of this Mortal Feud, and constant War between them? For _Brutes_, like
_Men_, don't war upon one another, to raise and encrease their Glory, or
to enlarge their Empire. Unless I can acquit my self herein, and assign
some probable Cause hereof, I may incur the same Censure as _Strabo_[A]
passed on several of the _Indian Historians_, [Greek: enekainisan de kai
taen 'Omaerikaen ton Pygmaion geranomachin trispithameis eipontes], for
reviewing the _Homerical_ Fight of the _Cranes_ and _Pygmies_, which he
looks upon only as a fiction of the Poet. But this had been very
unbecoming _Homer_ to take a _Simile_ (which is designed for illustration)
from what had no Foundation in Nature. His _Betrachomyomachia_, 'tis true,
was a meer Invention, and never otherwise esteemed: But his _Geranomachia_
hath all the likelyhood of a true Story. And therefore I shall enquire now
what may be the just Occasion of this Quarrel.
[Footnote A: _Strabo Geograph_. lib. 2. p.m. 48.]
_Athenæus_[A] out of _Philochorus_, and so likewise _Ælian_[B], tell us a
Story, That in the Nation of the _Pygmies_ the Male-line failing, one
_Gerana_ was the Queen; a Woman of an admired Beauty, and whom the
Citizens worshipped as a Goddess; but she became so vain and proud, as to
prefer her own, before the Beauty of all the other Goddesses, at which
they grew enraged; and to punish her for her Insolence, Athenæus tells us
that it was _Diana_, but _Ælian_ saith 'twas _Juno_ that transformed her
into a _Crane_, and made her an Enemy to the _Pygmies_ that worshipped her
before. But since they are not agreed which Goddess 'twas, I shall let
this pass.
[Footnote A: _Athenæi Deipnosoph_. lib. 9 p.m. 393.]
[Footnote B: _Ælian. Hist. Animal_. lib. 15. cap. 29.]
_Pomponius Mela_ will have it, and I think some others, that these cruel
Engagements use to happen, upon the _Cranes_ coming to devour the _Corn_
the _Pygmies_ had sowed; and that at last they became so victorious, as
not only to destroy their Corn, but them also: For he tells us,[A] _Fuere
interiùs Pygmæi, minutum genus, & quod pro satis frugibus contra Grues
dimicando, defecit._ This may seem a reasonable Cause of a Quarrel; but it
not being certain that the _Pygmies_ used to sow _Corn_, I will not insist
on this neither.
[Footnote A: _Pomp. Mela de situ Orbis_, lib. 3. cap. 8.]
Now what seems most likely to me, is the account that _Pliny_ out of
_Megasthenes_, and _Strabo_ from _Onesicritus_ give us; and, provided I be
not obliged to believe or justifie _all_ that they say, I could rest
satisfied in great part of their Relation: For _Pliny_[B] tells us, _Veris
tempore universo agmine ad mare descendere, & Ova, Pullosque earum Alitum
consumere_: That in the Spring-time the whole drove of the _Pygmies_ go
down to the Sea side, to devour the _Cranes_ Eggs and their young Ones. So
likewise _Onesicritus_,[B] [Greek: Pros de tous trispithamous polemon
einai tais Geranois (hon kai Homaeron daeloun) kai tois Perdixin, ous
chaenomegetheis einai; toutous d' eklegein auton ta oa, kai phtheirein;
ekei gar ootokein tas Geranous; dioper maedamou maed' oa euriskesthai
Geranon, maet' oun neottia;] i.e. _That there is a fight between the_
Pygmies _and the_ Cranes (_as_ Homer _relates_) _and the_ Partridges
_which are as big as_ Geese; _for these_ Pygmies _gather up their Eggs,
and destroy them; the_ Cranes _laying their Eggs there; and neither their
Eggs, nor their Nests, being to be found any where else_. 'Tis plain
therefore from them, that the Quarrel is not out of any _Antipathy_ the
_Pygmies_ have to the _Cranes_, but out of love to their own Bellies. But
the _Cranes_ finding their Nests to be robb'd, and their young Ones prey'd
on by these Invaders, no wonder that they should so sharply engage them;
and the least they could do, was to fight to the utmost so mortal an
Enemy. Hence, no doubt, many a bloody Battle happens, with various success
to the Combatants; sometimes with great slaughter of the _long-necked
Squadron_; sometimes with great effusion of _Pygmæan_ blood. And this may
well enough, in a _Poet's_ phancy, be magnified, and represented as a
dreadful War; and no doubt of it, were one a _Spectator_ of it, 'twould be
diverting enough.
