females shoulde bée filled after their foale is borne the Males fatigated of labour doeth sooner replenish the Females Some of them are not like to their Syres and the Mule of her nature is barren sauing that in Capadocia they beare by force of drinking wine often times the Mules ceasse from casting or striking The Athenians knowing for a trueth a Mule to haue done seruice fourescore yéers did ordaine that in the fields none should desturbe him neither in the corne nor otherwise The Oren liue twentie yéeres and the Kine commonly fiftene yéeres at fiue yéers they haue takē their strength it is said that to wash them with warme water they will fatten the strength of the Bull is at thrée yéeres for to make them drawe it is good to yoke them with a drawing Ore for he will teach the other In times past among the Romaines it was estéemed as great offence to kill an Ore or to steale one because of their ploughes as it was to kill a man The Bull requiring combat sheweth magnanimitie of courage and gentilitie he turneth the head lifteth vp the cares remaineth on his foreféete and maketh the dust to die with his hinder féete At Rome hath bene séene an Ore speake The Ore of Egypt hath a kyrnell called Apis vnder his tongue and a white spotte on the right side which groweth as the hornes of the Moone The nature of shéepe is that they liue not aboue nine or tenne yéeres the Males couple with the Females in the middest of May till the middest of August the Females beare a hundreth and fiftie dayes The Ram if the right genitorie be bounde maketh all Females and if the left be bound in the season maketh all Males If ye looke vnder the Tuppe or Rammes tongue he doeth ingender Lambes of the colour that the vaynes are if they be of diuers colours he ingendreth Lambes of diuers sortes Also the mutation of waters doeth varefie the colour of Lambes also the windes It is esteemed not good to cut or gelde Lambes before fiue monethes and commonly the Females bring forth not aboue foure Lambes Goates conceiue commonly two kiddes and sometime foure they beare fiue monethes as doe shéepe they become barren with fatnesse they ingender not before the fourth yéere they conceiue in Nouember for to bée deliuered in March when the trées beginne to budde the Goate feareth cold euery one of these beasts haue not hornes but the milke of those that haue no hornes is fatter then those that haue and those that haue hornes their age is knowen by the knots in their horns they aspire through the eares and not by their nose and they are neuer without Feuers or Agues because of the heate of their bodies which maketh them much subiect to lechery they sée as well by night as by day they haue all deardes on their chinne if one of them be taken or driuen all the rest will marueile thereat if they croppe or bite a yong trée it dieth and if they lick an Oliue trée it will drie away Among the swine the Sowe doth farrowe two times a yéere and sometime they haue twentie Pigges but they cannot nourish so many the tenth day the Pigges haue téeth in once knowing the Bore they are filled but they double it for feare not to haue retained Some thinke that if they léese an eye that they wil soone die otherwise they liue til fiftéene or twenty yéeres the most fattest haue least milke they willingly wallowe in the durt and myre and couch most on the left side they fatten in six dayes they know their maisters house and defend one an other for if that one cry all the rest will runne thither Among the wilde Bores the male hath great payne to acquaint him with the Female and she hath great dolour to make her yong ones they are borne with téeth and are blacke In Arabia they can not liue neither wilde nor yet tame Apes doe approch much to the sense of man and their kinde is to haue no tayles these kinde of beastes are much affectioned to their yong ones they kepe them or holde thē alwayes betwéene their armes or legges before their breastes whereby many times they kill them they haue beard on their chinne And some in Ethiopia haue tailes that can liue no where els Of Hares there are diuers kindes in the hie Mountaines there are white ones in Winter they liue with snowe It is said that a Hare is as olde as there are purgings or voydings in her belly they haue both kindes and ingender one with another and the Hare alone is meate vnto men beastes and foules and therefore hée is euer in feare and goeth more by night then by day Conies are of another kinde the Males haue great desire to eate the yong ones when they are borne but the Female hideth them and they make great multiplication Many sortes of beastes there are on the earth that doe mingle one kinde with another Among the beasts Origes haue the haire long alwayes tending towards the head and of other beastes the haire tendeth towardes the tayle Mice are ingendred on the earth We reade that when Hanibal had besieged a Towne a Mouse was sold for two hundreth Crownes the