ABSTRACT
Some of the Poets do derive the name of the River Tigris f rom this Tiger the wilde beaf t ,whereu p o n thefe Hiftories are told They fay, tha t when Bacchus was d i f t r aded , and put ou t of his wits by Juno, as he wandered to and f r o in the wor ld , he came to the River Sylax (which was the firft name of this wa te r ) and being there defirous to pafs over , but found no means to accomplifh i t , Jupiter in commiferation of his eftate did fend unto him a Tiger , who did willingly take him upon his back, and carry him over ; Afterward Bacchus called that fwift River by the name of t ha t fwift beaft, Tiger . Othe r s do r epo r t the tale thus. W h e n Vionyfiw fell in love with t he N y m p h Alphefibxa, whom by no means either by promifes, intreaties o r rewards he could allure u n t o him, at laft he turned himfelf into a T ige r , and fo oppref f ing the N y m p h th rough fear , did carry her over tha t River , and there begot upon her his fon Medusy who when he came t o age, r e - membring the f a d of his fa ther and mothe r , called the name of the River Tigr is , becaufe of his Fathers t ranf format ion . But t o leave this mat ter as not wor th the ftanding upon , whether the River was called af ter the name of the beaft , o r the beaft af ter the name of the River , o r ra ther bo th of them af ter t he name of the dar t or fwift A r r o w , we will proceed to the natural ftory of the Ti* ger commending tha t t o the Readers judgement which is efTential to this ftory, containing in it n e - ceffary learning, and garnilhed with all probabili ty.
