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before the time of execution arrived. It was then that I beheld what I had never
thought to see. He had a tail more than a foot long, covered with red hair, and
very much like that of a cow. When he saw the surprise that this discovery created
amongst the European spectators, he informed us that his tail was the effect of
climate, for that all the inhabitants of the southern side of the island, where they
then were, were provided with like appendages. The measure of burning the
man to avoid any future unpleasantness, seems a somewhat strong one, and
attended with a very considerable element of risk to themselves, besides the
grave personal inconvenience to the victim. The account is a very circumstantial
one; how is it to be explained? One cannot accept the tail or the tale; and yet it
is painful to feel that the alternative is to brand John Struys as deliberately errant
from the truth; and brave men who take their lives in their hands are above the
meanness of vapouring or lying. In such a case one agrees entirely with Dr.
Johnson: Of a standing fact, sir, there ought to be no controversy. If there are
men with tails, catch a homo caudatus.
Africa and India, the two great wonder-lands of our forefathers, were the home
of many strange specimens of humanity. Far away towards the sources of the
Nile were the Nigriae, ruled by a king who had but one eye, and that in the midst
of his forehead. There, too, were found the Agriophagi, a people who lived on
the flesh of lions and panthers: the Anthropophagi that fed on the flesh of men,
and the Pomphagi that, like the modern schoolboy, eat all things. In that mysterious
land too dwelt the Cynamolgi, whose heads were those of dogs. One old writer
tells us that there was a tribe of one hundred and twenty thousand of these
dog-headed men: they wore the skins of wild animals as their clothing, and carried
on conversation in true canine style by yelps and barks. Sir John Maundevile, of
course, knew all about these folk, since he found a great and fair island somewhere,
called Nacumera, that was more than a thousand miles in circuit, and which had
no other population. He tells us that they were a very reasonable people and of
good understanding, the only fault that he finds with them being that they worship an
ox as their god. Jordanus, Burton and others locate these peculiar people in
India. Jordanus says that there are many different islands in which the men have
the heads of dogs, but the women are purely human, and, moreover, very beautiful,
whereat he very justly observes, I cease not to marvel. Ibn Bakuta, describing
the people of Barah-nakar, says their men are of the same form as ourselves,
except that their mouths are like those of dogs, but the women have mouths like
other folks. Aldrovandus naturally does not miss such a chance as the dog-headed
people afford him. Vicentius places them in Tartary, and Marco Polo heard of
them in the island of Angaman. In Ethiopia we hear of a tribe of men that elected
a dog as their king, and judged as best they might by his actions and barking the
royal commands.
Ethiopia was a land of marvels, the focus and centre of all the wonders of
Africa. It was held that the strange and monstrous forms there produced arose
from the agility of the fiery heat to frame bodies and to carve them into strange
shapes. It was reported by some that far within the interior of the country were
to be found whole nations of noseless men, and that others were without the
upper lip, while others again were without speech, and only made communication
by signs. It is easy to see how the notion of a noseless people originated, since
the negro physiognomy often has the nose a very flattened feature, while the
people who could only make signs to the strangers that came amongst them
evidently did so from a full realization of the hopelessness of speech. The negro
lip is ordinarily a very conspicuous feature, so that the lipless people were a
legitimate object of wonder. In one district all the four-footed beasts were
without ears, even the elephants, the old author is careful to add, being in the
same plight. Our readers will doubtless remember that the ears of the African
elephant, outside this district, are of enormous size, and form one marked difference
between him and his Asiatic brother. Elsewhere in this wondrous land we hear
of men having three and four eyes, but the old traveller carefully explains that this
tale merely arose not because they are thus furnished, but because they are
excellent archers. The because is not very evident, as the keenness and
excellence of sight that would be of such value to an archer is scarcely to be
obtained by the multiplication of eyes: it is quality rather than quantity that is
needed here, and the old writer is careful to add, thus much must I advertise my
readers, that I will not pawn my credit for many things that I shall deliver. What
he saw for himself he could vouch for, and these things were themselves so strange
that he could scarcely refuse to credit some of the wonders that were by hearsay,
but he very justly declines responsibility.
Another old writer, Burton, in the same way cautiously evades fathering all the
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wonderful tales he tells of the men who live by scent alone,5 of those who by
eating the heart and liver of a dragon attain to the understanding of the language
of beasts, of those who have the power of making themselves invisible, and so
forth, but of these I doubt not but that the understanding reader knoweth how
to judge and what to believe.
On the isle called Dondum, an island that Maundevile seems to have discovered,
or developed from his inner consciousness, are folk of gret stature, as Geauntes:
and thei ben hidouse for to loke upon: and thei han but on eve, and that is in the
myddylle of the Front, and thei eten no thing but raw Flessche and raw Fyssche.
And in another yle towards the Southe duellen folk of foule Stature and of cursed
kynde that han no Hedes: and here Eyen ben in here Scholdres. These are both
mentioned by Pliny, but this passage of Maundevile must not be considered as
confirmatory of Pliny s wonders, as it is considerably less probable that the
mediaeval writer had seen these monsters than that he had seen the olden book,
and transferred its wonders to his own pages. He, in fact, distinctly tells us that
his nerves would not stand an interview with these giants, sume of forty-five
Fote or fifty Fote long. I saghe none of tho, for I had no lust to go ! He tells us,
however, of the Geauntes Scheep als gret as Oxen here, and thei beren gret
Wolle and roughe. Of these Scheep I have seyn many tymes. These we may
reasonably conclude to have been Yak. As he tells us that men have often seen
the Geauntes taken men in the Sea out of hire Schippes and broughte hem to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
before the time of execution arrived. It was then that I beheld what I had never
thought to see. He had a tail more than a foot long, covered with red hair, and
very much like that of a cow. When he saw the surprise that this discovery created
amongst the European spectators, he informed us that his tail was the effect of
climate, for that all the inhabitants of the southern side of the island, where they
then were, were provided with like appendages. The measure of burning the
man to avoid any future unpleasantness, seems a somewhat strong one, and
attended with a very considerable element of risk to themselves, besides the
grave personal inconvenience to the victim. The account is a very circumstantial
one; how is it to be explained? One cannot accept the tail or the tale; and yet it
is painful to feel that the alternative is to brand John Struys as deliberately errant
from the truth; and brave men who take their lives in their hands are above the
meanness of vapouring or lying. In such a case one agrees entirely with Dr.