[Footnote A: _Plinij. Hist. Nat._ lib. 7. cap. 2. p.m. 13.]
[Footnote B: _Strab. Geograph_. lib. 15. pag. 489.]
-----_Si videas hoc
Gentibus in nostris, risu quatiere: sed illic,
Quanquam eadem assiduè spectantur Prælia, ridet
Nemo, ubi tota cohors pede non est altior uno_.[A]
[Footnote A: _Juvenal. Satyr_. 13 vers. 170.]
This Account therefore of these Campaigns renewed every year on this
Provocation between the _Cranes_ and the _Pygmies_, contains nothing but
what a cautious Man may believe; and _Homer's Simile_ in likening the
great shouts of the _Trojans_ to the Noise of the _Cranes_, and the
Silence of the _Greeks_ to that of the _Pygmies_, is very admirable and
delightful. For _Aristotle_[B] tells us, That the _Cranes_, to avoid the
hardships of the Winter, take a Flight out of _Scythia_ to the _Lakes_
about the _Nile_, where the _Pygmies_ live, and where 'tis very likely the
_Cranes_ may lay their Eggs and breed, before they return. But these rude
_Pygmies_ making too bold with them, what could the _Cranes_ do less for
preserving their Off-spring than fight them; or at least by their mighty
Noise, make a shew as if they would. This is but what we may observe in
all other Birds. And thus far I think our _Geranomachia_ or _Pygmæomachia_
looks like a true Story; and there is nothing in _Homer_ about it, but
what is credible. He only expresses himself, as a _Poet_ should do; and if
Readers will mistake his meaning, 'tis not his fault.
[Footnote B: _Aristotle. Hist. Animal_. lib. 8. cap. 15. Edit. Scalig.]
'Tis not therefore the _Poet_ that is to be blamed, tho' they would father
it all on him; but the fabulous _Historians_ in after Ages, who have so
odly drest up this Story by their fantastical Inventions, that there is no
knowing the truth, till one hath pull'd off those Masks and Visages,
wherewith they have disguised it. For tho' I can believe _Homer_, that
there is a fight between the _Cranes_ and _Pygmies_, yet I think I am no
ways obliged to imagine, that when the _Pygmies_ go to these Campaigns to
fight the _Cranes_, that they ride upon _Partridges_, as _Athenæas_ from
_Basilis_ an _Indian Historian_ tells us; for, saith he,[A] [Greek:
Basilis de en toi deuteroi ton Indikon, oi mikroi, phaesin, andres oi tais
Geranois diapolemountes Perdixin ochaemati chrontai;]. For presently
afterwards he tells us from _Menecles_, that the _Pygmies_ not only fight
the _Cranes_, but the _Partridges_ too, [Greek: Meneklaes de en protae
taes synagogaes oi pygmaioi, phaesi, tois perdixi, kai tais Geranois
polemousi]. This I could more readily agree to, because _Onesicritus_, as
I have quoted him already confirms it; and gives us the same reason for
this as for fighting the _Cranes_, because they rob their Nests. But
whether these _Partridges_ are as big as _Geese_, I leave as a _Quære_.
[Footnote A: _Athenæi Deipnesoph_. lib. p. 9. m. 390.]
_Megasthenes_ methinks in _Pliny_ mounts the _Pygmies_ for this expedition
much better, for he sets them not on a _Pegasus_ or _Partridges_, but on
_Rams_ and _Goats_: _Fama est_ (saith _Pliny[A]) insedentes Arietum
Caprarumque dorsis, armatis sagittis, veris tempore universo agmine ad
mare descendere_. And _Onesicritus_ in Strabo tells us, That a _Crane_ has
been often observed to fly from those parts with a brass Sword fixt in
him, [Greek: pleistakis d' ekpiptein geranon chalkaen echousan akida apo
ton ekeithen plaegmaton.][B] But whether the _Pygmies_ do wear Swords, may
be doubted. 'Tis true, _Ctesias_ tells us,[C] That the _King_ of _India_
every fifth year sends fifty Thousand Swords, besides abundance of other
Weapons, to the Nation of the _Cynocephali_, (a fort of _Monkeys_, as I
shall shew) that live in those Countreys, but higher up in the Mountains:
But he makes no mention of any such Presents to the poor _Pygmies_; tho'
he assures us, that no less than three Thousand of these _Pygmies_ are the
_Kings_ constant Guards: But withal tells us, that they are excellent
_Archers_, and so perhaps by dispatching their Enemies at a distance, they
may have no need of such Weapons to lye dangling by their sides. I may
therefore be mistaken in rendering [Greek: akida] a Sword; it may be any
other sharp pointed Instrument or Weapon, and upon second Thoughts, shall
suppose it a sort of Arrow these cunning _Archers_ use in these
Engagements.
