CHAPTER XI

.

THE CHINESE PHŒNIX.

From the date of the earliest examination of the literature of China, it has been customary among Sinologues to trace a fancied resemblance between a somewhat remarkable bird, which occupies an important position in the early traditions of that Empire, and the phœnix of Western authors. Some mythologists have even subsequently concluded that the Fung Hwang of the Chinese, the phœnix of the Greeks, the Roc of the Arabs, and the Garuda of the Hindoos, are merely national modifications of the same myth. I do not hold this opinion, and, in opposing it, purpose, in the future, to discuss each of these birds in detail, although in the present volume I treat only of the Fung Hwang.

[Illustration: FIG. 90.--TEMPLE MEDALS FROM CHINA: DRAGON AND PHŒNIX.]

The earliest notice of it is contained in the _'Rh Ya_, which, with its usual brevity, simply informs us that the male is called Fung and the female Hwang; the commentator, Kwoh P‘oh, adding that the Shui Ying bird (felicitous and perfect--a synonym for it) has a cock's head, a snake's neck, a swallow's beak, a tortoise's back, is of five different colours, and more than six feet high. The _'Rh Ya Chen I_, a later and supplementary edition of the former work, quotes the _Shwoh Wan_ to the effect that the united name of the male and female bird is Fung Hwang, and that Tso's commentary on the 17th year of the Chao, says one appeared in the time of the Emperor Che (dynastic title, Shaou Haou). The original passage in the _Tso Chuen_ is so interesting that I quote _in extenso_ Dr. Legge's translation of it:--

"When my ancestor, Shaou-Haou Che, succeeded to the kingdom, there appeared at that time a phœnix, and therefore he arranged his government under the nomenclature of birds, making bird officers, and naming them after birds. There were so and so Phœnix bird, minister of the calendar; so and so Dark bird [the swallow], master of the equinoxes; so and so Pih Chaou [the shrike], master of the solstices; so and so Green bird [a kind of sparrow], master of the beginning (of spring and autumn); and so and so Carnation bird [the golden pheasant], master of the close (of spring and autumn).... The five Che [Pheasants] presided over the five classes of mechanics.

"So in previous reigns there had been cloud officers, fire officers, water officers, and dragon officers, according to omens."

I think there is some connection between this old usage and the present or late system of tribe totems among the North American Indians. Thus we have Snake, Tortoise, Hare Indians, &c., and I hope some day to explain some of the obscure and apparently impossible passages of the _Shan Hai King_, in reference to strange tribes, upon what I may call the totem theory.

The _Kin King_, a small work devoted to ornithology, and professing to date back to the Tsin dynasty [A.D. 265 to 317], opens its pages with a description of the Fung Hwang, because, as it states, the Fung is the principal of the three hundred and sixty different species of birds. According to it, the Fung is like a swan in front and like a Lin behind; it enumerates its resemblances pretty much as the commentator in the _'Rh Ya_ gives them; but we now find a commencement of extraordinary attributes. Thus the head is supposed to have impressed on it the Chinese character expressing virtue, the poll that for uprightness, the back that for humanity; the heart is supposed to contain that of sincerity, and the wings to enfold in their clasp that of integrity; its foot imprints integrity; its low notes are like a bell, its high notes are like a drum. It is said that it will not peck living grass, and that it contains all the five colours.[312]

When it flies crowds of birds follow. When it appears, the monarch is an equitable ruler, and the kingdom has moral principles. It has a synonym, "the felicitous _yen_." According to the _King Shun_ commentary upon the _'Rh Ya_, it is about six feet in height. The young are called Yoh Shoh, and it is said that the markings of the five colours only appear when it is three years of age.[313]

There appears to have been another bird closely related to it, which is called the Lwan Shui. This, when first hatched, resembles the young Fung, but when of mature age it changes the five colours.

The _Shăng Li Teu Wei I_ says of this, that when the world is peaceful its notes will be heard like the tolling of a bell, Pien Lwan [answering to our "ding-dong"]. During the Chao dynasty it was customary to hang a bell on the tops of vehicles, with a sound like that of the Lwan.[314] From another passage we learn that it was supposed to have different names according to a difference in colour. Thus, when the head and wings were red it was called the red Fung; when blue, the Yu Siang; when white, the Hwa Yih; when black, the Yin Chu; when yellow, the To Fu. Another quotation is to the effect that, when the Fung soars and the Lwan flies upwards, one hundred birds follow them. It is also stated that when either the Lwan or the Fung dies, one hundred birds peck up the earth and bury them.

Another author amplifies the fancied resemblances of the Fung, for in the _Lun Yü Tseh Shwai Shing_ we find it stated that it has six resemblances and nine qualities. The former are: 1st, the head is like heaven; 2nd, the eye like the sun; 3rd, the back is like the moon; 4th, the wings like the wind; 5th, the foot is like the ground; 6th, the tail is like the woof. The latter are: 1st, the mouth contains commands; 2nd, the heart is conformable to regulations; 3rd, the ear is thoroughly acute in hearing; 4th, the tongue utters sincerity; 5th, the colour is luminous; 6th, the comb resembles uprightness; 7th, the spur is sharp and curved; 8th, the voice is sonorous; 9th, the belly is the treasure of literature.

When it crows, in walking, it utters "Quai she" [returning joyously]; when it stops crowing, "T‘i fee" [I carry assistance?]; when it crows at night it exclaims "Sin" [goodness]; when in the morning, "Ho si" [I congratulate the world]; when during its flight, "Long Tu che wo" [Long Tu knows me] and "Hwang che chu sz si" [truly Hwang has come with the Bamboos].[315] Hence it was that Confucius wished to live among the nine I [barbarian frontier countries] following the Fung's pleasure.

The Fung appears to have been fond of music, for, according to the _Shu King_, when you play the flute, in nine cases out of ten the Fung Wang comes to bear you company; while, according to the _Odes_, or Classic of Poetry, the Fung, in flying, makes the sound _hwui hwui_, and its wings carry it up to the heavens; and when it sings on the lofty mountain called Kwang, the Wu Tung tree flourishes,[316] and its fame spreads over the world.

The presence of the Fung was always an auspicious augury, and it was supposed that when heaven showed its displeasure at the conduct of the people during times of drought, of destruction of crops by insects (locusts), of disastrous famines, and of pestilence, the Fung Wang retired from the civilised country into the desert and forest regions.

It was classed with the dragon, the tortoise, and the unicorn as a spiritual creature, and its appearance in the gardens and groves denoted that the princes and monarch were equitable, and the people submissive and obedient.

Its indigenous home is variously indicated. Thus, in the _Shan Hai King_, it is stated to dwell in the Ta Hueh mountains, a range included in the third list of the southern mountains; it is also, in the third portion of the same work (treating of the Great Desert), placed in the south and in the west of the Great Desert, and more specifically as west of Kwan Lun.

There is also a tradition that it came from Corea; and the celebrated Chinese general, Sieh Jan Kwéi, who invaded and conquered that country in A.D. 668, is said to have ascended the Fung Hwang mountain there and seen the phœnix.

According to the Annals of the Bamboo Books phœnixes, male and female, arrived in the autumn, in the seventh month, in the fiftieth year of the reign of Hwang Ti (B.C. 2647), and the commentary states that some of them abode in the Emperor's eastern garden; some built their nests about the corniced galleries (of the palaces), and some sung in the courtyard, the females gambolling to the notes of the males.

The commentary of the same work adds that (among a variety of prodigies) the phœnix appeared in the seventieth year of the reign of Yaou (B.C. 2286), and again in the first year of Shun (B.C. 2255).

Kwoh P‘oh states that, during the times of the Han dynasty (commencing B.C. 206 and lasting until A.D. 23), the phœnixes appeared constantly.

In these later passages I have adopted the word phœnix, after Legge and other Sinologues, as a conventional admission; but, as will be seen from all the extracts given, there are but few grounds for identifying it, whether fabulous or not, with the phœnix of Greek mythology. It reappears in Japanese tradition under the name of the Ho and O (male and female), and, according to Kempfer, who calls it the Foo, "it is a chimerical but beautiful large bird of paradise, of near akin to the phœnix of the ancients. It dwells in the high regions of the air, and it hath this in common with the Ki-Rin (the equivalent of the Chinese Ki-Lin), that it never comes down from thence but upon the birth of a _sesin_ (a man of incomparable understanding, penetration, and benevolence) or that of a great emperor, or upon some such other extraordinary occasion."

It is a common ornamentation in the Japanese temples; and I select, as an example, figures from some very beautiful panels in the Nichi-hong-wanji temple in Kioto. They depart widely from the original (Chinese) tradition, every individual presenting a different combination of gorgeous colours; they only agree in having two long central tail feathers projecting from a plumose, bird-of-paradise-like arrangement.

These can only be accepted as the evolution of an artist's fancy; nor can any opinion be arrived at from the figure of it illustrating the _'Rh Ya_, of which I reproduce a _fac-simile_. I have already stated that Kwoh P‘oh's illustrations have been lost.

[Illustration: FIG. 91.--THE FUNG HWANG. (_From the 'Rh Ya._)]

The frontispiece to this volume is reduced from a large and very beautiful painting on silk, which I was fortunate enough to procure in Shanghai, by an artist named Fang Heng, otherwise styled Sien Tang; it professes to be made according to the designs of ancient books. The original is, I believe, of some antiquity.

In this case the delineation of the bird shows a combination of the characters of the peacock, the pheasant, and the bird of paradise; the comb is like that of a pheasant. The tail is adorned with gorgeous eyes, like a peacock's, but fashioned more like that of an argus pheasant, the two middle tail feathers projecting beyond the others, while stiffened plumes, as I interpret the intention of the drawing, are made to project from the sides of the back, and above the wings, recalling those of the _Semioptera Wallacii_. The bird perches, in accordance with tradition, on the Wu-Tung tree. Without pretending to assert that this is an exact representation of the Tung, I fancy that it comes nearer to it than the ordinary Chinese and Japanese representations.

Looking to the history of the appearance of the Fung, the general description of its characteristics, and disregarding the supernatural qualities with which, probably, Taouist priests have invested it, I can only regard it as another example of an interesting and beautiful species of bird which has become extinct, as the dodo and so many others have, within historic times.

Its rare appearance and gorgeousness of plumage would cause its advent on any occasion to be chronicled, and a servile court would only too readily seize upon this pretext to flatter the reigning monarch and ascribe to his virtues a phenomenon which, after all, was purely natural.

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX I.

THE DELUGE TRADITION ACCORDING TO BEROSUS.[317]

"Obartés Elbaratutu being dead, his son Xisuthros (Khasisatra) reigned eighteen sares (64,800 years). It was under him that the great Deluge took place, the history of which is told in the sacred documents as follows: Cronos (Ea) appeared to him in his sleep, and announced that on the fifteenth of the month of Daisios--the Assyrian month Sivan--a little before the summer (solstice) all men should perish by a flood. He therefore commanded him to take the beginning, the middle, and the end of whatever was consigned to writing, and to bury it in the city of the Sun, at Sippara; then to build a vessel and to enter it with his family and dearest friends; to place in this vessel provisions to eat and drink, and to cause animals, birds, and quadrupeds to enter it; lastly, to prepare everything for navigation. And when Xisuthros inquired in what direction he should steer his bark, he was answered 'Toward the gods,' and enjoined to pray that good might come of it for men.

"Xisuthros obeyed, and constructed a vessel five stadia long and five broad; he collected all that had been prescribed to him, and embarked his wife, his children, and his intimate friends.

"The Deluge having come, and soon going down, Xisuthros loosed some of the birds. These, finding no food nor place to alight on, returned to the ship. A few days later Xisuthros again let them free, but they returned again to the vessel, their feet full of mud. Finally, loosed the third time, the birds came no more back.

"Then Xisuthros understood that the earth was bare. He made an opening in the roof of the ship, and saw that it had grounded on the top of a mountain. He then descended with his wife, his daughter, and his pilot, who worshipped the earth, raised an altar, and there sacrificed to the gods; at the same moment he vanished with those who accompanied him.

"Meanwhile those who had remained in the vessel, not seeing Xisuthros return, descended too, and began to seek him, calling him by his name. They saw Xisuthros no more; but a voice from heaven was heard commanding them piety towards the gods; that he, indeed, was receiving the reward of his piety in being carried away to dwell thenceforth in the midst of the gods, and that his wife, his daughter, and the pilot of the ship shared the same honour. The voice further said that they were to return to Babylon, and, conformably to the decrees of fate, disinter the writings buried at Sippara, in order to transmit them to men. It added that the country in which they found themselves was Armenia. These, then, having heard the voice, sacrificed to the gods and returned on foot to Babylon. Of the vessel of Xisuthros, which had finally landed in Armenia, a portion is still to be found in the Gordyan mountains in Armenia, and pilgrims bring thence asphalte that they have scraped from its fragments. It is used to keep off the influence of witchcraft. As to the companions of Xisuthros, they came to Babylon, disinterred the writings left at Sippara, founded numerous cities, built temples, and restored Babylon."

* * * * *

The large amount of work done by the few followers of Xisuthros, seems very surprising, but easily accounted for if we take the version of the Deluge given by Nicolaus Damascenus (a philosopher and historian of the age of Augustus, and a friend of Herod the Great).

"He mentions that there is a large mountain in Armenia, which stands above the country of the Minyæ, called Baris. To this it was said that many people betook themselves in the time of the Deluge, and were saved. And there is a tradition of one person in particular floating in an ark, and arriving at the summit of the mountain."[318]

APPENDIX II.

THE DRAGON.

ÆLIANUS DE NATURÂ ANIMALIUM.

## BOOK II. ch. 26.

The dragon [which is perfectly fearless of beasts], when it hears the noise of the wings of an eagle, immediately conceals itself in hiding-places.

## BOOK II. ch. 21.

Æthiopia generates dragons reaching thirty paces long; they have no proper name, but they merely call them slayers of elephants, and they attain a great age. So far do the Æthiopian accounts narrate. The Phrygian history also states that dragons are born which reach ten paces in length; which daily in midsummer, at the hour when the forum is full of men in assembly, are wont to proceed from their caverns, and [near the river Rhyndacus], with part of the body on the ground, and the rest erect, with the neck gently stretched out, and gaping mouth, attract birds, either by their inspiration, or by some fascination, and that those which are drawn down by the inhalation of their breath glide down into their stomach--[and that they continue this until sunset,] but that after that, concealing themselves, they lay in ambush for the herds returning from the pasture to the stable, and inflict much injury, often killing the herdsmen and gorging themselves with food.

## BOOK VI. ch. 4.

When dragons are about to eat fruit they suck the juice of the wild chicory, because this affords them a sovereign remedy against inflation. When they purpose lying in wait for a man or a beast, they eat deadly roots and herbs; a thing not unknown to Homer, for he makes mention of the dragon, who, lingering and twisting himself in front of his den, devoured noxious herbs.

## BOOK VI. ch. 21.

In India, as I am told, there is great enmity between the dragon and elephant. Wherefore the dragons, aware that elephants are accustomed to pluck off boughs from trees for food, coil themselves beforehand in these trees, folding the tail half of their body round the limbs, and leaving the front half hanging like a rope. When an elephant approaches for the purpose of browsing on the young branches, the dragon leaping on him, tears out his eyes, and then squeezing his neck with his front part and lashing him with his tail, strangles him in this strange kind of noose.

## BOOK VI. ch. 22.

The elephant has a great horror of the dragon.

## BOOK VI. ch. 17.

In Idumea, or Judæa, during Herod's power, according to the statement of the natives of the country, a very beautiful, and just adolescent, woman, was beloved by a dragon of exceptional magnitude; who visited her betimes and slept with her as a lover. She, indeed, although her lover crept towards her as gently and quietly as lay in his power, yet utterly alarmed, withdrew herself from him; and to the end that a forgetfulness of his passion might result from the absence of his mistress, absented herself for the space of a month.

But the desire of the absent one was increased in him, and his amatory disposition was daily so far aggravated that he frequently came both by day and night to that spot, where he had been wont to be with the maiden, and when unable to meet with his inamorata, was afflicted with a terrible grief. After the girl returned, angry at being, as it were spurned, he coiled himself round her body, and softly and gently chastised her on the legs.

## BOOK VI. ch. 63.

A dragon whelp, born in Arcadia, was brought up with an Arcadian child; and in process of time, when both were older, they entertained a mutual affection for one another. The friends of the boy, seeing how the dragon had increased in magnitude in so short a time, carried him, while sleeping with the boy in the same bed, to a remote spot, and, leaving him there, brought the boy back. The dragon thereon remained in the wood [feeding on growing plants and poisons], preferring a solitary life to one in towns and [human] habitations. Time having rolled on, and the boy having attained youth, and the dragon maturity, the former, while travelling upon one occasion through the wilds in the neighbourhood of his friend, fell among robbers, who attacked him with drawn swords, and being struck, either from pain, or in the hopes of assistance, cried out. The dragon being a beast of acute hearing and sharp vision, as soon as he heard the lad with whom he had been brought up, gave a hiss in expression of his anger, and so struck them with fear, that the trembling robbers dispersed in different directions, whom having caught, he destroyed by a terrible death. Afterwards, having cared for the wounds of his ancient friend, and escorted him through the places infested with serpents, he returned to the spot where he himself had been exposed--not showing any anger towards him on account of his having been expelled into solitude, nor because ill-feeling men had abandoned an old friend in danger.

## BOOK VIII. ch. 11.

Hegemon, in his Dardanic verses, among other things mentions, concerning the Thessalian Alevus, that a dragon conceived an affection for him. Alevus possessed, as Hegemon states, golden hair, which I should call yellow, and pastured cattle upon Ossa near the Thessalian spring called Hæmonium [as Anchises formerly did on Ida]. A dragon of great size fell violently in love with him, and used to crawl up gently to him, kiss his hair, cleanse his face by licking it with his tongue, and bring him various spoils from the chase.

## BOOK X. ch. 25.

Beyond the Oasis of Egypt there is a great desert which extends for seven days' journey, succeeded by a region inhabited by the Cynoprosopi, on the way to Æthiopia. These live by the chase of goats and antelopes. They are black, with the head and teeth of a dog, of which animal, in this connection, the mention is not to be looked upon as absurd, for they lack the power of speech, and utter a shrill hissing sound, and have a beard above and below the mouth like a dragon; their hands are armed with strong and sharp nails, and the body is equally hairy with that of dogs.

## BOOK X. ch. 48.

Lycaonus, King of Emathia, had a son named Macedon, from whom eventually the country was called, the old name becoming obsolete. Now, one of Macedon's sons, named Pindus, was indued both with strength of mind and innate probity, as well as a handsome person, whereas his other children were constituted with mean minds and less vigorous bodies.

