Curious Creatures in Zoology. Ashton John
as well in every part of his body, and in the eyes of some persons, taking care that there shall be no evil influence in existence, which was not to be found in the human body. Not far from Rome, in the territory of the Falisci, a few families are found, who are known by the name of Hirpi. These people perform a yearly sacrifice to Apollo, on Mount Soracte, on which occasion they walk over a burning pile of wood, without being scorched even. On this account, by virtue of a decree of the Senate, they are always exempted from military service, and from all other public duties.
Some individuals, again, are born with certain parts of the body endowed with properties of a marvellous nature. Such was the case with King Pyrrhus, the great toe of whose right foot cured diseases of the spleen, merely by touching the patient. We are informed that this toe could not be reduced to ashes together with the other portions of his body; upon which it was placed in a temple.
India and the region of Æthiopia, more especially, abounds in wonders. In India the largest of animals are produced; their dogs, for instance, are much bigger than those of any other country. The trees, too, are said to be of such vast height that it is impossible to send an arrow over them. This is the result of the singular fertility of the soil, the equable temperature of the atmosphere, and the abundance of water; which, if we are to believe what is said, are such, that a single fig tree (the banyan tree) is capable of affording shelter to a whole troop of horse. The reeds here (bamboos) are of such enormous length, that each portion of them, between the joints, forms a tube, of which a boat is made that is capable of holding three men. It is a well-known fact, that many of the people here are more than five cubits in height.4 These people never expectorate, are subject to no pains, either in the head, the teeth, and the eyes, and, rarely, in any other parts of the body; so well is the heat of the sun calculated to strengthen the constitution… According to the account of Megasthenes, dwelling upon a mountain called Nulo, there is a race of men who have their feet turned backwards, with eight toes on each foot.
On many of the mountains again, there is a tribe of men who have the heads of dogs, and clothe themselves with the skins of wild beasts. Instead of speaking, they bark; and, furnished with claws, they live by hunting, and catching birds. According to the story, as given by Ctesias, the number of these people is more than a hundred and twenty thousand; and the same author tells us that there is a certain race in India, of which the females are pregnant once only in the course of their lives, and that the hair of the children becomes white the instant they are born. He speaks also of another race of men who are known as Monocoli,5 who have only one leg, but are able to leap with surprising agility. The same people are also called Sciapodæ,6 because they are in the habit of lying on their backs, during the time of extreme heat, and protect themselves from the sun by the shade of their feet. These people, he says, dwell not very far from the Troglodytæ (dwellers in caves); to the west of whom again there is a tribe who are without necks, and have eyes in their shoulders.
Among the mountainous districts of the eastern parts of India, in what is called the country of the Catharcludi, we find the Satyr, an animal of extraordinary swiftness. These go sometimes on four feet, and sometimes walk erect; they have also the features of a human being. On account of their swiftness, these creatures are never to be caught, except that they are aged, or sickly. Tauron gives the name of Choromandæ to a nation which dwells in the woods, and have no proper voice. These people screech in a frightful manner; their bodies are covered with hair, their eyes are of a sea-green colour, and their teeth like those of a dog. Eudoxus tells us, that in the southern parts of India, the men have feet a cubit in length, while the women are so remarkably small that they are called Struthpodes.7
Megasthenes places among the Nomades of India, a people who are called Scyritæ. These have merely holes in their faces instead of nostrils, and flexible feet, like the body of the serpent. At the very extremity of India, on the eastern side, near the source of the river Ganges, there is the nation of the Astomi, a people who have no mouths; their bodies are rough and hairy, and they cover themselves with a down8 plucked from the leaves of trees. These people subsist only by breathing, and by the odours which they inhale through the nostrils. They support themselves neither upon meat nor drink; when they go upon a long journey they only carry with them various odoriferous roots and flowers, and wild apples, that they may not be without something to smell at. But an odour, which is a little more powerful than usual, easily destroys them…
Isogonus informs us that the Cyrni, a people of India, live to their four-hundredth year; and he is of opinion that the same is the case also with the Æthiopian Macrobii,9 the Seræ, and the inhabitants of Mount Athos. In the case of these last, it is supposed to be owing to the flesh of vipers, which they use as food; in consequence of which they are free also from all noxious animals, both in their hair and their garments.
According to Onesicritus, in those parts of India where there is no shadow, the men attain the height of five cubits and two palms,10 and their life is prolonged to one hundred and thirty years; they die without any symptoms of old age, and just as if they were in the middle period of life. Pergannes calls the Indians, whose age exceeds one hundred years, by the name of Gymnetæ;11 but not a few authors style them Macrobii. Ctesias mentions a tribe of them, known by the name of Pandore, whose locality is in the valleys, and who live to their two-hundredth year; their hair is white in youth, and becomes black in old age. On the other hand, there are some people joining up to the country of the Macrobii, who never live beyond their fortieth year, and their females have children once only during their lives. This circumstance is also mentioned by Agatharchides, who states, in addition, that they live on locusts, and are very swift of foot. Clitarchus and Megasthenes give these people the name of Mandi, and enumerate as many as three hundred villages which belong to them. Their women are capable of bearing children in the seventh year of their age, and become old at forty.
Artemidorus states that in the island of Taprobane (Ceylon) life is prolonged to an extreme length, while at the same time, the body is exempt from weakness. Among the Calingæ, a nation also of India, the women conceive at five years of age, and do not live beyond their eighth year. In other places again, there are men born with long hairy tails, and of remarkable swiftness of foot; while there are others that have ears so large as to cover the whole body.
Crates of Pergamus states, that the Troglodytæ, who dwell beyond Æthiopia, are able to outrun the horse; and that a tribe of the Æthiopians, who are known as the Syrbotæ, exceed eight cubits in height (twelve feet). There is a tribe of Æthiopian Nomades dwelling on the banks of the river Astragus, towards the north, and about twenty days’ journey from the ocean. These people are called Menismini; they live on the milk of the animal which we call cynocephalus (baboon), and rear large flocks of these creatures, taking care to kill the males, except such as they may preserve for the purposes of breeding. In the deserts of Africa, men are frequently seen to all appearance, and then vanish in an instant.”12
It may be said that these descriptions of men are only the belief about the time of the Christian era, when Pliny lived – but it was the faith of centuries, and we find, 1200 years after Pliny died, Sir John Mandeville confirming his statements, and, as before stated, these wondrous creatures were given in illustrations, both in the Mappa Mundi, and in early printed books. Mandeville writes: “Many divers countreys & kingdoms are in Inde, and it is called Inde, of a river that runneth through it, which is called Inde also, and there are many precious stones in that river Inde. And in that ryver men finde Eles of xxx foote long, & men yt dwell nere that river are of evill colour, yelowe & grene…
“Then there is another yle that men call Dodyn, & it is a great yle. In this yle are maner diverse of men yt have evyll maners, for the father eateth the son, & the son the father, the husband his wyfe, and the wyfe hir husbande. And if it so be that the father be sicke, or the mother, or any frend, the sonne goeth soone to the priest of the law & prayeth him that he will aske of the ydoll if his father
The Roman cubit was eighteen inches, so that these men were nearly eight feet high.
From ἀπὸ τοῦ μονοῦ κώλου, “from having but one leg.”
From Σκιαποῦς, “making a shadow with his foot.”
Sparrow footed, from στροῦθος, a sparrow.
Probably cotton.
Or long livers, from μακρὸς, “long,” and βίος, “life.”
A palm was three inches, so that these men would be eight feet high.
From Γυμνητὴς, one who takes much bodily exercise.
Mirage.