lower course of the Araxes. On the east the country comes to a point at the confluence of the Syrus and Araxes. [161] Now known as the Kara-bel-Dagh, or Kut-Tagh, a mountain chain running south-west and north-east from the east of Asia Minor into the centre of Armenia, and forming the chief connecting link between the Taurus and the mountains of Armenia. [162] In B. v. c. 20. [163] He means, where the river Euphrates runs the farthest to the west. [164] Littré suggests that the reading should be “Aroei.” [165] The modern Eraskh or Aras. [166] The modern Kur. [167] This district was bounded on the east by the Euphrates, on the north and north-west by the mountains Scodises, Paryadres, and Anti-Taurus, and on the south by the Taurus. [168] This river is said by Ammianus to have taken its name from Cyrus. It appears, however, to have been a not uncommon name of the rivers of Persia. [169] It is probable that these rivers take their rise near each other, but it is not improbable that the intervening distance mentioned in the present passage is much too small. [170] Hardouin thinks that this is Neo-Cæsarea, mentioned as having been built on the banks of the Euphrates. [171] Now called Ezaz, according to D’Anville. Parisot suggests that it ought to be Gaza or Gazaca, probably a colony of Median Gaza, now Tauris. [172] Originally called Tephrice. It stood on the river Lycus, and not far from the sources of the Halys, having been founded by Pompey, where he gained his first victory over Mithridates, whence its name, the “City of Victory.” The modern Enderez or Devrigni, probably marks its site. [173] Ritter places it in Sophene, the modern Kharpat, and considers that it may be represented by the modern Sert, the Tigranocerta of D’Anville. [174] The capital of Sophene, one of the districts of Armenia. St. Martin thinks that this was the ancient heathen name of the city of Martyropolis, but Ritter shows that such cannot be the case. It was called by the Syrians Kortbest; its present name is Kharput. [175] Generally supposed, by D’Anville and other modern geographers, to be represented by the ruins seen at Sert. It was the later capital of Armenia, built by Tigranes. [176] The ancient capital of Armenia. Hannibal, who took refuge at the court of Artaxias when Antiochus was no longer able to afford him protection, superintended the building of it. Some ruins, called Takt Tiridate, or Throne of Tiridates, near the junction of the Aras and the Zengue, were formerly supposed to represent Artaxata, but Colonel Monteith has fixed the site at a bend in the river lower down, at the bottom of which were the ruins of a bridge of Greek or Roman architecture. [177] A fortress in Lesser Armenia, upon the Euphrates, seventy-five miles from Zimara, as mentioned in B. v. c. 20. It has been identified with the modern ferry and lead mines of Kebban Ma’den, the points where the Kara Su is joined by the Murad Chaï, 270 miles from its source. [178] Justin makes it only 1100, and that estimate appears to be several hundreds too much. [179] A country lying to the north of Armenia. [180] We find in Strabo the names of some of them mentioned, such as Sophene, Acilisene, Gorgodylene, Sacassene, Gorgarene, Phanene, Comisene Orchestene, Chorsene, Cambysene, Odomantis, &c. [181] The Ceraunian Mountains. Parisot remarks that in this description, Pliny, notwithstanding his previous professions, does not appear to have made any very great use of the list drawn up by Corbulo. [182] That is, looking towards the south. [183] The Septentrional Ocean, with which the ancients imagined that the northern part of the Caspian Sea is connected. See c. 15. [184] According to Strabo, Albania was bounded on the east by the Caspian, and on the north by the Caucasus. On the west it joined Iberia, while on the south it was divided from the Greater Armenia by the river Cyrus. By later writers, the northern and western boundaries are differently given. It was found to be the fact that the Albani occupied the country on both sides of the Caucasus, and accordingly Pliny, in c. 15, carries the country further north, as far as the river Casius, while in this Chapter he makes the river Alazon, the modern Alasan, the western boundary towards Iberia. [185] To the west of Albania. [186] Iberia lay south of the great chain of the Caucasus, forming an extensive tract bounded on the west by Colchis, on the east by Albania, and on the south by Armenia, and watered by the river Cyrus. It corresponded very nearly with modern Georgia. [187] The modern Alasan. [188] Now called Kablas-Var, according to Parisot. [189] Parisot says that this can be no other than Harmoza on the river Cyrus, in the vicinity of the modern Akhalzik. [190] Probably meaning “of the same name.” [191] To the west. [192] “The Armenian workers in iron,” or “Chalybes of Armenia.” See p. 9. [193] There are two chief passes over the chain of the Caucasus, both of which were known to the ancients. The first is between the eastern extremity of its chief north-eastern spur and the Caspian sea, near the modern Derbend. This was called “Albaniæ,” and sometimes, “Caspiæ Pylæ,” the “Albanian” or “Caspian Gates.” The other, which was nearly in the centre of the Caspian range, was called “Caucasiæ” or “Sarmaticæ Pylæ,” being the same as the modern pass of Dariyel, and probably the one here referred to. [194] Probably the same as the present fortress of Dariyel. [195] The first instance was that of the narrow isthmus to which the continent of Asia is reduced from Sinope across to the Gulf of Issus, as mentioned in c. 2. [196] The shortest distance across, in a straight line, is in reality little less than 600 miles. [197] The ancestor of the Seleucidæ, kings of Syria, treacherously slain by Ptolemy Ceraunus, brother of Ptolemy Philadelphus. [198] Already mentioned in B. iv. c. 27. [199] Mentioned in c. 44 of the last Book. [200] The one lying at the mouth of the Danube, and mentioned in