When, therefore, these latter perceived Pindus's virtue and other gifts, they not only oppressed him, but in the end ruined themselves in punishment for so great a crime.

Pindus, perceiving that plots were laid for him by his brothers, abandoning the kingdom which he had received from his father, and being robust and taking pleasure in hunting, not only took to it himself, but led the others to follow his example.

Upon one occasion he was pursuing some young mules, and, spurring his horse to the top of its powers, drew away a long distance from those who were hunting with him. The mules passing into a deep cavern, escaped the sight of their pursuer, and preserved themselves from danger. He leaped down from the horse, which he tied to the nearest tree, and whilst he was seeking with his utmost ability to discover the mules, and probing the dens with his hands, heard a voice warning him not to touch the mules. Wherefore, when he had long and carefully looked about, and could see no one, he feared that the voice was the result of some greater cause, and, mounting his horse, left the place. On the next day he returned to the spot, but, deterred by the remembrance of the voice he had heard, he did not enter the place where they had concealed themselves.

When, therefore, he was cogitating as to who had warned him from following his prey, and, as it appeared, was looking out for mountain shepherds, or hunters, or some cottage--a dragon of unusual magnitude appeared to him, creeping softly with a great part of its body, but raising up its neck and head a little way, as if stretching himself--but his neck and head were of such height as to equal that of the tallest man.

Although Pindus was alarmed at the sight, he did not take to flight, but, rallying himself from his great terror, wisely endeavoured to appease the beast by giving him to eat the birds he had caught, as the price of his redemption.

He, cajoled by the gifts and baits, or, as I may say, touched, left the spot. This was so pleasing to Pindus, that, as an honourable man, and grateful for his escape, he carried to the dragon, as a thank-offering, whatever he could procure from his mountain chases, or by fowling.

Nor were these gifts from his booty without return, for fortune became immediately more favourable to him, and he achieved success in all his hunting, whether he pursued ground or winged game.

Wherefore he achieved a great reputation, both for finding and quickly catching game.

Now, he was so tall that he caused terror from his bulk, while from his excellent constitution and beautiful countenance he inflamed women with so violent an affection for him, that the unmarried, as if they were furious and bacchantes, joined his hunting expeditions; and married women, under the guardianship of husbands, preferred passing their time with him, to being reported among the number of goddesses. And, for the most part, men also esteemed him highly, as his virtue and appearance attracted universal admiration. His brothers only held a hostile and inimical feeling towards him. Wherefore upon a certain occasion they attacked him from an ambush, when he was hunting alone, and having driven him into the defiles of a river close by, when he was removed from all help, attacked him with drawn swords and slew him.

When the dragon heard its friend's outcries (for it is an animal with as sharp a sense of hearing as it has quickness of vision), it issued from its lair, and at once, casting its coils round the impious wretches, suffocated them.

It did not desist from watching over its slain [friend] with the utmost care, until those nearest related to the deceased came to him, as he was lying on the ground; but nevertheless, although clad in proper mourning, they were prevented through fear of the custodian from approaching and interring the dead with proper rites, until it, understanding from its profound and wonderful nature, that it was keeping them at a distance, quietly departed from its guard and station near the body, in order that it might receive the last tokens of esteem from the bystanders without any interruption.

Splendid obsequies were performed, and the river where the murder was effected received its name from the dead man.

It is therefore a peculiarity of these beasts to be grateful to those from whom they may have received favours.

## BOOK XI. ch. 2.--_Dragon Sacred to Apollo._

The Epirotes, both at home and abroad, sacrifice to Apollo, and solemnise with extreme magnificence a feast yearly in his honour, There is a grove among them sacred to the god, and inclosed with a wall, within which are dragons, pleasing to the god. Hither a sacred virgin comes alone, naked, and presents food to the dragons. The Epirotes say that these are descended from the Delphic python. If they regarded the virgin ministering to them with favour, and took the food promptly, they were believed to portend a fertile and healthful year; if they were rude towards her, and would not accept the proffered food, some predicted, or at least expected, the contrary for the coming year.

## BOOK II. ch. 16.--_Dragon in Lavinium._

There is a peculiar divination of the dragon, for in Lavinium, a town of the Latins but in Lavinium, there is a large and dense sacred grove, and near it the shrine of the Argolic Juno. Within the grove is a cave and deep den, the lair of a dragon.

Sacred virgins enter this grove on stated days, who carry a barley cake in their hands, with bandaged eyes. A certain divine afflatus leads them accurately to the den, and gently, and step by step, they proceed without hindrance, and as if their eyes were uncovered. If they are virgins, the dragon admits the food as pure and fit for a deity. If otherwise, it does not touch it, perceiving and divining them to be impure.

Ants, for the sake of cleansing the place, carry from the grove the cake left by the vitiated virgin, broken into little pieces, so that they may easily carry it. When this happens, it is perceived by the inhabitants, and those who have entered are pointed out and examined, and whoever proves to have forfeited her virginity is punished with the penalties appointed by the laws.

"The masculine sex also seems to be privileged by nature among brutes, inasmuch as the male dragon is distinguished by a crest and hairs, with a beard."

## BOOK XVI. ch. 39.

Onesicritus Astypalæus writes that there were two dragons in India [nurtured by an Indian dancer], one of forty-six and the other of eighty cubits, and that Alexander (Philip's son) earnestly endeavoured to see them. It is affirmed in Egyptian books that, during the reign of Philadelphus, two dragons were brought from Æthiopia into Philadelphia alive, one forty, the other thirty cubits in magnitude.

Three were also brought in the time of King Evergetis, one nine and another seven cubits. The Egyptians say that the third was preserved with great care in the temple of Æsculapius.

It is also said that there are asps of four cubits in length. Those who write the history of the affairs of Chios say that a dragon of extreme magnitude was produced in a valley, densely crowded and gloomy with tall trees, of the Mount Pelienæus in that island, whose hissing struck the Chians with horror.

As none either of the husbandmen or shepherds dare, by approaching near, estimate its magnitude, but from its hissing judged it to be a large and formidable beast, at length its size became known by a remarkable accident. For the trees of the valley being struck by a very strong wind, and the branches ignited by the friction, a great fire thence arising, embraced the whole spot, and surrounded the beast, which, being unable to escape, was consumed by the ardour of the flame. By these means all things were rendered visible in the denuded place, and the Chians freed, from their alarms, came to investigate, and lighted on bones of unusual magnitude, and an immense head, from which they were enabled to conjecture its dimensions when living.

## BOOK XI. ch. 17.

Homer was not rash in his line,

Terrible are the gods when they manifest themselves.

For the dragon, while sacred and to be worshipped, has within himself something still more of the divine nature of which it is better to remain in ignorance.

Indeed, a dragon received divine honours in a certain tower in Melita in Egypt. He had his priests and ministers, his table and bowl. Every day they filled the bowl with flour kneaded with honey, and went away; returning on the following day, they found the bowl empty.

Upon one occasion, a man of illustrious birth, who entertained an intense desire of seeing the dragon, having entered alone, and placed the food, went out; and when the dragon commenced to feed at the table, he opened suddenly and noisily the doors, which according to custom he had closed.

The dragon indignantly left; but he who had desired to see him, to his own destruction, being seized with an affliction of the mind, and having confessed his crime, presently lost his speech, and shortly after died.

## BOOK XII. ch. 39.

When Halia, the daughter of Sybasis, had entered the grove of Diana in Phrygia, a certain sacred dragon of large size appeared and copulated with her; whence the Ophiogenæ deduce the origin of their race.

## BOOK XV. ch. 21.--_Concerning the Indian Dragon._

Alexander (while he attacked or devastated some portions of India, and also seized others), lighted on, among other numerous animals, a dragon, which the Indians, because they considered it to be sacred, and worshipped it with great reverence, in a certain cave, besought him with many entreaties to let alone, which he agreed to. However, when the dragon heard the noise made by the passing army (for it is an animal endowed with a very acute sense of hearing as well as of vision), it frightened and alarmed them all with a great hissing and blowing. It was said to be seventy cubits long.

It did not, however, show the whole of itself, but only exposed its head from the cave. Its eyes were said to have been of the size (and rotundity) of a Macedonian shield.

APPENDIX III.

ORIGINAL PREFACE TO "WONDERS BY LAND AND SEA" ("SHAN HAI KING").

The Classic containing "Wonders by Land and Sea" has been praised by all who have read it, for its depth, greatness, far sightedness and completeness; since the narratives therein contained are all wonderful and different from ordinary things. Moreover, the truth or veracity of the

## book is a matter of doubt to nearly all men, and I therefore think it fit

that I should give my opinion on the subject. It has been said by the philosopher Chuang that "the things that men do know can in no way be compared, numerically speaking, to the things that are unknown," thus in reading "Wonders by Land and Sea," the force of his remark becomes apparent to me.

Now, since heaven and earth are vast, it follows that the beings which inhabit them must reasonably be numerous. The positive and negative elements being heated by vernal warmth, produce myriads of living beings of classes innumerable. When the essence of ether combines, motion becomes apparent and generates into wondrous and roving spirits, which, floating about and coming into contact with anything, enter into it and thus create wonderful beings, whether they be inhabitants of mountain or sea, or wood or stone; yea, so numerous are they, that it is an impossible task for me to give them in detail.

The evolution of the essence of the elements generates sound, which by development produces a certain image. When we call a thing wonderful, it is because we do not know the reasons attending its origin, and what we do not call wonderful, we still are unaware why it is not so. And why? A thing is, _per se_, not wonderful, it is because we wish to consider it so; the wonder is in ourselves and not in the thing. For instance, when a savage looks at the cotton cloth we wear, he calls it hemp; and when an inhabitant of Yüch (Soochow and vicinity) sees a rug, he calls it fur or hair. The reason may be found in this: we believe only those things to which we have been educated, and anything which might not be perfectly understood by us we deem wonderful. Hence the shortsightedness of human nature. I will now give a passing remark of what is known amongst us. A place called Ping Shui (?) produces fire, while the Yen mountain produces rats. Now all men know these facts, and yet when we read and speak of the classic treating of the "Wonders by Land and Sea," we call it wonderful! When a thing is really wonderful, we do not consider it so; and what is not wonderful, we persist in considering it to be so. Such being the case, if, what should be wondered at, we do not call it so, then there cannot be a single wonder in the whole Universe; and if we call a thing wonderful which in truth is not so, then up to the present time there can be nothing wonderful. Moreover, if what is unknowable appears clear to our minds, it follows that all things on earth should be understood by us.

According to the Bamboo Annals of Chi Chuen, and the records of King Müh, it is said that when that King went to visit the Fairy Queen of the West, he took with him as gifts to her, beautiful jade stones, and the best of raw and embroidered silks; while, on the other hand, the Fairy Queen gave a banquet in honour of the King, on the banks of the lake formed by white jade stones. During the banquet they composed and spoke their thoughts in verse, and the sentiments embodied therein were beautiful. Then the royal pair repaired to the hillock adjoining the Küen Lun mountain, and roamed over the palaces of King Hsüen Yüan, which were situated there, and thence to the artificial terraces of the Chung hill, and gazed on the precious and wonderful things collected by that king. Returning to the residence of the Fairy Queen, King Müh had a stone tablet engraved recording the event, and erected it in the Queen's magic garden. On King Müh's return home, he brought with him to the Middle Kingdom beautiful wood and magnificent flowers, precious stones and elegant jades, golden oils and silver candles. In his travels, King Müh rode in a chariot drawn by eight splendid horses; the right-hand horses were of a dark colour, while those on the left hand were greenish. Tsao Fu was the charioteer, and Pen Yung, who stood on the King's right, was the body-guard. Myriads of _lis_ could thus be traversed. They went over barren wastes and over celebrated mountains and large rivers, yet none of them barred their onward course. To the east they came across the Halls of the Giants; to the west they arrived at the mansions of the Fairy Queen; to the south they crossed over a bridge composed of immense tortoises; and to the north they drove over streets made of layers of feathers. Traversing these, then, King Müh commenced his journey homeward full of joy. History informs us that "King Müh, riding in a chariot drawn by eight magnificent horses, with Tsao Fu as charioteer, made a journey to the west, in search of adventures in hunting, and, coming to the Fairy Queen of the West, was so happy, that he almost forgot to return home." These words are similar to those recorded in the "Bamboo Annals" of Chi Chuen. The classic called "Spring and Autumn," says that "King Müh was a man of vast ambition, and desired that the whole world should bear the tracks of his cart-wheels, and receive the imprints of his horse's hoof," and the "Bamboo Annals" illustrate this ambition.

The disciples of Ts'ian Chow were all eminent scholars of famous attainments, but they were all sceptical as to the veracity of the adventures of King Müh, and say that in looking over history they are convinced of their fallacy. Sz Ma Tseen also, in writing the preface to the "Records of Ta Wan," says that when Chang Ch'ien went on his mission to Ta Hsia, he traversed the whole length of the Huang Ho up to its very source, but never came across the Küen Lun mountain. Moreover, Sz Ma Tsëen in his own history also says, in referring to the "Book of Wonders by Land and Sea," that, "As to the wonders described in that work, I, for my part, dare not vouch for their truth." In the face, therefore, of all these authorities, is it not a hard task for me to prove the contrary? If the "Bamboo Annals" of a thousand years ago be not taken at the present day as a truthful record of the past, then, indeed, most of the narratives contained in the "Book of Wonders by Land and Sea" must be false. Now, Tung Fang Shun knew of Pe Fang; Lin Tsz Chen proved satisfactorily the existence of Tao Chea by a corpse from that kingdom. Wang Ch'i had an interview with men having two distinct faces on their heads, and a man from the sea coast picked up a dress having two very long sleeves. In carefully studying, therefore, these books, I am convinced that their stories mainly coincide with the tales in the "Book of Wonders by Land and Sea." Behold these evidences then, ye who doubt, and place some credence in the narrations contained in this book.

The Sage King made exhaustive researches into these wondrous beings, and then drew their images. It is indeed impossible to hide the existence of these wonders! The "Book of Wonders by Land and Sea" was compiled seven dynasties ago (up to the Tsin dynasty), a space of 3,000 years. During the Han dynasty this book received the closest attention, and was elucidated for the benefit of its readers; but shortly after it again fell into neglect. Moreover, since then, the names of some mountains and rivers have undergone changes. At the present day, teachers and expounders are unable to explain these wonders, and hence through disuse their reasons given at an earlier age have almost sunk into oblivion. Alas, for the loss of Reason! Fearing, therefore, that it will be entirely lost, I have written the accompanying work, making lucid the points that are obscure, and erasing those that are useless; pointing out what would not be noticeable, and explaining the parts that are deep. I shall endeavour to reclaim what has almost become obsolete, that it may stand for thousand of ages, and the wonders herein recorded shall not, from the present day, be lost. Thus the works of the Emperor Yü of the Hsia dynasty will not be lost in the future, and the records of the Barren Wastes beyond the boundaries of this Empire will be transmitted to posterity. Will not this be a laudable object?

Insects that spring from grassy ground cannot soar as high as the birds of the air, nor can the living beings that inhabit the sea rise up heavenwards like the dragon. A man of medium abilities in music can never be a member of the Orchestra in the Halls of Chuen Tien, nor can the water-buffalo traverse the watery deeps to which even ships dare not venture. Hence, unless a person be of the highest understanding, it would be a hard task to converse with him intelligently of the "Wonders by Land and Sea." And I sigh because it is only the learned and intelligent man that can read understandingly the tales in this work.

KWOH P'OH, Assistant Secretary and an Official of the 6th Rank, of the Tsin Dynasty.

APPENDIX IV.

A MEMORIAL PRESENTED BY LIU HSIU, BY ORDER OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY THE EMPEROR, ON THE "BOOK OF WONDERS BY LAND AND SEA."

The Memorialist, an officer of the Fourth Rank and Charioteer to His Majesty the Emperor, having received commands to comment upon and make right wonderful books, now reports that an officer named Wang, a subordinate in the Board of Civil Office, had already made comments and set right thirty-two chapters of the "Book of Wonders by Land and Sea," but which the memorialist has reduced to eighteen chapters. This book was compiled during the time of the three Emperors (Yao, Shun, and Yü). At that time there was a great flood, insomuch that the people had no places to live, but only in caves and holes in the rocks, and upon the tops of trees.

The father of Yü, by name K'un, being ordered by the Emperor to assuage the floods, was unable to do so; the Emperor Yao therefore ordered Yü, the son, to do so. Yü used four things in his journey around to make the floods flow away. He first cut away the trees on high mountains to obtain a view of the surrounding country; and having settled as to which was the highest mountain, and which the largest river, Yih and Peh Ye undertook to drive away the wild beasts and birds abounding in the country, and named the mountains and rivers, and classified the fauna of the country, and pointed out which was water and which was land. The feudal lords assisted Yü in his work, and thus he traversed the four quarters of the Empire, where footprint of man seldom could be found, and where boats and carts scarcely reached. He named the five mountain divisions of the Empire and eight seas that bound it. He noted where each kind of precious stone could be found, and the wonderful things he had seen. The abode of animals of land and sea, flora of the country, birds of the air, and beasts of the field, worms, the unicorn, and the phœnix, all these he fixed, and also made known their hiding-places; also the furthest removed kingdom of the earth, and men who were different from human beings. Yü divided the Empire into nine divisions, and determined upon the tribute to be given by each division, and Yih and his comrade noted which was hurtful and which was harmless for the "Book of Wonders by Land and Sea."

All the deeds handed down to us of the sages are clearly noted in the Maxims of the Ancients. The work therein expressed is a matter that can be believed in. During the reign of Shiao Wu there was commonly seen a rare bird, which would eat nothing. Tung Fang Suh saw this bird, and gave its name; he also told what it would eat. His words being attended to, the bird ate what was given it. Someone asked Suh how he knew of it; he said he had read of the bird in the "Book of Wonders by Land and Sea." During the reign of Shiao Hsüen, a large stone was broken in Shang Chuen, which then sank into the ground and displayed a house of stone; in the house was a man of Tao Chia, with his arms tied. At that time the memorialist's father, named Hsiang, was a Censor, and he said that this Tao Chia man was a traitor to his king. Being questioned by the Emperor how he could know it, he said that he had read of it in the "Book of Wonders by Land and Sea," which says, "A traitor having killed his king in Tao Yü, he was chained and confined in a mountain, his right leg was cut off, and both his arms tied behind his back." The Emperor was much surprised at this. All scholars acknowledge that this book is perfectly wonderful, and all intelligent men should read it, and be able to speak upon these wonderful beings and things, and learn the customs of far-off kingdoms and their inhabitants. Hence the Yi King says, "In speaking of the products of the empire, care should be taken to avoid confusion," and learned men, therefore, may not be doubtful.

