It May Not Be Too Great A Digression From The Subject, To Say A Few Words
Concerning Egypt.
The natives allege that they have in their country
certain animals, of which one half of their bodies seem earth, and the
other like rats, one species of which keeps continually in the water,
while another species lives on the land.
In my opinion, it is these
animals which break the serpents eggs, of which there are many in the
Nile, but which serpents are also called crocodiles. It is said, that in
ancient times these animals were inchanted, so that they could not do
harm to any one: But since they have been freed from the power of
inchantment, by the arts and learning of the Egyptians decaying, they
have done much hurt, by killing people, wild beasts, and cattle, more
especially those which live in the water and come often on land. Those
that live continually on the land become strongly venomous[25]. The
people beyond the city of Cairo used to catch these animals, and even to
eat them, setting up their heads on the walls of the city. Concerning
these crocodiles, it is related[26] that they often lie along the shores
of the river with their mouths wide open; on which occasion, certain
white birds, little larger than our thrushes, fly into the mouths of the
crocodiles, and pick out the filth from between his teeth, to the great
delight of the crocodile; which, however, would surely close his mouth
and devour the bird, had not nature provided the bird with a sharp sting,
growing from the top of his head, which pricks the roof of the crocodiles
mouth, and forces him to gape, so that the bird flies away unhurt. In
this manner, by means of a succession of these birds, the crocodiles get
their teeth cleansed. In this same river, there are many beasts
resembling horses; and upon the land, there are certain birds like our
cranes, which continually make war upon the serpents, which come thither
out of Arabia: Which birds, and likewise the rats, which eat the eggs of
the crocodiles, are held in great reverence and estimation, by the
Egyptians.
But now, to return to my subject of discoveries. In the year 485 before
Christ, Xerxes, king of Persia, sent his nephew Sataspis to discover
India; who sailed from the Mediterranean through the Straits of Hercules,
and passed the promontory of Africa, which we now call the Cape of Good
Hope; but, wearying of the length of the voyage, he returned back again,
as Bartholomew Diaz did in our days[27]. In 443 A. C. Hamilco and Hanno,
two Carthaginian commanders who governed that part of Spain now called
Andalusia, sailed from thence with two squadrons. Hamilco, sailing
towards the north, discovered the coasts of Spain, France, England,
Flanders, and Germany; and some allege that he sailed to Gothland, and
even to Thule or Iceland, standing under the Arctic circle, in 64 degrees
north, and continued his voyage during two years, till he came to that
northern island, where the day in June continues for twenty-two hours,
and the nights in December are of a similar length; on account of which
it is there wonderfully cold.
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