B. iv. c. 27. [201] Mentioned in c. 4 of the present Book. See p. 9. [202] Or “Mars’ Island,” also called Aretias; at this island, in the south of the Euxine, the two queens of the Amazons, Otrere and Antiope, built a temple in honour of Ares or Mars. It is thought to be the rocky islet called by the Turks Kerasunt Ada, between three and four miles from Kerasunt, the ancient Pharnacea. [203] It is difficult to say what chain of mountains, if indeed any in particular, he would designate by this name. Parisot remarks that these mountains would seem to belong rather to the region of poetry and fable than of fact, and states that it is pretty clear that the Balkan chain, the districts in which the Danube takes its rise, the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Hercynian mountains, and even the chain of Taurus and Caucasus, have at different times been described or mentioned under the name of Riphæan Mountains. It was evidently Pliny’s belief that the great Northern or Scythian Ocean skirted the northern shores of Asia, a little above the latitude perhaps of the northern extremity of the Caspian. In B. iv. c. 26, we find him crossing these, perhaps imaginary, mountains, and then proceeding to the left, along, as he supposes, the extreme northern shores of Europe; here he seems to start from the same point, but turns to the right, and proceeds along the northern, eastern, and southern shores of Asia. [204] North-east. [205] _I. e._ more to the west. [206] See B. iv. c. 26. [207] The extremity of the supposed shores of the Hyperborei. [208] D’Anville supposes that he means the headland called Cande-Noss or Kanin-Noss, in the White Sea. Parisot, who thinks that Pliny had no idea of the regions which lie in those high latitudes, supposes that he refers to Domnes-Ness in the Baltic, and that by the Carambucis he means the river Niemen. [209] Ansart thinks that he means the Dwina, which falls into the Gulf of Archangel. [210] Previously mentioned in c. 7. [211] For a full description of them, see B. iv. c. 26. [212] See the Note to c. 7, p. 15. This description is borrowed from that given by Herodotus. Their sacred character has been explained as referring to the class or caste of priests among this Eastern people, whoever they may have been. [213] Ansart thinks that the Cicianthi, the Georgi, and the Amazons, inhabited the modern governments of Archangel and Vologda. It seems almost akin to rashness to hazard a conjecture. [214] It has been already stated that the Caspian Sea was, in one portion of it, so called, and in another the Hyrcanian Sea. [215] His meaning is, that the Scythian ocean communicates on the northern shores of Asia with the Caspian Sea. Hardouin remarks, that Patrocles, the commander of the Macedonian fleet, was the first to promulgate this notion, he having taken the mouth of the river Volga for a narrow passage, by means of which the Scythian or Northern Ocean made its way into the Caspian Sea. [216] The country of the Cadusii, in the mountainous district of Media Atropatene, on the south-west shores of the Caspian Sea, between the parallels of 390 and 370 north latitude. This district probably corresponds with the modern district of Gilan. [217] Now the Syr-Daria or Yellow River, and watering the barren steppes of the Kirghiz-Cossacks. It really discharges itself into the Sea of Aral, and not the Caspian. [218] The supposed Eastern Ocean of the ancients. [219] The imaginary passage by which it was supposed to communicate with the Scythian Ocean. [220] This being in reality the mouth of the Rha or Volga, as mentioned in Note 18, p. 24. [221] On the eastern side. [222] Across the mouths of the Volga. [223] On a promontory, on the right or eastern side of the mouth of the river Volga. [224] He here means the western shores of the Caspian, after leaving the mouth of the Volga. [225] In c. 11. [226] See the end of c. 14. [227] The Cæsius of Ptolemy, and the Koisou of modern times. [228] Probably the modern river Samour. [229] It is difficult to determine the exact locality of this river, but it would seem to have been near the Amardus, the modern Sefid-Rúd. [230] In c. 10. [231] See the beginning of c. 12, and the Note, p. 21. [232] See c. 10. [233] He alludes to the town of Arbela, where, as it is generally said, the army of Darius was defeated by Alexander the Great; by which engagement the conflict was terminated. It was the fact, however, that Darius left his baggage and treasures at Arbela, while the battle really took place near the village of Gaugamela, about twenty miles to the north-west of Arbela. This place still retains its name of Arbil. [234] A district in the east of Macedonia, bordering on the Thermaic gulf and the Chalcidic peninsula. [235] Nothing is known of this place. Hardouin suggests that it may have been built on the spot where Alexander defeated Darius. [236] Also known as Antiochia Mygdoniæ, the capital of Mygdonia. Its ruins are still to be seen near a place called Nisibin. It stood on the river Mygdonius, now the Nahral Huali. [237] Or Nineveh, the capital of the great Assyrian monarchy, destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians about B.C. 606. [238] There is great difficulty in ascertaining, from the accounts given by the ancient writers, the exact limits of this district, but it is supposed to have included a considerable portion of the province now known by the name of Azerbaijan. It derived its name from Atropates or Atropes, who was governor of this district under the last Darius. [239] Most probably the place now known as Gazæa, the royal residence of the Parthian kings, and, as its name would imply, their treasure city. Colonel Rawlinson thinks that this place underwent many changes of name according to the rulers who successively occupied it; among other names, it appears to have borne that of Ecbatana. [240] A city of great magnitude, pleasantly situate near the foot of Mount Orontes, in