seller died for famine the buyer did escape the hunger The old Mice are nourished of the yong ones by great clemencie In Affrica there is neither Déere wilde Bores Goates nor Beares In other places neither Wolues nor Foxes In some places there are no Hares in other places no Conies And in other places there is great diuersitie of beastes that are not in other places The Scorpions or Serpents doe sooner hurt strangers then the Countrey inhabitantes The ninth Booke treateth of Water beastes and of Fishes IN the Sea there are many great beastes aswell as on earth for the moisture thereof and because it is more larger and bigger Also there is many monsters and diuersitie in many fishes for they couple in many kindes and there is the similitude of all kinde of beastes on the earth and rather more Whales are the most greatest and grossest beastes in the Sea there are of two hundreth yardes long In many places there are rib bones of Whales of twenty yardes Alexāder the great was afrayed to méete them least his Nauy should haue perished In the Sea there are Eeles thrée hundreth foote long In the night there commeth many fishes out of the Sea that wil eate the corne in the fields after returne againe There is in the Sea Mermaides that haue bene séene and some that haue the shape of men and their voyce like vnto mens voice hauing the body of mans shape and the lower parts scaled like fishes with a taile And there are Wolues Horses Asses Hogges other sea beastes as on the earth If the fishes aspire and respire as other beastes there are diuers opinions Plinie doeth beléeue that the most part sléepeth respireth except those that haue no liuer
and in stéede of blood haue humor The Dolphin is the most swiftest fish in the Sea and most hardest to be taken euery one foloweth his like they haue yong in ten monethes in Sommer and nourish them as doe the Whales the olde ones carry the yong ones and there is alwayes a great Dolphin that followeth the little one they haue the tongue mouing like a Hog Aboue the nature of other fishes they loue yong childrē and the sounde of Instruments they liue three hundreth yéeres and they haue their greatnesse at tenne yéeres they reioyce when one calleth them Symon and they loue humaine voyce Many examples are both séene and reade of little children that they haue caried by Sea on their backes and brought backe againe without doing them any harme Shell fishes are so great in some places that with their shelles they couer their houses The beastes of the Sea haue diuers clothings some are couered with leather and with haire as the Sea calfe some onely with leather as the Dolphins others with great thicke and harde shelles other softer shelles as Oysters Cockles and Muscles that haue no heads others with sharpe prickles as the Ecchinus called the Sea Porcupen others with scales as Carpes and many other fish others with rough skinnes with the which they shaue fine wood and Iuory some with soft skinnes and others that haue none The Sea calfe which is clothed with skinne and haire they ioyne Male and Female together as Dogges and they neuer haue but two at a burthen they nourish their yong ones with their pappes or tettes and are deliuered on the lande and within twelue dayes after they bring thē to the Sea The Sea calfe is more grieued and more constrained to sléepe then any other beast and therfore their skinne put on a mans head doeth prouoke him to sléepe Great is the diuersitie of beastes in some there is neither bone nor thorne and of many kindes there is no male Among the fishes the Females are greater then the Males there are some that haue their scales tending towards their heads cleane cōtrarie to the nature of others Some there are that goe alwayes to sléepe vpon the drie lande The Whale maketh her yong ones aliue without egs Eeles liue commōly eight yéere they will liue six daies without water specially when the winde is at West and lesse with other windes In Winter they couet déepe and cleare waters and swimme in the bottome they féede in the night and they of all other fishes slote not aboue water when that they are dead In the Lake of Verone they are taken by thousandes Some kinde of fishes rendreth their yong ones aliue others that flye by the Sea as the Sea swallowe Some make egges and couer or sit on them as doe the foules in the ayre so doeth the Sea kite a foule called Lucerna of the propertie of his name séeketh the maine Seas whose tongue shineth or glistereth as may well be séene in a faire and calme night The Dragon of the Sea as soone as she is taken and brought to land she maketh incōtinently an entery or hole in the sande that shée might be lost Some fishes haue no blood and haue their heads in their bellies betwéene their féete with their feete they cast meate into their mouths The Sea Locusts hide them selues for the space of fiue monethes and swimme in the spring time they battaile betwéene themselues with their