Page:Ancient India as described by Megasthenês and Arrian.djvu/78

59 others grow along the ground to the length of fifty. They vary in thickness from three to six cubits in diameter. Fragm. XV.B. ^lian, Hist Anvm. XVI. 20. 21. Conf. Fragm. XV. 2. 1. Of some Beasts of Indio,, (20.) In certain districts of India (I speak of those which are most inland) they say there are in- accessible mountains infested by wild beasts, and which are also the haunts of animals like those of our own country except that they are wild ; for even sheep, they say, run wild there, as well as dogs and goats and oxen, which roam about at their own pleasure, being independent and free from the dominion of the herdsman. That their number is beyond calculation is stated not only by writers on India, but also by the learned men of the country, among whom the Brachmans deserve to be reckoned, whose testimony is to the same efPect. It is also said that there exists in India a one-homed animal, called by the natives the Kartazdn, It is of the size of a full-grown horse, and has a crest, and yellow hair soft as wool; It is furnished with very good legs and is very fleet. Its legs are jointless and formed like those of the elephant, and it has a tail .like a swine's. A horn sprouts out from between its eyebrows, and this is not straight, but curved into the most natural wreaths, and is of a black colour. It is said to be extremely sharp, this horn. The animal, as I learn, has a voice beyond all example loud-ringing and dissonant. It allows other animals to approach it, and is good-