A memorial presented to the Throne by

LIU HSIU.

APPENDIX V.

AFTER PREFACE TO THE "BOOK OF WONDERS BY LAND AND SEA."

In the sayings of the philosopher Tso, the following remarks may be found: "Virtue existed during the times of the Hsia dynasty; drawings of all animals far and wide were made, and the metal from which the urn was made, for the purpose of engraving thereon the images of these animals, was presented as tribute by the feudal lords of the Nine Kingdoms. This urn contained the images of all manner and kinds of animals. This was for the purpose of letting the people know about their existence, so that they might avoid them in entering the mountains and forests, and the genii of the mountains and rivers. Hence the object of the classic treating on the 'Wonders by Land and Sea.'" When Yü assuaged the floods, the Emperor presented him with a red-coloured wand made of jadestones, and then abdicated his throne in his favour; on this account he ordered a tribute of metals from the feudal lords of the Nine Kingdoms, wherewith to cast the urn, on which were engraved all kinds of animals from far and wide, such as the wonderful animals and beings of mountains, rivers, grass, and wood, as well as the wonders to be found among walking animals and inhabitants of the air. Yü, when Emperor, caused the forms of these wonders to be described, how produced, and their natures; he also had them classified. When he had described those wonders, whether seen or heard of, or common or uncommon, or rarely heard of, all these he had described minutely, whereby, when the people heard of them, an exceeding fear fell on them. All animals and beings that were common in those days were described in the Annals of Yü, but such as were wonderful and rare were engraved on the nine urns. These urns when completed were placed in those parts of the empire where these wonders originally came from, in order that the people of that age might learn and see daily the things that were either heard of or seen by others.

The things brought by tribute-bearers from afar were also added unto the nine urns. Indeed, this made wonders an ordinary matter. That the people might learn these things was the idea of the sage King Yü. Hence, even though at that time all things were described honestly, still the works of that period are far deeper than those of the Chow dynasty. At the time of the last Emperor of the Hsia dynasty, the historiographer Chung Ku, fearing that that Emperor might destroy the books treating of the ancient and present time, carried them in flight to Yin. History also says that K‘ung Kiah compiled into a book all the things that were engraved on the vases and dishes from the time of Hwang Ti and his ministers, Yao and Sz. And the Annals treating on the animals described on the nine urns were due to such men as Chung Ku and K‘ung Kiah. These Annals are now known as the classic treating on "Wonders by Land and Sea." The nine urns were extinct at the time of Tsing, but the pictures and classic still existed. During the Tsin dynasty, T'ao Chang and his school of poets gazed upon the pictures of the "Wonders of Land and Sea." In the "Seven Commentaries" of the Yuen family, there is observed a case of Chang Sun Yao's pictures of these wonders. These cases may be cited as proofs of the authenticity of the wonders. At the present time, the classic treating on these wonders still exists, but the pictures have become extinct. This classic has been treated upon and commented on and made intelligent by the people that have come after it, insomuch that the names of different districts of the Tsing and Han dynasties have been made to correspond with some of the names mentioned in the "Book of Wonders by Land and Sea." Hence the readers of this book are divided into the believing and the doubting. The believers base their belief upon the fact that it was the Emperor Yü who compiled it and explained its origin. The doubtful base their doubt on the probable fact of the book having been written by people who existed after Yü, and therefore unreasonable. This is indeed a base calumny. Liu Hsiu of the Han dynasty makes mention of the book in his seven chapters treating on it. And his style of composition might be said to be very ancient. Kwoh P'oh of the Tsin dynasty in his preface and notes on this book, states these wonders. The honour of transmitting this book to posterity is due to Liu Hsiu and Kwoh P'oh; but, to prevent learners from considering that the notes made by the two scholars are of no importance, I have therefore written this preface.

YANG SUN, Of the Ming Dynasty.

APPENDIX VI.

EXTRACTS FROM "SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHINESE,"

BY JUSTUS DOOLITTLE.

Ch. II., p. 264.

"The dragon holds a remarkable position in the history and government of China. It also enjoys an ominous eminence in the affections of the Chinese people. It is frequently represented as the great benefactor of mankind. It is the dragon which causes the clouds to form and the rain to fall. The Chinese delight in praising its wonderful properties and powers. It is the venerated symbol of good.

"The Emperor appropriates to himself the use of the _true_ dragon, the one which has five claws on each of its four feet. On his dress of state is embroidered a likeness of the dragon. His throne is styled 'the dragon's seat.' His bedstead is the 'dragon's bedstead.' His countenance is 'the dragon's face.' His eyes are 'the dragon's eyes.' His beard is 'the dragon's beard.'

"The true dragon, it is affirmed, never renders itself visible to mortal vision wholly at once. If its head is seen, its tail is obscured or hidden. If it exposes its tail to the eyes of man, it is careful to keep its head out of sight. It is always accompanied by or enshrouded in, clouds, when it becomes visible in any of its parts. Water-spouts are believed by some Chinese to be occasioned by the ascent and descent of the dragon. Fishermen and residents on the border of the ocean are reported to catch occasional glimpses of the dragon ascending from the water and descending to it.

"It is represented as having scales, and without ears; from its forehead two horns project upwards. Its organ of hearing seems to be located in these horns, for it is asserted that it hears through them. It is regarded as the king of fishes.

Proclamations emanating directly from the Emperor, and published on yellow paper, sometimes have the likenesses of two dragons facing each other, and grasping or playing with a pearl, of which the dragon is believed to be very fond.

Ch. II. p. 338.

"The sagacious geomancer is also careful to observe the mountain or hill on the right and left sides of the spot for a lucky grave. The left-hand side is called the black dragon; the right-hand side is called the white tiger. The lucky prospects, in a Chinese sense, on the hills situated to the left, should clearly surpass the prospects of the hills on the right. And the reason for this is manifest, for the _black dragon_ is naturally weaker than the _white tiger_.

Ch. I. p. 275.

"The common belief is that the dragon and the tiger always fight when they meet; and that when the dragon moves, the clouds will ascend and rain will soon fall.

"Hence, in a time of drought, if the bones of a tiger should be let down into this well called the 'dragon's well,' and kept there for three days at the most, there will, it is sagely affirmed, most likely be rain soon.

"The tiger's bones are used to stir up or excite the dragon."

APPENDIX VII.

EXTRACTS FROM THE "PAN TSAOU KANG MU."

THE KIAO-LUNG. (The four-footed coiled Dragon. The Iguanodon.--_Eitel._)

This animal, according to Shi Chan, belongs to the dragon family. Its eye-brows are crossed, hence its name signifies "the crossed reptile." The scaled variety is called the _Kiao-Lung_, the winged the _Ying-Lung_. The horned kind are called _K‘iu_, the hornless kind _Li_. In Indian books it is called _Kwan-P'i-Lo_.

Shi Chan, quoting from the _Kwan Cheu Ki_, says: "The Iguanodon (?) is more than twelve feet long; it resembles a snake, it has four feet, and is broad like a shield. It has a small head and a slender neck, the latter being covered with numerous protuberances. The front of its breast is of a red colour, its back is variegated with green, and its sides as if embroidered. Its tail is composed of fleshy rings; the larger ones are several. Its eggs are also large. It can induce fish to fly, but if a turtle is present they will not do so.

"The Emperor Chao, of the Han, when fishing in the river Wéi, caught a white Iguanodon. It resembled a snake, but was without scales. Its head was composed of soft flesh, and tusks issued from the mouth. The Emperor ordered his ministers to get it preserved. Its flesh is delicious; bones green, flesh red."

From the above it may be seen the Iguanodon is edible.

THE CROCODILE.

"The _T'o_ Fish, we call it the Earth Dragon, and have correctly written the character. It resembles the dragon, its voice is terrible, and its length is a _ch'ang_ (a hundred and forty-one English inches). When it breathes it forms clouds, which condense into rain. Being a dragon, the term 'fish' should be done away with."

Shi Chan says the _T'o_ character in appearance resembles the head, the belly, and the tail. One author says that an animal, which is identified with the crocodile, is found in the lagoons and marshes of the Southern Sea, at no fixed time. Its skin is made into drums. It is very tenacious of life. Before it can be flayed quantities of boiling water have to be poured down its throat. Another author states that the crocodile is of a sleepy disposition, with the eyes (nearly) always shut. It is of immense strength. It frequently dashes itself against the river bank. Men dig them out of their caves. If a hundred men dig them out, a hundred men will be required to pull them out; but if one man dig, one man may pull them out; but the event in either case is very uncertain. Another author states that recently there were found in the lakes and estuaries many animals resembling lizards and pangolins in appearance, which utter dreadful cries during the night, to the great terror of sailors. Shi Chan says crocodiles' dens are very deep, and that bamboo ropes are baited in order to catch him; after he has swallowed the bait he is gradually pulled out. He flies zigzag, but cannot fly upwards. His roar is like a drum's, and he responds to the striking of the watches of the night, which is called the crocodile drum, or the crocodile watch. The common people, when they hear it, predict rain. The nape of the neck is bright and glistening, more brilliant than those of fish. It lays a large number of eggs, as many as a hundred, which it sometimes eats. The people of the South appreciate the flesh, and use it at marriage festivities. One author states that the crocodile has twelve different varieties of delicious flesh; but the tail, like serpent's flesh, is very poisonous. The crocodile's flesh cures quite a host of diseases.

THE JĂN SHÉ, or SOUTHERN SNAKE. (_Mai-Teu-Shé_ = closed up (concealed) head snake.)

Shi Chan says: "This snake is a reptile (having a wriggling motion). Its body is immense, and its motion is wrig-wriggling (_jăn-jăn_)[319] and slow; hence its name, _Jăn-Shé_. Another author says its scales have hair like moustaches (_jăn_). It lives in Kwangtung and Kwangsi (literally, South of the Hills). Those that do not lift their head are the true kind; in this way they were called the 'Concealed Head Snake.'"

Sung quotes T'ao Hung King to the effect that its habitat is in Tsin-ngan (Fukien), and also Su Kung, who says that it is found in Kwéicheu and Kwangcheu, towards the south, at Kaocheu and Hoün. At several places in the south of the Hills they are still found. Hung King says the large ones (in their coils?) are several fathoms in circumference. Those that walk without raising their heads are the genuine ones. Those that conceal their heads are not genuine. Its fat and gall can be mixed together. The large ones are more than a foot in diameter and more than twelve feet long. It is a snake, but it is short and bulky. Su Kung remarks that its form resembles a mullet's and its head a crocodile's. Its tail is round and without scales. It is very tenacious of life. The natives cut up its flesh into slices, and esteem it as a great delicacy. Another says: When steeped in vinegar the slices curl round the chop-sticks, and cannot be released; but when the chop-sticks are made of grass stems (_mong'tso_), then it is practicable.

Another says: "This snake is a hundred and forty-four feet long; it often swallows a deer. When the deer is completely digested, then it coils round a tree, when the bones of the deer in the stomach protrude through the interstices of the scales.... If a woman's dress is thrown towards it, it will coil round and will not stir."

Shi Chan, quoting "The Wonderful Records," says: "The boa is sixty to seventy feet long, and four to five feet in circumference; the smaller ones from thirty-six to forty-eight feet long. Their bodies are striped like a piece of embroidery. In spring and summer it frequents the recesses of forests, waiting for the deer, to devour them. When the deer is digested the boa becomes fat. Someone says that it will eat a deer every year."

Another author says: "The boa, when it devours a deer or wild boar, begins with the hind legs. The poisonous breath of the boa comes in contact with the horns; these fall off. The galls, the smaller they are the better they are." Another says: "Boas abound in Wang Cheu (Kwangsi). The large ones are more than a hundred and forty feet long. They devour deer, reducing the horns and bones to a pulp. The natives use the dolishos and rattans to fill up the entrance to its den. The snake, when it smells them, becomes torpid. They then dig him out. Its flesh is a great delicacy. Its skin may be made into a drum, and for ornamenting swords, and for making musical instruments."

The _Yu Hăng Chi_ says: "Rustic soldiers in Kwangsi, when capturing boas, stick flowers in their heads, which when the snake observes, it cannot move. They then come up to it and cut off its head. They then wait till it exhausts itself by its jumping about and dies. They then take it home and feast on it." Compare Ælian [_De Naturâ Animalium_, lib. vi. chap., xxi.]: "They hung before the mouth of the Dragon's den a piece of stuff flowered with gold, which attracted the eyes of the beast, till by the sound of soft music they lulled him to sleep, and then cut off his head."

The _Shan Hai King_ says: "The _Pa_ snake can eat an elephant, the bones of which, after three years, are got rid of. Gentlemen that eat of this snake will be proof against consumption." Kwoh P'oh, in his commentary, says the boa of to-day is identical with the _Pa_ snake.

APPENDIX VIII.

EXTRACT FROM THE "YUEN KEEN LEI HAN."

THE DRAGON.--CHAP. I.

The _Shwoh Wăn_ says: "The dragon is the chief of scaly reptiles: in the spring he mounts the heavens, in the autumn he frequents the streams. This is favourable." Again, "When the dragon walks he is called _sah_, when he flies he is a _yao_."

The _Kwang Ya_ says: "When he has scales he is a _Kiao_,[320] when he has wings a _Ying-Lung_,[321] when horns a _Kiu-Lung_,[322] without horns a _Chih-Lung_."

The _Ming Wuh Kiai_ of the _Odes_ says the dragon has horns at five hundred years, at one thousand years he is a _Ying-Lung_.

The _P‘i Ya Kwang Yao_ says: "The dragon has eighty-one scales. This is nine times nine, nine is the _yang_ (male principle). The dragon is produced from an egg, in which he is enfolded." Again, it says that the _Néi Tien_ says: "Dragon-fire comes in contact with moisture and there is smoke, with water and it is consumed (_i.e._ a man may extinguish it with water)."

The _Fang Yen_ says: "Before the dragon has ascended to heaven he is a _P‘an[323] Lung_." The Yih King says: "When his clouds move the rain falls, and the various things put forth their forms at the time he rides upon the six dragons and ascends the heavens." "The first nine: The hidden dragon is inactive. The diagram indicates that the subtile ether is below. The second nine: When the dragon is seen in the fields it is profitable to meet the great man. The diagram indicates that virtue is extended. Fifth nine: The flying dragon appears in the heavens: The diagram indicates the great man creates." Again, "The dragons contend in the wilds, their blood is azure and yellow." Again, "Thunder is a dragon."

The Yuen-Ming-Pao section of the _Ch‘un ts‘iu_ says: "The dragons begin to speak, _yin_ and _yang_[324] are commingled"; thence, it is said, the dragon ascends and clouds are multiplied. The _Yih King_, in all the diagrams, clearly says: "The summer winds arise and the dragon mounts the skies."

In the _Yuen-Shăn-K‘i_ of the _Hiao King_ it is said: "Virtue approaches the fountains and the yellow dragon appears. It is the Prince's image."

In the "_Tso-K‘i_" of the _Hiao King_ it is said: "The Emperor is filial, the heavenly dragon bears the plans and the earthly tortoise issues a book." The _Ho-t‘u_ says: "Yellow gold after one thousand years produces a yellow dragon, azure gold after one thousand years, the azure dragon; red and white dragon is also thus. Black gold after one thousand years produces the black dragon."

The _Twan-ying-t‘u_ says: "The yellow dragon is the chief of the four dragons, the true beauty of the four regions. He can be large or small, obscure or manifest, short or long, alive or dead; the king cannot drain the pool and catch him. His intelligence and virtue are unfathomable; moreover he ensures the peaceful air, and sports in the pools." Again, it says: "The yellow dragon does not go in company, and does not live in herds. He certainly waits for the wind and rain, and disports himself in the azure air. He wanders in the wilds beyond the heavens. He goes and comes, fulfilling the decree; at the proper seasons if there is perfection he comes forth, if not he remains (unseen)."

The _Shi Ki_ says: "The bright moon pearl is concealed in the oyster, the dragon is there."

Books of the after Wei dynasty say, "Persia has three pools." They narrate that a dragon lives in the largest, his wife in the second, and his child in the third. If travellers sacrifice, they can pass; if they do not sacrifice they encounter many storms of wind and rain.

Lü-lan asserts that Confucius said, "The dragon feeds in the pure (water) and disports in the clear (water)."

Sun-k‘ing-tsz says: "The accumulated waters form the streams, the _Kiao-Lung_ is brought forth." Han-Féi-shwoh-nan says: "Now as the dragon is a reptile he can be brought under control and ridden.[325] But below his throat are tremendous scales, projecting a foot. If a man should come in contact with them he would be killed."

Kwan-tsz says: "The dragon's skin has five colours, and he moves like a spirit; he wishes to be small and he becomes like a silkworm; great, and he fills all below heaven; he desires to rise, and he reaches the ether; he desires to sink, and he enters the deep fountains. The times of his changing are not fixed, his rising and descending are undetermined; he is called a god (or spirit)."

Hwai-nan-tsz says: "The dragon ascends and the brilliant clouds follow." Again, he says: "This _Kiao-Lung_ is hidden in the streams, and his eggs are opened at the mound. The male cries above and the female cries below, and he changes; his form and essence are of the most exalted (kind). Man cannot see the dragon when he flies aloft. He ascends, and wind and rain escort him."

The _Tihing P‘ien_ says: "Wings beautiful grow for the flying dragon; hair soft like that of a calf on the _ying_ dragon; scales only for the _Kiao-Lung_. Only in pools is found the _Sien-Lung_." Chang-hang said: "How the _Ts‘ang-Lung_ meets the summer and aspires to the clouds, and shakes his scales, accomplishing the season. He passes the winter in the muddy water, and, concealed, he escapes harm." Pan-ku, answering Pin-hi, said: "The _Ying-Lung_ hides in the lakes and pools. Fish and turtle contemn him, and he does not observe it. He can exert his skill and intelligence, and suddenly the clear sky appears. For this reason the _Ying-Lung_, now crouching in the mud, now flying in the heavens, appears to be divine."

Lun-hang says, "When the dragon is small, all the fish are small; this is divine."

Pao-pòh-tz says: "There are self-existent dragons and there are worms which are changed into dragons." Again, he says: "Among the hills the _Ch‘ăn day_, called the rain master, is a dragon." Hwai-nan-tsz said: "The _Chuh-Lung_ is north of the goose gate concealed in the Wei-Ü mountain." The _Shan-hai-king_ says the god of the Chung-shan is called _Chuh-Lung_. When he opens his eyes it is day, when he shuts his eyes it is night. His body is three thousand _li_ long.