hornes If they be put aliue into hote water for to séeth they will be tender The Sea Creuices liue in Rockes and stony places there are very great ones In Sommer and in the Spring they fatten and in the full Moone and they augment diminish with the Moone they are of a long life they haue all eight féete The Females haue the first foote folded or double and the Males single and they créepe as much backward as forward Cockles haue two little hornes wherewith they féele the way for they haue no eyes The fishes ioyne Male and Female ioyning their bellies then the female rūneth or swimmeth away touching with her mussell the belly of the Male and the Males eate the Females Egges for if all the Egges should profite the Sea Riuers and Pondes would be filled with fish there would be such an innumerable multitude The Sea Mouse maketh her Egges on the lande and couereth them with earth and thirtie dayes after doeth vncouer them and bringeth her yong ones into the Sea Some fish liue thrée score yéere as by the experience of markes put on them Some fishes there are that liue on the lande when that in Sommer the Riuers and poudes are dried vp and some will goe feede in the corne and on the lande tarying for the water and such is the nature of some to liue on the earth with wormes There are certaine fishes with sharpe prickles on their backes that will cut the line of fishers Nettes Other fishes that are called Sea starres doe burne other fishes by their great heate In the Sea there is warre among the fishes as among the foule in the aire for one féedeth not with another The tenth Booke treateth of the Foules of the Ayre IN Affrica and Ethiopia there are birdes that are called Struthiocameli as hie as a man on horsebacke which doe not forsake the earth but runne faster then horses The Phenix liueth in Arabia I say not that hée is alone but neuer man sawe him eate he liueth sixe hundreth yéeres and in his age maketh a Nest of the braunches of spice trées wherein he dieth and of his bones commeth a worme the which afterwarde natarally becommeth a Phenix He is as great as an Eagle the feathers about his necke are of the colour of golde the taile yellowe and the surplus like to Azure Eagles there are of sixe kindes some liue with their pray on the earth other in the water that fishe with one foote they haue the knowledge to take Whelkes and other shelled fish vp into the ayre then let them fall to breake their shelles for to haue the fish they cause their yong ones to looke vp into the Sunne beames and cast those out of the Neast that will not beholde the Sunne as bastards they die in their age because that their vpper bill doth growe so long that they can not eate they fight against Déere and against the Dragons and in flying they cast dust that they take vp on the lande in the eyes of Crowes other beastes for to blinde them The Cuckoe resembleth to the colour of the wood Doue they are killed of others of their kinde they change their voyce and come in the spring time and doe alwayes bring vp their yong ones in other birdes nestes specially in the nestes of stock Doues she neuer lightly maketh aboue one egge and very seldome two because she knoweth that shée is hated of all other birdes They thinke them selues very fayre and dispraise others and there is no
mouings and mutations of times without great appearance as in the Sea when that without winde the waues doe rise and rage And in the Skie when that there is a long stripe or line and when that the well waters are troubled Two mountaines haue bene séene naturally hit and touch one another as if they had foughten the waters méeting together to striue and marueilously to encrease and beastes to dye In Asia twelue Cities were subuerted by the Earthquakes without perceiuing thereof at Rome Neare vnto Rome there are two hundreth acres of ground the which doeth shake when there are horses running thereon In the I le of Paphos there is a place where there did neuer fall rayne And in the same Ile Nea in the Citie of Troados the sacrifices do neuer putrifie nor rot Nere to Harpasa a towne in Asia there is a great Moūtaine that one may shake with their finger but if you put your whole strength to it it remaineth vnmoueable There are two Mountaines neare to the flood of Nyle the nature of them are diuers for the one retaineth yron the other casteth it off in such sort that if any of their shooes be clouted with nailes that goe vpon the said hill they can neither go nor stande but are cast off and on the other hil their shoes will sticke fast In the Citie of Charagena there is a certaine grounde that healeth all kinde of sores and diseases the Sea doeth purge in the full Moone and the fluctuations of the Seas commeth by the Sunne and Moone the which causeth it In the hie Sea there neuer falleth snowe the Sea is most hottest in Winter and saltest in Sommer Of fresh waters there are diuers sortes In Dodone is the Frountaine called