the northern part of Greater Media. Its original foundation was attributed by Diodorus Siculus to Semiramis, and by Herodotus to Deioces. It was the capital of the Median kingdom, and afterwards the summer residence of the Persian and Parthian kings. The genuine orthography of the name seems to be Agbatana. The ruins seen at the modern Hamadan are generally supposed to represent those of the ancient Ecbatana; but it is most probable that at different times, if not contemporaneously, there were several cities of this name in Media. [241] Pliny in this statement, as also in the distances which he here assigns to Ecbatana, is supposed to have confounded Ecbatana with Europus, now Veramin, rebuilt by Seleucus Nicator. [242] This was a city in the vicinity of Rhagæ, which was distant about 500 stadia from the Caspian Gates. It was built by the Greeks after the Macedonian conquest of Asia. The other places here mentioned do not appear to have been identified. [243] See the beginning of c. 12, p. 21. [244] This was the name of the wild tribes which occupied the high mountainous district between the great upland of Persia and the low plains of Mesopotamia. In addition to the name mentioned by Pliny, they were called Gordyæ, Cardaces, and Curtii. The present Kurds, inhabiting Kurdistan, are supposed to be descended from them. [245] The Greek παρ’ ὁδὸν, “on the road”—meaning, probably, to the Caspian Gates. Hardouin says that the Pratitæ were so called from the Greek πρατῖται, “merchants.” [246] Although dwelling at a considerable distance, the custody of these gates was delivered to them, Hardouin says, by the kings of Media. [247] To the south-east of them. [248] Mentioned in c. 29 of the present Book. [249] Or Choarene. [250] Its site is unknown; but it is mentioned by Appian as one of the many towns erected by Seleucus. [251] By the use of the word “quondam,” he implies that in his time it was in ruins. [252] A place of considerable importance, which seems to have derived its name from its “hundred gates.” It was one of the capitals of the Arsacidan princes; but, extensive though it may have been, there is great doubt where it was situate, the distance recorded by ancient writers not corresponding with any known ruins. [253] In a northern direction, along the western shores of the Caspian. [254] According to Hardouin, Eratosthenes, as quoted by Strabo, makes the distance 5060 stadia, or about 633 miles. He has, however, mis-translated the passage, which gives 5600 stadia, or 700 miles exactly, as stated by Pliny. [255] Or 1960 miles. [256] Bactra, Bactrum, or Bactrium, was one of the chief cities, if not the capital, of the province of Bactriana. It was one of the most ancient cities in the world, and the modern Balkh is generally supposed to occupy its site. Strabo, as well as Pliny, evidently considers that Bactra and Zareispa were the same place, while Appian distinguishes between the two, though he does not clearly state their relative positions. [257] The modern Syr-Daria, mentioned in c. 15. See p. 25. [258] By some writers called Apavareticene, in the south-eastern part of Parthia. Ansart says that it is now known as Asterabad and Ghilan. [259] Or Dara. A strongly fortified place, built by Arsaces I., and situate on the mountains of the Zapaorteni. [260] According to Ansart, the district now known as Tabaristan, or Mazanderan, derives the first of those names from the Tapyri. [261] D’Anville remarks that this river still retains its “starry” name, being the modern Aster or Ester, on which Asterabad is situate. [262] This district occupied the southern part of modern Khiva, the south-western part of Bokhara, and the north-eastern part of Khorassan. This province of the ancient Persian empire received its name from the river Margus, now the Moorghab. It first became known to the Greeks by the expeditions of Alexander and Antiochus I. [263] Antiochus Soter, the son of Seleucus Nicator. [264] The meaning of this, which has caused great diversity of opinion among the Commentators, seems to be, that on rebuilding it, he preferred giving it a name borne by several cities in Syria, and given to them in honour of kings of that country. To this he appears to have been prompted by a supposed resemblance which its site on the Margus bore to that of Antiochia on the Orontes. [265] The modern Moorghab; it loses itself in the sands of Khiva. [266] Its remains are supposed to be those of an ancient city, still to be seen at a spot called Merv, on the river Moorghab. [267] The people of modern Bokhara. [268] This appears to mean the nations of “Chariot horse-breeders.” [269] In former editions, called the ‘Gridinus.’ It is impossible to identify many of these nations and rivers, as the spelling varies considerably in the respective MSS. [270] An extensive tribe of Sogdiana, now represented by the district of Khawarezm, in the desert country of Khiva. [271] A tribe in the north-western part of Sogdiana. They appear to have been situate to the east of the district of Khawarezm. It has been suggested that they derived their name from the Sanscrit Gandharas, a tribe beyond the Indus. [272] The chief seat of the Aorsi, who appear to have been a numerous and powerful people both of Europe and Asia, was in the country between the Tanais, the Euxine, the Caspian, and the Caucasus. It seems doubtful, however, whether it is these people who are alluded to in the present passage. [273] These would almost seem to be a different people from those mentioned in c. 15 of the present Book, as dwelling in Atropatene. The present appears to have been a tribe of Sogdiana. [274] Strabo mentions a town of this name, which he places, together with Apamea, in the direction of Rhagæ. If Pliny has observed anything like order in his recital of nations and places, the Heraclea here mentioned cannot be that spoken of by Strabo, but must have been distant nearly 1000 miles from it. [275] This was a tribe, apparently