The _Shui-hing-chu_ says: "The _Yulung_ considers the autumn days as night. But the dragon descends in the autumn and hibernates in the deep pools; how then can he say that autumn is night?" It also says: "There is a divine dragon in the vermilion pools at Kiao-chew. Whenever there was a drought, the village people obstructed the upper tributaries of the pool, and many fish died; the dragon became enraged at such times, and caused much rain."

The _Kwah-ti-t‘u_ says: "At the dragon pool there is a hill with four lofty sides, and within them is a pool seven hundred _li_ square; a herd of dragons live there, and feed upon the many different kinds of trees. It is beyond Hwui-ki forty-five thousand _li_." Again, it says: "If you do not ride on a dragon you cannot reach the weak waters[327] of the Kwan-lun hill."

The _Poh-Wuh-Chi_ says: "If you soak the dragon's flesh in an acid (and eat it), you can write essays." Again, it says: "The Tiao-sheh is in form like a dragon, but smaller. It likes danger; hence it is appointed to guard decayed timber." Again, it says: "The dragon lays three eggs. The first is _Ki-tiao_. He goes ashore and cohabits with the deer or deposits his semen at the water's edge, where it becomes attached to passing boats or floating wood and branches. It appears like a walnut, it is called _Tsz-chao_ flower, and constitutes what is mentioned in the _Tao-ch‘u_ as dragon-salt." Again, it says: "Below the dragon-gate every year in the third month of spring, yellow carps, two[328] fish, come from the sea, and all the streams, with speed to the contest. But seventy-one can ascend the dragon-gate in a year; when the first one ascends the dragon-gate there is wind and rain. It is followed by fire which burns his tail, and then he is a dragon."

The _Shih-I-Ki_ says: "East of the hills of Fang-chang there is a dragon plain where there are dragon skins and bones like a mountain: spread out they would cover one thousand five hundred acres. To meet him when he sloughs his bones is like the birth of a dragon. Or it is said the dragons constantly wrangle at this place. It is enriched with blood like flowing water."

The _Shuh-I-Ki_ says: "In the P‘uning district there are the isles where the dragons are buried. Fu-loo says the dragons shed their bones at these isles, the water now contains many dragon-bones, in these mountains, hills, peaks, and gorges. The dragons make the wind and rain. There are dragons' bones everywhere, whether in the deep or shallow places; there are many in the ground. Teeth, horns, vertebral columns, feet, it seems as though they are everywhere. The largest measure one hundred feet or exceed one hundred feet. The smallest are two feet or three or four inches. The bones are everywhere. Constantly when looking for anything they are seen." Again, it says: "It is told of the Kuh mountains in Ki-cheu that when the dragon is a thousand years old, he enters the mountains and casts his bones. Now there is a dragon hill, from the midst of the hill issues the dragon's brains."

The _K‘ié-Lan Records at Loh-yang_[329] say: "You cannot trust the hills in the west. They are too cold. There is snow both winter and summer. In the hills there is a pool where a bad dragon lives; long ago some merchants rested near the pool, until the dragon became enraged, abused, and killed them. A priest,[330] Pan-T‘o, heard of it, and, leaving his seat to the pupils, went to the kingdom of Wuchang to learn the Po-lo-man incantations; he mastered them in four years, and returned to his seat. He went to the pool and invoked the dragon. The dragon was transformed into a man, repented, and followed the king. The king then removed." Again, it says: "To the west of the kingdom of Wuchang there is a pool in which the dragon prince dwells. There is a monastery on the banks of the pool, in which there are more than fifty priests. Whenever the dragon prince does anything marvellous, the king comes and beseeches him, using gold, precious stones, pearls, and valuables, throwing them into the pool. Afterwards they are cast up and the priests gather them. This monastery relies upon the dragon for food and clothing and the means to assist people. Its name is 'Dragon Prince Monastery.'"

The _Ts‘i-ti_ records say there is a well in the city of Ch‘áng-ping at the brambles; when the water is disturbed a spiritual dragon comes and goes. So the city is called the dragon city.

The _Shi-San-Tsin_ records say Ho-li has also the name Dragon Gate. Great fish collect below it, in number one thousand. They cannot ascend. If one ascends it is a dragon. Those which do not ascend are fish. Hence it is called the "Pao-sai-lung-man." (Great carp ascend the dragon gate and become dragons; those which do not ascend prick the forehead and strike the cheek.) Again, it says: "The Lung-sheu mountains are sixty _li_ long; the head enters the Wei waters, the tail extends to the Fan streams. This head is two hundred feet high; his tail descends gradually to a height of fifty or sixty feet. It is said that long ago a strange dragon came out from south of the mountains to drink the Wei waters. The road he travelled became mountain. Hence the name."

The _Kiao-Cheu-Kí_ says: "In Kiao-chi at Fung-ki-hien there is a dyke with a dragon gate; the water is one hundred fathoms deep. Great fish ascend this gate and become dragons. Those which cannot pass, strike the cheek and puncture the forehead, until the blood flows. This water is continually like the Vermilion pool."

The annals of Hwa-yang say: "Only at Wu-ch‘ing district does the earth meet the gate of heaven; the dragon which mounts to heaven and does not reach it, falls dead to this place, hence when excavating you find dragon-bones."

The _I-Tung-Chi_ says: "Twenty _li_ west of Lin-fung-hien is a stone dragon, among the cliffs is a rock like a dragon. In a year of drought wash it, and it rains." Again, it says: "At Yen-T‘ang there is a pond called Smoky Pond; it is north-east of the city ten _li_. Its depth has never been ascertained. It is reported that long ago a man caught a white eel, and was about to cook it, when an old man said, 'This is the dragon of the river Siang; I fear calamity will follow.' The man was angry, and, regarding the words as vain, proceeded. The next day the whole village was submerged."

The _Kwoh-Shi-Pu_ says: "At the time of the spring rains the carp springs through the dragon gate and becomes transformed. At the present time, in Fan-cheu of Shansi, there is a cave in the mountains; in it are many cast bones and horns of dragons. They are collected for medicine, and are of five colours. It is recorded in the _Chw‘en_ that north of the Wu-t'ai hills, below the terrace, is Azure Dragon Pool, about one-third of an acre in extent. The Buddhist books say five hundred evil dragons are confined (here). Whenever it is mid-day a thick mist gradually arises. A pure priest and candidates for the priesthood may see it. If a nun or females approach then there is great thunder, lightning, and tempest. If they come near the pool, he certainly will belch forth poisonous breath and they will die at once. Foreigners say that in Piolosz there is a spiritual dragon which goes and comes among the granaries. When a servant comes for rice the dragon vanishes. If the servant comes constantly for rice the dragon does not suffer it. If there is no rice in the granaries, the servant worships the dragon, and the granaries are filled."

_Yuin-Chu-Tsih_ records: "If one sees a dragon's egg in the lake or river there will certainly be a flood."

The _Nan-Pu-Sin-Shu_ says: "The dragon's disposition is ferocious, and he fears bees'-wax, loves jade, and the King-ts‘ing delight to eat the flesh of cooked sparrows. For this reason men who eat sparrows do not cross the sea."

The _Pah-mung-so-yen_ says: "The perverse dragon, when rain is wanted, sneaks away into old trees or into the beams of houses. The thunder god pulls him out."

_Wu-ch‘ăn-tsah-ch‘ao_ says: "There is a great dragon which sloughed his skin on the brink of the Great Lake. Insects come out from his scaly armour. Instantly they are transformed into dragon-flies of a red colour. If men gather them they get fever and ague. If men now-a-days see these red dragon-flies they call them dragon-armour, also dragons' grandsons, and are unwilling to hurt them."

_Pi-shu-suh-hwa_ says: "In Suh-chan and Hang-cheu the twentieth day of the fifth month is called the day of the separation of the dragons. Therefore, in the fifth and sixth months, whenever there is thunder, and the clouds crowd together, if they see a tail bent down, and stretching to earth from among the clouds, moving like a serpent, they say, 'The dragon is suspended.'"

Tsu-tz say: "The spiritual dragon leaves the water and dwells in the dry place, and the mole, crickets, and ants annoy him."

Kung Sun Hung replied to Tung Fang Shoh, saying: "Before the dragon has ascended he is of a sort with fish and turtles; after he has ascended the heavens his scales cannot be seen."

Siu Tsung Yuen answered an inquirer, saying: "The _Kiao-Lung_ ascends to the heavenly fountain. He pervades the six regions (North, South, East, West, Above, Below). He moistens all things. Shrimps and the leech cannot depart one foot from the water."

The _Shwoh-Wan_ says: "The _Kiao_ belongs to the dragon species. When a fish attains three thousand six hundred [years ?] it becomes a _Kiao_; on attaining this much the dragon flies away." Again, it says: "[Dragons] without horns are _Kiao_."

The _P'i-Ya_ says: "The _Kiao's_ bones are green, and they can bring their heads and tails together and constrict anything; hence they are called _Kiao_. A popular name for them is 'the horse's lasso.'" Another author says the _Kiao's_ tail has fleshy rings; they are able to compress any creature, and then tear it with the head.

The _Shuh-I-Ki_ says the eye-brows of a _Kiao_ unite, and their uniting is a proof that it is a _Kiao_.

The _Siang-Shu_ (Book of Physiognomy) says that when the eye-brows unite the epithet _Kiao_ is applied, because the _Kiao Shăn_ has crossed eye-brows.

The _Yueh-kiu_ (Divisions of Seasons) says that the season of autumn is unfavourable to the _Kiao_.

The _Kia-Yü_ (Family Discourses) says that if a stream contains fish, then no _Kiao_ will stay in it.

Hwai-nan-tsze says that no two _Kiao_ will dwell in one pool.

The _Shan-Hai-King_ says the _Kiao_ is like a dragon and snake, with a small head and fine neck. The neck has white ornamentations on it. The girth (?) is five cubits; the eggs of the capacity of three catties; and it can swallow a man.

APPENDIX IX.

APPENDIX TO THE CHAPTER ON THE SEA-SERPENT.

THE SHAN.[331]

"The _Shăn_ belongs to the snake species."

"The _Tsah Ping Shu_ (Work on Military Science) says: 'In drilling an army,[332] when you arrange it like the _Shăn_ expelling its breath, its appearance is like that of a snake, but the waist is large; below there are scales, running backwards.'

"One says that its form is like that of the Ch‘i-lung, which has ears and horns and a mane of a red colour. When it exhales its breath, it forms a cloud just like a palace or tower, looking as if its walls are moving in a cloud of mist, or like a weary bird flying above. This makes everyone feel very happy until the exhalation or snorting of the breath is finished.

"There is a popular saying about building a _Shăn_ tower. When the sky appears to rain you can see a resemblance of it.

"The _Shi-Ki_ (Book of Odes or Classical Poetry) uses the expression, 'The _Shăn's_ breath forms a tower'; it is in allusion to this.

"At the present day it is said that the _Chi_ (a pheasant or francolin[333]) and the snake copulate and produce the _Shăn_.

"The oily substance of _Shăn_ combined with wax makes the Chinese wax candles, the fragrance of which, when burning, can be recognized for one hundred feet in all directions; and the smoke emitted from the flame forms the appearance of a tower."

"The _Pih T‘an_ (Familiar Stories) says that at Tang-cheu (in Shantung), in the midst of the sea, there are often clouds arise and appear like the imperial palace, or towers of the city walls, and there is also an appearance of people, carriages, and horses busily engaged [mirage?]. They call this phenomenon 'the market of the sea,' while others say it is but the breath of the _Shăn Kiao_.

"The _Wu Léi Siang Kan Chi_ says the _Shăn_ is but another sort of dragon, and can be found in some of the ponds and wells. They throw out the air, forming rain as in the locality of Wu San Yin.

"The _P‘i Ya Kwang Yao_ says, when a snake transforms it becomes a _shăn_, in the likeness of the _Kiao_, but without paws."

SECTION II.

"The twelfth chapter of _Ching Kiün Chw'en_ says that Hü Ching Kiün, author of the above book, met a youth, quite handsome in his apparel. The youth pretended to be very modest, Hu Kiün knowing all the time that he was a _Kiao_ in another form. So he told his followers, 'I regret to think that the province of Kiang-si will often meet with the misfortune of inundation if we do not exterminate that _Kiao Shăn_, and are not careful to prevent its escape.' But the _Shăn_ knew what Hu Kiün was saying, and gradually slipped away to a place called Sung-sha-cheu, where he transformed himself into a yellow ox. But at the same time Ching Kiün also transformed himself into a black ox, tying a handkerchief over his neck to distinguish him from the other ox, and ordered his disciple, Shi Tai Yu, to use his sword, and thrust at the left thigh, because he had entered within the city wall, in the western part of which there is a well. By jumping this well he found a road to Tau-cheu, and once more transformed himself into a handsome youth, and by so doing got married to the daughter of a magistrate called Ku Yu, with plenty of jewels and gold. Then Ching came to see Ku Yu and said, 'I hear that you have a very noble son-in-law. May I see him?' Ku answered 'Yes,' and told him to come out. But he excused himself upon account of sickness, and hid himself. Then Ching Kiün, saying, 'The dangerous things of the rivers and the lake are old devils, and they dare to transform themselves into human beings,' ordered the son-in-law to transform himself into his original form, and hid himself beneath the table. Then the magistrate said, 'Kill this,' and they did so. Then Kiun sprinkled water on the two sons, and they were immediately transformed into _Shăn_. [There must be children born from the marriage.--_Translator._] He advised Ku Yu that he must put them away immediately, or the whole house would be in danger of breaking."

"The _Tai Ping Kwang Ki_ says that the lake of Wan Tun, at Fì Chi, contains a _Shăn_ which often fought with the _Shăn_ of Lake Su. Near this lake is a place called Yao, where there lived a man called Ch‘ang Sing Shan, of great bravery, and an expert archer. He once dreamed that a _Shăn_ snake was transformed into a Taouist, and then it said to him: 'I am endangered by the _Shăn_ of the lake of Lu. Can your honour assist me? if so I will reward you heavily. The tight white chain is me.' Next day Sing Shan went with a youth of Yao to the shore of the lake and dreamed. He waited until the waves rose and the surf struck the shore, making a noise like thunder. He saw two oxen coming, one with a white belly and legs; then Sing Shan discharged an arrow at it, and it turned out to be a _Shăn_. The water immediately turned into blood, and the _Shăn_, after receiving the wound, tried to return to the lake of Lu, but died before it reached there."

_Kang Hi Dictionary._

"The _Shăn Kiao_ belongs to the _Kiao_ species, and also has the appearance of a snake. It has horns like a dragon; the mane is red below the waist; all the scales are projecting. It eats swallows, and can emit an air which appears like a tower.

"Again, any turtle when old enough may be called a _Shăn_."

LONDON: PRINTED BY W. H. ALLEN AND CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE. S.W.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This tributary offering is a common feature in dragon legends. A good example is that given by El Edrisi in his history of the dragon destroyed by Alexander the Great in the island of Mostachin (one of the Canaries?).

[2] The latest writer on this point summarizes his views, in his opening remarks, as follows:--"The science of heraldry has faithfully preserved to modern times various phases of some of those remarkable legends which, based upon a study of natural phenomena, exhibit the process whereby the greater part of mythology has come into existence. Thus we find the solar gryphon, the solar phœnix, a demi-eagle displayed issuing from flames of fire; the solar lion and the lunar unicorn, which two latter noble creatures now harmoniously support the royal arms. I propose in the following pages to examine the myth of the unicorn, the wild, white, fierce, chaste, moon, whose two horns, unlike those of mortal creatures, are indissolubly twisted into one; the creature that endlessly fights with the lion to gain the crown or summit of heaven, which neither may retain, and whose brilliant horn drives away the darkness and evil of the night even as we find in the myth, that Venym is defended by the horn of the unicorn."--_The Unicorn; a Mythological Investigation._ Robert Brown, jun., F.S.A. London, 1881.

[3] "The midgard or world-serpent we have already become tolerably well acquainted with, and recognise in him the wild tumultuous sea. Thor contended with him; he got him on his hook, but did not succeed in killing him. We also remember how Thor tried to lift him in the form of a cat. The North abounds in stories about the sea-serpent, which are nothing but variations of the original myths of the Eddas. Odin cast him into the sea, where he shall remain until he is conquered by Thor in Ragnarok."--_Norse Mythology_, p. 387. R. B. Anderson, Chicago, 1879.

[4] _Vide_ Anderson.

[5] Just as even the greatest masters of fiction adapt but do not originate. Harold Skimpole and Wilkins Micawber sat unconsciously for their portraits in real life, and the most charming characters and fertile plots produced by that most prolific of all writers, A. Dumas, are mere elaborations of people and incidents with which historical memoirs provided him.

[6] _Atlantis; the Antediluvian World._ J. Donelly, New York, 1882. The author has amassed, with untiring labour, a large amount of evidence to prove that the island of Atlantis, in place of being a myth or fable of Plato, really once existed; was the source of all modern arts and civilization; and was destroyed in a catastrophe which he identifies with the Biblical Deluge.

[7] So also, Father Stanislaus Arlet, of the Society of Jesus, writing to the General of the Society in 1698 respecting a new Mission in Peru, and speaking of a Peruvian tribe calling themselves Canisian, says: "Having never before seen horses, or men resembling us in colour and dress, the astonishment they showed at our first appearance among them was a very pleasing spectacle to us, the sight of us terrifying them to such a degree that the bows and arrows fell from their hand; imagining, as they afterwards owned, that the man, his hat, his clothes, and the horse he rode upon, composed but one animal."