Iupiters Spring which doeth kindle firebrandes it diminisheth at Noone and encreaseth at midnight and then afterwards decreaseth and faileth at midday There are many hote waters because of the smoke closenesse of the hilles from whence these hote waters spring There are Springs that will make blacke Shéepe become white and other waters that maketh white shéepe become blacke by continuance of drinking and others that the ewes that drinke in thē their milke will become black At Lincestis there is a Fountaine of water that will make them that drinke thereof drunken Also in Paphlagonia and in the field Calenus in the I le of Andro there is a Fountaine or Spring that rendreth wine euery yéere in the Nonas of Ianuarie In a fielde called Carrimensis in Spaine there is a Riuer that will make the fishes that are therin to séeme of the colour of golde and if they are put into any other water they will séeme as other fishes Among the meruailes of fire the Mountaine called Ethna in Silicia burneth continually the flames whereof are séene aboue the hill toppe An other hill that is called Chimera burneth in like maner the fire of which hill is sooner quenched with earth or with hay then with water In the third fourth fifth and sixth bookes Plinie describeth the earth the waters and the Ilandes and deuideth the worlde into Asia Affrica and Europa Asia conteineth the halfe of the world in the which is Armenia Capadocia Albania Suauia where as there is no mettall but gold Seithies where as is the swéete Sea and there are trees that bring forth silke ready to spinne India where there are people very riche they labour with Elephantes and go to warre with them Their king hath ordinarily sixe hundreth thousand footemen thirtie thousand horsemen nine thousand Camels to his gages and to his daily cost and when they be so olde that they can scarse see nor can liue no longer they cast them selues into a great fire Beyonde the Indians is the I le called Taprobane where as is the gréene Sea and there is planted precious stones with mettalls of gold and siluer The men of that Countrey are more greater then others they sell their marchandise by making of signes the Moone neuer shineth with thē aboue sixe houres they haue small edifices or buildings their vitailes neuer waxeth deare for their God they haue Hercules They doe elect and choose an olde man to their King which hath no children and if he chaunce to haue any whilest he is king they doe kill them to that ende that the kingdome be not inherited by their elected king they doe constitute xxx gouernours without whose assent none can bee condemned to death If their king doeth misdoe they doe punish him or depose him from the crowne This nation taketh great delite in the chase of Tigres and Clephantes and doeth abounde in corne and fruites they doe delight to fishe for shell fishes which are there very great in so much that one may hide themselues in their shelles Alexandria the great was founded by the great king Alexander and neare vnto that is the redde Sea by the repercussion of the Sunne that doeth so colour it or els for that the mood and the grauell is such or for that it is the nature of the water Also Siria and Arabia whose people are tāned and heary all saue the head and they are apparelled with the skinnes of fish There is also Mesopotanie Babylon Assiria Arabia the flood of Tyger hath his originall in a fountaine of Armenia In the I le of Sagaros there can no Dogge liue for as soone as he entereth into the I le he turneth round till hée fall downe dead The Sabiens are riche with the fertilitie of their Forrests with mettals Hony and Waxe The Candeans liue with Serpentes and in the I le of Gagaudes was first founde Popeniayes Idumea Iuda Hierusalem Galile Sirie Palestin which was the first founder of letters and at the first in stéede of letters vsed certaine figures of beastes Also there is a Nation called Hesseneans liuing without wyues and without lecherie When they are dead they are cast into the Sea they liue without money and growe of the dead Of the Ethiopians there are diuers formes and kindes of men Some there are towards the East that haue neither nose nor nostrelles but the face all full Others that haue no vpper lippe they are without tongues and they speake by signes and they haue but a little hole to take their breath at by the which they drinke with an Oten strawe There are some called Syrbote that are eight foote high they liue with the chase of Elephantes In a part of Affricke by people called Ptoemphane for their king they haue a Dogge at whose fansie they are gouerned to whome they doe pronosticate their doings and their conduct in warre Towards the West there is a people called Arimaspi that hath but one eye in their forehead they are in the desert and wilde Countrey The people called Agriphagi liue with the flesh of Pāthers and Lyons and the people called Antropomphagi which we call Canibals liue with humaine flesh The Cinamolgi their heades are almoste like to the heads of Dogges Affrica