of Scythian origin, settled in Margiana, on the left bank of the Oxus. Strabo says that they worshipped the earth, and forbore to sacrifice or slay any female; but that they put to death their fellow-creatures as soon as they had passed their seventieth year, it being the privilege of the next of kin to eat the flesh of the deceased person. The aged women, however, they used to strangle, and then consign them to the earth. [276] The modern Jihoun or Amou. It now flows into the Sea of Aral, but the ancients universally speak of it as running into the Caspian; and there are still existing distinct traces of a channel extending in a south-westerly direction from the sea of Aral to the Caspian, by which at least a portion, and probably the whole of the waters of the Oxus found their way into the Caspian; and not improbably the Sea of Aral itself was connected with the Caspian by this channel. [277] Most probably under this name he means the Sea of Aral. [278] The Bactrus. This river is supposed to be represented by the modern Dakash. Hardouin says that Ptolemy, B. vi. c. 11, calls this river the Zariaspis, or Zariaspes. See the Note at the end of c. 17, p. 30. [279] Now known as the Hindoo-Koosh; a part of the great mountain-chain which runs from west to east through the centre of the southern portion of the highlands of Central Asia, and so divides the part of the continent which slopes down to the Indian ocean from the great central table-land of Tartary and Thibet. The native term, Hindoo-Koosh, is only a form of the ancient name “Indicus Caucasus,” which was sometimes given to this chain. The ancient name was derived probably from the Persian word _paru_, a “mountain.” [280] Flowing from the north side of the Paropanisus. According to Pliny and Ptolemy, this river flowed through Bactria into the Oxus; but according to Strabo, through Hyrcania into the Caspian Sea. Some suppose it to have been only another name for the Oxus. Ansart suggests that it may have been the river now known as the Bash. [281] D’Anville says that there is still the valley of Al Sogd, in Tartary, beyond the Oxus. The district called Sogdiana was probably composed of parts of modern Turkistan and Bokhara. The site of Panda does not appear to be known. [282] It was built on the Jaxartes, to mark the furthest point reached by Alexander in his Scythian expedition. It has been suggested that the modern Kokend may possibly occupy its site. [283] The “twin,” of the same birth with Diana. [284] The Sacæ probably formed one of the most numerous and most powerful of the Scythian Nomad tribes, and dwelt to the east and north-east of the Massagetæ, as far as Servia, in the steppes of Central Asia, which are now peopled by the Kirghiz Cossacks, in whose name that of their ancestors, the Sacæ, is traced by some geographers. [285] Meaning the “Great Getæ.” They dwelt beyond the Jaxartes and the Sea of Aral, and their country corresponds to that of the Khirghiz Tartars in the north of Independent Tartary. [286] The Dahæ were a numerous and warlike Nomad tribe, who wandered over the vast steppes lying to the east of the Caspian Sea. Strabo has grouped them with the Sacæ and Massagetæ, as the great Scythian tribes of Inner Asia, to the north of Bactriana. [287] See also B. iv. c. 20, and B. vi. c. 7. The position of the Essedones, or perhaps more correctly, the Issedones, may probably be assigned to the east of Ichim, in the steppes of the central border of the Kirghiz, in the immediate vicinity of the Arimaspi, who dwelt on the northern declivity of the Altaï chain. A communication is supposed to have been carried on between these two peoples for the exchange of the gold that was the produce of those mountain districts. [288] They dwelt, according to Ptolemy, along the southern banks of the Jaxartes. [289] Or the Mardi, a warlike Asiatic tribe. Stephanus Byzantinus, following Strabo, places the Amardi near the Hyrcani, and adds, “There are also Persian Mardi, without the _a_;” and, speaking of the Mardi, he mentions them as an Hyrcanian tribe, of predatory habits, and skilled in archery. [290] D’Anville supposes that the Euchatæ may have dwelt at the modern Koten, in Little Bukharia. It is suggested, however, by Parisot, that they may have possibly occupied a valley of the Himalaya, in the midst of a country known as “Cathai,” or the “desert.” [291] The first extant notice of them is in Herodotus; but before him there was the poem of Aristeas of Proconnesus, of which the title was ‘Arimaspea;’ and it is mainly upon the statements in it that the stories told relative to this people rest—such as their being one-eyed, and as to their stealing the gold from the Gryphes, or Griffins, under whose custody it was placed. Their locality is by some supposed to have been on the left bank of the Middle Volga, in the governments of Kasan, Simbirsk, and Saratov: a locality which is sufficiently near the gold districts of the Uralian chain to account for the legends connecting them with the Gryphes, or guardians of the gold. [292] The former reading was, “The Napæi are said to have perished as well as the Apellæi.” Sillig has, however, in all probability, restored the correct one. “Finding,” he says, “in the work of Diodorus Siculus, that two peoples of Scythia were called, from their two kings, who were brothers, the Napi and the Pali, we have followed close upon the footsteps of certain MSS. of Pliny, and have come to the conclusion that some disputes arose between these peoples, which ultimately led to the destruction of one of them”. [293] Of the Caspian Sea. [294] Said on the supposition that it is a bay or gulf of the Scythian or Septentrional Ocean. [295] Ansart suggests that this is the modern Rocsha. [296] From the Oxus. [297] Ansart suggests that this island is that now called Idak, one of the Ogurtchinski group. [298] This would apply to the north-eastern coasts of Siberia, if Pliny had had any idea of land