[8] _The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto_, done into English by H. C. Gent, London, 1653, p. 109. The vindication of Pinto's reputation for veracity will doubtless one day be, to a great extent, effected, for although his interesting narrative is undoubtedly embroidered with a rich tissue of falsity, due apparently to an exaggerated credulity upon his part, and systematic deception upon that of his Chinese informants, he certainly is undeserving of the wholesale condemnation of which Congreve was the reflex when he made Foresight, addressing Sir Sampson Legend, say: "Thou modern Mandeville, Ferdinand Mendez Pinto was but a type of thee, thou liar of the first magnitude."--_Love for Love_, Act. 2, Scene 1. There are many points in his narrative which are corroborated by history and the accounts of other voyages; and it must be remembered that, although the major part of the names of places and persons which he gives are now unrecognisable, yet this may be due to alterations from the lapse of time, and from the difficulty of recognising the true original Chinese or Japanese word under those produced by the foreign mode of transliteration in vogue in those days. Thus the Port Liampoo of Pinto is now and has been for many years past only known as Ningpo, the first name being a term of convenience, used by the early Portuguese voyagers, and long since abandoned. Just as the wonderful Quinsay of Marco Polo (still known by that name in Pinto's time) has been only successfully identified (with Hangchow-fu) through the antiquarian research of Colonel Yule. So also the titles of Chaems, Tutons, Chumbins, Aytons, Anchacy's, which Pinto refers to (p. 108), are only with difficulty recognisable in those respectively of Tsi‘ang (a Manchu governor), Tu-tung (Lieutenant-General), Tsung-ping (Brigadier-General), Tao-tai [??] (Intendant of Circuit) and Ngan-ch‘a She-sze (Provincial Judge), as rendered by the modern sinologue Mayers in his Essay on the Chinese Government, Shanghai, 1878. The incidental references to the country, people, habits, and products, contained in the

## chapter describing his passage in captivity from Nanquin to Pequin are

true to nature, and the apparently obviously untruthful statement which he makes of the employment by the King of Tartary of thousands of rhinoceri both as beasts of burthen and articles of food (p. 158) is explicable, I think, on the supposition that some confusion has arisen, either in translation or transcription, between rhinoceros and camel. Anyone who has seen the long strings of camels wending their way to Pekin from the various northern roads through the passes into Mongolia, would readily believe that a large transport corps of them could easily be amassed by a despotic monarch; while the vast numbers of troops to which Pinto makes reference are confirmed by more or less authentic histories.

[9] "I was myself an eye-witness of two such discoveries and helped to gather the articles together. The slanderers have long since been silenced, who were not ashamed to charge the discoverer with an imposture."--Prof. Virchow, in Appendix I. to Schliemann's _Ilios_. Murray, 1880.

[10] "But ask them to credit an electric telegram, to understand a steam-engine, to acknowledge the microscopic revelations spread out before their eyes, to put faith in the Atlantic cable or the East India House, and they will tell you that you are a barbarian with blue eyes, a fan kwai, and a sayer of that which is not. The dragon and the phœnix are true, but the rotifer and the message, the sixty miles an hour, the cable, and the captive kings are false."--_Household Words_, October 30th, 1855.

[11] Address delivered to the Biological Section of the British Association. Glasgow, 1876.

[12] In 1854 a communication from the Torquay Natural History Society, confirming previous accounts by Mr. Goodwin Austen, Mr. Vivian, and the Rev. Mr. McEnery, "that worked flints occurred in Kents Hole with remains of extinct species," was rejected as too improbable for publication.

[13] "She is set down a thorough heretic, not at all to be believed, a manufacturer of unsound natural history, an inventor of false facts in science."--Gosse, _Romance of Nat. Hist._, 2nd Series, p. 227.

[14] _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, No. 60, April 1877.

[15] "By the kindness of my friend, Mr. Bartlett, I have been enabled to examine a most beautiful Japanese carving in ivory, said to be one hundred and fifty years old, and called by the Japanese _net suke_ or _togle_. These togles are handed down from one generation to the next, and they record any remarkable event that happens to any member of a family. This carving is an inch and a half long, and about as big as a walnut. It represents a lady in a quasi-leaning attitude, and at first sight it is difficult to perceive what she is doing; but after a while the details come out magnificently. The unfortunate lady has been seized by an octopus when bathing--for the lady wears a bathing-dress. One extended arm of the octopus is in the act of coiling round the lady's neck, and she is endeavouring to pull it off with her right hand; another arm of the sea-monster is entwined round the left wrist, while the hand is fiercely tearing at the mouth of the brute. The other arms of the octopus are twined round, grasping the lady's body and waist--in fact, her position reminds one very much of Laocoon in the celebrated statue of the snakes seizing him and his two sons. The sucking discs of the octopus are carved exactly as they are in nature, and the colour of the body of the creature, together with the formidable aspect of the eye, are wonderfully represented. The face of this Japanese lady is most admirably done; it expresses the utmost terror and alarm, and possibly may be a portrait. So carefully is the carving executed that the lady's white teeth can be seen between her lips. The hair is a perfect gem of work; it is jet black, extended down the back, and tied at the end in a knot; in fact, it is so well done that I can hardly bring myself to think that it is not real hair, fastened on in some most ingenious manner; but by examining it under a powerful magnifying glass I find it is not so--it is the result of extraordinary cleverness in carving. The back of the little white comb fixed into the thick of the black hair adds to the effect of this magnificent carving of the hair. I congratulate Mr. Bartlett on the acquisition of this most beautiful curiosity. There is an inscription in Japanese characters on the underneath part of the carving, and Mr. Bartlett and myself would, of course, only be too glad to get this translated."--Frank Buckland, in _Land and Water_.

[16] Max Müller, _Science of Language_, 4th edition, p. 163-165. London, 1864.

[17] _Science of Language_, p. 168.

[18] "When a naturalist, either by visiting such spots of earth as are still out of the way, or by his good fortune, finds a very queer plant or animal, he is forthwith accused of inventing his game, the word not being used in its old sense of _discovery_ but in its modern of _creation_. As soon as the creature is found to sin against preconception, the great (mis?) guiding spirit, _à priori_ by name, who furnishes philosophers with their omniscience _pro re natâ_, whispers that no such thing _can_ be, and forthwith there is a charge of hoax. The heavens themselves have been charged with hoaxes. When Leverrier and Adams predicted a planet by calculation, it was gravely asserted in some quarters that the planet which had been calculated was not _the_ planet but another which had clandestinely and improperly got into the neighbourhood of the true body. The disposition to suspect hoax is stronger than the disposition to hoax. Who was it that first announced that the classical writings of Greece and Rome were one huge hoax perpetrated by the monks in what the announcer would be as little or less inclined than Dr. Maitland to call the dark ages?"--_Macmillan_, 1860.

[19] _Poetic Epistles_, Bk. iii., Ep. 3.

[20] _Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cygno._

[21] "Having showed the foregoing description of the mountain cow, called by the Spaniards _ante_ [_manatee_?], to a person of honour, he was pleased to send it to a learned person in Holland." This learned person discusses it and compares it with the hippopotamus, and winds up by saying, in reference to a description of the habits of the hippopotamus, as noticed at Loango by Captain Rogers, to the effect that when they are in the water they will sink to the bottom, and then walk as on dry ground, "but what he says of her sinking to the bottom in deep rivers, and walking there, if he adds, what I think he supposes, that it rises again, and comes on the land, I much question; for that such a huge body should raise itself up again (though I know whales and great fish can do) transcends the faith of J. H."--F. J. Knapton, _Collection of Voyages_, vol. ii.,

## part ii. p. 13. 4 vols., London, 1729.

[22] _Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Asia._ Hugh Murray, F.R.S.E., 3 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1820.

[23] Bk. x., chap. 53.

[24] A writer in _Macmillan's Magazine_ in 1860 concludes a series of objections to the canal as follows: "And the Emperor must hesitate to identify himself with an operation which might not impossibly come to be designated by posterity as 'Napoleon's Folly.'"

[25] The Bower Bird, _Ptilonorhyncus holosericeus_, and the Garden-building Bird of New Guinea, _Amblyornis inornara_.

[26] _Recherches, &c. des Mammiferes_, plate 1. Paris, 1868 to 1874.

[27] "This obstacle was a forest of oaks, not giant oaks, but the very reverse, a forest of dwarf oaks (_Quercus nana_). Far as the eye could reach extended the singular wood, in which no tree rose above thirty inches in height. Yet was it no thicket, no undergrowth of shrubs, but a true forest of oaks, each tree having its separate stem, its boughs, its lobed leaves, and its bunches of brown acorns."--Capt. Mayne Reid, _The War Trail_, chap. lxiv.

[28] Respecting the timber trees of this tract, Dr. Ferdinand von Mueller, the Government botanist, thus writes:--"At the desire of the writer of these pages, Mr. D. Bogle measured a fallen tree of _Eucalyptus amygdalina_, in the deep recesses of Dandenong, and obtained for it a length of 420 feet, with proportions of width, indicated in a design of a monumental structure placed in the exhibition; while Mr. G. Klein took the measurement of a _Eucalyptus_ on the Black Spur, ten miles distant from Healesville, 480 feet high! In the State forest of Dandenong, it was found by actual measurement that an acre of ground contained twenty large trees of an apparent average height of about 350 feet."--R. Brough Smyth, _The Gold Fields of Victoria_. Melbourne, 1869.

[29] "In the next place, we must remember how impossible it is for the mind to invent an entirely new fact. There is nothing in the mind of man that has not pre-existed in nature. Can we imagine a person, who never saw or heard of an elephant, drawing a picture of such a two-tailed creature?"--J. Donelly, _Rangarok_, p. 119. New York, 1883.

[30] "I conceive that quite a large proportion of the most profound thinkers are satisfied to exert their memory very moderately. It is, in fact, a distraction from close thought to exert the memory overmuch, and a man engaged in the study of an abstruse subject will commonly rather turn to his book-shelves for the information he requires than tax his memory to supply it."--R. A. Proctor, _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, Jan. 1874.

[31] "It was through one of these happy chances (so the Brothers Grimm wrote in 1819) that we came to make the acquaintance of a peasant woman of the village of Nieder-Zwehrn, near Cassel, who told us the greater part of the Märchen of the second volume, and the most beautiful of it too. She held the old tales firmly in her memory, and would sometimes say that this gift was not granted to everyone, and that many a one could not keep anything in its proper connection. Anyone inclined to believe that tradition is easily corrupted or carelessly kept, and that therefore it could not possibly last long, should have heard how steadily she always abided by her record, and how she stuck to its accuracy. She never altered anything in repeating it, and if she made a slip, at once righted herself as soon as she became aware of it, in the very midst of her tale. The attachment to tradition among people living on in the same kind of life with unbroken regularity, is stronger than we, who are fond of change, can understand."--_Odinic Songs in Shetland._ Karl Blind, _Nineteenth Century_, June 1879.

[32] See quotation from Gladstone, _Nineteenth Century_, Oct. 1879.

[33] Mr. C. P. Daly, President of the American Geographical Society, informs us, in his Annual Address [for 1880], that in one book found in the royal library at Nineveh, of the date 2000 B.C., there is--

1. A catalogue of stars.

2. Enumeration of twelve constellations forming our present zodiac.

3. The intimation of a Sabbath.

4. A connection indicated (according to Mr. Perville) between the weather and the changes of the moon.

5. A notice of the spots on the sun: a fact they could only have known by the aid of telescopes, which it is supposed they possessed from observations that they have noted down of the rising of Venus, and the fact that Layard found a crystal lens in the ruins of Nineveh. (N.B.--As to the above, I must say that telescopes are not always necessary to see the spots on the sun: these were distinctly visible with the naked eye, in the early mornings, to myself and the officers of the S.S. _Scotia_, in the Red Sea, in the month of August of 1883, after the great volcanic disturbances near Batavia. The resulting atmospheric effects were very marked in the Red Sea, as elsewhere, the sun, when near the horizon, appearing of a pale green colour, and exhibiting the spots distinctly.)

[34] Ammianus Marcellinus (bk. xxii., ch. xv., s. 20), in speaking of the Pyramids, says: "There are also subterranean passages and winding retreats, which, it is said, men skilful in the ancient mysteries, by means of which they divined the coming of a flood, constructed in different places lest the memory of all their sacred ceremonies should be lost."

As affording a minor example of prophesy, I quote a correspondent's communication, relating to Siam, to the _North China Daily News_ of July 28th, 1881:--"Singularly enough the prevalence of cholera in Siam this season has been predicted for some months. The blossoming of the bamboo (which in India is considered the invariable forerunner of an epidemic) was looked upon as ominous, while the enormous quantity and high quality of the fruit produced was cited as pointing out the overcharge of the earth with matter which, though tending to the development of vegetable life, is deleterious to human. From these and other sources of knowledge open to those accustomed to read the book of nature, the prevalence of cholera, which, since 1873, has been almost unknown in Siam, was predicted and looked for; and, unlike most modern predictions, it has been certainly fulfilled. So common was the belief, that when, some months since, a foreign official in Siamese employ applied for leave of absence, it was opposed by some of the native officials on the ground that he ought to stay and take his chance of the cholera with the rest of them."

[35] "It is now generally admitted by biologists who have made a study of the Vertebrata that birds have come down to us through the Dinosaurs, and the close affinity of the latter with recent struthious birds will hardly be questioned. The case amounts almost to a demonstration if we compare with Dinosaurs their contemporaries, the Mesozoic birds. The classes of birds and reptiles as now living are separated by a gulf so profound that a few years since it was cited by the opponents of evolution as the most important break in the animal series, and one which that doctrine could not bridge over. Since then, as Huxley has clearly shown, this gap has been virtually filled by the discoveries of bird-like reptiles and reptilian birds. Compsognathus and Archæopteryx of the old world, and Icthyornis and Hesperornis of the new, are the stepping-stones by which the evolutionist of to-day leads the doubting brother across the shallow remnant of the gulf, once thought impassable."--_Marsh._

[36] Professor Carl Vogt regards the Archæopteryx "as neither reptile nor bird, but as constituting an intermediate type. He points out that there is complete homology between the scales or spines of reptiles and the feathers of birds. The feather of the bird is only a reptile's scale further developed, and the reptile's scale is a feather which has remained in the embryonic condition. He considers the reptilian homologies to preponderate."

[37] A similar habit is ascribed by the Chinese to the mammoth and to the gigantic Sivatherium (Fig. 6, p. 39), a four-horned stag, which had the bulk of an elephant, and exceeded it in height. It was remarkable for being in some respects between the stags and the pachyderms. The Dinotherium (Fig. 8), which had a trunk like an elephant, and two inverted tusks, presented in its skull a mixture of the characteristics of the elephant, hippopotamus, tapir, and dugong. Its remains occur in the Miocene of Europe.

[Illustration: FIG. 8.--DINOTHERIUM. (_After Figuier._)]

[38] "It enters Europe early in April, spreads over France, Britain, Denmark, and the south of Sweden, which it reaches by the beginning of May. It does not enter Brittany, the Channel Islands, or the western part of England, never visiting Wales, except the extreme south of Glamorganshire, and rarely extending farther north than Yorkshire."--A. R. Wallace, _Geographical Distribution of Animals_, vol. i. p. 21. London, 1876.

[39] _Bible Customs in Bible Lands._ By H. J. Van Lennep, D.D. 1875. Quoted in _Nature_, March 24, 1881.

[40] _Origin of Species_, C. Darwin, 5th edit. 1869.

[41] Thus Mr. Wallace considers that the identity of the small fish, _Galaxias attenuatus_, which occurs in the mountain streams of Tasmania, with one found in those of New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, and the temperate regions of South America, cannot be considered as demonstrating a land connection between these places within the period of its specific existence. For there is a possibility that its ova have been transported from one point to another on floating ice; and for similar reasons fresh-water fish generally are unsafe guides to a classification of zoological regions. Mr. Darwin has shown (_Origin of Species_, and _Nature_, vol. xviii. p. 120 and vol. xxv. p. 529) that mollusca can be conveyed attached to or entangled in the claws of migratory birds. Birds themselves are liable to be blown great distances by gales of wind. Beetles and other flying insects may be similarly transferred. Reptiles are occasionally conveyed on floating logs and uprooted trees. Mammals alone appear to be really trustworthy guides towards such a classification, from their being less liable than the other classes to accidental dispersion.

[42] _Mémoires concernant l'histoire, &c. des Chinois, par les Missionaires de Pekin_, vol. iv. p. 481.

[43] _The Natural History of Pliny_, J. Bostock and H. T. Riley, book viii. chap iv.

[44] _The Voyage of the Vega_, A. E. Nordenskjöld. London, 1881.

[45] _On the Range of the Mammoth in Space and Time_, by W. B. Dawkins, _Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc._, 1879, p. 138.

[46] The notice is taken from _Les Peuples du Caucause, ou Voyage d'Abou-el-Cassim_, par M. C. D'Ohsson, p. 80, as follows:--"On trouve souvent dans la Boulgarie des os (fossils) d'une grandeur prodigieuse. J'ai vu une dent qui avait deux palmes de large sur quatre de long, et un crâne qui ressemblait à une hutte (Arabe). On y déterre des dents semblables aux défenses d'éléphants, blanche comme la neige et pesant jusqu' à deux cents menns. On ne sait pas à quel animal elles out appartenu, mais on les transporte dans le Khoragur (Kiva), où elles se vendent à grand prix. On en fait des peignes, des vases, et d'autres objets, comme on façonne l'ivoire; toute fois cette substance est plus dure que l'ivoire; jamais elle ne se brise."

[47] _The World before the Deluge_, L. Figuier. London, 1865.

[48] According to Woodward, over two thousand grinders were dredged up by the fishermen of Happisburgh in the space of thirteen years; and other localities in and about England are also noted.--Dana's _Manual of Geology_, p. 564.

[49] Lyell, _Antiquity of Man_, p. 185, 2nd edit., 1863.

[50] Fr. μάχαιρα "a sword," and ὀδούς "a tooth."

[51] From μαστός "a teat," and ὀδούς "a tooth."

[52] _Palæontology_, R. Owen. Edinburgh, 1860.

[53] _The British Lion_, W. Boyd Dawkins, _Contemporary Review_, 1882.

[54] The Moa was associated with other species also nearly or totally extinct: some belonging to the same genus, others to those of _Papteryx_, of _Nestor_, and of _Notornis_. One survivor of the latter was obtained by Mr. Gideon Mantell, and described by my father, Mr. John Gould, in 1850. I believe the Nestor is still, rarely, met with. Mr. Mantell is of opinion that the Moa and his congeners continued in existence long after the advent of the aboriginal Maori. Mr. Mantell discovered a gigantic fossil egg, presumably that of the Moa.

[55] A. E. Nordenskjöld, _The Voyage of the 'Vega,'_ vol. i. p. 272, _et seq._ London, 1881.

[56] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, Bk. x., chap. xvii., and Bk. xxx., chap. liii.

[57] _The Romance of Natural History_, by P. H. Gosse, 2nd Series, London 1875.

[58] _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, October 1878.

[59] _Excelsior_, vol. iii. London, 1855.

[60] _The Chinese Classics_, vol. iii. p. 1, by James Legge, B.D.

[61] Inaugural Address by President, T. W. Kingsmill, North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1877.

[62] Chabas, _Études sur l'Antiquité Historique, d'après les sources Égyptiennes_.

[63] Subsequently to 1874.

[64] O. F. von Mollendorf, _Journal_ of North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series, No. 2, and T. W. Kingsmill, "The Border Lands of Geology and History," _Journal_ of North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1877.