glasse stone or bone for the braunche dieth to be cut with Iron and it is cutte to take away the superfluities then in the season the barke is onely cutte and then commeth out the sweate by small droppes This experience is true that if any of it be spilt vpon any apparell it will neuer staine There is daunger in Wormes for they will marre the trée Alexander the great in a Sommers day filled a little Viall of one trée Ginger groweth in the earth and is rootes The thirteenth Booke treateth of straunge trees THe swéete oyntments perfumes and smellings are made of these trées Some for the pleasure of others buye them deare for they that carry them haue not the smell pleasure but it is for the smell of others which is great vanitie Palmes are in diuers kindes and there are none fruitfull but toward the East for they make wines and as in trées and leaues there are Male and Female so there is also in these The Male buddeth within the roote and the Female outwarde They beare euery yéere Apples and when the trée is cut the roote casteth againe The Cedar groweth in Siria of which commeth the soueraigne roote That that flourisheth beareth no fruite that that fructifieth beareth no floore and the wood lasteth perpetually The Figge trées in Egypt are like to Mulbery trées the fruite commeth foure times a yéere against the woode and not against the braunches There are many vnknowen trées specially those that haue the good Gum. There are made Cordes or Ropes of this trée At Rome haue béene founde bookes of Philosophie in a Sepulchre betwéene two stones couered with Cedar wood that had laine there fiue hundreth thirtie fiue yéeres without harme for the Cedar neuer rotteth and there is no wood so good to make workes There are Cedar trées so hie that ye can not sée the toppes and so great that there was presented to Tiberius Caesar a table that was foure foote large sixty foote long Lotten or Celtis is a trée in Affrica the fruite of which is so swéete that it healeth all paines in the belly and out of that fruite being brused or prest commeth wine that will not continue aboue ten dayes Pomegranets there are of diuers kindes swéete sower and winish The pell of the sower ones are good and best to tanne skinnes and the floures are good for Dyars The Thorn that is called Royal groweth in one day and kepeth wyne from being naught Citisus is a singular trée the wood is good to all beastes as well Shéepe as others If â—â—e sodden in water it rendreth to Nources that drinke it plenty of milke and maketh the children more sure and more greater and maketh Hennes to lay egges Vpon the floure of this trée a flye will neuer sitte Many other straunge trées there are in the Sea that will breake like glasse others that are as hard as stones and many other trées that are in the Ilandes of the Sea which we haue not here and which vnto vs are also vnknowen The foureteenth Booke treateth of Trees and fruitfull Plantes IN times past men were wonte to haue many pleasant trées of the which nowe there is no mention for euery one studieth couetousnesse The Wine groweth of wilde plantes and among all other plantes it is the principallest fruite and there are many kindes and euery yéere it must be cut or else otherwise it would compasse a whole Towne Wine is the blood of the Earth it being taken within a mans body is hote and without it is colde it is bothe comfortable and profitable to a man if it be taken measurably otherwise it is very hurtfull Alexander the great did vanquishe the whole worlde and yet could not so well kéepe him selfe but was ouercome with the force of Wine Wines is not permitted to the wiues of Rome We reade that King Romulus did pardon and forgiue a Senatour of Rome called Ignatius Mecenius which had killed his wife with a Clubbe for that she was founde drinking wine out of a tunne And therefore Cato did ordaine that women and maydens should be kissed of their parents and kinsfolke to the ende they should knowe whether they did smell of Wine or no. Marcus Varo writeth of a Consull which neuer made banquet nor had at his table more at one time then at an other for feare of to much drinking In times past at Rome the price was set on wine to the ende that little should be drunke but since Caesar made great banquettes which gaue occasion to make prouision at Rome for all kinde of wines Wine alone serueth to make medicines There is wine made of Peares Apples and of other trées which they vse toward the East Some make Wine of hearbes of water and hony sodden which in Wales is called Metheglyn that will laste fiue yéeres or with Hony and Vineger which is called Oximell The small wines ought to touch the ground for to bee the better kept but not the good The flower of white wine is good and that of red is naught By drunkennesse men reueale their secrets and make debates The fifteenth Booke