[Footnote A: _Plinij. Nat. Hist._ lib. 7. cap. 2. p. 13.]
[Footnote B: _Strabo Geograph._ lib. 15. p. 489.]
[Footnote C: _Vide Photij. Biblioth._]
These, and a hundred such ridiculous _Fables_, have the _Historians_
invented of the _Pygmies_, that I can't but be of _Strabo_'s mind,[A]
[Greek: Rhadion d' an tis Haesiodio, kai Homaeroi pisteuseien
haeroologousi, kai tois tragikois poiaetais, hae Ktaesiai te kai
Haerodotoi, kai Hellanikoi, kai allois toioutois;] i.e. _That one may
sooner believe_ Hesiod, _and_ Homer, _and the_ Tragick Poets _speaking of
their_ Hero's, _than_ Ctesias _and_ Herodotus _and_ Hellanicus _and such
like_. So ill an Opinion had _Strabo_ of the _Indian Historians_ in
general, that he censures them _all_ as fabulous;[B] [Greek: Hapantes men
toinun hoi peri taes Indikaes grapsantes hos epi to poly pseudologoi
gegonasi kath' hyperbolaen de Daeimachos; ta de deutera legei
Megasthenaes, Onaesikritos te kai Nearchos, kai alloi toioutoi;] i.e. _All
who have wrote of_ India _for the most part, are fabulous, but in the
highest degree_ Daimachus; _then_ Megasthenes, Onesicritus, _and_
Nearchus, _and such like_. And as if it had been their greatest Ambition
to excel herein, _Strabo_[C] brings in _Theopompus_, as bragging, [Greek:
Hoti kai mythous en tais Historiais erei kreitton, ae hos Haerodotos, kai
Ktaesias, kai Hellanikos, kai hoi ta Hindika syngrapsantes;] _That he
could foist in Fables into History, better than_ Herodotus _and_ Ctesias
_and_ Hellanicus, _and all that have wrote of_ India. The _Satyrist_
therefore had reason to say,
-----_Et quicquid Græcia mendax
Audet in Historia._[D]
[Footnote A: _Strabo Geograph._ lib. 11. p.m. 350.]
[Footnote B: _Strabo ibid._ lib. 2. p.m. 48.]
[Footnote C: _Strabo ibid._ lib. 1 p.m. 29.]
[Footnote D: _Juvenal._ _Satyr._ X. _vers._ 174.]
_Aristotle_,[A] 'tis true, tells us, [Greek: Holos de ta men agria
agriotera en tae Asia, andreiotera de panta ta en taei Europaei,
polymorphotata de ta en taei libyaei; kai legetai de tis paroimia, hoti
aei pherei ti libyae kainon;] i.e. _That generally the Beasts are wilder
in_ Asia, _stronger in_ Europe, _and of greater variety of shapes in_
Africa; _for as the_ Proverb _saith_, Africa _always produces something
new_. _Pliny_[B] indeed ascribes it to the Heat of the _Climate,
Animalium, Hominumque effigies monstriferas, circa extremitates ejus
gigni, minimè mirum, artifici ad formanda Corpora, effigiesque cælandas
mobilitate igneâ_. But _Nature_ never formed a whole _Species_ of
_Monsters_; and 'tis not the _heat_ of the Country, but the warm and
fertile Imagination of these _Historians_, that has been more productive
of them, than _Africa_ it self; as will farther appear by what I shall
produce out of them, and particularly from the Relation that _Ctesias_
makes of the _Pygmies_.
[Footnote A: _Aristotle Hist. Animal_, lib. 8. cap. 28.]