[65] "Intercourse of China with Eastern Turkestan and the adjacent country in the second century B.C.," T. W. Kingsmill, _Journal_ of North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series, No. 14.

[66] _The Natural History of Pliny._ Translated by J. Bostock and H. T. Biley, 6 vols. Bohn, London, 1857.

[67] _Æliani de Natura Animalium_, F. Jacobs. Jenæ, 1832.

[68] _Géographie d'Edrisi, traduite de l'Arabe en Français_, P. Amédée Jaubert, 2 vols. Paris, 1836.

[69] _Phil. Trans._, vol. cxlix. p. 43, 1859; vol. clxxi. p. 1,037, 1880; vol. clxxii. p. 547, 1881.

[70] Description of some New Species and Genera of Reptiles from Western Australia, discovered by John Gould, Esq., _Annals and Magazine of Natural History_, vol. vii. p. 88, 1841.

[71] "We shall, I think, eventually more fully recognise that, as is the case with the periods of the day, each of the larger geological divisions follows the other, without any actual break or boundary; and that the minor subdivisions are like the hours on the clock, useful and conventional rather than absolutely fixed by any general cause in Nature."--Annual Address, President of Geological Society, 1875.

"With regard to stratigraphical geology, the main foundations are already laid, and a great part of the details filled in. The tendency of modern discoveries has already been, and will probably still be, to fill up those breaks, which, according to the view of many, though by no means all geologists, are so frequently assumed to exist between different geological periods and to bring about a more full recognition of the continuity of geological time. As knowledge increases, it will, I think, become more and more apparent that all existing divisions of time are to a considerable extent local and arbitrary. But, even when this is fully recognised, it will still be found desirable to retain them, if only for the sake of convenience and approximate precision."--Annual Address, President of Geological Society, 1876.

[72] "It was not until January 1832, that the second volume of the _Principles_ was published, when it was received with as much favour as the first had been. It related more especially to the changes in the organic world, while the former volume had treated mainly of the inorganic forces of nature. Singularly enough, some of the points which were seized on by his great fellow-labourer Murchison for his presidential address to this Society in 1832, as subjects for felicitation, are precisely those which the candid mind of Lyell, ever ready to attach the full value to discoveries or arguments from time to time brought forward, even when in opposition to his own views, ultimately found reason to modify. We can never, I think, more highly appreciate Sir Charles Lyell's freshness of mind, his candour and love of truth, than when we compare certain portions of the first edition of the _Principles_ with those which occupy the same place in the last, and trace the manner in which his judicial intellect was eventually led to conclusions diametrically opposed to those which he originally held. To those acquainted only with the latest editions of the _Principles_, and with his _Antiquity of Man_, it may sound almost ironical in Murchison to have written, 'I cannot avoid noticing the clear and impartial manner in which the untenable parts of the dogmas concerning the alteration and transmutation of species and genera are refuted, and how satisfactorily the author confirms the great truth of the recent appearance of man upon our planet.'

"By the work (_Principles of Geology_, vol. iii.), as a whole, was dealt the most telling blow that had ever fallen upon those to whom it appears 'more philosophical to speculate on the possibilities of the past than patiently to explore the realities of the present,' while the earnest and careful endeavour to reconcile the former indications of change with the evidence of gradual mutation now in progress, or _which may be_ in progress, received its greatest encouragement. The doctrines which Hutton and Playfair had held and taught assumed new and more vigorous life as better principles were explained by their eminent successor, and were supported by arguments which, as a whole, were incontrovertible."--Annual Address, President of Geological Society, 1876.

"But, as Sir Roderick Murchison has long ago proved, there are parts of the record which are singularly complete, and in those parts we have the proof of creation without any indication of development. The Silurian rocks, as regards oceanic life, are perfect and abundant in the forms they have preserved. _Yet there are no fish._ The Devonian age followed tranquilly and without a break, and in the Devonian sea, suddenly, fish appear, appear in shoals, and in form of the highest and most perfect type."--The Duke of Argyll, _Primeval Man_, p. 45, London, 1869.

[73] T. Mellard Reade, "Limestone as an Index of Geological Time," _Proceedings_, Royal Society, London, vol. xxviii., p. 281.

[74] _Scientific American_, Supplement, February 1881.

[75] _Proceedings_, Royal Society, vol. xv. No. 82, 1866.

[76] _Athenæum_, August 25, 1860, &c.

[77] The mass of astronomers, however, deny that this is possible to any very great extent.

[78] James Croll, F.R.S., &c., _Climate and Time in their Geological Relations_.

[79] Figs. 19 and 21 are taken, by permission of Edmund Christy, Esq., from _Reliquiæ Aquitanicæ_, &c., London, 1875.

[80] In some cases as much as 150 feet.

[81] "Starting from the opinion generally accepted among geologists, that man was on the earth at the close of the Glacial epoch, Professor B. F. Mudge adduces evidence to prove that the antiquity of man cannot be less than 200,000 years.

"His argument, as given in the Kansas City Review of Science, is about as follows:--

"After the Glacial epoch, geologists fix three distinct epochs, the Champlain, the Terrace, and the Delta, all supposed to be of nearly equal lengths.

"Now we have in the delta of the Mississippi a means of measuring the duration of the third of these epochs.

"For a distance of about two hundred miles of this delta are seen forest growths of large trees, one after the other, with interspaces of sand. There are ten of these distinct forest growths, which have begun and ended one after the other. The trees are the bald cypress (_Taxodium_) of the Southern States, and some of them were over twenty-five feet in diameter. One contained over five thousand seven hundred annual rings. In some instances these huge trees have grown over the stumps of others equally large, and such instances occur in all, or nearly all, of the ten forest beds. This gives to each forest a period of 10,000 years.

"Ten such periods give 100,000 years, to say nothing of the time covered by the interval between the ending of one forest and the beginning of another, an interval which in most cases was considerable.

"'Such evidence,' writes Professor Mudge, 'would be received in any court of law as sound and satisfactory. We do not see how such proof is to be discarded when applied to the antiquity of our race.

"'There is satisfactory evidence that man lived in the Champlain epoch. But the Terrace epoch, or the greater part of it, intervenes between the Champlain and the Delta epochs, thus adding to my 100,000 years.

"'If only as much time is given to both those epochs as to the Delta period, 200,000 years is the total result.'"--_Popular Science Monthly_, No. 91, vol. xvi. No. 1, p. 140, November 1878.

[82] Such as the destruction of the Alexandrine Library on three distinct occasions, (1) upon the conquest of Alexandria by Julius Cæsar, B.C. 48; (2) in A.D. 390; and, (3) by Amrou, the general of the Caliph Omar, in 640, who ordered it to be burnt, and so supplied the baths with fuel for six months. Again, the destruction of all Chinese books by order of Tsin Shi Hwang-ti, the founder of the Imperial branch of the Tsin dynasty, and the first Emperor of United China; the only exceptions allowed being those relating to medicine, divination, and husbandry. This took place in the year 213 B.C.

[83] The Chinese have used composite blocks (wood engraved blocks with many characters, analogous to our stereotype plates) from an early period. May not the brick-clay tablets preserved in the Imperial Library at Babylon have been used for striking off impressions on some plastic material, just as rubbings may be taken from the stone drums in China: may not the cylinders with inscribed characters have been used in some way or other as printing-rollers for propagating knowledge or proclamations?

[84] As, for example, the old canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, in reference to which Herodotus says (_Euterpe_, 158), "Neco was the son of Psammitichus, and became King of Egypt: he first set about the canal that leads to the Red Sea, which Darius the Persian afterwards completed. Its length is a voyage of four days, and in width it was dug so that two triremes might sail rowed abreast. The water is drawn into it from the Nile, and it enters it a little above the city Bubastis, passes near the Arabian city Patumos, and reaches to the Red Sea." In the digging of which one hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians perished in the reign of Neco.

[85] The co-called tanks at Aden, reservoirs constructed one below the other, in a gorge near the cantonments, are as perfect now as they were when they left the hand of the contractor or royal engineer in the time of Moses.

[86] In the 29th year of the Emperor Kwei [B.C. 1559] they chiselled through mountains and tunnelled hills, according to the Bamboo Books.

[87] An interesting line of investigation might be opened up as to the origin of inventions and the date of their migrations. The Chinese claim the priority of many discoveries, such as chess, printing, issue of bank-notes, sinking of artesian wells, gunpowder, suspension bridges, the mariner's compass, &c. &c. I extract two remarkable wood-cuts from the _San Li T'u_, one appended here showing the origin of our college cap; the other, in the chapter on the Unicorn, appearing to illustrate the fable of the Sphynx.

[Illustration: FIG. 22.--ROYAL DIADEM OF THE CHEN DYNASTY. (_From the San Li T'u._)]

I also give a series of engravings, reduced facsimiles of those contained in a celebrated Chinese work on antiquities, showing the gradual evolution of the so-called Grecian pattern or scroll ornamentation, and origination of some of the Greek forms of tripods.

[88] "The old Troglodytes, pile villagers, and bog people, prove to be quite a respectable society. They have heads so large that many a living person would be only too happy to possess such."--A. Mitchell, _The Past in the Present_, Edinburgh, 1880.

[89] I have given in the annexed plates a few examples of the early hieroglyphics on which the modern Chinese system of writing is based, selected from a limited number collected by the early Jesuit fathers in China, and contained in the _Mémoirs concernant l'Histoire, &c. des Chinois, par les Missionaires de Pekin_, vol. i., Paris, 1776. The modern Chinese characters conveying the same idea are attached, and their derivation from the pictorial hieroglyphics, by modification or contraction, is in nearly all cases obvious.

[90] "The Porcelain Tower of Nankin, once one of the seven wonders of the world, can now only be found piecemeal in walls of peasants' huts."--Gutzlaff, _Hist. China_, vol. i. p. 372.

[91] The outer casing of the pyramid of Cheops, which Herodotus (_Euterpe_, 125) states to have still exhibited in his time an inscription, telling how much was expended (one thousand six hundred talents of silver) in radishes, onions, and garlic for the workmen, has entirely disappeared; as also, almost completely, the marble casing of the adjacent pyramid of Sen-Saophis. According to tradition the missing marbles in each instance were taken to build palaces with in Cairo.

[92] "The work of destruction was carried on methodically. From the Caspian Sea to the Indus, the Mongols ruined, within four years, more than four centuries of continuous labour have since restored. The most flourishing cities became a mass of ruins: Samarkand, Bokhara, Nizabour, Balkh, and Kandahar shared in the same destruction."--Gutzlaff, _Hist. China_, vol. i. p. 358.

[93] "An army of 700,000 Mongols met half the number of Mahommedans."--_Ibid._ p. 357.

[94] Those interested in the subject may read with great advantage the section on dynamical geology in Dana's valuable manual. He points out the large amount of wear accomplished by wind carrying sand in arid regions, by seeds falling in some crevice, and bursting rocks open through the

## action of the roots developed from their sprouting, to say nothing of the

more ordinarily recognized destructive agencies of frost and rain, carbonic acid resulting from vegetable decomposition, &c.

[95] Darwin, in _Vegetable Mould and Earth-worms_, has shown that earthworms play a considerable part in burying old buildings, even to a depth of several feet.

[96] Rev. T. K. Cheyne, Article "Deluge," _Encyclopædia Britannica_, 1877. François Lenormant, "The Deluge, its Traditions in Ancient Histories," _Contemporary Review_, Nov., 1879.

[97] Bunsen estimates that 20,000 years were requisite for the formation of the Chinese language. This, however, is not conceded by other philologists.

[98] Rawlinson quotes the African type on the Egyptian sculptures as being identical with that of the negro of the present day.

[99] "While the tradition of the Deluge holds so considerable a place in the legendary memories of all branches of the Aryan race, the monuments and original texts of Egypt, with their many cosmogenic speculations, have not afforded one, even distant, allusion to this cataclysm. When the Greeks told the Egyptian priests of the Deluge of Deucalion, their reply was that they had been preserved from it as well as from the conflagration produced by Phaeton; they even added that the Hellenes were childish in attaching so much importance to that event, as there had been several local catastrophes resembling it."--Lenormant, _Contemporary Review_, November 1879.

[100] François Lenormant, "The Deluge; its Traditions in Ancient Histories," _Contemporary Review_, vol. xxxvi. p. 465.

[101] Here several verses are wanting.

[102] "The water of the twilight at break of day," one of the personifications of rain.

[103] The god of thunder.

[104] The god of war and death.

[105] The Chaldæo-Assyrian Hercules.

[106] The superior heaven of the fixed stars.

[107] Vases of the measure called in Hebrew _Seäh_. This relates to a detail of the ritualistic prescriptions for sacrifice.

[108] These metaphorical expressions appear to designate the rainbow.

[109] The god of epidemics.

[110] It is probably as much from a superstitious sentiment as upon merely physical grounds that many of the deserted cities in Asia have been abandoned; while, as a noticeable instance, we may quote Gour, the ruined capital of Bengal, which is computed to have extended from fifteen to twenty miles along the bank of the river, and three in depth. The native tradition is that it was struck by the wrath of the gods in the form of an epidemic which slew the whole population. Another case is the reputed presence of a ruined city, in the vicinity of the populous city of Nanking, and at some distance from the right bank of the river Yangtsze, of which the walls only remain, and of the history of which those in the vicinity profess to have lost all record.

[111] _i.e._ (according to the Historical Records) a carriage to travel along the dry land, a boat to travel along the water, a sledge to travel through miry places, and, by using spikes, to travel on the hills.

[112] Balfour, _North China Daily News_, Feb. 11, 1881.

[113] Dr. Schliemann found a vase in the lowest strata of his excavations at Hissarlik with an inscription in an unknown language.

Six years ago the Orientalist E. Burnouf declared it to be in Chinese, for which he was generally laughed at at the time.

The Chinese ambassador at Berlin, Li Fang-pau, has read and translated the inscription, which states that three pieces of linen gauze are packed in the vase for inspection.

The Chinese ambassador fixes the date of the inscription at about 1200 B.C., and further states that the unknown characters so frequently occurring on the terra cotta are also in the Chinese language, which would show that at this remote period commercial intercourse existed between China and the eastern shores of Asia Minor and Greece.--_Pop. Sci. Monthly_, No. 98, p. 176, June 1880.

[114] Pierre Bergeron suggests that Solomon's fleets, starting from Ezion-geber (subsequently Berenice and now Alcacu), arrived at Babelmandeb, and then divided, one portion going to Malacca, Sumatra, or Java, the other to Sofala, round Africa, and returning by way of Cadiz and the Mediterranean to Joppa.

[115] There are various accounts of the circumnavigation of Africa in old times. For example, Herodotus (_Melpomene_, 42): "Libya shows itself to be surrounded by water, except so much of it as borders upon Asia. Neco, King of Egypt, was the first whom we know of that proved this; he, when he had ceased digging the canal leading from the Nile to the Arabian gulf, sent certain Phœnicians in ships with orders to sail back through the pillars of Hercules into the Northern Sea, and so to return to Egypt. The Phœnicians accordingly, setting out from the Red Sea, navigated the Southern Sea; when autumn came they went ashore, and sowed the land, by whatever part of Libya they happened to be sailing, and waited for harvest; then, having reaped the corn, they put to sea again. When two years had thus passed, in the third, having doubled the pillars of Hercules, they arrived in Egypt, and related what to me does not seem credible, but may to others, that as they sailed round Libya, they had the sun on the right hand." Again, Pliny tells us (Book ii. chap. lxvii, Translation by Bostock and Riley), "While the power of Carthage was at its height, Hanno published an account of a voyage which he made from Gades to the extremity of Arabia: besides, we learn from Cornelius Nepos, that one Eudoxus, a contemporary of his, when he was flying from King Lathyrus, set out from the Arabian Gulf, and was carried as far as Gades. And long before him, Cœlius Antipater informs us, that he had seen a person who had sailed from Spain to Ethiopia for the purposes of trade. The same Cornelius Nepos, when speaking of the northern circumnavigation, tells us that Q. Metellus Celer, the colleague of L. Afranius in the consulship, but then proconsul in Gaul, had a present made to him by the King of the Suevi, of certain Indians, who, sailing from India for the purposes of commerce, had been driven by tempests into Germany."

Ptolemy Lathyrus commenced his reign 117 B.C. and reigned for thirty-six years. Cornelius Nepos is supposed to have lived in the century previous to the Christian era, and Cœlius Antipater to have been born in the middle of the second century B.C.

[116] Edrisi compiled, under the instruction of Roger, King of Sicily, Italy, Lombardy, and Calabria, an exhaustive geographical treatise comprising information derived from numerous preceding works, principally Arabic, and from the testimony of all the geographers of the day.

_Vide_ the Translation into French by M. Amédée Jaubert, 2 vols. 4to, Paris, 1836, included in the _Recueil de Voyages et de Mémoires publié par la Société de Géographie_.

"Ce pays touch celui de Wac Wac où sont deux villes misérables et mal peuplées à cause de la rareté des subsistances et du peu de ressource en tout genre; l'une se nomme Derou et l'autre Nebhena; dans son voisinage est un grand bourg nommé Da'rgha. Les naturels sont noirs, de figure hideuse, de complexion difformé; leur langage est une espèce de sifflement. Ils sont absolument nus et sont peu visités (par les étrangers). Ils vivent de poissons, de coquillages, et de tortues. Ils sont (comme il vient d'être dit) voisins de l'ile de Wac Wac dont nous reparlerons, s'il plait à Dieu. Chacun de ces pays et de ces iles est situé sur un grand golfe, on n'y trouve ni or, ni commerce, ni navire, ni bêtes de somme."--_El Edrisi_, vol. i. p. 79.

[117] The _Agave Americane_, which substance has as many uses among the Mexicans as the bamboo (the iron of China) among the Chinese, or the camel among nomads.

[118] _The Thousand and One Nights_, vol. iii. chap. xxv. p. 480, Note 32, E. W. Lane, London, 1877.

A similar account is given by Quazvini. See _Scriptorum Arabum de Rebus Indicis_, J. Gildemeister, Bonn, 1838.

[119] The diggings are seventy to one hundred and fifty miles from Port Darwin. There is gold on Victoria River.

Jacks, in his report to the Queensland Government, published March or April of 1880, reports no paying gold in Yorke's peninsula.

One hundred miles from Port Darwin and twenty-six miles from the Adelaide River a new rush occurred in July 1880: nuggets from 70 to 80 oz. of common occurrence; one found weighed 187 oz.

[120] _Scientific American_, Aug. 14, 1880.

[121] E. J. Elliott, "The Age of Cave Dwellers in America," _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, vol. xv. p. 488.