treateth of Trees bearing fruite THe Oliue trée groweth not neare the Sea nor in places to hote nor to colde they must bée cut like Vines The Oliue oyle is of a better sauour when the Oliues beginne to ripe but there is not so much when they beginne to be black but that is the time to take them and of their ripenesse There is more paine to make Oyle then wine The Oliue hath stone oyle and flesh the gréene are bitter by drying they become lesse though that the heate is cause of oyle The liquor of the Oliue is the oyle but it lasteth not as doth wine for it is best the first yéere Some there are that tary til the Oliues fall from trées for it hurteth the trées againe the yéere following to bée cut broken or smitten Oliues before they are rype will be kept with salte after that they haue bene in hote water If the Oliue be not cleane it is washed and dried thrée or foure dayes and seasoned with salt There is Oyle made of many things of Nuttes of Acornes of small graines of swéete smelling trées of Gumme that serueth for medecines of Almonds Chesnuttes and diuers other things according to the Countreies Apples and Peares ought to be kept in a drie and colde place and for them the North winde is good and no other wyndes when the weather is faire they should be put on hay seperated one from another for to take the ayre and they ought to be gathered before the full Moone Nuttes make a sound or ratling in falling when they are rype and among other fruites they are parted in foure within with a little skinne betwéene both They will kéepe gréene being put in earthen pottes in the earth and with them is made good Oyles Chestnuttes are a kinde of maste and it is meruaile that nature hath so
a knife they haue tayles like to fishes Déere that are oppressed with Dogges if they can finde no water for their refuge then they retire to man the Female beare eight wéekes and oftentimes two and for to bring them foorth they séeke secret places not néere the hye wayes accustomed by men The Hinde teacheth her yong ones to runne to feare and to leape the Males that haue left the Females haue their mussell blacke when they knowe them selues heauy they séeke secret places they will stande still to heare the cry of the Dogs they runne with the winde to take away the smell of the trase they reioyce to heare whistling and to heare a noyse of singing Moreouer the Hart is simple and all things are to him marueilous if that he see a man with a bowe or a crosse bowe he looketh more on them then on the mā the Males haue hornes and in the spring time they cast their hornes that day that they léese their hornes they hide them selues as all astonied sorowfull as they that haue lost their armours It is sayde that the right horne can not bee founde for that they hide them in the ground At the burning of the hornes the Serpents flye away their hornes grow till they be thrée score yéeres old and the said time passed there commeth vp others like and thē they neuer fall after that there is no knowledge of their age but their age is knowē by their téeth they being without hornes féede in the night and when their hornes beginne to come they will butte and runne against the trées they liue a hundreth yéeres they neuer haue the Feuer or Ague and therefore some dames alwayes delight to breake their fast with Venison by the which meanes they haue liued a hundreth yéeres without hauing the Ague Camelion liueth not but by the ayre and chaungeth his colour according to the thing he toucheth sauing white and redde they ingender in Affrica and in India The Beares doe ioyne with the Females in the beginning of Winter not as other foure footed beastes doe for the Male and the Female lye downe embracing and after that they doe retire in sundry caues and the Female doeth bring forth her yong ones within thirty dayes and most cōmonly bringeth fiue which haue the skinne white deformed without haire and eyes and there appeareth but their clawes in licking of them they are figured There is nothing so little of man as to sée the Beare bring foorth her yong she hideth her foure monethes and the Male fourtie dayes they couche or lye vppon soft leaues and the first fourtéene dayes they sléepe so soūdly that you shall scarce waken them with strokes then they fatten much and their fatte or grease is conuenable to many medicines also to kéepe haire from sheading They being weakened for the most part stande vp and liue with the licking of their fore féete they warme their yong against their breasts they haue little blood about the heart and lesse in the body they haue little eyes and as feble or weake heads as the Lyon hath strong therefore they defend their heades with their fore féete when they fall and leape from the Rockes or when they are bayted with Dogges The Dogges among all other beastes that vnto vs are common are most faithfull We haue true histories of men that haue bene defended from théeues by their Dogges others