Johnson: Of a standing fact, sir, there ought to be no controversy. If there are
men with tails, catch a homo caudatus.
Africa and India, the two great wonder-lands of our forefathers, were the home
of many strange specimens of humanity. Far away towards the sources of the
Nile were the Nigriae, ruled by a king who had but one eye, and that in the midst
of his forehead. There, too, were found the Agriophagi, a people who lived on
the flesh of lions and panthers: the Anthropophagi that fed on the flesh of men,
and the Pomphagi that, like the modern schoolboy, eat all things. In that mysterious
land too dwelt the Cynamolgi, whose heads were those of dogs. One old writer
tells us that there was a tribe of one hundred and twenty thousand of these
dog-headed men: they wore the skins of wild animals as their clothing, and carried
on conversation in true canine style by yelps and barks. Sir John Maundevile, of
course, knew all about these folk, since he found a great and fair island somewhere,
called Nacumera, that was more than a thousand miles in circuit, and which had
no other population. He tells us that they were a very reasonable people and of
good understanding, the only fault that he finds with them being that they worship an
ox as their god. Jordanus, Burton and others locate these peculiar people in
India. Jordanus says that there are many different islands in which the men have
the heads of dogs, but the women are purely human, and, moreover, very beautiful,
whereat he very justly observes, I cease not to marvel. Ibn Bakuta, describing
the people of Barah-nakar, says their men are of the same form as ourselves,
except that their mouths are like those of dogs, but the women have mouths like
other folks. Aldrovandus naturally does not miss such a chance as the dog-headed
people afford him. Vicentius places them in Tartary, and Marco Polo heard of
them in the island of Angaman. In Ethiopia we hear of a tribe of men that elected
a dog as their king, and judged as best they might by his actions and barking the
royal commands.
Ethiopia was a land of marvels, the focus and centre of all the wonders of
Africa. It was held that the strange and monstrous forms there produced arose
from the agility of the fiery heat to frame bodies and to carve them into strange
shapes. It was reported by some that far within the interior of the country were
to be found whole nations of noseless men, and that others were without the
upper lip, while others again were without speech, and only made communication
by signs. It is easy to see how the notion of a noseless people originated, since
the negro physiognomy often has the nose a very flattened feature, while the
people who could only make signs to the strangers that came amongst them
evidently did so from a full realization of the hopelessness of speech. The negro
lip is ordinarily a very conspicuous feature, so that the lipless people were a
legitimate object of wonder. In one district all the four-footed beasts were
without ears, even the elephants, the old author is careful to add, being in the
same plight. Our readers will doubtless remember that the ears of the African
elephant, outside this district, are of enormous size, and form one marked difference
between him and his Asiatic brother. Elsewhere in this wondrous land we hear
of men having three and four eyes, but the old traveller carefully explains that this
tale merely arose not because they are thus furnished, but because they are
excellent archers. The because is not very evident, as the keenness and
excellence of sight that would be of such value to an archer is scarcely to be
obtained by the multiplication of eyes: it is quality rather than quantity that is
needed here, and the old writer is careful to add, thus much must I advertise my
readers, that I will not pawn my credit for many things that I shall deliver. What
he saw for himself he could vouch for, and these things were themselves so strange
that he could scarcely refuse to credit some of the wonders that were by hearsay,
but he very justly declines responsibility.
Another old writer, Burton, in the same way cautiously evades fathering all the
5
5
5
5
wonderful tales he tells of the men who live by scent alone,5 of those who by
eating the heart and liver of a dragon attain to the understanding of the language
of beasts, of those who have the power of making themselves invisible, and so
forth, but of these I doubt not but that the understanding reader knoweth how
to judge and what to believe.
On the isle called Dondum, an island that Maundevile seems to have discovered,
or developed from his inner consciousness, are folk of gret stature, as Geauntes:
and thei ben hidouse for to loke upon: and thei han but on eve, and that is in the
myddylle of the Front, and thei eten no thing but raw Flessche and raw Fyssche.
And in another yle towards the Southe duellen folk of foule Stature and of cursed
kynde that han no Hedes: and here Eyen ben in here Scholdres. These are both
mentioned by Pliny, but this passage of Maundevile must not be considered as
confirmatory of Pliny s wonders, as it is considerably less probable that the
mediaeval writer had seen these monsters than that he had seen the olden book,
and transferred its wonders to his own pages. He, in fact, distinctly tells us that
his nerves would not stand an interview with these giants, sume of forty-five
Fote or fifty Fote long. I saghe none of tho, for I had no lust to go ! He tells us,
however, of the Geauntes Scheep als gret as Oxen here, and thei beren gret
Wolle and roughe. Of these Scheep I have seyn many tymes. These we may
reasonably conclude to have been Yak. As he tells us that men have often seen
the Geauntes taken men in the Sea out of hire Schippes and broughte hem to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]