CREATURES OF MYTH.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5324, 10 September 1928, Page 4

CREATURES OF MYTH.

—W f MAN’S BELIEF IN A PAST AGE. A veritable Noah’s Ark oj! queer mythical animals in winch men once behove,d is presented in a book published nearly 200 years ago (1750, to be exact) (ajicji entitled “A Description o.f the Three Hundred Animals.” That the, scientific appetite of the public should have been regaled -in the. mid.-eighteenth century with zoological care at once, so meagre .and t'o, tabulous, would be hardly credible save for evidence of the work itself, with -its worn, calf-binding and its yellow pages, whereon may be found “curiously engraven every beast, bird, fish, serpent, a,mi insect described. in the; whole- book.” Yet in fairness it should be added that though th» book is “adaptable to> the use of all capacities,” it is especially designed fqr the e-ntertainement of phildre.n Two of the strange beasts described and pictured in- this book are the “lamia” and ‘.manticora.” Regarding the former creature, the author says : “The larnih, concerning which there are many fictitious stories, is, according to♦ the. opinion of writers, the creature mentioned: in the thirtyfourth chapter of Isaiah, called in Hebrew ‘Lilith’; as also the same which is 'mentioned in. it'he fourth of Lamentations. And by its fraud it destroys men, or wlien it soe.s a man it entices Irim to draw near, and when It has enticed him within reach it falls upon him and devours him. It is said to be bred in Libya, and to have a face like a very beautiful woman. It has np- voice, but that of hissing like a serpent. Its hinder parts are like a gQjat’s, its forelegs like .a. bear’s; its body isi scaled all oven” ( The “manticora,” according to the writer, must have been a dreaded creature, a,s ; it also had the head of a man ankl the body of a beast. The author de .tribes it as- follows : — “The manticora (or, according to the Persian, .the mantiora.), a devourer, is bred among ,the Indians, having a triple row of teeth beneath a,nd above, and in bigness; and roughness like a lion’s, as are also; ihis feet, face, a.nd ears like a man’s; .his tail like a scorpion’s, armed with a sting, and sharp-pointed quills. Hi [voice is like a email trumpet or. pipe. He is, so wild that ‘tis very difficult to tame hiim, and is, as swift as an hart. With • his tail lie wounds the hunters, whether they come before qr behind him. When the Indians take a .whelp of this beast they bruise its buttocks and tail, to prevent its. bearing thesharp quills. Then it is tamed without danger. Aipther .curious creature found in tliis menagieri.e was the “came' opariia|l,” which, according to the eighteenth century writer, “is bred in Ethiopia, India, Georgia, etc. The head of it is like. a. camel’s ; its colour, for the most part red and white, beautifully mixed together, and tiho Skin full of spots; Jt has two (little hqrns upon its head of the. colour of iron ; has a small mouth, like an -ha.r.t’s; a, tongue, (nearly three feet lonig; and a n,eck of divers) colours, of a very 'great length, which he holds higher than, a camel’s;. His forefeet are much longer than his. hindel. His pace is different from all other beasts, for he m'oves right and left feet together. This cr.ea.ture is like both, a camel and a panther.- The skin of this is very valuable. It is a solitary beasts and keepeth in the woods, if it he not taken when it is young. It is very tractable and easy to be governed, so that a, child may lead it with a small Sine or. cord about its; head. The flesh of this crea.ture is good meat.”