haue fought to reuenge their maisters death and constrained the murtherer to confesse the déede Two hundreth Dogs did rescue by force the king Garamantus being taken by the hands of his enemies Many people haue assembled Dogges together for the warre We reade of Dogges that haue cast them selues into the fire when in times past their maisters body haue bene burned We reade also of a Dog of Nicomedes the king of Bythinia to haue almost torne the Quéene in pieces for that she played familiarly with the king the Dog thinking it had bene for harme A Senatour of Rome was defended by his Dogge on a night retourning to his house from the handes of those that would haue put him to death At Rome a prisoners Dogge would neuer depart from the prison doore and when his maister was dead he would eate nothing and when bread was giuen him he brought it to his maisters mouth The same Dog was séene openly to holde vp his maisters body being cast into the Riuer of Tyber They know their maister and vnderstand his voyce aboue all other beastes they doe best knowe a mans voyce and their names they doe remember the wayes and iourneyes be they neuer so farre off and there is noue of so long a memorie except man In their chase they haue great diligence specially houndes In India they tie proude Bitches to trées and the Tygres do couer them by the which meanes commeth fierce and cruell Dogges The king of Albania did giue to Alexander the great a Dogge of marueilous highnesse which would take Lyons and Elephants The Females haue whelpes thrée times a yéere lightly and they carrie them two monethes they are borne blinde they can not see till seuen dayes after they be whelped If she bring but one whelpe it séeth not till the ninth day the better whelpe is that that the Bitch bringeth out first or that that seeth last Horses are faithfull and full of great knowledge for they knowe their maisters and they that attende on them Many are singuler in their doings the Males liue till fifty yéeres and the females lesse at sixe yéeres the males grow no more and the females but fiue yéeres Among the beastes they haue least fertilitie The most egrest and fiercest Horses put their nose mussell déepest in the water to drinke and haue almost as many diseases as men Asses there hath bene bought for foure hundreth Crownes In Acaia they are much requested to haue Mules They feare colde the Males are very slowe in their worke they doe beare as doe Mares and in thirtie moneths the yong ones are ready to helpe them selues After they are horsed they must be constrained to runne or else they would reiect the séede by making water The females beare all their life which is thirty yéeres they be afrayde to wette their féete and they neuer drinke but in small and shallowe waters where they are accustomed to drinke drie footed the Females doe hide themselues when they bring foorth in darke places that they bee not séene of men they will not passe the bridges when the Sunne shineth in the water it is marueil that they runne not mad for thirst for he that dayly chaungeth their water or Riuer accustomed to drinke at must constraine them perforce to drinke The little Mule is ingendred of the Asse and of the Mare The Mules that commeth of a Horse and of a she Asse are beastes full of strength and labour The Asse that couereth the Mare bringeth forth afore her time if she before haue retained the horse but not else the seuenth day the
commanded The Popingay can speake humaine speach they come from the Indians they haue their head as hard as their bill they liue most commonly with Acornes and they speake best that haue fiue clawes on their féete they are taught secretly where as there is no other noyses but the teachers Crowes haue bene séene speake and call noble men by their names specially one in Rome which by that meanes was solemnely buried It is easier to tame a Lyon an Eliphant or any other great beast or foule then to tame a Mouse or a Swallow Strabo was the first that did cage birdes which before had libertie in the Sky he taught the way to fatten Capons with meale and milke Among the birdes many haue foure féete and some lay many egges some foure and some two They ioyne together in two maners the Cranes with their height And Hennes and other Females the Cockes tread them down Some egges and the most part are white others coloured and others red as the egges of Fesantes and all kinde of egges within are of two colours white and red Egges of fishes are round and they haue no white she Egges of feathered foules liuing on the water are rounde and of others long the yong ones come out of the shell at the round ende Horace saith that the longest egs haue the best sauour that Hen is best and most tenderest that laieth round egs Some birdes ingender at all times as Hennes that lay euery day an egge some two at a time and some so many that therewith they dye In some places Doues ingender ten times in a yéere In