situate in such high latitudes; but, on the contrary, as already remarked, he appears to have supposed that the continent of Asia terminated a little above the northern extremity of the Caspian. It would be a loss of time to guess what locality is meant by the Scythian Promontory. [299] Or “man-eaters.” [300] This, it would appear, he looks upon as the extreme north-eastern point of Asia. Parisot suggests that the word Tabis is allied to the Mongol Daba, which signifies “mountain;” or else that it may have some affinity with “Thibet.” [301] The people of Serica, which country with Ptolemy corresponds to the north-western part of China, and the adjacent portions of Thibet and Chinese Tartary. The capital, Sera, is by most supposed to be Singan, on the Hoang-ho, but by some Peking. Pliny evidently refers to the same people, and has some notion of the locality of their country. [302] This is generally supposed to bear reference to the cloths exported by the Seres, as _Serica_, and corresponding to our silks. On examination, however, it will appear that he rather refers to some textures of cotton, such as calicos or muslins; it being not unknown to Pliny that silks or _bombycina_ were the produce of the bombyx or silk-worm; see B. xi. c. 22. The use of the word “canities” points strongly to cotton as being the substance meant. [303] Whether it is silk or cotton that is here referred to, Pliny seems in this passage to allude to some peculiarity in the texture, which was perhaps so close, that when brought to the Western world it was the custom to draw out a portion of the threads. In such case it perhaps strongly resembled the Chinese crapes of the present day. Speaking of Cleopatra in B. x. 141, of the Pharsalia, Lucan says, “Her white breasts are resplendent through the Sidonian fabric, which, wrought in close texture by the sley of the Seres, the needle of the workman of the Nile has separated, and has loosened the warp by stretching out the web.” [304] He either refers to dresses consisting of nothing but open work, or what we may call fine lace, and made from the closely woven material imported from China, or else to the ‘Coan vestments’ which were so much worn by the Roman women, especially those of light character, in the Augustan age. This Coan tissue was remarkable for its extreme transparency. It has been supposed that these dresses were made of silk, as in the island of Cos silk was spun and woven at an early period, so much so as to obtain a high celebrity for the manufactures of that island. Seneca, B. vii. De Benef. severely censures the practice of wearing these thin garments. For further information on this subject, see B. xi. c. 26, 27, and B. xii. c. 22. [305] Meaning that they do not actively seek intercourse with the rest of the world, but do not refuse to trade with those who will take the trouble of resorting to them. This coincides wonderfully with the character of the Chinese even at the present day. [306] Ptolemy speaks of it as the Œchordas. [307] The headland of Malacca, in the Aurea Chersonnesus, was also called by this name, but it is hardly probable that that is the place here meant. [308] See B. iv. c. 18. [309] The Emodi Montes (so called probably from the Indian _hemâdri_, or the “golden”) are supposed to have formed that portion of the great lateral branch of the Indian Caucasus, the range of the Himalaya, which extends along Nepaul, and probably as far as Bhotan. [310] In c. 14 of the present Book. [311] The whole of this passage seems very intricate, and it is difficult to make sense of it. His meaning, however, is probably this: that the coast of India, running from extreme north-east to south-east, relatively to Greece, the country of Eratosthenes, is exactly opposite to the coast of Gaul, running from extreme north-west to south-west—India thus lying due west of Gaul, without any intervening land. This, it will be remembered, was the notion of Columbus, when contemplating the possibility of a western passage to India. [312] This appears also to be somewhat obscure. It is clear that if India lies to the west of Gaul, it cannot be Pliny’s meaning that it is refreshed by the _west_ wind blowing _to_ it _from_ Gaul. He may possibly mean that the west wind, which is so refreshing to the west of Europe, and Gaul in particular, first sweeps over India, and thus becomes productive of that salubrity which Posidonius seems to have discovered in India, but for which we look in vain at the present day. Amid, however, such multiplied chances of a corrupt text, it is impossible to assume any very definite position as to his probable meaning. The French translators offer no assistance in solving the difficulty, and Holland renders it, “This west wind which _from behind_ Gaul bloweth upon India, is very healthsome,” &c. [313] As to the Etesian winds, see B. ii. c. 48. [314] In the geographical work which Patrocles seems to have published, he is supposed to have given some account of the countries bordering on the Caspian Sea, and there is little doubt that, like other writers of that period, he regarded that sea as a gulf or inlet of the Septentrional Ocean, and probably maintained the possibility of sailing thither by sea from the Indian Ocean. This statement, however, seems to have been strangely misinterpreted by Pliny in his present assertion, that Patrocles had himself accomplished this circumnavigation. [315] Sec B. v. c. 36. [316] Or Bacchus. [317] Or seventy-five miles. [318] This is the statement of Arrian. [319] Among the lost works of that philosopher. [320] In c. 17 of the present Book. [321] See c. 25 of the present Book. [322] See c. 25 of the present Book. [323] See c. 25 of the present Book. [324] A town placed by Strabo on the confines of Bactriana, and by Ptolemy in the county of the Paropanisidæ. [325] See c. 25 of the present Book. [326] See c. 24 of the present Book. [327] The present Attok, according to D’Anville. [328] One of the