Travels into PERSIA.

Letter V. an Hogs Countenance, unless the upper Lip, which resemble a
i-—*^"w Cows, and the lower, the form of a Whales; the Mouth discoversa
mifliaped Tongue, setabout withTworowesof Teeth; it is of the
same Mcuse Colour, and Tailed as an Elephant is, and Feeds of the
same Fodder, and is kept facing Two mighty, but lean Elephants.
Whether the Rhinoceros be the Unicorn, I suspend my belief,
since I have seen an Horn turned with Furrows and Ridges from the
Basis to the Point, and Tapering like that of pur King's Arms: But
what Petrus Angelim relates concerning the Onager, or Indian Ms,
can have no congruity with this, unless in resped of the Virtues,*
for though his Verses are most Elegant in his 5. lih. Cyneget, yet the
description is very wide:
--------Quos India pascit Onagros,
Jam primum ttiveo corpus candor eteguntur,
Infecti Assyrio c'zrcum caput omne colore
C&ruleis ocuiis, unoque in sronte sttperhi
Coma, &c.
His words in Prose are these; ' The Wild Asses of India are as big,
' or bigger than Horses, whose Heads are of a Purple die, their
* Eyes Blew, the rest of their Body White; on their Foreheads they
' have an Horn a Cubit in length, whose lower part for Two Hands
* breadth is White, and the Top, which is Jharp, inclining to a
4 bright Red, but the Middle part is blood Red ; of these they make
1 Cups, out of which whosoever Drinks, neither Cramp nor Falling
* Sickness seizes them ; nor has any manner of Poison any force, if
' that immediately before or after taking of the same, either Water,
'Wine, orother Liquid thing be taken out of these Cups.
That this Opinion is taken up upon the account of the Rhino-
ceros his Horn, I can certainly verify, and that great Prices are of-
fered for those thatare inadulterate ; which they in India pretend to
try by the Liquors presently fermenting in thems but notwithstand-
ing that Experiment they are osten deceived by false Horns made
into drinking Cups; thus much is true of the Rhinoceros, but the
other part of it holds not Water; they come from Bengala, and are
esteemed terrible and indomitable Creatures: And these must be
(or none) what this Author calls Asses, there being no other
Beasts in these Parts with but one Horn - and I am afraid he is misia-
ken as to the Asrican Ass also, some Writers having called Asrica
India, which might have been urged in his excuse, whose Skin I
having formerly admired when in India, you will easily be convinced
it is no such Creature, it having never an Horn ; Two Live ones
were sent hither from the Ahajsin Emperor, as an Expreilion of Re-
spedt to this Court; which, with other valuable Rarities brought by
his Ambassadors, were lately graciously received.
The /8>i>$n They are as large as a Mule, but for the exadi Symetry of the
sif'T^s'T11 Lineaments, Zeuxis his Pencil would but faintly ssiadow over the
Wild Ast. ' lively Portraiture of their Skins, the ground whereof was of alight
Afll Colour, over which along the Back strait black Streaks in Rows
at length reached to the Tail: the Shoulders, Flanks, and Haunches
had