Egypt the Turtle twice a yéer and other birdes but once a yéere As touching Egges there is a red droppe in the middest of the yolke the which maketh the birdes harte and it is the first formed and of the white is formed the body and within the Egge the head is greater then the body and liueth with the surplus of the yolke the twenty day he hath life and crieth within the Egge and then the feathers beginne to come The yong one in the Egge lieth after this sort it hath the head vnder the right foote and the right wing vpon the head and they growe on their féete contrary to the nature of other beastes Ye ought not to giue a Henne aboue xxv Egges to coue on and those Chickens that are hatched about the beginning of the yéere are the best For to sette Hennes to broode take egges of ten dayes olde for they are better then older or more fresher and ye ought to put odde when the Henne hath coued foure dayes in looking on them in the Sunne ye shall knowe whether they be good or no or in puting them in warme water for the good Egge will sinke to the bottome and those that are putrified and naught will flotte and swimme If the eggs are neuer so little craised the are sette they wil neuer proue It is best to set Hennes to coue in the newe Moone for if they are set in the wane of the Moone or at the full they will profite little When the weather is hote Chickens will come within one and twenty dayes and if it be colde not til fiue and twenty dayes If it thunder the egs that are coued wil be lost also at the voice of the Rite or Puttock The remedy against the thunder is to put a naile in the Hennes nest or els of the earth of a Cart whéele It hath bene recited of a Cock which after the Hennes death hath atchieued couing and by this meanes to ceasse from crowing The Ducke meruaileth at the first to sée her Ducklins but after most carefully she calleth them together and lamenteth if she sée them drowned in the water and some there are that can make Chickens come in warme water as well as if the Egge were coued The pip commeth lightly vnto pullaine betwéene haruest and the vintage for a remedy therefore it is good to let them hunger and to giue them little meate or to giue them to eate Garlike and butter Doues they lay two egges and if they lay thrée they will hatche but twaine they bring foorth a Male and a Female the Male first and two dayes after the Female The Male is hatched in the day time and the Female in the night the yong Pigeons come foorth of the shell twēty dayes after they are hatched and the Female layeth egges within fiue dayes after that she hath knowen the Male. In sommer oftentimes they haue yong ones thrice in two monethes for if the weather be hote they conceiue in eightene dayes and therefore in the nest is found many times egges and yong ones And Pigeons conceiue at fiue moneths The Pecock at the age of thrée yéers bringeth forth yōg ones the first yéere one euery yéere after she increaseth the Male breaketh the egs to haue the Female at his pleasure therefore she hideth her egs and for one Male shée hath fiue Females in thirty dayes shée bringeth forth her yong ones Géese conceiue in the water they make their egs in the Spring it is necessary to giue them nine or eleuen egs to coue at xxv or xxx dayes they are hatched commonly Swannes or such like coue thirty dayes the female Crowe olone coueth and the Male féedeth her in the nest The Bat hath the members and wings as feathers she bringeth two yōg ones the which she nourisheth with the milke of her breasts Vipers do winde one about another in conceiuing that they séeme to be but one Serpent the Female conceiueth by sucking the Males head which shée putteth into hers Some Serpentes make her egges on the grounde and then couereth them with earth and the next yéere after bringeth foorth their yong ones Men are more proner to lust and fornication in Winter then in Sommer and women more in Sommer then in Winter Beastes haue societie and knowe when the Female will haue the Male. Among the foure footed beastes their smelling bringeth the operation of lecherie The greater the beastes are the fewer yong they bring foorth and the longer they beare them All beastes are replenished with the Male at one time though they bring neuer so many and the yong ones lie in the females belly the ioyntes or knées against the belly But a yong Childe in the mothers Wombe hath his face betwéene his knées and is like a Citie Rattes and Mice doe ingender by licking one another and it hath bene séen that one hath made six score so it commeth to passe that by this meanes there are so many both in the fieldes and in mens houses The Salamander in touching the fire doeth quench it as if it were Ise and notwithstanding that she casteth by the mouth which is like mike if it touch any part of a man the haire of his skinne will fall away they grow as the Eagle in the water and among them there is neither Male nor Female and they neuer