[Footnote B: _Plin. Nat. Hist._ lib. 6. cap. 30. p.m. 741.]
I am the more willing to instance in _Ctesias_, because he tells his Story
roundly; he no ways minces it; his Invention is strong and fruitful; and
that you may not in the least mistrust him, he pawns his word, that all
that he writes, is certainly true: And so successful he has been, how
Romantick soever his Stories may appear, that they have been handed down
to us by a great many other Authors, and of Note too; tho' some at the
same time have looked upon them as mere Fables. So that for the present,
till I am better informed, and I am not over curious in it, I shall make
_Ctesias_, and the other _Indian Historians_, the _Inventors_ of the
extravagant Relations we at present have of the _Pygmies_, and not old
_Homer_. He calls them, 'tis true, from something of Resemblance of their
shape, [Greek: andres]: But these _Historians_ make them to speak the
_Indian Language_; to use the same _Laws_; and to be so considerable a
Nation, and so valiant, as that the _King_ of _India_ makes choice of them
for his _Corps de Guards_; which utterly spoils _Homer's Simile_, in
making them so little, as only to fight _Cranes_.
_Ctesias_'s Account therefore of the _Pygmies_ (as I find it in
_Photius_'s _Bibliotheca_,[A] and at the latter end of some Editions of
_Herodotus_) is this:
[Footnote A: _Photij. Bibliothec. Cod._ 72. p.m. 145.]
[Greek: Hoti en mesae tae Indikae anthropoi eisi melanes, kai kalountai
pygmaioi, tois allois homoglossoi Indois. mikroi de eisi lian; hoi
makrotatoi auton paecheon duo, hoi de pleistoi, henos haemiseos paecheos,
komaen de echousi makrotataen, mechri kai hepi ta gonata, kai eti
katoteron, kai pogona megiston panton anthropon; epeidan oun ton pogona
mega physosin, ouketi amphiennyntai ouden emation: alla tas trichas, tas
men ek taes kephalaes, opisthen kathientai poly kato ton gonaton; tas de
ek tou po gonos, emprosthen mechri podon elkomenas. Hepeita
peripykasamenoi tas trichas peri apan to soma, zonnyntai, chromenoi autais
anti himatiou, aidoion de mega echousin, hoste psauein ton sphyron auton,
kai pachy. autoite simoi te kai aischroi. ta de probata auton, hos andres.
kai hai boes kai hoi onoi, schedon hoson krioi? kai hoi hippoi auton kai
hoi aemionoi, kai ta alla panta zoa, ouden maezo krion; hepontai de toi
basilei ton Indon, touton ton pygmaion andres trischilioi. sphodra gar
eisi toxotai; dikaiotatoi de eisi kai nomoisi chrontai osper kai hoi
Indoi. Dagoous te kai alopekas thaereuousin, ou tois kysin, alla koraxi
kai iktisi kai koronais kai aetois.]
_Narrat præter ista, in media India homines reperiri nigros, qui Pygmæi
appellentur. Eadem hos, qua Inda reliqui, lingua uti, sed valde esse
parvos, ut maximi duorum cubitorum, & plerique unius duntaxat cubiti cum
dimidio altitudinem non excedant. Comam alere longissimam, ad ipsa usque
genua demissam, atque etiam infra, cum barba longiore, quàm, apud ullos
hominum. Quæ quidem ubi illis promissior esse cæperit, nulla deinceps
veste uti: sed capillos multò infra genua à tergo demissos, barbámque
præter pectus ad pedes usque defluentem, per totum corpus in orbem
constipare & cingere, atque ita pilos ipsis suos vestimenti loco esse.
Veretrum illis esse crassum ac longum, quod ad ipsos quoque pedum
malleolos pertingat. Pygmeos hosce simis esse naribus, & deformes. Ipsorum
item oves agnorem nostrotum instar esse; boves & asinos, arietum fere
magnitudine, equos item multosque & cætera jumenta omnia nihilo esse
nostris arietibus majora. Tria horum Pygmæorum millia Indorum regem in suo
comitatu habere, quod sagittarij sint peritissimi. Summos esse justitiæ
cultores iisdemque quibus Indi reliqui, legibus parere. Venari quoque
lepores vulpesque, non canibus, sed corvis, milvis, cornicibus, aquilis
adhibitis._
In the middle of _India_ (saith _Ctesias_) there are black Men, they are
call'd _Pygmies_, using the same Language, as the other _Indians_; they
are very little, the tallest of them being but two Cubits, and most of
them but a Cubit and a half high. They have very long hair, reaching down
to their Knees and lower; and a Beard larger than any Man's. After their
Beards are grown long, they wear no Cloaths, but the Hair of their Head
falls behind a great deal below their Hams; and that of their Beards
before comes down to their Feet: then laying their Hair thick all about
their Body, they afterwards gird themselves, making use of their Hair for
Cloaths. They have a _Penis_ so long, that it reaches to the Ancle, and
the thickness is proportionable. They are flat nosed and ill favoured.