[122] _Scientific American_, Jan. 24, 1880.

[123] _Macmillan's Magazine_, quoted in _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, No. 82.

[124] _Œuvres_, I. 7, pp. 197, 198.

[125] _Two Voyages to New England_, p. 124; London, 1673.

[126] Robert Knox, _The Races of Men_; London, 1850.

[127] _Principles of Geology_, chap. xii.

[128] _Atlantis_, by Ignatius Donelly; New York, 1882.

[129] It is given in great detail by Mr. Donelly; want of space forbids my including it.

[130] I use the text of the edition of Diodorus Siculus of L. Rhodomanus, Amsterdam, 1746.

[131] "Professor Virchow considers this an example how certain artistical or technical forms are developed simultaneously, without any connection or relation between the artists or craftsmen."--Preface to _Ilios_, Schliemann. Murray, 1880.

[132] Knivet's description of the West Indies, _Harris' Voyages_, vol. i. p. 705.

[133] T. Wright, _Marco Polo_, p. 267. Bohn, 1854.

[134] _Harris' Voyages_, vol. i. p. 859.

[135] Dr. J. le Conte describes a ceremonial of cremation among the Cocopa Indians of California, and it is an ancient practice among the Chinese, dating back beyond the Greek and Roman historical periods.

[136] British Association, 1871.

[137] Staunton, _China_, vol. ii. p. 455.

[138] Humboldt, _Researches in America_, English Translation, vol. i. p. 133.

[139] "In turning to the consideration of the primitive works of art of the American continent ... when in the bronze work of the later iron period, imitative forms at length appear, they are chiefly the snake and dragon shapes and patterns, borrowed seemingly by Celtic and Teutonic wanderers, with the wild fancies of their mythology, from the far eastern land of their birth."--D. Wilson, _Prehistoric Man_, 1862.

"He had remarked that the Indians of the north-west coast frequently repeat in their well-known blackstone carvings the dragon, the lotus flower, and the alligator."--C. G. Leland, _Fusang_, London, 1875.

[140] "Dragon, an imaginary animal something like a crocodile."--Rev. Dr. Brewer, _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_, p. 243.

[141] "In the woods of Java are certain flying snakes, or rather drakes; they have four legs, a long tail, and their skin speckled with many spots, their wings are not unlike those of a bat, which they move in flying, but otherwise keep them almost unperceived close to the body. They fly nimbly, but cannot hold it long, so that they fly from tree to tree at about twenty or thirty paces' distance. On the outside of the throat are two bladders, which, being extended when they fly, serve them instead of a sail. They feed upon flies and other insects."--Mr. John Nieuhoff's Voyage and Travels to the East Indies, contained in a collection of _Voyages and Travels_, in 6 vols., vol. ii. p. 317; Churchill, London, 1732.

[142] _Chambers' Encyclopædia_, vol. iii. p. 635.

[143] The following is the nearest approach to such an assertion I have met with, but appears from the context to apply to geologic time prior to the advent of man. "When all those large and monstrous amphibia since regarded as fabulous still in reality existed, when the confines of the water and the land teemed with gigantic saurians, with lizards of dimensions much exceeding those of the largest crocodiles of the present day: who to the scaly bodies of fish, added the claws of beasts, and the neck and wings of birds: who to the faculty of swimming in water, added not only that of moving on the earth but that of sailing in air: and who had all the characteristics of what we now call chimeras and dragons, and perhaps of such monsters the remains, found among the bones and skeletons of other animals more resembling those that still exist and propagate, in the grottos and caverns in which they sought shelter during the deluges that affected the infancy of the globe, gave first rise to the idea that these dens and caves were once retreats whence such monsters watched and in which they devoured other animals."--Thomas Hope, _On the Origin and Prospects of Man_, vol. ii. p. 346; London, 1831.

Southey, in his Commonplace Book, pityingly alludes to this passage, saying, "He believes in dragons and griffins as having heretofore existed."

[144] From the context, Lanuvium appears to have been on the Appian Road, in Latium, about twenty-fives miles from Rome.

[145] Propertius, _Elegy VIII._; Bohn, 1854.

[146] _History of Animals_, Book ix., chap. ii. § 3; Bohn.

[147] _Ibid._, Book vi., chap. xx. § 12.

[148] _Ibid._, Book i., § 6.

[149] _History of Animals_, Book ix., chap. vii. § 4.

[150] _Natural History of Pliny_, Book viii., chap. xli., translated by J. Bostock and H. T. Riley; London, 1855.

[151] _Anim. Nat._, Book vi., chap. iv.

[152] _Natural History_, Book viii., chap. xxii.

[153] "On the contrary, towards ourselves they were disappointingly undemonstrative, and only evinced their consciousness of the presence of strangers by entwining themselves about the members of the family as if soliciting their protection.... They were very jealous of each other, Mr. Mann said; jealous also of other company, as if unwilling to lose their share of attention.... Two sweet little children were equally familiar with the other boas, that seemed quite to know who were their friends and playfellows, for the children handled them and petted them and talked to them as we talk to pet birds and cats."--Account of Snakes kept by Mr. and Mrs. Mann, of Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, in _Snakes_, by C. C. Hopley; London, 1882.

[154] _Natural History_, Book xxix., chap. xx.

[155] "It is probable that the island of Zanig described by Qazvinius, in his geographical work (for extracts from which vide _Scriptorum Arabum de Rebus Indicis loci et opuscula inedita_, by I. Gildemeister, Bonnæ, 1838), as the seat of the empire of the Mahraj, is identical with Zaledj. He says that it is a large island on the confines of China towards India, and that among other remarkable features is a mountain called Nacan (Kini Balu?), on which are serpents of such magnitude as to be able to swallow oxen, buffaloes, and even elephants. Masudi includes Zanig, Kalah, and Taprobana among the islands constituting the territory of the Mahraj."--P. Amédée Jaubert, _Géographie d'Edrisi_, vol. i. p. 104; Paris, 1836.

[156] Book vi., chap. iv. § 16.

[157] _Serpent Worship_, p. 35; Welder, New York, 1877.

[158] _Pliny's Natural History_, Book viii., chap. xi., translated by J. Bostock and H. T. Riley; Bohn, London, 1855.

[159] _Pliny's Natural History_, Book viii., chap. xii.

[160] _Ibid._, Book viii., chap. xiii.

[161] _Ibid._, Book viii., chap. xiv.

[162] "At the present day the longest Italian serpents are the Æsculapian serpent (a harmless animal) and the _Colubes quadrilineatus_, neither of which exceeds ten feet in length."--_Nat. Hist._, Book viii., chap. xiv.

[163] _Aristotle's History of Animals_, Book viii., chap. xxvii. § 6, by R. Cresswell, Bohn's Series; Bell, London, 1878.

[164] An abridgment of these travels is contained in _Voyages par Pierre Bergeron_, à la Haye, 1735. They were originally written in Hebrew, translated into Latin by Benoit Arian Montare, and subsequently into French. [The introduction refers to his return to Castille in 1173, presumably after the termination of his voyages; but in the opening paragraph there is a marginal note giving the same date to his setting out from Sarragossa.] Sir John Mandeville gives a similar account in speaking of the tower of Babylon; he says, "but it is full long sithe that any man durste neyhe to the Tour: for it is all deserte and fulle of Dragouns and grete serpents, and fulle of dyverse venemous Bestes alle about he."--_The Voyages of Sir John Mandeville, Kt._, p. 40; J. O. Halliwell, London, 1839.

[165] _Harris's Voyages_, vol. i. p. 360.

[166] _Ibid._, vol. i. p. 392.

[167] _Encyclopædia of Arts and Sciences_, first American edition, Philadelphia, 1798.

[168] See _Voyage to the East Indies_, by Francis Leguat; London, 1708. Leguat hardly makes the positive affirmation stated in the text. In describing Batavia he says there is another sort of serpents which are at least fifty feet long.

[169] Broderip, _Leaves from the Note Book of a Naturalist_, p. 357.

[170] _Australasia_, p. 273.

[171] _Quedah_; London, 1857.

[172] _Perak and the Malays_, p. 77.

[173] _Figuier, Reptiles and Birds_, p. 51.

[174] _La Chine Illustré_, d'Athase Keichere, chap. x. p. 272. Amsterdam, CIↃ ICↃ LXX.

[175] Vol. i. p. 601.

[176] See _Proceedings_ of Royal Society of Tasmania, September 13, 1880. Mr. C. M. Officer states--"With reference to the Mindi or Mallee snake, it has often been described to me as a formidable creature of at least thirty feet in length, which confined itself to the Mallee scrub. No one, however, has ever seen one, for the simple reason that to see it is to die, so fierce it is, and so great its power of destruction. Like the Bunyip, I believe the Mindi to be a myth, a mere tradition."

[177] Pinkerton's _Voyages_, vol. xiv. p. 247.

[178] _Ibid._, vol. xiv. p. 514.

[179] It is interesting to compare this belief with stories given elsewhere, by Pliny, Book viii. chap. xiv., and Ælian, Book ii. chap. xxi., of the power of the serpents or dragons of the river Rhyndacus to attract birds by inhalation.

[180] Pinkerton's _Voyages_, vol. xiv. p. 713.

[181] Herodotus, Book iii. chap. cvii., cviii.

[182] Herodotus, Book iii. chap. cviii.

[183] Herodotus, Book ii., chap. lxxv.

[184] _Ibid._, Book ii., chap. lxxvi.

[185] _Ibid._, Book i., chap. v.

[186] _Antiquities of the Jews_, Book ii., chap. x.

[187] Book viii. chap. xxxv.

[188] _Pharsalia_, Book ix.

[189] Herodotus, Book iv. chap. cv.

[190] Book iii. chap. xx.

[191] "It may be some comfort to graziers and selectors who are struggling, under many discouragements, to suppress the rabbit plague in Victoria, to learn that our condition, bad as it is, is certainly less serious than that of New Zealand. There, not only is an immense area of good country being abandoned in consequence of the inability of lessees to bear the great expense of clearing the land of rabbits, but, owing to the increase of the pest, the number of sheep depastured is decreasing at a serious rate. Three years ago the number exceeded thirteen millions; but it is estimated that they have since been diminished by two millions, while the exports of the colony have, in consequence, fallen off to the extent of £500,000 per annum. A Rabbit Nuisance Act has been in existence for some time, but it is obviously inefficient, and it is now proposed to make its provisions more stringent, and applicable alike to the Government as well as to private landowners. A select committee of both Houses of the Legislature, which has recently taken a large amount of evidence upon this subject, reports in the most emphatic terms its conviction that unless immediate and energetic action is taken to arrest the further extension of, and to suppress the plague, the result will be ruinous to the colony. A perusal of the evidence adduced decidedly supports this opinion. Many of the squatters cannot be accused of apathy. Some of them have employed scores of men, and spent thousands of pounds a year in ineffectual efforts to eradicate the rabbits from their runs. One firm last year is believed to have killed no less than 500,000; but the following spring their run was in as bad a state as if they had never put any poison down. Similar instances of failure could be easily multiplied. It is found, as with us, that one of the chief causes of non-success is the fact that the Government do not take sufficient steps to destroy the rabbits on unoccupied Crown lands. This foolish policy, of course, at once diminishes the letting value of the adjacent pastoral country--to such an extent, indeed, that instances have occurred in which 34,000 acres have been leased for £10 a year. Poison is regarded as the most destructive agent that can be employed, and it is especially effective when mixed with oats and wheat, a striking testimony to the value of Captain Raymond's discovery. Most of the witnesses examined were strongly of opinion that the Administration of the Rabbit Suppression Act should not be left to private and, perhaps, interested persons, as at present, but should be conducted by officers of the Government, probably the sheep inspectors, on a principle similar to that by which the scab was eradicated from the flocks of the colony. The joint committee adopted this view, and also recommended the Legislature to enact that all unoccupied Crown land, as well as all native, reserved, or private land, should bear a proportionate share of the cost of destroying the rabbits, and of administering the act. It is to be hoped that, in the midst of the party conflicts which have so impeded practical legislation this session, the Parliament will yet find time to give effect to the useful recommendations of the Rabbit Nuisance Committee."--_Australasian_, 10th September 1881.

[192] Book xv. chap. i. § 37.

[193] See Smith's _Dictionary of the Bible_, p. 145-47. Murray, 1863.

[194] _Æneid_, Book vii. 561.

[195]

Non Arabum volucer serpens, innataque rubris Æquoribus custos pretiosæ vipera conchæ Aut viventis adhuc Lybici membrana cerastæ.-- _Pharsalia_, Book vi. 677.

[196] The popular illustrations of the Story of the Black and White Snakes given by him, a favourite story among the Chinese, always represent them as winged. _Folk Lore of China_, N. P. Dennys, Ph.D.

[197] Broderip, _Zoological Recreations_, p. 333.

[198] Compare Shakspeare, "Peace, Kent. Come not between the Dragon and his wrath."

[199] _Metamorphoses_, Book iii. 35, translated by H. J. Riley; London, 1872.

[200] In reference to colours so bright as to be inconsistent with our knowledge of the ordinary colours of reptiles, it may be of interest to compare the description by D'Argensola--who wrote the history of the successive conquests of the Moluccas, by the Spaniards, Portuguese and Dutch--of a blue and golden saurian existing upon a volcanic mountain in Tarnate. "Il y a aussi sur cette montagne un grand lac d'eau douce, entouré d'arbres, dans lequel on voit de crocodiles azurés et dorés qui ont plus d'un brasse de longueur, et qui se plongent dans l'eau lors qu'ils entendent des hommes."--D'Argensola, vol. iii. p. 4, translated from the Spanish, 3 vols.; J. Desbordes, Amsterdam, 1706. And Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, Book viii. chap. xxviii., speaks of lizards upon Nysa, a mountain of India, twenty-four feet long, their colour being either yellow, purple, or azure blue.

[201] Ovid, _Fasti_, Book iv. 501.

[202] These wood-cuts occur on pp. 239, 240.

[203] Broderip, _Zoological Recreations_, p. 332.

[204] Lucan, _Pharsalia_, Book ix. 726-32.

[205] Book xvi. chap. x.

[206] Book xv. chap. v.; A.D. 355.

[207] Lord Lytton, _King Arthur_, Book i. Stanza 4.

[208] _Chamber's Cyclopædia_, 1881.

[209] J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, vol. ii. p. 653.

[210] A dragon without wings is called a lintworm or lindworm, which Grimm explains to mean a beautiful or shining worm (here again we have a corroboration of the idea of the gold and silver dragon given _ante_.)

[211] Brewer's _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_.

[212] Rev. Dr. Brewer, _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_, London.

[213] _The Harleian Collection of Travels_, vol. ii. p. 457. 1745.

[214] The italics are mine.

[215] Churchill, _Collection of Voyages_, vol. v. p. 213; London, 1746.

[216] Ulyssis Aldrovandi _Serpentum et Draconum Historiæ_; Bononiæ, 1640.

[217] Scaliger, lib. iii. Miscell. cap. i. See _ante_, p. 182, "Winged Serpents."

[218] _De Naturâ Rerum_, lib. vii., cap. 29.

[219] Athanasii Kircheri _Mundus Subterraneus_, Book viii. 27.

[220] Probably many of my readers are acquainted with Schiller's poem based on this story, and with the beautiful designs by Retsch illustrating it.

[221] Harris, _Collection of Voyages_, vol. i. p. 474; London, 1764.

[222] _De Moribus Brachmanorum_, p. 63. Strabo, lib. 16, p. 75. Bochart Hieroz, p. 11, lib. 3, cap. 13.

[223] Ælian, _De Animal._, lib. xv. cap. 21.

[224] Strabo, lib. xvi.

[225] Gosse tells us that it is still a common belief in Jamaica that crested snakes exist there which crow like a cock.

[226] Strabo, lib. xvi.

[227] Jonston, _Theatr. Animal._, tome ii. p. 34, "De Serpentibus." Note.--It is interesting to record that in China, to the present day, the tradition of the gold and silver scaled species of dragons remains alive. Two magnificent dragons, 200 feet and 150 feet long, representing respectively the gold and silver dragon, formed part of the processions in Hongkong in December 1881, in honour of the young princes.

[228] Strabo, lib. xvi.

[229] In China the dragon is peculiarly the emblem of imperial power, as with us the lion is of the kingly. The Emperor is said to be seated on the dragon throne. A five-clawed dragon is embroidered on the Emperor's court-robes. It often surrounds his edicts, and the title-pages of books published by his authority, and dragons are inscribed on his banners. It is drawn stretched out at full length or curled up with two legs pointing forwards and two backwards; sometimes holding a pearl in one hand, and surrounded by clouds and fire.

[230] The _Yih King_--extracts from papers by Monsieur De la Couperie, in the _Journal_ of the Royal Asiatic Society.

"The _Yih King_ is the oldest of the Chinese books, and is the mysterious classic which requires '_a prolonged attention to make it reveal its secrets_'; it has peculiarities of style, making it the most difficult of all the Chinese classics to present in an intelligible version."

"We have multifarious proofs that the writing, first known in China, was already an old one, partially decayed, but also much improved since its primitive hieroglyphic stage. We have convincing proofs (_vide_ my 'Early History of Chinese Civilization,' pp. 21-23, and the last section of the present paper) that it had been borrowed, by the early leaders of the Chinese Bak families [Poh Sing] in Western Asia, from an horizontal writing traced from left to right, the pre-cuneiform character, which previously had itself undergone several important modifications.

"At that time the Ku-wen was really the phonetic expression of speech. (By an analysis of the old inscriptions and fragments, and by the help of the native works on palæography, some most valuable, I have compiled a dictionary of this period.)

"If the _kwas_, which were a survival of the arrows of divination known to the ancestors of Chinese culture before their emigration eastward," &c. &c.--Vol. xiv. part 4.

"This mysterious book is still avowedly not understood, and we assist, now-a-days, at a most curious spectacle. There are not a few Chinese of education among those who have picked up some knowledge in Europe or in translations of European works of our modern sciences, who believe openly that all these may be found in their _Yih_. Electricity, steam power, astronomical laws, sphericity of the earth, &c., are all, according to their views, to be found in the _Yih King_; they firmly believe that these discoveries were not ignored by their sages, who have embodied them in their mysterious classics, of which they will be able to unveil the secrets when they themselves apply to its study a thorough knowledge of the modern sciences. It is unnecessary for any European mind to insist upon the childishness of such an opinion. Even in admitting, what seems probable, that the early leaders of the Bak people (Poh Sing) were not without some astronomical and mathematical principles, which have been long since forgotten, there is no possible comparison between their rude notions and our sciences.