principal rivers of that part of India known as the Punjaub. It rises in the north-western Himalayah mountains in Kashmere, and after flowing nearly south, falls into the Acesines or Chenab. Its present most usual name is the Jhelum. [329] The most eastern, and most important of the five rivers which water the country of the Punjaub. Rising in the western Himalaya, it flows in two principal branches, in a course nearly south-west (under the names respectively of Vipasa and Satadru), which it retains till it falls into the Indus at Mittimkote. It is best known, however, by its modern name of Sutlej, probably a corrupt form of the Sanscrit Satadru. [330] See c. 18 of the present Book. The altars there spoken of, as consecrated by Alexander the Great, appear to have been erected in Sogdiana, whereas those here mentioned were dedicated in the Indian territory. [331] It does not appear that this river has been identified. In most of the editions it is called Hesidrus; but, as Sillig observes, there was a town of India, near the Indus, called Sydros, which probably received its name from this river. [332] It has been suggested that this place is the modern Kanouge, on the Ganges. [333] The modern Jumna. It must be borne in mind by the reader, that the numbers given in this Chapter vary considerably in the different MSS. [334] See the next Chapter. [335] The Sanscrit for “snowy” is “_himarat_.” The name of Emodus, combined with Imaüs, seems here to be a description of the knot of mountains formed by the intersections of the Himalaya, the Hindoo Koosh, and the Bolor range; the latter having been for many ages the boundary between the empires of China and Turkistan. It is pretty clear, that, like Ptolemy, Pliny imagined that the Imaüs ran from south to north; but it seems hardly necessary, in this instance at least, to give to the word “promontorium” the meaning attached to our word “promontory,” and to suppose that he implies that the range of the Imaüs runs down to the verge of the eastern ocean. [336] A name evidently given to numerous tribes of India, from the circumstance that Alexander and his followers found it borne by the Brahmins or priestly caste of the Hindoos. [337] Still called the Cane, a navigable river of India within the Ganges, falling into the Ganges, according to Arrian as well as Pliny, though in reality it falls into the Jumna. [338] The Calingæ, who are further mentioned in the next Chapter, probably dwelt in the vicinity of the promontory of Calingon, upon which was the town of Dandaguda, mentioned in c. 23 of the present Book. This promontory and city are usually identified with those of Calinapatnam, about half-way between the rivers Mahanuddy and Godavery; and the territory of the Calingæ seems to correspond pretty nearly to the district of Circars, lying along the coast of Orissa. [339] By the Malli, Parisot is of opinion that the people of Moultan are meant. [340] So much so, indeed, that its sources were unknown to the learned world till the beginning of the present century, although the Chinese emperor Tang-Hi on one occasion sent a body of Llamas for the purpose of inquiring into the subject. It is now ascertained that the river Ganges is the result of the confluence of three separate streams, which bear the respective names of the Gannavi, the Bhagirathi, and the Alakananda. The second is of the most sacred character, and is the one to which the largest concourse of pilgrims resort. The ancients held various opinions as to the sources of the river. [341] The Cainas and the Jomanes, mentioned in the last Chapter. [342] The modern Gandaki or Gundûk is generally supposed to be represented by the Condochates. [343] Represented as flowing into the Ganges at Palimbothra, the modern Patna. There has been considerable discussion among the learned as to what river is indicated by this name. It has, however, been considered most probable that it is the same as the Sonus of Pliny, the modern Soane, though both that author, as well as Arrian, speaks of two rivers, which they call respectively Erannoboas and Sonus. The name was probably derived from the Sanscrit Hyranyavahas, the poetical name of the Sonus. [344] Supposed to be the same as the river Cosi or Coravaha. [345] The wide diffusion of the Calingæ, and their close connection with the Gangaridæ, are shown by the fact that Pliny here calls them “Calingæ Gangarides,” and mentions the Modogalingæ on a large island in the Ganges, and the Maccocalingæ on the upper course of that river. See note [338], p. 42. [346] Called Parthalis in most of the editions. [347] Or _castes_, as we call them. These institutions prevail equally at the present day, and the divisions of the duties of the respective castes are pretty much as Pliny states them to be, except that the husbandmen and merchants form one class, called the Vaisya, the Brahmins being the ministers of religion, the Kshatriya forming the warlike class, the Sudra constituting the menial or servant class. Pliny here represents the rulers and councillors as forming a distinct class. Such, however, does not appear to be the fact; for we find that the sovereign is chosen from the Kshatriya or military class, while from the Brahmins are selected the royal councillors, judges, and magistrates of the country. [348] He alludes to the Brahmins, who seem to have been called by the Greek writers “Gymnosophists,” or “naked wise men.” The Brahmin Calanus is a memorable example of this kind of self-immolation. [349] It is extremely doubtful if, even in his own day, Pliny was correct in venturing upon so sweeping an assertion. [350] The Sudra or menial caste. [351] He is incorrect here; these duties devolve on the Vaisya class. [352] Inhabited, probably, by a branch of the Calingæ previously mentioned. [353] Ansart suggests that this may be the modern kingdom of Pegu. He thinks also that the preceding kingdom may be that now called Arracan. [354] These may possibly