Their Sheep are like Lambs; and their Oxen and Asses scarce as big as Rams;
and their Horses and Mules, and all their other Cattle not bigger. Three
thousand Men of these _Pygmies_ do attend the _King_ of _India_. They are
good _Archers_; they are very just, and use the same _Laws_ as the
_Indians_ do. They kill Hares and Foxes, not with Dogs, but with Ravens,
Kites, Crows, and Eagles.'
Well, if they are so good Sports-men, as to kill Hares and Foxes with
Ravens, Kites, Crows and Eagles, I can't see how I can bring off _Homer_,
for making them fight the _Cranes_ themselves. Why did they not fly their
_Eagles_ against them? these would make greater Slaughter and Execution,
without hazarding themselves. The only excuse I have is, that _Homer_'s
_Pygmies_ were real _Apes_ like _Men_; but those of _Ctesias_ were neither
_Men_ nor _Pygmies_; only a Creature begot in his own Brain, and to be
found no where else.
_Ctesias_ was Physician to _Artaxerxes Mnemon_ as _Diodorus Siculus_[A]
and _Strabo_[B] inform us. He was contemporary with _Xenophon_, a little
later than _Herodotus_; and _Helvicus_ in his _Chronology_ places him
three hundred eighty three years before _Christ_: He is an ancient Author,
'tis true, and it may be upon that score valued by some. We are beholden
to him, not only for his Improvements on the Story of the _Pygmies_, but
for his Remarks likewise on several other parts of _Natural History_;
which for the most part are all of the same stamp, very wonderful and
incredible; as his _Mantichora_, his _Gryphins_, the _horrible Indian
Worm_, a Fountain of _Liquid Gold_, a Fountain of _Honey_, a Fountain
whose Water will make a Man confess all that ever he did, a Root he calls
[Greek: paraebon], that will attract Lambs and Birds, as the Loadstone
does filings of Steel; and a great many other Wonders he tells us: all of
which are copied from him by _Ælian, Pliny, Solinus, Mela, Philostratus_,
and others. And _Photius_ concludes _Ctesias_'s Account of _India_ with
this passage; [Greek: Tauta graphon kai mythologon Ktaesias. legei t'
alaethestata graphein; epagon hos ta men autos idon graphei, ta de par
auton mathon ton eidoton. polla de touton kai alla thaumasiotera
paralipein, dia to mae doxai tois mae tauta theasamenois apista
syngraphein;] i.e. _These things_ (saith he) Ctesias _writes and feigns,
but he himself says all he has wrote is very true. Adding, that some
things which he describes, he had seen himself; and the others he had
learn'd from those that had seen them: That he had omitted a great many
other things more wonderful, because he would not seem to those that have
not seen them, to write incredibilities_. But notwithstanding all this,
_Lucian_[C] will not believe a word he saith; for he tells us that
_Ctesias_ has wrote of _India_, [Greek: A maete autos eide, maete allou
eipontos aekousen], _What he neither saw himself, nor ever heard from any
Body else._ And _Aristotle_ tells us plainly, he is not fit to be believed:
[Greek: En de taei Indikaei hos phaesi Ktaesias, ouk on axiopistos.][D]
And the same opinion _A. Gellius_[E] seems to have of him, as he had
likewise of several other old _Greek Historians_ which happened to fall
into his hands at _Brundusium_, in his return from _Greece_ into _Italy_;
he gives this Character of them and their performance: _Erant autem isti
omnes libri Græci, miraculorum fabularumque pleni: res inauditæ,
incredulæ, Scriptores veteres non parvæ authoritatis_, Aristeas
Proconnesius, & Isagonus, & Nicæensis, & Ctesias, & Onesicritus, &
Polystephanus, & Hegesias. Not that I think all that _Ctesias_ has wrote
is fabulous; For tho' I cannot believe his _speaking Pygmies_, yet what he
writes of the _Bird_ he calls [Greek: Bittakos], that it would speak
_Greek_ and the _Indian Language_, no doubt is very true; and as _H.