"It is not a mysterious book of fate and prognostics. It contains a valuable collection of documents of old antiquity, in which is embodied much information on the ethnography, customs, language, and writing of early China.

"Proofs of various kinds--similitude of institutions, traditions and knowledge, affinities of words of culture; and, in what concerns the writing, likenesses of shapes of characters, hieroglyphic and arbitrary, with the same sounds (sometimes polyphons) and meanings attached to them, the same morphology of written words, the same phonetic laws of orthography--had led me, several years ago, to no other conclusion than that (as the reverse is proved impossible by numerous reasons), at an early period of their history, and before their emigration to the far East, the Chinese Bak families had borrowed the pre-cuneiform writing and elements of their knowledge and institutions from a region connected with the old focus of culture of south-western Asia.

"Numerous affinities of traditions, institutions, and customs, connect the borrowing of script and culture by the Chinese Bak families with the region of Elam, the confederation of states of which Susa was the chief town, and the Kussi the principal population.

"What are the historical facts of this connection we do not know. Has the break-up which happened in those states and resulted in the conquest of Babylonia by the Elamite king, Kudur Nakhunta, at the date, which is certain, of 2285 B.C., been also the cause of an eastern conquest and a settlement in Bactria? and would this account for the old focus of culture coeval with the earlier period of Assyrian monarchy said to have existed in Central Asia?

"The two ethnic names, which, as we have pointed out, were those of the Chinese invaders, Bak and Kutti or Kutta, are not altogether foreign to those regions. The Chinese Kutti and the Kussi, the Chinese Bak and Bakh, the ethnic of Bakhdi (Bactria), will be, most likely, one day proved to be the same ethnic names. Had not the Chinese, previous to my researches, and quite on different reasons, been traced back westerly to the regions of Yarkand and Khotan? This is not far distant from the old focus of culture of Central Asia, and the connection cannot be objected to by geographical reasons."--Vol. xv. part 2.

[231] Dr. Williams, _Hien-ning_.

[232] Williams, _Shi-Wéi_.

[233] Williams, _Liu-Léi_.

[234] Williams, _Shu King_.

[235] Williams, _Yih and Ts‘ih_.

[236] I am under the impression that the dragons to which Mencius refers were probably alligators, of which one small species still exists, though rare, in the Yang-tsze-kiang. So also we may regard as alligators the dragons referred to above in the annals of the Bamboo Books on the passage of the Kiang by Yu. Mr. Griffis, in his work on Corea, says, "The creature called _a-ke_, or alligator, capable of devouring a man, is sometimes found in the largest rivers."

[237] For a full account of this work, see an Article by E. C. Bridgman in _Chinese Repository_, xviii. (1849), p. 169; and _Botanicon Sinicum_, by Dr. E. Bretschneider, in the _Journal_ of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series, vol. xvi. 1881.

[238] _Notes on Chinese Literature_, A. Wylie, Shanghai and London, 1867.

[239] "Bot. Sin." in _Journal_ of N. China Branch R. A. S., 1881.

[240] _Journal Asiatique, Extr._ No. 17 (1839).

[241] The three prefaces by these authors are given in _extenso_ in the Appendix to this Chapter.

[242] The reader is referred, for a careful _précis_ of the contents of this valuable work, to an exhaustive paper entitled "Botanicon Sinicum," in the _Journal_ of North China Branch Royal Asiatic Society, 1881, by E. Bretschneider, M.D.

[243] The character for a hare is very like the character for a devil. The Japanese, in quoting this passage, have fallen into this error.

[244] The dragons' bones sold by apothecaries in China consist of the fossilized teeth and bones of a variety of species, generally in a fragmentary condition. The white earth striæ, or dragons' brains, here referred to, are probably asbestos. The asbestos sold in Chefoo market, under the name of Lung Ku or dragons' bones, is procured at O-tzu-kung.

[245] The _boletus_, supposed to possess mystic efficacy.

[246] The first two stories are from the _Ko Ku Shi Riyăh_, a recent history of Japan, from the earliest periods down to the present time, by Matsunai, with a continuation by a later author. They are contained in the first chapter of the first volume. The third is given as an ordinary item of news in the journal called the _Chin-jei-Nippo_, April 30th, 1884.

[247] The idea of the eight heads probably originated in China; thus, in the caves in Shantung, near Chi-ning Chou, among carvings of mythological figures and divinities, dating from A.D. 147, we find a tiger's body with eight heads, all human.

[248] _Mourakoumo_ means "clouds of clouds"; _ama_ means "heaven"; _tsurogi_ means "sword."

[249] White snakes are occasionally, although rarely, seen in Japan. They are supposed to be messengers from the gods, and are never killed by the people, but always taken and carried to some temple. The white snake is worshipped in Nagasaki at a temple called Miyo-ken, at Nishi-yama, which is the northern part of the city of Nagasaki.

[250] _Mémoires sur les Contrées occidentales, traduits du Sanscrit en Chinois en l'an 648; et du Chinois en Francais_, par M. Stanislas Julien. 2 vols., Paris, 1857.

[251] _Foĕ Kouĕ Ki, ou Relation des Royaumes Bouddhiques, par Chĕ Fa Hien._ Translated from the Chinese by M. Abel Remusat; Paris, 1836. This volume contains a number of very interesting dragon legends, and quaint conceits about them; but I find nothing in it to supplement my materialistic argument.

[252] Montaigne, _Essays_, chap. xxvi.

[253] "I fully believe in this great marine monster. I have as much evidence as to its existence as of anything not seen. Some years ago, Captain Austin Cooper and the officers and crew of the _Carlisle Castle_, on a voyage to Melbourne, saw the 'varmint.' A description and sketch of it were published in the _Argus_. This, when it arrived in London, it being the 'silly season' in journalism, was seized and torn to pieces by one of the young lions of the _Daily Telegraph_, in a leading article, in which much fun was poked at the gallant sailor. 'I don't see any more sea-serpents,' said my Irish friend to me. 'It is too much to be told that one of Green's commanders can't tell the difference between a piece of sea-weed and a live body in the water. If twenty serpents come on the starboard, all hands shall be ordered to look to port. No London penny-a-liner shall say again that Austin Cooper is a liar and a fool.' After this we softened down over some Coleraine whiskey. Again, some three years ago, the monster was plainly seen off the great reef of New Caledonia by Commandant Villeneuve, and the officers of the French man-of-war, the _Seudre_. Chassepots were procured to shoot it, but before it came within easy range it disappeared. During my late visit to Fiji, Major James Harding, who was an officer in Cakoban's army when that chief, 'by the grace of God' was king of Fiji, described exactly the same creature as passing within a few yards of his canoe on a clear moonlight night in the Bay of Suva. It swam towards a small island outside the reef, which is known amongst Fijians as the 'Cave of the Big Snake.' Major Harding is a cool, brave soldier, who saw much hot work with Cakoban's men against the hill tribes of Vonua Levu. He was once riddled by bullets, and left for dead. Accustomed for years to travel about the reefs in canoes, every phase of the aspect of the waters was known to him, and he was not likely to be frightened with false fire. The extraordinary thing is, that the English sailor, the French commander, and the Fijian soldier, all gave the same account of this monster. It is something with a head slightly raised out of the water, and with a sort of mane streaming behind it, whilst the back of a long body is seen underneath the water. So, from these instances, in which I know the witnesses, I fully believe in the sea-serpent. What is there very wonderful in it, after all? The whale is the largest living thing. Why shouldn't the waters produce snakes of gigantic size." THE VAGABOND, in Supplement to the _Australasian_, September 10, 1881.

[254] Contained in Eden's _Travels_.

[255] Connected with the breathing apparatus?

[256] Pinkerton, _Voyages and Travels_, vol. i. p. 376.

[257] A. de Brooke, _Travels to the North Cape_.

[258] 1 ell = 2 feet.

[259] _Transactions_ of the Wernerian Society, vol. i. p. 442.

[260] No. 92, May 1873; London, Van Voorst.

[261] _Shetland Islands_, p. 565.

[262] Jardine's _Naturalist's Library_, vol. xxv.

[263] How this reminds one of the Chinese dragon.

[264] Within a few days of writing these lines I made one of a party of four to visit the waterfalls of Taki-kwannon, near Nagasaki. I asked for estimates of the height of the fall, which was variously guessed, by different members of the party, at from forty-three to one hundred and fifty feet.

[265] _Folklore of China_, p. 113.

[266] _Vide Verhandelingen van Het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Weten Schappen, Deel_ xxxix., 1ere Stuk., Batavia, 1877.

[267] About 1-1/3 lb. avoirdupois.

[268] _Contributions to Materia Medica and Natural History of China_, by F. P. Smith, M.B., London; Shanghai and London, 1871.

I give, in the appendix to this chapter, some accounts of a reputed monster, the Shan, the description of which by Chinese authors, although vague, appears to me to point to the sea-serpent. I only insert a portion of the latter part of the legends regarding it which I find in my authority, as they are perfectly valueless. The sample given may, however, be interesting as an example of how the Taouists compiled their absurd miraculous stories.

[269] For _sea-serpent_ read _octopus_.

[270] I must also add, on the information of Mr. H. C. Syers, of Selangor, that Captain Douglas, late Resident of Perak, had a large sea-serpent rise close to him, somewhere off Perak, when in a boat manned by Malays. Mr. Syers had the account both from Captain Douglas and from the crew; and he tells me that there is a universal belief in the existence of some large sea-monster among the Malays of the western coast of the Peninsula.

[271] This is one of the fleet of the important Japanese Mitsu Bish Company, the equivalent of the P. and O. Company in Japan.

[272] _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, No. 56, December 1876, p. 234.

[273] It must be remembered that it is with a blow of its powerful tail that the alligator stuns its prey and knocks it into the water (when any stray animal approaches the bank), and it is with the tail that the dragon, in the fable related by Ælian, chastises, although gently, its mistress, and constricts, according to Pliny, the elephant in its folds.

[274] _Nineteenth Century_, March 1877, p. 20. Article on "Authority in Matters of Opinion," by G. Cornewall Lewis. Reviewed by W. E. Gladstone.

[275] From the _Daheim_, No. 17, Supplement. January 27th, 1883. Leipzig.

[276] 41° Fahrenheit.

[277] _A Collection of Voyages_, in 4 volumes. J. J. Knapton, London, 1729.

[278] _A Voyage to the East Indies_, by Francis Leguat. London, 1708.

[279] I find the following note in _Maclean's Guide to Bombay_, for 1883: "Since the first edition of this Gazette was published, Captain Dundas, of the P. and O. Company's steamer _Cathay_, has informed me that the statements of old travellers regarding these serpents are quite accurate. The serpents are not seen excepting during the south-west monsoon the season in which alone voyages used to be made to India. In Horsburgh's _Sailing Directions_, shipmasters are warned to look out for the serpents, whose presence is a sign that the ship is close to land. Captain Dundas says that the serpents are yellow or copper-coloured. The largest ones are farthest out to sea. They lie on the surface of the water, and appear too lazy even to get out of a steamer's way."

[280] The _Romance of Natural History_, P. H. Gosse, F.R.S., First Series, London, 1880, 12th edition; Second Series, 1875, 5th edition.

[281] "At length, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they were thrown open for examination by the desire which then existed in Germany to possess the _ebur fossile_, or 'unicorn's horn,' a supposed infallible specific for the cure of many diseases. The unicorn horn was to be found in the caves, and the search for it revealed the remains of lions, hyænas, elephants, and many other tropical and strange animals." _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, No. 32.

[282] Book iv. ch. cxci. and cxcii.

[283] Book ii. ch. ii. § 8.

[284] Book viii. ch. xxxii.

[285] Book xi. ch. cvi.

[286] _Ibid._

[287] Ælian, _De Naturâ Animalium_, Book xvi. ch. xx.

[288] _De Bello Gallico_, ch. ii. p. 26.

[289] _Vide_ Charton's _Voyageurs du Moyen Ages_, vol. ii. p. 25.

[290] Harris' _Voyages_, vol. i. p. 362; "Africa," by John Leo.

[291] Pinkerton's _Voyages_, vol. i. p. 392; "Ethiopia," by Jobus Ludolphus.

[292] _The Navigation and Voyage of Lewes Vertomannus, of Rome, into Arabia, Egypt, &c., in 1503_, contained in "_The History of Travayle in the East and West Indies_," done into English by Richard Eden. London, 1577.

[293] Berynto, a city on the seacoast of Syria, Phœnicia.

[294] Sining is on the western frontier of Kansuh, towards Kokonor.

[295] Pinkerton's _Voyages_, vol. xv. p. 23.

[296] Pinkerton's _Voyages_, vol. vii. p. 333.

[297] _Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China._ Huc and Gabet. Translated by W. Hazlitt, vol. ii. p. 245.

[298] Gosse, _Romance of Natural History_.

[299] Prejevalski's _Mongolia_, vol. ii. p. 207; London, 1876.

[300] See _'Rh Ya_ and _Yuen Keen Luy Han_, vol. ccccxxix. p. 1.

[301] This height will have to be reduced in accordance with the difference between the magnitude of old and new standards of measurement.

[302] A poet, native of Hang Cheu.

[303] _Vide_ the translation into French by L. Serrurier, Leyden, 1875.

[304] "The Chinese have a tradition that this animal skips, and is so holy or harmless that it won't even tread upon an insect, and that it is to come in the shape of an incomparable man, a revealer of mysteries, supernatural and divine, and a great lover of all mankind, who is expected to come, about the time of a particular constellation in the heavens, on a special mission for their benefit. The Japanese unicorn answers the description of the animal bearing that name, and supposed to be still extant in Ethiopia, and which is equal to the size of a small horse, reddish in colour, and slender as a gazelle, the male having one horn. The unicorn is the ancient crest of the kings of Israel, and is still retained by the Mikado." _Epitome of the Ancient History of Japan_, p. 116; N. McLeod, Nagasaki, 1875.

[305] Vol. ccccxxx. p. 18.

[306] Vol. ccccxxxii. p. 38.

[307] This will have to be reduced by nearly one-half, to equate it with the present measures of length.

[308] _San Li T'u_, vol. viii. p. 3. The _San Li T'u_ is an illustrated, modern, edition by Nieh Tsung I. of the old _San Li_; it was written during the reign of the great patron of literature, Kang Hi (A.D. 1661 to 1723).

[309] Vol. vii. No. 1, p. 72.

[310] Harris, _Game and Wild Animals of Southern Africa_. The Oryx Capensis--The Gemsbock.

"The figure of the renowned unicorn can be traced in all the ancient ear-rings, coins, and Latin heraldic insignia, to some one of the members of the oryxine family; of all the whimsies of antiquity, whether emanating from the unbridled and fertile fancies of the people of Egypt and Persia, or devised by the more chaste and classic taste which distinguished Greece and Rome, the unicorn--unquestionably the most celebrated--is the chimera which has in modern ages engrossed the largest portion of attention from the curious.

"The rhinoceros is supposed to be the animal so often alluded to in Scripture under the name of _reem_ or unicorn, yet the combination presented in the oryx of the antelopine and equine characters, the horns and cloven hoof of the one, blended with the erect mane, general contour and long switch tail of the other, corresponds in all essential

## particulars with the extant delineations and descriptions of the heraldic

unicorn, which is universally represented to have been possessed of a straight slender horn, ringed at the base, and to have the hoof divided; to have worn a mane reversed, a black flowing tail, and a turkey-like tuft on the larynx, whilst both the size and ground colour were said to be those of the ass, with the addition of sundry black markings, imparting to the face and forehead a piebald appearance.

"The alterations required to reduce the African oryx to the standard of this model, are slight and simple, nor can it be doubted that they have been gradually introduced by successive copyists; the idea of the single horn having been derived in the first instance from profile representations of that animal given in bas-relief on the sculptured monuments of ancient Egypt and Nubia.... They have in their aspect a certain bovine expression; and Arabs and other natives never consider them as antelopes but as a species of buffalo.... The oryx boldly defends itself when pressed by the hunters, is quarrelsome during the rutting season, and it is said that even the lion dreads an encounter with it."

[311] Even the patient ass, in a state of nature, is endowed with great courage. Baharan, one of the early Persian monarchs, received the surname Baharan Guz from his transfixing, with one arrow, a wild ass and a lion engaged in active combat.

[312] Black, red, azure (green, blue, or black), white, yellow.

[313] Many species of bird do not attain their mature plumage until long after they have attained adult size, as some among the gulls and birds of prey. I think I am right in saying that some of these latter only become perfect in their third year. We all know the story of the ugly duckling, and the little promise which it gave of its future beauty.

[314] According to Dr. Williams, the Lwan was a fabulous bird described as the essence of divine influence, and regarded as the embodiment of every grace and beauty, and that the argus pheasant was the type of it.

Dr. Williams says that it was customary to hang little bells from the phœnix that marked the royal cars.

[315] In reference to Hwang Ti (?) writing the Bamboo Books?

[316] The Wu Tung is the _Eleococca verrucosa_, according to Dr. Williams; others identify it with the _Sterculia platanifolia_. There is a Chinese proverb to the effect that without having Wu Tung trees you cannot expect to see phœnixes in your garden.

[317] Berosus lived in the time of Alexander the Great, or about B.C. 330-260, or 300 years after the Jews were carried captive to Babylon.

[318] _Encyclopædia Britannica._

[319] _Jăn-jăn_ means a gradual but imperceptible advance.

[320] Defined by Williams "as the dragon of morasses and thickets, which has scales and no horn, corresponding very nearly to the fossil iguanodon." _Vide_ the description (ante) from the _Pan-Tsaou-Kang-mu_, &c.

[321] _Ying_--correct, true.

[322] According to Williams, this is a young dragon without a horn, although others, as in the text, say with one.

[323] _P'an_--to curl up, to coil.

[324] The male and female principle.

[325] See the notices in the body of the work from the _Shan Hai King_.

[326] See the description of the dragon from the _P'au-Tsaou-Kang-mu_.

[327] Waters of such specific gravity that even a feather would sink.

[328] Probably a pair from each stream.

[329] In Foh-kien.

[330] Probably equivalent to "abbot."

[331] Extract from the _Yuen Keen Lei Han_, vol. ccccxxxviii., p. 23.

[332] In drilling an army there are names for all positions of the army. Thus, the general says: "Arrange yourselves like a snake, or like a dragon, or any other imaginable shape."

[333] Williams gives this translation only, but I think there must be another meaning; probably some sort of reptile is indicated.

* * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Footnote 128 appears on page 150 of the text, footnote 157 on page 168, and footnote 326 on page 400. The original text contains no corresponding markers.

Several quotation marks are unmatched, as they were in the original book.