be the Daradræ of Ptolemy, but it seems impossible to guess their locality. [355] Probably the present Patna. D’Anville, however, identifies it with Allahabad, while Welford and Wahl are inclined to think it the same as Radjeurah, formerly called Balipoutra or Bengala. The Prasii are probably the race of people mentioned in the ancient Sanscrit books under the name of the “Pragi” or the Eastern Empire, while the Gangarides are mentioned in the same works under the name of “Gandaressa” or Kingdom of the Ganges. [356] Hardouin is of opinion that these nations dwelt in the localities occupied by the districts of Gwalior and Agra. [357] The Septentriones or “Seven Trions,” in the original. Parisot is of opinion that under this name of Mount Maleus he alludes to the Western Ghauts, and that the name still survives in the word Malabar. He also remarks that this statement of Pliny is not greatly exaggerated. [358] Ansart says that this is the same as the modern town of Muttra or Matra upon the Jumna, and to the north of Agra. [359] Or Clisobora, according to Hardouin. It does not appear to have been identified. [360] In the Indian Peninsula, constituting more especially the presidency of Madras. [361] It is clear that he looks upon the countries of the Indus as lying to the south of the Ganges. [362] Or Hindoo Koosh. In this statement he is supported by Arrian, Strabo, Mela, and Quintus Curtius. It rises, however, a considerable distance on the north-east side of the Himalaya. [363] The modern Jhelum. [364] Some writers suppose that this must be the same as the Hydraotes, or modern Ravi, because the latter is not otherwise found mentioned in the list given by Pliny. The name, however, leaves but little doubt that Pliny had heard of the Acesines under its Indian name of Chandabragha, and out of it has made another river. [365] The modern Sutlej. [366] Probably in the vicinity of the modern Calingapatam; none of the other places seem to be identified. [367] Ansart suggests that the Cesi may be the same race as the modern Sikhs. [368] Perhaps the people of modern Ajmere. [369] These peoples are supposed by Hardouin to have occupied the southern parts of the peninsula now known as Bisnagar, Calicut, and the Deccan, with the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. [370] Hardouin suggests that this people dwelt on the present peninsula of Guzerat. [371] None of these appear to have been identified; indeed, it appears to be next to impossible, owing to the corrupt state in which they have come down to us. [372] Built on the Hydaspes by Alexander after his victory over Porus, B.C. 326, at the spot where he had crossed the river before the battle, and in memory of his celebrated charger Bucephalus, who had expired during the battle from fatigue and old age, or from wounds. The exact site of this place is not known, but the probabilities appear in favour of Jhelum, at which place is the usual passage of the river, or else of Jellapoor, about sixteen miles lower down. [373] Probably the same that is mentioned in c. 21 of the present Book. [374] Parisot supposes that these were the inhabitants of the district which now bears the name of Pekheli. [375] Gedrosia comprehended probably the same district as is now known by the name of Mekran, or, according to some, the whole of modern Beloochistan. [376] The people of the city and district of Arachotus, the capital of Arachosia. M. Court has identified some ruins on the Argasan river, near Kandahar, on the road to Shikarpur, with those of Arachotus; but Professor Wilson considers them to be too much to the south-east. Colonel Rawlinson thinks they are those to be seen at a place called Ulan Robat. He states that the most ancient name of the city, Cophen, (mentioned by Pliny in c. 25 of the present Book), has given rise to the territorial designation. See p. 57. [377] The people of Aria, consisting of the eastern part of Khorassan, and the western and north-western part of Afghanistan. This was one of the most important of the eastern provinces or satrapies of the Persian empire. [378] This was the collective name of several peoples dwelling on the southern slopes of the Hindoo Koosh, and of the country which they inhabited, which was not known by any other name. It corresponded to the eastern part of modern Afghanistan and the portion of the Punjaub lying to the west of the Indus. [379] It is supposed that the Cophes is represented by the modern river of Kabul. [380] The place here alluded to was in the district of Goryæa, at the north-western corner of the Punjaub, near the confluence of the rivers Cophen and Choaspes, being probably the same place as Nagara or Dionysopolis, the modern Nagar or Naggar. [381] The word μήρος, in Greek, signifying a “thigh.” [382] Supposed by some to have been Lower Scinde, and the vicinity of Kurrachee, with its capital Potala. [383] Ansart suggests that these may be the Laccadives. Their name means the “gold” and “silver” islands. [384] Probably an island near the mouths of the Indus. [385] Probably the same as the Bibacta of Arrian. The present name of it is Chilney Isle. [386] Although Poinsinet will not admit its identity, it is now universally agreed among the learned that the island of Taprobana is the modern Ceylon. As Gosselin observes, in the accounts said to have been given of Ceylon by the ambassadors to Claudius, great allowance must be made for the wrong interpretation which, owing to their ignorance of the language, the Romans must have given to much of their narrative. [387] From ἀντὶ, “opposite,” and χθών, “the earth.” Its people being supposed to be the _antipodes_ of those of Europe. [388] “The ancient race.” As Ansart observes, the island contains a mountain, the name of which is “Adam’s” Peak. [389] Ælian makes the villages to be 750 in number. [390] A general term probably, as already stated, for the great peninsula of India, below the Ganges. [391] This expression has been