Stephens_[F] observes in his Apology for _Ctesias_, such a Relation would
seem very surprising to one, that had never seen nor heard of a _Parrot_.
[Footnote A: _Diodor. Siculi Bibliothec_. lib. 2. p.m. 118.]
[Footnote B: _Strabo Geograph_. lib. 14. p. 451.]
[Footnote C: _Lucian_ lib 1. _veræ Histor_. p.m. 373.]
[Footnote D: _Arist. Hist. Animal._ lib. 8. cap. 28.]
[Footnote E: _A. Gellij. Noctes. Attic._ lib. 9. cap. 4.]
[Footnote F: _Henr. Stephani de Ctesia Historico antiquissimo disquisitio,
ad finem Herodoti._]
But this Story of _Ctesias_'s _speaking Pygmies_, seems to be confirm'd by
the Account that _Nonnosus_, the Emperour _Justinian_'s Ambassador into
_Æthiopia_, gives of his Travels. I will transcribe the Passage, as I find
it in _Photius_,[A] and 'tis as follows:
[Footnote A: _Photij. Bibliothec._ cod. 3. p.m. 7.]
[Greek: Hoti apo taes pharsan pleonti toi Nonnosoi, epi taen eschataen ton
naeson kataentaekoti toion de ti synebae, thauma kai akousai. enetuche gar
tisi morphaen men kai idean echousin anthropinaen, brachytatois de to
megethos, kai melasi taen chroan. hypo de trichon dedasysmenois dia pantos
tou somatos. heiponto de tois andrasi kai gynaikes paraplaesiai kai
paidaria eti brachytera, ton par autois andron. gymnoi de aesan hapantes;
plaen dermati tini mikroi taen aido periekalypron, hoi probebaekotes
homoios andres te kai gynaikes. agrion de ouden eped eiknynto oude
anaemeron; alla kai phonaen eichon men anthropinaen, agnoston de pantapasi
taen dialekton tois te perioikois hapasi, kai polloi pleon tois peri taen
Nonnoson, diezon de ek thalattion ostreion, kai ichthyon, ton apo taes
thalassaes eis taen naeson aporrhiptomenon; tharsos de eichon ouden. alla
kai horontes tous kath' haemas anthropous hypeptaesan, hosper haemeis ta
meiso ton thaerion.]
_Naviganti à Pharsa Nonoso, & ad extremam usque insularum delato, tale
quid occurrit, vel ipso auditu admirandum. Incidit enim in quosdam forma
quidem & figura humana, sed brevissimos, & cutem nigros, totúmque pilosos
corpus. Sequebantur viros æquales foeminæ, & pueri adhuc breviores. Nudi
omnes agunt, pelle tantum brevi adultiores verenda tecti, viri pariter ac
foeminæ: agreste nihil, neque efferum quid præ se ferentes. Quin & vox
illis humana, sed omnibus, etiam accolis, prorsus ignota lingua, multoque
amplius Nonosi sociis. Vivunt marinis ostreis, & piscibus è mari ad
insulam projectis. Audaces minime sunt, ut nostris conspectis hominibus,
quemadmodum nos visa ingenti fera, metu perculsi fuerint._
'That _Nonnosus_ sailing from _Pharsa_, when he came to the farthermost of
the Islands, a thing, very strange to be heard of, happened to him; for he
lighted on some (_Animals_) in shape and appearance like _Men_, but little
of stature, and of a black colour, and thick covered with hair all over
their Bodies. The Women, who were of the same stature, followed the Men:
They were all naked, only the Elder of them, both Men and Women, covered
their Privy Parts with a small Skin. They seemed not at all fierce or wild;
they had a Humane Voice, but their _Dialect_ was altogether unknown to
every Body that lived about them; much more to those that were with
_Nonnosus_. They liv'd upon Sea Oysters, and Fish that were cast out of
the Sea, upon the Island. They had no Courage; for seeing our Men, they
were frighted, as we are at the sight of the greatest wild Beast.'