relied upon by those who do not admit that Ceylon is identical with the ancient Taprobana. But it is not improbable that the passage here referred to is from Cape Comorin to Ceylon, and not from Cape Ramanan Cor, the nearest part of the continent. In such case, the distance would be sixty-five or sixty-six leagues, and we can easily conceive that Greek vessels, sailing from nine to ten leagues per day, might occupy seven days in making the passage from Cape Comorin, past Ramanan Cor, to the coasts of Ceylon. [392] The amphora, as a measure, contained eight congii, or forty-eight sextarii. [393] Or “Septentrio;” “the Seven Trions,” which was more especially employed by the nations of Europe for the purposes of navigation. [394] Parisot suggests that the word “Radijah,” or “Rajah,” denoting the rank which he held, may have been here taken by Pliny for his name. [395] Ptolemy says that the ancient name of the island was Simundi, or Palæsimundi, but speaks of no such city as the one here mentioned, nor indeed of any other of the localities described by Pliny. [396] It is difficult to say whether by this name is meant the modern Cape Comorin, or that known as Ramanan Cor, which is in reality the nearest point to the coast of Ceylon. Perhaps the latter is meant; in which case it is not improbable that the Island of the Sun will be represented by the islet called Rameserum in the maps, or else the one adjoining called Manaar. It must not be confounded with the Island of the Sun, mentioned in c. 26. See p. 60. [397] It is not improbable that he alludes to coral reefs. [398] This assertion Gosselin would either reject as a fabulous falsehood, or as having originated in some misconception on the part of the Romans; for, as he remarks, it is quite impossible that the Pleiades should be a constellation unknown at that time to the people of Ceylon; but, on the other hand, it would be equally true that the Greater Bear was concealed from them. [399] This was also a fable, or else originated in misapprehension of their language on the part of the Romans. [400] Gosselin remarks that their story may have been that for about seven months in the year the shadows fell to the north, and during the remaining five to the south, which would not have been inconsistent with the truth. [401] This also is classed by Gosselin under the head either of fabulous stories or misapprehensions. [402] “Seras—ab ipsis aspici.” It is difficult to say whether this does not mean that they were in sight of the coast of the Seræ. Under any circumstances, the Seræ here spoken of must not be taken for the Seres or supposed Chinese. Gosselin remarks that under this name the people of a district called Sera are probably referred to, and that in fact such is the name of a city and a whole province at the present day, situate on the opposite coast, beyond the mountains which terminate the plains of the Carnatic. It is equally impossible that under the name of “Emodi” Pliny can allude to the Himalaya chain, distant more than 2000 miles. The mountains, on the verge of the plains of the Carnatic, are not improbably those here referred to, and it is not impossible that they may be discerned from the shores of Ceylon. Gosselin is of opinion that the name of the ancient Seræ may still be traced in that of Seringapatam, and of the city of Seringham, situate on the river Godavery. [403] Relative to the Seræ, or inhabitants of the opposite shores. [404] Or “Bacchus.” This means that he wears a long robe with a train; much like the dress, in fact, which was worn on the stage by tragic actors. [405] “Festa venatione absumi, gratissimam eam tigribus elephantisque constare.” Holland gives this sentence quite a different meaning, fancying that it bears reference to the mode in which the guilty king comes to his end, which, indeed, otherwise does not appear to be stated. “But to doe him to death in the end, they appoint a solemne day of hunting, right pleasant and agreable unto tigres and elephants, before which beasts they expose their king, and so he is presently by them devoured.” It is difficult to say, however, where he finds all this. [406] It is much more probable that they used the shells for the purpose of making roofs for their habitations. [407] Mentioned already, towards the conclusion of c. 23 of the present Book. See p. 51. [408] This place was included in the district of the Paropanisus or Hindoo Koosh. It is doubtful whether Pliny is correct in saying that it was destroyed by Cyrus, as we have no reason for supposing that he ever advanced so far to the north-east. It is supposed by some that Capisene represents the valley of the Kabul river, and Capisa the town on the Indus, now known as Peshawar. Lassen, in his researches, has found in the Chinese annals a kingdom called Kiapiche, in the valley of Ghurbend, to the east of Bamian. It is not improbable that Capisa and Kiapiche were different forms of the same name. [409] See the Notes in p. 50. [410] The principal river of Drangiana, which rises in the lower range of the Paropanisus or Hindoo Koosh, and enters Lake Zarah. Its present name is Ilmend or Helmend. Burnouf has supposed it to be the same as the Arachotus; but Professor Wilson is of opinion that the Arachotus was one of the tributaries of the Erymanthus or Erymandrus, and probably the modern Arkand-Ab. [411] Parisot takes the meaning of this word to be “valley,” and is of opinion that it is the modern Chabul; not to be confounded, however, with the country of Cabul, to the east of which it is situate. [412] Now called Birusen, according to Parisot, and not the city of Cabul, as supposed by Hardouin. [413] Or the “four-cornered city.” [414] This place has not been identified. It has been suggested that it is the same as the modern city of Candahar; but that was really Alexandria of the Paropanisadæ, quite a different place. [415] Inhabiting the district now called Arassen, according to Parisot. [416] Inhabit